For some reason his words made tears gather in her eyes. Was she falling for him? But the second the thought crossed her mind, the second it left. No—she was merely deeply touched by how sincere he was. She knew he wouldn't break his promise, not ever.

"Why was that vampire after you?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think it has to do with this." He gently pat his breast pocket where the disturbing necklace was. A faint smile appeared on his lips and he chuckled. "That's why I want to go to the library."

The library was only about a five minute drive, and that was because of a stoplight. Marcus didn't put his keys away, instead using them to unlock the library.

Zoë rolled her eyes as he shut the door behind them, punching in the code for the security alarm. "Oh come on."

"What?" he asked, not flipping on any lights. He grabbed her hand and led her along so she wouldn't trip.

"I suppose you're the mayor too?"

"Huh?"

"Why the fuck do you have keys to the local library?"

"Oh." He laughed. "No, I'm not the mayor."

"Well I didn't know!"

He laughed further. "It's nothing like that. I come here a lot. I befriended one of the librarians and she asked me why I always wore sunglasses. I gave her my usual, I have a migraine line, and I mentioned that I have insomnia and I'm up at night a lot."

Zoë chuckled. "You're pretty clever."

"I should hope so! I mean, I've made it this far."

Marcus had led her to the back of the library. Instead of turning on the main lights he went to the desk lamps, turning those on. Zoë wordlessly helped when she saw what he was doing.

"So yeah, she felt sorry for me and had a key made, so long as I wasn't going to abuse it. Which I haven't."

"So, what are we looking for?" Zoë asked once the lights were on, giving the library an eerie glow.

"I'm not sure," Marcus admitted, looking embarrassed. "I'd grab any books you can find on religion, especially Christianity. And anything on the occult." He paused. "And vampires."

"That certainly narrows it down," she scoffed quietly.

"I have really good hearing, being a vampire and all."

Zoë swore.

"Heard that, too." This was followed by a giggle.

Marcus and Zoë went in different directions. After about fifteen minutes and three trips, Marcus sat down.

"That should be good for now," Marcus told her as she arrived at the table with an armful of books. He was already pouring over a pile.

The minutes passed by in silence. Zoë unfortunately had no idea what to look for. The more time passed the more she realized how tired she was. Stifling a yawn, a thought occurred to her.

"Hey Marc."

"Hmm?" he said, not looking up from his book.

"What happens if you enter a church?"

Marcus paused, frowning deeply. His eyes then went back to reading. "Did it once. Zero out of ten, would never again."

"Oh come on."

Marcus looked up at her for a second. He then leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "I get, well, crushed."

"Crushed?"

"I d'no how else to describe it," he explained. "It's got to be part of the whole vampirism kit and kaboodle. I wasn't even inside the church before I started to feel a physical heaviness. Sorta like anxiety in your chest, but worse. When I walked in, my head started pounding, and I felt like I was being compressed. I didn't even make it to the alter; I was on my hands and knees, trying to crawl forward. I could feel blood coming out of my nose and ears."

Zoë was horrified. "Why did you go in in the first place?"

Marcus took up reading again. "Being chased by a vampire hunter."

"Woah woah woah, wait. Those really exist?"

He scoffed. "Of course they do. Employed by the church, of course. They're sneaky bastards, too. Some of them dress up like lawn care professionals, and they spray the grass down with holy water instead of pesticides."

Zoë's jaw dropped open. "No."

Marcus shook his head. "From now on pay attention; I try to avoid grass at all costs."

There was a brief moment of silence. Then Zoë frowned.

"Hey Marcus?"

"Hmm?"

"I wouldn't actually recite the bible around you. That'd really hurt you, right?"

"Yup."

Zoë looked at him seriously. "I know I said it before, but I would never."

Marcus glanced at her and smiled. "I know."

Zoë was reading about the origins of witchcraft when the back of her neck prickled. She tried to ignore it, reasoning she felt uneasy because she was sitting in a dark, empty, library with a vampire, reading about witchcraft and demons at three in the morning. But when the feeling instead became more intense, Zoë lifted her head.

To her surprise, Marcus was looking at her. A very serious expression was on his face. Zoë had the uneasy feeling of being watched. It wasn't Marcus' stare she felt, feeling many eyes on her.

Marcus spoke. "Run."

Zoë jumped to her feet. Before she could, several figures revealed themselves from behind the bookshelves. Marcus and Zoë were completely encircled.

Marc swept the books off the table, leaped over it, and stood protectively in front of Zoë. She looked around in terror at all the eyes glinting in the dim light. Marcus growled quietly like an attack dog.

The man directly in front of them walked forward, clapping mockingly. He smiled, revealing the same fangs Marcus had. Zoë whimpered, peeking out from behind Marcus' back.

"Oh, isn't that cute," the vampire said. "You have a pet."

"Leave her out of this, Loïc."

The man with short cropped black hair and menacing eyes stepped forward. He was wearing a black suit, a crisp white shirt beneath it. In amusement, he put a clawed hand to his mouth. "Oh, and you care about her, too! This is just too precious."

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"

Loïc craned his neck, peaking around Marcus at Zoë. "Has he told you about himself?"

"Lo—"

Loïc held up a finger at Marcus, still peering around at Zoë. "This is a serious question. Has he told you about his past?"

Marcus crossed his arms. Loïc stood fully up right, grinning at Marcus.

"You didn't? Well, wherever shall we start? How about how in the early 70's you were a pimp?"

He grinned at Marcus. When Loïc didn't get a response, he rose his eyebrows and peeked at Zoë again. "No? Lets go back a little bit. I'm sure you've heard of Jack the Ripper, yes?"

Zoë began to tremble. Loïc grinned even wider.

"Ahhh, I've hit upon something. Marcus didn't share with you the reason they never found Jack the Ripper was because he was actually a vampire traveling between London and France? And that the vampire you cower behind right now is that very same vampire?"

"Stop it," Marcus said, his voice growing quiet, deadly.

"He didn't tell you about his victims, why and how he chose them? How he had daddy issues; how his father was a priest that abused him and his family while portraying to the rest of the town he was saintly?"

"Stop it," Marcus snapped.

But Loïc didn't stop. "How once he became a vampire he slowly lost his mind and his moral compass got very confused, so he thought he might as well do God's work by feeding on prostitutes—"

"I said enough!" Marcus shouted as Zoë began to cry.

"--but he was so screwed up in the head he was also trying to figure out how vampires worked because he hated what he had become, so he performed autopsies on his victims, which was why they were chopped up and had various organs removed?"

"Please stop," Zoë whimpered.

"Or," Loïc continued, taking another step forward, "did he tell you how before he became Jack the Ripper, he was King of the Vampires? A title now held by yours truly, by the way."

He threw a brief, smug smile at Marcus before looking back at Zoë. "And that he earned that position by being ruthless, brutal, and lacking guilt, going so far as murdering and feeding on his own family--"

Marcus bellowed unintelligibly, ran forward in a blur, grabbed Loïc by the throat and lifted him into the air.

"You made me do that!" Marcus shrieked, his face crumpling in rage. "You said if I didn't use them for my first feed that you were going to kill me!"

Several of the vampires began to rush Marcus, but Loïc held up his hand. He then began to laugh, barely being able to get the sound out.

"Plenty of people would have sacrificed themselves to save their family, Marc."

Marcus shook him viscously. "How about you tell the whole truth? What you really said? That if I didn't kill them you'd kill all of us, but if I killed them you'd at least let me live?"

"Lets just let bygones be bygones, okay?" Loïc choked out. "How about you put me down now?"

Marc bared his large fangs and hissed loudly. Giving a final glare, Marcus complied. Defeated, he looked at the ground.

"What do you want?"

"You know what I want, Marc," Loïc replied. "Or rather, something my Master wants. Boys--take them."