still need title idead, anything is helpful! thanks!

***

Daniel sat in a cave high in the side of a cliff, pacing nervously and checking the sun’s position frequently. He’d brought all the supplies they’d need for killing the guardian and retrieving the Diamond. He had all the things he’d need. All the people. So why am I so nervous? He asked himself, over and over.

At last, he heard, faintly, a car pull up at the foot of the cliff. He inched closer and closer to the edge of the cave, but couldn’t see because the sun was still in the sky, though now it was slowly descending. The half circle of light at the cave’s opening was getting slimmer, but it was still there. He closed his eyes and made use of his other enhanced senses. A man was talking, though he couldn’t make out the words. He sounded angry one minute then the next he sounded as if he were comforting someone. Then back again and so forth for almost a half hour. Then he heard the flutter of wings and Mercy landed in his cave. He opened his eyes and smiled.

“You smell good. Like old leathery flesh and ripe sweet blood. A touch of perfume… old lady? You’re getting bolder. I thought you only ate old men. I’m so glad you came. I’ve been sitting in this rock all day. I tried exploring, but there are so many tunnels and they go so deep that even I can’t see without artificial light. So I sit, bored, while you get to suck the juices of old Gladys Jane.” He gave her a fake pouting face, which looked very bad on his experienced features. He blinked his jade green eyes in a pathetic manner, making her scowl despite herself.

She looked down at the man below and scowled further. “Daniel, I hope you don’t mind, but I think we might be having an addition to the party. I caught it while it was unaware and it’s in my captivity. I’m not letting it go until it pays its due so either we both come or neither. She may be of help, though.” At this he smiled.

“Anything for my dear little princess. But Victoria? There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” he said, approaching her, then stopping, “I’ll not say it in the presence of a snitch, however. Privacy, you see, dear, is incredibly hard to come by these days.” He frowned, gesturing at the cave opening. Mercy sniffed the air and jumped out of the cave just in time to catch a lizard transforming into a bird and flying from the rock face. She easily snatched it from the air without harming it and brought it inside the cave.

“Daniel, meet Cornelia. She’s the new addition. Tried to kill me, this one did.” Mercy threw bird-Cornelia gently towards Daniel and it shrieked, transforming into the form Will had recognized her in. she backed away from Daniel, hissing and making the sign of the cross quickly, and then she turned to Mercy, muttering, “You are a fool if you think you can trust this. If I am in captivity for you, I want you to make choices that keep me safe. And don’t you get Will hurt either. He’s nice to me.” She hissed once more at Daniel before becoming a hummingbird and flying out of the cave.

Daniel looked at Mercy and said, “You actually believed that she could kill you?” then at Mercy’s silence he said, “I suppose we have a lot to do then. Come at me. Mercy, come on, you have to know how to fight if you want to live. While we wait for Cindy, we have plenty of time for sparring. The council is going to come for you and you are going to die if you don’t know how to fight. And it’s all my fault that you are going to die.” He saw Mercy’s posture change, and he smiled.

“Good. Anger is good. No, keep your wings locked. The enemy is strong, and you want to keep your wings attached, right? No, like this, where they can’t see them. Good. Now, strategy. You’re small, so you have the advantage if the opponent is big. Stay low. Go for the legs and ankles, feet even. Be fast; make them think the air attacked them. You are the air— ow! Yeah, like tha—ouch! We aren’t sparring yet! Ow!”

They continued for hours, and when the sun was finally gone, they were both panting and sweaty. Mercy grinned.

“I haven’t fought like that since my two day birthday when you told me what I was. Remember? Yeah, you were so surprised. I was just like ‘wham’ and you were down. Then I started punching you and I totally kicked your ass.” She laughed, and Daniel smiled.

“Yes, you were certainly the tough one. You have to give me some credit, though; I was new at the whole sharing my powers thing. It took weeks before I was strong enough to change another one. You never met him, though. You ran off before I could teach you anything. That, and he died before the spell could settle in. I was so confused. So sad. Only one stayed with me for longer than you had. They all wanted to run, be free. Only one, and she only stayed for four days.” His gaze fell to the floor and sadness crumpled his features.

“Who was she?” Mercy asked, and Daniel looked up quickly, as if just remembering she was there. He bit his lip, then said, “No one of importance. Really, darling. You wouldn’t have known her anyway. I’m going to see where your Cindy is. You should check on the snack down below.” He flared his huge pitch colored wings and was gone.

Mercy walked to the mouth of the cliff. She closed her eyes and smiled at the coolness of the moonlight. It soothed her sore wings and filled her with energy. She jumped, then fell a long way before opening her wings. Then she glided in slow circles to the ground, still smiling. When she landed behind Will and tapped him on the shoulder, he spun around, punched her in the stomach, saw it was her and said ‘sorry’, then noticed he’d punched a vampire in the abs and winced with pain.

“I… I thought it was the other one, the… Daniel. Cornelia says he’s bad juju. I’m not sure if she’s right, but I’m not exactly getting good vibes from him either. He… made you, right? So that means you die if he doesn’t find his rock, right? What if he died before they had the chance to kill you? What if we killed him first?” The hope in his eyes told her he’d been thinking on this for a long time. She smiled.

“I’m sorry, Will, but it’s not exactly that easy. One, he would be incredibly hard to kill. He’s stronger than me and you and Cornelia put together. Two, I’m not sure what would happen to me if he died. The ties of our bond might be stronger than with his other spawn since I was the first. Three, we have to trust him, because if he is telling the truth, we have to do everything in our power to save my life, his life, and the lives of all his other changes. Later on we’ll talk about what we’re here for and what the plan is.” She smiled sadly, and then froze. She tilted her head and listened. Something was in the bushes. There was a good chance that it was a bunny or other animal, but… She closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose.

Then she had Will by the waist and was soaring towards the cave high in the mountain. She frantically set him down, told him to hide far from the entrance, then flew out again. She heard his faint ‘wait’ before she was out of range and tracking Daniel.

***

Cindy was sitting atop the roof of a small, abandoned store. Daniel had tracked her for less than five minutes before he found her fresh scent in the air. It smelled of cherries, blood. and lip gloss, with a hint of her unique scent that each person had. He’d followed that for another ten minutes before he found her. He landed next to her and stopped himself from moving any closer or saying anything.

She was covered in gore from head to toe. Her short blonde hair has tinted pink and crusted with small bits of flesh. Her face, hands, and arms were covered in half dry blood, and her clothes were still dripping. She had taken off her shoes and had them drying next to her, small puddles near the openings. There were streaks of skin color on her face where tears had run and washed the blood.

She looked up at him. Her eyes, a bright blue, contrasted the blood on her eyelids and lashes. “I lost control.” Was all she said, then looked down again. There were three and a half mutilated bodies down below, flesh and blood and clothes were scattered around them. Daniel couldn’t tell which ones were male or female. He slowly reached down and took Cindy’s hand in his. The blood on hers was sticky and cold. He said, “We all do. Come on, let’s get you cleaned off.” Then picked her up and flew away, and he felt her head lean on his shoulder. He knew well what it felt like to lose control, to kill more than you could eat. It was, in short, humiliating, depressing, and frustrating. If you lose control, any vampire nearby who isn’t an enemy will undoubtedly come to your comfort.

And it was extremely hard to clean up after as well, Daniel soon was reminded. They had found a lake and Daniel was using a torn piece of cloth to wipe Cindy clean. She was still in shock, sitting in the shallows of the icy water as he tried to get the dead flesh from her hair. He sang quietly to her, nursery rhymes about teapots, twinkling stars, and other childish things. When you are in the state that Cindy was, you like nothing more than simplicity and warmth. Though he couldn’t provide warmth, he could see she was relaxing.

Mercy dropped into the water nearby, took in what was and had happened, then rushed to Cindy, saying, “Baby, baby, oh, honey. You poor thing.” Then looking to Daniel, she asked, “How many?” he mouthed ‘about five’. This got a hug from Mercy, and she took off her jacket. Handing it to Daniel, she said, “Have this ready when we’re done. For now, go away.” He obeyed without question, and was called for a few minutes later to find Cindy, dressed in Mercy’s dry clothes, clean for the most part, and Mercy, shivering in Cindy’s wet ones, which had been thoroughly cleaned.

“Put the jacket on her so she can warm up. Then I’ll go ahead and start a fire in the cave. Don’t land on the ground, there are wolves. I don’t know if it could even be the hunt, but just in case, don’t, okay? You carry her, and be careful.” Then she flew off, beating her wings hard.

***

Will sighed and sat down. Then he stood again and resumed his pacing. Mercy’s hurried departure had worried him. Daniel being mysteriously gone also worried him. Cornelia’s absence worried him. The fact that if Mercy didn’t come back, he’d be trapped in this cave for the rest of his life worried him. It was cold, and he had no food, water, blankets, or even wood for a fire. Then he scolded himself for thinking that; he had no knowledge on how to start a fire anyway. So he chose to wait patiently until Mercy retrieved him. A wolf howled in the distance.

Mercy swooped in, dropping an armful of wood of the stone floor before arranging it with inhuman speed. Then she ran to the far back of the cave, picked something up, and ran back to the pile of wood. Will watched with interest as she struck a match, then set flame to a pile of smaller twigs inside her pile of thick wood. The flame went out, and she tried again. It went out twice more before it finally caught flame. Then she looked at Will.

“Daniel is bringing my friend with him. Her name is Cindy. Do not look her in the eye and do not make yourself known. Stay as far back in the cave as possible and don’t move. She is dangerous at the moment and it would be best if no one else got hurt.” She looked around. “Where’s Cornelia?” then, without waiting for an answer, flew out of the cave. She was back in less than thirty seconds with another armful of wood. Then she sat next to the fire and closed her eyes. Will noticed she was dripping wet, and was about to ask her about it when Daniel dropped into the cave, carrying a blonde girl of her early twenties, like Mercy. She was pretty, and wearing clothes slightly too small for her. Will backed up until he was in the shadows cast by the fire.

Mercy took the girl, who was most likely Cindy, and sat down again next to the fire. Cindy looked afraid, and she was sweating a lot. She shivered once and a while, which made Mercy gently hug her again. Daniel was leaning against the wall, looking slightly worried and resentful.

“She should be feeling better in a few hours, but if…” his eyes showed something that may have been fear, but it was gone in a moment. “She’ll feel better in a while.” Daniel smiled.

Will shifted his weight, and a small voice in his ear whispered ‘shh’. He looked, and a tiny girl was sitting on his shoulder. She had pink insect wings coming off her back, and was dressed in a flower-like pink dress. She stood and brushed off her dress, faint sparkles falling onto his dark t-shirt, before it changed to a ferret and curled around the back of his neck. He smiled slightly and wondered briefly if she’d made that up, or if fairies really existed.

As the sun rose, Cindy fell asleep and the rest of the party breathed a sigh of relief. Will had dozed for a while, but had been woken by ferret-Cornelia’s cold nose in his face when Cindy was out. He stood, stretching, and looked around the cave. Daniel was whittling a piece of wood a few feet away and well away from the increasing half circle of sunlight on the floor. Mercy had covered Cindy in a blanket and was sitting in the shade with one hand under the sun’s rays. It was turning pink, and looked painful. It turned a deeper shade and Will started to worry.

“Mercy? Stop that, you’re hurting yourself.” He walked to her and pulled her hand inside farther so it was out of the light. It was hot and covered in burns. “Why…” he looked at her face, which was studying her hand curiously.

“I haven’t ever been burnt like this before. It means I’m stronger.” She looked up at Will and smiled faintly. “I like it.” She pulled her hand from Will’s and studied it. He reached up to pet ferret-Cornelia behind her small yellow ears. She purred with delight. Mercy looked up at her and smiled more broadly. “I didn’t know ferrets could purr.”

“I don’t think they can. Apparently, though, shape shifters can. Come on, and let’s treat that burn.” Will said, and was relieved when Mercy stood and followed him to where Daniel had put their bags after retrieving them the previous night.

***

3 more pages of the more pregressed one :)

The next morning, Will woke to the bright sun in his eyes and a light rumble in his stomach. The convertible’s top was down, letting the moist dawn air dampen his clothes and hair. The car was parked at a McDonald’s in a city he didn’t recognize and Mercy was walking out holding a small bag.

Jumping up to an unnatural height and landing with elegance next to him in the backseat, she handed him the bag of warm, tempting scents.

“Vampires shop at McDonald’s?” She just smiled and nodded, saying,

“We do eat food, Will. But dead people need blood to be not dead people. It mostly just keeps up from crumbling into itty bitty pieces. Speaking of, I wanted to have some extra strength for the ‘regaining of Daniel’s honor’, so I’m going to go grab some, er…”

“Fast food?” Will offered. Mercy smiled, thanked him and, jumping out of the car with still surprising height, ran out of sight. Will saw a map with written directions in the passenger seat and silently thanked Mercy. Then, jumping into the driver’s seat, he started the car, and just as he was pulling out of the parking lot and taking the first bite of his sandwich, he saw a huge black bird soaring overhead. Then he noticed who it really was, and tried not to think too much on what that ‘bird’ would be doing to a poor civilian in the coming hours.

***

Cindy stopped for a snack on the second day of her flying, popping her ear buds out and walking up behind the ‘gangster’, smiling lightly to herself. She put her iPod in her pocket and gently tapped the man on the shoulder. He spun around with impressive speed, for a human, that is, and had a gun pointed at her head.

She faked fear, gasping, and he removed the firearm with apology. He began looking her up and down, his primal, untrained eyes roaming from her black shoes, designer skinny jeans, up to her tight cherry-red top and black leather jacket, then abruptly stopping to stare, terrified, into her blood red predator’s eyes. Here she extended her wings, for drama mostly, and grinned.

He had a total of three seconds to see her short blonde hair and smiling, fang-filled mouth before he was lying on the ground, having the blood drained from his body.

After the blood was gone, she ate most of the skin, a few muscles, and one eye, so as not to let people guess his identity.

Pumped with adrenaline, she dropped the mutilated body, and turned to find the rest of the ‘gang’ standing there, staring. Cussing to herself for not making sure there were no onlookers, she snarled. A few ran when she did, a few stood frozen, and one came forward, brandishing a shiny silver gun. Cindy, who was no longer Cindy, but an animal on the hunt, crouched into a fighting stance. Bullets wouldn’t hurt her.

The small, civilized part, deep inside of her soul breathed in relief that she was too much covered in blood and other assorted body parts that none of the fleeing men could give a description to the police. Cops wouldn’t believe it anyway. The animal just smiled and snatched the fighter up, flying away and feeding on him vigorously.

***

Will followed Mercy’s directions exactly until they brought him to the entrance of a campground. He double-checked the directions, and, satisfied, drove in. following them further led him down a road, and to a nearly invisible road that he had driven past multiple times without noticing. The road wound in unpredictable ways, forking, and splitting in too many places to count. He found himself constantly checking and rechecking the directions Mercy had written, and idly wondered who and when had these barely visible roads been made, and how in the world would he ever find a way out.

Then something fell into the passenger seat, crumpling the directions and screaming “I’m sorry! I’m so so so so sorry! Please don’t eat me, please!” the shape curled into a ball and shook with sobs as Mercy dropped into the backseat.

“Hey Will, guess what I found! A little snoop following us from the air! Wanna guess what the little snoop’s name is, Will? Wanna know that she says she told you where to find me? Want to know that she was trying to kill me? Want. To?” Mercy’s voice was thick with anger, slightly distorted, with the slightest twinge of hysteria. Will had slammed on the brakes and was staring at the shape with awe.

“Cornelia?” he asked, though the answer was obvious already. The girl in the seat next to him sat up, but it wasn’t Cornelia. It was a girl who couldn’t be seventeen yet. She was slim and well dressed, tight yet not revealing clothes clinging to her. She had a shiny black bob and bright, tear-filled eyes. Her lips were full and pouting as she said, “I am so sorry I lied, Will, really. I was never married; I made that up because of my brother, Greg. I did want to see a vampire though, and I’d been tracking this one for weeks. I needed you to come to the shop. My brother bet me that I couldn’t get a man to come to the shop with me before Friday and it was Thursday and I’m so sorry.” She looked pleadingly at him. He stared at her for a while before turning to Mercy.

“Um. I don’t really know who this is, Mercy. I’ve never seen her before. And I have no idea whatsoever what she is talking about.” He placed his hand over his heart in the sign for honesty. She snarled.

“Change back, bitch. He’s clueless.” This, Will guessed, was aimed at the girl in the passenger seat. He looked at her and ‘holy shit’ fell from his lips as he saw Cornelia, the one from before, sitting in the seat, though only the tears on her cheeks showed any resemblance to the teen from before. This one had big blue eyes, long, straight red hair, and was almost the exact opposite of the younger girl.

“This, William, is why we don’t trust shape-changers.” Mercy snarled. Cornelia huffed.

“Shifter. Shape shifter. Do I look like a runt to you? No. ‘Shape-changer’, pfft.” Cornelia was muttering.

Will stared at the girl next to him, then at Mercy. Then he noticed her features had changed. Her eyes were blood red, no pupils, and huge black wings were spread behind her, sunlight glistening off the slick feathers. Her teeth had elongated, probable cause for the speech distortion, and she looked, overall, scary. This was the monster from last night, not the girl he’d eaten Italian with months before.

He stared at her for a while then said, “I’m guessing you didn’t, um, feed yet, did you?” she looked confused, and then slowly, her teeth retracted and pupils appeared in her eyes.

“I… don’t usually lose control. Sorry.” Then took off as fast as she’d come. He turned back to Cornelia.

“I lost my place.” He sighed. When she looked puzzled, he sighed. “I have no idea where we are.” She then pulled the crumpled directions out from underneath her and shyly handed them to Will.

“I didn’t think she’d get so mad at me. My brother bet me that I couldn’t kill a vampire by Tuesday. I bet him he couldn’t get one before me. Now he’s gonna since I am now in captivity. Woe is me. Woe… is… me.” She said and suddenly threw her face in her hands, sobbing violently. Will stared at her, eyebrows nearly touching his hairline. He reached out and gently touched her shoulder.

“Cornelia? You did try to, um, kill her. It kind of entitles her to be angry. Um, it is kind of awkward driving with you like that. Um, could you… calm… down, maybe?” he briefly noticed everything he had ever learned about human nature and being a psychiatrist was being thrown out the window and blowing away with every word he said. He comforted himself with the fact that this woman was not, in fact, quite human.

She looked up at him slowly, and pouted her lips even further. “You aren’t very compassionate, are you? Thought you helped people who were unstable. Fine, if it makes you feel better, I’ll be all tough girl and stuff so you can drive. Because you are the only person in the world that matters, right? I knew once she told you what I was that you would get all racist on me. And it’s my birthday, too. Big old man picking on a poor, lonely, nineteen year old shifter.” She continued to mutter like this as she suddenly became a kitten and jumped in the back seat. Her mutters became quiet whines and yowlings.

When Will looked back at her, he frowned, picked her up, and then gently set her on his lap, she huffed a sigh. He whispered a quick ‘sorry’ down at the cute orange fluff ball in his lap then picked up the directions.

“My life is so upside down right now.” He told the kitten. “I have a shape shifter in my lap, I am waiting for a vampire to come back from eating someone, and to top it all off, I’m actually driving a red convertible.” He sighed. Kitten-Cornelia snorted at him and settled into a more comfortable position.

3 more pages

Erika laughed as Jerome spilled his drink all over his new tunic. He grinned back at his little sister and snatched her from her seat, tickling her until she was crying with laughter. She was only eight, him twenty three. He only came to visit once every year, a time she always loved, anticipated, and rejoiced in. Family.

Gone.

2.

Voyage

As they climbed through the still-open bathroom window, the sun was getting high in the sky, and Will looked at Mercy curiously.

“Aren’t you supposed to, like, die in sunlight or something? No offense.” Mercy just grinned, and ran her fingers along four gashes in the wall. Then She frowned slightly, tightened her folded wings closer to her body, then turned back to Will.

“Yeah, I suppose, most of us do get hurt, but I hardly get a sunburn. Sunscreen eliminates even that. Only super-frequent-feeders actually die in sunlight, though. I only feed when absolutely necessary, which is about once a month. If I don’t go at least once in a month, I’ll just go on a killing rampage and feed on every human I see. Not to scare you, but you smell really good. You always did, though.” She blushed a little, as if she just realized what she said. Her smile vanished as she remembered why they were at her apartment.

“I’ll go pack, and then we’ll go over to your place to get your stuff, just a minute.” She vanished into the bedroom connected to the bathroom, and returned in less than a minute with a small bag full with clothes, she proceeded to open drawers, grab something, shut the drawer, and then go on with amazing speed. Fifteen seconds later she gave Will the bag then ran back into the bedroom. She came back almost instantly changed into a black hoodie and snug, but comfortable looking, jeans. Will couldn’t help but smile at how… normal she looked. She blushed again when she caught him staring, then took him by the waist and jumped out the window again, and Will briefly wondered why he didn’t find this as odd as it seemed.

***

Cindy flew around the city four times, but Mercy’s scent was gone. Hidden by another’s, a stronger scent than Mercy’s. It was intoxicating, like the smell of chocolate cake to a starving hobo. She stopped, hovering, and frowned. What the hell? She thought, that’s human talk. And not even good human talk either. She shook her head and flew on.

Following the scent, gliding on the near high it put her in; it led her back to her dorm. She dove through the open window, instantly going to the bedroom, where she knew something was waiting. The note on her bed was written in Mercy’s hand, telling Cindy to meet her, Daniel, and Will at the Blood Mountain’s peak. In Arizona. In two days.

What the hell? Who’s Will? When did Mercy make contact will Daniel? She could have been killed! Oh, Will must be the chocolate cake. Mmm…

Cindy locked the door and turned to the bathroom. She stopped, stunned. Daniel was leaning against the door frame. She sighed.

“I told you to stay away from her. Now you are going to get her killed. And for what? A rock? I told you when we agreed to this that I would protect her, no matter the cost. If that cost is killing you, you know I will.” She crossed her arms, and Daniel sighed softly.

“I know you will. That’s why you are coming with us. We need someone who can fight well, and you fit the bill alright. Be at Blood Mountain as soon as possible. Victoria, er, Mercy, rather, will be there tomorrow night.” He turned and started out the window, which was being used as an entrance more than the door recently. Then he paused and looked back at Cindy.

“And Cindy, be sure to wear that charm I gave you.” Then he was gone, and Cindy was left, scowling. She packed and was flying in less than a minute, once again gliding on her Chocolate Cake’s scent.

***

Mercy and Will, after packing Will’s necessary items, walked to the car dealer two streets down. There, Mercy influenced the owner to give her, free of charge, a red convertible that shone brilliantly in the bright sun. if influence meant scary red eyes and big teeth with a little 'gimme!' thrown in. By then she’d somehow put her wings away and Will couldn’t see them anymore. He noted, as he waited for her to finish with the owner, that there were slits, barely noticeable, hidden by extra fabric, in the back of her hoodie, and most likely in her shirt as well.

When they got in, Mercy was speeding down highway after highway, as if no speed were fast enough. She tried her best to tell Will all she knew of vampire and demon information. Not a whole lot, as it turned out. She tapped at the steering wheel impatiently.

“So, vampires, um, I told you about the sunlight, they can die, by a few things; drowning, sunlight, a stake through the heart, of course, that usually kills anything, decapitation, burning, um, probably some other things too. We’re super fast, have really strong senses, like, I could hear a pin drop across a football field. And our sense of smell is like, better than anything else in the world. We smell ordinary smells, like perfume, food, animals, and garbage, but we can also smell, literally, when a human is lying, afraid, happy, sad, angry, etcetera. We cannot smell other vampires’ emotions though. Nothing from the other races either. But everyone has a unique smell. Yours is like, amazing. Like something…” she trailed off, mouth still open, and Will could see her incisors growing longer. She ran her tongue over them.

“Whoa. Okay, I get it. I smell good. Don’t eat me. Move on to a different subject. Please.” Will tried a smile, and it worked. Her teeth receded back into her gums, and she told him various things of various importances. He listened with fascination as all his studying was sorted into the category of ‘omygosh I was right!’ or ‘whoa was I ever wrong’. Demons don’t die unless they have someone drive a stone knife or spear through their stomach or heart, or they are completely purified or forgiven. Drowning works on them too, but they come back after a while if drowned. Demons are like vampires, but stronger, more powerful, and eat everything but the bones, not just the blood. They can both fly, but vampires have more agility in the air than demons.

After a couple hours and more than a little nagging, she told him her story.

“ Fine. Um, how I died. I was eighteen. I’d had the perfect life. I was beautiful, rich, courted by many, engaged to this guy, Richard. He was nice, we were in love. My dad died before I could remember him, so it was just me, my sister, and my mother living in our mansion with eight servants. Well, anyway, I asked my mother to go for a walk with me, so I could tell her about my engagement.” Her eyes were fixed on the highway, mind elsewhere. Will wanted to hold her hand, comfort her, because he had a feeling that the story was going to take a bad turn.

“We walked, laughed. She was my best friend, my mother. She took the news with joy, just like I had anticipated. On our way home, we took a shortcut through an alleyway. There was a man there, he cut off our path. He was elegant, black hair, slicked back, wavy. I remember falling in love with him the second he caught my eye. He was kind, chatted with my mother for a while, and then invited us in for tea. We went, but I had this… feeling that something bad was going to happen. Inside, he locked the door without us knowing. Then he grabbed my mother, just took her by the shoulders and slammed her against the door, and bit her neck. He ripped the flesh off, and I heard her screaming.” she took a shaky breath. “ Screaming. I was backed into a corner. I saw her blood falling as he ate her. He was licking the blood off of her face. I heard every drop that fell onto his stone floor. He, he killed her. My best friend, and he killed her.” A tear escaped from her eye and rolled down her cheek; her voice broke at the end of the sentence. Now Will did take her hand. His own eyes were tear-brimmed. She glanced at him now, saying “He killed my best friend. Then… then, he killed me.”

Will stiffened.

“But he didn't take away your life, that's for sure,” Will started, comfort in his voice. “You aren’t dead. You’re alive, I mean you breathe. You sleep. You walk and talk and… eat. You aren't actually dead.” After a long pause of silence, he said “I know you're alive, Mercy. You have more life inside of you than anyone I know, or ever knew. I almost envy you your...” Mercy shot him a look, “Sorry. So do you have to sleep, ‘cause I do, so are we going to stop and rest or…” Mercy physically relaxed at the change of subject.

“I can go weeks without rest. It’s kind of like with the sunlight. The stronger the vamp, the longer you can go without sleep. You can sleep in the backseat. Sleep tight,” She said quietly. Then, with a small hint of a smile she added, “And don’t let the vampies bite.” This got a laugh out of Will, and he jumped over and into the backseat, where he lay and thought on his current situation a while, wondered if he’d be fired when he got back, and slightly wished Cornelia were here so he could talk about it with a human. Then, as he came upon something enlightening and useful, he fell asleep and the thought would be forgotten in the morning.

still cheesy, but soon, people, soon!! :D