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The following afternoon, Friday, found Angel alone, walking back to her studio from the bookstore. Jaden had work on this particular afternoon, so she was left alone to amuse herself, and she found the bookstore to be a safe and warm place. She had spent two hours there, and now, at 9:00, she was making her way back home.

She passed a bar as she did so and then stopped and gazed up at the sign.

"Mickey's Sports Bar and Grill," it read.

Angel paced for a few seconds, thinking deeply, and then turned and walked into the bar, hoping to find Rachel.

It was loud, loud and smelly, and Angel immediately felt uncomfortable. She didn't belong in this type of place, but she was bound and determined to find Rachel and the man she was supposedly entranced with. She moved over to the bar counter, ignoring the gazes of drunken men as she did so, and then spoke to the bartender.

"Excuse me," she smiled politely. "I'm looking for a girl about my age, a few inches taller than I am, with curly blonde hair and big brown eyes. She's often in here."

"Yeah. Rachel is in the back," the man said, indicating the back door with his thumb.

"The back?" Angel asked worriedly.

"Yeah. In the alley."

"But it's freezing out there!" Angel declared.

"She didn't seem to mind," the man shrugged. "She had company. She probably doesn't want to be interrupted."

"Oh my goodness," Angel breathed and then rushed towards the back door. She flung it open and stepped briskly into the snow. She turned her head and immediately saw Rachel, pressed against a building wall, a tall, dark-haired man standing before her. They were kissing like there was no tomorrow, and Angel felt her stomach churn.

"Rachel," she called, walking uncomfortably towards her friend. "Rachel!" she shouted, trying to interrupt the woman's preoccupied mind.

Rachel didn't so much as look at her, but the man before her turned his head and smirked, fangs glistening in the light, his eyes dark and evil.

"Oh no!" Angel shouted, rummaging for her necklace. As she struggled, she caught sight of two things that unnerved her. One was a man, lying limp and still on the ground not too far from Rachel, blood at his neck. The other, far more terrifying to Angel than that was the blood streaming from Rachel's neck that the woman didn't seem to notice. The vampire turned his attention back to Rachel, kissing her while at the same time gathering her blood into his mouth, and she was returning the affection with all the passion she could muster.

"Get away!" Angel screamed, pulling her necklace out, light immediately streaming into the alley. "Get away from her immediately!"

The vampire drew back, his teeth bared and his gray eyes glowing angrily.

"So you're the one with the light," he growled, folding his arms across his chest.

"Help!" Angel screamed, knowing there were some police not too far from there. "Fire! Fire!"
"You think police will be able to help you?" the vampire asked, watching as Angel began to walk towards him with the light.

She wanted to get close to him, close enough to shove that light in his face, but before she could get near enough to do it, a hand reached out and grabbed her boot, making her fall hard to her knees. She screamed again, watching as the vampire turned and disappeared into the darkness. She continued screaming for help as she struggled out of the grasp of her captor and ran towards Rachel, who was leaning against the wall, her eyes closed in bliss.

"Rachel!" Angel wailed, turning her head to see that the man who had been limp and then grabbed her boot was now climbing to his feet.

"Angel," Whisper's voice spoke as he got to his feet. "There's nothing you can do."

Angel stopped in front of Rachel and shoved her hands onto her friend's shoulders. "Rachel!" she shouted, hearing police sirens in the distance.

"What?" Rachel snapped, opening her eyes angrily. "Why did you interrupt us? That was the best time of my life, and you interrupted it!"

"I was…was…"

"Some friend you are!" Rachel shouted. "Snooping around in my business!"

She snarled and then pushed herself off the wall.

"Now he'll never talk to me again!"

"Did he ever talk to you to begin with?" Angel screamed.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Rachel shouted, and then suddenly fell back, gasping.

"Move!" Whisper shouted, shoving Angel aside and grabbing Rachel as she began to slide to the ground, her eyes wide.

"What are you doing?" Angel panicked, watching Whisper shove his mouth against Rachel's throat. He didn't answer, but tried to stay standing up, drawing her blood. He was too weak from his own injuries, however, and fell, unable to stand. Rachel then gazed at Angel, her eyes wide with panic.

"Angel, what's happening?" she gasped, unable to breathe, choking on the blood in her throat.

"That was a vampire!" Angel exclaimed, grabbing her friend as she fell to the floor.

"I was with a vampire?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, yes, that's why you were so attracted to him. Oh Rachel, I don't know how to stop it," Angel panicked, looking up when she heard someone running down the alleyway.

Three police appeared, and as they did so, Whisper struggled to his feet and raced down the alley, disappearing from sight.

"What happened?" one of the men asked, dropping down next to Rachel, noticing immediately that her face was being rapidly depleted of its coloring.

"She was bit by a vampire," Angel choked, holding her friend's hand tightly as Rachel began to moan in pain.

"But it felt…so…good…" Rachel struggled and then slumped over.

"Rachel!" Angel screamed, cradling the woman in her arms. "Rachel! Police, do something!"

"What can we do?" the officer asked sadly, putting his ear to Rachel's chest. "She's dead."

"No!" Angel screamed, her eyes wide with terror. "No! It's impossible! She couldn't just die! She's alive! I know it!"

"Miss Angel," the officer spoke quietly. "She was bit, he inserted his venom, and she's dead. They do everything they can to leave no witnesses behind. Be grateful he spared your life."

"But she's not dead!" Angel blubbered, tears streaming down her cheeks as she gazed at the ashen, cold face of the woman in her arms, and watching, nearly blind, as blood trickled from the woman's mouth. "It can't be! Not so quickly!"

"We need to bring her to the station, to see if we can possibly find who did this and get more clues," the officer said, taking Angel's arm and pulling her to her feet. Angel nearly refused to let Rachel go, but the dead woman slipped from her arms and landed gently in the snow, the white coldness painted scarlet about her.

Angel stood there, for how long, she didn't know. She watched with dull eyes as Rachel's body was covered and taken away, watched the snow fall, covering the blood on the ground in a thick layer of white.

"Angel," a gentle voice spoke from behind her, and a hand was placed on her shoulder.

With a great moan, Angel spun around and fell into Jaden's arms, quivering and crying terribly. She clung to him tightly, afraid of the night, afraid of the vampires, terrorized that they were going to hunt her down next.

"Shh… It's all right," Jaden whispered, his fingers stroking through her hair, his heart aching as she clung so fiercely to him. "You're safe."

"No I'm not! You should have seen it! It was only a couple of minutes before she died! Oh, I hate the vampires!" Angel said fiercely. "I hate them!"

"No you don't. You couldn't hate anyone," Jaden said soothingly.

"But they killed her! After I made that deal with Ghost…"

She stopped mid sentence and then pulled away from Jaden.

"Ghost," she said fiercely, her eyes darkening.

"Angel, it's late in the night now. I know what you're thinking," Jaden said quickly. "Come on. Let's get you home before anything worse happens."

"No," Angel said adamantly. "I'm going to find him."

"Angel, you've seen a lot tonight. I don't think you're in the frame of mind to encounter him now. And you have the others to feed…"

"There's no better time than now, when I'm furious," Angel stormed and then wrapped her arms around her chest, cold. "I'll be back at my studio soon, Jay. If I'm not back in time for the vampires, then please take care of them. There are provisions in my refrigerator."

"Angel, I can't let you do this!" Jaden said, grabbing her forcefully. "You'll get yourself killed!"

"Let me go!" Angel struggled. "Please, Jaden, I have to do this for Rachel and every other woman they've preyed on! They can't keep doing this!"
She pulled away and then began to run, leaving Jaden standing worriedly in the snow.

Angel ran as fast as she could, rushing through the snow, barely able to breathe from the exertion of her flight. How dare he! How dare that Ghost kill another person after they had already made their deal! The traitor, the scumbag, the parasite!

As Angel ran, barely looking where she was going, she gazed up at the rooftops, looking for the dark shadow of a man in a billowing cloak. Everything seemed silent to her as she surged on. The snow drowned out most of the city sounds, and she was running in the back alleys, far away from noise. She was quickly losing her breath, but she didn't care. For the sake of all of New York's women, she would find that vampire and give him a good piece of her mind!

She saw him, fifteen minutes later, standing atop one of New York's tallest buildings, gazing out at his domain. She used a garbage can to get onto the fire escape of the building, and then began to run, sliding precariously on the ice and snow, up the stairs to the roof. Her hands burned from the cold, uncovered by gloves, as her fingers brushed against the frozen railings. Her cheeks were fiery pink from the biting chill, and her long hair was wild and loose, as wild as a horse's from her running.

She was out of breath when she arrived on the roof, but she didn't give herself a chance to breathe. Instead, she rushed at Ghost, whose back was turned towards her, and then grabbed hold of his shoulder and spun him around.

"You listen, you monster!" she screamed, trying to shake him but finding that he wouldn't budge. "I made a deal with you! Food in exchange for the lives of humans! You betrayed my trust, our deal, and let one of your men, or maybe it was you yourself, feed off one of my friends! She's dead, Ghost! You killed her! I hope you're proud of yourself."

"Listen here," he spoke, his voice low and bitingly cold, threatening and intimidating, not a trace of sympathy or kindness to it. He grabbed her hands roughly, forcing them off his shoulders, and then forced her back, his steps long and provocative. "How come you to so easily accuse me of murder?"

"You killed Rachel!" Angel screamed, fighting him every step of the way, more tears streaming down her cheeks. "You killed her, you bloodthirsty, wicked beast!"

Her back slammed hard against an icy wall, and she let out a cry of pain as the ice pressed hard against her back like daggers. She was slumped slightly, letting Ghost tower above her. Jaden had been right. This was not at all the time for her to approach the vampire. She was shaking like a flower in a windstorm. Her lips were trembling, her whole body was quivering, and her eyes were filled to the brim with tears.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed as Ghost raised a gloved hand and put it to her frosty cheek. "I've seen enough death for one night!"

"Did you think this plague would completely skip over you?" he asked. "Vampires need blood to live, or did you not already hear that?"

"By why Rachel? He took advantage of her! Your man took advantage of her!" Angel sobbed.

"That wasn't one of my men. Did it ever occur to you that there are more vampires than just the ones loyal to me in New York?" Ghost asked, tracing her fine cheekbone with his fingers.

"Who was it then?" Angel hissed, feeling her weakness intensifying as he stroked her face.

"An enemy of ours. Whisper was there trying to stop him. When he pressed his mouth to your friend's throat, he was trying to draw the venom out, to save her. He failed. There is death and pain in this world, Miss Angel. You humans are blessed in that you have a choice for eternity, heaven or hell."

"Everyone has a choice," Angel said, closing her eyes against his touch, an immense headache draining away from her with every stroke.
"Not the vampires," Ghost said, shaking his head and tracing the cut on her lip with his forefinger. "We are creatures of darkness. We have but one destination."

"Is there anything anyone can do to stop those other vampires?" Angel asked, feeling herself drifting into sleep.

"Perhaps, if you ask nicely, I could try and speak with them," Ghost chuckled, seeing her ease into his charm.

A piece of snow landed on Angel's nose, and her eyes opened. She suddenly realized how close Ghost was, how terribly close she had let him get, and she began to struggle in his hold.

"Get away from me!" she gasped, remembering the blood pouring from Rachel's neck. "How can I believe you? Get away!"

She gasped and cried as she fought him, and finally, she reached for her necklace. She pulled the diamond out, but before she could open her hand to let it shine, Ghost had clasped his hand over hers, engulfing her small hand in his gloved one. He held her hand tightly, nearly crushing her fingers in his hold.

"What do you want from me?" Angel wailed, her hand beginning to hurt and her body to quake. "What have I done to you?"

"Stop fighting. You cannot win," Ghost hissed as she tried to dig the nails of her free hand into his skin.

"You're nothing but a predator! Let me go!"

"You've had a long night. You need to rest," Ghost soothed, his voice washing gently over her. "You can't think clearly. You'll wake up tomorrow and think this was all a dream."

"How could I do that?" Angel demanded, still trying to pull away. "It all seems very real."

"I want you to get some sleep."

"You would want me to! That way you can suck all the blood out of me like your man did Rachel!"
"I have no appetite for a woman who's already in too much pain," Ghost growled. "Stop thrashing and let your body rest."

"Never!" Angel screamed.

"Then you give me no choice."

He sighed, lifted his right hand, and then brought it to bear, hard, against her head. She slumped immediately, but before she could hit the cold ground, he had swept her up into his arms. He then swirled his cloak about him and disappeared, her safely (if that word could indeed be used given the situation) carried in his arms. They appeared, seconds later, in her studio, and Ghost carried her towards her bed, his long cloak sliding across the floor as he did so.

He placed her gently on her bed, pulling the blankets over her. She was so beautiful, so innocent to him, and so helpless. Certainly, she had her necklace, and he was half tempted to take it from her, but there was a prophecy concerning this woman, and he had no desire to ruin that foretelling. He gazed over her pale face, now so peaceful in rest, and his eyes came to rest on her neck. He wouldn't dare lower himself to catch her scent, wouldn't dare get close to her for fear of killing her. She already intoxicated him without him being too terribly close to her. Her character and her mind fascinated him. Feed the vampires so they would stop killing? How absurd and yet, absolutely brilliant! And she tried so hard not to be afraid of him. But he loved it when she trembled. She had a healthy fear of him, just as he had an impossible respect for this weak mortal woman.