Fantasy Vampires(closed)

[Reynarda]

“Twins and triplets?!” Bram gasped. “Oh wow, I’m sure your sister appreciates your help. Twins and triplets, wow. I’m sure Emily is s big help, too. Wow.”

Bram could not fathom having twins and triplets. That was insane. Having one kid around the house had been insane—granted, she had been a werewolf. But still. Human babies were just as much trouble, even if they didn’t eat the furniture.

When Eric softened a bit and turned an honest question on Vlad, Bram joined Meredith in looking at him. The vampire flicked his eyes nervously between the three faces.

Vlad swallowed, considering the pros and cons. However, he decided that six little girls all under the age of ten outweighed everything.

Bram watched his decision process, wondering what Vlad was so worried about. Finally the vampire sighed easing his features to one that was decidedly on the sympathetic side of Vlad’s range of expressions.

“I believe you are manifesting symptoms of a rare blood borne... disease. One that often results in... aggression that the victims cannot control.” Vlad shrugged in an uneasy apology. “We’ve seen it before in situations like this.”

Bram nodded, glad Vlad had stuck the blood-borne bit in there. “Yeah, I know what he’s talking about. It’s... not the victims fault, but if they don’t know to stay away from people, they could harm their loved ones.”

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Eric had not been expecting /that/. He raised both his eyebrows as he stared at Vlad for a good few minutes, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. He certainly did not sound like he was joking, but it was a hell of an explanation, and one that sounded a bit too sci-fi for his own tastes.

"Right. Some kind of blood-borne disease," he parroted, but then, now that he thought about it... He couldn't really remember much of the night with the strange woman who had stole his wallet and his pants, thanks to the alcohol, but he did remember her encouraging him to bite her. Which was fine at the time, because while it wasn't really his thing he could totally get down with a bit of the kinkier stuff if a pretty lady asked him to, but thinking back on it now, he may have drawn blood, and that may have landed him in this position.

Of course, that was all only a possibility. He'd have to go see his doctor to know for sure, which he'd been putting off. In the meantime, though...

"So what you're saying is that I might hurt my family unless I stay away from them," he said, his voice surprisingly even considering how conflicted he was on the inside.

 

[Canth]

Not the victim’s fault? What were they, hunters or shrinks? Meredith was starting to get the idea that these two had figured it out and yet had no intention of dealing with the problem. Fine, she would just have to handle it herself. But, first...

“Really?” She cocked a brow at the vampire. “Blood-borne disease. That’s what you’re going with?” She had hoped for a little more excitement given the murders. “I thought you guys were Private Detectives...not the CDC.”

It was obvious Eric was both skeptical and curious, not one to risk the lives and health of his nieces even from some random unknown disease two strangers had somehow managed to determine he had. By looking at him? Smelling him? Some fancy little detection machine hidden in their pocket? These were all questions Meredith, loving aunt, wanted answered.

 

[Reynarda]

Vlad braced himself for laughter or scoffing. It seemed that Eric was going to go that route, but then stopped himself. Vlad could see the realization enter his eyes, and the vampire sighed.

He was going to have to pull the man aside and explain his condition later, but not in front of Meredith.

He opened his mouth to offer words of sympathy, but Meredith butted in. Vlad had to snap his mouth shut before he accidentally spread his lips in a snarl. She was being difficult for kicks and giggles.

But he didn’t have to snarl at her. To his surprise, Bram came to his rescue.

“Vlad knows what he’s talking about,” Bram told Meredith, putting his hand out to calm his companion. “He has done his research on this condition. He, uh... a friend of his had it.”

Vlad eyed Bram, wondering who Bram was referring to. Scarlet? Regardless, Vlad was dreading the upcoming conversation and would like to get it over with.

Vlad turned his too-big smile on Meredith again. “I am sure you would like to enter your bed and breakfast and check on your sister.”

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Eric was still very skeptical, of course. He highly doubted that Vlad was a doctor, and even if he may have had an associate who suffered from the same supposed condition that he had diagnosed Eric with, that didn’t make him an expert.

“Yeah, well,” he said, because he didn’t exactly know what else to say. Meredith had good points, and he agreed with her, but he was also intrigued enough by this weird duo who had so thoroughly annoyed him earlier that he didnt want to dismiss the idea right away, especially if it involved the safety of his family.

He chewed on his lower lip for a second, then pulled out his phone and sent off a quick text to his sister to let her know that he would not be returning that night. He received one in return telling him to use protection and not get herpes, and he rolled his eyes at how immediate her response had been.

“Ok, how about this,” he began, eyeing Vlad critically. “If you’re so certain that I’m gonna be a threat to my family because of this weird mystery disease, then I’ll get a nice isolated hotel room for tonight and then go see a doctor in the morning.”

 

[Canth]

Meredith frowned. Damn, he was right. Either she maintained her cover and awkwardly followed from a distance, or she broke the act because she was way too curious to leave right when it was all about to get good. She hated admitting defeat, and that smug smile on the short man’s face was quite irritating.

“Of course,” she glanced over at Vlad, her expression hesitant, concerned. She turned back to Eric.

“That sounds like a good plan, honestly. I’m sure a doctor will be able to give you some answers.” She fidgeted with her clutch before turning back to the ‘Private Investigators’. “And you’re certain, this disease...it’s blood-borne? So, I shouldn’t be taking anything back with me?”

 

[Reynarda]

Vlad nodded slowly. “That sounds like a wise idea,” he agreed.

Except the whole doctor part. Vlad could just imagine him asking for a blood test for a rare disease and all the tests coming back negative. Maybe some thorough tech would look under the microscope and discover that Eric’s blood wasn’t even human. Oh, the nightmares. Or, worse, they could not look under the microscope and declare him clean. Regardless, Vlad was going to have to have the talk with him, and he was not looking forward to it.

“There’s a lot of empty rooms at our motel,” Bram added, guessing that Vlad would like to keep the poor officer around once Meredith had left.

Vlad let out a quiet breath as Meredith backed down. He had been fully prepared to have her either scoff more or try to kill Eric. She did neither, and Vlad actually smiled in relief.

“No, no,” he assured her. “It is entirely transmitted through blood.”

“Your family will be safe.”

Especially since they were not there, Vlad thought. But he did not vocalize it, instead smiling with cheerful smugness at Meredith. “Have a good night.”

“Let us know if you need anything.”

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Eric, luckily, was still completely oblivious to Meredith's act. He nodded at her and gave a tired smile.

"Sorry for all the trouble; I really wouldn't want to make you or your sister sick too," he said, then gestured towards her clutch. "You have my number, if you need it." Of course she did, because he had given it to her not half an hour before. He awkwardly cleared his throat. "Goodnight, then."

His flirting skills definitely could have used some work, but he had at least tried to be friendly, and she had seemed responsive enough. Maybe after all this was over and her niece was returned he could invite her out for coffee, or something.

He glanced back at Bram and narrowed his eyes a little, suspicion clear in his gaze, but, well.

"There's only three hotels in town, and I sure as heck am not staying at the Hilton or the Tourist Trap, so chances are I was going to get a room there anyways," he said. "I'll tell you now, though, I still don't really buy this. I'm giving you guys the benefit of the doubt, because I care about my family, but frankly, I still think you're a bit full of shit."

 

[Canth]

Well, perfect. It had not exactly gone according to the plan she had been making up along the way, but Meredith only allowed herself a few seconds to dwell on it. She would go inside, wait a bit, watch from her upstairs window, and then pay a visit to the only other motel in the town that was not the Hilton, or the ‘Tourist Trap’. Should not be too hard to figure out which rooms were whose.

“Oh, no, it’s perfectly fine,” Meredith reassured with a gentle smile. “You wouldn’t’ve known anyway...and I’m sure it’s just a nasty head cold or something.” She paused, as if she had more to say, but then sighed and lifted her hand in a small wave. “Well, I hope you feel better, and...uh, thanks. For listening. Maybe once this is all over, and you’re feeling better...” she trailed off, deciding maybe it was not appropriate. “Well, good night.”

Meredith offered Eric as encouraging a smile as she could muster given the dark times and all. She glanced over at Bram and Vlad, not bothering to extend the vampire the same courtesy, though she did toss a small smile Bram’s way. He could come in handy later, you never knew. Pleasantries finished up, Meredith turned and walked up the few entryway steps and passed through the door, which was unlocked as she had called ahead to let Mrs. Johnson know she would be getting in late. She shut it behind her, careful to be quiet. She was a former witch, not some asshole who enjoyed waking older ladies from their sleep. Once the door was shut, Meredith drew out her phone and within a few second had the hotel. Right, it wasn’t too far. Now all she had to do was wait. Something Meredith had never been very good at.

 

[Reynarda]

Bram smiled back at Meredith—because hey, she was hot. Vlad gave her a dirty look—because hey, he hated her conniving guts.

Vlad almost told Bram to think with his upstairs brain but decided not to in front of Eric. He was attempting to get the officer to trust him and being snarky was apparently not the way to do that. Besides, Vlad was pretty certain he could distract Bram with the only thing he liked better than pretty women—vampire hunting.

As they walked off, Vlad kept glancing suspiciously behind them, expecting to catch Meredith darting out of sight. Bram caught him doing it and rolled his eyes. Vlad was so suspicious that everyone operated under the same rules as he did.

“Vlad, wanna convince the officer you’re not full of shit? About this, I mean.”

“Language,” the vampire complained as if Bram has just blasphemed everything he held sacred.

“Wanna convince the officer you’re not full of excrement?”

Vlad nodded, apparently satisfied with this substitution.

“Vlad.”

Peeved, the vampire eyed him out of the corner of his eye. “When we get to the hotel.”

Bram gave him a look. Vlad was stalling, probably figuring out the best way to do it. Fine, Bram was going to have to get the ball rolling then. There was no reason to leave the poor man hanging.

“Vlad is definitely full of sh—”

“Abraham.”

“—poo, but not about this. And honestly, he wasn’t being completely honest.”

Vlad made an indignant sound in the back of his throat.

“He didn’t want to say anything in front of Meredith because—”

“She is irritating.”

“—he didn’t want to scare her. But we need to be totally honest with you—for obvious reasons.”

“Abraham Leeuwen, your attempt to skirt the issue is making me physically ill.” Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb. “That is quite literally the worst way to break the news to someone.”

“Last time I did it my way, you freaked out.”

“Your way sucks.”

“I was trying to be delicate this time. How would you do it, then? With a candlelit dinner?”

Vlad had been planning on sitting the man down and borrowing Bram’s emergency jenever. But now Bram was being horrible.

Vlad waved his hand dismissively. “Do not listen to him, Officer Summers. He is being dramatic. It is not that big of a deal.”

“And this comes from experience, Vlad?”

Vlad gave Bram a look. Considering he had never been anything other than a vampire, it most certainly did not come from experience.

“Can you not let me do it my way?” Vlad demanded.

“Your way takes forever.”

Vlad groaned. “Officer, I promise to explain what this idiot is being 'delicate' about as soon as we reach the hotel."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Eric smiled; he may have just gotten a date out of this mess. For once in the past six months, his life was starting to look up a bit.

That began to dwindle as he listened to the two detectives go on, following behind them at a pace that made it clear that he was simply going in the same direction, not actively following them, but neither of them seemed to get the message. Instead they were going on and on about something that he, for the life of him, could not understand at all. Except some sort of understanding was starting to dawn on him, and he groaned as he slapped one hand against his forehead.

"Fuck, you guys sound like I'm dying. Is that it? Did that chick give me HIV or something? Couldn't get the guts to come around and say so herself?" he asked - with no care towards his own language - because that was the logical explanation, and it would make sense that Vlad would not want to say something like that in front of Meredith. It didn't explain why he was asking around about the mystery woman beforehand, but who knew, this night was getting worse and worse and weirder and weirder. Luckily the motel wasn't too far away, and Eric could even see it across the street, but it did little to improve his mood. The fact that the two strangers were only skirting around the issue instead of actually being blunt about it was almost enough to confirm his suspicions, too.

 

[Canth]

Meredith slipped up to her room. Moving quick, she grabbed Bram’s business card and Eric’s slip of paper from her clutch before tossing the bag on the bed. She grabbed a small duffle and set it on the desk in the corner. She pulled it open and began pulling out various items: a small bowl, two glass vials, three neatly labeled containers, and a book of matches. She made quick work of the spell, shaking the ingredients into the bowl one at a time. She retrieved a blade from her right ankle and pushed the end into the tip of her finger, drawing blood. Three drops fell into the bowl before she wrapped her finger up. She grabbed Bram’s card first, writing down the names and numbers, and a quick sketch of of the symbol, before setting the card in the bowl. She lit a match and dropped it on top. The contents immediately burst into a murky grey flame, and then sparked a sickly green.

The fire was out within seconds and all that was left was a pile of grey ash. Meredith tipped the bowl’s contents into one of the glass vials, sealed it, and labeled it ‘Assholes’. She repeated the steps with Eric’s, labeling it ‘Vampire Cop’. Meredith tucked both vials in her pocket, grabbed her coat, and slipped back down the stairs and out the door, headed in the direction of one of three hotels in the area.

 

[Reynarda]

Had Vlad just not scolded Bram about his language? And now this upholder of the law was using the queen mother—

“HIV?” Bram asked, interrupting Vlad’s word-choice wailing. “No, no, it’s not—“

“Abraham,” Vlad interrupted. “Let us get him a chair to sit in and pour him some of your emergency stock.”

“What if I need that?”

Vlad gave Bram a long-suffering look. “Then I will buy you more.”

They crossed the street and changed directions slightly, heading for the red pick-up parked in front of room 104. Bram pulled down the tailgate and climbed up in the bed. Opening the cooler, Bram shifted the bags of Vlad’s emergency stock and fished out several bottles.

“What do you want? I’ve got German beer, whisky, and jenever. Vlad? Iced coffee?”

“Please.” Vlad turned to Eric. “You might want to sit on the tailgate.”

Bram held up a rust-colored squeeze bottle marked “NOT ketchup” for Vlad to see and glanced at Eric and raised his eyebrows. Vlad shook his head. Bram popped open the bottle of iced coffee and squirted it in. He kept it out, just in case, and closed the cooler. Jumping down, he passed everyone their drinks and the took a long draft of his own.

“What you have is not a virus,” Vlad aid once everyone was situated.

“Per se.”

Vlad gave him a look.

Bram sipped his beer. “What is it, then?”

“A reproductive strategy.”

Bram snorted. “It invades cells and inserts its DNA. How is that not a virus?”

“It is a cell that does that, in the first place. Besides, parasitic worms and fungi can change gene expression.”

“It’s a fungus, then,” Bram concluded, taking a cheerful sip of his beer.

Vlad groaned. “It is not a fungus! This is why you can’t help.” He turned back to Eric. “It basically takes over your cells and changes them with its own DNA. You are thirsty, like your throat is burning, but nothing seems to help. I’m sure your teeth hurt, and your temper is short, and—“

“You’re turning into a vampire,” Bram said, growing tired of Vlad’s dancing around the issue.

 

[Mikotsuhime]

This was looking more and more like a 'you're dying' situation, as bizarre as it was. At least his immediate fears had been assuaged for the time being, though, and Eric followed the two weirdos to their truck and watched Bram sort out drinks.

If this was a drinking situation, then he certainly did not want to do it sober.

"Beer is fine," he said, accepting the can and popping the tab before taking a long swig. He figured he might as well take the edge off before the real news hit. He didn't sit on the tailgate, but rather leaned against the side of the truck as the two seemed to argue about whatever it was he /had/, and his patience was growing thinner and thinner before the truth finally came out.

He stood there silently for a few minutes, before letting out a deep, world-weary sigh.

"Vampire, right. Did Isaac put you guys up to this or something? I know the kid has a big imagination. Look, I'm tired, I just want to go home. Is there a real reason you called me out here, or not?"

The fact that they had accurately described his actual symptoms did give him a bit of pause, of course, but... vampires? Really?

 

[Canth]

The hotel was walking distance and it did not take her long to find it. A shake of one of the vials confirmed she was in the right place. Meredith slipped around the back, having noted the truck in the parking lot outside room 104, two figures seated in the bed, and one standing reluctantly outside. Probably engaged in some heart-to-heart over the officer’s unfortunate circumstances. She had expected so much more of them.

A quick toss of her hair, a readjustment of her bra, and a release of the top few buttons of her blouse, Meredith pushed through the motel office door. She found the young teenage night shift employee, head buried deep in his phone behind the desk. Meredith shut the door and made straight for him, heels clicking on the tile and alerting the boy to his new guest. He blinked up at her, lost for words for a few seconds.

“Uh, c-can I help you, miss?”

Meredith glanced around the office, before leaning forward, resting her elbows on the counter, hips canted and posterior pushed out slightly. She rubbed one heel up and down her leg as she turned her eyes on her latest prey.

“Actually, I could really use your help,” she glanced over her shoulder, biting at her lip, before turning back to him. “Jackson, is it?”

“Uh, yes ma’am, Jack...is fine.”

“Jack, good,” she smiled up at him. “See, I’m a little embarrassed, but I was supposed to meet someone here and they gave me a key card, but...well, I sort of lost it...”

Jack blinked, taking an extra second to process what Meredith had said as his eyes kept straying downwards. He could hardly be blamed, Meredith was not making it easy on him.

“Uh, well, per our policy we can’t just—“

“Of course, I understand, it’s just...I promised I would be there and I’d hate to stand the poor fellow up. He’s not the most confident of sorts, can be quite sensitive. Nothing serious of course, but I don’t like going back on my word, you see. It would mean the world to me.” Meredith blinked up at Jack with more than the kid could naturally handle. He was having trouble recovering.

“Uh, who was the guest? Do you remember the room?” He broke his stare and reluctantly turned his eyes on his computer.

“Leeuwen. Room 104.”

“Uh...oh, yeah, there’s two guys in that room.”

Meredith shrugged. “We haven’t worked out the kinks yet, but it has potential. The other one usually just sits and watches. We all have our fetishes.”

Jack was not sure what to say to that, and instead set to rummaging for an unused keycard and coding it to the room. He hesitated, but handed it over.

“Thank you so much darling, really. I owe you one.” Meredith stood up and leaned forward, landing a kiss on the boy’s cheek before tossing him a wave and slipping back outside.

 

[Reynarda]

((Vlad would be horrified, Meredith.))

 

[Canth]

((Haha, I thought as much : p ))

 

[Reynarda]

Vlad stared at Bram, still frozen in the act of trying to gently explain something. He didn’t stare at the hunter—who was still cheerfully sipping his beer—in horror or disbelief, but with the expression that he had known this was going to happen and was disappointed in himself for not stopping it.

“No, Isaac didn’t say anything. We’re totally serious, here. Vlad?” Bram looked pointedly at the vampire—well, the other vampire—as if he was supposed to pull proof out of a hat and was missing his cue.

Instead, Vlad sighed. “This is why you let me do the explaining. If you had let me logically build my—”

“Vampires are totally real,” Bram interrupted. “They look just like you or me. Hell, that girl you met was a vampire. That’s where you got it. I think Vlad thinks she has something to do with the disappearances and subsequent exsanguinations.”

Vlad’s shoulders lifted and dropped in a hedging motion.

“We hunt vampires,” Bram continued. “Well, I hunt vampires. He calls unhelpful tips from the sidelines.”

“He is not believing a word you are blabbering,” Vlad informed him.

“He would if you would show him.”

Vlad rolled his eyes. There were ten thousand explanations these days for why he had fangs, and he was certain that Eric knew several of them. Vlad sighed and tried to salvage the situation. “I know this is a lot to take in, but this… condition is something that you can live with.”


((xD I spit out my tea, to be honest xP))

 

[Mikotsuhime]

((HURGLES Meredith you can't just do that!))

Eric considered himself a pretty patient man, at the best of times. He was good at stakeouts because he was good at waiting people out, anyways. But his patience was not at its highest today to begin with, and this was falling dangerously close to 'superstitious bullshit prank territory'. He was on the verge of walking out right then, but... he had a pretty good bullshit detector, if he was being honest, and he didn't get the feeling that thee guys were lying.

That was even more distressing than anything else.

"Ok, so let me get this straight. You guys hunt vampires. The chick I met in the bar the other day was a vampire, made me one, and is probably out there killing people." He said slowly, because this was giving him a headache. "Right. I'm gonna be honest with you guys, you sound like you're full of... crap," he ammended at the last minute, because he remembered Bram getting into it for using the 's' word earlier. "So you're gonna show me. Show me what?"

He couldn't believe that he was even entertaining this. He couldn't believe that he hadn't gone home and gone to bed and left these two kooks behind to do... whatever it was that they were really in town to do.

But, on the off-hand totally unreasonable tiny almost impossible chance that they were right, he'd be putting his family in danger. And, on that off-hand totally unreasonable tiny impossible chance, he also might just have gotten a break in the case, which was way more important than sleeping.

 

[jones573]

(( I'm CACKLING- aaah i love meredith.... Also why do I feel like Bram's biggest problem with what she just said would be the implication that he lacks confidence? At that Jackson would BELIEVE that! Sure, he only talked to the kid maybe once, but how he dare he not be suspicious of this lady's BS claim?!? Does Bram look like the sort of fellow who can't get an actual date? Or would be worried about being stood up by a 'date'? Preposterous! ))

 

[Canth]

Alright, step one complete. Now all she had to do was find a way into their room. Of course, they all happened to be sitting directly outside the door. Had she retained her ability to change into a cat, it would be no problem. But now...she wondered just how long it would take for them to break the news to the poor kid. If Vlad was running the conversation, they could be out there for hours. But Eric did not seem like the kind of guy with the patience to wait that long. And once they did tell him, how long before he decided they were completely bonkers and went running for the hills, as any sane person would? Not that none of it was true, of course...but Meredith would not blame him for being skeptical. Besides, she always enjoyed a good chase.

Meredith got as close as she could, keeping a safe enough distance so that Vlad would not sense her. She had donned a few totems, a necklace here, a bracelet there. A small hex bag in the pocket to shield her scent and aura. But, they all only worked so well without her own magic fueling them. They would be enough to keep the average observer from spotting her, but were someone to be specifically looking, well...that was why she carried protection. Of all kinds.

She could just barely make out the conversation, a few of the words lost on her as she muddled through them. It all seemed so tame however and Meredith frowned at the realization that the news had already been broken and Eric had managed to stay. Goddess, she was going to be sick. Why had they not killed the poor bastard yet? It would be a mercy killing, if they needed an excuse for their squeamish stomachs. Nobody wanted to be a vampire. They were all so...hormonal all the time. And never in the fun way.

Meredith sighed and turned, deciding she was done. There had to be a window in this building somewhere. She went around the back again, counting the rooms out until she got to 104. No window, of course. It was smart, though inconvenient. The room next to them however...

It took her a bit to pry it open, for it was rusted with disuse. Apparently people staying in motels did not care to crack one open every once in a while. Whatever. She hoisted herself up and dropped inside. There was one occupant fast asleep in the bed. She paused, considering putting him out of his misery as well (anyone fast asleep in a motel bed was most likely suffering in one way or another), but his obnoxious snoring would provide a decent amount of noise cover. Besides, he did not look like he was going to be waking any time soon.

Meredith let him be and turned to the wall adjacent to Bram and Vlad’s room. It was dark, but she walked along and found what she was looking for: the closet. After gauging the shape and consulting her vast knowledge of hotels from the last year or so since she took up hunting, Meredith found the fire hydrant and went to town on the back closet wall. It took a while, and Meredith once again cursed her mother for being so obnoxious, but she finally broke through. A few minutes of ripping through dry wall and she found herself in a second closet. Perfect. She shut the door behind her and slipped into the other room.

 

[Reynarda]

“I am sure it seems that way thanks to Bram’s ‘method’,” Vlad said coolly. “But, from best I can tell, you have not completed—”

“Vlad’s a vampire,” Bram interrupted, answering Eric’s last question.

Vlad gave a look of utter betrayal—not because Bram had outed him, but because he had interrupted him again.

“He knows what he’s talking about.”

“Then will you let me talk, Abraham?”

Bram nodded and downed probably half of his beer. Vlad wrinkled his nose in disgust at the smell of the drink before turning back to Eric.

“As I was saying, you are not fully changed. You are already craving something you cannot find, yes? And as soon as your fangs are in, that craving is going to turn violent. It would be best…”

Vlad trailed off, straightening and turning.

“What is it?” Bram asked, lowering his can.

“Did you hear that?”

“It’s probably just our neighbor snoring like a chainsaw again.”

“No,” Vlad insisted, turning and eyeing their door warily.

“I don’t hear anything.”

“It stopped. I think someone is in our room.”

Bram would have normally written off Vlad’s paranoia if the vampire didn’t sit cross-legged in the middle of the room and direct small tendrils of his magic around the perimeter of the room in every single hotel that they in for longer than one night.

“Maybe it’s the cleaning people.”

“They go in through the front door, not the…” Vlad paused, picturing the room. “…closet?”

“It’s probably just mouse.”

“I can tell the difference between a mouse and an intruder.”

Rolling his eyes, Bram handed Vlad his empty beer can. He pulled the keycard from his back pocket and waved it at the door pad. He pushed the door open and saw absolutely nothing.

“Mouse,” Bram declared. “Who’d you think it was? That vampire that Eric slept with?”

“That huntress you both were drooling over.” Vlad turned back and gave Eric a stern look. “You stay away from that woman. She is a huntress, and once she finds out you are a vampire, she will kill you.”



((Bram would be SO offended that Meredith had told some random teenager that he was not a confident man about town))

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Eric could already feel a headache throbbing behind his temples. Great. The two stooges were definitely not making any great leaps in confirming themselves as being 'not crazy', especially with the announcement that one of them was, apparently, also a vampire. Great. Just perfect.

"Right, fangs coming in. Wonderful," he muttered, then promptly swallowed his entire can of beer without once coming up for air. "You got another one of those?" He had a feeling that he was sorely going to need it before the night was done.

He glanced at the hotel room, but he certainly hadn't heard anything, and Bram said that he hadn't seen anyone, so.

"Cleaning folks don't work night shifts around here," he pointed out, because it was a small town and most of the motel staff had already gone home, aside from the kid at the front desk.

"Anyways, what you're saying is that because I apparently slept with a murdering vampire, I'm going to... what, turn into some kind of bloodthirsty monster and start attacking people, which is why you didn't want me to go home to my family? O, and the pretty lady who invited me out for coffee is also apparently going to try to kill me if she finds out. Wonderful. That's two for two in the 'great dates' department." He grit his teeth, his headache pounding even worse.

He still wasn't entirely sure that he believed all of this. In fact he was pretty sure that he didn't really. But it brought to the forefront a whole lot of other things that he now had to consider.

"You guys came here to investigate whoever was dropping bodies, which is probably that chick from the bar," he mused, thinking more aloud than anything. "Just so you know, that's still /my/ case. You guys aren't going to go around investigating it behind my back and edge me out of it just because whoever is going around killing people apparently /does/ have fangs after all. Just so we get that clear."

 

[Canth]

Aside from the loud snoring coming from the room she had just left, it was quiet. Meredith paused, waiting. A few seconds passed before the pad on the door lock beeped and the door was pushed open. She held her breath, not because she cared if they found her, but because she was hoping to at least snoop around in their stuff first. Maybe get some idea on just who they were. Still, she couldn’t hide in the closet forever. Not this one, at least.

Bram had dismissed her presence, which was a good start, but Vlad was the tricky one. Busting a hole in a wall is not quiet work, and while the nice gentleman in the adjacent room had helped her mask the noise a bit, she had assumed Vlad would manage to at least hear something. Maybe they would chalk it up to the mouse Bram was so willing to throw under the bus and she could be left alone to do her work.

Meredith overheard Vlad and Eric outside, and a smile stretched across her face, this one surprisingly genuine. Damn, she was good. Or, getting good. Either way, her suspicions had been confirmed, Eric Summers was a vampire. It may have taken her a second to put the pieces together, but vampires were not her forte. She did not take it personally. Vlad was right to warn Eric of her, she certainly planned on killing him. Though, it seemed like these yahoos were planning on helping him. That might be an issue. But, there were now two confirmed vampires in the area, which Meredith had not planned for but decided she was fine with the challenge. And maybe while these two babysat baby vampire, she could go look for momma vampire. Come back when she was finished.

 

[Reynarda]

Vlad climbed into the truck and returned with another beer. Not because he condoned drinking that much alcohol, but because he knew what it was like to be that thirsty. They were going to have to get some blood into Eric eventually, but he obviously wasn’t ready for that, yet.

Bram closed the door to their room and strode back to the truck. He fetched himself another beer and popped it open. Vlad was just paranoid and very confident that that pretty lady would be out to ruin his plans. Bram wasn’t particularly concerned. Someone ruining Vlad’s plans had never stopped him asking them out before, and that was not about to change. Especially since the other guy ended up being a vampire.

“The bloodthirstiness becomes easier to manage with time,” Vlad said, trying to sound positive. “But the first time is generally the worst and the least amount of control you will have.”

At Eric’s comment about the dates, Vlad glanced over at Bram. “Have about fifty more of those, and you might rival Bram.”

“Hey!” Bram said indignantly.

When Eric called the case his, Bram worried that he was going to have to drag Vlad back while explaining the vampire’s family history, but Vlad just smiled smugly.

“Officer, I do believe I remember your superior telling you not to come into work, thereby making it not your case.”