I sat quietly and watched while Sam's eyes flicked back and forth as she read the letter.

She didn't make a sound as she went from one page to the next, but whatever she was reading obviously had a huge effect on her. Her expression shifted back and forth, she looked upset, angry, sad, confused, worried. The emotions played back and forth over her face as she finally got to the end.

When she was done, Sam let out a deep sigh as she folded the pages back up and stuffed them back into the envelope.

I was curious, I wanted to know what was going on, but she didn't look like she was ready to talk about it yet. There was a distant, thoughtful, troubled look on her face as she set the envelope back down on the coffee table.

Beyond the curiosity I was worried about her. Whatever she'd just read obviously had a big impact on her and it didn't look like it was good news. I wasn't sure if I should give her a hug or try and talk to her or how to handle the situation. In the end I wound up doing nothing, and we both just sat together in silence for another ten or fifteen minutes before Sam finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry Tara," she sighed. "I'm sure you have a bunch of questions, but I need some time to think."

I replied quietly, "It's ok Sam. I figured it was something serious."

She leaned forward and picked up two of the stacks of money, then handed them to me. "Here, you can have these. Don't spend it all in one place."

"What?" I gasped in shock as I sat there with ten thousand dollars in each hand. "Are you serious?"

She shrugged, "Yeah. Don't go on any big spending sprees, maybe try and be a little frugal about it? It might have to last you the rest of your life. And don't flash any big purchases around other vamps."

That 'rest of my life' comment left me nervous again. The whole thing was strange. The last couple days had just been one thing after another really, all starting with the news that a vamp broke the Covenant and drained a human.

I knew it all had to be connected. First a human was drained, then Carlos was killed, now Sam got this mystery package with the upsetting letter. I worried that my strange stressful unlife was turning into some huge mystery or conspiracy or something, and it scared me to think of what might happen next.

While all this was going through my head, Sam picked up one of the little glass bottles. She was examining it, slowly turning it over and around in her hands as she stared at the strange black stuff inside.

I finally got up and went into my bedroom and dropped the two bricks of cash in the drawer of my bed-side table. I felt a little uncomfortable accepting them since they were obviously meant for Samantha, but I also didn't want to seem rude by turning down her gift. I figured I'd just hold onto the money for now, incase Sam needed it back. There wasn't anything I wanted to rush out and buy anyways.

While I was in my room I called, "Hey Sam? Are we doing a patrol tonight? Or are we done?"

After a moment I added, "I want to get out of this outfit, should I put on something for hitting the streets?"

It was another minute or so before she responded, "Take the rest of the night off. Do whatever you like. If you're going out, stay safe."

I grimaced, I didn't feel like going out alone now that I knew there was a Hunter in the city. I had no idea how a human would even know I was a vampire but I didn't want to take the chance and find out.

I stripped down, and frowned at the dirt and mud stains around the cuffs of my slacks. They'd need to be properly washed. And my nice shoes were filthy. They'd need a good cleaning, and I'd probably have to polish them or something too.

For now I pulled on a large loose nightshirt, and wandered barefoot back out to the living-room.

Samantha had the letter out of the envelope, she was staring at it again. I didn't want to disturb her so I opened the curtain and sliding door then stepped out onto our balcony. I barely ever found time to go out there. Either it was night and we were busy, or it was day and the sun was up.

The air was cool, it was around one in the morning in the middle of October. Fortunately vamps don't really feel the cold the way living humans do.

The city was well-lit, even in the middle of the night. Between all the street lights, car lights, store-fronts, billboards and everything else, it was pretty easy to see everything going on down below. And my vamp eyesight let me see a lot better than a human would at this time of night, so all that artificial light let me see the city almost like a human saw it in the daytime.

The main difference was I couldn't really see much of the lake, and of course the sky was black.

Still, it was a nice view. There was a bit of a breeze and the air felt a little fresher up here. Not that I needed to breath, but when I did it was nice to have clean air in my lungs.

I was out there alone for about ten or twelve minutes, just taking in the view and listening to the sounds of the city as it slept. Well, most of it slept, there was always something going on down there.

I'd been outside enjoying the balcony for a while when Sam came out and joined me. She was still dressed, but she'd taken off her jacket. She stood beside me at the railing and looked around over the city. Her expression was sort of thoughtful and melancholy, like she had a lot on her mind.

I watched her for a few moments, and this time I reached out and put my arm around her waist and gave her a gentle hug. As I held her I said, "Hey Sam? If there's anything you want to talk about, I'm here ok?"

"Thanks Tara," she replied quietly. Her arm wrapped around my shoulders as she pulled us closer together. "I feel like my whole world, my whole life's just been turned upside-down and given a shake. I've been lied to and manipulated, and I'm not even sure if I'm better off knowing that, or if I was happier being ignorant."

"That sounds really serious," I sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, "Not yet. Thanks though."

After a pause she added, "That stuff in the folio came from an old friend. A friend who I've just learned died not long after she wrote the letter."

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "Is there anything I can do?"

She shrugged, "Don't die. Right now that's the most important thing."

I couldn't tell if she was trying to make light of a serious situation or if she was actually meant it. Either way it left me feeling more worried, for both of us. Obviously whatever was going on was dangerous and I got the feeling we were both being pulled into something big.

For now I just nodded slightly and responded, "I'll do my best Sam."

We stood there hugging for another minute or two, before she finally let go. Sam turned and went back inside, then called to me "I'm going to eat. You hungry?"

I could never turn down blood, I followed her back inside and closed the sliding door and pulled the curtain closed behind me.

She got out a couple mugs for us and warmed up a pair of bags in the microwave. The two of us sat together on the sofa and I quickly filled my mug up then took a deep sip.

Sam was taking it slower. She half-filled her mug, then picked up one of those glass vials. She broke open the wax and pulled the cork out and sniffed it, then made a face.

I had another sip of my meal as I watched Samantha squeeze a few drops from her bag into the vial. A couple seconds later that hard black stuff seemed to melt into a viscous liquid. It looked like blood, but it was darker and thicker than human blood.

Sam took another sniff then made another face, but she turned up the vial and poured the contents into her mug.

"What is it?" I asked quietly.

She didn't answer yet. She took a sip then scowled and replied, "It's kind of gross to be honest."

"Still, bottoms-up," she added before she chugged the whole thing.

When her mug was empty she made a face, "Ugh. That's unpleasant."

"But what was it?" I asked again.

Samantha picked up two more of the vials and handed them to me as she replied, "It's a shortcut. A cheat. A power-up."

I took them from her, but looked back and her and asked "What?"

She picked up the last vial and cracked it open then repeated the process. A few drops of blood from the bag seemed to turn the black stuff into a blood-like liquid, which she poured into her mug and mixed with the rest of the blood from her bag.

And once again she chugged it, then grimaced as if she'd just done a double-shot of tequila.

"Uh, Sam?" I asked. "What the fuck did you just drink?"

She was still making faces as if the aftertaste was as bad as the drink itself. "It's the blood of some ancient powerful vampire. It'll boost your strength, speed, stamina... I don't know how much. It might take a few weeks to kick in though."

I looked back and forth between her and the two glass vials, "Do you really want me to drink this?"

Samantha got that sad distant worried look on her face again. She took a deep breath then sighed, "I'm not going to order you to drink it Tara. But we're in danger. The whole Family is, but you and me especially. You know how much some of them hate us right? If this stuff can give us an advantage, I want to share that with you. Like I've said before, I can't stand to see you hurt. I... I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

Her words left a little flutter in my stomach, and I looked down at the two vials again. I asked, "Do you think this stuff will really work?"

"Apparently I was fed a quarter of a vial when I was one year dead," she replied quietly. "And by the time I was twenty I was strong enough to be the top enforcer. I think it'll probably work. I have no idea what two full vials will do to us though."

I nodded slowly then sighed "You could have at least pretended they tasted good."

That got a little giggle out of her and she apologized, "Sorry Tara. Next time."

After thinking it over for another minute or two I decided to go for it. I followed her example and used a few drops of my dinner to activate the sludge in one of the vials, then dumped it into my mug. Finally I took a deep breath and gulped it all down.

The taste was worse than I'd been prepared for. It was like rancid meat, and the aftertaste was just as bad.

"Ugh that's revolting!" I grimaced. "Are you sure it's not some kind of anti-vampire poison or something?"

Sam laughed, "If it was, I guess we can both go out quietly together. But I'm pretty sure it wasn't. If she wanted to kill me, there's a lot of ways she could do that without a long letter and a bunch of mysteries and confessions."

I almost asked who, but I figured if she wanted me to know who her secret friend was she'd have just said their name.

After the first one, it took me a few minutes to work up the courage to take the second. I was grimacing the whole time as I prepared it then finally mixed it in with the last of my meal. I usually liked to take my blood slowly so I could savour it, but this stuff was so revolting I just needed to get it over with.

So I chugged the second mug, then made more faces and some unpleasant noises as I dealt with the taste.

"What a waste of good blood," I finally sighed.

Samantha seemed to agree. She took the empty mugs back to the kitchen and rinsed them out, then surprised me by opening a third bag. We normally only got one each per day, that's all we were rationed for. But she refilled the two mugs, then warmed them both up in the microwave.

When they were done she brought them both to the living-room and said, "Here, enjoy."

We wound up cuddling on the sofa as we slowly savoured these ones. I had an arm around her waist, her arm was around my shoulders, and I was leaning up close against her.

The unadulterated blood was delicious compared to what we'd forced down a few minutes earlier, but beyond that it just felt nice being so close again. I felt safe, and I hoped Sam felt better. I hoped she was less stressed about whatever was in that letter.

As I had another sip of my dessert I asked, "How will we know if that magical black sludge has done anything?"

"No idea," Samantha replied. "I guess we'll know when we know."

I had another sip of blood then commented quietly, "I hope we don't die."

She smiled slightly, "Me too, cutie."

PurpleCatGirl

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