Haze shook her head at what seemed foolish of her. 'Course Goddesses have the power to control themselves not being werewolfs... Still, she had heard at the fight that Grace normally locked herself up and tore furniture apart instead. Furniture was harder to rip than skin, and this made Haze shudder. Her skin, in particular, was easy to tear. She was normally always cutting herself one way or another. Well, she did work at a bar where there was always a broken glass to clean up...

She nodded slowly, and took her seat back next to Grace, a bit on edge. She trusted her enough to stick around, but she was still a bit fearful, but her curiosity overcame her more than fear or trust could have.

"Your kittens name is...?"

She smiled, and stroked the purring cat once more, and gazed down the beach just past them both. The dark figures were still there. A fight, perhaps? A drug deal? Who was out at this time of night? Haze let her eyes wander the rest of the landscape, and spotted no one. Wait... No. There is a man... She nodded, and figured he was likely thinking, and the way he held his head in his hands seemed to display that. Maybe he is troubled. She shrugged it off, and let her eyes stare off back at the other two dark figure, not so much as to watch them, but more in a way that her eyes last rested on them before she lost herself to her own thoughts.

Zesiro cocked a groomed eyebrow at the small dragon.

"You mortals chose strange pets..."

He comments, not very seasoned on the idea of a familiar. He brushed the last grain of sand from his shirt and nodded slightly.

"Well... hello. I suppose you're looking to tell your friends you met a real vampire, hmm? You're not from one of those fan clubs are you? I don't give autographs..."

He had reasons for saying this. On more than one occasion he had people come up to him and ask for an autograph from a vampire. He suppposed that, even without showing fangs, those Anne Rice diehards labelled him as an obvious target. At least when he did not bother with make-up. Although he got a kick from telling people he knew the vampire Lestat personally...

Nature was so much more beautiful at night. When the sea was bathed in moonlight and the stars were reflected doubling their beauty it was hard to top with anything else. The moon was full, it didn’t bother Grace, she had learned how to get over the transformations, well, after becoming a deity. She still got edgy around the full moon often seeming like it was ‘her time of the month’ as many annoying men have said it.

Her pale blond hair seemed to shine like silver and the stars themselves were reflected in her violet eyes. It was a beautiful night. Her lips were curled into a small smile, only briefly revealing her larger-then-normal-but-not-quite-vampire-sized canines. She glanced down at the kitten that was laying on her chest, it's tiny chest rising and falling with every breath. At first the idea of having something living depend on her was a bit of a shock, but she had taken a liking to the fragile little kitten that had arived at her house, looking like it had seen some better days. She was still not sure what had led the kitten there, but she didn't really care. Supporting herself on her arms she lifted herself into a sitting position beofre gently lifting the kitten up and to draw her knees closer to her chest to lay the small felin on. She hugged it lightly, more for her own comfort then the kittens.

It was times like these when she felt the emptiness, when she remembered all of her losses and none of her gains. Shaking her head slowly she let out a slow drawn-out sigh.

"No, no, no... this is not right... not right at all..."

Zesiro mumbled under his breath. He was looking at something in his left hand. A sea shell. A simple, white sea shell. Rather small and fan-shaped. He lifted his right hand. There was the shell, nearly a duplicate, except this one was pink tinged on the under side. It would not seem like such a problem, but it was for Zesiro. A travesty. An absolute disaster.

He plopped onto the sand without a shred of grace. He lifted a thin fore-finger and drew a circle in the soft sand. Into this marking he tossed the white shell following it up with an identical circle and placing the pink shell in there.

"Wait.. no, no, not another one!"

He moaned and lunged forward. It was spiralled. And.. brown.. and pink. Yet another circle joined the first pair and into the curved line dropped the shell.

He paid no mind to the sand being kicked and thrown over his pants. They were black and baggy, ripped up and down by silver zippers. Over these he wore a tight, black shirt with long sleeves and no collar. He had donned his spiked collar again, and complimented it with spiked bracelets. His blue glasses were perched on the very end of his pointed nose.

He did not notice anything else. A truck with "Free Blood" painted on it could have pulled up and he would not have batted an eyelash. This was because of the shells. There were so many. They flew through his hands in rapid succssion, being exammined and classified with frantic speed. Brown, fan, pink, spiral, spiked, brown, pink, white, pink, pale blue, spiral...

Sand flew up in small clouds and he wormed crazy paths along the banks of the water, making circles and putting new kinds of shells in each one without stopping.

It was such a magnificant night...

The fall wind played with the loose strands of his dusty brown hair, it being tied at the back of his head neatly with a thin navy blue ribbon he had found in his junk cabnet a couple of days ago. His ageing trench coat he wraped tightly around his body, the zipper still broken. He rested on a poorly placed bench, a book closed in his lap, as he sat, watching the glimmering water lap onto the shore.

Why had he gone out anyway at this time of night? Oh yeah, to think...

He had been doing that more often; Thinking. It wasnt logical thinking, but more like going over his emotions (the horrid things), since the've been slowly growing as time past. He wondered what Celeste had gone off to, since he hadn't seen her since they skipped worked toghter. It was kind of depressing not ever seeing her when they both worked in the same mall. Maybe she had finaly gotten a better profession than that dead end job she had before. He hasn't seen Az in a wile either, actuly.... Though that might be good.

And Grace... He had saw grace wiel talking to that innish boy wile on Elm street. Perhaps actuly seeing her had been worse than wondering where she was. First of all, she had developed physicaly into an atractive young woman. No surprise there, but it was how she seemed like a different person just becasue of her new apperance. Secondly, she wasnt in the best condition when he had found her. A swolen neck and a black eye wasn't excatuly asuring for Abbalon.

He sighed and rested his forhead in the palm of his hand, shunning the beauty of the nature before him.
Why was the world taunting him so by acting as if everything was just fine?

Hidden by shadow near the back of the beach stands a solitary figure. A man wearing a long black leather trench coat with the high collar and silver/black onyx buttons. He is also wearing the black leather driving gloves, a pair of black pants similar to the ones he wore a few weeks ago in Faded. His eyes are covered by the same mirrored blue sunglasses. This time he is wearing Black leather boots that buckle on the outside. These are mostly hidden by the flared pants.

He watches Zesiro quite intently. He is far too preoccupied so Dominik moves out of the shadows a little to reveal a very focused look on his face. This night was taking an interesting turn indeed. It had started with a late night walk through the city. Then he saw Zesiro making his way to the waterfront so Dom followed him. He couldn't explain why but this vampire interested him greatly. To be honest all vampires interested him but this one seemed different somehow. One day perhaps they would meet... hopefully under good circumstances.

A smile crossed his lips as Zesiro flew around the beech collecting and sorting his shells. It was more than a little funny to watch a vampire play in the sand.

Tai perched on Dom's shoulder. She happily chewed on Dom's hair, getting her claws tangled within it. She looked up at the vampire, for a second before resuming her hair eating.

*You know if you stare at him too long he might grow a tail... Scratch that... But he might make you a snack... and then who would feed me?*

His smile faded a bit. "would you stop eating my hair? I can't imagine it tastes very good and I work hard to maintain it." As he said this he reached into his pocket and pulled out an apple which he held up for her to take. "As for Zesiro, I doubt he has any interest in feeding on me unless I piss him off. And if I'm wrong you don't have to worry about being fed. When your summoner dies you cease to exist." In the back of his mind he was hoping he was correct.

Something in his mind was telling him to go over and talk to him. He debated it for a moment and concluded that He wanted to talk to him. He gathered his magic together just in case, allowing it to flow through him, ready for any suprises. He also calmed his mind, drawing all his thoughts up and closed them off to all except Tai. He had read that some vampires could read minds and didn't want to take any chances.

As ready as he could be, Dominik cutiously and quietly moved further out of the shadows. Heading in Zesiro's general direction. "Stay calm love, we're going to visit him so stay alert but whatever you do, don't act frightened." He said this as much to Tai as to himself. The last thing he needed to deal with was a frightened familiar since it would most likely filter through her thoughts into him and he was frightened enough.

Tai untangled herself before snatching the apple from Dom.

*If you go... I go... We both go...*

Tai had been watching Dom's collection of movies ever since she learned about the dvd player and the VCR... She love to quote. That last little number came from 'Backdraft', a personal favourite of her's.

She happily took a bite from the apple as she watched Dom act like a complete idiot. It always amused her...

"You litte bugger!"

Zesiro snatched a shell.

"Trying to hide from me, well I saw you in that dune. Let's see now, let's see now... blue... oooh and spiral.. You'll go over here."

He placed the shell with three counterparts in the "blue-spiral" ring. He looked very self-satisifed, unable to find a shell for yards. Collectively, he had gathered three dozen in his five separate rings. He finally became aware that he had sand in every fold of his clothing.

"Goodness.. what a frightful mess."

He was in a good mood, and rose to his feet. His hands beat away the sand and cleaned his black clothing.

A shiver shot through his lean frame. Someone coming close. Somethings.

He turned and fixed Dominik with a steady emerald gaze broken on the bottom by reflective blue lenses. Both his hands rested beneath his thin hips, unmoving, his luminiscent skin making him an easy thing to see on the broad beach. Zesiro said nothing, remaining tense, allowing this stranger to speak first.

As he drew near he saw that Zesiro had noticed him and now stood waiting. Any fear he had felt moments ago disipated to be replaced by extreme curiosity. He stopped several paces away, just for safety sake. He may not be afraid but that was no reason to be foolish. He smiled at that thought. What he was doing WAS foolish to begin with. No one in their right mind walks up to a vampire, especially when they know he is one to begin with.

I suppose it's too late to turn back now. Not that it matters, I have absolutely no intention of doing so.

Dominik was alert as he studied Zesiro noting that he was covered in sand making him smile a little more. He waited a moment and then decided it was up to him to speak first. After all, it was he who had approached Zesiro, not the other way around. In his usual soft, calm, ethereal voice he made his greeting. "Good evening Zesiro, a fine night isn't it." The smile was still on his lips, confident and slightly amused. He specifically used his name, hoping it would help the situation a little and show that he was well aware of who he was talking to.

Overall he was pleased. He had the element of suprise and mystery working in his favor. The vampire didn't know his name, he was impecably dressed while Zesiro was covered in sand and he seemingly came from nowhere. The only thing that bothered him was that he looked like a helpless mortal. True, he was mortal and probably weaker than the vampire in front of him but he was far from helpless. This would of course make him less imposing and hopefully set things at ease but he would have to work harder to be taken seriously.

Haze was drunk. She had just come from work and there had been a "Welcome to the Team" party. She was a lightweight drinker too, for she had only had a few drinks, none with any hard liquors. She called someone a fish. Right now, she had sobered up considerably, but she definatly wouldn't pass the walk in a straight line test. She was walking towards Grace, who Haze had spotted earlier, and she made her way closer. She weaved a bit, and stumbled once, but sat down next to Grace and smiled.

"Nice night, eh? Good to see you again. You any better since the fight? Oh... What a cute kitten!"

Haze patted the kitten, and quickly forgot about her last question, for she already knew the answer. The fight had been weeks ago, and Guilty Pleasures was almost done with all the repairs. Another week, and she could go back to her favorite job there. Haze looked out across the ocean and noted the full moon.

Nothing sobered anyone up faster than fear. Within a heartbeat, Haze was thinking clear and all the alcohol in her blood seemed to dissipate. She stared wide eyed at Grace, and stood up.

"Grace... It is the full moon... Are you going to like... Turn into a werewolf and kill me?"

She blinked and looked down th beach, thinking of some escape route. Her eyes caught the Warf, and she thought there might be a boat. No boat. She looked down the beach again, and spotted two dark shapes, one a bit more luminescent than the other. She figured she could run to them if anything bad would happen with Grace.

Abbalon looked through a crack in his fingers, receving an instinctful felling he should be more aware of his sroundings.

Two strange fellows off at his far left both dreesed in night colors, though one was a tad messier than the other. And to his far right, two young ladies.. though it was impossable to tell who they were from his position.

He closed his eyes and shook his head in pitty of himself, before opening his book and begining to read. It was best to be a bit anti-social for now...

Zesiro bristled like a dog around a stranger. His glassy nails which ended in points curled inward toward his palms. His upper lip curled, his two ivory fangs sliding down and glinting in the soft moonlight.

"How do you know my name, mortal?"

He breathed, not facing Dominik entirely. He kept his body turned more to the side, rather choosing to twist his head to see Dominik than to turn entirely and present an open target. A slayer certainly did not need too easy an aim.

"It would be a finer night if I knew your name and purpose."

He followed in response to the last half of Dominik's greeting. He was tense again, almost rigid, his skin making him appear like a marble statue on the sand. Indeed he even looked that hard and impossible to move. Whether intentionally or not, a hiss slid from between his pale lips. A thought hit him and before Zesiro blinked again, he strengthened the mental shield over his thoughts.

His smile faded a little, most of the amusement now gone. He found the entire experience exciting. It was more of a game to him 'keep the big powerful vampire from getting angry and attacking you'. He figured the safest bet was to give the vampire what he desired so without any hesitation he continued.

"For the first I am Dominik, we sort of met Friday night at Faded, and this is Tai." He indicated the little pseudo dragon. "As for my purpose, I have none. I am not a slayer if that's what you think. I was just out for a late night stroll and saw you over here so I came to say hi." This last part wasn't entirely true but he didn't want to say he had followed him.

Things seemed to be going rather well. At least he was still alive which was a start. Subconciously he could feel his magic begin to burn inside him in response to something he couldn't explain.

Perhaps my magic desires a release. Or maybe it is naturally responding to Zesiro's presence. If that's what it's doing then it must interpret him as a threat which isn't good. On the other hand at least I know it will come on it's own when I'm in danger. I wonder if the vampire can sense magic...

The last thing he needed now was for his magic to accidentally flare out. He reined it in a little and held it in check. For the moment he would not need it and with luck he would not have to call on it at all tonight.

”Hn?” Grace glanced at the approaching figure. Oh it was Haze! She looked a bit… umm.. Disheveled, well, Grace could smell the alcohol on her, the girl was drunk. Well, at least she noticed that she had a cute kitten…

”Yeah, her name is...” she got cut off by Haze’s abrupt question. Her lips curled into a faint bitter smile. Ah, yes, beautiful virgin white disc in the sky known as the full moon.

”Don’t look so scared Haze…” the smile may have happened reveal her canines, “I have NEVER attacked or killed anyone before, and ‘sides I haven’t changed in a while, not since Amor… uh.” She was searching for the right words… “ left”

Tai looked up from her apple, towards this vampire. Then she turned her head towards Dom.

*Did you hear what he called me... Pet?! Bite him! I don't like him.*

She fixed her stare on Dom for a second. Then looked at Zesiro, hissing loudly, before focusing her attention back to the apple.

Dominik couldn't help but smile. An autograph? What does he take me for...

"No, I don't want your autograph and meeting you so I can tell all my friends would be pointless since you're looking at my only one." He made a slight gesture towards Tai. "She is not my pet, she is my familiar and she was mildly insulted by your comment. She asked me to bite you... What a concept, me biting a vampire." His smile became softer, more kind and disarming.

He turned away for a moment and looked down the beach, thinking about what to say next. He caught sight of two figures on a pier a fair ways down and wondered what they were up to.

"I came here bacause, to be honest, I like you. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I've never talked to a vampire before, come across them frequently but never talked to one." He said as he turned his attention back to Zesiro.

He shrugged, the smile now gone from his face. "You seem different from the others, not as..." he stopped, at a loss for words. He let it end there, waiting for Zesiro to speak. I Wonder if he has figured out who this stranger with a dragon is. It would seem he hasn't, assuming I was from a 'fan club'... but then again, he could just be pretending. What advantage could that possibly give him?

”I call her Moose, her name is actually Melpomene, but most people think that’s a bit of a mouthful, AND most people don’t know who she is named after…” Grace shook her head, barely repressing a laugh as she saw Haze’s eyes travel over to the shadowy figures of the men. Her nostrils flares as she sniffed the air, great, DEAD.

She let out a sigh.

”Oh great, it’s DeadBoy, looks like he has a new victim,” she shook her head slightly “I hope he doesn’t want to fight, again, I’m not in the mood today.”

He gives Tai a little frown, more in regards to the hiss. He wrinkle dhis nose and looked back at Dominik.

"It's an interesting choice for a familiar, then."

He smirked so his fangs gleamed.

"You can bite me if you like, but I'm known to bite back. And mine is infintely more unpleasant than yours, I think, mortal..."

He chuckled. Bit of vampire humor there. He slid his blue lensed glasses onto his spiked head and blinked a little at Dominik.

"Like me, hmm? Interesting notion, but I've got no problems with it."

He hooked his thumbs in his empty belt loops, rocking on his shoes somewhat.

"I'm what? How am I different?"

He tiled his head curiously, mumbling.

"I don't even know many of the vampires in this city. I don't think I want to. But it can't hurt to know..."

Haze smiled, and patted Moose again. The kitten was cute, but when Grace spoke of 'Not knowing who she was', Haze felt a bit odd. That could leave it to be anything. She shrugged it off, but took her hand from the kitten a last time. She was smiling, but froze at Graces next words. Dead boy? Zesiro? She eyed the beach more carefully, and, sure enough, it was Zesiro. She tensed, and carefully looked over the person he was with. It was a guy, which made her feel more comfortable, but they didn't seem to look like Victum and Killer, more like two people in conversation. His brother, maybe? No... Then they would both have that pale, luminescent, deathlike skin.

"No... You guys won't fight again. I have a feeling... Just... Don't do anything to provoke him, and I doubt there will be trouble."

She didn't want to seem obvious in the fact that she had discussed this over with Zesiro a few weeks back, on the night of the second fight of Grace and Zesiro. She looked down at the sand and traced lines in it, none of them looking anything near coherant, and not meaning to. Haze was feeling a bit tensed. She didn't want to say anything about what she had done with Zesiro, but she didn't want to pretend he didn't exist either, especially if he came up to them

”So, if I don’t insult the person who has started the last two fights, after being unprovoked by me, he WON’T decide to try and ‘wipe the werewolf scum from the earth’?” there was more then a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Her hands reached over for her kitten, who was looking up at her with one pale blue eye wide open, mewing sleepily. Her finger tips traced lines in her fur, smiling at her sleepy.

”Go back to sleep Moosey.” Grace dug her black painted toenails under the sand, with the rest of her feet.

”And, you go this feeling how?” Her pierced eyebrow was raised, watching her every movement intently, not because it would HELP or anything, but more because it scared some people into telling her what she wanted to, she was pretty sure that this wouldn’t help her get her what she wanted to know out of Haze, but it was always fun.

"Choice? There is no choice involved. The familiar you get tends to represent your personality. While this one may in body, her personality is another story." Dom looked past Zesiro to the water's edge only a few feet away.

As he spoke he proceeded to walk towards the water, eventually coming to rest just above where the waves were the highest. "I don't intend to 'bite' you. First of all it's not my style and second of all... why should I?" He glanced over his shoulder before returning his gaze to the deep calm of the water.

What will he do with my back to him? A dangerous test but an accurate one. Maybe not that dangerous, had he intended to kill me I would probably be dead by now.

"As for how you are different, I already told you, I don't know. It's just a feeling I get. But if I figure it out I'll be sure to let you know. Why should you have a problem with being liked?"

The moon was full and beautiful, the light playing off the water soothingly. Thin whisps of clouds occasionally drifted over the moon, concealing it behind a ghostly haze.

It's his move, I wonder how this will play out. At least he seems to be in a good mood.

Why do I feel like I'm in some weird movie?

Haze felt like she was in a pickle, but tried to play her way out of it. This wasn't the Goddess of Everything, she was only the Goddess of Love and Lust... Which could be equally bad considering Hazes situation. Then again, Grace didn't know who loved who or whatever, so then again, she was safe.

"Well... I mean, all the times he has... er... Attacked you, he has failed. He is probally tired of losing, and anyway, I saw him and his brother having a talk at Faded. Seems you showed Odion too? Enough said... My feeling is just... A feeling of... Like, common sense."

Haze wished this were all true and that she wasn't covering for herself. Then again... She would rather cover for herself and keep Grace and Zesiro rather than lose them both in a huge fight that might escalate...

Zesiro nodded although such things were not his forte in learning nor his interest. He did not follow Dominik's gaze, but kept his eyes on the other young man. As Dominik moved, though, he turned to follow the man's path until his glassy green eyes focused into his shoulder blades.

"I would have no idea, why, mortal. As for your style, not knowing you for any length of time, I also could not attest to what may or may not be your style."

He faced Dominik fully with a small smile.

"There is nothing wrong with being liked... but my three hundred and more years on this Earth has taught me not to trust anyone to simply "liking" you. Many people just "like" to hurt you too."

Zesiro rather distinguishedly folded his hands behind his back. He took a deep breath of the night air and looked upward to the ivory moon.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?"

She grinned shaking her head, her fingers still tracing small patterns down the kittens back. Haze was really a bit to trusting wasn’t she? Wiggling her feet a bit more under the sand she let her gaze wander from the men back to the full moon.

”You DO know that, last time the fact of being beaten didn’t discourage him from attacking again? Or his brother from attacking me? They have quite a violent family if I do say so myself….”

She let out a bitter laugh, remembering the three different fights. She was a regular trouble starter wasn’t she? She lowered her gaze from the moon to the reflection in the slowly churning waves. Was this what her mother had seen before her death? Did her feral eyes gaze up at the moon and curse it? Did she curse it, did she hate the moon, or did she watch it with longing as her soul left her body? She closed her eyes, her hands moving to her necklace to tug at a ring attached.

Never taking his eyes from the serene calm before him he responded. "It certainly is. You are correct in what you say and I agree. You would be a fool to trust me so soon and you don't appear to be a fool. I certainly don't trust you but I don't trust anyone without a damn good reason.

Dominik looked up at the moon for a moment before turning back to Zesiro. His expression was cold, the smile that was there a moment before gone now. "I only hurt those who have given me just cause in doing so."

He paused for a moment, letting his words linger in the air a moment before he spoke again. "I realize you have seen more than I have or ever am likely to. But don't for a second assume I'm just another one of those silly, ignorant mortals." His voice had a slight edge to it. Not so much angry as serious.

Having said that his expression softened a little. It was proving very difficult to be taken seriously but what could he do? He was after all mortal, there was no denying that.

Haze smiled, and nodded while gazing at the moon. She suspected something about the family to be violent, but it didn't really bother her. She wasn't a target. She looked back down the beach, wondering if they were going to come closer or head off in the other direction. She spoke to Grace, eyes still locked on the two dark figures.

"You see, if I were him, I would give up. That gash you gave him... That made me cringe. And all that blood..."

She shuddered. The night flashed before her eyes. Rain, cold, wet.... Fire in the club, swarms of people heading out. Her head hurt. She had been enthralled by what seemed like a murderer, and now she was confused cause she couldn't find Grace. She ran outside, soaked, Vampire standing over Grace, then he attacked first. Cut on the arm, near the old cut. Then Grace attacked, gash across the chest... The puddles were taken from silver to metalic red in the streetlight. The barrier, the exhiliration, then... The retreat after Grace being choked against a wall. Then the motel... Nooo... Don't think about the motel.

"I wouldn't fight you again if I were him..."

"Never trust anyone. Full trusting is like giving over your soul. One day, some day, it will be broken."

Zesiro sounded very philosophical as he said this. He watched Dominik, his lips curling back over his fangs. He bagan to laugh slowly, soft at first and then louder. his limber body mvoed with his laughing, which rung out across the beach.

"Very good, mortal, very good. Oh no, I would never assume something about a person I did not know. You don't really strike me as a normal mortal in any case. A subtle difference... like a change in the desert sands. Very intricate.. almost invisible unless you'd treaded that land before."

He breathed in deeply once more, his eyes misting over. Oh how he longed for Egypt sometimes. He had spent his first one hundred and fifty years there, not with the mortals but out in the wilds. He slept in the Earth itself, then, not the coffin he returned to each night. It had been him and Odion... and it had been paradise. Even after their sire left them, their mourning was short lived as they exercised the new powers in the land they both loved. Ah, but he was losing his train of thought.

"You said your name was Dominik? Do you live around here, Dominik?"

Tai finished the apple, core and all and started listening to the conversation. It was boring to the little pseudo dragon and she yawned in reponse.

*I go swim... Human talk boring... Call me if we go home*

With that the little dragon sprang off Dom's shoulder and scuttled into the water before Dom could say anything against her leaving.

Dom turned to watch Tai scuttle into the water. She was entertaining to be sure. Then he turned back to Zesiro. "That is my name but I don't live around here. I have a place just outside of the city."

He didn't know what to say next so he just waited for Zesiro to speak. He glanced down the beach to see the two figures talking. The moon illuminated them well so he looked carefully... one of them looked familiar.

"Outside the city..."

Zesiro nodded slowly, thoughtfully. Relatively far frm his own dwelling place. He watched as he traced a few squiggly and pointless shapes in the sand. The something caught his eye. The water rushing around Tai had created a slip in the sand. Something pale was shining up. Something that looked remarkably like a...

"Shell!"

Zesiro exclaimed suddenly. he bolted forward so quickly he appeared not to have moved, but teleported. He bent down and scooped up the spiraled sea treasure.

"How could I have missed you?"

He mumbled to the shell. He returned to the rings and added his latest find to the appropriate lot. He was crouching, and craned his head up and over to see Dominik.

"Who are those people?"

He was concentrating too hard on his shells to even try and discern the identities of those further down the beach.

”Yeah, but he’s not a very bright one,” that was lie, kinda, well SHE didn’t think HE was very smart, so he COULD be an idiot, or a genius, either way she would think he was stupid. Very slowly she set her cat down on the ground who mewed and looked up with one sleepy eye before closing it and falling asleep.

She lifted her gaze from the reflection of the moon and glanced over at the two men.

”Well, it doesn’t LOOK like he’s tried to eat him yet, I guess that’s good.” She continued glancing around, her eyes falling on a figure she hadn’t noticed before… It was sitting, seemingly hunched over, maybe deep in thought, or reading, it seemed familiar, she couldn’t tell how though, shaking her head sadly, she gave up on trying to guess who it was and looked up at Haze.

Haze shook her head. She wanted to tell Grace that she knew a lot more about Zesiro... In a good mood than Grace did, but then again, she was hiding the fact that she knew him at all. At least for the moment. She also realized she knew very little about him at all. They hadn't spoken much, for Haze had fallen asleep. Then again, it might be for the better, even if Haze had been completely happy for one night of her life. Danger wasn't something she aspired to finding, then again, it was the only thing she managed to find and the only thing that kept her thrilled, so a big catch twenty-two.

Haze looked to the two figures, and studied them more carefully. The one she figured was Zesiro ran to the sea, scooped up something and put it down. She found this, odd, to say the least. She spoke to Grace quietly, watching the two figures with an intentive gaze.

"I don't think that is his prey... But what is he doing? Making sandcastles or something?"

She giggled at this idea. A full grown vampire making sandcastles in the presance of others. That seemed so absured.

"Yes, outside the ci..." Dominik's words were cut short when he saw Zesiro go after the renegade shell. He watched in idle fascination as he placed the shell in the appropriate circle.

Following his gaze down the beach Dom's eyes came to rest on the two figures he had seen earlier. He thought for a moment and just when he was about to give up on identifying them the moon slid out from behind a particularly heavy cloud.

The scene was illuminated with a pale silvery light and he could vaguely make out who they were. The first he didn't recognise but the second looked familiar. It took a moment of searching his memory and then he realised who it looked like.

"Is that Haze? No... why would she be here?"

He smiled Why would any of us be here? A vampire on the beach playing in the sand and we won't even start with me although I have my reasons for being here. Um... well, sorta anyway. None the less the coincidence is amusing if I'm correct.

He looked back at Zesiro questioningly. "You'd know better than I would if it's her."

Zesiro looked up, nouncing slightly on his bent knees.

"Errum..."

He turned and squinted down the length of shore. Two familiar figures... Haze and.. oh great... but Haze.

"Yes, that's Haze. How do you know her?"

He began to shuffle through the sand, looking for any wayward shells to capture.

"The other's one's a- ... I don't know her name, but I've seen her."

He toosed up a fistful of sand, hiding a tiny frown. Werewolf whelp... following him everywhere... probably just hoping to get a rise out of him.

”Oh, and great, dead-boy turned to look at us! “ she let out a sigh, he was SO going to try and kill her again, she might was well do something before he started an attack, something cool, she wasn’t sure why, she just wanted to do SOMETHING cool. The barrier was getting old, maybe she could read his mind or something! She had picked up loose thoughts now and than of unsuspecting mortals, maybe is she concentrated she would be able to find out.

Closing her eyes she exhaled, trying to remember how she had done the thought thing, and after successfully doing it, she was pretty fucking annoyed she had done anything. Her eyes shot open, staring at Haze.

”EW! JUST EW! YOU… EEEEW!!” bringing her hands to her eyes, she tried to claw out the images forming in her brain and eyes with the palms of her hands.

Haze gave a nervous laugh, and followed Graces gaze to Zesiro. She didn't like the look she was giving him, not that it was unfriendly or anything, but... She was concentrating on him. Haze knew Grace was the Goddess of Love and Lust, and Haze didn't want to see Zesiro lust-a-tized at the man he was with. The light the moon was giving illuminated him, and she knew he looked familiar. Some guy... From Faded! From the Bar! She nodded, carefully, and looked back at Grace, who had turned to her and stared. Not good.

"Ewww what? What did you do...? Wait... Wait a second! Did you look into his... His mind or something? Oh shit..."

She stood up and backed away from Grace, feeling guilty and humiliated. 'Course Grace would find out, and Haze should have known that. She should have just told her. She would now.

"Grace... I wanted to tell you... But I just couldn't... Cause I feel like I betrayed you... And... Oh Grace... Please don't be made with me... I made him promise not to hurt you. If you don't start anything, he won't fight with you. He promised... You are safe from him..."

She was at a lose for words now. She looked down the beach and sighed. Her shoulders drooped, her eyes grayed over. She watched Zesiro. He knew who was here. She gave a slight wave, completely half hearted. Maybe he could explain... No. Grace wouldn't be willing to listen...

He saw Haze wave then turned back to Zesiro. "is your memory that bad? I met her at Faded the same night I saw you there. That's how I knew you knew her to begin with or I wouldn't have asked you to double check."

Dom stared blankly into the sand for a few seconds "Do you want to head over?"

Zesiro studied the sand, licking his fangs and lips. A shiver shot through his body, causing him to stiffen. Something in his head. His twisted his neck and hissed in the general direction of Grace and Haze. He had a sneaking hunch he knew who it was.

"Filthy..."

He snarled, not finishing. Now focusing directly on Grace, he summoned a memory to the forefront of his brain and conveyed it to her. He felt sure she would see it, as she had plainly displayed psychic abilities.

Zesiro's claw-like shot out, a man's throat tore open and blood spurted out across his clothing. His body received a thrill as he lapped up the blood. He took only a few mouthfuls before letting the dead mortal drop. No one had really believed what they had seen and the dance continued. Firelight licked the edge of the memory, but the vision was quickly taken over by Zesiro brutally slaying two more humans, their warm blood heating his cool face. He joined the crowd in the Sabbat... what humans called a rave... roaring though instead of to the throbbing music, he roared his triumph.

He let the gruesome memory end there and faced Dominik.

"All right."

He stood and brushed the new sand from his trousers before taking slow strides toward the pair of girls.