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Several minutes passed by Scarlet as she rewatched her father’s message a few times, solidifying the image of her supportive dad in her mind.  He’d been torn between choosing to continue down the road of insanity with her mother or making what little changes he could to give her a possible future after her world fell apart.  He’d chosen her.

The throbbing in her chest was like hot irons, searing her every time she saw her father start breaking down over the video.  Her mom wasn’t some heartless psychopath; she was terrified of The Oscillation and whatever Revilla showed her.  All she wanted to do was save her; no matter the crimes she had to commit, they were all done out of love for her.

Gradually, her jaw pressed tighter and tighter, hatred boiled in her every time she heard him say the damnable creature’s name that had stricken her parents since they were teenagers.

Revilla, she seethed inside, it’s all Revilla’s fault.  Twilight is trying to help me… or, she’s supposed to.  Her breathing slowed as she patted Rachel’s arm, letting her know she was okay to back off, but Nia wasn’t so quick to let her go.

“Does it still hurt?”  Nia whimpered, looking adorably vulnerable with her big puffy eyes, and pulled-back ears.  “Who do we gotta beat up, Master Sergeant?”

Rachel leaned over to ruffle the girl’s hair with a sad smile.  “There’s nothing we can do right away, Little Bun.  What’s on your mind, Scarlet?”

Scarlet’s bottom lip tucked under, fangs poking through her skin; for some reason, the action always helped her calm down.  “Mmm.  The Scarlet Hand is going to come after my dad’s body, right—a vampire?”

“Most likely,” she sighed, bringing a leg up to her chest as she shifted on her chair to face her and fixed her dress straps.  “That’s the best-case scenario, where we can tie all of it up in one neat bow, but I get the feeling there will be other complications.”

Her blue eyes darted back to her father’s paused face on the screen, a small fire flickering to life in her breast.  “Your misfortune sense, huh?  What, hmm…”  Her lips pulled together again as she rethought what was rolling through her mind.

“Mhm?”  Rachel pressed, head cocking to the side and scooting back a little.  “Whatever you’re thinking, I am sensing a change in destiny.  What’s up?”

Scarlet’s vision narrowed at the word, fingers tightening against her lap.  “I felt so caged… like a hostage to this fate that my parents forced onto me.  I want to change.  I don’t want to be powerless anymore…  Whatever comes, I want to handle this one on my own.  Do you have enough faith in me to do it?”

Nia’s eyes somehow grew wider.  “W-What?!  B-But…”

“It’s fine, Nia,” Rachel interrupted, a calculating half-smile lifting her eyes while studying her.  “If this is what you need, then I do trust you are more than powerful enough to handle yourself; I’ve run internal fight simulations against you, and I have to use all the hacks I can to match Twilight.  My only concern is…”

“How weak my resolve is…  I haven’t killed anyone yet,” Scarlet mumbled, fidgeting with her dress front.  “I know.  I just feel like… like I’ll never be able to stand on my own if I can’t do this.  I have to face the Scarlet Hand… my mom on my own.”

Rachel reached over to rub her arm, the hare’s supportive smile bringing a smile to her own lips.  “Nia and I will be listening—just for insurance—but that means you need to act.  We can’t know how the others will react if we tell them.”

Goosebumps prickled down her arms as she shifted her posture to look at Omen’s leader—her leader since she’d agreed to join.  “You mean…”

“Mhm.”  Ears shifting left and right, the white-haired woman’s gaze wandered to various areas.  “Think of this as a special OP.  If you notice something is wrong, act.  It’s what I’d do, and trust your instincts.  Think carefully, and don’t trust anyone.  If they’re approaching you, they want something.  You will have to make decisions that are uncomfortable, Scarlet, and that is the only thing that I am worried about.”

Nia nudged her, ears jabbing her cheek to get her attention.  “Yeah!  Yeah!  I’m soo bad at making decisions.  I freeze!  Not Big Nia, but I rely so much on the Cap.  Don’t push yourself, Little Fang!  We’re a team, right?  I don’t want you to get hurt…”

“Right,” Scarlet chuckled, bending down to kiss the rabbit’s forehead and smooth out her hair; now she felt a little like a big sister, which was nice.  “I freeze and panic, too, but I have to be brave…  I have to be strong if I’m going to save my mom.”

Stretching out her legs, she rose to her feet, flipped on her heel, and grinned.  “I’m good; I feel so much lighter!”

“Go Dad!”  Rachel laughed, throwing her arms up to apply pressure against her linked fingers.  “I’m glad you’re spreading your wings, but be patient with yourself, Scarlet.  You don’t need to shoulder all of this yourself.  Just know that Nia and I are listening, and we trust you, no matter what happens.”

“Understood, Captain!”  she chimed, saluting her ranking officer.

Nia hopped to her feet to mirror her.  “Is Operation Super Secret Fang Hunt a go, Ma’am?!”

A chaotic flame lit in Rachel’s eclipse-like eyes as her lips peeled back to flash a smile.  “It’s a go, Soldiers.  Jeanne, Barb, and the others will be holding down the fort.  If you vanish, I’ll tell them that you need some time to process your emotions.  Give them hell.”

A cold surge spread through Scarlet’s veins at the words, and her jaw set.  “I won’t back down ever again.  I want to be an asset to Omen… to be useful and not useless.  Thank you for putting your trust in me, Rachel, Nia.  I’m ready.”

Nia jumped forward to hug her, and Rachel held out a fist for her to pound.

“Time to be a spooky bat!”

“No rest for the wicked; be the monster your enemies fear.”

Chuckling and bumping knuckles, Scarlet felt a cloud encompassing her disperse.  “That is something you’d say.  It’s about time I act like the predator the Scarlet Hand made me into, right?  Let’s go.”

Walking toward the door, she almost tripped as Rachel cleared her throat and jabbed her thumb back at the desk.  “I think you still need to sign some papers, Champ.”

“Oh, yeah!  Haha…”  She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck as Nia jogged to the door to swing it open.

“I’ll get the old dude!  Hey, oldie, we gotta do the paper swishy thing.  We gotta go hunt vampires, so we’re on the go-go!”

“Vampire hunt?”

Scarlet’s jaw slackened as Rachel’s palm slid down her face.

“Nia…”

“Oh!  That’s a secret.  My bad!”  The bun hopped back in with a strained grin, summoning their giant hammer.  “Uh, we can hit him on the head and make him forget, right?”

“What?!”  the man choked, backing away from the grinning rabbit child, now spinning the large weapon over her head.  “Hey!  Hey!”

“Nia, chill…  It’s fine.  Sorry about her, Mr. Cruz.  Kids, am I right?  Anyway… can you show us where Scarlet needs to sign?”

“Right this way…”

He passed Nia as she scooted back, now innocently hiding her hammer behind her back, and directed Scarlet to follow him.  For some reason, he seemed eager to be done with the exchange as he quickly pointed her to the places she needed to sign, and less than five minutes later, with some hasty explanations, they were on their way out.

Scarlet felt a little stunned as they entered the elevator, tapping on her banking app and accessing the account her father had left her.  She’d never known exactly how wealthy they were but knew they were fairly rich.  Only now did she realize how rich that was.

Her body felt numb as she shifted the folder under her armpit and internally mouthed the number now available to be withdrawn.  5,356,809,666…  Five billion?  There’s no way!  And that’s not even counting the crazy number of assets that were on that document.  I guess that’s what it takes to run an underground, supervillain organization.  Damn…  What am I…

When they reached the bottom, Scarlet gulped down the blood in her throat and looked at Rachel; she hadn’t looked interested in prying into the exchange at all.  “Umm.  Can I… invest in Omen or something?”

Hands held behind her neck as they walked through the half-lit entryway of the office, Rachel shrugged, clearly not understanding what she was saying.  “I mean, sure.  I think I can get a grant or something from the military, but if you want to be our, hehe, temporary sugar mama, as Maria might say, then I’m not against it.”

Nia was far more snoopy as she hung back to look at her phone, trying to count and looking a little confused.  “One… two, three…  Too many numbers!  What does it mean, Little Fang?!  No, I don’t get numbers; I get confused.  How many shoes can I buy with it?”

“Pfft-haha!”  Scarlet doubled over, causing Rachel to spin around with a lifted eyebrow and Nia to puff out her cheeks, likely thinking she was making fun of her.  “If they cost $200 each, uh… like twenty-six million?”

The rabbit’s ears fell to the side of her head.  “H-Huh?!  Would that even fit in the house?  How much bigger is that than ten—like… a hundred?!  Captain?!  Are we going shopping?!”  she excitedly asked, bouncing up and down with their umbrellas in her arms.

Rachel seemed to have instantly done the math in her head, ears straight up in the air and making Scarlet giggle.  “Are you saying you have 5 billion dollars in the bank—liquid?  What the hell did your parents do again?  No, right…  cult leaders.  Umm.  I’m going to have to sit on that one for a bit, Scarlet.  Wow, heh, yeah.  Nice,” she grinned, throwing up a thumb.  “Any impulse buys?”

A strained smile flashed her fangs as she shifted her phone to rub her forearm.  “Umm…  a lot of food for your mom to test-bake blood into.  She really is a wizard in the kitchen, from what I’ve seen over the last two weeks.”

“Food?  Classic,” Rachel snickered, making her cheeks color as Nia popped open their umbrellas, probably silently asking her leader more clothes-purchasing questions.  “My mom did once have a dream of opening up a restaurant.  At least, that’s what Dad told me once.”

“You have no clue what it’s like having blood as your main diet,” she complained, smiling a little while taking Nia’s offered umbrella and thinking about all the cool things she could do for her new family.  “Isn’t it good that we have our own money for Omen now?  Oh, I can buy a private jet for us to get around!”

Rachel pushed her lips to the side, taking her own umbrella and opening the door for them to enter the thumping rainstorm.  “Kind of feels like a waste with the military offering us so many rides, and they can deal with a lot of the regulations.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they put us in supersonic jets to get us to Montana faster when the Crystal opens.”

“True…”  Scarlet mumbled, shoulders sagging a bit as the hare led them into her mom’s SUV.  “There has to be something I can buy…”

“Talk it out with me; what comes to mind?” Rachel urged, opening the back door to allow Nia to hop inside; the bunny grumbled as she leaned over her to pop the seat belt in.

“Captain!  I can do it…”

“You didn’t do it last time.”

“I forgot!  Humph.  It’s not like a crash will hurt me.”

“It’ll hurt me if you get hurt,” Rachel returned with a slight smile that had the bunny sniffling and hugging her.

“Aww!  I love you, too, Captain!”

Scarlet shook out her umbrella and folded it up to store on the side, playing with her phone in her lap.  “Let’s see…  I don’t really want to ever go back to my home.  So, maybe I’ll buy a new one that doesn’t remind me about all the trauma?”

“I like it,” Rachel commented, getting in and starting the car.  “Hire some people to go get your stuff out?”

“Maybe…  I’m not so sure.  I, uh-heh, was kind of a goth…  And what are you smiling at?!”

“I couldn’t tell,” Rachel snickered, flipping down the visor mirror to show her reflection.  “Black hair, lips, and nails.  Talk about the dream goth girlfriend.  Am I right, Nia?”

“Yeah!”  Her ears tilted to the side.  “What’s a goth?”

Pouting a little, Scarlet pushed it back up and rolled her eyes.  “Ha-ha-ha.  Says the buff and thicc dommy-mommy hare girl.  Oops!  Scratch the buff part.  Ehh-ehh?”  she teased.

“Oh, shut up!  Hahaha.”  Rachel gave her a light glare.  “Way to hit below the belt, bat ears!  My fat ass can’t even fit into most of my pants now, and let’s not talk about bras!”

“Bat ears would be cute!”  Scarlet defended, bringing her hands up to flap them with a grin.  “Don’t get me wrong, elf ears are nice, too, but totally off the mark!  Besides, I can just buy you more bras and pants now.  You bought me a bunch over the last few weeks.”

“You mean my mom bought you clothes over the last few weeks!  And can you purchase me some muscle injections?  We gotta have that with magic in the game after the patch, right?”

Scarlet choked a laugh.  “Someone’s learning the lingo!  I’ll throw it on the shopping list!  Hmm…”

Nia threw up her hand in the back, practically hyperventilating.  “And me!  And me!  I get the whole store!  Rach said you could buy me the whole store!”

“Don’t die of a heart attack!”  Scarlet chuckled, leaning back to see the girl clutching her chest and wild-eyed.  “We’ll go shopping when we’re free…  Thanks for cheering me up, guys.”

Rachel reached over to bump her shoulder as they came to a stoplight.  “Just keep your wits about you.  We’ll be at the graveyard soon enough.”

“I know…”

Scarlet twisted her phone around her fingers again; they’d transferred her dad’s message onto it before destroying the copy.  She’d been shrouded in misery and haunted by trauma from that fateful night that had shattered everything she knew, but Rachel and her family had kept her stable through it.

Now, it was time to start picking up the pieces and forge a new life, a life she could welcome her mother into and show her that there was a way forward for them.  She had to believe there was a way forward for them.

The pattering of the weeping heavens came into the foreground as they drew inward, and Scarlet let her heart steel for what was to come.  Yes, her father was dead, but he wouldn’t have blamed her, so she shouldn’t blame herself; all of this was plotted by Revilla, and she would pay the price.

Leaning against the armrest as they traveled north to South Florida National Cemetery, she studied the gray skies.  She didn’t want to have a big ceremony or have to sit through any kind of show for her grief.  Her father’s message was enough for her now; it felt right to skip the funeral and move on because if she didn’t now, she knew she never would.

Still, she had to keep her mind occupied with something, or else she’d cry again, so she searched the rain for anything to stop the fear of seeing her father’s corpse from taking hold.  The perfectly visible night was still strange to her; she knew it was dark, and she knew precisely where normal eyes could perceive her in the darkness, which was a weird thing to just… know.

Her gaze drifted to the other vehicles on the I-95 freeway, looking at the faces inside with their wealth of emotions.  Instinctually, she had limited knowledge about them from her vampiric senses: health, vulnerability, and fears.  It was the time of night when she should be on the prowl, and she felt it—she fought it, tooth and nail.  It wasn’t her.  These weren’t the people she wanted to hunt, and she needed to find something to fill that urge that kicked within her.

The money and chat had been a good distraction, showing her the support she had.  Despite Rachel’s claim of never really making friends, she was the best friend Scarlet had ever had.  Rachel was reliable.  She needed reliable people in her life when that had been sorely lacking, which was apparently by design.  Rachel trusted her.  Now, Scarlet had to trust in herself to open the box to these instincts.

Circling the graveyard, she closed her eyes; she’d seen the moment of her father’s death in her nightmares for weeks now.  The entire time, she’d bottled it up, ashamed of her weakness; if she’d just been a little less emotional, then maybe he’d still be alive today.  However, her dad made it clear that his death meant that Revilla was wrong, and she had to put her faith in her father’s words.

She opened her eyes, counting the line of military and civilian vehicles that waited, and her anxiety reared its ugly head, her breathing becoming ragged.

“Scarlet?”  Rachel whispered as Nia shifted uncomfortably in the back.  The people under the tents turned to watch their approach.  “Do you need some time?”

Shaking her head, she gulped and streamed out a long breath of air; she had to confirm it with her own eyes.  “Everyone’s here for me…  I can feel their concern and love,” she gulped, biting her lip as a bloody tear fell down her cheek to be absorbed into her skin.  “I—”

Her words cut off in a cough as she tried to control her lungs, her entire body lighting on fire as all the questions and nightmares gripped her heart.  Eyes turning crimson, she scanned everyone within miles, searching for answers.

“Why hasn’t my mom even tried to—to call me?  Why… is she not here—I can’t see her anywhere!  Was she scared to come…  Was she ashamed of me?  Why didn’t she come…  Why isn’t she… here?”

Teeth beginning to chatter, Rachel took her hand as Nia unbuckled herself to hug her from behind.  “Did… she ever care at all?  Why would she leave me…  Was I not good enough for her…  Does she blame—”

Rachel’s ears stood straight as her bloody eyes locked on the cherry wood casket, waiting to be lowered into the ground.  Whispers passed between those under the tents, concern for her on their lips, yet Scarlet’s zoomed-in vision was on her father’s corpse.

“It’s not him…”

“What?”  Rachel cleared her throat, her somewhat red face locked on her.  “Scarlet… I know what it’s like to see…  To not want to believe the person in the box is really—”

“No…  No!”  Scarlet choked, shaking her head as her voice strengthened, confusion and anger now burning up her throat.  “I’ve seen the spikes piercing my dad’s body every night since—since it happened!  It’s not him!  The holes aren’t… clean enough—they aren’t even in the right places…  There’s an illusion cast on it!  Mom…”  she seethed.

Her tight jaw hurt, extending claws ripping into her dress and thighs for her flesh and skin to automatically heal.  “She swapped it out before the military secured it…  Dammit!  Dammit!”  She screamed, fingernails sinking into her flesh as she looked left and right.  “She couldn’t even leave me Dad’s body?!  Where is…”

“Scarlet?!  What do you—the guy visiting his mother’s grave?”

Eyes widening while she filtered through everything in the vicinity, her focus centered on a single young man in front of a grave; a familiar magical aura brought feral knowledge to her brain.

“He’s being controlled by a vampire—I can see the spell—I need to go to him!”

Nia hugged tighter.  “What if it’s a trap!?”

Rachel’s worried demeanor was swept away in an instant as she went on alert, narrowed eyes returning to her.  “Nia, Operation is a go.  And, Scarlet… if this is what you’re feeling.  Follow through.  I’ll be listening and run interference with the family.”

Streaming out the pressure threatening to crush her chest, Scarlet wiped at her bloody cheeks and forced a laugh as Rachel held up a fist for her to casually backhand.

“Think and act.”

“Think and act,” she repeated, emotions coming back down as Nia groaned.

“Okay!  It’s Big Nia’s turn, I guess…  Be safe out there, Master Sergeant,” she sniffed, hugging her from behind again.  “Your girls got your tail!”

Rachel tapped the bun’s forehead with a chuckle, making her balk and rub the area.  “If she had a tail.  Now, get going, soldier.  You have answers to extract.  We’re running coms.”

Nodding, she abandoned her umbrella as shadows embraced her.

“I’m not giving up; if my dad’s body is still here, I’m getting it!”

The tapping of rain came into focus as she materialized behind the enchanted man, trapped in some kind of dream fog from what her powers told her.  A fountain of blood instantly exited her legs and arms, creating a small platform for her to stand on and protect her from the pounding droplets.

A few seconds went by in silence as Scarlet battled down her temper.  Rachel wouldn’t let herself be consumed by emotion and make mistakes; the hare had set an example that she wanted to follow.

The gentle and cool breeze pressed against her torn dress, her voice cold as she held her hands behind her back to prevent them from fidgeting or strangling the 18-year-old boy.  He was a victim, trapped in a haze that made the world a fantasy, controlled by the vampire that had cast the spell on him; it was powerful.

“I assume you have a message for me?”

Umbrella rising a little, the dark-haired young man’s sparkling eyes turned to her as if greeting a good friend, showing a perfect smile.  “Lady Scarlet!  My mistress has informed me I need to wait for you to show up; she’s been dying to meet you.  Will you allow me to drive you to her?”

Studying the thrall, she strengthened her resolve; this was her mission.  “…Lead the way.”

“Thank you for accepting my mistress’ offer!  My car is over there…”

Scarlet lifted an eyebrow upon setting eyes on the old, small, beat-up, two-door truck he directed her to in the nearby parking lot.  Out of the few cars he could have chosen, that was the last one she’d thought would carry her to a vampire.

“Goodie…”

Her blood moved to accommodate every step she took so her flats didn’t touch the mud or soaked grass as she followed him to his truck.  She’d expected uncomfortable silence, only to be met by the most chatty thrall she’d ever heard; it certainly wasn’t like the anime where they just cut right to the villain’s entrance.

Scarlet felt her mind rotting on the more than one-hour drive back to Miami, halfway through which they had to stop off at a gas station to fill up.  He introduced himself as Josh, and Josh seemed like a sweet guy.  If the vampire’s intention was to throw her off, then it was an A-class performance because Scarlet felt like she was dying inside with the conversation points.

Josh was concerned about his big sister being in an abusive relationship and asked for help on how to support her.  His mom was addicted to opioids, and his dad was working his butt off to get her into the right people to get her help.  Unfortunately, his dad was changed into a Beastkin Werecat, which was a bit of a problem when working in a restaurant, as the phases of the moon changed his personality to be fairly aggressive—he’d been fired for yelling at customers and hissing at them.

Arms crossed, slumped in the uncomfortable, old seat, and half-falling asleep, Scarlet felt a spark of hope brighten her mood as the boy pulled off the freeway into Downtown Miami.

“…So, he’s been working at a temp agency that found him a gig since he’s, you know, one of those changed people like you—”

“Are we here?”  Her eyes flashed red, pupils vanishing as her vampiric vision filtered out the buildings, searching for the vampire, and spot her she did; the girl wasn’t alone, either.  “You’re… kidding me.”

Josh puffed out a long sigh while taking a right and another right to reach a roadside diner.  He glanced at the rips she’d made in her dress; it had been an awkward discussion topic he’d been trying to approach.

“Yeah, sorry to talk your ears off, My Lady.  My mistress told me to be friendly.  Now that we’re here, she said I was free to go back home and crash to sleep off the mind fog.  Thanks for being nice!  Umm… are you sure you don’t want me to stop off at a place so you can get a new dress?”

“Uh-huh…  Oh, no!  No, I’m good!”  Scarlet quickly returned, opening the door; her blood quickly exited to block the curtain of rain again as she exited.  “I hope things work out, Josh.  Keep strong!  Be gentle but firm with your sister about your feelings.”

“Thank you!”

She waved him off with a relieved sigh that the road trip was over.  Rachel had no doubt followed her on the over sixty-mile drive since even her hearing didn’t work at that crazy of a distance.

Standing in the parking lot under her blood umbrella, Scarlet glared through the window at the 16 or 17-year-old ginger-haired vampire, with her straightened locks half-pulled into pigtails as the rest of her thick hair fell down her back.

Wearing an orange primary and black secondary-themed shoulderless dress that showed her bra straps, the girl’s non-reflective belt matched her choker, and the black frills of the dress only covered half her thighs.  She was certainly fashionable and bright with her navy-blue ribbons tied in her hair, golden accessories, and dangle, sapphire-star earrings.

Her charming blue eyes were directed right at her as she grinned and waved in a friendly way, beckoning her to come inside.  Across from her was another dream-ensnared young man, only this handsome blond was also a more classical vampire.

Great… am I about to meet some noble vampire girl and her play toy underling?

She withheld a groan while walking into the sparsely crowded diner.  Her blood drew more than a few uncertain or curious eyes from the late-night patrons as she entered, and a sniff of the air made her vision pull inward for a moment.  At least she’d calmed down a lot in the past hour, allowing her to think.

She hadn’t noticed it until now since these were the only other vampires she’d come into contact with, but there was a distinct and potent difference between the scents that came from the thrall that had just left her and the pair she was meeting.  The magic infecting Josh carried the scent of the ginger-haired girl, which was also present on the other vampire, but the blond man was most certainly not the blue-eyed girl’s underling.

Cautiously approaching the table, her vampiric gaze darted between the pair.  It’s like she sprayed her scent or… perfume all over someone else’s man and pulled him into her charms, but…  Is it possible for vampires to compel other vampires?  Usually, vampires are mostly immune to that kind of stuff, right?  Maybe not in older media or legends?  That’s not scary at all…

Pulling up her purse strap on her shoulder, she stopped at the booth, and the ginger girl stuck out a hand with tempered excitement.

“Scarlet, I have been dying to meet you!  Oh, uh… hehe, I guess this is kind of an awkward first meet-up,” she added with a forced smile as she stonewalled her handshake, arms crossed under her bust.  “Please, sit!  Uh…  Scary!  Hehe.  I’m not trying to pick a fight!  I swear!”

They pulled a lot of attention as she coldly remained in her standing position, shimmering crimson blood freely floating around her figure.  “Then why did you take my dad’s body?”  she snapped, making the blond man rise to his feet and the ginger flinch.

“No!  No, Terry.  Hehe.  Uh, sorry about him,” she gulped, motioning for the handsome guy to return to his seat next to her.  “I think there is a, uh-heh, a big misunderstanding!  I’m here to help you get your father’s body back.

“No need for concern, people!”  she soothed, holding up her hands as people shifted uncomfortably at the tense atmosphere, and a few quickly packed up to leave.  “Just a bit of a misunderstanding between friends!  No trouble!  No trouble.  Please, sit,” she urged, pleading blue eyes directing her to the free side.

Channeling her inner Rachel, Scarlet kept her vision scanning for potential dangers while taking the offered booth.  “Talk…”

Fidgeting a little with her hands on the table, she pointed to herself.  “Okay!  Okay!  You can call me Illa, and I’m, like… your number one fan!”  She flashed her fangs in a cute smile, but Scarlet knew all too well that this girl could be a super-old granny in disguise after The Oscillation.  “Ever since the Miami Beach gang incident—you, like, totally saved me!”

Thrown completely off yet again, Scarlet sat back and creased an eye.  “Illa… what do you mean that you’re here to help me get my dad’s corpse back?  You know who took him and where he is?”

“Mhm!”  The girl’s excitement returned with her bobbing head before gesturing at the charmed vampire beside her.  “You see, Terry here is a High Vampire, turned by a Noble Vampire, just like me!  Mhm!  I’m pretty hot stuff,” she chimed with a wink as she moved to play with what looked to be a cotton ball necklace.  “Oh, but nothing like how strong you are as a Progenitor!  You… are a Progenitor, right?”

Scarlet rubbed her temple, trying to keep up.  “Focus.”

“Right!  Right…”  Illa scooted forward, looking left and right while lowering her voice and drawing Scarlet a little closer at the sudden seriousness in the girl’s hushed tone.  “And I heard down the grapevine that one of Dracula’s concubines was going to be doing some shady stuff here, so I investigated!  Pretty scary stuff.”

Electricity shot down Scarlet’s spine at the name.  Leaning forward at the mention of Dracula to not cause a commotion from the other patrons, already agitated by her blood and the vampiric theme that was beginning to develop, she asked, “Why would Dracula’s concubine be interested in my dad’s body?”

“No-ho-ho…”  Illa groaned, forehead falling on her arm as Scarlet’s sharp hearing caught the cook in the back making a phone call.  “This was what I was afraid of…  Stupid Dracula, causing trouble for all of us.”

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“Umm…  I think there are vampires in my diner—I’m just worried… with the Seattle Incident…”

“We’ll send a squad right away to investigate.  Please remain calm, sir; they may be able to sense your discomfort and attack…”

Feeling a little bad now for making such a scene, Scarlet scooted away from the booth.  “Maybe we should go…”

She paused as the ginger’s smile returned, and she shooed the blond to get up.  What if this was all a plot to drop her guard, and she’d planned for things to go down this road?  It would be something Rachel would consider.

I need to remain on guard…  She obviously has control powers.

“Excellent idea,” Illa chirped, waving at the terrified patrons.  “So sorry for the trouble.  We’ll leave not to cause a stir.  It’s all my fault!  Thank you, Scarlet…”

Scarlet had to stop her blood from spiking the ‘seemingly’ younger girl as she snatched her arm and pulled her out of the diner; a shiver ran down Illa’s frame and transferred to Scarlet as she giggled.

“Ooh!  You really are so spooky, Scarlet—haha, I thought I was going to die for a second!  I haven’t felt that rush in this dead heart since I heard about what you did in Miami Beach…”  She leaned in to whisper into her ear.  “Can you feel it pumping?”

The girl pulled her palm to her modest breast with a grin, making Scarlet’s fingers twitch upon feeling a very faint heartbeat.

“What are you doing?!”  Scarlet snapped, panicking a little at the distance and jumping away to sink a foot into the water-filled gutter, soaking her foot as the rain began peppering her head.  “Eek…”

“Oh—sorry, sorry!”  Illa gasped, motioning to the blond, who was pulling out a two-person umbrella.  “Hurry, hurry, Terry!”

“Sorry, Mistress.  I—”

A little stunned at the weird spin things had taken, Scarlet’s blood spread over her head to stop the onslaught as a stream moved to filter over and pass through her shoe, forcing the water out.

“Ohh!  So convenient!  I knew you were a Progenitor.  You’re so amazing!”  she clapped, and the sound of sirens followed, making Illa hop forward to take her arm again.  Giggling, she scooted closer to get under her blood umbrella before guiding her further into Downtown Miami.

“Fastest response ever!  Am I right?  I guess they get a-movin’ when they hear the dreaded v-word; let’s go before the cops catch us!  Hehehe!  You’re so much fun, Scarlet.  C’mon—huh?!”

What is happening?!  No!  This needs to stop!

“Mistress!”

Filtering through buildings, she found an empty back alley; shadows swirled around them, carrying them half a kilometer to the location.  Spinning the bewildered ginger around, she slammed her against the side of a building, making her blue eyes go big.

“Stop grabbing me!”

“I-I’m sorry,” she whimpered, real tears forming in her eyes.  “Y-You’re hurting me, Scarlet…”

“Mmgm…”  Taking a deep breath, she eased up and pulled away.  “You’re just so… grabby!  It’s uncomfortable…”

Backing into the wall, water pelted Illa’s skin and dress as she glanced away, nervous fingers finding her elbow.  “I… didn’t mean to make you so mad.  You’re just… so amazing, and… and I wanted to help…”

Scarlet took a controlled breath; she’d known flirty, proactive, touchy girls in high school.  It was just really confusing to deal with when they were all over you.  “No, I’m sorry…  I’m just really stressed right now…  Please, just tell me what you know about my dad.”

Illa’s mouth pushed to the side, arms shifting to hug her core, but a weak smile returned as Scarlet’s blood moved to cover her from the rain.  “Our first fight, huh?  Hehe…  It’s my fault, sorry…  Or… is this our second?  No—details, details, stupid head!  Umm…  Yeah, uh…”

“Take your time,” Scarlet breathed, showing a supportive smile; it was hard to read this girl, but her gut said she was off, or something was… off about her, and Rachel told her to trust her instincts.  Still, she needed the ginger vampire.  “We good?”

“Sure…  Wow.  Terry must be worried sick looking for me…  Ugh.  I hope he doesn’t get killed because… he kind of is the one who knows where Lady Selene San Felice is—you know, Dracula’s concubine because… he’s hers… and I kind of, mmm… stole him.  Men are just so easy!  It’s not my fault…”

“You’re… kidding me.”  Scarlet peered through the city and grimaced.  “The police are cornering him…”

She winced.  “Yikes moment.  I… kind of told him not to make a scene if that happened, so… yeah.  He’s probably going to jail or to be questioned or something…  Discrimination!  Profiling!  Ugh…  What do we do, Scarlet…  Break him out?”  she slowly asked with a strained smile, showing her fangs.

“No shot,” Scarlet groaned, scratching the side of her head with agitation.  “I can call some people to smooth it over, but…  Mmgm.”

“Don’t want to?”  Illa hummed, sucking in her left cheek and suddenly reaching out to tap her arm with a beaming smile.  “Oh, what if we just swoosh in there and get him to tell us the information and bounce?!”

“I… guess,” she begrudgingly mumbled.  “Why didn’t you ask him before all of this?!”

The ginger looked away with a pout while playing with one of her pigtails.  “I just wanted to share in the moment with you…  I want to be reliable and help you… to be friends.”  Her somewhat still watery eyes lifted to her, showing vulnerability.  “Can’t we be friends?”

“I…”

Illa’s fear levels rose, grabbing her hand.  “I’d do anything for you!  Please—I just… want to be useful.”

Pain struck Scarlet’s heart at the confession; Illa really had been nothing but friendly, and she’d put up such a cold shoulder.  It wasn’t like her, but… still, something was off.  Why was this ‘Noble Vampire’ girl so infatuated with her?

“Why… don’t we first get to know each other better.”

The girl’s blue eyes sparkled with life as she swapped from her hand to loop arms, leaning in with a spunky wink while tilting her head to whisper, “You’re so captivating, Scarlet!”

“Huh?”

“Nothing!”  She sang, swaying a little in place with glee.  “Partners in crime.  I can’t believe we’re going to break into a police station.  Exciting!”

“Eh-hehe…  Yeah…  No, probably just the patrol car.”

“Awww.  Fine,” she pouted.

Illa put off such a unique vibe; she was trying so hard to create a bridge between them, yet there was a hair-raising repulsion, as well.  Her mannerisms were somewhat magnetic and infectious; a hypnotic draw made her want to believe she was casting some kind of spell on her, but Scarlet instinctively knew it wasn’t any ability or magic she had.  It was all-natural, infectious spunk.

It was like her old self was on one shoulder, telling her that this girl obviously needed a friend and she was being a total witch to the ginger; Illa felt so similar yet polar opposite to her on so many unusual levels that it was a little disorienting.  On the other shoulder was Rachel, brandishing a hammer and bonking her on the head, telling her not to be stupid and fall for it.

Scarlet wanted to pull away, but, then again, they did need to be close for her teleport to work.  “We’re… just going in and out; I’ll wrap us in shadows so no one can see us.”

“So cool!  We should go shopping, too; you can’t storm a vampire stronghold with that ripped dress,” she casually inserted, making Scarlet choke.

“You’re joking?!”

“No!  I’m totally serious,” she chimed, squeezing tighter and shifting her free hand to pluck at her ripped bra strap; Scarlet hadn’t even realized she’d damaged it.  “Plus, when you pushed me up against the wall, you were, hehe, kind of rough with me…  Yeah.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, uh…  Hmm.  I guess we can… find someplace?”

“Thank you!”  she cheered, making her smile with her contagious energy as she hopped up and down against her arm.  “I just don’t have any clothes besides this since my place burned down—oh, and Terry was buying my meal since I don’t have any money…  I know, I’m sad!”

Scarlet’s stomach squirmed at the uncomfortable distance the girl was maintaining while rubbing against her and fidgeting with her own clothes.  “Yeah—no, you’re not sad—umm, don’t worry about it; I damaged your bra, so…”

Her sapphire earrings twinkled with her brilliant blue eyes.  “Our first shipping trip!  Aaah!  You’re my hero!  Oh—focus, focus!  I’ll do whatever it takes to get your dad’s corpse back.”  She leaned in, her breath somehow hot against her ear for being undead.  “Have you ever tasted vampire blood?  You really should.  Kidding!  Or am I?  Hehe.”

Is she trying to get close enough to bite me?

“Right…”  Scarlet pulled them into a dark alley to watch the police cars gathering around the diner.  What had happened to her during the Miami Beach incident?  She admitted to being a Noble Vampire, but that meant she was made into one by someone, and that stuck in the back of her mind.  “Let’s first get the information…”

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