Under the bench by the bridge [OPEN]

[nada harper]

For nearly an hour Nada had leaned against the railing of the bridge, glaring at the bench, sitting innocently at its end. Her fingers drumming behind her on the stone railing. Now cool from the early night air. The beat of her rampaging digits picking up until once again she was pushing herself away from the railing, turning towards it to stare down into the man made river below. Now a silky shimmering black with only the quivering orange reflection of sidewalk lamps to show it.

It was pitch black out. And she was alone. This would have made anyone other normal woman, very uneasy. But Nada wasn't normal, and she was far too distracted to really notice how dark it had gotten. Not that it would have mattered in the first place. Most of what she saw happened in the dark. When the faces were hidden in shadow and people were far less inclined to stick their necks to see what was going bump in the night. But not Nada. She was special like that.

"Stupid visions. Stupid Jiminy Cricket conscience. If I had an ounce of self-preservation I would'a stayed medicated. But nooo. I had to prove I was crazy. And now here I am. Doing this. For nothing!" Nada grumbled to the open air.

Two choices. That's all she had. Well she'd started out with about ten, but had boiled them down to just the two. Tell the cops or don't tell the cops. As a rule. Nada hated the cops. They always thought she was nuts. Though at the moment she was sorely inclined to agree with them. What else would you be if not completely insane to come all the way to New York, because you'd bumped into some homeless dude and got a vision of a woman getting her face bashed in not some twenty feet from where your standing by her boyfriend. Who the cops hadn't put behind bars, because they'd never made him a suspect.

Nada had seen enough murders to know loved ones were, more often than not, the culprits. She even had the personal experience to back it up. But that was a matter separate from the one she faced now. Now she was stuck debating on whether or not she should spend the night looking for the Pendant the woman had pulled off her boyfriend before he had killed her, or just give it up as a lost cause and phone in an anonymous tip that they should look at the woman's boyfriend.

She'd been tossing these options back and forth for the last hour, and was no where nearer to an answer. Though if she truly wanted answers all she had to do was shed her gloves and start touching things. She'd be certain to find something. Whether or not that something, was a something that could help, wasn't entirely certain.

With a beyond aggravated growl she pushed off the railing, marched over to the bench, got down all fours and started looking for the pendant. So, she'd look for a piece of jewelry that had, more likely than not, been picked up weeks ago by some kid, and she do it in the dark on her own, because she was by her definition, completely insane.

"Should of stayed doped." she bit.

[Trey Forze]

Trey had come to New York, for a change. It wasn’t much of a change from the streets of Los Angeles, but that’s what happened when you asked for the first flight out of town and got on it, first class of course. It was a bad plane ride, and he had started the day in a horrible mood. After leaving his dog tags over his shirt, feeling particularly thoughtful today, he had been questioned about his service tirelessly by the girl next to him, who desperately needed two seats rather than one. He lied skillfully, claiming he had served two and a half years of his service in Afghanistan, since he looked a bit young to have fought in Vietnam as he truly did. Trey sat back after her grueling interview had finished, plugged in his iPod, and hoped to relax, only to be tapped about 20 minutes in, with more questions.

Getting in step behind the lady, who he still knew nothing about, he stalked patiently until they neared the airport bathrooms. As they were passing the men’s, he wrapped an arm around her waist, covered her mouth, and dragged her in without attention being drawn. He didn’t like the taste of the obese much, there was too much sodium, and it made him feel as if he were gaining weight. He was hungry and she had annoyed him, so she became his meal nonetheless. After stepping into the city, he stayed to the buildings under the shadows, aggressively pushing others out of his way, seeming like a true New Yorker. The sun looming he entered the subway system at first chance, and once again found himself on a trip to wherever the third stop may be. The subway was better than the flight, which said a lot. He picked the third stop hoping that there would be more cloud cover; he could tell it was cloudy in some parts of the city, and intuition told him to wait until then. Emerging from underground he found himself in Central Park and groaned. Trey and tourists were never on good terms, and he now found himself in a mass of them.

Moving fast, he found a bridge that seemed curiously empty. Walking across it he stopped a good twenty feet from a slender girl, looking on the floor as if she had dropped something. It was dark here, and Trey grinned with relief. Going by unnoticed as he was, he watched for a moment or two before his soldier attitude kicked in, not letting him stand by when a girl may need help. Closing the distance between himself, and her, he was glad he had eaten already. ”Excuse me, ma’am, do you need any help?” His husky voice was filled with all the kindness he could muster, his eyes shy and respectful, for now. Trey had bad luck getting along with others, and a short temper. His impulse to help others though, was still strong within him, the one trait that connected him to who he used to be.

[nada harper]

Nada had been so in grossed in her search for that stupid pendant she had barely heard the uncharacteristically humble offer of assistance. And for a few seconds had even thought she'd imagined it, until finally she pulled her head out from under the bench. Looking in the general direction the question had come from. What she saw was a man who looked like a native New Yorker. Though that certainly wasn't the vibe she was getting from him. New Yorkers had a certain energy this guy distinctly lacked. But other than that the only other oddity she found was the Dog tags laying against his shirt. He honestly didn't strike her as the military type, but then she was never very good at first impressions.

Which immediately led to her next thought, as she pushed herself back on to her heels her hand holding onto the bench's seat for balance. That he was either a horny solider looking to score through the act of a good deed. Or an actual, real life, honest to god, good Samaritan who just genuinely wanted to help. Aside from herself, Nada had yet to run into one, which added to her already prickly attitude. Eyeballing him for several seconds she tried to decide which it was exactly.

She didn't need some horny sailor, solider, pilot or marine, nosing around her bench, doing a half ass job of helping her look while thinking he'd get more than beer after wards. But then she didn't need some do-gooder doing the same. Course, she'd been looking for some twenty and a fresh set of eyes never hurt.

She just needed to make certain of motive before she allowed action to follow. This was New York and she was a woman on her own in the big city. Just because the boy was cute and offering to help was no reason to let her guard down and start batting her lashes like some sweet southern bell looking to the aid of some big strong man.

"Three questions."She help up her hand rising three fingers "What branch?" she pointed to his tags. "What are you expecting? And why are you offering?" she asked, hiding all emotion as she rose sitting back on the bench, arms stretched out along its back, she crossed her legs, her right ankle sitting neatly on her left knee as she waited for the man's response.

[Trey Forze]

Trey watched as the girl continued her search after his question, and then got up, as if on 10 second delay. She had the most peculiar look on her face, which made him smirk in amusement. He could she was staring at his chest, and realized his dog tags still hung visible over his clothes. She seemed to being trying to make up her mind about Trey, and she would have one hell of a time with that, for he never knew what was going on in his own mind. He didn’t mind, it meant he went with his heart, never one to overanalyze a situation, and his gut reaction was generally right on, leading him to be a commander back in his army days.

The girl assumed an independent, yet defensive stance in front of him as she began firing off questions. It reminded him of boot camp, except for the fact those commanders didn’t need to be defensive, and the questions were a little different, but this little meeting had the same air to it. He put a smile back on his face and waited for her to finish before replying. “Marine Corps, commander of the 64th.” He said to answer the first. “I’m not expecting anything, and I’m offering because you looked like you could use some help, and well, that’s my job.” He finished casually, his voice acquiring the usual raspy quality it had, which had been muted when he first questioned her. Even if New York was similar to Los Angeles in appearance the people here sure had a whole different set of rules. Back home, life was laid back, and people were generally polite, except for their driving. Here everything in life was the fast lane, and anyone offering help was expected to have ulterior motives, and working from personal gain. That wasn’t the case when it came to Trey; he never did much of anything for himself.

By her position it looked as if she was trying too hard to seem casual, he wondered if he seemed like a threat to her, or if that was just the way he was, always masking true emotions. If that was the case, she could use some experience in it, as Trey had perfected himself over the years, proved by the fact that she seemed to at least believe he was in fact humble. His thoughts wandered off, wondering if she would believe him, and what it was with New Yorkers that made them so untrusting, something Trey also was, but which he hid much better.

[nada harper]

Devil Dog she hadn't seen that coming. She'd thought at most he was army, at the very least that the tags belonged a relative. He just didn't look military to her. But then what did she know? Half the people she saw in her visions didn't look like they were the type to do the various horrible things they'd done. But sure enough they had. If anything she knew better than to put more stock into what she thought over what she knew.

But that didn't stop her from still being surprised that he just wanted to help. Just simply help. And he was sincere about it to. She couldn't recall the last time someone had actually helped her. Oh wait that was because no one ever had. Well she'd see about that. Pushing up off the bench she looked back down at the ground.

"I lost my necklace." she answered with a simple lie. There was no way she could tell him the truth. Though the idea of what he'd do if she just came out an actually told him what she was really doing there, was just too hard to resist. So she didn't. "Actually no that's a lie. You see, I'm psych. And I had a vision of a woman being killed on this bench. Her face was smashed in against that corner." she tossed her thumb behind her to the left corner of the bench " And under this bench, or somewhere in this area is supposed to be the key piece of evidence to put her murderer behind bars. But wouldn't you know it. I can't find the damn thing." she snapped her fingers and made a face as if to say 'Gosh darn it. You'd think though pesky spirits would give better directions. "So. You still want to help?" she smiled. Relaying strongly on her 'if all else fails tell the truth' policy.

Being as most people thought she was nuts when she did, she saw no harm in employing the tactic now. If nothing else it would confirm his intentions once and for all to her. Nada being a firm believer in actions speaking louder than words. Because for one, they very often did, and did it far better.

[Trey Forze]

The way this girl was scrutinizing him made him feel like she didn’t believe he could ever be a marine, he smiled, people these days didn’t believe anything anymore, they only saw the worst in people maybe that is why soldiers were treated like scum, to fight for your country, there has to be something wrong with you. It didn’t matter to him though, he was proud of what he had done and that he still had the courage to live his life today. As she spoke, he assumed it had been that she lost a piece of jewelry or something similar. He could tell she was thinking and so he paused before replying, figuring she would have something else to say.

What she did say next, he wasn’t expecting. She saw someone’s murder and was determined to find evidence now? And he was pretty sure the psychics claimed to see the future, not something that already happened. He wondered if she was lying now, in response to her thinking he lied. Whatever it was, he decided to go along with it, it might be amusing or true, in which case he felt obligated. “Well, I’m immortal, so I could believe that.” he said easily with a laugh. Now they could both be crazies, and that might just earn trust from her, or she might be amused like him and go along with it.

“Of course I’ll still help, you just made it that much more fun.” Trey said grinning again. “Could you tell me what this item might look like, is it still a necklace?” He let the smile leave his face as he asked, so he came off as serious, because he truly did wonder. “I’m Trey.” he added, girls seemed to believe boys more when they knew their name, then it seemed less like they were trying to hide something. This night hadn’t gone in a direction he could ever imagine, but if there were in fact vampires and werewolves why couldn’t there truly be psychics?

[nada harper]

"Nada." She replied before even realizing she had. Wincing internally at the over sight she'd just made. She never gave her name, if she gave a name at all. Somehow her's had just slipped out. But she made no show of her mistake. She'd all ready misjudged this guy twice, she wasn't going to show she may have a third time by giving out her name to him.

"It was one of those religious pendants. I think. Thin silver chain, with a pendant about the size of my thumb also silver. But I think it had a gold trim." she answered, moving to stand beside the bench rather than in front of it as she had been, her eyes scanning the ground around and beneath it one last time before looking back to her odd helper.

"Immortal?" She said meaning for the word to sound more like a statement than the question it had come out as. "Like what? A god, a demigod? You piss off a sorcerer and get cursed, only instead of making you a toad he screwed up and made you immortal. Or did you just wake up one morning and find out you couldn't die. If that's the case it sounds more like a lame spin off Highlander. " she stated, watching his reaction for any tells that he was lying. She said was psychic and he'd come back with he was immortal. If he was telling the truth, she wanted details, if he wasn't she still wanted details. Make a person go into specifics enough times and if they were lying they'd slip up.

Unless of course instead of being immortal as he said, he only thought he was. In which case he was crazier than she was, which was oddly refreshing and if indeed he was Immortal. Well then she wasn't the only freak in the bell tower anymore and she could live with that too.

[Trey Forze]

Trey nodded as she described the pendant, showing that he was listening, a habit from the military. His trained eyes lightly scanned the ground while her gaze returned to him, and another round of questions began. He seemed to always be bringing attention to himself, when he never really wanted it. Her guesses at his immortality brought a smile to his face, it was cute the way she thought of it, if any of those were the case, he wouldn’t be such a monster. He considered changing his answer to something more calming, a more peaceful immortality, but this girl didn’t seem to be hiding anything, and he saw no need to.

“Well, it’s a little different than that. I can technically die I guess, if I weren’t already dead, the sun can burn me to ashes. I was killed a long time ago and now I sustain myself off blood, and it’s a quite enjoyable existence, as long as I keep to the shadows.” He chuckled and let an easy smile slide onto his face. He squatted, running his hand across the ground, searching again for the pendant. His eyes wandered up to meet hers though, to gauge her reaction, he could technically prove it, if she wanted to drink some of his blood and let him show her his ugly past. He spotted something shiny near his side of the bench and pointed to the pendant, it seemed to be a cross, but he could only guess if it was correct. For some reason, instinct told him not to grab it. He instead pointed and looked back up to the different girl. “Is this it? Or is it similar to what you’re looking for? Am I on the right track?” Finally it seemed that he got to ask some questions. After this little search he intended on following her, figuring her out, instead of telling this stranger all about him and learning nothing in return.

[nada harper]

"A vampire, does not an immortal make." she replied, the words flying from her lips as she stared down at him. Now stuck between believing him and thinking he needed to be committed more than she did. Not that she would ever subject anyone to that particular brand of hell. "At least not in my book." she added, with a shrug before looking to where he'd pointed. Walking to the area he'd indicated before squatting down and carefully shifting about the dead leaves and trash from the cross small good cross they were covering.

She stared hard at the tiny metal charm for several seconds before biting the finger tip of her glove and pulling it off. She wasn't certain if this was what she was looking for, the coloring and size looked right, but she wasn't a hundred percent. Hesitantly she reached for the tiny charm. Stopping just before she touched. "And just FYI. You bite me and I'm taking you to the nearest all night dentist to get you de-fanged." she warned Trey over her shoulder. Before closing her eyes tightly and picking up the cross bracing herself for what she might see.

Several second she waited for her mind to be thrown somewhere else. For sights and sounds to fill her head as the memory replayed. But there was nothing. Just the black of her eye lids and the eerily empty sound of the park. Opening her eyes she looked down at the necklace, her mouth quirking to the left as she observed the metal laying idle in her hand. Years ago its simple state wouldn't of bothered her. Now she ran into so many simple things, that turned out to be related in not so simple events that she had begun to expect a vision from just about very thing she touched. Maybe not related to what she had seen previously, but she would normally see something. And it was rarely good.

But there was absolutely nothing attached to this cross. And since the necklace had no evidentiary value she could at least pawn it and put a little cash in her pockets. God knew she could use the extra green. Standing she slide the necklace into her coat pocket. "Nope. Wasn't it." she said, pulling her glove back on. "Well, whatever. It was long shot looking for it here.The memory was a couple months old anyway." she shrugged dismissing the matter entirely. She'd come, she'd looked, she'd leave a anonymous tip with the cops to look at the woman's boyfriend. A tip that would probably carry more weight if she had bought the homeless dude's coat when she'd first seen the vision back in Seattle. But Nooo. She hadn't thought that far ahead.

Now she was just going to have try something else until this stopped egging her. Stupid conscience. she thought bitterly. How had she gotten to have such a strict sense of right and wrong. She certainly hadn't inherited it that was for certain.

[Trey Forze]

Trey laughed at her acceptance of him being a vampire, but not immortal. “Well that’s odd, I’ve never met a person who believed that having the ability to be 24 forever wasn’t immortal…hmph.” He watched lean down and just stare at the object for awhile. When she grabbed it looked as if she was expecting something, maybe she had visions when she found something from a crime scene another vision, which would be something. Trey stood there patiently waiting for her to decide what she was going to do. He laughed once again as she warned him against biting her. “Don’t worry I had a little snack when I landed here, that lady was quite the ass.” Trey now watched her, curious as to her reaction at him so casually talking about a meal.

Trey watched her stand up and proclaim it wasn’t what she looking for and they weren’t likely going to find what she did want. Now he wasn’t sure what to do, she sounded fine with it, but looked like she was aggravated. He didn’t feel like just leaving because it would be too anticlimactic so he would have to do something. He thought about what had been said during the short time after he found her here.
“Would you like a walk home…or to a club or something?” Trey grinned. “You know just so no other big, bad vampires get you, or a werewolf, they’re nasty things, rip anything to shreds.” Once again he found himself wondering what the girl’s reaction may be.

“There are lots of us out there.” He added since she probably assumed he was just a lone crazy, not an actual vampire that had vampire friends and enemies. Werewolves were almost always enemies; he just had a difficult time getting along with them. He was fascinated by this girl and wanted to know her better than he did, he thought she could prove to be quite an interesting friend and as the years went by she could see his immortality.

(Sorry its so short, I'll do better next time I swear.)

[nada harper]

"Immortal is a thing that, by definition is not subject to death. Being that your all ready dead. You don't count." She replied to his comment. Staring at him full on. Wondering for a moment if he had been serious about the woman he'd snacked on earlier. A very cliche' image of him in a Dracula get up draped over some 1920's platinum blond in a long black dress flashing across her mind as she did. Of all the things she'd seen that was by the far the lamest.

Pulling herself away from the absurd image she focused back on his words. “Would you like a walk home…or to a club or something?” he grinned. “You know just so no other big, bad vampires get you, or a werewolf, they’re nasty things, rip anything to shreds.
There are lots of us out there.”

Werewolves! Like her life wasn't weird enough, now Werewolves existed too. Wait a minute. Why was she believing in Werewolves all of sudden when she'd started off thinking this guy was totally bunkers. She needed proof. Stone cold, undeniable proof. "Do something Vampirey." She ordered, giving him her undivided attention as she waited for her proof that he was what he claimed. Wondering if she would accept the supposed fiction she was currently entertaining as fact. If indeed it was.

Would his being a Vampire make things more interesting, or more terrifying. She'd all ready seen and heard things the cops could only begin to imagine. Did she really want to know that a torn out throat, or severed limb had been the work of vampires and not some twisted Sadist who thought they were. At least a human was mortal and by the extent far easier to kill, bullet to the head, knife to the heart and she'd been done. She doubted she'd fair so well with something that wasn't human, or be as likely to get away in one piece.

"Show me your fangs." she said not certain how the vampire world physically worked. Was it like Buffy where they all had super strength and speed and their faces got all wrinkly. Or was it like that new author Stephenie something, where they sparkled in the sun. Christ that was even lamer then her Dracula scenario.

[Trey Forze]

[atrb=width,400,true] [BG=EAEADD] Trey kept the grin on his face as she stared at him and he could she was trying to figure him out as much as she could. So what am I, Dracula or Edward? He had already learned that was the reaction of most humans when they found out, hell, vampires thought one or the other when they were turned. Trey had images of himself sleeping in a coffin and wearing long black capes constantly, luckily he had Vince to convince him that the way things worked was much different than that. He could now see a bit of shock hit the girl’s face at the mention of werewolves. So he was beginning to convince Nada with every little detail he added, and he could say it all again a month later, it was true after all. "Vampirey?" His smile was crooked as he repeated the makeshift word as a question. We’ll see what she thinks of this.Trey turned his back to her and crossed to the other side of the street. A line of cars was in front of him, everything from chic sports cars to junkyard teen cars. He picked an old truck, the heaviest looking car in front of him. He grabbed the front of it with both his hands tucked securely under it, but with a gentle grip, there were no white knuckles here. He lifted the front and turned to look at Nada. "I don’t like this car here do you? I think I’ll move it over a couple spots." With that Trey proceeded to drag the car behind him at a fast walk, showing it was no struggle at all. Brining the car to the next open spot he stopped again. "I was never a good parallel parker."He added as he moved to the side of the car, lifting it into the new spot, where it just barely fit, maybe half a foot on each side. What he was doing wasn’t dangerous; it wouldn’t hurt anyone or raise suspicion. When the owner walked down in the morning they would simply assume that was where they had parked all along, not some super strength dead person must have moved it the couple spots over. He looked over at her, there fangs weren’t anything special, maybe slightly longer than the average humans, but length wasn’t quite necessary. He opened his mouth regardless, tilting his head back to show the points of his teeth. "Terrifying, I know." Trey held still as he could, trying to seem nonthreatening. He looked down at her again, measuring her reaction once again. The Count:408 Outfit: I’m too lazy. Notes and Stuff:...

[nada harper]

Nada stared. Overwhelmed by shock, amazement and then just plain old disbelief. He'd moved--dragged-- a car like he was lugging a load of clothes he was to lazy to pick up. And then just set it down like it was nothing. No human could that! Not unless they a highly trained Hollywood special effects to team to back them up. And she really doubted that was what just happened.

Still that didn't stop her from looking up and down the street. Half expecting and hoping to see someone gawking at what he'd just done in the same manner she currently was. But there was no one but the two of them, and no team jumping out of nowhere to tell her she'd just been PUNK'd. Nope what he'd just done had been real. And by the looks of it, so were his fangs.

Okay Trey the dead marine was a vampire. Dude is a vampire. "Your a vampire. Your a dead Marine who's a Vampire." she said aloud. Thinking it would sound more believable, if not real, spoken. "Nope still sounds weird." she shook her head staring hard at the street. Nada wasn't one to throw hits and start freaking out over the new information, no matter how unexpected. She was more of a slow burn, building up to a rapid boil kind of girl. So she knew in a day or two when the idea of vampires and other supernatural beasties started to settle into her frame of mind as existing. Then she'd freak out and have a complete an utter meltdown, until the freakiness of this news pasted and she was back to her 'more informed about the world at large than she'd like to be' state of being.

"Out of curiosity how do people normally take this news? Because at the moment I'm somewhere between running screaming in the other direction," she through her thumb behind her. "Or just passing out. Yeah." she nodded repeatedly. "I'm just gonna to past out. Night, night." she said and hit the ground in a limp pile.

words: 344

[Trey Forze]

[atrb=width,400,true] [BG=EAEADD] Trey watched Nada with a large grin on his face. He had never decided to randomly tell someone what he was before. Back when he was actively in the military he told everyone in his current unit what he has and out there, in the field, it was easier to accept anything, especially when it was an advantage to your fight. Apparently here in New York no matter how many freaks there were, something as real and shocking as being a vampire was still something worth gawking at. He could understand her amazement though, when he was first changed he woke up with a start at night and hoped that everything had been a dream, that he was still alive, but his vain hope quickly faded as his want for blood washed over him once again. Trey smiled less enthusiastically now, just a kind, emphatic smile, and watched her as she struggled aloud to come to terms with what he was. Said in its entirety out loud he could hear the absurdity of the situation. It wasn’t common to come across a dead person, much less one that could talk, lift cars and claimed he was a marine before you were even born while looking to be just 24. Concern washed over Trey as Nada stared helplessly at the ground, unable to handle this news; maybe he had been wrong to spring it on her. He stepped closer and put a steady hand on her shoulder. Just as she finished speaking Trey bent over and caught her close to the ground, laying her on the harsh concrete, that would’ve likely put scrapes all over her body and a given her a concussion if she hit it the wrong way. He was torn between trying to help her and leaving her there alone to think it was a dream when she regained consciousness. Once again, the gentlemen in him prevailed. He slid off his leather jacket and formed a makeshift pillow from it, gently raising Nada with one arm and placing his jacket under her head with the other. "Nada?," He asked lightly, with his eyes on the sky as he spoke. Dawn was approaching and he would have to get himself out of here soon, if she wasn’t stable in his mind that just meant she was coming with him. This might be the first time I’ll carry a girl back to my apartment without planning to sleep with her. Trey thought as he looked down at this girl again, even if she woke up now he would have to leave. And he wasn’t going to leave her here, she needed food and water, she’d no doubt be feeling weak without it and an empty street in New York was not a safe place for a weak woman. The Count:465 Outfit:…. Notes and Stuff:l….

[nada harper]

Nada heard someone calling her name, but the voice was so far away and the black of her mind was so big and foreboding. She'd passed out. She'd really gone and passed out. In front of a total stranger, in front of a vampire, in a empty street. All those times her survival instincts had kicked in at the just the right moment, and they have to choose now to desert her.

What the hell! Had those instincts been a living breathing person and not a part of her over all being. She would of shit kicked the crap of the wussy little pansies for doing this to her. She did not faint. She had never fainted.

She'd seen people chopped up into little bloody bits and while yes she had spent the rest of the day dry heaving her stomach contents into a toilet bowl, and become a vegetarian immediately after. She had never fainted. Partly because she'd been too afraid to close her eyes. But still that did not excuse this completely cowardly unacceptable act.

With all her might she fought back through the dark of her mind. Seeing no point in staying there, since she deemed her fainting a utter waste of time and a moral outrage on the part that she was not some fragile little daisy in need of tender care.

So there were Vampires, and werewolves and other supernatural beings in the world. So what? Given what she could do, this information shouldn't be freaking her out. If anything it should be making her feel less a like a freak. If she wasn't the only non-normal thing out there, than maybe there were other people like her. Even now the idea sounded ludicrous, but there was an odd hope accompanying the prospect now. A thing that had never happened before. And the more she thought about the more determined she became to wake up.

She wasn't the only monster in the Mansion any more, and she wanted to make sure it stayed that way. Wake up. Wake up! WAKE UP! she screamed at herself. You don't faint! I don't faint. Wake your sorry ass up Harper! she shouted. For God's sake woman. You're lying helpless in front of a Vampire, who for all you know could be deciding on turning you into his next meal. Wake the Fuck Up!

With a jolt Nada shot up and off of whatever she'd been lying on. Her mind a fog of fading anger and fear as she stared hard at the floor beneath her legs. A floor that was neither, concrete, dirt or grass, and a room that looked absolutely nothing like the street she remembered passing out in.

"Where am I?" She muttered staring at her unfamiliar surroundings.