Eliza watched from a distance.  Jimmy was a prince.  She almost wished she could have him.  Beth looked up at Jimmy and smiled.  No one would ever call Beth beautiful, but from the look on Jimmy's face, she'd guess you better not tell him she wasn't the best looking woman around.  Eliza smiled and sighed.  Every now and then something actually worked the way she thought it should.  Well some things, anyway.  She couldn't bring Vicki back but a hell of a lot had been accomplished.  She though back.  It had been tense for a bit.

Jimmy had finished telling what he knew.  Now it was Eliza who was crying.  Jesse was standing next to her and tried to offer comfort with a strong hand on her shoulder, but the tale Jimmy had told would not go away with a hand on the shoulder.  Through her pain and sadness, her rage was building.  Eliza did not anger quickly but those who knew her knew, that once angered, she would take action of some sort.  Jesse could feel the tension in her body and sense the totally black anger that was building within her.  He was much older than she, but she was beginning to scare him.  Her anger gave her strength and resolve, and right now, she was beginning to feel like an old one.  

Rain and wind whipped her thin cape around her body.  Her soaked short hair was plastered to her face.  Staring upwards, focusing on the full moon, drawing strength from it, she felt a growing sensation of unrest, a feeling of something about to happen.  She thought of the hunters and what they'd done to her friends, her "family."  She thought of Vicki and Codrin.  Stretching her arms to the welcoming moon, she screamed a soundless wail, a sound of anger and pain.  She raged at the hunters. She raged at Codrin.  "How could, you?" she screamed.  "You were old and wise!  How could you let them take you?  Damn you!  Damn them.  I need you!"  

A gust of wind almost caused her to lose her balance.  As she staggered to maintain her footing, she saw the change.  The moon seemed to dim and turn a deep, dark red.  A shiver shook her body and the wind seemed suddenly so cold, so very cold.  Yellow and orange streaks shot through the blood red moon and it seemed to brighten, spin, and get larger, almost rushing at her.  She felt herself being engulfed and the world around her vanished.  She existed in a red, hot void and saw a dim figure approaching her.  She knew.  Then she knew.  

"No," Codrin said, "I am not dead. " Eliza gasped and reached to touch him but he grasped her outstretch hand in his and smiled.  "Yes, I am real and I am alive," he said, "and you have a job to do."

The old warehouse was dark.  She grinned and considered all the changes she'd been through.  The old warehouse looked the same.  Somehow there was comfort in that.  It a changing world, it was nice to see something was the same.  There was a dim light on the third floor, the floor of the dojo.  A class was probably being taught.  It was 2 am, the special class time.  She silently ascended the stairs to the third floor.  No human could have possibly heard her.  As she silently glided towards the door of the dojo a voice called, "Ms. Radu, it a pleasure to be in your presence again.  Please, come in and join us."

Eliza chuckled.  He'd done it again.  She opened the door to the dojo and stepped in.  Bowing, she said, "Thank you for inviting me in."  She straightened and smiled.  "I never could sneak up on you.  Although I do keep trying."

Thomas Wu bowed in return.  "And you are getting much better.  I did not know you were here until you looked up at the third floor."  He straightened.  "You have returned for some practice.  That's good.  I'd like for you to meet a proficient student.  You and he can spar.  Your different styles will be interesting for both of you."  Sensei walked over to him and spoke lowly to him.  

Introductions having been made, they had bowed and faced each other. Rick looked at her and thought Sensei was kidding him.  This kid was a Master!!!!  He threw a simple punch and was quite surprised when it only fanned air.  Concentrating more he launched a fast hard kick that was blocked with an iron hard forearm that almost made him cry out in pain.  Clenching his teeth he knew that was going to be a bruise.  He backed up and smiled at her and launched an all out attack   He knew this attack was deadly but Sensei did call her a Master.  The first part to the attack was foot oriented and was designed to disorient and drive an opponent back.  Somehow, she just stood there, and by subtle shifts, seemed to be where his feet weren't.  

Rick stepped back and paused.  He was almost panting to catch his breath, but in a controlled manner.  Eliza smiled and he felt a light tap on his calf and realized he was falling.  He caught his balance and felt a soft hand on his cheek, then a slap that almost knocked him dizzy.  He saw a lazy hand drifting towards his eyes and he blocked with a cross block.  He prepared to twist and execute a throw when he felt his feet leaving the ground and realized he was airborne.  He twisted in time to execute a break fall but he landed hard.  Sensei stepped onto the mat and clapped twice.  Rick bounced up and Eliza turned and faced him.  They bowed and grinned.

They continued a work out and Eliza quickly realized, that with her vampire speed, she could probably win an actual fight with either or both of them, but it never occurred to her.  By degrees she increased her speed, and much to her surprise, she was still not making the sort of contact she thought she would.  Rick had dropped out of the exercise and was standing off of the mat, just watching.  He clearly wanted no part of what was going on.

Eliza increased her speed and force and was amazed as Sensei smiled at her.  They stood, toe to toe, and struck and parried, struck and parried.  She felt a soft slap on her cheek and a stinging sensation on her calf and she realize she was airborne.  She floated, twisted and landed in a crouch on her feet.  Sensei was closing in and she did the only thing she could think of; she rolled backwards to put distance between then and felt her feet on the hard floor.  She straightened and laughed.  Stepping off  the mat during an exercise was an automatic loss.  Smiling, she bowed to and received a bow from Sensei.

Rick clapped his approval.  "I'm impressed," he enthused.  "I don't think I've ever seen anything like that.

Sensei bowed again.  "She has gotten much better" Turning to Eliza he said, "That was most interesting and," he paused, "I won't ask you where you learned that."  His knowing smile made Eliza wonder just how much he did know.  All she could do was smile and offer a return bow.  "Very convenient, this bowing," she giggled to herself, "great for when you can't think of anything to say."

Eliza tightened the wide belt around her thin waist.  With Sensei's recommendation, a visit to the gun shop, where she'd bought her first gun had yielded several weapons that would not have been available to the average citizen.  She had unashamedly used her enthrallment capabilities to get what she wanted.  Through several layers of legal, almost legal, to illegal, she managed to bribe, sweet talk, and make the necessary deals to get what she wanted.  Only one person had tried to cheat her and then the stupid bastard had tried to rape her.  

His mutilated body could not be tied to her, but no one else even thought of crossing her.  The suspicion was too strong and the chance too great to even consider it.  She paid and she paid well.  Rumors also suggested, that if you treated her well, she returned the favor.  Those who were in a position to know for sure, would only smile, get a far away look in their eyes, before laughing and shaking their heads, refusing to discuss it.  

She'd been having dreams, dreams where she met and talked with Codrin.  Sometimes he was an old wise man and sometimes he was young and vital.  Sometimes she didn't even know who he was until some time had passed or he revealed himself.  Sometimes, she'd awaken covered in sweat or sexually aroused and one time there was blood on her neck and breasts.  The dreams were disturbing and exciting and he was telling her things, fascinating things she wanted to know and instinctively knew were true.  Codrin was old, much older than she would have ever guessed and she had to wonder why he'd chosen her to communicate with in this way.  She pushed that to the back of her mind.  There were more important things to do.

It took almost a month, but then Eliza felt she was ready.  Tonight was the night the hunters would meet and she knew where and when.  "Money talks and bullshit walks," she quoted to herself.  She grimaced and realized that she didn't recognize the face it the slightly blurry mirror.  The room was not the finest and she'd moved every week, not leaving any forwarding address.  She would check her email and reply from a public library.  She was not email chatting, just barely keeping in touch.  

Jesse was supporting her in this quest.  He'd not even tried to talk her out of it.  As much he cared for her, he knew she was going to go forward and the best thing he could do was support her.  She hadn't told him about the dreams.  They, somehow, were very personal and she trusted Codrin. Jesse didn't need to know and she was beginning to realize that someone knowing more than they needed to know could be a very bad thing.  She was probably alive because Jimmy and Vicki didn't know where she was.  She was getting cautious to the point of almost being obsessive about it, but she figured better too careful than too dead!

"Damn it if know!" said a loud voice.  "He jumped out of the loft and we didn't know it until it was light enough to find his tracks.  I spent at least three hours poking into that damn hay.  I still haven't stopped itching or sneezing."  A loud sneeze punctuated the truth of the statement.  "We tracked him for about a mile then we lost him at a stream.  We cast back and forth until dark but I'm no flippin' Indian or blood hound."  

Crouched on the fourth floor fire escape, Eliza's face twisted into a parody of a grin.  "So the son of a bitch that was after Jimmy was in here.  He'll pay," she thought.  She squirmed, trying to get more comfortable in her kevlar vest.  It was an ultra light and had a super light mesh built in, but she didn't want it to stop heavy caliber bullets.  She wanted it for it's rip-stop capabilities.  She wanted it to stop sharp objects such as stakes.  Unlimbering the old fashioned Thompson she wondered how effective the silencer really would be.  At this point, she didn't really care so she wasn't too concerned.  She knew the Thompson worked and what a hoot to fire!  It was a fun gun, not doubt about that, but it was doubtful that the hunters were going to enjoy the experience as much as she was.

She paused.  The raised voices inside were her signal to attack.  Holding the gun at eye level to protect her face, she crashed through the window.  Dropping to one knee, she began firing into the group of people that were turning towards her, startled at the crash.  Waist high, as she'd been taught, left to right and hold the muzzle down.  It wanted to rise.  There were grunts, screams, sounds of surprise and distress.  Some were faster than others but those on the left, where she began her sweep, didn't stand a chance.  Blood, intestines, and pieces of bone splattered the far wall.  From the silenced .45 caliber weapon, the predominant sound was the metallic clatter of the bolt, ejecting spent rounds and chambering the next on.  

There was an explosion, the discharge of a .44 magnum black hawk, actually, and pain tore through her left side and she was blown back to the window through which she'd broken in.  She'd maintained her grip on the Thompson and rolled, avoiding the next shot.  A long burst and the chest of the man who'd shot her turned to jelly as he was blown backwards.  She stood, so that she could get a better angle and raked left to right one more time.  She saw the woman with the cross bow almost too late.  She aimed the Thompson and pulled the trigger and was rewarded by, nothing.  Looking down, she saw the open bolt.

She jumped as the bolt came singing towards her.  She screamed as it hit her in the right breast.  She screamed in anger and pain but the vest held.  Her left side was a blood mass from the gunshot but she could take that.  The deadly arrow had been stopped by the vest.  If she'd not jumped, it would have caught her in the throat and she wasn't sure what would have happened.  Drawing a Glock 15 round 9mm auto, she fired two shots at the woman frantically trying to load a second bolt into the wicked cross bow.  She loaded with alternating copper clad with frangible rounds and was immensely pleased with the damage the two shot combination produced.  

Silence fell and except for a few moans and whimpers, she could hear nothing.  Then she heard it, a dragging sound.  There was one of the men trying to crawl away, painfully dragging himself towards the rear exit.  Transferring the Glock to her left hand, she drew the 12 inch long British Commando's knife and walked over to him.  Thrusting the long blade into his back, penetrating his kidney, just so it would hurt, she offered him a fang filled grin as his horror filled eyes stared at up at her.  To end his screaming, she blew his face off with a well placed round.

Walking around the room, she throat stabbed each and every person in the room to make sure that none were faking.  The smell of blood was almost intoxicating and her wounded shoulder would heal much quicker with feeding but she couldn't bring herself to feed on these.  She hated them too much to even be able to feed on them.  She'd never known she could hate anyone or anything so much.  She looked at the carnage and wished they were alive so she could do it again.  Snarling, she backhand slashed the throat of the dead woman who'd shot her with the cross bow, almost severing her head from the body.  She kicked the head, her steel toed boot cracking the skull and leaving a smear of blood and brains on her toe.

She went through the pockets of the cadavers and took anything she thought might offer a clue to the location of other hunters.  She considered that she'd probably have to go after the families of the hunters.  "Little ones grow up to be big one's," she thought.  She noticed that they were all wearing crosses.  She ripped the cross from one of them and stared at it.  "A lot of good that did you, ass hole!" she hissed at the blank face.  She crushed it in her hand and dropped the twisted icon on his body.  She might not be able to touch silver, but cheap brass, in any shape, didn't bother her.

She looked up at Jesse.  "You introduced them?" she asked.  

Jesse smiled.  "Not exactly but sorta.  You see I'd gotten a club owner to interview Jimmy and he loved him as a bouncer.  Jimmy's really talented in that.  He can intimidate while being so very polite and make people almost embarrassed to cause trouble, while convincing them that if they do, he will make lunch out of them!"  He chuckled.  "One night and he was hired full time."

"So where does. . ." Eliza couldn't remember her name.

"Beth," Jessed offered.

"Beth come in?" Eliza finished.

"Oh, that is a strange one," Jesse said, shaking his head.  "I've seen so man strange things but this had to be right up there with some of the weirdest."  He took a deep breath and continued.  "Ok, you know that Codrin is alive and he contacted me and told me that a friend needed help.  I went to where he told me to go, and as you know there was Jimmy, and later, you.  Then you went weird on me and got obsessed with the hunters."  He paused and stared at her.

Eliza put on her best innocent look.  "And then," she said sweetly.

"And then you vanished," Jesse said with a pained look on his face.  "Codrin told me to worry about Jimmy, not you and he made it quite clear that he didn't want a lot of questions."  Jesse chuckled.  "He does have a way of getting his way.  When Jimmy was on his feet, I got him the job, no problem but then. . ."  He hesitated.  "Then the dreams started.  I don't remember them but I knew they were about Jimmy.  Ok, now it gets crazy.  One night we were playing a gig.  Oh, shit, I hope she doesn't pick up on that!  And I got this strangest feeling.  I was hearing music I wasn't playing and I just had to get out.  I went out and I felt cold and really strange.  I saw these two women coming towards me and I knew I had to tell her.  One was tall and dressed in black, and I'm almost sure she was one of us but I couldn't sense her.  The other one, Beth," he said pointing to her, "seemed like an ordinary mortal."  Jesse stopped and had a faraway look in his eyes.

Playfully punching him on the arm she said, "Keep talking.  You have my undivided attention!  Do keep talking."

Jesse sighed.  "As they approached me I stepped out and blocked their path.  I found my self saying, 'The one you're looking for is there,' and I pointed to the club where Jimmy is working.  Eliza, she gave me the weirdest look and I watched her go into that club.  The tall woman who was with her smiled at me, and dammit, just vanished.  Right there in front of my eyes, she just vanished.  I swear to you, I was not drinking or smoking anything funny.  I was stone cold sober."  Jesse stopped talking and shook his head.  "I'm losing it," he said.  "I'm losing it."

Eliza suppressed a very undiplomatic giggle.  Her first exposure to Rolain had not exactly been trauma free.  "And the way," she asked innocently.

Jesse shook his head and smiled.  "All I can say is that they've been an item ever since.  I'll admit it.  I don't get it.  I'm not even sure I want to know."  He sighed.

Eliza looked at the obviously happy couple and said, "Maybe we don't need to know."