Another Step Closer.

Disclaimer: I have no connections with Laurell K
Hamilton, I don't get any money for this, please do
not use it without my permission, and oh yeah, it's
rated R for swearing, and explicit details. Also, many
of the characters belong to LKH, and are copyrighted
to her, the others are mine, and so let me know what
you do with them when you use them please

I am Anita Blake, a vampire hunter, an Animator, a
necromancer, on call for the police, Nimir-ra for the
local Were leopard pard, Lupa for the local Werewolf
pack, summoner of the Munin, mainly a sociopathic
nut/fur ball called Raina, friends with a
preternatural assassin named Edward, almost a complete
human servant, part of a triumvirate, and I am now
seriously contemplating suicide. Not my fault, I just
have to many things happening at once. Oh the titles
aren't all that bad, actually, I can't do a thing to
change them, and I wouldn't if I could, well most of
them anyways.

It's the men in my life that make me want to die.
Here, I'll make it easier for you; I'm sleeping, or
was sleeping with a vampire, Jean-Claude, Master Vamp
of St. Louis, the Ulfric for the were wolf's, Richard
Zeeman, and a numerous amount of men want me. Why, I
don't know, it's not like I'm beautiful or flirt, they
just want me. Here's a nice list for you. Jason, a
were wolf, Nathaniel, a were leopard, Asher, a
vampire, but I doubt it's me he really wants, it's
something else, Damian, a vampire who is living from
my power, odd I know, there's probably more but right
now I don't care to name them all. What scares me is
that there isn't a single one of them that's human,
unless you count Zerbrowski, but that is just us
playing a game. Now can you not agree with my idea of
suicide?

The sad fact is that I can't even kill myself in clear
conscience. I'm Jean-Claude's almost complete human
servant. I die; I either take him, or Richard with me.
Oh the joys of being in a triumvirate. Not saying that
I still don't want to kill myself, but if I do, I'll
wonder which went with me.  Either the King of the
undead, or the King of the were wolfs. Hmmm, tough
choice. No really, it is, I love them both in
different ways, but they are really screwing up my
life. Yet when I got Jean-Claude's message to meet him
and Richard at the Circus, I found myself making sure
my hair was right, and guns loaded. Paranoia is a
bitch, but then again, so am I.

Driving up to the Circus, finding a parking spot
about a block away, I got to walk there, and through
the lovely smells of candy, laughter and the dead.
Easily enough, I spotted Stephen and Jason, my lovely
escorts for the evening. Note the sarcasm. Stephen
doesn't bother me; he's a gentleman, dating Vivian and
was wearing an outfit rather close to the one I first
met him in. Jason on the other hand would like to
sleep with me, or eat me. And yes, he was wearing his
typical painted leather pants; this time died an
interesting shade of red. And no shirt. "Hello Anita."
Stephen said, smiling at me. Jason was grinning and
looking me over. I was not dressed spectacularly,
jeans, and a shirt, how formal. But then again, every
time I get dressed up, Jean-Claude always has a better
outfit than me, so I just quit trying. Why try to beat
the man who probably is the sole definition for
fashionable?

 But what I saw when I walked in there made my mouth
almost literally hit the floor. Richard was wearing
tight, I stress the word tight, pants, black, and a
silvery-grey coloured shirt that just looked damn good
on him. Jean-Claude was wearing normal pants, blue
jeans, not tight, and an everyday plain black t-shirt.
What the hell? Did they go and switch closets on me or
something? My curiosity was more than likely evident,
they both started answering my question at once. "We
were just checking out different styles ma petite."
From Jean-Claude and, "I wanted to see your
expression." From Richard. I sat down very heavily on
one of the chairs I hadn't noticed. Grumbling words
under my breath, I kept my head hidden in my hands.

"You called me over here so you could show me this?" I
asked, the words sounding a bit harsher than I wanted,
but hell, to late to change that now.

"No. I called you over here to tell you something,
this was just an added bonus." Jean-Claude answered.

 I looked at him with a glare. "Just tell me, I want
to go home." I said very curtly. That's right people,
I hate surprises, it's not a secret, yet he goes and
pulls them on me anyways.

He sighed dramatically. His sigh can do the same
things his laugh can, when he wants it to, right now
though, it was just a sigh. If you didn't know what he
was, you would have sworn he was a typical human, if
extremely attractive, even in this outfit.

"Ma petite, always in a hurry to leave. I called you
here to warn you. The Council is coming back. They
seem to want an explanation for a few things." He
said, looking right at me.

Crap, ok, either they've finally gotten around to
yelling at me for Colin, or it has to deal with Santa
Fe. Or something else all together. Shit, I so did not
need this, but it'd happen anyways, my bitching or
not.  Man I was too tired for this. But in my life,
this is normal, or as normal as it ever gets. Me
getting dragged all over the place unwillingly,
usually screaming and I end up having to fix it all.
Sorry for the lack of enthusiasm, but my life doesn't
have time for it. You want grins, go to anyone but me,
all the jokes I know, no one else gets.

 "The Council is coming here, why, I thought they
promised not to?" I asked.

"Ma petite, I do not know the mind of the Council,
they have their reasons." Was his answer.

 "Shit, why, they already tried all this crap, so they
come and do it again, brilliant Council." I said,
exasperated.

Richard just stood there, stuck between staying
hidden, and trying to comfort me. I swear that if he
came near me in that outfit, I would be leaving here,
lip balm smeared, all over him. I'm very sure he could
tell that, because he walked right over to me, and
tried to comfort me.

 "It isn't that bad Anita, they probably will not be
so irrational this time." He attempted.

The Council, not being irrational, ri-ight. I laughed
a very bitter sounding laugh. "Right Richard, and I'm
gay." I said tartly. That earned me a few surprised
looks. I'd forgotten that there are other people in
this room, one of them being a rather, not picky
vampire who would like to take advantage of that if he
could, Jean-Claude.  It still bothers me that my once
lover is bisexual, but not too much. I know his lover,
Asher. Yes, I've mentioned him before, I'm sure. Hell,
even I'm confused by their relationship. But back on
with our conversation.

"I mean, the Council thrives on being irrational. And
they still think I'm a toy or something. I can
guarantee Padma will come here, acting like he did
last time, only with vengeance behind him now. It will
not be a pretty sight, trust me." I said.

Richard frowned lightly. "I'm sure that the other
Council members will be able to." he trailed off.

"Exactly, you were there last time Richard, you know
on how they act. This time it will be worst, they fear
us, they don't like the fact that we KNOW we scare
them."  I pointed out.

 "We can take advantage of it though, ma petite. They
will not underestimate us this time, so they'll try to
size us up properly and not confront us so rashly as
last time." Jean-Claude interjected.

"No, this time they'll know on how to beat us, and
they'll probably kill someone in the process." I
finished.

The next few minutes were hell; all of us talking
about what the Council might or might not due. Real
comforting conversation, ri-ight. Lucky me, I zoned
out of it for the last bit. It was Richard and
Jean-Claude fighting my conversation with each other
for me.  I spent the time looking around at my
surroundings. What do I see other than big puffy
chairs, black, white, a splash of red and some really
old looking pictures and furniture? A brand, kick-ass
new computer sitting on a table, that's what. Needless
to say, I gawked.

"When the hell did you get that?" I demanded.

Jean-Claude looked confused for a few seconds, about
0.5 complete milliseconds to be exact, then smiled,
acting embarrassed.

"It was bought after a suggestion from Jason. He
mentioned the ease at which those allowed certain
activities." He explained.

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Jason. "He listened
to your advice?" I asked, sounding as surprised as I
was.

He nodded and grinned at me. "A first." He agreed to
my unmentioned remark.

I think Jean-Claude tried to scowl at us, but the
affect was just a funny looking face on him. Which
sent Jason and I into a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny ma petite?" Jean-Claude asked. I
didn't get to answer, someone knocked on the door.

"Expecting company?" I asked.

He shook his head. Jason got up and went to the door,
asking who was there. A muffled response that even
Jean-Claude and Richard couldn't hear, then the door
opened. And in walked Skid. Skid is an abbreviation to
Shelly Kristine Iris Denelton, so you see why she
shortened it to Skid. She is a part demon, part vamp,
half human and can be a royal, stubborn pain in the
ass. Oh, did I mention that we're good friends?

"Hi all." She said and walked in calmly. At the worst
of times, you notice her because she is just one of
those people with a presence, a good leader. At the
best of times you look at her because she catches your
eyes in different ways. It was a normal day for her.
She had on black jeans, white top and a leather
jacket, that is always around.

"Hi Skid." I replied.

"Hello Mademoiselle Shelly." Jean-Claude greeted. Him
and Dolph are the only people who can get away with
calling her Shelly, Dolph because she works for him,
Jean-Claude because he'll do it anyways. She stopped
and looked at them.

"Shit, are you guys having a bet or something?" she
demanded, seeing their outfits.

"It's a long story that they won't tell." I answered.

Skid grinned and sat down on the floor. "Typical
males, like to make things hard." She said.

"Hey, don't judge us by those two." Jason said,
grinning in return.

Skid eyed him. "Well I won't judge them from their
worst sample." She said to him.

"Children, please. Shelly, leave my wolf alone."
Jean-Claude interrupted.

They both looked at him. I was trying very hard not to
smile, or move, or bring any attention to myself
whatsoever. I must have done something like breath,
because Jean-Claude looked at me.

"You never answered my question ma petite, what was so
funny?" he asked me.

It took me a few seconds to remember. "Never mind
Jean-Claude, you wouldn't understand." I replied.

It earned me a look. "Humour me with an answer Anita."
He said.

He was using my name, bad sign. "You made a face at
Jason and me when we were talking about your computer,
it made both of us laugh." I answered.

Jean-Claude just nodded his head lightly. "Alright ma
petite. Now back onto the topic of the Council, what
are the suggestions for us to do?" he asked the crowd
forming.

"Well, if I heard right, Padma will try to take over
the Circus again. So I say we fool them into a trap."
Skid suggested.

"No, if we try that, they'll beat us, they beat us
with pure force last time." Damian said, no one had
noticed him come in, or at least, I didn't.

And on again with the debate. We spent a good
remainder of the night talking about it.  And of all
people, Jason came up with the best idea. I found it
funny that Jean-Claude was now listening to Jason,
where as before, he didn't. And Ii never did find out
why Skid showed up.

When I finally got home, it was about 4 seconds to
dawn. My life sucks, and suicide is looking up. I'm
starting to doubt my sanity. Lucky me, I'm paranoid
beyond reason so I noticed the fact that my house just
wasn't right. I came threw the door, gun pointed at
Edward's chest.

"Shit Edward, you're back, why?" I asked, sounding as
tired as I was.

Edwards gave me his canary-eating grin, his hand on
his gun. "Can I move?" he asked, sounding all to
pleased with himself.

I sighed and put the gun up. "I get the feeling you're
not here to kill me, so move all you want." I replied,
then went into the kitchen and made coffee, the
world's closest thing to a cure it all.

"I hear that a group of vamps are coming your way."
Edward said, getting a cup and drinking the wonderful
coffee.

I nodded and drank, screw answering, coffee is much
more important.

"Yeah, the vampire Council is coming, why does it
matter to you?" I asked, sitting down. He sat at the
other end of my two-seater, in the gigantic kitchen.
He gave a shrug and drank without answering. We were
both just fountains of social talk today.

"I want in on it, see if I get to kill anything." He
finally answered.

I looked at him. "No, first because that'd probably
just piss them off more, second because I'd have to
check it out with everyone already involved and third
because these guys are scary shit."

He smiled lightly. "So I've heard, I still want in on
it."

I shook my head. "At least let me clear it with
everyone before you start following me around." I
ordered him.

He looked mildly surprised. "Too late and you know
it."

I groaned. Every time Edward hits town, he follows me
around, and gets to kill things. I'm a free fire zone
and he loves to shoot things.

"You like making my life hard don't you?" I demanded.

He grinned, already knowing that he won this fight. I
shook my head and drank more coffee.

"You got anywhere to stay?" I asked him. Taking my cup
for seconds.

He nodded. "Hotel as usual." He replied.

"There is always the guestroom for you, that way I can
at least be sure that I can contact you if I need to,
other than using the phone." I offered.

He shrugged, drinking his second cup. "What will lover
boys think to that?" he asked.

I snorted. "Nothing. Just take it or leave it, I've
got to shower and get some sleep before I lose it."

Edward nodded. "I'll use the spare room then." He
agreed.

I nodded, put my cup in the sink and looked at him.
"If one of the were leopards comes in the door, don't
shoot them, they have keys for a reason."

He looked at me, he neutral eyes just staring. I got
the vague feeling that he doesn't like the fact that
the monsters have free move of my house. Screw him;
it's not his problem.

I walked into my room, closed the door, chose an
oversized t-shirt, faded jeans, went into the bathroom
and enjoyed a nice long shower. I dressed in my
nightclothes and looked at myself in the mirror. Real
fashionable. Edward wouldn't care, I could go out
there naked and it wouldn't matter. But the thought of
that made me laugh, what would the look on his face
be! Shaking my head, I went out.

Edward sat on the couch, looking straight at Zane. The
tension between them was enough to hurt.

"Whoa, boys, decaf. Calm down." I said.

They both looked at me. "Zane, you know Edward, Edward
Zane. Geese, I told you not to shoot Edward." I said
to him.

They both continued to look at me. I swear they could
stare me into submission, it was unnerving, and both
had neutral eyes.

"Ok, stop it right now. I have no patience for your
little acts of testosterone, Edward, you have the
guestroom, use it, Zane why are you here?" I asked.

Zane looked at me. "If Padma calls for the were
leopards again, what will we do?" he asked in his
gravely voice.

I thought for a minute. "I'm not a lycanthrope so I
don't know the arcane shit needed to keep him from
calling, but better yet, I'll just make sure he
doesn't call."

Zane looked at me, so did Edward. I felt like
squirming. Man it was odd having both of them just
look at me, expecting something. The worst was the
fact that I didn't know what they wanted.

"I will make sure of it Zane, trust me. There are a
few of us who have a plan already set and I motion." I
smiled at him. "I'll protect the pard, trust me."

He nodded, smiled and the tension in him dies just
like that. He figured everything would be all right if
I said it would be. God I hoped it was.

Edward stayed sitting. That was starting to piss me
off. I told him to go to his room. Saying it like that
made it sound rather funny, like I was his parent
telling him to go to bed. I shook my head and laughed
out loud. Edward frowned slightly.

"What's so funny Anita?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Never mind Edward, use the bathroom or whatever you
feel like. You'll do it anyways."

He nodded and got up. He walked to the door. "I'm
getting my suitcase." He said without me asking. Then
went out.
A few minutes later, he came back in. In one hand, a
suitcase, in the other, a duffel bag, oddly like the
one Harley had. I raised my eyebrow to it, but he
didn't answer. Typical Edward. Zane was looking at me
again.

"What Zane?" I asked, sounding bitchy and tired,
exactly how I felt.

"If Edward is using the guestroom, where do I stay?"
he asked.

I groaned. My life REALLY sucks. Really, really,
really sucks. Edward was grinning. This was amusing
the hell out of him. I hope he enjoys the show.

"I'm sure Edward won't mind if you share the room with
him." I said, grinning back at him.

He looked surprised. I mentally patted myself on the
back. Yea, I got one up on Edward.  He muttered
something unintelligible then nodded. Zane smiled and
walked into the room. Edward moved to follow him. "Oh
and Edward." I said.

He looked at me. Wait, cancel that, he glared at me.

"Careful, he was a small tendency to sleep nude, and
he's bisexual, good night." I said.

He looked like someone hit him in the nuts with a
baseball bat. I was grinning.

"Anita." He called after me. I turned and looked at
him. "How do you know he sleeps nude?" he asked.

I smiled at him. "When I went to Tennessee, the were
leopards all slept in the same bed, it took a long
time to convince them to not sleep nude." I answered.

He nodded. "You're not sticking me in bed with him."
He said next.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, share the room with me, that
way I know no sex will happen." I grinned at him.

I don't think he got me calling he gay in that one
because he shrugged and started walking towards me. I
walked into the guestroom and looked at Zane, already
naked and in bed.

"Edward isn't sleeping in here tonight ok?" I said. He
nodded without question.

I was smiling to myself as I walked back towards my
bedroom. Dear God I'm walking to a bed with Edward in
it! This was too funny. I almost started laughing. I
walked in and Edward had already gotten changed and
was unpacking his duffel bag. I was right, inside were
his toys, the usual dangerous ones. I looked in the
bag.

"How the hell did you get them past customs?" I asked.

He grinned up at me. Then went back to taking them
out. He didn't answer my question, he usually never
does. I rolled my eyes, locked the door, checked my
Browning in its headboard holster, got in the bed and
tried to sleep. It wasn't happening. I could hear the
odd clink as Edward played with his guns and weapons,
and the light on was pissing me off. I rolled over.

"Edward go to bed so I can get some sleep!" I
demanded.

He looked at me, amused. But he put the weapons back
into the bag, moved it by his suitcase and got in the
bed. I grumbled, clawed my way out of the bed, turned
off the light, took off the jeans and got back in
again. The extra weight in the bed was different. I
was used to either Jean-Claude or Richard. Edward
wasn't that heavy, I guessed from the way the bed
sloped. I shifted and fell to sleep almost
immediately.


I woke up in bed alone. I am really not a morning
person, not until I get coffee into my system anyways.
I shook my head, walked over to the bathroom, and
opened the door. There I saw Edward, naked. I went
bright red. "Whoa." I said, and turned around and
closed the door behind me. I sat down on the bed and
started to laugh. I don't know who was more surprised,
Edward or me, or who was more embarrassed. Edward came
out and I WAS STILL LAUGHING. He frowned at me.

"It's not you I'm laughing at, I thought it was
hilarious." I said. Bad choice of words maybe?

Edward frowned again. "Sorry, I said that wrong. I'm
laughing because I can't figure out which of us was
more surprised and embarrassed."

He nodded, still frowning lightly, then smiled. He too
started to laugh.

"I admit the look on your face was priceless." He
said.

"It can't beat the look on yours." I retorted.

"I never saw you looking at my face." Edward said. I
went red. Yes, I admit I checked him out; it wasn't my
fault, just reflex.

"I saw you expression." I defended.

He shook his head and got up. "The bathroom is all
yours, I'll wait in another room so you don't have to
worry about me walking in." he said.

I laughed and got a change of cloths, then went to the
bathroom. I was grinning to myself as I showered again
and got changed. God it was funny, there has never
been any sexual tension between us, and this has been
the more embarrassing thing only because we didn't
feel anything towards each other.

I walked out of my room, smelling coffee and disgusted
by the smell of breakfast. I entered my kitchen, got
coffee, sat down, and then looked at my kitchen.
Edward was also drinking coffee, looking at me. Then I
noticed Richard, frowning.

"Hi Richard." I said, still grinning. Then I realized
he was frowning. "What?" I asked.

"Why did he come out of your bedroom?" he asked.

I laughed. "We didn't have sex Richard. It was either
let him sleep in the room with me, where I know no sex
will happen, or risk something happening if he sleeps
in with Zane." I said.

He frowned, and then grinned. He got the joke,
unfortunately, so did Edward.

"There wouldn't have been anything to happen, I just
didn't want the leopard to try it." He said.

I grinned at him. "Sure Edward, that's what you say
now. What if I had left you there and come in the
morning to see a different scene." I asked him.

He frowned at me. "It wouldn't have happened." He
objected.

Richard snorted water up his nose. That got me
laughing. The poor guy is choking on water and I'm
giggling. Can't tell my life is stressed.

"Ok Richard, how come you're here early?" I asked.

He quit smiling. "They're coming by Friday." He said.

I had stopped smiling as well. It was Tuesday, that
left us 4 days to plan something that'd take at least
a week. Shit. 

"We can't go any faster than we have planned Richard."
I said.

He nodded. "I know, but there is no other choice, we
have to forget our earlier plan and just act like it
was one master vampire going into another's territory
with permission."

Zane walked into the kitchen, completely nude. I
looked away, blushing furiously. No matter what
Marianne said, I could not deal with this much nudity.
I took a deep breath, relaxed and turned back.

"Good morning Zane." I said, looking at his face and
trying very desperately to ignore the fact that he was
nude and standing there without a care in the world.

Richard was red, not only from embarrassment but anger
also. You could feel tension off of him in waves. Both
Edward and I had guns drawn, no thinking required.

"Zane, go get some clothes on please. Richard, calm
down." I said. Zane turned and left without argument.
Richard looked at me, still mad.

"How can you be so casual with naked men around your
house?" he demanded.

"Casual. Damn it Richard, no sex happened last night.
If Zane goes nude, he has his reasons. Marianne is
trying to teach me on how to be less embarrassed about
the pard and the lukoi being naked and casual about
touching. It helps control Raina. So get off my back
about it, this makes all of our lives easier." I said
calmly.

Edward was looking amused again, but I ignored him, or
tried to. Him caught me with a grin. I started
laughing. Seeing two naked men in a space of less then
30 minutes was a new record for me, and I wasn't
sleeping with either!

Richard didn't get the joke. "What are you laughing at
Anita?" he asked.

"Nothing Richard, I've just had a way to busy week,
and it all accumulates on Friday. Give me sometime to
get used to having my life in a shit pile before you
ask for seriousness." I replied.

Edward raised both eyebrows to my response and Richard
looked like I just hit him. This got me smiling again.
I think I'm going hysterical, oh well, people never
got my jokes anyways.

"Who made breakfast?" I asked, smelling cooking food.
I wanted to hurl.

"I popped something into the toaster." Edward replied.


I nodded. "Try not to burn it, that thing has a messed
up timer." I said absently. Suddenly the skin between
my shoulders stared to jump. I got like this when Skid
was in an either really good mood or a not happy mood.
I've never really seen her in a bad mood, just not
happy.

The doorbell rang. "It's Skid." I said and went to
answer the door.

She was standing there, looking amused to hell, even
her eyes glittered with mirth. I saw why. My family
was standing a bit behind her. Shit.

"Hello Anita." Skid said, grinning like the Cheshire
cat. "I think we forgot that you're family was coming
up this week." She said innocently.

I smiled though it didn't quite reach my eyes. "I
wouldn't forget a thing like this. Do please come in."
I said. I held the door open as they entered.

I remembered inviting them up. Skid suggested it and
they complied. This is why the other guest rooms
weren't bring used, I had them set up for them to use.

"You're sister couldn't make it, she had other plans
already." My dad told me.

I nodded and smiled. "Well I'll miss her company but
as you said, she had other plans." No big loss, I
don't get along with her to well, or my stepmother.

The phone rang; god today was busy for me all of a
sudden. I ran into my kitchen, seeing Zane in vinyl
pants and vest, again. I picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Anita." Dolph's many formal greetings.

"Hey Dolph what's up?"

"We need you to come down here, we have a nice dead
body for you to check out." There was a slight
hesitation in his voice at saying body.

"Why did I hear hesitation Dolph?"

"We're not sure if it's one dead or more." He didn't
elaborate, Dolph hardly does.

I groaned. "Alright, give me the address." He did, I
wrote it down.

"I can be there in about 20 minutes." I said.

"We'll keep the scene fresh for you then." He voice
was blank, and his face probably was as well.

We both hung up without saying goodbye. Well, typical
phone conversation with Dolph.

I turned and looked at my family, which was staring at
the three men in my house. Skid was grinning at me.
She knew what the phone call was. I repressed another
groan.

"Richard, Edward, Zane, this is my family. Dad,
Judith, Jeff, this is Richard, Edward and Zane." I
introduced. Greetings from all around except Edward,
he was in perfect killer mode, oh joy. At least he
didn't have a gun drawn.

"Listen I just got called by RPIT. Skid and I need to
go help them, alright?" I said.

My dad looked at me. "All right Anita, we'll settle
in." he was looking at the guys again.  

"Zane, thank you for helping plan things out, you can
go tell the others what we agreed upon alright?" I
said, trying to get them out of my house. Zane nodded
and left without a word.

"Richard, you told me what you've came to tell me, so
unless you're volunteering to help get them settled
in, you're taking up room." So I wasn't being exactly
polite, screw it. 

He looked at me for a few minutes, then at my family.
"I guess I'll help settle them in." he said and smiled
at them. They smiled back. Oh joy, my boyfriend's
charms were working on my family.

I looked at Edward. He looked back. I didn't know what
to tell him right now in front of my family. Skid
saved the day. "Edward, you can come with us, I was
going to have to talk with you anyways." She said, and
then grabbed is hand. He looked slightly started and
was going to draw his hand away but Skid tightened her
grip, smiling.

The three of us walked out and to the Jeep. As soon as
we were in, Skid laughed. "Sorry Edward, it was the
only way I could think of to get the parents to stop
looking so accusingly at Anita, if they think you and
I are a couple, then they can't yell at Anita, and it
helps explain why you're here." She shrugged.

I shook my head and drove. Skid was quick to cover up,
but sometimes she is just to naïve for words.

"Did you see the way the kid looked at you?" Edward
asked Skid, amused.
"He's not a kid, he's 16 and his name is Jeff." I
corrected.

Skid frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Edward and I grinned. "He looked at you like you were
a goddess or something." Edward said.

Skid looked surprised. "You mean he has a crush?" She
asked.

I laughed. "He is only 2 years younger than you Skid."

Skid smiled. "Three soon. My birthday is on Monday."

"Well happy birthday Skid. Wishing it early because we
might not live to see Monday." I said, sounding
slightly grumpy.

"Hell, I'll bet you $50 bucks we live to Monday." She
offered.

"I'm not stupid Skid, if we see Monday, you'd be up
$50 bucks, if we're dead, no one gets the money." I
retorted.

"Spoilsport." She muttered, grinning. I was grinning
too, damn it! She did that to get me to lighten up. I
like my moods thank you.

"What did Dolph want, other than to get us to look at
the messily dead?" She asked.

"That's it, he was just bursting with usual phone
charm." I replied sarcastically.

"We have a hell of a week don't we?" Skid asked,
shaking her head.

I didn't respond, just drove to the address. It was an
old movie drive in. When we drove up, the cop put
there to keep civilians out stopped us.

I held up my identity and Skid held up her badge.
Somewhere in her past was training to be a cop,
somehow, and she join the Spook Squad. The uniform
looked at the id we handed him and then told us to
move on.

I parked my jeep with the crowd of other cars, marked
and plain, then got out. Both Skid and I told Edward
to stay in the car. For once he obeyed. We both got on
coveralls and gloves to do our job.

As the two of us walked up to the crime scene, we
quickly saw why Dolph couldn't tell if it was one
victim or more. The remains of the victim were smeared
across one of the screens. It wasn't as bad as a lot
of the things I've seen, but this was defiantly bad.
The blood and body parts formed words.  I couldn't
read it but Skid obviously could.  She had got very
pale and was looking pissed, and odd mix. I've never
seen her this mad. My entire body was tingling with
it. She once explained that I could tell her emotion
with this feeling because she was a form of dead or
something close. But she wasn't evil. She didn't feel
like it, even though she was a demon, but shhh, no one
but a small amount of people know that.

"What des that say Skid?" I asked her. She shook her
head.

Dolph walked over to us. Zerbrowski a step behind him.



"Anita, Shelly. Tell me what you see." Dolph said, pen
poised over paper.

I looked at the crime scene again. "Well, it seems
there is only one person from back here but there was
two victims." I said, walking closer to the screen and
body parts. The smell was typical murder, shit and
blood.

"How can you tell?" Dolph asked, writing little notes
and probably doodles down. Well, not doodles; Dolph is
the ultimate cop.

I looked at the screen again. "Probably because of the
two right arms and the difference in tan on them. It
looks almost the exact same but there is a difference
in them." I replied.

"Any idea what it says?" he asked.

Skid spoke up. "It's an archaic language, I don't
remember what it is called exactly, but I have a book
with that in it. Any trained witch or Mystic sees this
as a shadow language. That there translates something
close to: the day of dead arrives at hand." She said,
voice empty.

Dolph looked indifferent and wrote it all down. "Any
idea why it was written with human blood and body
parts?" he asked.

She nodded. "A warning, my guess is that whoever wrote
this is trying to warn a specific person, so find out
who the bodies were, then find the enemies to those
people. If there is one and it is enemy to both, you
have the person the warning is for. No idea who wrote
it, it could be anyone."

Tammy Reynolds, the RPIT's witch walked towards us,
glaring at the screen. Skid looked at her and they had
a moment of perfect understanding. I felt left out.

"You know what this reads?" Tammy asked Skid. Skid
just nodded.

Dolph looked at Detective Reynolds. "Do you have
anything to say about this?" he asked.

She frowned. "You know it reads the day of the dead
arrives at hand?" she asked. He nodded. "Then there
isn't anything I can add."

I felt a twinge of a little amount of magic being
used, very faint and old. "There was magic here." I
said suddenly. Everyone looked at me.

I looked at the screen and started walking around,
trying to find something. There, the strongest point
of the faded magic. I looked up. After the last word
seemed a blur. It was wrong. Focusing on it, I saw
why. There was a spell to keep people from reading the
entire message. "Skid, Reynolds, get your butts over
here." I said. Dolph tagged along.

"Focus right after the last word, there's more." I
instructed. Skid did what I said while Tammy looked
like I sprouted another head.

"Oh shit." Skid said, going very, very pale.

"What?" everyone asked her.

She looked at us. "I know who did this, killed the
people and wrote it, the people murdered and who the
message if for. I also know what the warning is
about."

We all looked at her expectantly. "The note continues
you see, not a whole lot but the bit at the end
explains it all. The day of dead arrives at hand, on
the night of focus." Skid explained.

Tammy looked a little confused then looked right at
Skid. "Halloween, on Friday!" she exclaimed. Skid
nodded.

"You said you knew who." Dolph urged.

Skid nodded. "If it is what it means, then the person
who did this is trying to warn, not one specific
person, but all. And the person who did this was."

A loud bang cut her off. A cop car just exploded. The
blow took all of us to the ground, but the backwash of
power hurt more. Blackness was complete.


I woke up in a hospital, shit. I am really starting to
hate this. Sitting up, I was surprised to find that I
could, seeing as how I hurt like a bitch, with the
marks, double shit. I first saw Tammy in a bed across
from me; next I saw Zerbrowski and Dolph, not injured
in the least, but both sitting in a chair. Looking to
my left, I saw Skid, also in a bed, looking worst then
I felt.

"What the fuck happened?" I asked. Zerbrowski grinned
at me. But Dolph cut him off, before he could say
anything, with a glare.

"There was a magical booby trap set, I guess encase
someone broke through the spell. It blew up the car
and I guess all that rushing and wild extra energy
attacked us poor unprotected magic users." Tammy
answered.

Skid still hadn't woken up or said anything. "She ok?"
I asked.

"I'm just peachy keen." Skid replied, quietly.

Dolph snorted, not saying anything. I was taking a
wild guess but I think he now knew she wasn't 100%
human. I didn't have to sound like an ass guessing
either.

"You are just fine, whatever you are." Dolph said. I
guess he was pissed that she lied to him about being
human. Not that she knew at the time.

Skid looked even worst all of a sudden. By this time,
even Zerbrowski had stopped smiling. I looked over to
Tammy; she was glaring at Skid too, the poor girl.

"Did I miss something?" I asked.

Dolph looked at me, gone into perfect cop mode, he was
pissed. "Shelly had blood tests done on her, she
having gotten the worst of the blow. The doctors told
us that whatever she is, it isn't human."

I nodded carefully. Skid wasn't looking at anyone.
"When you asked me before, I didn't know I wasn't
human. I don't even know for sure what I am." She said
softly. It wasn't a complete lie either, she's part
demon, for sure, but there is also a bit of vamp in
her blood as well. So we aren't sure exactly how to
classify her.

"What else aren't you telling me?" He asked.

She looked him right in the eye. "I have no secrets
left." She said. "Unless you want me to go into my
past, then grab a chair." She was starting to get
angry herself, you could feel it.

Dolph just stood there. "What haven't you told me
Dolph?" I asked. Call it a gut feeling but I knew he
wasn't saying something.

Dolph looked at me. "Shelly is our prime suspect, no
alibi, and the means to do it." He said.

I wasn't on top of my game so I looked shocked. "Why
do you suspect her?" I asked.

"She has the understanding, she has no alibi and won't
tell us where she was at the time of the murder, and
she has the strength to have done it." He said calmly.


"When did the murder occur?" I asked, looking over at
Skid.

"Around, midnight." Dolph replied.

Skid looked at her hands, not saying anything.

"Where were you Skid?" I asked softly. She looked up
at me, silent tears trailing down her cheek.

"Skid, where were you?" it was almost a whisper. She
didn't want to admit where she was.

"I was with someone." She said softly.

"Who?"

Dolph was writing all of this down.

Skid shook her head.

"Who were you with Skid, tell me." I said. I wanted to
shake her, which was a first. I had a very bad feeling
that I really didn't want to know who she was with.

"I was with." she got very quiet, I could almost not
hear her answer. "John Burke."

I just looked at her and I started to laugh. Maybe it
was shock, or maybe not, but I seriously thought she
was going to say Richard. Suspicious, who me?

Dolph looked at me. "What's so funny Anita?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing, I was just surprised that
she was so reluctant to admit she had something going
on with Burke." I replied.

She looked a little surprised. And she was blushing.

"We can confirm this with Mr. Burke?" Dolph asked.
Skid nodded.

"He won't like to admit it, but yeah, he'll confirm
it." She said, still softly.

Dolph nodded, finished writing something down and
left. He already had Burke's number from when we
worked with him years before, chasing down a very
deadly zombie. Zerbrowski grinned all of a sudden.

"Anita, how come you looked so relieved that it was
Burke that she was with?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Drop it Zerbrowski." I said. He
shook his head.

"No way, why were you so relieved?" he asked. He
continued to pester me until Tammy started talking.

"Do you have a guess at what you are Skid?" she asked.
It was the first time she'd ever called her that.
Dolph calls her Shelly because it's her name,
Jean-Claude does it to everyone and Tammy does it to
piss her off.

Skid looked over at her and smiled lightly. "A freak
of nature, a hybrid." She replied. Then closed her
eyes and fell back to sleep, drugs had kicked in.

Tammy frowned. "What did she mean by that?" she asked
me.

"Exactly what she said Tammy, let it rest." I said.
The drugs were working their charms on me as well. Got
to love modern science.

The next time I woke up, I felt better and had a more
appreciated scene. I saw Larry with Tammy; they were
just holding hands, smiling at each other, gag. Then I
saw Richard smiling at me. He looked a little too
happy.

"What canary did you eat?" I asked him. He chuckled,
and kissed my cheek. "Look over at Skid." He
whispered. I sat up a bit and did. I started to laugh
lightly myself. Skid was a very bright red, eyes a
little to wide. The reason being that John Burke was
answering Dolph's questions, with detail.

I started laughing harder until my ribs complained.
Skid just got redder. Finally Dolph quit questioning
Burke. John smiled lightly and walked over to Skid,
and kissed her like you don't do in public.

"I guess we don't have to be so careful around each
other anymore." He said to Skid. She had calmed down
to a surprised pink.

"How long have you two been hiding in the closet?"
Larry asked. Skid's face went a little pinker.

"A few months now." She replied in a steady voice,
brownie point for her.

Larry grinned. "How come you never told us?" He asked.

"Because we both wanted to avoid the scathing remarks
we were sure to get from my co workers." John replied.


"I've heard the conversations you two have, sparring
about your relationships, we both wanted to skip
that." Skid added.

I looked over to Larry and we both laughed. "Very
true, we would have bothered the hell out of you two."
I admitted.

"We would have, hell, we will." Larry said.

Skid groaned and buried her head in John's shoulder.
"Hide me." She said, but you could hear her smiling.

"John had a shit fit that I was a female version of
him, to tough for his tastes, Skid is like I am, but
you two are hot and heavy for each other, am I missing
something?" I asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

John shrugged. "I guess since we don't do exactly the
same thing it doesn't bother me." He replied. At least
he was being honest. It bothered the hell out of him
that I was better than he was.

Skid quit hiding her face; it was almost her normal
colour. "Dolph forgave me. He couldn't yell at me for
not knowing it myself. But he trusts me less now." She
said. Ii nodded, tempted to say, join the bandwagon
Skid. He already does it to me because of my bed
partner.

Dolph walked in, smiling. Zerbrowski a step behind
him. Both had grins to make a Cheshire cat envious.

"What are you two up to?" Tammy, Skid and I all asked
at the same time. Not a few people looked a little
surprised.

"Nothing, we just have the murderer in custody and the
identities of both bodies." Dolph said.

"Then why are you grinning?" I asked. Yes I am
suspicious, so sue me.

Dolph just continued to smile. I frowned. "Why are you
grinning?" I sounded each syllable out.

"You're the murderer." He said.

"What?!" I yelled.

I sat bolt up. The cringed in pain. God I hate the
nightmares that accompany drugs. It seems I fell
asleep right after Skid finished talking.

"You ok Anita?" Richard asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, just hate drugs."

Skid was looking right at me, as if she knew what I
dreamt. "Maybe I just ought to make you a dream charm,
seeing as how you keep forgetting to wear the shirt I
gave you." She teased.

I laughed lightly. "I'd probably lose that too." I
said.

She nodded. "To true, but if I put it on your shoulder
holster or gun, you wouldn't forget it and you'd have
it with you almost all the time." She said.

The sad fact was that that was true. I almost always
had a gun unless I wasn't allowed it or had it taken
away. God, I'm turning into Edward slowly. That
reminded me.

"I thought that E.Ted was in the car." I said.

Skid grinned. "Ted is taking over for Richard, helping
move your family into the guestrooms."

My eyes went wide. Then I started to laugh. Ted would
be his charming good ol' typical self; Edward was whom
I never wanted my family to meet. Skid was chuckling
with me. I think only Larry and Richard got the joke,
they knew who Edward really was, everyone else hadn't
a clue.

I finally got hold of myself, God drugs play hell with
my system; I'm way to happy right now. "When can we
leave?" I asked.

"Tammy and you can leave today, Skid tomorrow."
Richard said, smiling at me.

"I'm sure the doctors are grateful for that, I swear,
soon they're going to have a room reserved for me, the
way I live my life I'm in here at least once a month."
I said, sounding a little bitchy.

Skid grinned. "I plan on joining you each time though,
at least until I find a new job, you've got a shadow."

I looked at her and she nodded, the smile going off of
her face. She was either fired or quit, no longer
working with RPIT. Damn it! She didn't do anything
wrong. And it was my fault somehow. See, suicide is a
good option for me. With these comforting thoughts I
slipped into a drug induced sleep.

When I woke up, we were alone in the room. Skid was
still awake, looking bored and hurt, Tammy was out of
it for a bit longer, all of our visitors had left.

"Did you quit or were you fired Skid?" I asked,
sounding pitiful.

"Neither." She replied.

I frowned. "But you said you were looking for a new
job." I reminded her.

She smiled. "I'm on retainer with the police now, like
you, I needed a new job because working at the Circus
sucks."

I smiled. "God, I thought you were fired or
something."

She grinned. "No, I just got bumped to retainer. Sorry
if I worried you there."

"Will you two shut up?" Tammy said, groggily.

"No." Skid and I said at once.

"Now that no one is here, can you tell me what you
are, and not the excuse you gave me last time, your
aura reads something I recognize, kind of." Tammy said
to Skid.

Skid shrugged. "Can kill me to tell you, promise not
to freak out?" she asked.

Tammy nodded. "I promise Skid, I won't freak out and I
won't tell no one."

Skid smiled lightly. "Well, I'm part demon, part
vampire and the rest is human." She said.

Tammy frowned. "How the hell?"

Skid laughed. "I have no idea, as I said, I only found
out after I joined the squad. And I have no idea on
how to label myself, a freak of nature works best."



Tammy and I left as soon as the doc cleared us. He
checked on Skid and she left as well, damn she has
even better recuperation than I do.



To be continued at my leisure, sorry, but I'm working
on it!

Tracia's Diary