Part 10

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. – Hanlon’s Razor.

            More than halfway across the Atlantic, Arthur said, “I assume you know where we are going once we get to Rome?”

            “Yes, it’s a little cottage at the top of a mountain. It’s not actually in Rome. It’s in Fiesole. That’s a bit above Florence. The place is called the Vista dal Cielo.”

            “What does it mean?” Arthur asked.

            “The View from Heaven.” Cal smiled slowly, his eyes taking on a dreamy quality.

            “You like it there?” Arthur said with a slight smirk and tried to keep it on his face and out of his voice.

            “Love it, it’s so peaceful there. You can see the whole of Florence.” Cal snapped his head toward Arthur. “It’s a good place to take women. They always swoon at the sight. It’s apparently romantic, so it’s very advantageous.”

            “Sure, sure.” Arthur nodded. They sat in silence, listening to James’s snoring. “Cal?”

            Cal turned back to Arthur from looking at his cell phone. “Yes?”

            “Why do you hate being called a vampire?”

            Cal glanced at Arthur, a glint in his eye. “I’m not entirely sure. I suppose it’s because vampires and gothic people in general have a bad connotation attached to them.”

            Arthur laughed jovially. “Have you not read the news lately?”

            Cal shook his head. “Do I look like a person who reads the pop news?”

            “Vampires are some of the coolest things. For seven years there was a vampire slayer. Now we have sparkly vampires. Before that there was the brat prince. Everyone loves vampires,” Arthur said grinning.

            “You sure?” Cal looked at him.

            “Yes and besides, you aren’t a full-fledged vampire anyway.”

Cal nodded and sat back in his seat staring out the window. Arthur wiggled in his seat to get comfortable before realizing that Cal couldn’t be that out of the loop He took a deep breath.

“So, now that you’ve gotten that out of your system. Why is it really that you don’t like being called a vampire?”

“Damn. You’re more observant than I expected.”

Arthur beamed at the backhand sort of compliment. “I’m a lot of things more than most people expect.”

Cal smirked. “Tell me more about that.”

Arthur blushed realizing the implications of what he had said. “That’s not what I meant and don’t try and change the subject.”

Cal smiled slightly. “Very well.” He got really quiet and still. If Arthur didn’t know better, he would have thought Cal had died.

Giving a long sigh, Cal said, “I suppose I don’t like getting called a vampire because it reminds me too much of school. Of my past. I don’t like to look back.”

“It’s too painful,” Arthur finished Cal’s unspoken thought. Cal glanced at Arthur before looking back out the window. Arthur was reminded of the great friendship they’d had and the great gap that had been created since then. The two ex-friends lapsed into a painful silence.

“What happened to us, Thete?”

Arthur felt a stab of pain at his old nickname. How do I make this less painful to hear? “You decided I wasn’t good enough for you.”

            Well that wasn’t it. “I didn’t have enough money. I wasn’t influential enough for you.”

            Cal swallowed and looked at the floor. He looked back at Arthur. “Thete, I… I’m… um…”

            A loud snore from James interrupted Cal. The two lapsed into silence before James said, “No. No more singing flowers.”

            Cal looked at Arthur, laughter rolling around his face.

            “What?” Why is he laughing?

            “Sorry random thought. Do you still sing musical songs randomly like you used to back at Vyren?”

            “Not as much. Actually, not at all. I still watch musicals all the time and listen to them, but I don’t know. I just don’t feel like it these days,” Arthur replied, his voice taking on a melancholy tint. Why am I telling him this? He opened up to you. Might as well return the favor.

            “What happened?” Cal asked sounding genuinely concerned.

            Why do you care? “Honestly?”

            Cal nodded. “Of course.”

            “I got my heart broken by the only girl I had ever really loved. She pretended to be dead to be with my hated enemy—no offence,” Arthur said, his hand out in a placating manner.

            “None taken.” Cal’s face was full of understanding. Odd.

            “I didn’t realize how sheltered and… naive I was until that happened.” Arthur was surprised to see that Cal looked more than slightly guilty. Probably just an act. He doesn’t really care. I can’t believe that. If he cared I would feel inclined to forgive him and I can’t.

            They fell into a silence again. It was quiet except for the purring of the engines and James’s snoring. Arthur took this time to glance around. The jet looked exactly as he had thought it would; plush chairs, a wet bar, a big screen tv, the best money would buy, of course. Everything seemed to be very expensive. Just how Cal liked it.

            A voice came over the loudspeaker. “We are beginning our descent into the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport. Please fasten your seatbelts.”

            Cal got up and walked over to James. He grinned evilly and slapped him “Fasten your seatbelt,” he said and walked back over to fasten his own.

            That was unnecessary. Arthur thought buckling his own belt.

James grumbled and fastened his seat belt. Arthur tensed and braced himself. He’d never ridden on an airplane before, but he figured that since he had hated the take off, the landing must be just as bad.

            As it turned out, a few minutes later, he was right. His face had taken on a slight green color as the three men exited the jet.

            Cal smirked. “You okay?”

            Arthur nodded, afraid to open his mouth for fear of losing the lunch he’d eaten on the jet.

            “So, what are we doing now?” James asked stretching. He hadn’t had a problem. He had been all over the world as the Daily Star’s ace reporter.

            “We are going to get my car—”

            “What kind?” James interrupted.

            Cal glared at him. “The silver Pagani,” Cal replied. “As I was saying, we are going to get my car and drive up to Fiesole. Depending on if we get pulled over or not, we should make it in a few hours.”

            “If we get pulled over?” Arthur asked.

            “This car goes up to 215 plus miles an hour. So if we get pulled over, you’ll just have to wait for me to talk myself out of the ticket, which, admittedly, should only take a few seconds, but plan for it just in case,” Cal said walking into a garage, just off the tarmac.

Arthur and James followed him wordlessly. As they reached the garage, a car pulled out. Arthur resisted the urge to gasp. It was sleek and the sun glinted off the car just right. Arthur tried to find a word to describe it. Kinda like how lightning would look in car form.

The car drive over and the driver got out. He was dressed all in black with a black racing helmet. He wordlessly handed the keys to Cal. Arthur and James watched him walk away. Cal noticed them and smirked.

“Some say his tears can cure cancer. Too bad he never cries.”

They all piled in the car, quite squishily, and drove to Fiesole. It was a tiny town with little people. The inn that Cal had mentioned to Arthur was at the top of the highest mountain in the town. It was quite a hike to the top, but everyone eventually made it. James had his hands on his knees wheezing as he reached the top.

“Holy Hell, that was a long way. It’s good I have awesome shoes!” James said still with his hands on his knees, but this time it was because he was looking at his shoes. “Aren’t they lovely? I got them last time I was in Italy. I love them! They’re my favorite!”

“They’re kinda ugly.” Cal said. “They look like something you found in a dumpster.”

“At least my whole outfit doesn’t make me look like an impecunious man,” James said.

“Is that the place that you were taking about?” Arthur asked pointing at the small inn a few feet back from the edge.

Cal nodded. “Yeah. Luckily, the desk clerk speaks English.”

“That’s weird. Living in a town this small I would think that no one would speak English,” Arthur said and started walking toward the Inn. Arthur could hear James and Cal standing back probably talking about him.

Arthur walked in and leaned against the desk, looking more confident than he actually felt. “Hi. I was wondering if you had seen a girl. She’s about um… five feet, six inches with dirty blond hair. Kinda skinny, but not too skinny.”

“Why do you want to know?” the girl asked with a smile on her face.

“She told us to come here.”

“I can be your girl, if you want. I know everything there is to do in Fiesole.” She giggled and touched his arm lightly.

“Totally into him,” James said.

Cal nodded and walked over. He clapped Arthur on the shoulder. “So, what are you two talking about?”

“She is telling me about Fiesole and the things that we can do here,” Arthur replied with a smile.

Cal raised an eyebrow. “Well, we don’t need to know about Fiesole. We need to know about Sabrina.”

Arthur sighed. “The vampire’s not Sabrina anymore, Cal.” He turned back to the woman. “Sorry, but I really need to know about that girl I described.”

“Si, yes.” The woman bent down and pulled a piece of paper from under the desk. “She left this for a ‘short angry man,’ she said,” the woman said and handed the paper to Arthur. She leaned in close to Arthur. “I think she possibly meant the little one.” She gestured to Cal.

Cal glared. “What does the note say?”

Arthur smirked and opened the paper. “The note says: Ha ha, Fooled you. You’re lover is in Rome at the hotel that you know so well. Room 425. Miss you, Nero. Kisses, Sabrina.”

Cal took a deep breath and took the note from Arthur.

“You know where she is talking about again, right?” James asked.

            “Of course…” Cal said quietly. “Although, I would rather not go there.”

            “Why? Is that where you take all the girls that you ‘love’?” James said.

            Cal pushed James hard and walked out of the Inn.

            James crashed through some picturesque tables and chairs to land on the floor twenty feet away. Arthur rushed over. James was breathing heavily. His head was bleeding.

            “James. James.” Arthur tapped his face. Arthur turned to the desk clerk who was by his side in a moment. “Get me some water, hurry.”

            She nodded and ran off. She was back as soon as possible and gave him some water. Arthur poured a small amount of water on James’s face and ran down into his shirt. “James! James!”

            James coughed and blinked. He looked at his clothes and sat up. “Damn it, Arthur. These were dry clean only,” he said weakly.

            Arthur smiled. “Good to have you back, buddy.”

            James grinned back.

Author's Note: Sorry about the really really late posting of this. I'll try and be more consistent in my posting.

Part 9

“What’s wrong?”

“Blood smells different, stronger.”

“Like nickels?” – Andrew, Spike (Angel: Damages)

            It took them a few minutes to get to Emily’s apartment. Cal and Emily took her car while Arthur and James took Arthur’s. It was near Arthur’s old apartment, even in the same building. The large cement structure was imposing and uninviting. It could almost be called rundown. Just add a few more broken balconies, a couple more peeling paint jobs and one more handful of depressed looking people.

Emily’s apartment was made up of four tiny rooms. How they were decorated, though, made them look much bigger than they really were. It was sparsely decorated with third-hand things well taken care of. A couple chairs scattered around the couch in the living room. A small television sat on a cheap particle board table which teetered precariously to the right. A water-ringed coffee table sat directly in front of the couch. Emily led the boys into the living room and sat down on one of the chairs.

            “How long have you lived here?” Arthur asked. “I used to live in this building.”

            “A few months,” she answered giving Cal a short glance

            “You do realize you could have hocked that bracelet you’re wearing and move to a much better place,” James said.

            Emily nodded. “I know, but—” she shrugged.

            “I’m hungry,” Cal said. “And I can’t believe you live in this shit hole. I would have believed it of Arthur, but not of you.” Emily blushed and looked at the pictureless walls. Arthur noted that she had a look of longing in her eyes coupled with embarrassed shame.

            “It’s your fault, meathead,” James retorted. “She moved here after you kicked her out of the mansion after you moved her here from Nevada.”

            Cal pointedly ignored him. “You got any food here?”

            Emily walked over to the fridge and opened it. It was very empty. “Nope, sorry.”

            “Why don’t you have any food?” Arthur asked.

            Emily shrugged. “I just sleep here mostly. I’m at work all the time. I eat on my way to work, on lunch break and on my way home.”

Cal pouted and sat on the ground by the couch.

            “I can go out and get some.” Emily looked at Cal a variety of emotions flashing across her face. Arthur tilted his head to look at her before glancing at Cal. He can’t make her go out and get him some food. It wouldn’t be right! She obviously isn’t paid well and has no money to spare when he swims in it every night!

Cal shrugged and pouted some more. “No, I’m alright.”

“No, it’s fine. I should go shopping anyway. Stay here. Keep him safe.” She told Arthur and James before grabbing her purse and running back out the door.

            Arthur glared at Cal. Cal rolled his eyes in response and grabbed James’s necklace as James sat down behind him on the couch. He took out the coin and gave the necklace back. Arthur sat down in a chair across from them. It was old with stuffing that was well worn and sunk in the middle. It was very comfortable once Arthur got situated.

            The guys lounged around the living room. Cal flipped the coin over the backs of his fingers. James was braiding Cal’s shaggy hair. Arthur looked around and wished he had a harmonica to play. It just seemed right. Even though the three didn’t always get along, in fact they usually didn’t, there was a peaceful sort of silence between them.

            Cal flipped the coin in the air and caught it with amazing accuracy. He looked around at James and Arthur. “Ya know, I’ve been thinking—”

            “You had a thought? Cal, that’s great!” James said, still intently braiding Cal’s hair.

            Cal shook James off and resumed speaking, while James resumed braiding. “Why are you two doing this?”

            Arthur sat up from his slouch. “What d’you mean?”

            Cal gestured with his hands before giving up. “I know why I’m doing this – to help Sabrina.” Cal glanced out the rooms only tiny window. “Maybe I can bring her back to normal,” he said, his voice taking on a wispy quality. He shook his head. “But you two don’t have to be here anymore. There’s not world threat.”

            That’s a good point, Arthur thought. Why am I still here? “To help you, I guess. I have this weird need to help people who… are in need. And the greater good needs to be served. People are in danger from a vampire.”

            “So what are you going to become a vampire slayer now? Arthur the Vampire Slayer? Doesn’t have a good ring to it. Do you think she’s the only vampire in the world? Someone had to have turned her,” James said continuing to braid Cal’s hair.

            “So why are you here, James,” Arthur responded irritably. I’m not calling his actions into question. Why is he questioning my good intentions? “Out of all of us, you are the one with the least reason for being here.”

            James held up his fingers. “One, this would make a great story, if I clean it up a bit. Two, I’m using up my too many sick days. My boss was about to make me forcibly go on vacation. Three, I enjoy annoying Cal.” He grinned.

            Arthur rolled his eyes. “Lovely.”

            “I think so,” James replied and turned Cal’s head to face Arthur. “What do you think?”

            Arthur snorted. The braids had shortened his hair considerably. Cal’s hair was sticking up all over his head.

            “What? What did he do?” Cal stole James’s phone from his pocket and took a picture of himself. He looked at it and his face turned a peach color. “James! Undo these right now!”

            James snickered. “No, it makes you look…”

            “Wonky. Kooky. Obnoxious?” Arthur suggested.

            “Exotic,” James finished.

            Arthur and Cal gave him a look that clearly said they though he was crazy. They lapsed back into a comfortable silence as James took a picture and started undoing the braids, until Cal spoke up again.

            “I’m hungry. When is Emily going to be back?” He twirled the coin on his finger like a basketball. Arthur paused to admire Cal’s slightly vampiric agility. I wish I had dexterity like that. It was a weird thing to notice, but Cal’s hands looked more feminine and more taken care of than before.

            “I would’ve thought she would have been back by now,” Arthur said looking at his wrist before realizing he didn’t wear a watch. He stood up. He started pacing the room slowly. His shoes squeaking slightly on the linoleum of the kitchen.

            “Do you think we should go look for her?” James asked and stood up as well.

            “If we must.” Cal gave the coin back to James. He had little red marks on the back of his fingers. James put it back in his necklace. Cal walked toward the door and opening it, he quickly closed it again, his fist over his mouth.

            “What’re you doing?” James asked and walked over to the door. He opened the door and closed it again too gagging slightly.

            Arthur sighed exasperated. “What is it?” He walked over and opened the door. Pinned to the door by an Italian stiletto dagger was a note written in what looked like drying blood. Arthur was surprised no one had heard Sabrina put it there or the neighbors seeing it and calling the police before he remembered what kind of neighborhood this building was in.

            “I don’t believe it,” Cal said. “Sabrina wouldn’t do something like this.”

            “I think she would,” Arthur said and ripped the note off the door. Apparently so do you or else you wouldn’t have jumped to that conclusion first. He ripped the note off the door careful not to touch the knife.

            “What does it say?” James asked.

            “If you ever want to see your whore again, meet me in Italy where we had our first vacation,” Arthur read. “Your lover, Sabrina.”

            James turned to Cal. “I think it’s Sabrina all right since it has her name on it!”

            Cal made a face at him and leaned slightly away from the note.

            “How are we going to get to Italy,” Arthur said dejectedly walking over and setting the note on the coffee table.

            “Hello? Gajillionaire.” James pointed at Cal.

            “Is that even a real number?” Cal asked.

            “Yes, I just made it up and I’m a journalist, so I can do that.”

            James picked up the letter and Arthur pulled the dagger out of the door before closing it. He turned back toward Cal.

            Cal wrinkled his nose and turned away. “Can you not point that near me?”

            “Why?”

            “I can smell the blood and it’s making me nauseous.”

            “What does it smell like?” James asked interested.

            “Like regular blood, dumbass, only stronger and slightly tangy.”

            “Tangy?” Arthur asked confused. He’d never smelled blood closely before and never tasted any other than his own out of the small cuts.

            “Yeah, like Emily tastes, strawberry and vanilla and… something else, I’m not sure…” Cal stuck his tongue out toward the dagger and hair.

            “What the heck?” Arthur moved the dagger away from Cal.

            “I figured I could taste it better or smell it better if I opened my mouth… You know, like a snake…”

            “Vampire,” James muttered not very quietly.

            Cal glared at him and opened his mouth to yell at James before Arthur interrupted and earned him a glare of his own.

            “You two argue like a married couple.” Arthur put the dagger down. “Are we going to Italy then?”

            “Of course! Emily actually likes me, unlike the vampire here,” James said.

            Cal tightened his jaw and said, “Yes, we are going to Italy to save Emily.”

            “Good. I like her, she’s cool,” Arthur responded. “And her life is probably in jeopardy. I wouldn’t put it past the Sabrina vampire to torture her.”

            Pulling out his cell phone, Cal speed-dialed his butler, Bradford, who coordinated everything in his life. Bradford transferred his call to the ‘keeper of the jets’ as Cal called him. “I need the jet. Get it ready for when I get there… What do you mean it’s gone? . . . You didn’t notice she had a kidnappee with her?!” Cal paused, almost pure white, and took a deep breath. His face flooded with color again. “Get the silver jet ready for a trip to Rome now!”

            “I take it Sabrina took the 85?” Arthur asked.

            Cal nodded, color slowly still coming back.

            “Wow! You should have seen you! You were almost shiny you were so white. I didn’t notice that last time you got angry.” James pointed out innocently.

            “Shut up!” Cal stomped out the door and slammed it behind him.

            Arthur gave James a look of exasperation.

            “What?”

            “He’s going to kill you some day, you know, if you keep making him angry like that,” Arthur said seriously.

            “I’m just trying to get him to be able to control his temper,” James lied unsuccessfully.

            “Obviously it’s not working.”

“Well, it’s not going to work right off. These things take time,” James said. “Don’t you know anything about psychology?”

“It wasn’t my area of study in school,” Arthur responded. “Come on, we’ll lose him.” He grabbed James and pulled him out the door.

Author's Note: If you want me to continue updating I need to know at least someone is reading. Is anyone reading? All you need to do is push the buttons below the story... That would be nice. Anyway, here is the next part. I'll get right on the 10th part.

Part 8

Alea iacta est – The die has been cast

            Cal pointed his gun at her before he flipped around and with two quick shots took down Arthur and James. Cal quickly undid Sabrina’s bonds and carried her smoking body into the shade of a willow tree. He caressed her quickly healing skin. “Sabrina. Sabrina. Love, please stay with me.”

            Sabrina’s eyes fluttered open. “Cal?”

            He held her close. “Yes, love, I’m here.” He watched as the burn holes in her face closed. Cal lavished her face with kisses. Her pale skin was cold and supple. Her blonde hair was shiny against the dark grass.

            “Sabrina, are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help?” He kissed her softly again.

            Sabrina whispered something that Cal was unable to hear.

            Cal leaned closer to her mouth. “What was that, love?”

            The vampire feebly put her arms around Cal’s neck and he leaned down so her lips were almost touching his ear.

            “What is it, love?”

            “I need you.”

            “How? How can I help?”

            Arthur blinked his eyes slowly. The dart was obviously not meant for humans. He was unable to move his body however. He glanced around, but was only able to see the sun coming up over the far mountains and the trees they had tied Sabrina to. He strained to hear what was going on.

            “I need your blood,” Sabrina said slowly and softly.

            Cal, don’t! Arthur struggled to move his body.

            Cal gazed at Sabrina and nodded, tears falling down his face. He unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. The sunlit shade glistened against his fair skin making the dark bruises on his chest more prominent. He lifted Sabrina effortlessly to his neck. Sabrina’s teeth elongated and she sunk them into Cal’s ashen neck.

            Cal grimaced, his face twisted with pain, making only a slight grunt. He held her up until his arms wouldn’t support her weight. Sabrina’s renewed strength helped her pull Cal closer and she switched their positions.

            Arthur had regained enough movement to be able to wriggled around to where he believed Cal and Sabrina had gone. He was forced to watch as Sabrina laid Cal on the grass. She continued to drink from the billionaire until he was deathly pale. Having finally regained use of his arms, Arthur started to crawl toward Sabrina. He stopped short when he saw Sabrina puncture her wrist and squeeze a dozen drops in Cal’s throat. She closed his mouth, kissed him chastely and ran away into the fading darkness jumping from shadow to shadow.

            Arthur watched the vampire run off. He wiggled his fingers experimentally followed by his toes, arms and legs. They worked, but were still a little weak. He crawled over to Cal, worried for him. Sabrina must have killed him, but what was with her giving him her blood?

            “Cal. Cal!” Arthur shook him as hard as he was capable. “Wake up, Cal!”

            James army-crawled over. “What happened? I was out until just now.” Once he saw Cal’s body, he stopped. “Is he… is he dead?” James’s face paled quickly. “No…”

            “I don’t know. He won’t wake up and he’s colder than usual.” Arthur tried to swallow the anxiousness rising in his chest. He looked at the place Sabrina had disappeared.

            James slapped the billionaire. “Wake up! Wake up! Come on. Cal, please!” He stopped slapping Cal’s face, tears in his eyes, and looked at Cal’s face. James gasped. “Arthur, look…”
            Arthur looked at Cal’s face and gasped as well. Cal’s wounds were healing slowly, but surely. Arthur and James looked at his chest, the bruises were turning purple, yellow and green before disappearing completely.

            “What the hell?” James whispered awed and confused.

            “I don’t know, but he’s still not waking up. We need to do something quick. We should call 911.”

            James slammed his hand on Cal’s chest. “Wake up!”

            Cal coughed, sat up and a small amount of blood trickled out of his mouth. He groaned and laid back down.

            “You’re alive!” James exclaimed.

            “I would be more alive if you hadn’t tried to kill me, dumb ass,” Cal replied weakly.

            James kissed Cal’s forehead. “But you’re alive!”

            Cal sat up. “I was never dead.”

            “But Sabrina sucked you dry,” Arthur responded confused.

            “Not all the way. She only took a little, not enough to kill me.”

            “I saw how much she took and it wasn’t a little.” Arthur crossed his arms.

            “Well, it obviously wasn’t enough to kill me.”

            “Have you seen yourself lately? You look like Death, warmed over.”

            “No, does it look like there is a mirror around here?”

            James pulled out his phone and took a picture. He showed it to Cal.

            Cal felt his face and then his chest. “Man, I look good, except for the pale part.”

            “Yeah, you do,” James grinned.

            Arthur glanced at Cal, then at the place where Sabrina had disappeared and back again. His mind was trying to piece the puzzle together. “Cal? Do you feel any different?”

            “Uh, not really. Why?”

            Arthur stood up and pulled Cal up with him. He quickly pushed Cal out into the sun.

            “What was that for?” Cal demanded, arms folded in front of him.

            Arthur blushed and looked at the ground for a moment. “I thought you might be a vampire.”

            “What?” Cal and James said together.

            “I heard that if a vampire and a human share blood, the human would be a vampire too.”

            Cal raised an eyebrow. “Clearly, I’m not.”

            James squinted at him. “I think you are.”

            Throwing up his hands in exasperation, Cal stormed back into the shade. “And why do you think that?”

            “You’re paler, stronger, and your wounds are mostly healed.”

            “Mostly healed? Do I look mostly healed to you?” Cal said and dropped to the ground where he started doing push-ups.

            “You certainly are full health,” Arthur noted. “You’re not helping your point by doing push ups, you know.”

            “No, please,” James said watching in fascination. “Continue.”

            “The world looks somehow brighter, more colorful. I feel amazing!”

            “You look amazing!”

            “Shut up, James.” Cal stood up and flexed his arms. “Look at me.”

            “There is something wrong with you. You shouldn’t have healed that fast,” Arthur pointed out. “We should go see Emily.”

            “Why? Nothing’s wrong. We should be going after Sabrina,” Cal responded.

            “I thought you didn’t want to kill it. Especially since now she has shown she’s not willing to take your life,” James said.

            “I don’t. It’s fairly obvious to me that she isn’t soulless or not herself. She is Sabrina. I just want to talk to her.”

            “It may have Sabrina’s memories, but she’s not Sabrina,” Arthur replied.

            “It is too!” Cal nearly yelled, his face turning a pale pink. “Didn’t the fact that she has Sabrina’s memories show you, she is the same? Doesn’t the fact that she saved my life show that she isn’t all evil?”

            “Point taken,” Arthur conceded.

            “No, all that shows is that she likes the taste of Cal’s blood and doesn’t want him to die,” James responded. “Or she’s taking orders from someone that doesn’t want Cal dead.”

            Silence permeated the area.

            “I still think that we should go see Emily,” Arthur said.

            “Fine, we’ll go see Emily,” Cal replied with a roll of his eyes.

            Later that day, the three guys once again found themselves at the 15^th Street Spectra.

            “Déjà vu,” James said, “I feel like I’ve been here once before. Or twice. Or three times.”

            “Shut up, James,” Arthur and Cal said together.

            “Gees, just pointing out that we should have just taken Emily with us.”

            The guys got out of Arthur’s car and started walking across the street. Cal stopped in the middle, a hand over his eyes.

            “Why is it so bright outside? Has it always been this bright? Where are my sunglasses?”

            “Told you. Vampire,” James said.

            “Yes, Cal. It has. Come on, I don’t want you to burst into flames.” Arthur hurried across the street and into the store.

            “I am not a vampire. Why is it so hot? Is the earth ending?”

            “Vampire,” James responded in a singsong voice.

            “SHUT UP!” Cal pushed James.

            James flew five feet and grunted in pain before laughing uncontrollably from the ground. “Vampire.”

            Cal ran over, faster than a normal man and picked James up.

            Arthur came back out of the store with Emily in tow.

            “Cal, stop! Put James down,” Emily said.

            Cal glared at Emily, his eyes bright spring green. “No.”

            Emily started into the street,  was stopped by Arthur don’t go to him, he’s obviously dangerous, shook Arthur off and walked slowly to Cal.

            “Emily, stop. It’s dangerous,” Arthur warned echoing his earlier thoughts.

            Emily put her hand out and hesitantly touched Cal’s shoulder.

            Cal tensed before relaxing.

            “Cal, put James down,” Emily said stepping closer putting her arm around Cal’s shoulders

            Cal tentatively put James down. He turned to Emily, fear clouding his eyes. “What’s wrong with me?”

            Emily smiled warmly. “Absolutely nothing.” She took the terrified billionaire into the store and into the room they had been in before.

            Arthur turned to James. “Why do you have to provoke so much?”

            “What? What did I do?”

            “What didn’t you do? Be nice to him. Something is apparently wrong with him. This is a difficult time.”

            “Difficult time? Difficult time? He was just magically healed, has more strength than a normal man, can run faster than a normal man and who knows what else? Oh and plus he’s still a bajillionaire. You call that a difficult time?”

            “Yes. Yes, I do. Now, come on. Let’s go find out what is wrong with Cal.”

            “There will never be enough time to discuss all that, but let’s go.” James said and the two walked in to find Cal.

            Emily had laid him on the couch and was massaging Cal’s back. “It’s okay, Cal. Everything is fine,” she whispered soothingly.

            James rolled his eyes. “Oh please.”

            Cal tensed up again until Emily murmured more soothing words into his ears. Emily turned and glared at James. Cal sat up and held onto Emily’s hand who sat down next to him. She turned to Arthur and James.

            “So, what seems to be the issue and what happened to Cal?”

            “We don’t know what to do about him and he… Sabrina…” Arthur trailed off.

            “What did that whore do?” Emily asked enraged.

            “She turned him into a vampire,” James said gleefully.

            “I’m not a vampire!” Cal said his voice rising in pitch.

            “I can determine that,” Emily said giving his hand a squeeze. “Did you burst into flame in the sun?”

            “No.”

            ‘Did you move faster than the blink of an eye?”

            “No.”

            “Can you smell my blood and do you have the insatiable urge to bite me?”

            “Yes and yet no,” Cal replied.

            “Then you are not a vampire. Probably only part vampire.” Emily smiled warmly and squeezed Cal’s hand again.

            “Part-vampire, huh? That’s hot,” James said.

            Cal rolled his eyes.

            “Well, what do we do now?” Arthur asked.

            “I think we should go back to my place just in case Sabrina come back to finish the job. It would be the last place she would look,” Emily replied and stood up.

            Cal nodded. “Sounds good.” He stood and took Emily’s hand. They walked out.

            “They do realize that as the last Cal girl before Sabrina, Emily’s house would be one of the first places I would look,” James said. “Don’t we get any say in this plan?”

            Arthur shrugged. “Maybe Sabrina doesn’t know that.” He walked out after Cal and Emily with James following looking worried.

Author's Note: I'll try and get up the next part on Halloween (!!!), but it may be later in the week... Sorry again about the wait.