Finally, my heart beat again as I found the street on the map, well to the southwest of where we had been. Like a puppet with its strings cut, I slumped down with a sigh of relief. Merii was still furiously searching on her own phone, apparently not satisfied that it wasn't our killing that had made the news. My heart still fluttered as the rush wore off, but I was able to right myself and continue my search, mostly for any mention of our- of my crime.

Most of the available news was regarding whatever made the murder on the TV such a big deal. But on one of the state's emergency apps I was able to find a report of a car fire in the area we had been. No mention of a murder, only a single fatality in the fire. Thank the Saints.
It was odd though, if I didn't feel guilty then why had I panicked? No, that wasn't right. I didn't regret it, but at the back of my mind, a little part of me I had told to be quiet this morning still remembered that what I had killed was indeed a human, a person with a life and a family….. With friends that would miss them…….

The pain of my own claws piercing through the fabric of my pants and into my thigh pulled me back to the present. Narrowing my mind back to where I needed it to be. Any guilt I felt could wait until I dealt with whatever other problem this killing would cause. 

I went back to the phone searching and reading with a zeal that would have astounded my teachers. This other killing raised problems, mainly, if it wasn't us who had been responsible, then who was it? That the reports only mentioning blood loss was comforting, it meant that they could have been a regular old stabbing, but that wouldn't have garnered the attention of the news.
Merii’s “sources” were saying something about a ritualistic killing. That was concerning too, but not connected to us. If it was some ritualistic murder that could easily be passed off as a random cult or maybe even an elaborate coverup for some other motive…… something I would put away as a potential tool to use myself at some later date. 

Looking back I had taken risks, but the killing I committed and the hunt had been as near to perfect as could be wanted in the city. With the exception of the dumpsite and the location of the act, but I had hardly left a trail to follow, or anything that would link me to the crime. I felt… proud? Yes, I felt proud that I had done it. It had been fun, I had actually enjoyed myself. And as far as I could tell the fresh blood from the hunt had kept the nightmares away for a night, or at least stopped me remembering them. I wasn't going to apologize for exchanging the life of one person, of one mortal for my comfort!

Merii must have noticed me getting worked up as she raised an eyebrow and gave me a questioning look. Taking a few deep breaths I slowed my now thundering heart and settled back into my search. 

There was that superiority again, something I would have to watch carefully if it was going to try and get out of hand like that….. But it was helping keep the other feelings on the event at bay so at least it was useful.

 At some point Brewer had come back down the stairs, she was sitting next to Merii, listening carefully but otherwise staying quiet. 

Needing a further distraction and sparked to inspiration by Brewer’s presence I decided to try and get some information on the man that was supposedly helping us search, Hunter. I had to prompt Merii of course but she seemed fully capable of multitasking. I had pictures in my mind of some guy in an office who would currently be hammering away at a computer, getting into systems and taking files or a slightly scruffy man out on the street, slipping a wad of cash to a crooked guard.
Turns out he was actually something of a recluse, but he knew people. And while it was very unlikely he personally knew something, he would definitely know someone who did, or who knew someone else. It was interesting to think he was closer to a spider at the centre of a web than the wolf I had pictured by his name. 

It didn't take long, but once we had all but confirmed we were in the clear, Merii spoke up, slumping into her seat and putting the phone away, dramatically wiping nonexistent sweat from her brow. 
“Ok…. Seems we didn’t fuck up and this isn't related to us. Thank the bleeding Saints for that… we'll have to see what the official reports say, this could still be a problem….. but I thought we were in trouble for a moment.” She finished her sentence with a small chuckle.

I joined her with a soft laugh of my own as I relaxed. I had been fairly sure after the first little panic that we were in the clear. But my sire was surprisingly thorough with her search of the available information. Not that I could blame her, I was pretty sure that a slow death by fire was what awaited things like us if we were found out.

I was about to make a sarcastic comment about “out of the fire” when I was cut off by the witch at Meriis side. 
“You are actually.”  She stated as though it should have been obvious.

Merii and I both looked at her. As ever she was unreadable to me, but Merii apparently could tell a few things. As she went to say something she was also interrupted by Brewer, who held up her hand silencing her, before twirling her finger in a gesture for Merii to join me on the other couch. Something she huffed about, but begrudgingly did. 

“So” Brewer began, as Merii settled in next to me, “the two of you running about last night. Any comments?” 

I personally wasn’t sure what to do when faced with Brewer’s angry teacher act. But Merii seemed to adjust to it, she was apparently ready for it. Even if she was a little sheepish, like she had been caught with a hand in the cookie jar.
“I think it went well, not perfect but Ellie ran with her instincts as we had hoped she would. As I told you last night, I think she pulled it off well enough. ” 

“Mhmmm” the witch drummed her fingers on her thigh “after being shot twice?” 

My pride screamed at me to say something, and my natural need to be a smartarse didn't help. 
 “I did fine.” I gave a dismissive wave. “He never saw me till I wanted him too, and when he did I was the one in control of the fight. Even with a chance to shoot, he only hit me twice, and both of those didn't come close to stopping me.”

Brewer gave me what I assumed was a glare with her unfeeling eyes.
“And if that bullet had nicked your spine? Or blown out a knee? Or in the worst case, your head? Truth be told it was a reckless and bold strategy that Merii should have talked to you about beforehand. I would expect better of a member of your house. Of this house.”

“But-”
As I tried to answer I suddenly found myself cut off as the air in my lungs seemed to freeze in place. A soft purple glow from under the sleeves of Brewer’s tight black top gave me a solid hint as to the culprit. Again, I tried to speak, to make my lungs work, but they just couldn't seem to move the air. I started to panic, I felt trapped. I couldn't fight this, I couldn't escape. Prey, I felt like prey. As panic filled me I did the only thing I could and looked to Merii. She only gave me a sheepish smile but otherwise looked away as the magic held me in place.

Brewer spoke and my eyes snapped to her.
“I’ll need you to be quiet please Ellie. My magic will not harm you, so just remain still….. Anything to say regarding all of this Merii?

Merii thought for a brief moment.
“Oops?”

Slowly, I calmed myself as best I could. I would normally have taken several breaths, but with that option gone I went completely still, cutting off everything that wasn't necessary and putting on my best impression of a corpse….. It helped a little. Without muscle tone or the need to move I felt more like I was being cradled than restrained. That Brewer wouldn’t seriously hurt me was something I had to keep repeating in my mind to keep from trying again to flail my way free.

I think I was starting to get the idea of how to read the witch. That, or her displeasure was so palpable that it was literally radiating off of her. Possibly both. 
“Merii, you need to take this seriously. You took her in, you need to make sure she doesn't get herself killed or you discovered. As you described it, the entire thing was poorly thought through and you know it. While I do applaud you Ellie, for having the forethought to taint your blood, and using fire, if your sire had explained that your blood will only give corrupted readings and be useless for investigation, you could have skipped it. And saved getting finger prints on anything.”

I looked at Merii out of the corner of my eye, that would have been nice to know. I did smash the bottle but I definitely touched a lot of stuff. For her part Merii looked more like a pouting child than usual. Apparently not happy at finally being called out for her behaviour, and while it did feel wrong to criticize my sire, I was more than happy to let someone else do it. If anything I was happy I wasn't able to speak at the moment, due to the comments on her competence that would likely fall from my mouth and get me in more trouble.
At least seeing Merii act so childish helped make the whole thing less serious, not that it stopped the shrill scream slowly growing in the back of my mind as a deep part of me desperately thrashed to be free.

Brewer continued, oblivious to my thoughts, although she did flash her eyes to me, giving a small nod to acknowledge my lack of struggle and whatever hit of panic she had detected in me.
“You need to teach her Merii. I’m not just saying this as a fellow hunted being, I’m saying this as your friend and most importantly, your familiar. Teach her so you don't get caught, we have too much to lose because you were lazy and wanted to be mysterious. If you hadn't thought there was a chance of being caught you wouldn't have just thrown all that money at double checking.”
As she spoke I felt whatever magic held me slowly easing, though I didn't dare move, she was being nice, and I wasn't going to abuse that and risk a return to the tight cage of force she had held me in.

Merii seemed to snap into focus at the mention of Brewer being a familiar. I wasn't sure what that meant but instinct told me, like it so often did, that it was important, and it definitely seemed to have a grip on Merii.

My sire bit her lip, apparently contemplating something before she spoke.
“Fine….. I definitely hear what you’re saying…… But you know I was a terrible teacher”

Brewer stared her down for a long moment. “Might I suggest starting with basic blood magic? Teaching her to use the loaded gun you let her keep? Maybe showing her how and when to make a kill before letting her run wild knowing full well she was likely to do something unexpected?” 

That last part got my attention. I knew that the two of them saw me as a little feral, but why they would assume I was going to do something wild I didn't understand. I was, comparatively, fairly normal I thought. It hadn't escaped me that I didn't share a lot of the traits Merii would mention about being part of the house, but I had assumed that was just being a fledgling rather than some inbuilt thing as they seemed to assume it was. 

“Ok, ok.” Merii put her hands up in surrender,
“I’ll be a bit more thorough….. Ellie,” She looked over at me, her face and expression solemn and sincere, “you and I will be doing more than combat from now on…. And I'll teach you some important vampire things. Not that you’ll need them out here…. But you probably should know a bit more.”

The breath in my lungs suddenly moved again, forced out by straining muscles I hadn't even noticed till they contracted. It was a strange sensation, and I coughed to clear everything as the last of Brewer’s magic left me.
It was something of a struggle not to spring out of my seat and run after that experience. To not yell or scream….. With an effort that could have moved mountains I held myself still and did my best not to tremble. Not wanting to show weakness, not wanting to appear as prey, even before my…. Family?

I took a long breath, closing my eyes and banishing the thoughts of restraint, of pain and darkness, that were floating through my mind.
“Cool…….. Starting with familiars….. Whats that all about?”

Brewer gave Merii a look to which she just shrugged.
“Making a mortal your familiar basically means making a blood pact. They live as long as you live. The idea was that they would protect us during the day and we would return the favour at night. That they would keep us grounded to our humanity was also part of it…. But most just use it to keep a person alive and free from age.”

Brewer nodded.
“Overly simplistic but accurate. It is very powerful magic, the old kind that calls on the laws of nature, simply needing words and understanding. To call it a blood pact is inaccurate, as blood isn't actually needed, but it does act much the same. In this case we share a life span until the pact is annulled, and I gain several benefits in terms of physicality, while remaining very much a mortal.” 

“Ha…..” I was still feeling flighty, trying not to fidget and to seem like I was listening completely. “So we can do fancy magic? Neat… anything else?”

Merii smiled softly and rested a hand on my shoulder. Her presence was comforting and helped greatly in calming my nerves.
“Nothing that will matter till you’re a lady”

I gave her a questioning look again, slightly leaning into her touch as it anchored me. Helpfully Brewer answered for her.
“It’s the title you gain once you are strong enough to turn a human.”

“See? That titles mean something tangible would have been nice to know earlier.” I looked at Merii with a little smirk of my own, it was nice to be able to get back at her sometimes, and the humour of it certainly helped with my mood. 
“You could have been doing this instead of throwing me at things you know?” 

She shrugged again and checked her phone as it buzzed. “I was and will remain a poor educator, blame it on the way I was taught……...”  She paused for a long moment, scowling at the phone. 
“But that conversation will need to wait…. Looks like this whole murder thing is going to be trouble after all.” 

Handing me her phone I quickly scanned through the several documents and pictures. Most of it seemed to be hastily written notes and preliminary field reports lacking real information, with a few crime scene photos attached. Naturally I went to the photos first.  

The scene they showed was grizzly, not because of blood, that was notably absent actually. What was present was the naked body of a woman, suspended from her feet by a steel cable attached to a fire escape. She was sickly pale, bordering on a blue gray, with several large and obvious bruises across her abdomen just below and behind her ribs. Likely someone going for liver and kidney punches. Something I had learned from experience was a good way to knock a person to their knees with the pain. 

What really stood out though was the odd symbol painted on her stomach and in the centre of the large pentagram looking thing underneath her.  Some kind of upside down cross with a curving line intersecting the long edge and a circle at the top. I spent a long while looking at it, like I could almost interpret it into some deep and powerful form by instinct. It sent a chill down my spine to look at.

It was fairly obvious why Merii’s internet “friends” said this was ritualistic. I couldn’t read runes myself, but the pentagram had several large ones at each point.

Then came the photo of the wound to her neck. Two cuts, both with far too clean edges, around a centimetre long and three apart. If it weren’t for the cleanness of the cuts I would have compared them to the ones I had left.

Taking in the scene in its entirety an involuntary twitch ran through me and I found myself nervously playing with one of my fangs.

Then I actually read the report, or skimmed it at least, the pictures were more my speed. The details were light, unsurprising given the murder had only just occurred.

 Twenty three year old female, last seen leaving a local club at around midnight. Body shows obvious signs of an a brutal physical assault, but with no outward signs of sexual assault. Death likely by purposeful exsanguination due to two lacerations on the neck, limited amount of blood found on the scene, mostly on the pentagram.

All in all it did look like how I would picture a vampire attack, brutal, targeting a young lady in the dead of night, and with a generous amount of dramatic flair. While the whole thing did make me feel slightly light headed, almost dizzy, I couldn’t help but study it closely. Honestly, despite the odd feeling it gave me, I was tempted to take notes, it looked like a fun time, and a good way to get your money’s worth out of a meal….

The pictures of their belongings made it look like they might be one of the rich kids I had seen last night. That definitely explained why this was in the news. That and the whole thing had a really creepy vibe that the news loved to report on. Pretty young, rich girl getting brutally murdered was definitely front-page worthy. 

But I could see why Merii said this was trouble. If I thought it looked like a vampire, then so did everyone else. Even if it wasn’t that didn’t stop paranoia and witch hunts. And with us active in the city, there was a very good chance they would find what they were looking for if they really tried. 
“Ok… this definitely wasn’t us, was it? Like, you getting blood drunk or something?” 

Merii shook her head. “Not us, this all looks way too cultish to be a vampire, at least a smart one. Not that common sense has stopped us before, something like this will get hunters all trigger happy though. And in my city? With just us two? That’s a problem.”

“So what?” I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat as I looked over the pictures again.  “We screw with the investigation? We lay low? What’s the plan?” 

She sighed. “Both are good, but I would bet a fang this guy does this again and again till he’s done with whatever crap he's pulling, or caught…. So we take care of it ourselves.”

That sounded like exactly what Brewer had just been chastising us for, and I wasn't keen on experiencing whatever magic she would use if she were truly angry. Looking at her she seemed to be ok with things, but something reckless and likely to get people's attention was not my first pick….. Not after the earlier panic. Although if we were careful and used Merii’s considerable resources…… 

“I’ll let you eat the guy when we catch him~.” 
Merii said with her little singsong voice.

It might have been the panic I had just felt, that and the memory of how wonderful fresh blood had made me feel, how strong and fearless I had been……. But whenever it was, it made me very much a sucker for that kind of bribe.