~ Marie ~
“Just a dream.” The scent of blood lingered past the nightmare but there was no use dwelling on it in the here and now. Taking one last deep breath, Marie stood up and went to take a shower. Since Mark was sleeping in her room, she would just have to wear the same clothes. It wasn’t a big deal for her though. Marie used a spell to clean them before leaving the room. Lara had taught her the spell when she was still an apprentice and didn’t know how to do basic chores. The spells had worked out better for her than using a mop or broom. Ever since then, Marie had used magic to clean. The magic needed for the spells was small, it didn’t cost her anything to use it instead of normal means.
Halfway down the stairs, she stopped and stared at her bedroom door. Should she lock him in her room? She wouldn’t have to worry about him testing her bluff. Marie shook her head. It was only a few errands. Nothing that should take her so long that she wouldn’t be back in time.
After a quick breakfast of coffee and toast with a side of vitamins, Marie grabbed her jacket and headed out. She stopped and waited for several cars to pass before crossing the street. The access road ran right in front of her house. Depending on the time, the traffic on the road differed but not by much. At ten in the morning, the traffic wasn’t as bad as it would be in two hours. Lunchtime was always heavy with traffic. Marie zipped her jacket up and put her hands in her pocket as she continued down the sidewalk and under the highway. She watched as several of the homeless people crossed the street and sat down on the other side. The underpass was normally where the homeless liked to sit to get out of the sun. About fifteen feet from the underpass was an intersection where they would hold up signs and try to beg change from passing cars and the occasional pedestrian. Not that any of them ever begged from Marie. Not so much as a glance was cast her way but that was fine by her. She had nothing to give.
The breeze pushed her hair back as she continued towards her destination. It was already starting to feel like autumn, with temperatures starting to finally drop into the low eighties and high seventies. The cool wind felt great after the kind of summer she had.
Summer in San Angelino was hot.
Always.
And with temperatures in the hundreds, walking from place to place had been unbearable. Not that it stopped her from doing what needed to be done but there were several times when the thought of not accepting any more work had crossed her mind.
Marie stopped on the side of an all black building and went down the small alleyway that separated it from the building next door. On the outside, it looked like a bar closed for the morning with its dark tinted windows and large neon butterfly lights turned off. The Purple Butterfly was closed to the public until the evening. Only certain individuals would be allowed past its doors during the day.
Once she came to a door marked ‘Employees Only’, she stopped and knocked on the door lightly. The door opened to reveal an old man, hunched over, leaning heavily on a cane. Wisps of white hair curled around his head as his pale blue eyes squinted at her through thick glasses. Marie waited patiently while he inspected her. Eventually, he nodded and shuffled to the side allowing her entrance. The doorkeeper of the Purple Butterfly might look like a pushover but anyone who tried to get past him would not live to see tomorrow. He was invaluable to a place like this where all sorts of people from the Deep End would come.
This was true neutral ground.
A place where factions and personal grudges didn’t matter and where any item or good could be bought. However, just like anything that was a part of the Deep End, nothing was as it seemed. More than money was used to purchase items and if the buyer wasn’t careful, the cost could be far more dangerous than the item itself. This was a place best used in moderation. As a precaution, Marie stuck to only things she could purchase with money. She wasn’t enough of a fool to go beyond that.
As soon as she crossed the threshold, the door behind her closed without being touched. Marie shut her eyes for a moment to get used to the dimly lit hallway before opening them again. The small hallway was littered with boxes and brooms. The old man had disappeared but she knew that he was still studying every move she made. If she or anyone else caused trouble here, he would be back. Carefully, she picked her way around the boxes and made her way to the front. Marie opened another door and strode towards the counter near the back. There were more lights on in here but they were dimmed down low so as not to be blinding. Around the counter, several people were already sitting down. A few turned to watch her progress for a moment before turning back around. Marie ignored them as she picked a spot on the other side of the counter to sit.
“What will it be?” A short, round man with salt and pepper hair that was balding in the middle stopped in front of her. The bartender was dressed in a white button down shirt with a black tie.
“I’d like to place an order and a cup of black coffee.”
“Coming right up.” The bartender reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper and a pencil. He placed it on the counter in front of her before disappearing into the back room. The paper listed requirements like her name, the item she wanted and when she needed the item. Marie filled each of them out and turned the paper over when she was done. She should get an answer back quickly since what she wanted wasn’t rare in a city filled with vampires.
Marie still felt eyes on her but she continued to ignore her observer. Whoever they were, they would have to be content with staring. She wasn’t going to do anything unless they followed her outside. In here, any magic she used would be taken as an act of aggression and quickly punished. Even something nonviolent would be seen as violating the sanctity of neutral ground.
She turned her attention back to the bartender as he returned with her cup of coffee. The form was returned to her before she had even taken a sip. Marie flipped the paper over just enough to skim it. There was a quote listed and if she agreed with the price, all she had to do was put the money down. Marie pulled the money out before sliding it and the paper towards the bartender. She began to sip her coffee as he went and got her a receipt.
“Thank you for your business.” She put her half filled cup back down as she put the receipt back in her pocket. With her business here done, she left and went on to her next stop. No one followed her as far as she could tell.
Marie made sure to keep an eye out as she stopped at the bookstore. She wanted to browse the collection. Marie frowned for a moment before she headed towards the cash register. Adding relevant information to her library was a constant goal but with someone at the house it was better just to pick up what she ordered and just move on. She still had errands to run. Marie would need to make sure to swing by a grocery store to pick up some more food after this. Then she needed to wait for her delivery at the house.
A small smile touched her lips for a moment. She might even get more of her research done before the boy woke up.
*~*~*~*~*
After her groceries were put away, Marie went to her study and placed her new books on the floor next to the door. The table would have been her usual choice but there was so much stuff on it that it was hard to tell there was a table at all. Half still held her research and several versions she had written, while the other half held most of the books she used. Hmm. She glanced back at the living room before looking at her table. There was still plenty of time left according to her watch. Marie sat down and began to shuffle the papers in front of her. She pulled a fresh sheet out and set about rewriting only the relevant information.
Several hours passed, before she finally had something she was satisfied with. Marie stood up and stretched as she glanced at her watch again. It was a little past two. Time for a break. Marie moved to the kitchen to get some coffee and maybe something to eat. She took a bite of her sandwich as she waited for the coffee maker. Marie thought over the case so far. It wasn’t much.
There were three vampire clans in the city. Each of them had a mix of vampires and humans in their group, though their numbers differed from clan to clan. The clans were the most careful about keeping their secrecy since they had a lot more to lose. So why would any of them send over three young vampires to her house? The vampires that had been sent were too young to use their Voice properly.
Based on her reading, a young vampire needed to be trained in the use of their ability. At the beginning, using their Voice was sporadic and was not something they could do at will. Only through constant training would it become a weapon they could use whenever they wanted. Why send someone like that to a human’s house, least of all, a Guardian’s house? It didn’t make sense. Someone must have been in a rush and sent out whoever was at hand. Considering that Adrian came personally, it was unlikely they came from his clan.
So who was it?
Westfall vampires mostly kept to the north, northeast part of the city. The Bel Meade vampires kept mostly to the south part of the city and the Stone Oak vampires kept mostly to the west side of the city. That wasn’t to say that they didn’t have houses and business in other parts of the city, just that they mostly lived in those areas. Solitary vampires were mostly located in the east but they were solitary for a reason and would be unlikely to have the manpower. However, it didn’t mean that it was impossible for them to form a group either.
That was all the information that she had on them. More information was hard to get given their secrecy. She sighed as she dusted her hands off over the trash can in order to get rid of breadcrumbs. Marie went back to the counter and leaned against it. This was getting nowhere. It would be better to question Mark once the sun went down and hope he remembered more about what happened.
The doorbell rang. Marie went to the front door and opened it to be greeted by a brightly smiling man in a khaki uniform and hat.
“Marie Williams?” He offered her a small electronic pad to sign with one hand while he held her package under his other arm. She signed it quickly and handed it back. He took the pad back as he handed over her package. “Thank you very much.” He nodded at her before turning away and briskly walking back to a white van parked in her driveway. Marie closed the door with her foot and used magic to lock the door.
Back in the kitchen, she opened the package and began to unpack the blood sitting at the bottom of the foam box. Marie put her hand to her chin as she looked around. Where could she store it? After deliberating for several moments, she decided the best place for it was the fridge. If that didn’t work, then she would come up with something else. Marie opened the fridge and moved the food to the side. The blood was put on the right in neat piles. She stared at it for a moment. It was a little odd seeing blood sitting there right next to food but it was only temporary. She’d bought enough to last him for a week. Beyond that, she would play it by ear but hopefully the case would be solved by then.
Now that her afternoon was free for another couple of hours, now would be a great time to go over the books she just bought as well as clean up her study. Maybe reorganize some of the books to make it easier to find things.
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