As my eyes opened, I saw the light. Thank goodness it wasn't the sun's light but still too bright. From what I could tell, I was in a bed in a room unfamiliar. Raising my hand to my face, I saw it was wrapped completely in bandages and clamped in irons. Of the many things I wanted to say at that moment: "The only thing that came out was, "Shit... how long have I been out."

"A couple of days," a soft feminine voice would answer. Turning my head, I saw a woman sitting beside me at a desk. She placed a cloth in some water, then wrung it out right back out. She wore black robes with a white band over her forehead, much like a nun. Her eyes were colored light blue, and she had the warmest smile on her face.

"Good evening, my Paradigm friend," she said as she placed the cloth on my forehead. It was warm and, luckily, wasn't drenched in holy water. "I'm glad you've awakened."

"Who are you?" I asked. "Where am I?" I looked around the room. It looked like a sick bay somewhere. There were other cots, yet I was the only one in one.

"My clinic, specifically the Silverman clinic near the east residential district," she answered. Turning to me, she took my hand, holding it in hers. Her touch was so gentle, so much so that I felt no danger. Even a chill came over me.

"You're an Acolyte, aren't you?" Even though I said that, I didn't take my hand away. She nodded, then traced her fingers along my hand.

"The Lord called me to serve as Sister Uriel of the Romaniconti Order," she stated, "but you may call me Wynn D or Wynn if you'd like." 

"Wynn D?" It was a strange name, so that Wynn would work for me. "Are you the one I should thank for my being here?" 

"My partner is the one you should thank. We found you passed out, clutching a deceased girl. Though getting to you was the harder part."

I raised my other hand, looking at my bandaged arms again. I could feel the wriggling energy trying to escape the confines of the cloth, but the material seemed to hold it at bay. My arms were probably never going to be the same again. Another thing I had to live with. "What of the girl I was holding?" I asked. As I remembered clutching Francis's lifeless body, I couldn't help but think about her. In her last moments, she had me drain her of all her blood, her life essence. If I weren't a Sin factor, I'd have become the monsters I slaughtered. 

Wynn's smile vanished, and she released my hand. Her gaze dropped to the floor as her eyes clouded with sadness. "I ensured she received a proper burial. I'm sorry we didn't save her in time." A part of me was angry to hear that there was a chance that Wynn and whoever her partner was could intervene. But they would've probably just been victims of the Vampyres too. 

"It's not your fault Wynn," I said, turning toward her. "It'd be insane for you to charge into a den of monsters, even if you are one of the Archangels." Besides, we didn't know each other beyond what we were. "The name's Alex, by the way. Alexander Murcielago. Thanks for not leaving me for the feds." 

"Well... I wouldn't say that so soon." Now I needed clarification. The way Wynn looked away and scratched at her cheek elicited some confusion. The door on the other side of the clinic opened, and a man roughly in his thirties stepped in. He wore an oversized trench coat with a black vest and blue tie and a black fedora with a blue rim. He had short salt and pepper hair and a large amount of stubble on his chin. His slim-rimmed glasses made him look too serious for my liking. He approached us, pulled a chair beside my cot, and removed his hat. "Well... Look who's finally awake." 

My body tensed up, and I sat up so quickly that it was almost dizzying. My hand instinctively reached under my pillow, but it was useless. They'd taken Wanda from me, and I had no access to Bethany or Tommy. "Relax, kid. I'm not going to hurt you or anything." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a badge. "I'm Detective Dominic Harker of the Federal Bureau of Magical Affairs, codenamed Van Hellsing. It shouldn't ring any bells because, to most of the world, we don't exist." 

All I needed was to hear "Federal," I didn't think he'd just casually reveal that, given I am on the other side of the law. "I'm not saying anything to a pig," I spat as I leaned against the wall. Dominic raised his eyes, then looked to Wynn, who giggled when I said that. My mind finally put the pieces together and realized I had messed up big time. 

"It's ok, kid... We're not interested in your criminal activities," Dominic said as he stuck his badge back into his jacket. "Besides, I've got everything I need about you." He then dug out a small notepad, opened it to a particular page, and cleared his throat. "Your name is Alexander Murcielago. You just recently turned eighteen last week on April 15th, 1921. You live with four other residents at the old Dodgerland Boarding School for Boys and Girls. You're a veteran of the Great War and were a part of the hundred days offensive." 

"Ok, I get it. You know a lot about me. Just get on with what you want." I was worried he'd start discussing my being involved in our thing. I hadn't found a job that I could work since being back from the war, which was now causing me more harm than good. "What is it that you want?" 

Dominic reached into his pocket again, pulling out a pen this time. He flipped to another page on the notepad and seemed ready to jot anything down. "We want you to tell us anything you may know about the Vampyres that attacked you last night. You don't have to go into detail about what you were doing at that warehouse, just about your assailants." 

I didn't want to give away too much since I didn't know what they attacked. Telling him about Andrade's possibly being involved is out of the question since it was just speculation. Plus, it violated everything about this thing of ours. "I don't know why we were attacked. It all happened too fast, and those assholes weren't eager to sing." 

Dominic began scribbling something into his notepad, then lifted the pen to his lips. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the notepad then his gaze shifted back to me as he thought of his next question. "When we examined the crime scene, you clutched a woman's body. By the way, you were holding her. She was someone special. Were there any other victims besides you and her?" 

I remembered the screams from outside the warehouse and the two triad guards that barricaded the door only to get sliced open. "Just whoever you saw. The only one I knew was my girl Francis." 

Dominic scribbled some more on his notepad, then turned the page. "Alright... Last question, I promise. When we found you, you had this red stuff taking the form of your arms. What is that stuff?" Wynn paid closer attention to this question in contrast to the others. I scarcely knew the actual answer myself. I didn't know if telling them or anyone about Pandora was a good idea. But with the Sister here, I couldn't lie to them completely. Wynn would know. 

"It's something I got during my fight with the Vampyres. It just turns out I was more special than I realized." Dominic seemed confused by my answer, but it seemed Wynn got it as expected. Humans didn't know of the Sin Factors, but I knew the Acolytes did. Answering this way gave Dominic almost no information, which was fine by me. 

"Hmm... You don't seem too inclined to give me definitive answers," said Dominic as he put his notepad away. "That's fine. It's good that you don't trust me. But something tells me that you'll be more involved in our investigation whether you like it or not." On the opposite side, he dug in his jacket pocket for the final time. He then took out Wanda, holding the gun to me by the barrel. "Go ahead... Take it. It's got no bullets." 

I looked to Wynn, who didn't seem too pleased to have a firearm in her clinic. She sighed, crossed her arms, and turned to her desk to find something to distract herself. As I took my gun, I realized how much it changed. It no longer had that short skinny metal, but not it looked like some long gun. I checked the chamber, and the Detective turned out to be right. No bullets whatsoever. "Magic is a funny thing, isn't it?" I mused, setting the gun down on my lap. 

"Look... for what it's worth, I am sorry for your loss," Dominic said, leaning forward as his tone lowered. "I hope to prevent any more tragedies caused by the Vampyres. Unlike your paradigms, they do not desire to coexist with us. Whoever is responsible for this rise in their numbers will answer for their crimes." His voice hardened as the last words escaped his lips. It told me more about the Detective than I initially knew. But to pry into whatever history he had was a bit wrong. These two have done more for me than most would. 

"Ugh," I groaned as I thought of at least offering some of my help. It was against the code to cooperate with the feds. "Look... by no means can I cooperate with you since you're the feds. But nothing bars the Sister here from helping out so long as the fact that she's with your little organization remains a secret." Dominic's eyes shifted to me, his brow raised, and a slight smile tugged at his lips. 

"That can be arranged," he said as he looked to Wynn for approval. She turned back to us and thought for a moment. Then she nodded. "Yes. I could offer my assistance as a member of the order. Word of that attack last night has probably spread pretty far, meaning the High Table can no longer ignore this. They may not want to cooperate with the federal government, but they never refused to cooperate with the order."

That was true. My kind wished for peaceful coexistence with the rest of the planet. Although we were the world's evil, we were the necessary evil. Balance must be maintained in mother nature, and now whoever made Vampyres was a threat to that balance. Besides, could these two help me find the bastard that sent those Vamps to attack us? I wouldn't let a valuable asset to my revenge get away from me that easily. How much I resembled my Father trying to use these two disgusted me. But unlike him, I won't cast them aside. After all, I owed them for burying Francis. 

Detective Dominic stood and fixed his coat. "If that's all, then I will be leaving. It was a pleasure to meet with you, Alexander. Your suggestion will be most helpful, even if it's just a little bit. I'll send an anonymous tip of your location out to the Rotterdams. Many people have been looking for you since that day." He turned to Wynn, "Ensure the right people pick him up." 

Wynn nodded, and the Detective turned away to walk toward the door. But as he got as far as the end of my cot, he stopped. "Oh yeah... one more thing." He reached into his pocket again, pulling out a "Black cat" cigarette box. It was mine. "That last cig looked important. Make sure you savor it when you return home."