.. Office buildings. Small and unobtrusive, clean and simple. It catered to the ebb and flow of the cites inhabitants..The morning rush..The noon lunch breakers..the 5 o'clock trickle of patrons swinging by for coffee and small talk. Now was time for the later crowd..the truckers..the third shift..students and the night owls. The four or so at the counter rather seemed to fit the tense fidget of the cities general public, but the occupant in the booth towards the door had remained a still, and stark contrast. The woman wore black slacks and a red silk shirt laced up the front with black ribbon..Her hair was a black mass of strands and threads looping and standing randomly in a disheveled mess that was more or less attractive. Long loose curls and strands hung over downcast eyes staring fixedly at a portfolio of glosses spread across the table.
Manilla folders and envelopes pooled across the table top, with the occasional drip of loose papers to the floor. Wire rimmed glasses set atop her nose as she slid several photos out of the way, Each of the three victims had suffered similar mutilations to the larynx, chest cavity, and aorta.. One found in a seedy park across town, one in a drainage ditch, and one in the subway system.. The murders were undoubtedly connected..The methods of dismemberment were too similar..
Things weren't adding up though..She hadn't been suprised at the fact her precinct had dispatched her. She was one of 28 certified blood splatter analysists in the united states..What had confused her was the fact that this district had been so quiet about it..no public statements made, and the coroners had seemed to make a blatant skirt around some of the most evident of similarities between bodies. A quick in, and out issue..The city had not requested her, she had been sent in to help locate, and prosecute a killer. Her welcome had been somewhat frosty at the headquarters downtown..But they'd given her the evidence files she'd required, and had been sifting through for close to three hours now.
Pulling off her glasses, She rested an earpiece against her lip and watched the faces on the street outside as the last flare of a sunset paused to illuminate them.
This city was so different. So were these cases.
She was no stranger to death..to homicide..but things didn't add up.. The amazing amount, and still lack of blood in and around the victims..The odd methods of attack..
And she was almost certain that the murder weapon was custom made..
..Weapons weren't supposed to leave marks that looked so very much like teeth.

To one girl, teeth had filled her mind. Her every nightmare. Her every waking moment of life. One event was all it had taken, and one event that she would never forget.

Codi Halstien said the ID card in her wallet. Dark blonde hair, light brown eyes. Curved and endowed figure, a tad on the chubby side. Pretty though, if she'd smile. Today, there was a lack of sparkle in her eyes. Her lack of usual bubbly personality that was rather infectious. An utter lack of most her usual ways of life. Even her brother couldn't calm her nerves. She didn't understand how he could have seen the same thing, the same incident, the same horrifying event, and still be able to keep his calm, quiet air about him. She didn't understand. She would likely never understand him.

One small hot chocolate. That was something they had in common, her and Colton. Always, always. Coffee was addictive, smelled funny, tasted worse. They both preferred the sugary rich taste of a good cup of cocoa. This cup, though, disappointed her. This one cup of hot chocolate was watered down, luke warm, and they didn’t even bother with whipped crème. Whatever. It was slightly warm and comforting. Codi sat in a booth near the analyst, staring into the abyss of chocolate flavoured water, sipping once and a while. Blinking.

The blood, the violence, Twins, like her. French twins, one rather easy on the eyes. Such an accent, and what a way with his hands. Hand that were all over his sister, all over that body. Tearing it, shredding it. The blood, it had stained the grass. Stained her mind. Colton told her there was worse. That this was nothing. It wouldn’t leave her, couldn’t. And it hurt her.

If the cocoa had not been watery enough, drops of salty water added themselves to the drink. To the tabletop, her lap, coating her cheeks. Silent tears for someone she had never known, and silent tears for herself.

The evening darkness enveloped the upper floors of the high-rises across the street, sending the cafe into a temporary semi-darkness.. Florissant lights flickered on, casting an opalescent glow over the gloss of the tile and placing a glare on the windows. It was hard to see out of them now..someone could be on the other side of the glass..watching.. Naomie shook her head and ran a hand through her hair, smiling in an odd, lopsided way. She'd seen 'Silence of the Lambs' one too many times. It must be near 7 now.. She placed her glasses back up onto her nose and began to arrange papers into folders, laying one, after another, after another until the were all packed away.. Sliding the glosses into the pouch, she tucked then under her arm as she made move to stand, looking out the window one last time. It was near impossible to see out of, but the entirety of the restaurant was reflected back. From the matronly waitress leaning on the counter and flipping though a magazine, truckers grumbling in hushed tones about gas prices, The stern reflection glaring back at her, the blonde girl two seats away. She paused a moment and watched her. Something in her demeanor, the shape of her face, perhaps reminded her of an office mate named Stacey. Turning, she looked at the young woman, tilting her head slightly. There was a resemblance, though slight..she was also good few years younger then Stacey. The young woman's face glistened slightly in the lighting, and Naomie exhaled slightly..crying and alone. What a great combination.
With a click of heels, she moved towards the table and rested her fingertips on the corner of her table, offering a warm, if not tired smile..
"..hey..can I get you something?"
Her eyes held the concern of an older sibling..with having two younger brothers, she'd developed an irritating maternal streak. Shrugging her shoulders, as if to dislodge some sort of weight, she perched on the edge of the bench opposite the young woman. The briefcase clicked softly down on the floor beside her, and the portfolio of glosses settled on the table with a whisper. She brushed a wild snare of dark hair back behind an ear,the whole of it looking rather like a tamer version of 'edward sissiorhands'. The timer on her watch beeped softly, it was now seven. Naomie tired not to think of the grisley images in the folder before her as she slowly folded her hands, black gloved fingers interocking like thin spider legs; and insted focused her attention, and her smile, on the young woman before her.

Codi blinked her way through the darkness, and the flicker of the lights seemed too bright. No, it couldn't possibly be this late already. Dark. She didn't want to be out in the dark. There were murderers and such out now. Vampires. Their teeth, their blood. No, she wanted out. It was time to go, and go fast. Tears continued down her face, for fear of that dead woman being her next time. Her, maybe Colton. No, that'd be too awful.

The lady, with the briefcase. Asking her something, and she hadn't heard. Looked up from her hot chocolate to gaze at the woman. Looked concerned, motherly even. Slightly comforting. No, this woman could die next too. No, no... The nice ones fell victim to those that lived by night.

"No... I'll be fine... I... I just have to get home before it gets really dark..."

Before anything evil came out. Before anything bad happened.

"You might want to get home soon too... The city isn't safe at night."

Hadn't Colton threatened her about spilling anything about vampires to anyone? Oh, yes, he said he'd personally kick her butt if she blabbed. But this woman, she at least deserved to be told to go home. To be safe. Codi stood from her seat, and dragged her hot cocoa with her. Threw it in the trash, and came back to the booth to grab her coat and shrug it on.

The abruptness of the young woman's movements caused her to wonder if she'd made a mistake in approaching..
"..It's not quite as dark as it looks..the sun hasn't quite set-.."
The girl had stood, Naomie watched her swift and tense movements..At first She had thought the girls tears were ones of sadness..but no..They were of fear. Had someone beaten her? Had she been assaulted? There was no way to know..
Before she had realized what she was doing, she had reached inside of her duster and withdrawn her silver badge:
"Lieutenant Kreiger..Naomie.."
She grinned in a more off handed way, and her voice softened..She wasen't interrogating this young woman.
"..And besides-"
She drew the side of the duster open to reveal her standard issue piece in it's holster over her shoulder-
"..I know this cities' not safe. That's why i'm here."
With her free hand, she gestured to the seat across from her:
"Please..have a seat. Maybe I can help you, and I really do need to talk to someone local.."
She bit her tongue..no need to tell her why.
"..I can give you a lift to your place..cars' parked outside the door.."
She had an odd way of speaking she gave no intonation at the end of her sentences..
"I-I really do need to get an ideal of this place. And maybe I can help you. Give me five minutes?"

Codi let her eyes look over the badge. Police. Well, close enough. Colton had closed Jake's case and never told the police. Police couldn't know. He had said that. The police just couldn't know. But this woman, she seemed to know already. Maybe she did? It was worth the risk. Someone who offered comfort and knew. Codi sat back down in the seat and nodded.

"Codi Halstien. What would you like to know about...?"

The city in general? Maybe just about why she was here. Murderers, perhaps? Here to catch them and lock them up? She'd give this Naomie five minutes for the assuredness of knowing those twins'd never harm her. Never harm anyone again.

"And why exactly are you here...? Exactly..."

Exactly stressed twice, because she needed the most exact answer possible to spill. Even though Colton said not to. Even though it was all blasphemy. People as vampires. That wasn't something that was supposed to happen. That was just supposed to be some creepy CSI episode.

She blinked slowly, a smile spidering across her face..This young woman, Ms. Halstein was being very cooperative, and this made things easy. She laughed slightly at Codi's second statement, tucking her badge back into her vest pocket and letting the duster fall back over her gun.

"Hmm..I thought I was the one who was supposed to be asking the questions.."

Actually, she didn't really know. analyists didn't really deal with people.. More often then not, just the evidence. She looked over at the young woman, head cocked slightly to one side as she took a momment to compile all she'd seen about questioning people on TV, and learned in the academy..

"Depending on how you answer, I may or may not tell you exactly why I am here..but it deals with homicide."

She leaned over the counter, steepeling her fingers as luminous amber eyes, an avian look to them, peered through black shreds at the young woman across the table.

"You said yourself '..the city isn't safe at night.."

The bell on the door chimed softly as another patron entered.

"..Why?"

All the murders had been timed at sometime between 7 pm and 5:30 am. Night. She was grasping at straws, but at least she was grasping. She woulden't get a chance to examine the blood spray patterns untill tomarrow morning, but untill then, this was as close as she'd gotten..as anyone had gotten.

Codi smiled, bu the smile lacked all its normal warmth.

"I'm sorry. I need to know why I am being... 'detained'."

Looked down and placed her hands on the table before her, pulling on the hems of her jacket with amusement. Her 'amused' movements froze at the mention of why the analyst was here. Homocide. And, obviously, an important homocide. Normally the police took up everything. There had been no analyst at Jake's murder. Why should there have been? He wasn't important to anyone but Colton. And Colton wasn't important to anyone but her. And she was important to no one, so a strin of unimportance seemed to have been formed by the three of them. The three that was down to two.

"Well, because most murderers happen to like killing at night... I don't know why; I'm no murderer. All I can tell you is that the only murders commited during the day time are closed and the murderer is found within the month. That's a stat..."

Maybe that's why some of the university students only traveled in bunches at night time. She had never seen a purpose to it, and promptly walked wherever she pleased, whenever she pleased. Up until last week...

"Are you here about the murder that happened last week, by any chance...?"