Richard Weston's POV

After eating a delicious steak and eggs in an IHOP, I got back into the silver Mercedes and drove off to the NASA Liquor Store a few blocks away. How presumptuous of a name.

Walking past the glass door, I saw the tabloids and newspapers at the counter and sighed heavily. Aria was all over the papers. 'An Alien Among Us!!!' A headline screamed out. Then on a tabloid,]p 'NASA Bags The Real Thing!' Plus, 'How Long Has An Alien Walked In His Company?!' With an old picture of me. Oh God, Aria. What have you done to yourself? She shouldn't be with them. I shook my head as I went to gather up several candy bars and two one-liter bottles of Pepsi and Dr. Pepper. Once back at the counter, the young female clerk in jeans and a t-shirt stood staring at me with her mouth slightly open. "You're him, aren't you... The one that was with the alien." She smiled nervously as she tucked her stringy brown hair behind her ear.

Shifting from one foot to the other, I reached into the front pocket of my flannel and set down one of the many credit cards that had belonged to the real Annie. "Yeah, well, she's gone now," I answered her quietly "Uh, that's my wife's card if you're wondering." Sliding it through, she punched in a few numbers.

Smiling a bit shyly she handed back the credit card, her eyes wide saucers. "What was it like? I think I would have been terrified..." Looking at her closely, I could see she was merely curious. No hidden agenda.

"Aria is a wonderful creature. She is trying to learn about us. You know, what makes us what we are. She is simply fascinated with us, humans." I smiled at the memories I had of her. Quickly she bagged the items and I walked back out to the car while the scent of honeysuckle filled the air from the liquor store's neighbor's garden. Setting the bags down on the passenger seat, I turned on the ignition switch and took off, while plastic bags rattled away right next to me.

Now more than ever, I knew I had to get her out of there. The thought of those scientists dissecting her was tormenting my mind. I couldn't let it happen. Aria deserved to be free.
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Gabriel Black POV
(Supernatural Liason, US Vampire Council - New Orleans, Louisiana)

The yelling back and forth from Territory Representatives was becoming quite tiresome. The tall backed, well-cushioned chair I was sitting on was starting to seem almost too cushioned. I feel bored and tired of this group of vampires. Their inane chatter was like that of magpies. Looking at them all, they had no sense of style, they all looked like goth-style rejects. This whole place does. The darkened room with a long mahogany table and highbacked chairs with ornate wood carving. Then brick-red walls with a silk black lace overlay and brass fixtures sticking out of the walls with weak wattage bulbs. Boring.

Thomas my personal assistant, stood at my left side, was getting agitated because he also knew these vampires had to stop. Finally he stepped forward. "EVERYONE CALM DOWN!!!" He yelled loudly at them. Their heads turned to him sharply, some with fangs still elongated.

Slowly, they sat back down and Thomas calmed as he straightened his waistcoat. Sighing heavily, I lowered my sunglasses on the bridge of my life and looked up at him with an amused smile. Here it comes. " Now that the issues with the blood banks are concluded," He gave a nod to Clara for her organizational skills. "Are there any other issues that need to be addressed?" Thomas eyed the council members, one at a time.

Slowly, Rathe a warrior of the old days, stood up tall in his black Armani suit. He had a sharp jawline on an angular, battle-hardened, though handsomely rugged face. His hair was a light shade of brown and short. Though I remember the days when it used to fly out behind him and the women loved it. "We need to discuss what is to be done about this creature calling herself 'Aria'. Mr. Black, I am sure you know of what I speak. The humans cannot be allowed to keep her. The stupid creatures wouldn't know what to do with that kind of power." He stopped to look up and down the table as others murmured and nodded.

It was evidently time for me. Rising, I set my leather gloved hands down on the table and leaned forward. As I spoke softly, my words carried much weight to the conversation. First things, first. "Rathe, sit down." He did as he was told and I nodded my approval. "None of you will do a thing. We have many people on the inside of NASA right now, watching her. If the humans get killed in the process of doing all the 'grunt work' for us, so be it. Our time to capture her will come, but you must assert patience at this juncture. Do not let your people attack without good reason. If you do, I will not back you, at all." I looked at them as they murmured back and forth, surprised when Odiniya another ancient like myself stood up.

Odiniya's history was to most a mystery, but not to me. I knew her as a serving girl in the palace of Babylon. Still, she looked flawless after all this time with her long deep red hair and cat-like emerald eyes. The white satin and black lace of her corset with spaghetti straps, fit the golden tint of her perfect skin. "Gabriel, we must do something soon before the lycans do with their armies. Even the Shapeshifters are gathering on the continents. We cannot just stand by and do nothing. The creature Aria is too big of a weapon not to have on our side. We must act!" Odiniya's rabble-rousing tone irked me to no end. Quickly I slid down the table to the fifth seat where she was and grabbed her by the throat. Made higher by my knees resting on the mahogany table. Eyes glittering crimson red as I pulled off my sunglasses elongating my fangs in the process. Sliding my gloved hand to the back of her neck, fingers buried partially her long red hair, I pulled her to me viciously.

My hot breath tickled the short hairs near her ear as I spoke in a deep growl, "If I ever hear words like that coming out of that pretty mouth of yours again, Odiniya, I will kill you without thinking twice."

Odiniya's body shuddered with pleasure and pain so I gave her more by plunging my fangs deep into her neck. I wasn't gentle with her at all, and she began to squirm. Pulling her close up to my body so she could not get away, I drank deeply from her, the sweet nectar of her life slowly draining away. The others were watching, but I didn't care. Odiniya slowly began to collapse in my arms and I let her body fall onto the table, her head banging on the table with a resounding thud. Still alive, but barely. The others will think her dead, till later, then will speak about my mercy on her in a positive way. Good for me. Rising on the table I stood looking down at them all in a dominant way, with the blood of Odiniya still dripping off my chin and my fangs. "This meeting is adjourned." I hissed at them as I reached for my handkerchief, still calm as ever, and bored.