Kaia had found her way to an unoccupied area, a bed right in the middle of it. There was furniture everywhere in the room; likely things they had dragged to the side as they were unneeded. She laid down, trying to fall asleep. Her head was buzzing with thoughts, but eventually, she managed to drift off.

Until she heard a bang.

She snapped awake, looking around the dark room. She couldn't see a damn thing, but knew the noise had come from outside. She felt around the desk near her bed until she found her gun and stood up, taking the safety off of it. She felt her way through the darkness, swearing when her knee hit a chair. Hissing in a breath, she continued, going out into the open showroom. Tarps covered the windows, making the area just as dark as her room. She found the escalator, nearly falling down it when another loud clash sounded. Determined, she fondled her way through the stacks of objects until she found the doors.

She pushed her way outside, finally being granted moonlight. The air was thick and hot, and sweat immediately started to prick at her skin. The noise rang out again, this time a scraping following it. She held her gun at the ready, sneaking around the side of the building. As she got closer to the back, the sound got louder, and a sickening smell started to waft to her nose. She swallowed back her disgust, popping back around the corner. She came to the back of the building, the stench now strong enough to make her gag. There, she saw a dark figure fiddling around in an old dumpster. Her tired brain wanted to say it was a shadow person, But rationally she knew it was a solid figure wearing all black.

She aims her gun, trying to fight back the tears that were stinging her eyes. The smell was just too overwhelming at this point.

"Who are you?" She demanded. "What are you doing here?"

The figure stared at her, clutching a black plastic bag. She realized the bag was where the smell was coming from. She glanced over at the garbage can, seeing another black bag sitting on top of the other trash can that filled it.

"What's in the bag?" She asked.

The person didn't respond, but also didn't dare to move.

"Answer me or I'll shoot!" Kaia commanded.

She didn't know if she could actually carry out the threat; the lead bullets would most likely be useless. However, her voice was confident enough that she hoped the stranger would take her seriously. Suddenly, the figure threw the bag in the trash, breaking into a run.

"Hey!" Kaia cried.

She fired one shot, which managed to catch the stranger in the leg. A feminine voice screamed out in pain, and the figure fell over. She could see blood start to pool under their leg, shimmering in the moonlight. She jumped as she felt someone behind her, and to her relief, turned to see Chris.

"What the he'll do you think your doing wasting bullets on monsters?" Chris asked.

"I-"

His face contorted as the smell hit him. "What the fuck is dead over here?!"

Kaia knew it. It was the smell of rotting flesh, only made worse by the stagnant heat. She looked up at Chris, whose face was ashen

"... You go take care of the creep, I'll investigate whatever the fuck that smell coming from."

Kaia nodded, running over to the stranger. They had gotten up and started to hobble away, but she grabbed their arm. The person struggled, making Kaia put the gun to their head. Her pulse fluttered.

"Stay still, or I'll shoot," she said, this time sounding less confident.

"Baby fucking Jesus in Bethlehem! What the fuck?!"

Kaia whipped around to face Chris, who was peering into one of the plastic bags. She could see something shiny glint from within It, but couldn't make out what it was. He turned to face Kaia and the stranger.

"Did they throw these in here?!"

Kaia nodded.

Chris's eyes narrowed, and he approached, snatching the person away. They struggled, but weren't strong enough to fight against him. Kaia's stomach dropped when she realized that whoever this mysterious person was, they were a human.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Chris growled. "And you'd better not kill Pumpkin if you see him."

He dragged the figure away, leaving Kaia confused. What the hell was in those bags? She jogged over to the dumpster, holding her breath as she gingerly lifted one of the bags open. She gasped when a pair of glassy green eyes met hers.

The bag was full of severed cat heads.

She gagged again, stumbling back. This was almost too much. She ran back inside to find Chris and Molly, who had made prompt work of tying the intruder up. Charlie stood nearby, a knife glinting in her hand. Ziggy was nowhere to be seen.

"The-The cats-"

"I know, Kaia," Chris said.

If he was upset, he was concealing it with anger. The fury in his eyes made Kaia's stomach twist. Molly looked angry too, though she was unassuming with her short stature and pink plaid pajama bottoms.

"Who the fuck are you?" Chris demanded.

The stranger didn't respond. Chris ripped off the scarf the stranger was using to conceal their face, revealing someone Kaia recognized.

"Julia?!"

"Julia?" Molly and Charlie said in unison.

Chris just stared down at the young woman, his dark eyes persecuting.

"... I knew it was you," Julia said. "You're the only person who'd be dumb enough to fall in love with a vampire."

"I'm not- what the fuck, Julia?! Why'd you kill all those cats!?"

"They were familiars," Julia explained, finally willing to talk. "Witches become weak without their familiars."

"And who sent you out here to kill all the familiars?" Molly asked.

"I'll only talk to her."

Julia's head bobbed towards Kaia, who took a step forward.

"Who asked you to do this?" Kaia insisted.

"Townsend," Julia said. "After you left, she decided to send people out to hunt you down. But she figured there might be magic protecting you , since all the guards who were sent after you got really sick. All sorts of shit -

Q Fever, Mumps, TB, even fucking cancer. We knew then the witches were helping you. So she sent a few of us out to kill any cat we saw. The throwing the bags in your dumpster was unintentional."

"And you tried to run away like a little bitch," Kaia said.

It felt good to say that. As clichè as it was, she had never liked Julia. She was always mean to her during school. But now, Kaia was the one who had control.

"I'm the little bitch?" Julia asked. "You're the one who betrayed her own people for dick."

"I-" Kaia ran a hand down her face. "You fucking suck, Julia. I have half a mind to shoot you right now."

"Do It!" Charlie said.

"Go ahead," Julia said. "I dare you."

Kaia raised the gun, but it was quickly pushed back down by Chris.

"Don't waste bullets," Chris said. "You'll need them. You only have six left now. Right?"

Kaia thought back. The Skinwalker, then Julia's leg. Yeah. Six. She cursed herself for not having the guts to shoot Julia in the head before.

"Can we drown her in the sink!" Ziggy called out. She could barely make out what his form at the top of the escalator. "I vote we drown her in the sink!"

"Ziggy, go back to bed," Molly said, exasperated.

"Mom, I'm fucking 68!" Ziggy cried. "Stop telling me what I can and can't watch!"

"Don't fucking swear at your mother!" Chris yelled back.

Ziggy's figure slipped back into the darkness, and she could hear him muttering obscenities.

"Nice family you got here," Julia said.

Kaia raised the gun up again without even thinking.

"Enough," Chris said. "Both of you. I'd like to have a conversation with Julia..." He turned to Molly and Charlie. "Just me and Kaia."

"Um, since when is it the Kaia-Chris power hour?" Charlie spat. "We were here first!"

"She has a point," Molly admitted.

Chris sighed, softening in front of the two women. "Listen, this is my shitty mess... and Kaia's. I don't want you two getting tangled up in it. Ziggy, either. The less they know about you, the better. Hell, I'd rather they don't even know you two exist. The more you get involved, the more likely they're gonna find out."

Molly and Charlie looked at each other before looking back at Chris, having made a silent agreement.

"We won't stay out of the way if you're in trouble," Charlie said. "But, for now..."

"Watch your ass," Molly said.

There was a small smile on her face, and for a moment she looked like the happy mom in the old photo.

"Thank you," Chris said.

He waited for the two women to go back upstairs before turning back to Julia.

"How many people do you have on this?" He asked.

"Why the fuck should I tell you?" Julia replied. "And don't try torturing me, I went through training for that."

What a liar. They'd never taught them anything about withstanding torture... probably because it was never supposed to get that far.

"... I don't want to torture you," Kaia said. "... That badly. I know we never got along, but I'm offering you this. If you just tell us everything you know, I won't let Chris kill you."

Chris snorted loudly. "Okay, sweet pea, One- who the fuck says that I'm gonna kill her? I'm sure as shit not shooting Her, those are the only lead bullets in fucking North Carolina at this point and we need every single one of them. But I'm not drowning her either takes too long. Or slitting her throat, too messy. Two- who the fuck says we're letting her go, either? She knows where we live, who my friends are, and everything about you. I'll be damned if she walks out of this building."

Kaia chewed her lip, hesitant. She wasn't sure what to do anymore.

"... Can we talk in private?" She asked.

Chris looked Julia up and down, as if to make sure he was satisfied with her restraints.

"... Okay."

He walked across the room with Kaia, both of them stopping in a small sliver of moonlight. The pale light brought out the lighter tones in Chris's pitch dark hair.

"I don't want to kill her," Kaia said. "I can't. I can't do it. I can torment her a little, cause she was always mean to me... but... I don't want to kill her. I can't kill another human. Not now, not ever."

Chris conspireded these words.

"I know," he said. "But you need to get over that."

"I don't want to!" Kaia said. "I just... I feel like-"

"Its what's keeping you human. I see. You don't want to stop to our level."

Kaia's expression soured. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Maybe not consciously," Chris said softly. "But subconsciously, yes."

Kaia stared him down, but his expression did not waver.

"... I didn't change overnight," Kaia said. "I trust you, and I hate what my compound is doing, but... I still love humans. And humanity. And being human. And it's the only thing that's keeping me from going crazy is just-"

"Holding onto the morals you were raised with. I get it."

"I just," Kaia swallowed. "I know not all vampires are bad. And I know you know that. Because you're not sadistic. You're nothing like anything I've read, heard, or seen in videos. You're..."

"Better than that."

"Okay, can we just agree that killing people is wrong then build up from there so I can finish a damn thought?!"

A small smirk graced Chris's lips. "Alright, fine. But you still sound pretentious and I don't like you dragging me down to your level."

Kaia rolled her eyes. "Too bad. You're here with me. Cause I know that you've never killed a single human in your life, except one. And that one you killed to save my life. I know you only did it because you had to. And you don't want to kill Julia, not because it would be messy, but because you don't want to kill humans either. Not even the bad ones unless they're an immediate threat."

"Julia's an immediate threat."

"No she's not. She's just a risk. And one that can be contained... maybe, we can just question her, then hold her here. Like a prisoner. We can easily restrain her, she may have training but you and the others are still stronger than her. And maybe, just maybe, we can use her as a tool to defeat whatever else comes our way. Since... you may not want to go back, Chris, but it doesn't matter. They're coming for us."

Chris bit his lip in contemplation, interrupted by the sound of Julia's voice.

"Here, kitty, kitty..."

Before Chris could even turn, there was a loud screech, that sent him flying towards Julia. It took Kaia a few moments to realize what was happening. The large orange cat was stumbling away, a gash on his body from where he'd nearly been gutted trying to dodge a killing blow. Julia had a silver blade glittering in her hand, which Kaia recognized. It was from a school-provided pocket knife. Damn, why didn't the others think to par her down?

She had expected Chris to go after Julia, but instead found him kneeling next to his injured cat. His whole demeanour had changed, showing a side if him she had only seen brief glimpses of, like when he had pressed the cloth to her face to stop her nosebleed, or laid her on the couch in the old haunted house while she was still sleeping.

"Oh baby, it's gonna be okay," he cooed softly, his eyes giving away how upset he was.

He gently pulled the injured cat towards him, making it growl in protest.

"Oh, I know baby, I know it hurts."

Molly had come down the escalator, equally upset by the sight of the bleeding cat.

"Did Julia do that?"

Chris nodded. "She cut out of the restraints. She must've because I tie a damn good knot."

Molly rolled her eyes. "Ever humble. Here, let me take care of Pumpkin. You go after her."

Chris, clearly trusting his former colleagues expertise, handed Pumpkin over. His blue t-shirt was stained dark from where the cat's blood had saturated the fabric. He was gone in a blink, and Kaia was left gasping at the spot where he had once stood.

"Should I get some bandages, mom?" Ziggy asked. He had also been drawn down by the animal's horrible scream.

"Yes," Molly said. "That'd be helpful."

Kaia decided the cat was in good hands (and admittedly being more concerned about her friend than his cat), unstuck herself from her spot and ran out the doors. The blade was silver, which she knew could easily hurt Chris, or even kill him if Julia managed to get the upper hand. She doubted it, but the thought still gnawed at the back of her mind. She ran, passing an alley but stopping short when she heard a soft groan. She backpedaled, gasping at what she saw. Julia had managed to use an essential tool. It was called X, for the first letter of its rather wordy chemical name. It was a powerful hallucinogen, as well as a depressant. Five milliliters of it was enough to incapacitate a full grown man for several hours; human or not. It wasn't the needle that concerned her, however. She could see the hilt of the blade glinting from his chest.

"Chris!" She cried out, running over to him.

She yanked the needle out of his side, knowing it must have been stuck then when Julia had an opening. Then, the knife had followed. She pulled the blade out, wincing at the noise it made as the serrated edge pulled at his flesh. It was too short to have fully penetrated his heart, but the pain alone had been enough to keep him in place. Silver was like acid to vampires. She pressed her hands over the wound, knowing the bleeding wouldn't stop until the wound had been cleansed of all the silver residue.

"Its okay," she said, almost mimicking the tone he had used with the cat. "You're gonna be okay."

Thinking quickly, she yanked off her shirt, using it as a makeshift bandage for Chris's wound. She then stood up, hooking her arms under his shoulders and dragging him back to the furniture store. She didn't dare let him drop when she reached the doors, choosing instead to call out for Molly. The door swung open at her desperate cry, and Molly stared down in shock at her injured friend.

"She used X on him," Kaia explained, winded. "He didn't stand a chance after that. If the knife was any longer, he would've..."

Kaia didn't have the heart to finish that sentence.

Molly quickly took over, lifting Chris up with ease and carrying him over to the table. Ziggy stood nearby, cradling the now fully bandaged cat. He gasped when he saw Chris.

"Holy fuck! Julia tore him a new one!"

He already seemed confident that Chris would be okay, but that didn't stifle Kaia's worry. Charlie ran over, a bottle of water in her hand. She knew what to do. She poured it into the wound making Chris let our a soft groan.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," she chided.

Kaia walked over, watching Molly soak towel after towel with blood and water, soaking up everything as Charlie poured more and more fluid into the wound to try and clean it. Finally, it started to heal on its own. All Kaia could do was stand there, staring down at Chris's wide open eyes. They were glassy, but he was far from dead. His mind was galaxies away from their own.

"We need to take him to bed," Kaia said. "Let him recover from the X. He'll be saying some weird shit for a while, but he should be okay."

Now that his chest wound had healed, Kaia was starting to relax. She followed the vampires upstairs, Charlie carrying Chris this time as her taller frame made it easier for her to handle his. She laid him down in his bed, cringing slightly before pulling down the lids of his eyes so they were closed.

"Better," she said.

"Poor Chris," Ziggy said. "He was only so young."

Molly sighed. "Ziggy, go... go get some blood. He'll probably be thirsty when he wakes up."

"On it," Ziggy said.

Kaia shrudded. She'd almost forgotten that vampires drink blood. She watched Molly and Charlie leave the room, probably off to take care of other tasks that required their attention. Meanwhile, Kaia stood by Chris's bedside, watching his eyes roll restlessly behind closed lids. Ziggy came up behind her, startling her. In his hand was a water bottle full of a wine colored fluid. It looked to clear to be pure blood.

"Damn," Ziggy said. "Is X some kind of drug or something?"

Kaia nodded. "He's as high as a kite."

She giggled a little. Putting it that way made it sound so.. innocent. But she didn't have the heart to think about what happened to all the people she saw it get used on... or use it illegally as a recreational drug.

"Ah, that's funny. I'd stick around, but I'm tired as shit. You coming?"

"No, I'm staying here," Kaia said.

Ziggy pursed his lips. "Riiiight. Well, tell me if he does anything weird."

He walked out of the room, leaving Kaia and Chris alone. She walked to the other side of the bed, sitting down next to him. It was only a matter of time before things got bad.