Hey readers, newest chapter up and at 'em!

Just wanted to state that i'll be going back and working on the 'prologue' and chapter one, hopefully fixing it to be a better hook and foreshadowing the future to the story a bit.

Hope you enjoy!

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The sun crept across the carpet, cascading onto a bed positioned just below the window. Birds chirped amongst the morning light, and an arm raised the covers to reveal a figure beneath them. The hair shone with a faded glint of charcoal, and the eyes much the same color slowly opened. The figure muttered slowly to itself as it sat upright, the body aching far too much from the night before.

Eyes trailed over another figure hidden in the covers, not there when it went to sleep the night before. Hands slowly lifted to reveal the figure beneath it, the other sighing deeply.

“Victoria, out.” The figure muttered to the one lying down, one of her eyes opening to meet the other’s.

“But… It’s so warm Alex.” Victoria stated seductively, before pulling the cover back over her head. “Five more minutes.”

“No.” Alex stated, his voice low but groggy after waking. “Out.”

Alex sat for a moment waiting for the woman to move, but gave up and decided to shower. He locked the door behind him to make sure the vixen wouldn’t have an even easier way into the bathroom, not that she could get in there regardless. His boxers were stripped and the water turned on as lukewarm as he could possibly get it.

The sleep was slowly drifting off his warming skin, when he heard a knock nearby.

“Go away, Victoria.” Alex stated, but the knock happened again several seconds later. This knock was much closer though, right beside his face.

He peered through the soap filled view only to find Patricia’s ghostly arm phasing in, aimed at the bottle of body soap. The ghostly limb disappeared just as quick as it came, leaving Alex still uncomfortable at how easily she had access to his apartment. The only good part of that was that she had no sex drive, and thus did not care for his nude figure.

Both of these women near him seemed to have access to his apartment, yet he felt they’d easily break any more expensive equipment he’d install to counteract them.

Victoria had already broken several on her own, going so far as to even come over more to test her skills out against the defences. He’d given up on having them installed, though thankfully was reimbursed by her when she broke them.

He knew she was loaded enough from her jobs to afford her own place, yet she always tried to stay over at his. Whether it was to get in his bed, which she was successful at, or to get into his family was the real question.

Very likely both. His mind trailed of again to the night before, at whether or not he should tell them of his ‘capability.’ He had chosen to keep silently and let it all play out, which worked quite well as everything had been quickly wrapped up.

A quick toweling off and new boxers on was all Alex could manage before Victoria barged through the bathroom door. Her eyes were childlike and mischievous, but were soon filled with horror at missing the opportunity to catch him showering. The small and curvy woman stomped angrily out of the bathroom, and Alex finished changing shortly after.

He opted for just deodorant and a quick brushing through his hair for personal hygiene upkeep, not feeling up to fixing the dead eyes or dry skin of his.

When he entered the kitchen, Victoria was rummaging through his cupboards with items he didn’t remember being there before.

“Victoria, what is all this?”

“Huh?” The small girl’s head twirled in his direction, which caused her hair to catch on a can of ‘uh-oh’s’. It bumped her forehead on the way down, bouncing off of her chest in a funny way. “Ow!”

Alex chuckled at the strange comedy act she was playing out, hoping it wasn’t actually an act to lower his guard around her.

“You had it coming to you.” Alex stated as he picked the rolling can off the floor, placing it on the island counter and sitting down. “I told you you're not allowed to stay here.”

Victoria turned her attention to Alex, her body swaying playfully toward him.

“I bought a lot of tasty food, though.” Victoria stated, leaning into the counter across from him. “Besides, you need someone here to watch for anything bad.”

Alex grimaced at the flashbacks he was experiencing of the night before, and of the strange man. The black mist that had obscured his face set his teeth on edge, and reminded him of the recurring dream he had been having now and then. It didn’t help that many vampires wore black veils during the day, which was likely the direct cause of said dreams.

Alex returned to reality only to have a puppy eyed Victoria shoving her own face into his. He pushed her back to her side of the counter, and stood up with a scowl.

“Fine, you can stay.” He could see the delight in her eyes the moment he said that. “-but you sleep on the couch. Any funny business, and your gone. Clear?”

“Yup!” Victoria yelled, leaping up and into his chest. He peeled her off just as quick, but she didn’t seem to mind as she started humming a tune. He sighed and headed for the door, ready to get his inspection over and done with at the lab at work.

---

The B.R.E. building was far more alive than he was used to at night, that it sent his mind reeling. Big and small, round and skinny, there were all kinds of different shapes and sizes of people outside the building as he pulled up. He drove around the block several times, only finding a place after cutting into a spot that was just freed before another car took it. The big man seemingly made of stone eyed Alex menacingly as he drove away, but he just shrugged it off and walked on toward the building.

The check in station was filled to the brim with too long a line for Alex to wait patiently in it. He pulled out his badge as several people in the line scowled at him walking past. He showed the badge to the woman at the counter, who scanned him quickly and let him through.

Alex arrived quickly at the ward that was set up for medical purposes, but here too was full of way more bodies than he was comfortable with. His eyes scanned through the crowd as he walked toward Maya’s room, the only person he really knew in this area.

He found the door cracked and slipped into the room quickly, his heart racing being surrounded by so many strangers. He scanned the room but didn’t see anyone here, so he sat down at the desk and waited for Maya to come back to her office. He waited for long enough to doze off to sleep from the boredom.

The seductive chuckle from Maya woke him quickly, giving him enough time to jump out of the way before she sat on his lap. Maya landed on the chair hard, a grunt escaping her lips at the unexpected seat. She pouted for a moment before chuckling at Alex’s position sprawled against the wall. He walked over and grabbed the chair on the other side of the desk, sitting down hurriedly.

“Here for the follow up, i assume.” She stated, her eyes flying over a sheet on a clipboard on the desk. “...Or were you here for little ol’ me?”

“The follow up.” Alex stated unamused, ready to leave as soon as possible and back into bed.

“Ok, but the chief wants a word first.” Maya gestured to the door, where the chief entered from as if on cue. Alex felt the day get a lot longer than he was expecting it to be.

“Alex, good to have you back and on your feet.” The chief stated, gesturing to the door as another figure entered. “This is your mentor, Roselyne, yes?”

Roselyne smiled at Alex where he sat, nodding her head toward him in greeting. He nodded back, unsure why she was here.

“Yes, she is. Is there a reason you brought Roselyne along, chief?”

“Ah, yes. Well.” The chief fidgeted slightly, only continuing after Roselyn nudged him. “You see, the events recently have opened my eyes to a much bigger picture.”

Alex hated where this was going, but had guessed it would happen seeing the circumstances.

“So to make sure there’s no more attacks as this on you, we decided it best to give you a partner.” Rose grabbed out the door and pulled a slightly smaller version of herself into the room. This Ginling, though, had blood red hair instead of the normal black all Ginling women had. It was also cut almost as short as his own, but flying in every different direction in a chaotic way.

The woman’s innocent looking eyes met Alex’s, but moved to the wall beside him as a blush crossed her face.

“This is my daughter, Rose.” Roselyn stated, Rose saluting in a military manner almost on reflex. “She’s new, but she’s gone through basic training and can handle most weapons quite well. Take good care of her for me Alex.”

“...Will do.” Alex stated, the enthusiasm nonexistent in his voice.