Chapter 5

Twelve years ago...

Kaeli was psyched. Friday had finally rolled around again, and they were making their return to the Deadly Rose. She didn't know what it was about the place, but she had been waiting for this all week. The line to get into the club was moving way too slow; couldn't the fanged hulk of a bouncer just let people the hell in so she could get inside?

"Is it me, or are you really on edge tonight?" Andy said behind her.

Kaeli responded by letting out a breath to calm her nerves, which she hadn't even realized had been on edge. "Sorry."

"I was just curious," Andy shrugged. "I mean you've been kind of distant all week since the last time we were here. What's going on anyway?"

"She's just pent up from all the hunting and needs to get out and party!" Jade suggested.

Kaeli rolled her eyes. "Thank you Dr. Freaky."

They were finally getting to the front of the line; only one more person stood in front of them, a woman with neck-length dark hair. The huge bouncer took one look at her, and an odd look of amusement appeared on his face. "Well I'll be damned. And what would you be doin' here, Annabelle?"

"Hi, Chill, nice to see you too," she replied. "I'm here to see Electra, where is she?"

Kaeli had suddenly developed a keen interest in the person standing in front of her. "Didn't you and her have some kinda blowout or something like five, six years ago maybe?"

"Good to see your memory still works. I'm not here to make any trouble; I just want to talk business with your boss. Now are you gonna let me in or what?"

Kaeli turned back and exchanged a glance with Andy, and saw that he was thinking the same thing she was: this definitely merited investigation. Andy carefully produced a tiny audio bug from his pocket and smoothly handed it to her. She gave him a nod, and turned to face back forward. They knew what to do.

Making himself look clumsy, Andy pretended to accidentally stumble forward and bumped into Kaeli from behind. This caused Kaeli to stumble into the back of Annabelle, and in that motion she smoothly planted the bug on the back of her dress. "Watch it dickhead!" she shot back at Andy.

"Sorry babe," he returned.

"Hey, sorry about that," Kaeli said to Annabelle, who was looking back at her with an annoyed glare.

Annabelle remained silent a moment, before finally saying, "Not a problem." She turned her attention back to the bouncer. "As we were saying?"

Chill shrugged. "All right, your funeral. Go on in."

Kaeli and the others followed without much trouble, moving casually into the din of the revelers. Andy leaned close to Kaeli and said, "Was the 'dickhead' part really necessary?"

Kaeli grinned mischievously. "I was just living the part. Now where's our guest of honor?"

Andy produced the small tracking device disguised as a cell phone Ethan had provided them. A dot appeared in the corner of the screen. "She's in this direction somewhere."

"Tell you what, you go find her and see where she leads. I wanna check out the chick who was in line in front of us and what she has to say with the boss."

Andy shrugged. "Works for me, I guess." He pulled another ear transmitter and handed it to her. "This is tuned to the bug I gave you. Just plug 'er in and you're good to go."

Kaeli nodded, and fitted the device to her free ear. A quick tap, and a new influx of noise began coming into her ear, along with the woman's voice saying, "Excuse me." Kaeli gave Andy a nod, and moved off through the crowd to see where she led.

Gradually the sounds of ambient noise coming into her ear lessened—punctuated suddenly by the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking. The gun was relaxed a second later, accompanied by another woman's voice chuckling. "I never thought you'd be stupid enough to come back here again."

"Don't sound the fire alarm, Jackie, I'm just here to talk to Electra," Annabelle's voice said.

"And the stupid just keeps on coming."

"The fact that I'm even standing here proves Chill was good enough to let me in, doesn't it? He knows I'm not going to make any trouble."

"Big Chill is not the brightest bulb if you recall. But all right, I'll let you go talk as long as you have me as a chaperone."

"Now that hurts, Jackie. Don't you trust me?"

There was a brief moment of silence. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

The transmitter in Kaeli's other ear beeped. "I've spotted our little miss worm-on-the-hook," Andy's voice came through.

"Keep an eye on her," Dorian's voice said back. "If our hypothesis is correct, she'll probably be looking for the vamp that bit her last week."

The other voices she was hearing were punctuated by the sound of a door opening. "Hey Electra," Jackie said, "you'll never believe who decided to drop by."

Andy's voice in one transmitter acknowledged Dorian's instructions, while a feminine voice in the other began to laugh. "I'll be damned to hell," a silky female voice with a thick English accent said. "And to what do I owe this dubious pleasure?"

"Long story short, Electra," Annabelle responded, "I'm interested in reinitiating our business arrangement."

There was the sound of chuckling, as Andy's voice in the other transmitter said, "She's on the move. And she's going like she's got a purpose." Kaeli was getting tired of dividing her attention between two transmitters. She sighed, and after a brief hesitation, removed the transmitter that was allowing her to keep contact with the team.

"And why, daresay, would you be interested in that?" said Electra.

"I can't continue to fund my house and my lessons indefinitely, that's why."

"Where were you when we had this discussion six years ago?" Electra snidely said. "I'll repeat what I said for the benefit of your obviously limited mind: I have no further interest in that pitiful mansion of yours, or those sad excuses for vampires you call disciples. I have my Chosen; I don't need you any more. You'll just have to swallow your pride and get yourself a damned day job."

"Yes, I recall you saying that."

"So explain to me what exactly I stand to gain by continuing the arrangement we officially terminated back then?"

"I thought my newest pupil might interest you."

Just as Kaeli heard Electra say, "And what led you to that curious notion?" she spotted the vampire from the previous week sitting at the bar in the same place. She ducked back so that another patron blocked his view of her; she didn't want him recognizing her.

Annabelle's response to Electra's question was: "Because she mastered ultra-sensory perception in a single session."

The transmitter in Kaeli's ear fell suddenly silent. Either something had gone wrong with the signal, or Electra had been thoroughly stunned by what Annabelle just said. Kaeli suspected the latter to be true, which was confirmed when she heard Electra say in a shocked voice, "You're certain of this?"

"I know I didn't live up to your warrior fantasy, and we've never agreed on much of anything, but have I ever lied to you?"

Kaeli barely noticed Electra saying, "No, I honestly can't say you have," as she spotted the blonde bimbo from the previous week approaching ... only she wasn't approaching her. She was being drawn by the hypnotic lure of her Prince of Darkness. As they'd surmised, she was returning to the dark-haired, long-ponytailed, golden-eyed vampire that Kaeli was trying to avoid being seen by.

Kaeli returned the team transmitter to her other ear, in time to hear Dorian loudly calling to her. "Kaeli! Kaeli, answer!"

"Yes, Dorian, I'm right here. And I see her. She's with him again."

"Where were you? We've been trying to get a response from you for like five minutes!"

"I'm sorry, I was trying to listen to ... wait, hold on." Electra was talking again.

"What else have you taught her?"

"The night following her first lesson, I instructed her in soul scanning," said Annabelle. "That was last Saturday. She came back last night telling me she'd achieved it. She should now be working on hypnotic charm."

"Perhaps if you were to bring this prodigy of yours here for me to meet, I might tell you if she was worth reestablishing our partnership," Electra said.

"Well, trouble is she's still underage."

"How old is she exactly?"

"Eighteen."

"That young? A mere tot has displayed that kind of proficiency already?"

"As I said before, have I ever lied to you?"

Dorian called to her again. "Kaeli, what's going on?" She groaned, and again removed the team transmitter, returning her full attention to eavesdropping. The conversation she was hearing was getting very interesting.

"So my understanding," Electra mused, "is that you want me to visit your mansion again, where I have had the good sense not to bother myself with in decades, so that I may meet this child prodigy, and if I find her interesting I resume supplying your funds to support your perverted teachings of my discipline?"

"I think that about sums it up," Annabelle chimed.

"And when precisely would you like me to make this thrice-cursed trip?"

"I would say whenever you want, but that would probably be never, now wouldn't it?"

"Unless it proves worth it, that is very correct."

"I instructed her to come back next Wednesday to inform me of her progress," Annabelle said simply. "You can meet her then."

"I do have my own matters to attend to, I'm sure you're aware," Electra warned.

"Oh trust me, you'll appreciate the time you took when you meet her."

For a brief moment the dialogue ended there. And it sounded like Annabelle was moving, probably for the door. "Perhaps you'd like to tell me this girl's name before you leave?" Electra said then.

After a brief pause, Annabelle responded, "Elizabeth."

Kaeli then heard the footsteps that indicated Annabelle was leaving. And she was officially intrigued. This mansion they had been talking about definitely merited investigation ... but how would she find it, and then how would she get in?

Offhand, she could only think of one answer—and she knew it was one she'd rather not run by Dorian. He'd never let her do it. But for some reason, she felt this was something she had to do. She clutched at her crucifix, whispered a prayer, and started walking.

The hunter girl was doing her damnedest to be sneaky, but Anthony had been aware of her presence long before she was of his. He was just finishing up his taste of Caitlyn for the night when he noticed the girl starting to move towards the back. It seemed like she had found something that interested her more than him. He had a feeling he had best find out what.

First things first, though. Caitlyn was just coming out of the trance she went into while he fed. "Caitlyn, dear," he said gently, "I have some things to do now. Will you wait for me out front?"

"Of course," she said with a weak smile.

"Go on now."

Caitlyn turned and began heading for the exit, and Anthony looked around him carefully. As he'd hoped, it didn't look like anyone—at least anyone who wasn't a vampire—was going to notice the disappearing act he was about to pull. They were all too busy dancing and drinking. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, letting himself drift into a deep trance. He felt his body slowly beginning to dissolve from the outside in, fading a little bit at a time. Within less than a minute he was no longer a solid shape, but a floating, drifting mass that saw and heard in all directions as it drifted along the floor.

According to Electra, the Old Ones—or at least Dracula—were capable of fading into mist almost in the blink of an eye. Anthony still needed some more work. It sometimes tugged at his patience that he was still so slow at that trait; the way Electra always talked about the glorious night when they would take back the throne, he was becoming particularly anxious to hear her say he was ready. He'd been training for six years, and the act was still a physical chore.

His vision in this form was hazy and colorless, and his hearing slightly distorted, but it was clear enough that he was quickly able to find the hunter girl again. And she was in fact moving towards the VIP area in the back, where she was most likely going to be greeted by Jackie's gun, but with a hunter one couldn't leave anything to chance. Then another woman emerged from the VIP area, and the hunter girl's attention instantly seemed to fixate on her. Anthony focused his own attention on that woman as the hunter approached her...

Wait, I recognize her. She was Electra's former protégé before she began training me. What was her name? ... It began with A ... Abigail? No, that wasn't it ... damnit, I can't remember. The hunter girl got within speaking distance of her, and she spoke. "Excuse me, uh, Annabelle? That's your name, that's what the bouncer called you, right?"

Annabelle, that's right.

"Yes?"

The hunter girl hesitated. "Um ... I was wondering ... well ... I mean ... are you a vampire?"

Had Anthony been in solid form at that moment, his brow would have furrowed curiously. What was this girl up to? "Who are you?" Annabelle asked.

"My name's Kaeli," said the girl. "And I want to be like you. I want to be a vampire."

And it just kept getting weirder. Could he have been wrong about her? Maybe she wasn't a hunter after all ... unless this was some kind of ploy. He was sure last week when he looked at her eyes, he was sure she had to be a hunter, and if she was there had to be some ulterior purpose to what she just said.

"Why don't you give me the long story?" Annabelle said curiously, folding her arms.

"Well, I just sort of heard a rumor that this was a vampire club, and when we were in line, and you were talking to the bouncer about the boss, I just ... kind of figured you probably were ... one, you know. So, I figured I'd try talking to you."

"And just why do you want to become a vampire?"

Kaeli paused. "Look, I ... I have my reasons, just ... can you make me one or not?"

Annabelle gazed at her studiously, looking straight into her eyes. Anthony recognized that look. If she did in fact study under Electra, what she was probably doing now was looking into the girl's soul, just as he had done. She probably had already figured out what Kaeli was thinking, whether Kaeli was aware of it or not. Then an odd smile suddenly came over her face. "So when and where do you want to do this?" she said.

"Well, not here," said Kaeli, "and not tonight. Do you have a place I could come to, or something? Somewhere you live?"

Ah-hah! Anthony understood the girl's plan now.

Annabelle grinned suspiciously. "Yes," she said in a rather oily way. "I do." She reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a small card, and handed it to Kaeli. "Why don't you come by ... Wednesday?"

All at once Kaeli seemed to freeze up. She seemed to be contemplating the situation very carefully, and after a long, very tense pause, finally said, "All right. Wednesday. At eleven."

"Wonderful," Annabelle grinned. "My girls will be very excited to meet you."

Kaeli hesitated a moment more before turning to go. Anthony decided he'd best follow her, to see if he could learn anything more. One way or another, a hunter constituted a threat, and he needed to learn all he could about her. He drifted along after her as she headed for the exit. She paused once and looked around behind her, evidently suspicious that she was under observation, but not noticing anything except a little mist around her continued moving.

As she put some distance between her and Annabelle, she produced a small object that she placed in her ear and tapped. "Dorian?"

"Kaeli?" a voice said from the device. "Where have you been?" The mist form did have a distinct advantage that he could get close enough to overhear a conversation even from a small bug like that without being noticed.

"I'm sorry, I was ... well I was eavesdropping on Electra. I was having trouble dividing my attention." Anthony had certainly not wanted to hear that. And Electra definitely would not be happy to hear that.

"Tell me you found out something useful."

"Well, she was having a chat with some former associate of hers. They mentioned something about a mansion that houses another group of vampires, but I wasn't able to confirm a location."

That last statement had Anthony quite perplexed. She had just gotten the address from Annabelle, hadn't she? Why would she lie to her teammate about that?

"All right, that's good enough," Dorian said. "Pull out now, we don't want anyone noticing you."

Too damn late, sucker, Anthony thought mischievously. He had enough; it was time for Electra to hear the news. He floated away from Kaeli and began moving towards Electra's office.

As he expected, Electra noticed him even before he began creeping under the door of her office and coalescing back into solid shape. Her head was raised, looking up from her desk and following him with her eyes. "So what's the trouble?" she said as he was working on solidifying. "You come into my office like that, something's got to be up."

As soon as he was capable of forming words, he formed one: "Hunters."

"That's what you said last week, except you came to me solid to say it. Please, elaborate."

"Your ex-protégé, Annabelle? She was here tonight, wasn't she?"

Electra leaned back in her chair, rolling her eyes. "Tragically."

"Well I overheard the hunter girl from last week talking to her. She used some cover story about wanting to become a vampire to find Annabelle's base of operations. They agreed to meet there on Wednesday."

"Really?" Electra said, raising an eyebrow. "Annabelle certainly thinks in mysterious ways."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Annabelle wants me to come calling the same night. Whatever can be going through that mischievous mind of hers?"

"I thought you'd also like to know that girl was eavesdropping on you."

Electra eyed him curiously. "How did you come by this pearl of knowledge?"

"I listened to her when she contacted the leader of her team on the way out. She called him Dorian—"

Electra's eyes instantly went wild. "What? Are you certain?"

"Yes..." Anthony said curiously, wondering what Electra could find so exciting about hearing the name of a hunter.

"Did you see his face?" she demanded, rising from her chair and approaching him so fast her chair almost fell over.

"No, I only heard his voice."

She put her hands on he sides of his head and looked straight into his eyes. "That's enough. Share it with me."

She wanted to mind-link. And Anthony knew better than to ask questions when Electra wanted something. He did as she did, putting his hands on the sides of her head and looking into her eyes. He concentrated on the eyes meeting his, and called up the memory of the conversation he had just overheard. He felt her presence moving through his thoughts, sharing with him his recollection.