The ride back down to the bar area is quick. No one tried to stop us or stop to talk with us as we headed back towards Jack’s blazer.

After all of us had climbed inside and Jack had started up the engine, I look towards both him and Ajax “We’re dealing with a pedophile vampire here. Mistress Selena wouldn’t tell me what his name was. She said that the vampire council has made it forbidden to even speak his name. All she did say is that we need to kill him.”

“Wow! So, those stories your neighbor and husband told you were true then?” Jack looks in the rear-view mirror at me and backs the Blazer out of its parking space.

“Yes, it would appear so, but the major question to all of this is who let him out and why?”

“Maybe someone wants to make Mistress Selena look bad since this is her town.” Ajax looks towards me.

“Maybe, but why release a pedophile. According to what Oilibhear told me. This vampire only goes after children who have special magical gifts.” I lean back in my seat and think this over.

“You said he only goes after kids with special magical talent Vicky?”

“Yeah.” as I look at Ajax.

“Don’t vampires get power from those people they bind to them? Including magical creatures like us?”

“Yes, which would explain how Mistress Selena was able to get inside my head. Kitten her pet is a witch whose spell backfired on her. Since Kitten is a human servant to Mistress Selena that gives her access to some of her magical talents. Which would mean that this vampire that was set loose is trying to gather as much magical talent as possible to overthrow Mistress Selena’s control of this area.” as I look at the back part of Jack’s head and Ajax's face.

“So that explains why he is only going after children with magical talents and why Mistress Selena wants to see your report afterward. Because if one child in the family has magical talent, then one of the parents may have it as well.”

“Maybe. Sometimes the person may carry that gene in them, and it will remain dominant until something happens to trigger it or it is passed to someone that can use it.”

“You mean like what happens to you don’t you?” Jack looks towards me in the rearview mirror.

“Yes, the gene that allows someone to use magic or control magic can lay dominant in someone for years and be passed from generation to generation, until someone either shows that person how to access it or they are exposed to magic itself. Sometimes it can be trigger under a life-or-death experience.”

“But how does someone get that gene in their family line?” as Ajax turns around in his seat to look at me.

“According to my cousin in Cairo, Kentucky. That person’s family line would have at one time had a Fae marry into it and their offspring would pass that gene down the line. The problem is, the further you get from the source of the gene and not inter-marrying with another person carrying that gene the more diluted it becomes in your family bloodline. It would take you to expose to a large amount of magical energy to make that gene in you active again.”

“What do you mean a large amount of magical energy?” Ajax looks at me with a puzzled look on his face.

“I mean being either exposed to magical energy which is concentrated in several areas in the world or have a pure-blooded or half-blooded Fae trigger the gene in you. As far as I know, there are no pure-blooded Fae’s that lives in this area, and most of the half-blooded fae that does live around here are protected by others like them or by other supernatural creatures or by normal humans loyal to them.”

“Isn’t your sister and cousin half-blooded Fae’s?” as Jack looks at me through the mirror again.

“Yes, and before you ask I carry that gene as well, but because the wolf in me is stronger than the fae blood in me. I can’t weld magic like my sister or cousin. As far I know there have only been two of my relatives that have managed to combine both their fae abilities and their were abilities. One was my cousin Roger, Maggie’s brother, who was a were-lynx, and my great uncle Harry in Florida that is a were-panther of that region. Those two are the only ones that I know of that have managed to combine that part of our bloodline. The wolf is so strong in my bloodline, that the magic that allows us to bring it forward negates the fae half of our blood.”

“Boy, that sucks. I bet you wish you could do magic as well shapeshift as you do.” Jack just smiles.

“Not really. Then I would be valuable to cold iron instead of silver. I’m still pissed at George for attacking me and causing the wolf gene in me to come to life. I had all sorts of family silver that was given to me for my wedding.” a little bit of anger is erupts from my voice.

“Well, where to next?” As Jack turns on to Colley ave.

“The nearest Kentucky Fire Chicken if we can find one. I think there’s one over on Hampton blvd down near 38th street.” I slump back against the seat trying to get my anger under control.

“Okay, you’re the boss.” as Jack heads down to 38th street and then turns right onto Hampton Blvd.

I just sit back and watch as Jack drives through the neighborhood and down 38th street at the renovations being done to some of the old apartment buildings on the street.

“Looks like they are redoing this street to their grand design.” as Ajax speech breaks the silence in the blazer.

“Yep, Norfolk is trying to redo some of its old neighborhoods, so they can bring in higher-income families, instead of the low-income families that were living here.”

“I heard something about that. From what I heard they want to bring in a major NFL team. That’s not a bad idea. It would be nice to finally have something else to bring income to this area, instead of the Military. Remember what happens when Desert Storm started? This town dried up.” as Ajax looks at me from the front seat.

“I was living in California at the time Ajax. I didn’t move back to the East coast until my father’s death. Desert Storm didn’t affect us as badly as it does you guys here. Still, I don’t like the idea of what Norfolk is doing or why either. It’s going to put a lot of low-income families out in the streets or move them far away from here.”

“Sorry, to interrupt you two, but are we going in or going through the drive-thru?” Jack looks towards me.

“Are you guys hungry?” I look back at him and Ajax.

“Nope, your husband made us a huge sub when you were asleep,” Jack speaks up.

“Well, that settles that question then. Through the drive-thru then.” I watch as Jack gets in line to place the order.

I look out the front window and see that there are four cars ahead of us in line.

“What did you agree to buy Gerd, Vicky?” as Jack looks in the rearview mirror towards me.

“A bucket of extra crispy chicken with side items and a 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew which we can get at the 7-11 near him.” I reach into my purse and pull out a twenty-dollar bill.

“Here you go Jack.” as I lean forward towards Jack with the twenty in my hand.

Jack reaches back and takes it from me as he moves forward in line. I sit back in my seat and listen to the music as it plays as we wait in line. A smile comes to my face as the next song starts playing. It’s Warren Zevon’s Were-Wolf of London song. Ajax gives a little moan as I and Jack start singing along with the lyrics of the song.

“He's the hairy, hairy gent, who ran amok in Kent. Lately, he's been overheard in Mayfair. “You better stay away from him, he'll rip your lungs out, Jim. Huh, I'd like to meet his tailor.”
“Aaahoo, werewolves of London”
“Aaahoo, werewolves of London”

Jack and I start laughing as we pull up to the speaker. Jack reaches forward and turns the radio down.

“Welcome to Kentucky Fried Chicken, How may I help you?” as a female voice comes over the intercom.

“Yes, I would like a 20 piece, extra crispy family bucket.”

“What sides would you like with that?”

Jack turns around to look at me “What sides do you want to get him?”

“Mmmm!!, How about a large mash potato with gravy and string beans.”

“Okay.” Jack turns back around.

“Give me a large order of mash potatoes with gravy and a large order of string beans as well.”

“That’s one family bucket, extra crispy with a large side order of mash potatoes with gravy and string beans. Would you care for anything to drink?”

“Nope, that’s all. Thank you”

“Your total comes to $18.75, please drive around to the window.”

“Thank you.” Jack drives the blazer around towards the side of the building where a young girl with short purple hair and lightly tanned skin turns to greet us.

“That’ll be $ 18.75, sir.” She looks at Jack with a smile on her face that I have seen time and time again. It’s that type of effect that Jack has on weak-willed young women.

“Umm, Jack” as I try to get his attention.

Jack hands her the twenty dollars and she hands him the order we brought. Afterward, the young girl hands him the change. Jack hands me the food and the change.

“See you later.” Jack rolls his window back up and then turns left onto Hampton Blvd.

“You know Jack. We are going to have to do something about the effects you have on young weak-willed women. Because it has already gotten you into trouble more than once already.” as I open the bag up that has the side dishes and check them.

“What? Are you getting jealous or protective of me now?” Jack looks in the mirror and wiggles his eye’s brows at me after I looked up towards him at that statement.

“No, I’m not jealous. I’m just asking you to behave yourself that’s all. Now I want you to stop at that Seven-Eleven down on the corner of Redgate ave and Orpax street.” as I double-check the change in my hand.

“Okay, One Seven-Eleven coming up.” Jack continues to head up Hampton blvd towards Redgate ave.

Jack turns right onto Redgate ave and heads up to the corner of Orpax. We turn into the driveway of the seven-eleven.

“Do you guys want to come in with me or sit out here in the blazer?” I look at Ajax and Jack.

“I’m going in.” as Jack starts unbuckling his seat belt.

“How about you Ajax?” I turn my head towards him.

“I could use a beer.” as Ajax starts unbuckling his seat belt as well.

I get out of the blazer first follow by Jack and Ajax. As we enter the store one of the young male employees at the cash register looks at us as we enter. I’ve never seen him before. Still, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been with the company for a while. He has short black hair and stands a little shorter than me. He’s not very physical looking, kind on the skinny side. His partner on the other hand is much older than me and has some gray in his hair and is of African/American descent.

“How are you doing, Thomas?” as I walk up to the counter.

“Not bad Vicky. How about you?” He gives me one of his wonderful smiles.

“Oh, I’m all right.” as he puts a new paper roll in the cash register.

I stand there and watch as Thomas refills the receipt roll. Ajax walks over towards the beer section where a gentleman I know is standing as well. He hasn’t noticed me, but as soon as Ajax gets close to him, he turns around and looks at him. Ajax stops in his tracks as both of them stare at each other.

Neither man backs down from the other. I notice Jack over near the soda fountain watching the power struggle going on between Ajax and the man in front of him. I walk over towards both of them and get in between them.

As I stand there between them “this isn’t the place or time for this crap guys. So let it go for now. You two can find out later which of you too is the more dominant.”

The guy I know looks at me “I’ll back down for now Vicky, but you better control your pack members better.” as I feel his power reel in.

“Thank you, Otto.” as I turn my attention to Ajax.

“And now you!” as I start to feel his power reel itself in as well.

Otto walks over towards the next aisle that is closest to us and stands there and watches as Ajax walks around me and gets a 40 oz. Budweiser out of the beer cabinet.

As Otto is watching Ajax “what brings you down in this neck of the woods as this time of night, Vicky? Normally I don’t see anything from you or even pick your scent up unless you’re in here during the morning time getting your coffee.”

“If you must know Otto, I’m getting a 2 liter of hill billy piss water for a friend of mine.” as I grab a bottle of Mountain Dew from the shelf in front of me.

Otto just looks at me as he squints his eyes and tries to peer into my own eye’s so he can look into my mind.

I just stare right back at him letting my eyes bleed to their wolf state and let a low growl escapes my lips towards him.

“If I were you I would stop doing that unless you want me to take it as a challenge.” my upper lip quivers with the growl. I shove a little bit of my power at him.

Otto stops what he is doing when he feels my power. Otto may be big and strong, but he isn’t in the same class as I am in power. Otto is a Bengal Tiger in his were form, but he doesn’t have the power I do. One day he might, but until then he doesn’t.

He continues to look at me as I watch his eyes bleed to their tiger form. I don’t even hear or see Jack as he steps up beside Otto.

“If I was you, tiger man, I would give up now. You’re outclassed and outnumber right now. Plus, do you want to bring the anger of her husband down on you?” Jack whispers this only to Otto.

Otto breaks contact with me and looks at Jack. He can’t believe that Jack got as close as he did without him detecting him.

“I still want to know why you guys are here. I know for a fact that you guys don’t normally come down to this part of town unless there’s trouble.”

“It’s like Vicky told you, Otto. We’re here getting a 2 liter of soda for a friend of hers that works nearby. That’s all, I swear.”

Otto looks at Jack, and then at me and Ajax standing close to me. “If you say so, Jack.” Otto eye’s turn back to their human ones.

While all of this was going on, one of the store's employees had gone to the back storage area and the other one had gone to the office to get something from the office. So, they never witness what was going on between us and Otto.

“Look, Otto, it’s nothing I can go over with you here and it doesn’t involve your clan. All I can say is it’s a private matter between me and a client.” as I look at him.

He still gives me a skeptical look, but after he sees I’m not lying “fine, but if it crosses over towards my pard. You better tell the Regent, so he won’t think you are trespassing in our territory.”

“Fine, I’ll make sure your Ardri knows what is going on, should my investigation cross over towards your territory.” as I stand there feeling a little exhausted from dealing with him.

Otto heads over towards the counter and the employee that had been in the office comes out and checks him out. I, Jack, and Ajax just stand there and watch as Otto finishes up his transaction and leaves the store.

“Come on guys let’s go.” as the three of us head over towards the counter as well and place our respected items on the counter.

The clerk looks at me and the two-gentleman standing next to me. He begins to ring up our items and afterward he bags everything up for us.

“That will be $10.56" as he looks at me. I hand him a twenty-dollar bill. He hands me back my change.

“Have a nice night Ms.” he watches as I pick up the bags and head out the doors towards Jack’s Blazer and get in.

“Where to now?” as Jack climbs into the driver seat and I climb into the back of the blazer.

“To the morgue, my dear man, to the morgue.” as I say this in a joking tone of voice.

Jack just looks at me in the rearview mirror.

“Oh, you want to know how to get there. Take Redgate ave. over to Colley ave. and go straight up. It’s the health building right there on Colley and Brambleton ave.”

“Okay.” Jack backs the blazer out of the parking spot and does a u-turn around the island separating Redgate ave.

The ride over towards the morgue is uneventful as I watch as the building and the back part of Sentra Norfolk General Hospital pass by us. Eastern Virginia Medical school sign flashes by us as we turn on to Colley ave. You can tell that some of the doctors and students are still having classes this late at night.

“Did you hear that Kelly has gone back to school, Vicky?” as Ajax’s voice breaks the silence of the blazer.

“No, I didn’t hear about that. What classes is she taking?”

“She’s taking nursing and her teacher is a vampire,” he says in a sarcastic tone.

“Oh, I bet she is enjoying that. Didn’t Kelly use to date a vampire that was like the second or third in command of a city?”

“Yep!, her last lover was the second in command of Elizabeth city. He was pretty cool for a vampire. I came to like him, just before their break-up.”

“Why did they break up? Kelly never did say.” as I think back to the conversion I had with Kelly after the breakup.

“It was because he had sex with another were and didn’t tell her about it. Normally, she doesn’t mind, but this other woman was a total knockout. She could have been one of the leading Hollywood models of all times if not for her habits.”

“What habits does she have that would get her band from Hollywood?”

“She’s a ruthless killer. She killed several women that were trying to take her place at the modeling agency she worked at. One woman survived her attack and became a was. She then informed the police on who attacked her.”

“Why didn’t they arrest her?”

“Because the chief of police uses to be a close friend of hers and told her she better get out of town right away if she wanted to live. He also told her that if she wanted to stay alive that she better make friends with some powerful vampires. Because the woman she turned into a werewolf was the daughter of the local mob boss in Hollywood.”

“So, you’re saying she purposely seduce the second in command of Elizabeth city to get his protection?”

“Well not exactly like that, but you get the idea. The one thing she didn’t count on was he made her his human pet. Now she is linked to him, which is something Kelly didn’t want to do.”

“Oh, this gets better and better.” as I watch as we stop at the stoplight on the corner of Colley and Brambleton ave.

“Is that the building we are going to Vicky?” Jack points towards a tan square shape building with a huge parking lot in front of it with a single black car parked in front.

“Yep, the very one. There’s Gerd’s black VW fox parked right there in front.”

Jack drives across Brambleton ave and up Colley ave and pulls into the parking lot and heads over towards Gerd’s car to park next to it.

“Do you want us to come inside with you or stay out here?” Jack turns around in his seat to look at me.

“It’s up to you two. All I’m going to do is go inside and take a few pictures of the men that were found dead down from the graveyard.” as I grab the Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket and soda as well.

Jack looks over towards Ajax “do you want to go in with her or stay out here?”

“I’ll stay out here. Morgues have never been my cup of tea.” as Ajax looks towards me.

“Fine with me.” I open the blazers door and get out.

“I’ll see you guys in a little while.” as I walk towards the main entrance and head inside the building.