By Maria Wiberg

Sequel to To Love Forever

"Not everything is black and white. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty, make compromises. In life, the road to darkness is a journey, not a light switch."

- Lex Luthor, Smallville

Part 1

“Terry, make me forget…”

The simple plea echoed through his dreams. Dripping with sweat Peter Caine sat up in his bed. “Forget what?” he wanted to scream, but as usual there would be no answer. He felt like the shadows were moving in on him from every corner. He could feel his hand trembling when he reached for the light switch. "Calm down, Caine!" he chided himself. Nothing to be afraid of. It was only a dream.

Wiping the sweat from his face with the already damp sheet, he looked at the alarm clock. It was barely past midnight. He already knew he probably wouldn’t get any more sleep that night. The dark dreams of shadows chasing him through darkened alleys that had plagued him the last year, had become even more frequent the last few days. He’d tried to confront the only Terry he knew, getting only questions in return. If only he could figure out what it was that he was supposed to have forgotten. If only he could get the year he’d lost back. He fingered the scars on his shoulder absentmindedly, as if they’d bring him the memories of how he’d gotten them back.

He fell back onto the pillows, resigned to the idea of another sleepless night.

~~~

Peter woke, as he had done so many times the last couple of weeks, with a sense of loss and a smoldering headache. He’d managed to fall asleep after his last nightmare, but he was far from rested. Something was eating away at him, especially when he slept. He tried remembering the illusive dreams. All he came up with was a strange feeling that he’d forgotten something important. It was damn annoying.

As usual, he shook it off as he got out of bed to get ready for another day at work. Even work was getting to him. His latest case, or cases, involved what seemed to be a vampire. They had twelve dead bodies with fang marks and one victim still living, but in a deep coma, caused by loss of too much blood. The doctors didn’t have much hope that she’d ever regain consciousness. They had fingerprints, they had DNA, but what good did that do when they had nobody to compare them to? They needed at least a suspect. Ten days now and they were no closer than day one.

~~~

“I know you don’t believe in vampires, Peter. But I found some pretty interesting information,” Kermit told when Peter entered the ex mercenary’s, now computer geek’s, office at the 101st precinct.

“You can’t be serious!” Peter snorted when he saw the look on his friend and colleague’s face. Was he the only one not affected by this vampire nonsense?

“Deadly,” Kermit confirmed, turning back to his computer screen. “These sources are the best and most reliable you can find. And they all treat vampires as a very real threat.”

“So, you say we arm ourselves with crosses, stakes and garlic and go stake out the cemeteries?”

He hadn’t been serious, but Kermit nodded gravely and pointed at the computer screen, as if Peter would understand what the long listings meant at only a glance “Look at these sites. It seems I’ve done this search before and forgot about it. It is really weird. I have no recollection of ever doing it, and still here are notes and search flags made by me just over a year ago.”

“I wish I could help you there buddy, but you know that year is still lost to me.” Peter wanted to groan out aloud, he hated it when he was reminded of the year he’d lost to that strange amnesia.

“It seems you’re not the only one forgetting things, kid.” Kermit looked just as annoyed as Peter did when someone mentioned what had happened during the time he lost.

With a growing sense of dread, Peter read one of the online notes over Kermit’s shoulder. This was far from the first time people had been bitten and drained by a vampire in the area. Kermit’s short and concise notes told a very different story. “How could these events possibly have been covered up?” Peter wondered, shaking his head in disbelief.

Kermit didn’t acknowledge that he’d even heard a word Peter said. He had already started to hack away at the keyboard to search for more clues. Screen after screen of vampire references flashed across the monitor. Peter started to wonder how Kermit could keep track of what was displayed when the printer in the corner came to life.

By the time Kermit handed Peter the thick pile of printouts, the headache from that morning returned with a vengeance. Even Kermit was massaging his temples. “You too?” Peter said with a tired sigh.

“Yeah. It’s weird, I haven’t had a serious headache in years, but the more I read about this the worse it gets.”

~~~

“I think we may be on to something here!” Peter waved the printout excitedly in between the screen and Kermit’s face.

Kermit leaned back and looked up at Peter.

“It’s right here. Headaches, lost time, loss of memory; they’re all symptoms of contact with vampires. They ‘made us’ forget all about them!” He didn't want to believe in this, but if Kermit was this sure about the authenticity of these reports, he had to.

“I believe you’re right, kid. Look at this.” The older man pointed to the document on his monitor screen.

Peter read the document with a sense of dread. It was a witness report dated almost a year ago, signed by Kermit.

“Everything else, and I mean every trace of any document, both on my hard drive and security backups, are gone. Probably, the only reason this document is still in existence is because I can’t edit or delete content on that server once the document is uploaded. Someone’s gone through a hell of a lot of trouble to make sure I don’t remember this.”

“I lost a whole year, Kermit. Why do you think that was necessary?”

“I can only guess that you were into this a lot deeper than I ever was. This document doesn’t say anything about you, only what I observed about this unnamed vampire.”

It was as if all the pieces suddenly fell into place. They had told him he had started to work nights, then quit entirely. They had thought him gaunt and pale. He’d worked as a bartender and then left town. The woman! It had to have been the woman. He couldn’t remember her now, but they had told him he’d been with a beautiful woman. “Does it say anything about a woman?”

“No, it seems I only had time to write one single report. I can’t find anything else on here regarding this.”

Peter raked a hand through his hair. Had he been in close contact with a vampire? He had to find out. Maybe if he confronted Terry with these facts he’d finally tell him the truth. He couldn’t remember how many times he’d plagued Terry with the question about what he’d forgotten. He could still hear the “Terry, make me forget…” echo in his mind when he thought about the bartender. They’d been working together; Terry had to know ‘something’.

Whatever had happened, he better find out before he talked to Kermit about it. This was the best lead he had so far about his missing memories. “Keep looking, Kermit. I have something I have to check out. I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

He didn’t see Kermit’s curious look when he rushed out the precinct doors to find and confront Terry.

~~~

“Peter! What are you doing here?” Terry called out with a loud whisper as he pulled him aside almost before he was in through the door.

“I needed to talk to you. How did you get here so fast?” He could have sworn he’d seen Terry by the bar as he came down the stairs. Yet, here he was now, pulling him into a small room right by the entrance to the underground club.

Terry closed the door behind them and then leaned back against it. “You shouldn’t be here, Peter. It’s not good for your health to be in this particular club. How ‘did’ you find me by the way?”

“I was looking for you at Delancey’s. They told me you set up a new business here. Why didn’t you tell me you sold Delancey's?” Something was definitely up with his friend if he didn’t want Peter to find him.

“Crap!” Terry mumbled. “I knew I shouldn’t have told them where I went.”

“Don’t be mad at them, I was kind of persuasive, and besides, they know we’re friends.”

Terry opened the door slightly, looking outside as if to check if it was okay to talk. This was weird; he’d never seen Terry this nervous about anything. “Okay, what’s this about?” he asked when he closed the door again, this time a little less nervously.

Peter squirmed slightly now that he had Terry’s full attention. “It’s about when I worked for you. Did I ever mention vampires to you? Kermit and I discovered some very disturbing facts about vampire encounters. They fit perfectly on the both of us; but especially me.” Now there it was, Terry would deny it and he’d be outta there.

But Terry didn’t deny it at all. Instead, he sank back against the closed door and sighed. Closing his eyes, the bartender mumbled something unintelligible.

“What?”

“Yes,” Terry almost whispered. “Yes, you encountered vampires.”

“No shit!” That was all that went through his head. He’d fully expected Terry to deny all knowledge, just as he always denied knowing anything about his memory loss.

Terry got a wicked glimmer in his eyes. “You not only encountered them, you were a vampire for a while.”

“I what?” He blurted out, surprised.

“You heard me.”

“I was a vampire?” The idea of being a vampire didn't want to register in his mind. He slowly drew a hand through his hair, trying to fathom the idea. "But, how?" he objected.

“Yes," Terry interrupted Peter's efforts to form a coherent question. "And then your dear ‘Pop’ cured you.”

“But why can’t I remember?” He paused, realization hit. Pop knew? How could his father have kept this secret from him?

“You don’t remember, because you asked me to make you forget,” the bartender replied and with that his eyes flashed yellow. Making claws in the air with his hands, he made a playful but very effective growl.

“You’re a…” Peter stepped back in surprise. If a vampire could hide what he was that well, it was no wonder the vampires could pass unnoticed among the rest of the population. He’d spent a lot of time in Terry's company and never suspected.

“I told you it wouldn't last when you asked me to erase everything that happened from your memory.”

It was hard to comprehend why he had made such a request. “I told you to do it? Why?”

Terry’s eyes glimmered steadily yellow again, and Peter found them strangely compelling. Frozen, he continued to stare into the vampire’s eyes.

“Remember,” Terry commanded.

The word echoed though his brain, and suddenly the headache that had been pounding through his head since that morning dissipated. He gasped. It felt like his head was going to explode when a full year’s worth of memories bubbled up to the surface from the depths where it had been hidden from his view. He remembered!

And they weren’t just any memories either. They were memories of a life as a vampire. All the evil he’d done; and all the deaths he had caused… “What have I done?” he moaned and sank to his knees, oblivious of Terry’s presence in the room.

He didn’t ‘want’ to know these things. The reason behind the memory loss seemed insignificant when compared to the atrocities he’d committed as a vampire. He’d suspected he had come in contact with vampires, even feared that he had been one, but the truth was just too much. He felt sick.

“Get a grip!” he sniveled, trying to dry off the tears that were sneaking down his cheeks. He couldn’t go back to the precinct like this; with puffy red eyes and terror written all over his face from facing death in the eye. He couldn’t face Kermit, remembering what he’d done to him, or what Kermit had done to Moura. It was too fresh; it felt like the events that welled up from within had happened only yesterday.

As if a mind reader, Terry appeared with the same thing he’d offered the last time Peter’s memories were overwhelming him; a bottle of vodka and a friendly ear.

“Let me drive you home, and then I’ll try to answer your questions. Or if you wish; leave you be.”

“Thanks, Terry. I don’t think I can face anyone right now.” He slowly and slightly unsteady got to his feet as he accepted the bottle. Maybe some booze would numb the pain. The memory of what he’d done weighed on him like nothing he’d ever experienced. The pain of losing Moura that had made him choose to forget was nothing compared to knowing what he’d done as a vampire.

How could he ever have rationalized killing all those people? He couldn’t remember ever being sorry, not even after he returned to humanity. It was as if his human conscience had been disconnected until it had been reset by the memory loss.

He put the bottle to his lips, and drank a healthy amount without thinking. It wasn’t enough; he repeated the procedure until he couldn’t even hold on to the bottle. Anything was better than facing his deeds.

“Moura, she died…” this was so weird. It had happened over a year ago, but the memory of her death, and what he’d gone through, was as fresh as if it had happened yesterday.

Terry hugged Peter across the shoulders with one arm, and led him towards the door. “Take your time, get reacquainted with what happened. I’ll swing by your place tomorrow evening and tell you what’s going on. Maybe this was for the best; we have a problem in the community.”

~~~

Kwai Chang Caine gasped when an overwhelming sense of grief and pain hit him through the link with his son. Instinctively, he knew his son must have finally found out the truth about his lost year. Nothing else could possibly cause such distress.

It had been hard keeping the secret, especially lately, when the loss had began troubling Peter more and more. But knowing his son, he knew it had been necessary. He too had lost a loved one, and if he could have chosen to forget, he would have been very tempted as well. At least in his own case, he had had Peter to take care of and focus on. Peter had nothing, his love was in ashes in another dimension. The ones responsible were his coworkers and best friends. The situation had been hopeless.

When Peter had told him about his plans to forget, he had agreed to never reveal what he knew. It had been the hardest promise he had ever had to keep. One pain was lost; another was gained. The lost time had eaten away at his son, but revealing the truth had been out of the question.

He wondered what had happened for Peter’s vampire friend to lift the veils and let Peter have his past back. Maybe it was the new rumors that there was a vampire killer in town again. Caine had not seen anything personally, but the frequent whispers in the community were getting harder to dismiss.

Knowing vampires were indeed real, he had to consider that the rumors were based in truth. He better talk to Peter, and set things right between them. Maybe Peter had found out more about the rumors from Terry. There had to be a very good reason for Terry to give Peter his memories back.

Part 2

“A Master vampire in town, Terry? Are you sure?” Peter looked at his vampire friend through the hangover haze that still remained. He shouldn’t have had the entire bottle of vodka the night before, even if it had done a good job of sending him into oblivion. For the first time in quite a while he’d slept without the nightmares. He’d woken up to a nightmare instead. He was a killer. He had taken the lives of dozens, if not hundreds, of innocent people while he was a vampire. He didn't want to remember their faces, begging him to spare their lives, or as frozen masks of horror in death.

He’d called in sick, there was just no way he could face Kermit, or anyone. And yet, he had found his way to the club to find out what was going on. It was early for a vampire encounter; the sun wasn’t even down. He had counted on the fact that Terry was an early riser when he came knocking on the back door to the place.

“I’m sure, Peter. He comes here almost every night and you don’t get to be as old as I am without recognizing evil when you see it.” Terry looked as worried as he sounded. “And believe me, this is an evil one, more so than you could possibly imagine.”

“Do you know anything about him? Anything specific; like where he stays, or what he’s up to?” Could this be the murderer he was looking for?

"He owns the building. Actually, that's why I'm here. I decided I needed to be closer to keep an eye on what's going on."

"He bought a whole building? Why?" Damn, this guy seemed serious. You didn’t buy property if you were only passing through. Peter began to get an idea why his friend was so visibly worried.

"The old and powerful ones often do that, take up residence somewhere and surround themselves with a band of minions. They also like to form pacts with the local mafia, or crime lords,” Terry explained.

"No wonder crime is up in the area. Not only do we have the vampire murders I’m investigating, we have an increase in robberies and burglars as well. I don’t like this at all.” He pushed away the beer Terry had placed in front of him, suddenly not thirsty.

“I don’t like it either, Peter. You know me, I like to keep a low profile, mind my own business. This guy is high profile. It won’t be long until the rest of the city knows exactly who this guy is and they will fear him.”

“Do you have any ideas on how to get this guy out of here, preferably forever?" If he was as old and powerful as Terry, could he be killed at all?

“Depends…”

“On what?” Peter filled in when Terry hesitated.

“It depends on whether you’d be willing to be turned into a vampire again. If you want to take them out, you need to get close; infiltrate the group.”

Peter groaned. “That’s why you returned my memories to me; so that I would help you take him out. You’re damn sneaky, Terry.”

“Okay, I’m sneaky. I want this guy out of here, and you’re the best man for the job, Peter. If anyone can do it, you can.”

“Best man? Me? No way!!" There was no way in hell he’d return to the life of a vampire. “How do you know I won’t go evil on you and join the gang instead of taking them out? See what happened last time.”

“Because I know you, Peter. Even in your darkest hour, you were basically a decent guy. Why don’t you talk to your father, maybe he can do something?”

Peter shook his head. Terry had more confidence in him and his father than he did. The memories from his time as a vampire were very clear. He’d been as evil as they came, at least for a time. What made Terry think he’d be able to overcome that evil this time? “Are you sure there’s no other way? Why can’t you do something? You're already a vampire!"

“I’ve been keeping an eye on them since they arrived and I haven’t been able to get close enough to find out anything. There’s only so much anyone would tell a bartender.”

Terry might have been around a while, but he was no detective, and certainly no cop. Not that the little technicality of a badge mattered in this case, no justice system in the world could touch these guys.

Peter sighed. They wouldn’t confess to murder, that was for sure. If this Master was as old and powerful as he seemed by the fear he sensed behind Terry’s words, there was no way he would admit to it. Terry was right, he had to get into the group and gain their trust. His father had to come up with something to help him out, evil was not an option. Maybe he didn’t have to lose himself in the darkness this time around. “Let me think about it, Terry.”

He had to talk to his father before he made any kind of decision. It would be painful, but he had to face Kermit and the reality of what he had done to his friend as a vampire.

~~~

Peter sat down heavily on the floor in front of his father. Caine was already comfortable in his usual meditation pose. Peter knew he needed to relax and meditate, too. The sudden and unexpected return of his memories had thrown him right into a turmoil he didn't know how to handle. But he also knew it would be very difficult to meditate with his mind in chaos, nothing in his life was easy. He sighed.

"Breathe, my son," Caine urged, and Peter obediently took a deep breath to center himself and relax into the position. It wasn't easy, his head fairly buzzed with information he'd thought was gone forever.

"Yes..." He breathed deeply and closed his eyes to, at least, shut out the images of the room.

"Concentrate, my son. Focus on the reason behind your pain."

Peter inhaled deeply, his heart lurched painfully in his chest when he brought up the image of Moura and the love he'd felt for her. The last time he'd seen her, when he'd said goodbye forever, the dark curls that used to frame her beautiful face had melted into ashes. Mere moments after her soul had fled; her newly mortal body had turned into a fine, almost white ash, instead of the black ashes of a dead vampire. All that was left was his memories and his pain.

"I don't understand, Pop. All I had left was my memories of her, and I choose to let those go too." True, he could remember his reasoning at the time. The pain had driven him to the limit, but he knew now that the decision to take the memory of Moura away had been a huge mistake. Not knowing what had happened during that year had cost him so much more than her.

He opened his eyes and looked at his father. "Can you help me, father? I need to face this evil that I was a part of again. The vampires are back in the city and I will have to infiltrate their organization. I can't do that as a human. Is there anything we can do to protect me from turning evil if I become a vampire again? "

Caine nodded silently. "I will see what I can find out for you, my son. I am uncertain."

"That's all I can ask. I won't go through with this without some sort of protection. I don't want to hurt you or anyone else by doing this. I know you can return me to humanity, but if they turn me I might not want to go back. It took me a long time and many lives before I came to that point last time. God knows if I will again."

"I will talk to the Masters of Shambhala."

"Great, Pop! Can you do it now?"

“Come back tomorrow morning, these things can not be rushed.”

Peter sighed and got off the floor. He knew he could learn a lesson or two in patience from his father and Lo Si. He couldn’t help feeling a great deal more hopeful now that his father was on the case. He only needed to keep telling himself this would indeed work out.

~~~

Peter didn’t have to go far to find Kermit. He discovered the Kermitmobile parked right outside the entrance to his father’s building, blocking his exit.

“Where the hell did you disappear to?” Kermit barked.

Peter immediately noticed that his friend seemed genuinely worried. “I’ve been doing some research,” he said with a shrug, trying to sound more casual about it than he actually was. Could he tell Kermit the truth?

“And?” Patience wasn’t Kermit’s strong suit either.

“A vampire cult has taken up residence in Chinatown. So far I haven’t been able to verify that they really are vampires, but they do pretend to be. I have a contact that can introduce me to them. I thought going undercover would be a good way to find out who they really are, and if the murderer is among them.”

“That’s way too dangerous. What if they really are vampires?”

“Don’t be silly, Kermit,” he denied. Could he really confirm that everything was real? Uncharacteristically enough, Kermit already seemed to believe in vampires.

“Peter, they are real. I know they are." Kermit removed his glasses. "Even if you don’t take the threat seriously, I do. Do you really think this is a good idea?" Peter knew Kermit was deadly serious when he met the old mercenary's eyes.

But Peter couldn't allow Kermit to dissuade him. He had to do this; there was just no other way. "We have no other leads. This is the closest to one we got."

"But what will you do if they are real?" Kermit repeated.

Peter looked at Kermit. How much should he tell him? Better not tell him too much until he knew more himself. "I was just talking to Pop. He says he might have a way to protect me from them. I'll wait until I know if he comes up with something. I'm not completely insane, I'm not exactly eager to die either."

"You don't want to play with those guys, Peter." Kermit looked strangely scared, as if he knew more than he said.

"What aren’t you telling me?" Peter asked back. He thought he knew everything, but what had Kermit found out?

"If they're real, you won't get out of there alive. They're ruthless."

"But, Kermit. We must have escaped them once before, or we wouldn't have this strange amnesia. I'm sure this won't become that dangerous. We might even get lucky and they're just a cult."

Kermit looked intently at him with his piercing brown eyes. "Do you even believe that yourself?" Peter wished the old guy had put his sunglasses back on; he always came on too strong when he didn't wear them.

Peter looked away. It was all a lie, but he couldn't face what he'd done to Kermit. The truth was ugly. Maybe, eventually, if he became a vampire again, he'd be cold enough to tell Kermit the truth. As for not telling the truth about the cult; that had more to do with Kermit's protective manners. If Kermit knew for a fact that there was a vampire in town; he'd never let Peter get anywhere near the club. "You know me, the eternal optimist," he tried to joke back; though it fell flat at his friends disapproving look.

"You better pray your father can come up with protection other than garlic and holy water." Kermit finally put his glasses back on. He turned to get back into the car, effectively ending the discussion. But Peter knew better than believing Kermit had given up on the subject. He usually returned, better prepared and better armed.

"I won't do it if he can't," Peter called out to his friend's back. The only question that remained was; what would he do about the vampire if he didn't find a way to protect himself from the evil? Could he let him get away with it? He shivered at the thought of the unrestrained evil he'd face. Without any protection, there would be one more evil force unleashed; himself.

"Please, Pop, find a way!" he prayed.

~~~

"Detective Caine, in my office!" Captain Simms barked across the room when Peter arrived at the precinct the next morning.

"Right away, Captain," he confirmed, but still stopped by the coffee machine on his way. He needed his morning cup; he'd missed his first when he'd overslept. When he'd finally fallen asleep early in the morning, a new nightmare had begun. The pleasure he'd felt when he killed people as a vampire began to surface. He shuddered with both disgust and delight when he remembered the pure ecstasy of drinking blood. He forcefully pushed back the memory, and focused on the present.

"What's up, Captain?" he wondered as he plopped down on one of the visitor’s chairs. Sometimes, it was hard to tell if she was angry or not, but this was not such an occasion. He could see it in her eyes that she was mad as hell.

"Detective Griffin briefed me about your activities yesterday."

Peter gulped. He'd hoped to keep this to himself until he knew for sure how he'd play it. He had not planned to visit his father until later. "If this works, we might just get our murderer. A new vampire cult in town, and we got vampire murders. Makes sense to check them out, don't you think?" He tried his best to look and sound convincing.

"I agree, Detective. This just might be the break we've been waiting for."

"You don't object?" Peter was confused. With her smoldering anger, and Kermit so dead against it, he'd expected her to be against it too.

"Why should I? This sounds like a good initiative on your part, Caine."

She didn't know. Kermit hadn't told her the truth as he'd thought at first. She only knew the lie. He was relieved. The fewer who knew, the better; and the fewer would be in danger from the vampires.

"Kermit didn't particularly like the idea," he explained.

"I'm sure Kermit is just being careful. You do have a tendency to run off without backup. However, the commissioner will condone anything to get this guy. And I'm inclined to agree. If you think this cult has anything to do with the murders, you have my blessing."

"Thanks Captain." Peter was relieved, he'd expected to have to fight hard for this idea, and here he got free reign.

"Detective Griffin will assist you as your outside contact. I expect you to stay in frequent contact with him. No running off on your own, understood?"

Peter nodded gravely. He had no objections, though he knew there were things he could never tell either Kermit or the Captain. "There are some things I need to check up on first, but I expect I'll contact my source and set it all in motion tonight."

"Let us know when you begin." She nodded towards the door. "You are dismissed."

Peter left her office, wondering how the hell he could back out of this if his father didn't find a way to protect him. Could he back out?

Unable to concentrate on anything else, he began clearing his desk from the worst clutter. If all worked out well, he might not return in a while. He tried his best to ignore the others stares.

"Peter Caine, cleaning his desk!" Skalany teased. "What did she do? Fire you?"

"Why don't you ask her?" he quipped back.

"No," Jody cut in. "If she'd done that, he would have been outta here already. I vote for mandatory sick leave. You look like shit, pal!"

"None of the above," Kermit cut in when he passed them on his way to his office.

"Okay, okay, I have a new assignment," Peter confessed.

"You know we can't talk about this," Kermit reprimanded them all sternly.

Peter nodded. "Reminds me, I have an appointment. I'll talk to you later, Kermit."

Finally, he was out of there. Peter stood outside and looked at the old place for a while. Would he ever return?

~~~

Caine held out two small jade amulets in his palm. “The Shambhala Masters gave me these. They will link us together when our connection is lost, and they will prevent the vampire demon from possessing you completely."

Peter picked up one of them by the sturdy gold chain looped through it. He studied it carefully as it slowly rotated in front of him. It reminded him of his grandfather’s old amulet, the one that had thwarted the evil his uncle Damon had tried to unleash. Carefully, he let it come to rest on his palm. “Whoa!” It tingled pleasantly against his skin. “It’s alive.”

Caine silently put his around his neck and Peter did the same. It still tingled pleasantly and it made him feel better about what he was about to do. “Are you sure this is enough to protect me?” he couldn’t help asking. Somehow it seemed too small and insignificant, in spite of the tingle of energy.

Caine made a kind of half nod. “They said the best protection is awareness. Last time you followed your instincts, you did not know to fight them. This time you know what to expect, and you have the desire to fight the darkness that will come over you.”

Peter squeezed the amulet and nodded. “I will be careful, father. But, if something goes wrong I want you to take me out, don’t let me get lost in the dark.” It was a very real possibility that he would, if the amulet wasn’t strong enough.

“Do not worry, my son. I will do my best to protect you, even if we are no longer connected.”

“Promise?”

Caine nodded gravely. “I promise.”

“Good enough for me.” Peter buttoned up his shirt and took a deep breath to get ready. All he could do now was ignore the bad feeling in his gut, and hope the precautions were enough.

~~~

“There he is now,” Terry called out with a loud whisper and a nod towards the club entrance, interrupting Peter’s gloomy thoughts of blood and death.

Peter emptied the shot of vodka he’d ordered to calm his nerves as he could actually feel the other vampire approach him from behind. A chill went through his body when he realized there was something very familiar about the buzz he felt down his spine when the vampire closed in on him. He was amazed he could feel him at all, even Terry seemed perfectly human.

By the time the vampire reached the bar, Terry had already poured a glass with fresh warm blood. Peter set the shot glass down and reached for the glass with a very full bodied red wine that Terry had given him. He had wanted a beer, but changed his mind to at least blend in a little with the crowd. The vampire didn’t look anything like he had expected. The tall blond man, dressed in a very expensive black suit, looked very young and fit, not at all unlike Peter himself.

What set this man, or vampire, apart was the aura of evil that surrounded him. There was something in the very presence of the man that made the hairs on Peter’s neck stand erect. The amulet from Shambhala seemed to squirm against his skin. This was definitely the ancient evil Terry had described. “God help me,” Peter thought.

The evil one drank the blood in one gulp. Then he directed his attention towards Peter. The two icy blue orbs seemed to see right through him. “How intriguing,” the vampire said with little more than a whisper, but the words never the less echoed through Peter’s whole being. “A vampire who returned to humanity, and he’s family too…”

Peter gulped, unable to break eye contact. “Hi, I’m Peter,” he responded lamely. What did the guy mean about him being family? How had he even known he'd been a vampire before? Suddenly, the amulet around his neck felt very inadequate to protect him. At least, the guy had not torn his shirt open to see what he had around his neck.

“So, this is the cop you told me about, Terry,” the vampire mused, looking over Peter again. Peter couldn’t help feeling like a piece of meat under the harsh scrutiny.

Peter gaped at Terry. Had he manipulated him into this meeting from the beginning? He felt like a child, with the adults talking over his head as if he wasn’t there at all. What was going on?

“Come, let’s go upstairs, shall we?” the ancient vampire said with a too friendly smile, as he wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulders. “We have things to discuss.”

Peter looked helplessly at Terry when he was lead away. But Terry only laughed; he looked way too pleased with himself. Peter had wanted an introduction and boy had he gotten one.

Part 3

Not counting the basement where the club was located, the old building had five floors, which was more than many other buildings in Chinatown. The vampire led Peter into the rickety old elevator and pushed the button for the top floor.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief when the squeaky ride came to a stop and he could step out onto a surprisingly soft carpet. He looked around, surprised at the luxury that surrounded them. “Nice…” he mumbled, before he was pushed forward towards a door at the other end of the large lounge they had entered.

“Let’s take care of the essentials first, shall we?”

“Okay…” Peter had to agree, wondering what essentials he was talking about. He was beginning to get irritated at himself for being such a wimp. When had he ever blindly followed someone like he was doing now? Not a word of protest had come over his lips even though every cell in his body screamed for him to run, run as fast as his heart was already racing. He had not even tried to squirm out of the firm hand on his shoulder. The power this vampire possessed seemed to suppress all such actions. How would he ever be able to fight this kind of power? He could only hope the protective measures he had gone through would help him stay sane and on the right side of evil.

On the other side of the door was a spacious office. “Make yourself comfortable,” the vampire commanded as he pushed Peter in the general direction of one of the visitor’s chairs which were in front of the huge black desk.”

Peter sank down into one of the comfortable black leather chairs without protest. Nervously running his hands up and down his legs, he was unable to take his eyes off his host. He studied him as he opened a large refrigerator hidden behind a panel in the wall. He gulped nervously when he saw the vampire grab two large gallon jugs with blood. This wasn’t good, not good at all.

Within the blink of an eye the vampire was no longer across the room. Peter had time to spot a pair of glowing eyes before the vampire struck. He was strong and merciless. Peter couldn’t escape the deadly fangs buried into his neck. He cried out in agony, but the first excruciating pain soon turned into lazy dizziness when he lost more and more blood. He couldn’t stay awake. He would sleep now and it would all be over. “I’m sorry, Pop…” echoed though his mind as he was wrapped in darkness.

Drops of fire, of power and light called out to him. He reached out, held onto the fiery power, and sucked it into him. He let it lead him out of the dreaded darkness. The pure power ran down his throat, fed his starving body, and changed everything he was in the process. The change came quickly and effortlessly, in a moment he was fully awake. Instantly, he reached for the blood his new father handed him.

Peter smiled when he put the empty bottle down on the desk in front of him. “I forgot how good it feels to be a vampire,” he said contentedly. He licked the last drops of blood from his fangs and lips as he sank back into the chair with a sigh. He felt no regret about the change. “It’s good to be back.”

“From the eagerness you embraced my gift; I take it you didn’t go back voluntarily?”

“You could say I was tricked. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to return for a while now,” Peter lied smoothly. The reason behind his eagerness was more along the lines of getting rid of the guilt and pain he’d suffered since he found out how many he had killed as a vampire. “Thank you.” This felt so much better. The nagging guilt was gone, as if it had never existed.

~~~

Caine gasped and grabbed the table in front of him to steady himself when the link to his son was torn away from him. He knew it would happen, but it was still a shock to lose that comforting presence in his mind. “My son…I wish there had been another way…”

He hoped the amulets were enough to keep Peter safe from the evil that normally ruled the vampire’s mind. Peter had never put his trust in the mystical Shambhala Masters like he had done this time. He had trusted them to keep him safe from evil. All he could do now was pray that it had been enough.

With a weakened sigh, he sank down onto the floor to meditate, to try and regain his balance without the strength of his son to back him up. He lit the candles around him one by one, imagining that each tiny flame made the darkness Peter walked in a little lighter.

~~~

Peter silently studied the man, the vampire, in front of him. The aura of evil that had surrounded him downstairs was gone. If anything, he projected a feeling of affection and friendliness. "I'm Chaar, and I'm the Master of this lair," the vampire said with a relaxed smile. Strange name, how old could he be?

"I'm Peter Caine, but you already knew that. What am I doing here, other than to satisfy your curiosity?" he better ask the questions while the guy was in a friendly mood. Who knew what he'd do if he found out why Peter was really there.

Chaar laughed, this time the cold undertones Peter had sensed before was gone. "There's no need to be defensive, my son. We're family now." Why did it feel so good to hear him say that?

"Okay," Peter nodded, unable to suppress a smile of his own. "Why am I family now, and not your evening snack?" He found he wasn't under some spell anymore, he could talk freely. All the questions he had wanted to ask on the way up from the club came to the surface.

"All right, I will explain. But first, let's have some more to drink." Chaar took the time to walk over to the bar and retrieve two labeled bottles. He opened them with an old fashioned cork screw before he grabbed two wine glasses and returned to the desk. Peter didn't remember him getting the other bottle he'd been given, but then he'd been very occupied with the transformation.

Peter immediately reached for the glass and bottle when Chaar set them down in front of him. The blood called out to him from the opened bottle. He had not realized he was already hungry again. "Thanks, Chaar."

"While you have the aura, and the strength of a much older vampire, you are still young, Peter. Young vampires need to drink a lot the first couple days to make sure the transformation goes well."

So that was another thing he'd done wrong last time. He had practically starved the first couple days and he had not had human blood for months. No wonder he'd reacted so violently back then. It was strange, he didn't feel that unrestrained beast emerging at all this time, and this was clearly human blood he was drinking. "I transformed into a wild beast last time I was a vampire. Why am I still sitting here, sane and unaffected now?" he asked his new Master.

Chaar tilted his head, looking almost as curious as Peter. "That is one of the reasons why I decided to turn you back. When I saw you downstairs, you were clearly human, but you had the aura of a vampire. Most puzzling, wouldn't you say?"

How can that be? He had been human for over a year now. Had he kept some part of the vampire even through a filter like Shambhala? Whatever the reason, he better change the subject before Chaar found out more than he was prepared to share, even with a second father. "Maybe it was because I never really wanted to be human again. I kept what little I could, even if I wasn't aware of it."

"You will like the experience more this time I think. You will be stronger and in more control; which in turn will aid you in your mission here."

Peter arched his eyebrows in surprise. "You know why I'm here?"

"Of course I do. You are here to find the vampire killer. That is also the other reason I decided to take you in."

"Oh," Peter was still in shock. He had not expected this at all.

"We're no fools, Peter. In this day and age we can't risk getting exposed. Killing has been outlawed for decades. A murder attracts unwanted attention, fang marks or not. I want you to find out who the killer is. If it’s a member of the lair, I want to know."

Peter nodded, what Chaar said made perfect sense.

Chaar looked at his expensive gold watch. “I have another meeting. Why don’t you go rediscover what it’s like to be a vampire? I’ll see to that Black, my second in command, have a suite ready for you by dawn.” He pressed a button on the built in control board on the desk.

“Yes, Master?” a gruff voice immediately replied through hidden speakers in the desk.

“I have a job for you,” Chaar ordered, and cut the connection without even waiting for a reply. “Peter, I want you to know you have my full cooperation. Make friends among the people here. Do whatever you need to find the killer, he’s endangering us all.”

“Have no doubt,” Peter quipped back. Knowing he was dismissed, he put his glass down. "I'll do my best," he promised before he turned to leave the room.

As he swung the door open, he almost took a step back in surprise when he was faced by the chest of the tallest black man he had ever met. This had to be Black. He tilted his head back and almost stepped back again when his eyes met only a dark cold void in the man’s eyes. “Hi, I’m Peter.” He greeted with a forced smile, reaching out to shake the other’s hand.

Black didn’t respond as friendly, the only response the friendly greeting returned was a curtly nod as the tall man almost pushed him aside on his way into the office. Peter couldn’t suppress a shudder. Was this the kind of welcome he’d receive from everyone here? He sure hoped not.

Peter leaned back on the other side of the closed door, relieved he was still alive. He knew the men in the room behind him were evil, but for now at least Chaar was on his side. Ironic, he would have thought he’d have to work alone in this once he was inside, but he had the support of the Master. Not that it would help much, everyone else was a suspect. He realized he didn't even know how many vampires lived there, the lounge was still empty.

Slightly nervous, he fingered the tips of his fangs before he let them disappear with the rest of his vampire visage. He would have to tell Kermit and the Captain, this wasn’t a change he could hide. How much should he tell them? If he said too much he wouldn’t be able to trust them anymore, he knew that much since the last time he’d been a vampire. At least, he was the only one with the power to restore Kermit’s memory, the old guy would only find out what he wanted him to. The best would probably be to only tell Kermit what had happened the last time around, and not actually give him the memories back. It would definitely be safer if Kermit didn’t know who had taken his and the others’ memories.

~~~

Chaar leaned back into his chair with an amused smile when Black entered the room. It would be interesting to watch Peter and Black interact. The two men were total opposites. Peter was open and friendly by default while Black was openly hostile and suspicious to anyone he didn’t know.

“So, that was our new local connection?” Black asked with a nod towards the door as he sat down into the chair Peter had just left.

Chaar nodded. “Yes. That was Peter Caine.”

“I thought you only choose new converts. Why this one?”

Chaar smiled again, even Black was falling for the illusion of strength and age radiating from Peter. Good, that would make the former cop’s secret assignment so much easier. “I’m very pleased he agreed to join us, Black. He has friends among both cops and criminals in this city. He will certainly be more useful to us in the initial stages of the invasion than any new convert would. Peter already knows what it means to handle humans on a daily basis.” He had not told Peter about the other job he had in mind for him yet. He would be a key player in their mission to take over the city’s world of crime. He’d let Peter settle in a little before he told him.

“How can you be sure he will be loyal? He has no ties to you, or this lair,” Black objected.

“Oh, he is connected. He’s Moura’s convert.” A connection he would have to investigate further later. Something in Peter’s eyes told him of great sadness regarding her. Maybe she was indeed gone forever this time?

“Okay, Master,” Black agreed, but looked less than convinced that Peter could be trusted.

“Don’t worry about him, Black. No questions or prying into his private affairs, understand? I want you to make him feel welcome here. Give him the full VIP treatment with private suite on this floor.” Chaar appreciated Black’s devotion to his and the lair’s well being, but sometimes he was going overboard with the security measures.

Black grumbled again. “Yes, Master. I’ll try to curb my suspicious nature around Caine. You better be right about him.”

“Don’t worry about it. He won’t be operating alone; I will assign Amadeus as his partner.”

“Good. But don’t forget to tell Amadeus to watch his back, will you?” Black turned and left the room. Chaar could hear him mumbling until the door slammed shut behind the tall man.

He wondered what was going on with Black; he’d been moody and more violent than usual since they arrived in the city. Black was an expert when it came to security. He had been the first to report the rumors about vampire killings, but he had dismissed them as rumors. Normally, Chaar would just mention any concern to Black and the problem was gone. This time Black had not done a very good job of finding out the identity of the murderer, the killings continued. The lack of progress in the police investigation told of vampire involvement.

Chaar was certain he’d made the right decision to bring in a new guy to do the investigating this time. He looked forward to getting to know Peter Caine better. Something about the young one seemed to stay hidden even through the conversion. Strangely enough, he couldn’t read his mind as he could with so many other converts. Maybe it was Moura’s influence; he had never been able to read her mind either. Whatever the reason, the man was a mystery.

~~~

“Dammit, Peter, why do you always have to run head first into trouble?” Kermit cursed to himself when he realized Peter wasn’t coming back out from the club.

With a tired sigh he made himself a bit more comfortable in the seat of the anonymous looking surveillance vehicle. Whatever happened, as long as Peter was still in there, he’d make sure he had backup if he needed it.

Several very Goth looking teenagers had come and gone since Peter entered the club, but so far nobody that could qualify as any type of leader. Maybe he was already in the building even though he had not seen anyone enter or leave the main part of the building. He should have taken the time needed to find the blueprints to the building, he hated being in the dark when it came to the layout of the enemy base.

“Kermit!” came a loud whisper from right outside the window.

“Peter!” Kermit jumped in surprise, when he suddenly had Peter’s familiar face only inches from his own outside the car. How the hell had he gotten all the way across the street without him noticing?

“They’re for real,” was the first thing Peter said when he sank down into the seat next to Kermit. He looked strangely pale, as if the healthy August tan he’d entered the building with had somehow been washed off him while he was in there.

“What is? Did you get to meet the leader of the cult?”

“Yeah,” Peter said with a nod. “We’re in. As of an hour ago I’m the newest member of the cult. It’s just that they’re no cult. At least not in the sense we imagined. They are indeed vampires.”

Kermit looked again at his friend’s pale face. “Are you certain? They could be faking it, you know.”

“There’s something I need to tell you,” Peter began, and then hesitated again.

Kermit waited silently for Peter to get to the point.

“They’re not faking it. They are real vampires, Kermit. And I know that because…” he let the sentence trail and instead showed Kermit just why he knew they weren’t faking it. “…because they made me one, dammit!”

“Whoa!” Kermit took a deep breath of surprise. It didn’t matter how many eye witness accounts he’d read, and how he’d tried to warn Peter about their existence; he had not truly believed in them…till now. He didn’t care that he must look rather stupid, he gaped at Peter’s wild appearance.

Peter’s appearance melted back into his normal human face like some movie morphing effect. It was beyond everything he’d ever thought physically possible, but then again the very existence of vampires defied every law of nature he knew.

“Don’t worry, it’s not so bad,” Peter said with a crooked grin and a wink.

“But…you’re dead!”

Peter chuckled. “Peter Caine, walking, talking corpse. Happy to meet you.”

“Can we be serious here for a moment,” Kermit urged with a growl of his own. He just couldn’t see the humor in the situation. His best friend had just been turned into some supernatural being, and he actually seemed to like the situation.

“I am serious, Kermit. This really isn’t so bad. My father and I took some precautions, and they paid off nicely. While my body and mind have turned into that of a vampire, I’m not evil.”

“I don’t understand how you can be this calm.”

Peter sighed. “I’ve been a vampire before Kermit. During the time I lost, I was a vampire. When pop cured me, they took my memory. Whatever happens during this case, my father can bring me back to humanity again.”

“You mean the vampire I did research on was ‘you’?” Suddenly everything he'd read in the report made sense; the headaches and Peter's memory loss too. He should have guessed.

“Yes, and you got a bit too close to the truth to be allowed to remember it.”

“If it's so important to keep it secret, why are you even telling me now?”

“Because it serves a purpose. We’re on a case. I need your help. Besides, I can always fix your memory later.”

Kermit got a chill down his spine at the cavalier attitude. “Listen to yourself, Peter! Yesterday you wouldn’t wish it upon your worst enemy to lose his memory, and now you’re talking about it as if it was common practice.”

“It is common practice, Kermit. We do it all the time. It’s a necessity if we want to survive.”

“And keeping vampires alive is a good thing?”

“Perhaps not,” Peter mused. “But the world isn’t ready for something like this to come out. My Master may be evil, but he’s also a realist. He too wants these vampire murders stopped. I think he suspects it’s someone in the vampire community, but he’s not getting anywhere in his investigation. Even if they fear his power, they’re not likely to tell him anything to their disadvantage. So, no matter what you think of my change, it will help us with the case. I can walk freely among them when I investigate.”

“This is crazy!” was all Kermit could reply. He didn’t like to admit it, but the more Peter talked, the more sense it all made.

“It’ll be okay, Kermit. I promise you won’t find any dead bodies with my fang marks on them.”

“I better not. This will be difficult enough to tell the Captain tomorrow. What am I going to tell her?” How do I tell her that her hotshot detective has turned into a creature of the night?

“Tell her I’m working undercover, that’s what I am doing after all. She doesn’t need to know the other part, does she?”

“As long as you have the situation, and yourself under control, maybe not. But the moment I even suspect you’ve turned on us…” He ended the sentence with his usual frown. The kid’s attitude was starting to grate on his nerves. When would he ever start taking things seriously?

“Uh, I do hope you realize that I will have to act the part. While I can promise you there will be no dead bodies, I can’t promise you there won’t be bites.”

“Okay, okay, undercover is undercover. I’ve been forced to do some pretty nasty things myself to keep my cover in my old career.” He suppressed a shudder at the thought.

“Oh this will be a pleasure, Kermit,” Peter said with a glimmer in his eyes that made Kermit’s heart skip a beat and the hairs on his neck stand erect. That was the vampire talking, and it immediately made Kermit uncomfortable.

“Get out of my car, you blood sucking monster. Get back to your coffin,” Kermit barked, when Peter showed him his fangs again.

“Later, Kermit,” Peter quipped and was gone.

Kermit stared incredulously at the empty seat. How did he do that? One moment he was in the car, and the next he was gone. The street was empty, at least as far as the light from the street lights reached. Kermit shuddered, rarely had he felt so helpless, and so uncertain if to trust a friend. Peter had promised, but could he really trust the word of a vampire? He hoped he didn’t make the wrong decision when he trusted Peter.

~~~

The meeting with Kermit had gone better than Peter had expected. He’d shocked Kermit enough to keep him away from the more sensitive subjects. But he had no illusions he wouldn’t be against the wall next time, answering some very uncomfortable questions.

Dawn was near, and he reluctantly descended from high above the city. Chaar's second in command waited for him when he expertly landed on the roof of the building. “About time,” the man grouched irritably.

“Sunrise is minutes away,” Peter couldn’t help quip back when Black turned without a word. Something about the man’s whole appearance rubbed him the wrong way.

Peter quit trying to be friendly and followed him down the stairs from the roof. No small talk with this guy. He wondered what kind of accommodation he’d get. A dorm room or a private suite? The lounge spoke of luxury and ample space to socialize, but also no privacy.

“Chaar ordered me to give you a suite fitting a senior associate. You have suite number two,” he said, pointing towards the far right corner of the lounge, and then he was gone.

Surprised at the favorable location of his new home, Peter briefly wondered if Black’s attitude was due to the fact that he so easily had waltzed right in and gained Chaar’s trust. He’d been surprised when Chaar had told him that he had the aura of a much older vampire. He guessed the reason behind that was his Shaolin training and the fact that he’d been a vampire before. He intended to use it to his advantage around the lair, whatever the reason behind it.

With a leisurely yawn, he released control of his appearance. His fangs dropped down from their hidden location in his gums, and he could feel his face returning to its natural state. It was time to sleep. He headed for the suite. The power he had felt growing all evening was rapidly fading. The sun was rising, he could feel it like a heavy weight on his shoulders now that the change within was completing. By morning there would be nothing left of the human he’d been, he’d be one hundred percent vampire again. “Good!” he mumbled to himself.

Part 4

Peter grabbed one of the bottles from the fridge and a wine glass from the shelf above the sink. Having the first meal of the day was one of the things that still felt half normal. The only difference was that his diet now consisted of bottled human blood instead of fresh coffee and the good old cop donut.

He looked around the spacious suite he’d been given. It had three bedrooms, and shared a very comfortable living room area with a black leather couch and a big screen TV. So far he was the only occupant. The suite kitchen consisted of a basic sink and an open cupboard for bottles and glasses. At further investigation, he found a large cooler for long time storage hidden behind a panel in the wall next to the sink. The small fridge in his bedroom barely fit three bottles. It had to be for snack purposes only since any vampire drank that much or more in a day.

He didn’t much care how well equipped the suite was anyway. He was happy as long as the bed was comfortable and the room dark enough during the day. Indeed, the dark curtains were perfect to keep the sun from flooding the room through the large windows.

He sank down into the soft leather couch with a smile when he remembered Kermit’s remark from the other day. “Get back to your coffin!” He didn’t need one of course. A normal bed was all he required to sleep comfortably through the day, though he missed Moura in his arms now that he had his memory back.

A quick knock on the door reminded him that he had work to do. This was only an assignment, not his life anymore; though he knew he’d easily fit in if he wanted to. He had known from the start he couldn’t pretend to be one of them, he had to let the beast within not only come to the surface; he had to embrace it. Whatever happened, he would be prepared for any type of mischief they wanted him to play a part in. He had a suspicion they’d test his loyalties, and he’d make sure he passed that test. He hoped Kermit didn’t show up, he wouldn’t like what he saw. Hell, he knew he wouldn’t like what he had to do without the beast firmly in control either.

Relinquishing control was always difficult at first, but he knew it was the key to ultimately staying himself in the end. The two parts of him had to meld together and make a happy union. His father had helped him realize that evil was a choice, a choice he need not pick. He could choose another path. That path may lead through a dark alley, or a light sunny park, but both lead to the same goal. He could almost hear his father’s voice. “Keep one eye on the goal, my son. It will take you longer to reach your destination, but you will not get lost.”

When he had been a kid, and most his life since then, he had wanted to reach his destination as fast as he could. This time though, he’d have to be patient and give himself a lot of time. He’d be human again, and these vampires would cease to exist, but until that time he would have to be one of them.

Why did he always have to take the hardest of paths?

“Peter? Are you awake?” The knock on his door returned with an eagerness that betrayed a mission, and not just a visit to the new guy. It was time to get going. He left the glass in the sink, as he passed it on the way to the door.

He swung the door open and greeted the young looking woman on the other side with one of his most winning smiles. “Hey babe, what’s up?”

~~~

When Karen Simms opened her office door to leave for the evening, the bullpen outside was quiet but for one very busy detective. Caine.

“Detective Caine?” she interrupted his eager hacking at the computer terminal. “I didn’t expect you back here for a while.”

He swung around on his chair, and leaned back in an almost indecent manner. “Captain,” he said with a grin and a look that made the skin on her arms crawl. “I had some research to do, and it’s not like I can do it where they can trace anything back to me.”

“That’s what we have got Kermit for,“ she countered. “Just tell him what you need.”

“That’s okay, Captain. I don’t mind.”

Now he focused solely on her and she felt a pressing need to take one step back. Something about him had changed radically. Angry at herself for being such a wimp, she took a resolute breath. This was Peter Caine, not some stranger walking towards her in a dark alley downtown. Still, she had to fight to keep her voice normal. “They won't think it's strange that you are here?”

“Actually, no, they know exactly who I am. They think I’m here to quit and set up a channel of information.” He was off the chair and directly in front of her before she had time to even react. She backed up a half step in surprise. She had no idea anyone could move that fast. He handed her a neatly printed paper. “Here’s the resignation part. Make sure it’s processed if they check up on it. I will take care of the informant part when I see Kermit later.”

“I will take care of it, detective.” She turned to put it on her desk.

When she turned back, he was gone. She hadn’t even heard him move. Something wasn't right with her young detective; this wasn't the Peter Caine she knew. He had a whole new confidence, and a most unnerving way of looking at her. She had always liked Peter Caine, and felt very comfortable and safe around him. But now she had to suppress a shudder when she even thought of being alone with him again. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what was different, but something in the way he had looked at her made her skin crawl. She hugged her arms around her and noticed that every hair on her arms were still standing erect.

“Don’t get in too deep, Peter. We want you back when all this is over,“ she said with a whisper to the empty room.

~~~

"What's up with Detective Caine?" The Captain asked when Kermit entered her office.

She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Uh oh, Peter must have been there. Damn, he had hoped to be able to warn her about him first. "That's what I'm here to talk about, Captain." He used her title on purpose, even if they were on a first name basis after hours. They had grown closer lately, though not as close as some of their coworkers wanted to believe. But their friendship had to take a back seat for the moment, what was going on with Peter needed his full attention.

"When he was here earlier to turn in his resignation, he acted like a stranger. His whole demeanor seemed different. What's going on, Kermit?"

He squirmed, he'd been debating with himself ever since Peter had told him what had happened. Should he tell her, or not? He took a deep breath, and tried to ignore his sweaty palms. "Do you believe in Vampires?" he blurted out before he could change his mind again and just say Peter was only acting the part.

"Of course not, don’t be silly. I thought we agreed this cult is only a bunch of kids going too far with pretending to be vampires?"

He shook his head, sighed, and sank down into one of the chairs. This was going to be a long night.

~~~

“Hey Terry, what’s up?” Peter greeted when he sat down at the same spot by the bar he had occupied only days before as a human being.

Terry looked at him a tad nervously. “Heya Peter,” he greeted back. “What’ll it be tonight?”

Peter chuckled. Terry should be nervous; he’d played a dangerous double play. But the demon part of Peter made him unable to feel any regret; quite the opposite. He felt better than he had in a long time. “Why don’t we share a bottle of your finest? I’m back, and you’re the one who made it possible. I feel like celebrating.”

“You’re not mad at me for telling Chaar about you?” Terry still looked nervous.

“Hell no! This is exactly what I wanted. It feels great to be a vampire again.” He surprised not only Terry with those words. He had not dared admit it even to himself how good it felt when the demon became an integral part of who he was.

“But I thought you hated it?” Terry replied with a puzzled frown.

“I did. But it’s different this time,” he replied, thinking back how the transformation had plagued him last time.

Terry put two glasses on the counter in between them and poured them both a healthy amount of blood from the dark bottle. “Different? In what way?”

“Remember when you first introduced me to human blood? I went crazy. I roamed the streets like some wild animal with no control at all.”

“Yeah,” Terry nodded. “It happens to us all. The beast emerges.”

“Well, this time around that part never happened. There’s no savage beast lurking beneath the surface, threatening to take over. There’s only me, Peter Caine now.”

Terry now looked even more confused when Peter emptied the glass and still remained as calm and focused. “But you have turned, I can sense it.”

“Oh yeah, I’m a vampire in every sense of the word. The difference is that this time I’m the one in control, not the beast. There’s no difference between me now and when I’m all ‘vamped out’. I decide when I change, not the kind of blood I drink.”

“Amazing. That sort of thing usually isn’t possible until you’re centuries old.”

“I have my father to thank for this. You were right; he had a way to protect me. While I’m far from the Peter Caine I was as a human, I’m not a beast either. The change is not as violent, but it’s still as complete. I haven’t lost focus on the mission, but my priorities are different now.”

“I agree, no matter who you were as a human, you change when you become a vampire. You’d be surprised if you knew how many vampires were holy men as mortals. And then they became the most vicious of beasts. Do your old friends at the precinct know about your change?”

“Nope.” And he had no plans to ever let them know either. “No need to worry them without reason. Besides, I wouldn’t want them to turn on me, would I?”

Terry smiled back and raised his glass in a toast. “Welcome back, and I hope this time for good.”

“Forever.” Peter said in agreement and the both of them emptied their glasses.

Terry had just refilled their glasses when a familiar voice interrupted them. “What are you two celebrating? I had no idea you started working here, Terry.”

“Kermit!” Peter hadn’t noticed the familiar heartbeat among the other human hearts through the blaring music designed to hide any sensitive discussions between vampires.

“Beer,” Kermit ordered and climbed on a chair next to Peter.

“Just my return to vampirism,” Peter said with a smile devised to confuse his friend.

“Is that really something to celebrate?” Peter could see Kermit’s surprise when he realized just who Peter’s vampire contact was, but he didn’t comment on it.

“Depend on how you look at it I suppose.” Peter looked inward and felt the power of the vampire surge though his veins. Yes, it was definitely worth celebrating.

He knew his eyes glowed when he looked up at Kermit again. “But no matter how ‘you’ look at it, ‘I’ like the change.”

Kermit shook his head and sighed visibly. “I know you told me this might happen, and I shouldn’t worry. Do I have reason to be concerned about you?”

“Being a vampire is seductive, Kermit. And while I do enjoy the good sides of the experience I have no intention of continuing on any longer than I have to.”

Kermit didn’t look convinced.

“You have my word, Kermit. When all this is over, I will let my father return me to mortality.”

He’d told Terry and Kermit different stories, and though Terry had heard what he told Kermit, he would not take it as truth. Lying to humans was something vampires did easily. And this lie was right in line with what he’d talked to Terry about before Kermit arrived. Keep the humans in the dark.

But he had indeed told Kermit the truth. He did intend to return when the case was over, no matter how good it felt to be a vampire. It wasn’t the destiny he wanted.

Terry filled up his glass once again and they drank in silence for a while.

“I heard you turned in your resignation the other night,” Kermit began conversationally.

“Yeah. If I’m to make a believable vampire, I can’t continue on as a cop.”

“I know, but did you have to spook the Captain in the process?”

Peter had to laugh at his expression. “Can I help it that she likes dangerous men?”

Kermit glared at him. “Just tone down the alien charm next time, will ya? You scared her. I can tell.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll try to be more ‘human’ next time.”

“So, what’s our next move?”

Peter looked around. The place was beginning to fill up. They couldn’t afford to be overheard when it came to that part of their collaboration. “Let’s take that discussion outside, shall we?”

Kermit nodded, and emptied the last of his beer, as Peter did the same with his blood.

“Later, Terry.“ He nodded towards the bartender before he turned towards the exit.

“We have a vampire suspect to kill,” Peter said when they were seated in the car outside.

“Who?”

“She’s ninety two but she looks and acts like a teenager. She willingly confessed to me that she kills. Not these specific ones, but she’s guilty of a number of others.” Peter had been amazed how quickly she had opened up to him earlier that night. She had confessed what she was up to without any second thoughts. She didn’t suspect that he wasn't who he pretended to be.

“She’ll kill again if we don’t stop her?”

“Definitely. It’s a way of life she’s adopted over the years. She charms old men, and drains their lives away.” It was strange how someone living off men's foolishness, would be so trusting among her own kind. It was also strange how Chaar or Black never found out when she had told the new guy almost immediately. No wonder Chaar had trouble finding the vampire killer on his own.

“Even old men are human beings. We can’t allow her to continue like that, Peter.”

“You have no qualms about killing her without any type of evidence or trial?” For Peter as a vampire it was not a problem, but Kermit was still human. If he had still been human, it wouldn't have been as easy to take a life, guilty of murder or not.

“I'll take your word for it. If you say she did this, she did. You know as well as I that no justice system will ever be able to catch her.” Peter looked at his friend; he looked more like a mercenary on a mission than a doubtful cop.

“True, your database is certainly evidence of that. Witness reports from people who don’t even remember writing those entries. We both know how efficient the vampire's mind tricks are.” Their power over humans are vast, but in this time and age with all the recording technology available, they can never feel entirely safe. Without knowing it, Kermit had stumbled on their biggest weakness when he found the info in that secret database. They could use a computer expert like Kermit on their side.

Kermit looked grim as he checked his weapon one extra time; though he should know it wouldn't make much of an impact against a vampire. “Just make certain about their deeds and their true age. If they can be brought back to humanity, let’s do that. If not, they’re history.”

“We have to be careful though. If even one gets away from us 'we' are history.” This was risky business, that's for sure. One slip, and he would be killed as a traitor. Not even Chaar would be able protect him if they found out he was hunting other vampires.

“You think the big guy you mentioned, has anything to do with this?”

Peter shook his head. Chaar was not the one they were looking for. “No, he’s as upset about this as we are. It seems the way of the vampire has changed a lot the last decades. Where it once was rule to kill for food, they now take great care not to make any move that might set the humans on the right track to discovering our existence. We own blood banks and organize drives to collect blood from all over the country.”

“But you weren’t that careful last time, were you?”

“No, I guess not." Peter looked away from his friend's accusing eyes. He was unable to feel any regret now, but there had been so many mistakes the last time around. "But you see, Moura left this guy, and didn’t want to be involved in that kind of organization anymore. She never told me the rules they live by. She said she wanted to be free.” It was a freedom that had ended up costing them both more than they were willing to pay.

“Then this Chaar must have seen her as a threat, yet he took you in, no questions asked.”

“Well, while she did run away from him, she was his favorite daughter. He could sense the link within me to her; it made him curious how it could be that I was human again.”

“We will just have to take advantage of that curiosity as long as we can, and make sure we find the killer before he finds out what we're up to, won’t we?” Kermit said with a grim smile.

“Oh yeah,” Peter echoed his friend’s usual response. If he could manage to walk the fine line. Even contemplating going against his master and father made a part of him protest wildly. He didn’t tell Kermit how easy it would be for him to turn.

Kermit was about to talk again when Peter hushed him with a hand to his arm. “Someone’s coming,“ he whispered.

It was her, the girlie vampire they needed to kill. At least they were having some luck. He had wondered how he’d manage to lure her into the alley, and here she was now. “Get the stake ready,” Peter continued with a hushed whisper, as they both left the car.

“Are you sure we need to kill her? She looks awfully young.” Kermit whispered back.

“She’s ninety two, Kermit. She wouldn’t survive Shambhala.”

Both of them expertly melted into the shadows to watch the vampire girl walk closer.

Peter smiled and put some distance between himself and Kermit. His dormant hunting instincts kicked in at the sight of his prey and he didn’t need Kermit’s enticing heartbeat that close. Besides, he could see the girl already homing in on it as well. This was a situation not even the old mercenary could hide from. At least not as long as his heart was beating.

Kermit noticed it too, Peter saw him reach for the stake when she came closer.

“I’m never gonna get used to this age thing,” Kermit mumbled and hid the stake behind his back as he stepped out into the alley. The mere fact that he was human and present in the secluded back alley would attract her attention.

Peter watched hidden in the shadows while Kermit stumbled forwards, pretending to be drunk, something he was strangely good at, considering that Peter had never actually seen him drunk. Kermit would make a great actor if he ever wanted a change in careers.

As predicted, before he’d taken more than a dozen steps, she was upon him, intent upon having a free snack. But, her fangs never got as far as making contact with Kermit’s neck; Peter grabbed her forcefully from behind and holding her arms locked behind her back, he buried his own fangs into her neck with a most satisfying growl. The hunger for blood flared up and he drank deeply, even as Kermit plunged the wooden stake right through her heart.

Peter licked his fangs with a satisfied sigh on his lips when he dropped the dying girl on the ground. She sank to her knees, a surprised look in her glimmering eyes before they lost their color, and her whole body melted into ashes. Then she was gone. It was an amazing sight. It both terrified and relieved Peter to see how easily they could be destroyed. A stake through the heart and they were gone.

Claudia had been a warm and caring individual, someone he might have liked and made friends with, and now she was dead. Her only crime; being a vampire and living off fresh human blood. It was hard, until now he had not realized just how hard this assignment would be.

Saving someone, returning them to humanity was one thing; ending their existence was quite another.

Peter slowly picked up the used stake. “Good job, Kermit!” he acknowledged, turning away from the utter look of disgust present on his friend’s face. He also had to turn away to hide the look of pure hunger that was still present in his eyes. Vampire blood may be delicious, but it didn’t sate the hunger. He aimed towards the opening of the alley and started walking.

“Peter? Wait up!” Kermit called out from behind.

“I’m sorry, Kermit. I gotta go,“ he grunted without looking back. He couldn’t let Kermit know how he was changing. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

He heard a questioning “Are you okay?” from behind as he took to the air just before he reached the end of the alley. He would never let Kermit know how much he enjoyed being a vampire again. It was an admission that would serve him better not told.

Part 5

It was easy for Peter to embrace the hunger. With the blood supply in the lounge in mind, he used the roof access to the lair. Hunger was something that overcame a vampire easily, something the others would understand and identify with. More than a few went directly for the refrigerator when they returned to the lair.

Wordlessly, with a large glass of blood in hand, he threw himself in one of the many couches in the main room. There, he could observe what was going on and get to know the others in a relaxed environment. The bar downstairs was way too loud and humans too close. Also, he’d found it very interesting to observe how the other vampires interacted without fear of any outsiders watching. Some showed their real selves, while others kept their human faces. Peter still felt mainly human. He hoped someone would slip and say something that could put him on the right track to find out which one of them was the killer.

Peter had barely sat down before the elevator doors cranked open across the room. Two very familiar faces stepped out; Clarence Choi and Jack Wong. Their entrance caused quite a stir among the vampires in the room; this was not a place humans should walk into without a vampire as chaperone. Luckily for the visitors, Chaar came out of his office to meet his guests before anyone had the chance to intercept them.

Peter tried his best to make himself invisible, almost succeeding. When they were about to enter his office, Chaar called out a command to Peter. “Peter, why don’t you join us?”

“Sure, Boss,” Peter groaned, “be right there.” Inwardly, he cursed his bad luck, but decided he better act the part. He lazily got out of the couch and sauntered into the room. Two pairs of very surprised eyes immediately locked on to him.

“Hi guys,” Peter greeted, as he shut the door behind him.

The looks on their faces were priceless; surprise, disbelief and in Jack Wong’s case: fear. Jack knew exactly what Peter Caine was capable of since Debville, even though he had not been allowed to know about the vampire part.

“Caine? What are you doing here? The word is that you’re back on the police force,” Jack wondered while Clarence was squinting suspiciously at Peter.

Peter flashed his most wicked smile. “I always liked being a cop,” he said, hinting at the truth behind the rumor.

“Peter is my eyes and ears in the community,” Chaar cut in. “And as such he will be the one you contact from now on.”

“But…” Clarence objected.

“You thought you would be dealing directly with the boss?” Chaar sneered with such vehemence the two humans simultaneously took a step back. Peter loved seeing them at the disadvantage, a nice change of roles. They were usually the ones who were the intimidators.

“Yes…” they began before they were cut off again.

“You thought wrong!” Chaar’s anger was like a visible force stabbing at the two human visitors.

Again they stepped back, this time right into Peter’s arms. With one arm around each, Peter pushed them forwards again with a little more force than he really needed. “Have a seat,” he ordered the two. This was fun; these two had loved to make his life miserable when he’d been a ‘real’ cop. He enjoyed this, and had no second thoughts about toying a bit with them. He walked around the desk, and leaned casually against the wall behind Chaar, trying to not look too amused.

“Gentlemen,” Chaar continued, this time a little less hostile. “Do as you are told and this joint venture will become equally profitable for all of us.”

“We’re not yours to command, dammit!” Jack Wong grouched. “Who do you think you are to come breezing into town and think you can take over?”

Peter smiled, Jack sure had spunk. Not even he had been able to argue under Chaar’s powerful gaze.

“So, what you are saying is that you will NOT comply?” Chaar said with a too smooth voice that made the skin crawl down Peter’s undead back even if he was not the target of his Master's attention. But Jack only blinked once or twice. It could be that Jack was used to dealing with the just as creepy and dangerous Bon Bon Hai on a daily basis.

“Our boss is second to none,” Jack stated. “He sent us here tonight to let you know he’s more than willing to set up something new with you, but there will be no taking orders, or percentage of our existing operations.”

Chaar grinned evilly. “All right, if that is the way you like it.” He rose. “You’re dismissed.”

The two thugs were at the door in no time at all; obviously very aware of the danger they were in, even though they had no idea of the exact nature of it.

“And don’t bother to come back here again, we will let you know what happens when you disobey my orders,” Chaar called out after them. When the two had disappeared, he turned towards Peter. “You know them, don’t you?”

“Yes, they belong to the local crime lord Bon Bon Hai. You might say we have some history. The main thing with them is that they don’t think on their own, they’re firmly under their Master’s control.” Not that they wouldn't take any opportunity to make a cops life miserable on their own when they could.

“I’m sorry to burden you with even more work, Peter, but I need you to set the others into the picture. It would save us a lot of work. I had not expected to have such an excellent local insider when I got here.” Chaar smiled, and Peter felt a wave of what must be appreciation drift his way.

“That’s okay. The more I interact with the others, the better chance I have to catch our sloppy killer. Besides, I’d love to see Bon Bon Hai squirm a bit.” It was true, he'd love to have a chance to get back at his old enemy. What good was all this power if you couldn't use it to your advantage?

“Good, I’ll let the others know you will be in charge of this part of the operation to begin with.”

“What’s the plan? It would help to know the goal if we’re to make their lives miserable.” To be honest, even if Chaar had hinted what he was up to, he had never really gone into any details.

“We make them pay us to let them even continue operation. We usually take over everything by means of controlling their leader. We don’t get involved in the daily operations at all, we just reap the benefits. When we’ve milked as much as we can from the local crime lords, we move on. On occasion, when one of them tries to resist, we make sure the police shut down one part of their operation at a time. We continue until they bend, or we let them break.”

“So, if we don't get what we want, we do society a service. I'm cool with that. I'd love to leave town knowing they're all shut down. It will be very interesting to see how Bon Bon Hai reacts. He's been in league with the Dark Warrior for a couple years now. He was given more power than even my Pop could handle. He might even try to retaliate.”

“Indeed…” Chaar mused. “Then he might just be the challenging adversary I had hoped for.”

“You still think he’ll crack?”

“It doesn’t matter how strong they are personally when their organization starts to break up, and it will.”

“My old Captain will be happy." Peter chuckled. "If I hadn't quit, I would probably have gotten a promotion for this." Captain Simms would definitely learn to love him when he started giving her all she needed to shut down a huge part of the city's drug operations. Hell, maybe the Mayor would give him a medal for it too.

“We’re vampires, we use whatever resources are available. Be it Police or Crime Lords, we own the night, and the right to dominate those inferior humans." Chaar rose from his chair, and started moving towards his living quarters beyond the office. The meeting was over. "Talk to Amadeus, Peter, he knows how to set things in motion.”

“Then let’s get started,” Peter couldn’t help smiling in anticipation. If all this turned out well, Bon Bon Hai’s empire would be crushed, and any vampire casualties from his and Kermit’s hunts would be blamed on him. This would be fun, but it would also be for tomorrow, it was time to sleep.

“Good morning, Peter,” Chaar said, leaving Peter behind in the office.

"Good morning, Master," Peter replied, for a moment turning towards the large windows to watch the sunrise behind the safe glass. He felt much more hopeful that things would work out, than he had since this whole thing started. He might not be any closer to finding the killer, but he knew now that his decision to go back to this life wasn't for nothing.

He turned his back on the sun; it wasn't a part of his life anymore.

~~~

Kermit sat down a tad heavily on one of his Captain’s visitors chairs. Keeping up with Peter’s nocturnal habits, and still making an appearance at the precinct every day, was already starting to get to him. What happened to the time when he had managed days without any sleep at all?

“Are you okay?” Captain Simms asked when he leaned his head back against the wall in a manner he knew she’d see as uncharacteristic for him. He was too tired to keep up the façade.

“Nothing a couple hours of sleep wouldn’t cure,” he said with a sigh, closing his eyes briefly. “But that isn’t what’s troubling me. I’m worried about Peter. He seems to like this assignment a bit too much.”

“I can see what you mean, I didn’t quite like what I saw the other night either, but Detective Caine is one of the best detectives we have in this city. The energy he puts into his assignments are what makes him great, even though he rushes into things at times.”

“That’s just it. I don’t think he thought this through as much as he should have. Being a vampire again, it changed him, and so far I think he likes it a bit too much.” It felt good to have someone to talk to about this. He knew Peter didn’t want him to tell her, but he'd felt he had to, even if it was only to keep his own sanity.

“So? He can like it as much as he wants as long as he does his job.” That was his Captain, always thinking about the job first. She had to be worried, even if she didn't show it.

Kermit sighed, he knew it wasn't quite that easy. “I only hope we can keep him working after all this is over.”

“He came back to us once. What makes you think he won’t do that this time?”

“I’m not sure. I can’t put my finger on it…” If only he could remember how Peter had acted last time. Peter had his memory back, why didn't he? He made a mental note to ask Peter about it again.

“Keep your eyes open, Kermit. I don’t want a rogue detective roaming my streets, but we must cut him some slack here. He is undercover among the most ruthless killers in history. If he has to become one of them for a while to survive and bring them down, then so be it.” Karen's voice was firm and determined, and Kermit knew he had nothing to come up with to meet her arguments. She’d seen the changes too, and if she was prepared to let it slide for now, then so would he.

“You’re right, of course. I must be getting soft in my old age. It’s just… Paul asked me to look out for the boy, and I don’t think I’m doing a very good job, sending him right into the enemy camp.”

“Understandable, but unnecessary. Caine’s a big boy now, and more than capable to take care of himself. Just make sure you’re there when he needs you.”

Kermit yawned. “Yeah, that’s the trick when he’s out flying somewhere, leaving me behind.” He'd never get used to seeing Peter just lift off and fly away. It always left him unnerved and jealous at the same time. He wondered what it was like, effortlessly soaring through the skies.

“Stop complaining and get yourself home and in bed. You’re clearly of no use to me in this condition.” Jeez, he'd spaced out on her, completely in his own thoughts.

Kermit didn’t object, instead he ordered his protesting limbs to get going. No easy feat, but he did get himself off the chair with minimum of energy. “Good morning,” he mumbled, and left her behind to deal with the new day.

It was definitely time to catch some sleep. He was sure Peter was already long gone into the dreams of the undead. Did vampires dream? Or were they indeed ‘dead’ to the world during the day? He was too tired to care.

~~~

“Hey, Jack! Long time no see…” Peter greeted with a growl to his voice when the long haired gangster stepped out of his car right outside his own house. Peter had easily followed him home from the club downtown where he conducted his business.

“Whoa!” The poor guy almost tripped over himself trying to get away from Peter.

“Miss me, old partner?” Peter joked, wrapping his arm around him.

“I thought you returned to your old ways, Caine. What’s going on here?”

“Well, let’s just say it didn’t stick, and now I’m back in good old evil form again.” He let his words sink in with a most evil glare, then he let go of the other. Jack staggered back. He just loved getting under Jack’s skin. Jack might be a bad guy, but he was as susceptible to intimidation as every other human. Their days together in Debville had been fun, but Peter was probably the one person Jack truly feared next to his boss Bon Bon Hai.

Jack shivered when he reached out his hand to greet Peter. “Good to have you back on the right side of the law, Caine.”

Peter grabbed Jack’s sweaty palm with his own cold hand, and shook it just a tad too hard. “You know I have a new boss now, and he expects you to comply with his wishes, or you will find yourselves on the receiving end of my wrath.”

Jack gulped visibly. “Yeah, I’ll do my best to make Bon Bon Hai understand. But you know how he is, there’s just no scaring him. The Dark Warrior is backing him, you know that.”

Peter didn’t even blink at that. He grinned to let Jack know just how unimpressed he was. “The Dark Warrior may have given him some favors, but he isn’t here, now is he?”

“No,” Jack agreed, with another gulp. “He’s not.”

“Then let your boss know I’m coming by tomorrow evening to introduce myself and my new partner Amadeus,” Peter indicated his friend standing silently in the shadows behind him. “I’m pretty sure he will do as he’s told once he’s tasted our power. We have our own deal with the Dark Warrior.”

Jack backed up against his front door when Amadeus moved closer. “I’ll let him know, and then I’ll make sure I’m outta there. I wouldn’t want to be in your way.”

Peter smiled. He just loved it when his old enemies crawled at his feet, eagerly doing everything he told them to. “Good night then, Jack.” He flashed a deadly smile and took off quick enough to just disappear right in front of Jack’s eyes.

Flying silently back towards the lair with Amadeus, he couldn’t help wonder what Jack made of him and the other vampires. He probably thought them possessed by some dark power. He’d been careful not to let Jack know that he was a vampire when they were partners in Debville. Whatever he believed didn’t matter as long as he did as he was told, and kept his mouth shut about it.

~~~

Peter landed soundlessly on his father’s outdoor terrace. It was hard to face his father as a vampire. Though Caine had helped him retain some control over the beast, the change was still present within. This time he was a vampire through and through, no second thoughts or doubts, and still he planned on honoring the agreement that when it was all over and the killer was taken care of, he would return to humanity.

“My son,” Caine greeted with a bow, already aware of Peter’s presence, though the Shaolin could not sense him in the way he used to when they were linked as father and son. Peter missed that connection as much as he knew Caine did. The Jade amulets kept some kind of connection between them, but it wasn't by far as strong as the one they used to have.

“Pop.” He didn’t know what to say but he could sense the question in the air.

“Did the amulet work?”

“It worked, Pop, at least to a degree. No more mindless beast taking over, but I'm still a hundred percent vampire.” To any but himself, the difference between now and the last time he’d been a vampire was almost undistinguishable.

“Come, my son. Let me show you how different you really are this time.”

“What do you mean, Pop?” It would take his dad to see something in him he didn't even know was there.

“While you might seem and feel like one of them, Shambhala has given you a hidden light that will make all the difference.”

Peter followed Caine inside. He hesitated when Caine entered the meditation room. He did not want to get blinded by the light from the holy objects present in there. He vividly remembered the pain that the unexpected light had caused him last time he'd been in there as a vampire. He had never expected that part of the vampire legends to be true, but the objects had blinded and hurt him. He turned his head away, and towards the floor as he entered. Caine touched him gently on the shoulder. “Do not look away, my son. You have nothing to be afraid of here.”

Peter hesitantly looked up, and was met by a beautifully bright, but totally safe light radiating from the holy Buddha statue on the altar. “How can this be, Pop?” It was amazing, the light didn't burn or even blind him.

“The amulet keeps you safe, it amplifies the light of Good that is still present within you.” He paused, urging Peter closer to the altar. “Touch it. Feel the energy.”

Peter reached out, unable to make his outstretched hand stop trembling. Touching such an object went against all his new vampire instincts. The statue tingled pleasantly under his hesitant touch. It didn’t burn or blister at all. Slowly, he opened the box with the Book of Shambhala. The white book also glowed slightly. He touched it reverently, letting his cool fingers bathe in the beautiful warm light. It didn’t hurt. “Does this mean I’m not damned?” he wondered, turning to look at his father.

“This means that even though you walk in the dark, your chi never left the light.”

Still confused, Peter sat down in front of the altar to try to meditate. He felt his father join him on the floor in front of him. A pair of warm hands grabbed his. His father’s light immediately surrounded them and a peace came over him like none he’d felt since he became a vampire.

Part 6

Early next evening, Peter and Amadeus landed silently in the back alley outside the Black Dragon Club, where Jack Wong did business. Peter had not been to the club since Jack took control over it, but he knew the layout well from earlier visits. Silently, like dark shadows, they turned the corner and entered the club. There were no need for words; they both knew what needed to be done.

"Wanna dance, handsome?" A way too young girl offered, as Peter circled around the dance floor, trying to stay in the shadows.

He looked down at her school girl outfit. She eagerly pawed at his more intimate parts with her hands, completely unashamed. Anger towards Jack that he allowed this at his club bubbled up from inside. "Listen to me…" he said with his low vampire voice, using one hand to remove her hand from his pants and the other to guide her attention to his eyes. "You will go home. You will never come here again. Understand?"

The girl nodded dazedly without breaking eye contact. "I will go home," she repeated.

"You will go to school and you will be a good girl from now on," Peter continued. The girl continued to nod.

Peter broke the spell with a blink. The girl blinked too, and looked at him as if confused. "I have to go," she said, as she turned to run. Peter hoped she ran all the way home.

They continued towards the back room to find Jack. While the short meeting with the girl had taken barely a minute, it had managed to fire up the vampire's rage within him. He easily tapped into his powers to remain unseen; he didn't care to run into anyone else. He wondered idly if his father didn't have some of that skill as well. Pop was awfully good at sneaking up on people too.

Peter chuckled when he pointed to the sign on the door to Jack's office. It said "Manager" in large gold letters. "Way too easy, don't you think?" he said to his companion with a whisper.

"Don't underestimate human pride and stupidity, Peter," the older vampire quipped back with a smile. Peter was starting to like the guy. The Latino-looking Brit wasn't as dramatic and eager to enforce his strength as many of the other vampires at the lair. He liked how Amadeus kept a low profile, yet managed to make everyone respect him at the same time.

Jack was having a heated discussion with what sounded like a subordinate on the phone. He didn't see the two vampires enter; the oversized leather chair was turned away from the door. Peter smiled, he liked to surprise people.

“Hello, Jack, old buddy,” Peter greeted. “You didn’t think you’d see me quite this soon, did you?” Jack spun his chair around so fast the cordless phone slipped out of his hands. It bounced away across the soft carpet. The startled mobster found his new tormentor nonchalantly seated on the corner of his desk. Peter grinned. Scaring the poor guy was way too much fun.

“Caine!” Jack squealed, pushing himself and the chair backwards, away from the intruder. He even scrambled out of the chair to put it between himself and Peter.

“But here I am, as you can see. It is time for you to give me some information on your operation, buddy.” Peter didn't move from his position, but their eyes met across the room. He made sure Jack felt his power, though he did not show any vampire characteristics.

Jack squirmed under Peter’s gaze. He tried to back away even further, only to back right into the waiting arms of Amadeus. “Remember me?” the vampire growled as he grabbed Jack by the arms. Amadeus practically lifted him into the air when he twisted both arms painfully behind Jack’s back.

Jack screamed in pain. “You can’t do this to me! I did everything you told me to. Can I help Bon Bon Hai didn’t listen?” he fought against the vice like grip around his arms.

“No,” Peter continued, slowly stepping closer to the now almost whimpering tough guy. “But you see, we don't care. You are going to give me the addresses of Bon Bon Hai's main factory, warehouse and distribution center.” He pushed the request through to the other with a hypnotic suggestion. There was no way Jack would be able to lie to them.

Jack’s chin quivered when he tried to hold back the information Peter had requested. “What are you doing to me?” he squealed, obviously aware that some unknown force was in effect. Peter admired the guy's strength.

“I’m asking for some information, that's all,” Peter said with a deceptive smile. He loved this part of being a vampire. In the old days, Jack would have laughed him in the face if he'd made such a request.

“O…okay,” Jack mumbled with a small voice. “The factory is in a warehouse at Eastern Avenue 629. The warehouse on the other hand is in an old Victorian building on Widmer, between Adelaide and Richmond. I don’t know the number; look for a ‘For Sale’ sign. The distribution centre is in the Chinatown Centre basement, a travel agency right by the south exit.”

“Thank you, Jack,” Amadeus wheezed into Jack’s ear with his cold breath.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Peter patted Jack’s shoulder with a comforting gesture when Amadeus let him go with a slight push forward, but he made sure his eyes said something completely different.

“And Jack, while you’re at it, why don’t you forget that you were even talking to us tonight. If any of those sites are cleared when we strike, I will personally come after you. Understood?” He didn’t bother making Jack actually forget, it would serve them better if he actually remembered the threat next time.

“Perfectly,” Jack gulped nervously. “I never saw you.”

“Good. Bye now!” Peter waved and left in the blink of an eye. They had what they needed. Bon Bon Hai would definitely be sorry he didn’t cooperate before this was over.

~~~

Peter took great pleasure in just “appearing” in the seat next to Kermit in the surveillance car. He loved startling his old friend, because he knew how much the man hated not having total control. “Wake up, Kermit!” he whispered right into the very sleepy looking detective's ear.

“Peter!” Kermit almost hit the head against the window when he practically jumped away from Peter. “Don’t DO that!”

Peter only laughed, and made himself comfortable in the seat. “Then stop making such a fuss about it.”

“So, what’s the agenda for tonight? Staking?”

“Nope, nothing that barbaric. I have some intelligence about Bon Bon Hai’s operations.” He gave Kermit a note with the names and addresses that he had prepared. “You are about to bust their major distribution and manufacturing in the city.”

Kermit read the note and looked at Peter with a slightly stunned expression. “How the hell did you get this?”

“I can be very persuasive as you know. I just happened to run into one of my old pals, and made one of them give me some useful information.” He better not tell him the real reason. It wouldn't be popular if the police found out the vampires were taking over.

“The Captain will be thrilled. We better take this back to the station immediately.”

“I have other plans, but you go ahead. I expect immediate response, or they might not be at those addresses anymore.”

“No worries. I’ll get right on it,” Kermit vowed, starting the engine of the car.

“Later,” Peter quipped and ‘disappeared’ again. He couldn't help using the speed to unnerve the old mercenary.

~~~

Chaar was running an introduction party for Peter at the bar. If he wanted to find the killer, he better get to know the rest of them better. What better time than an impromptu party? He checked his watch. He was the guest of honor, already running late. But he knew exactly what would make them not only excuse him, but cheer him on. Around the corner from the lair was another bar.

Hunger flared through him when he pushed his way though the crowd towards the counter. He sniffed to find someone not quite as drunk as the rest; he had no desire to lose control completely, only to get slightly tipsy. He had not had any alcoholic blood since his return to vampirism, and now that tonight’s business was taken care of, he could use something to relax.

He found a young man at the top of his ruse, laughing, singing and flirting with the women. Peter aimed for him when the boy zoned in on the restrooms at the back.

Peter found a deserted office, perfectly located right by the restrooms. When the boy passed him he was ready. Before the boy could even open his mouth to cry out, Peter had pulled him inside the dark room. One look into Peter’s glowing eyes, and he was under his power, silent.

Peter didn’t take much, barely a pint, but it would be enough to make the others aware that he had eaten fresh food. It was something about the smell, and the look in one’s eyes that told exactly what had transpired. The victim wouldn’t even know what happened, he’d just feel a bit more tired than usual. The result would be that they wouldn’t doubt that he was truly one of them. He knew he was, not even the amulet around his neck could change that.

“Thank you,” Peter whispered when he had closed the two tiny puncture wounds with one last languid lick.

“No problem, mate,” the guy mumbled as he left the room to find the restroom he’d originally aimed for.

“That’s IT!” Peter thought. We can collect vampire saliva! He wouldn't need their blood. They already found foreign DNA around, and in the bites. Peter shook his head at his own stupidity. Why had he not thought of this before? He had thought he would have to get blood samples. Killing or not, most vampires were slobbering all over the wounds, just as he had done a moment ago.

Peter grinned, he was pretty sure he could collect several samples during the party.

He was definitely in the right mood for a party. Whoa, that boy’s blood had been packed with endorphins from a football victory, and just the right amount of alcohol. It was amazing the things a person's blood could tell a vampire. Peter found himself whistling a happy tune when he entered the lair two minutes later.

“You look awfully pleased with yourself tonight,” Chaar noted when Peter entered his office without even bothering to knock.

“I’ve forwarded the info about Bon Bon Hai’s operation to the police, and I found the perfect snack on my way back here,” Peter replied with a grin, as he sank down into one of the comfortable chairs by the wet bar.

Chaar handed him a full glass of blood before he sank down next to Peter with his own. “I was wondering how long it would take you to get back to live prey.”

“I have to be careful. Last time it got me into a lot of trouble.” Not to mention getting Moura killed.

“We all have to be careful. That’s why we have the no killing rule now. This is not the middle ages anymore. We can’t just take the blood we need, damn the consequences.”

Peter nodded. “But at the same time they must have been more aware that the dark forces existed back then. Most people today wouldn’t admit that they encountered us. They’d probably call it an alien abduction instead.”

“True, but if the wrong people find out today, it could be out across the world in hours, no way to stop it. Back then, we could easily stop the spread of information.”

“How old are you?” It was a question Peter had wondered over ever since he had first met Chaar. While the master looked and dressed like any guy in his early thirties, there was something ancient about him that defied explanation. The power he radiated was stronger than anything Peter had experienced so far.

“Oh, I’ve been around since Stonehenge was used to sacrifice maidens to the moon. It’s been a while now. I can’t say I care to count the years anymore, too depressing. I’ve always believed in living in the now, not in the past or the future. It makes for an easier eternity.”

“Wow, I had no idea even vampires could live that long.” Peter was surprised, he’d travelled through time himself, but to actually live since then was amazing. He wondered what he would be like if he lived that long. What would the world be like, for that matter? Would the world even exist in a thousand years?

“Oh, there are vampires out there as old as humanity itself. We tend to keep a very low profile. Time passes more quickly than you think, kid. Before you know it, your mortal friends are old and dying on you.”

“Is it really wise to stay that long? Wouldn’t they get suspicious?”

“I sometimes like to surround myself with a few trusted mortal friends and live a normal life among them. You get quite good with disguises after a while.”

“Last time I was a vampire, those I considered my trusted friends tried their best to stake me, or burn me. My father tricked me, and made me mortal again.”

“How exactly did he do that? This is the first I ever heard about it. I didn’t think it was even possible.”

Now he had to be careful, he didn’t want Chaar to know exactly how it had been done, it was his only defence against Chaar when this was over. “My father is a Shaolin Priest. He blinded me with some holy object. I passed out from the pain. When I woke up I was mortal. He still refuses to tell me what exactly happened.”

“Holy object, you say?”

“Yes, it blinded just like a cross or any holy object would. But I have a feeling it was something else.” Peter wondered if he had said too much. If he said too little, Chaar would know he was hiding something, and if he lied that would be just as bad. This was a most difficult balance, he felt an unexplainable loyalty towards Chaar. They were the same now; Chaar was as much his father as Kwai Chang in a sense.

“You will find that holy objects will bother you less in a couple centuries. To me they are as harmless as they are to mortals. Not even the sun is as harmful as it used to be.”

“Wow, I thought it was the other way around, that the stronger the Vampire, the more dangerous the sun or holy things.” This was news. Moura had never indicated that it got easier. But, then she was ‘only’ a couple hundred years old, it was probably barely noticeable to her.

“It’s an easy assumption, isn’t it? But we get stronger the longer we live, and the resistance to things holy to mortals builds as well.”

“How did we come to exist in the first place? Do we know?” If vampires were indeed older than any today living religion, they might very well be something other than damned souls.

“I don’t quite think you are ready for that secret to be revealed, young one. Ask me again in a millennia,” Chaar said with a wink that made Peter think it was something highly surprising and shocking.

“All right, old man,” Peter winked back. He was a bit sorry the fountain of information had closed for the night. “What do you say we start off that millennia with a party? I do believe the others started without us.”

“Yeah, let’s party, kid,” Chaar said with a grin. “I think I’m gonna like you. You might even be around to hold me to my promise.”

"Sounds like a plan." Peter grinned back before he even had time to reflect. He had planned to be long dead by then; not that he wasn’t wondering if he actually could survive that long as a vampire. He shook off the strangely tempting notion.

“Let’s go find the others,” Chaar suggested, emptying the last of his drink before he put his glass down on the top of the bar. “It’s about time the others learn who you are. There’s nothing better than a good party to get to know the gang. You’re not the only new member either. There are always a couple new ones who show up when we set up shop in a new city.”

Peter, still under the influence of the alcohol, grinned. “I do love a good party.”

Chaar grinned back, and put his arm across Peter’s shoulders in a very relaxed manner. “Let’s go have some fun then. Tonight we’re not master and fledgling, tonight we’re just two friends having fun.”

Peter let himself relax and enjoy the warm feeling of friendship he felt from Chaar that moment. Chaar might be old, but he wasn’t ‘old’ when it came to let loose.

Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the fresh living blood in his veins, but he found he wasn't sorry to be a vampire. Who was he kidding? He loved being a vampire. If someone had asked him to return to humanity at that moment, he would have said a heartily NO!

He shook off the gloomy thoughts; this was no time for reflection. This was the time to live for the moment. But he couldn’t help hoping Kermit was busy with the information he’d been given, and stayed the hell away for the rest of the night. He wouldn’t like what he would see, not like Peter would. His fangs grew when he thought of all the blood he’d taste that night. The cotton swabs he'd swiped from the first aid kit waited to be used.

~~~

Something was grating on the threshold of awareness. Peter's head pounded painfully, he could swear it was almost buzzing. The phone; it was the damn cell phone. It was barely dark, who had the audacity to 'call' at this hour? He groaned and tried opening his eyes. He squinted, and glared at the cell phone located on the table by the blackened window, willing it to stop ringing. It did, but only for a brief moment before it started over again. He closed his eyes, but the headache made the phone an instrument of torture. He knew exactly what caused the pain; too much spiked blood, and not enough sleep. It was the price for a successful party.

He sighed and moved his reluctant limbs out of bed, it could only be one person who was that persistent; Kermit. Something was up, that much was sure. Couldn't they do anything on their own? The information he had given them should be more than enough to act on. He depended on the fact that they did, or he'd look very incompetent among his new friends.

"What?!" he grouched into the tiny phone.

"Good Morning, sleepyhead!" came Kermit's way too cheerful voice. Why did he have to choose this particular moment to act out of character? When was Kermit ever cheerful?

"What?" Peter repeated, wishing Kermit would get to the point, so he could go back to bed.

"I just wanted to let you know everything worked out even better than planned. Bon Bon Hai's operation is now two distribution centres, one factory and two dealers short. The Captain and the Commissioner are ecstatic!"

"Good job, Kermit. Why don't you go have some cake for me, and don't you dare call me this early again!" He disconnected and shut the damn phone off. He'd probably been a bit too harsh on Kermit, but at the moment he didn't care. He should have stayed away from the alcoholic blood, even if it had felt so good at the time. That was the problem, it tasted good and it made him feel great.

Part 7

"Come on, Amadeus, there's still time for a quick snack before the meeting with Chaar," Peter urged his new friend. There was this undeniable urge within him that told him he needed fresh blood to make it through the night. He had a feeling Chaar would ask him to go up against Bon Bon Hai. That was what Peter would suggest as the next step.

Amadeus laughed. "Gotten a taste for the fresh stuff, have you?"

"You mean you don't?" Peter joked back but felt like a traitor. It wasn't some innocent vampire fun he had in mind. He fingered the syringe he had in his pocket. Kermit was already waiting with the stake in an alley not far from there.

"Oh, alright then. But we better make it a quick one."

"Great, let's find someone nice and strong and make him a double bite. That would sure save us some time." Peter had just the right guy in mind too. Kermit could be used for many things.

"Deal. Let's go then before Chaar sees us." Peter was out the roof exit before Amadeus had finished the sentence.

Peter quickly found the right alley. Kermit was waiting for him, as planned. He landed with a smile, right behind his friend. Knowing Amadeus was right behind him, he didn't say anything, he merely grabbed Kermit across the shoulders, as if to drink. Kermit, of course, jerked in surprise, automatically using his fighting skills to get free. Peter didn't let that stop him. He kept his grip and bent over Kermit's shoulder, unaffectedly continuing his pretended action. Even though he was merely an inch from a fresh warm blood source, he wasn't even tempted, he had his full attention backwards and upwards, to keep track of where Amadeus was.

When Peter heard the soft thud of the other vampire landing behind him, he already had the syringe with pure garlic juice ready. He flipped off the protective cap with his thumb when he sensed the other vampire closing in. The nauseating smell of the liquid immediately drifted right up his nose. Peter suppressed a sneeze, and continued the now pretended fight with Kermit.

Amadeus finally stepped close enough, and Peter whirled around. Before the other had time to react, Peter had buried the needle deep into the base of Amadeus’ neck. He pressed the plunger without hesitation. Amadeus never knew what hit him before he went down with a look of utter surprise on his face.

Peter lowered the twitching body to the ground. When he looked up, he found Kermit watching him with the stake ready for him to use. “Good idea using the garlic to incapacitate them, Kermit,” Peter said by way of greeting, grabbing the stake from his friend’s hand.

“You did say it would cause you some serious, yet temporary damage. We can use any advantage we can get over the older and stronger vampires.”

Peter didn’t listen, he plunged the stake into the other vampire. He couldn’t help feeling a bit divided when he did. Amadeus had proved a friend the short time he had known him. He had trusted Peter, and never expected anything, but a quick drink, when he’d followed him down into the alley.

Peter had to forcefully tell himself that he owed these vampires nothing, they were killers. They deserved to be punished for all the people they had killed in their long lives. The fact that he was now one of them was irrelevant. He’d only crossed over to get to them, and it had worked out so far, he could easily get the evidence they needed now.

“Hurry up and get the DNA we need before he disintegrates, Kermit,” he urged when Kermit seemed to hesitate.

“You think he might be the one?”

“He’s a vampire, isn’t he? It could be anyone of them.”

Kermit swiped a cotton stick inside the dying vampire’s mouth, to collect some of the pink tinged saliva. Then quickly put it into a plastic evidence bag.

Peter dug into his jacket pocket for the samples he had collected at the party the night before. “Here are five more samples.”

Kermit made big eyes as he accepted the neatly packaged and labeled plastic bags. “How did you get these?”

Peter grinned. “At the party of course." He didn't specify exactly how he'd gotten them. Kermit didn't need to know the more exotic habits of vampires. He suppressed a smile at he thought of all the blood he'd shared with his new friends in the lair. He fingered his neck. One good thing with vampires compared to humans; no revealing scars.

~~~

"Where's Amadeus?" Chaar wondered when Peter sat down in front of the desk.

"I think he went for a quick bite. I'm sure he'll be back shortly," Peter replied, keeping the lie as close as possible to the truth.

"You can fill him in later. I have other things to do than wait for tardy subjects." Chaar looked annoyed. This was the first time Peter had seen his Master show any temper at all. Maybe he wasn't a morning person. Or it could simply be that he had a lot to do.

"No Problem. What's up?"

"I think we teased him enough. It is time for you to make a visit to Bon Bon Hai and let him know how serious we are. Let him know just how persuasive we can be. Scare him to his senses, so to speak."

Peter sighed. "That won't be as easy as you might think. This guy doesn’t scare easily, maybe not at all."

"But he's human, isn't he?"

"I wouldn't be so sure. The Dark Warrior did something to him. Last time we came up against him, not even my Pop could take him out."

"Interesting." Chaar mused. "If he's evil enough for the Dark Warrior to bless him, he must be really extraordinary."

"I'll go over there and talk to him, but I can't promise that I can make him submit, or even agree to do anything."

"I'll give you a power boost before you go. You and Amadeus should be able to get a good sense of how strong he is."

"It should be a very interesting meeting. Bon Bon Hai pretty much wiped the floor with me when we last met. I've been dreaming of a chance to get back at him for a long time now. This time I actually stand a chance." Peter surprised himself by actually looking forward to the meeting.

Chaar unbuttoned his sleeve. Peter didn't hesitate at the gesture. He was around the desk and kneeling, before Chaar had time to even open his mouth to offer the drink.

"Go find Amadeus. I expect a report by morning," Chaar ordered as he forcefully tore his wrist from Peter's hungry mouth. Chaar’s blood was most delicious, a little would never be enough.

Reluctantly, Peter wiped off his chin and silently left with a respectful bow. There was something so natural about being submissive to Chaar. He had no will or desire to disobey. Peter had to fight not to tell his master everything every time he saw him. How could he make Bon Bon Hai feel that same compulsion? Going alone wouldn't make it any easier either. Damn, he should have waited to take out Amadeus.

~~~

Peter landed silently on the patio outside of Bon Bon Hai’s Chinatown palace. He had a feeling he'd be expected since he'd given the old Sing Wah's biggest, most profitable operations to the police. He looked around the darkened patio. He'd expected a multitude of guards standing ready to catch him, but the place was silent and seemed empty.

The dark evil practically radiated from the place, Peter could feel it even from outside. He sniffed the air like a beast on the hunt. He looked around, only closed or dark windows faced the patio. Where could his enemy be? He picked up on the tantalizing fragrance of evil in the air. He took a deep breath, sucked the thick darkness into his lungs. The feeling of kinship with this darkness compelled him to move further inside. This wasn't the making of some weakling human. No human could radiate such power, this meant supernatural interference. Interesting.

Peter decided he didn't need any betraying light for this mission; he pulled the amulet from his neck and put it in his pocket. He took another deep, yet unnecessary breath, to wrap himself in the vampire's darkness. Effortlessly, he brought forward the vampire visage. Doing so always brought forward the darker urges within him. He smiled, even more raw power than usual enveloped him. Chaar had given him blood to strengthen him for the meeting with the enemy. Peter was there as a vampire representative, there would be no compassion, or compromise. Bon Bon Hai would know that too as soon as they met.

Peter floated, barely off the floor, through the empty rooms of the palace. He thought it strange, but very convenient, that Bon Bon Hai sent his staff away. The empty rooms made it easier to follow the scent of evil. When he finally found the source, he also found the remaining servants. In a large hall, fitting any old European castle, Bon Bon Hai held court over a handful minions and a dozen or so servants. Every one of them, except Bon Bon Hai of course, shrank back in fear when they saw Peter approach. When he growled, they left the room in sheer panic. By the time he reached the head of the table, where Bon Bon Hai resided, they were alone in the room.

“So, we meet again,” Peter greeted with the low growling voice of the vampire, not by any gesture indicating either respect or submission.

Bon Bon Hai looked him up and down, clearly puzzled by his appearance. “I see the Dark Warrior has a new champion,” he said by way of greeting.

“You could say that,” Peter acknowledged, as he nonchalantly sat down on the edge of the table. The closeness to the other’s evil power was intoxicating. “Too bad you choose not to cooperate with us. We could have had so much fun together, you and I.”

Bon Bon Hai leaned back in his high chair, as if contemplating the idea for the first time. “This must be some Shambhala trickery, the Peter Caine I know would never turn to the dark side.”

Peter only smiled evilly. “I don’t care what you think. I’m a vampire now, and I’m only here to inform you that what we did this week is only the beginning if you don’t start cooperating.” He let his voice drip of open threat; he even leaned forward to better let the other see his fangs. He had no doubts showing his true self to this man, or his servants. Supernatural events were an every day thing in this place. Telling anyone what went on under Bon Bon Hai's roof would mean certain death.

“First time lucky. You won’t be able to get away with something like that again,” Bon Bon Hai wheezed back pushing his own power towards Peter in a try to intimidate.

Peter closed his eyes briefly, and absorbed the magnificent darkness that the other projected his way. He let it strengthen his own darkness to the extent that he obliterated what little light remained after the conversion to vampirism. When he opened his eyes again, he knew they no longer shone with the vampire glow, they mirrored Bon Bon Hai’s bottomless pits of darkness. Every shadow, every dark corner of the room shone brightly when his night vision came to a new level. “More,” he whispered blissfully. “Give me more of your dark power…” He leaned forward. He didn’t have to drink Bon Bon Hai's blood to tap into his power.

Bon Bon Hai gulped visibly and shrank back when he realized his power had absolutely no effect on Peter; quite the opposite. “How about a drink?” He tried to break the moment by clapping his hands to call in a servant. Almost immediately a servant was by Peter’s side with a glass and a pitcher of dark red wine.

“Well, thank you,” Peter replied and grabbed the young servant boy by the hair. Before the boy even had the time to breathe in to scream in fear, Peter had forced his head to the side and buried his fangs into his neck.

The boy was empty and very dead in the blink of an eye. Peter threw him into a couch along the wall like a paper cup in the garbage when he was done; expertly catching the pitcher and glass before they fell to the floor. “Aaah, that was excellent,” he breathed, and again turned towards his host. “You got excellent taste in servants.”

Bon Bon Hai only gaped back at him. Finally, Peter had gotten through to the Dark Warrior’s champion. There was nothing like an evil deed to obliterate his old reputation of good guy. He might be doing this for the greater good, but he wasn’t a good guy anymore; especially not after this meeting. Whatever came out of it, nothing would ever be the same again. The amulet his father had given him wasn’t strong enough to counteract the evil growing inside of him now. Especially not, when it was safely hidden away in his pocket.

“Let’s talk,” Bon Bon Hai started, indicating one of the chairs next to him at the table. “Would you care for another drink?”

“No thanks, maybe later.”

~~~

Caine came out of meditation with a start. Something had forcefully pulled him out of it. He looked around for an intruder before he realized it was the amulet around his neck that was the source of is discomfort. He gasped when it zapped him again. Black flashes played across its surface, as the green jade continually grew even darker. Something was happening to Peter. The amulet was his only link to his son and what was happening to him. What could be going on that reflected upon the amulet like this? He grabbed the stinging amulet with a firm hand. “My son,” he called out,

Darkness, utter darkness, enveloped him. He could not hold onto the stone, it grew so cold it hurt his hand to even hold it. “Peter?”

The stone was supposed to mirror his son’s state of mind. So far it had been silent, the same cool green Jade it had always been. He had taken it as a good sign when Peter could live and work as a vampire without transforming into that cold beast he had met the other year. The Shambhala masters had promised them that their blessing would help Peter, that he would always keep at least some light, even when the vampire took control.

But something was going terribly wrong. The stone not only darkened this time. Before he could do anything to find out what was going on, the stone went completely black. Not the tiniest sliver of light remained. Fear rushed across his heart. “Peter?” he whispered. “Please come back to me.” All he could do was hope that it was not too late, that Peter was not lost to him again.

Meditation came hard; he had to put the amulet down onto the floor, the chill emanating from it burned through his hand. It was hard to even fathom such an evil as the one radiating from that amulet.

Caine closed his eyes, and searched within for the source of this evil. There was something vaguely familiar about it. He must have faced it before, or his son might have. He breathed deeply and regularly, and soon the image of a hated enemy came before his inner vision. Bon Bon Hai!

Knowing the power of the evil his son was facing, he reached for the amulet again. No matter how much it hurt, he had to give his son strength to fight this darkness. Such darkness would be very tempting to a vampire; he had to give Peter a fighting chance to turn away from it.

He did not know how long it had been when the amulet suddenly sparked again, this time with light. The smooth black surface remained, but across it a flash of the purest white light etched itself into the surface like a lightning bolt across the dark midnight sky. It did not hurt him anymore, the darkness now felt as comfortable to the Shaolin as the night sky.

Hope.

~~~

“There you are, Peter. I thought I had lost you,” a very out of breath Kermit greeted when he’d climbed up the fire escape to the rooftop Peter had occupied since he’d returned from Bon Bon Hai’s residence. “What happened?”

“I lost control, Kermit. That’s what happened,” Peter replied, still unable to turn and face Kermit. He knew his friend would know instantly that this was no minor slip in judgement. He knew his eyes were still black pits of darkness, something usually only seen in the most evil of creatures. Kermit didn’t need to know how deeply he had fallen.

“What happened?” Kermit asked again, trying to walk around him to see his face.

“He offered me a drink. I drank.” He replied, turning his face down, away from Kermit’s curious scrutiny.

“What’s so wrong with that?” Kermit didn’t get it at all.

“I’m a vampire, Kermit. Never offer a vampire a drink, not unless you are prepared to die.” Even as a casual explanation it sounded ugly and threatening when Peter couldn’t get his voice to return to normal.

“But I thought you only drank the bottled stuff?”

“Usually, yeah, but something about Bon Bon Hai brought out all the ugly traits in me tonight. It was as if his evil was leaching over into me. You should go, Kermit. I can’t be trusted tonight.” And he truly couldn’t be. He was already toying with the idea of having a snack from Kermit’s neck. He was a strong and passionate man, he’d taste wonderfully. A low growl escaped his throat before he even realized it.

“Are you sure, Peter? I’m here if you want to talk it over. Believe me, I know what it’s like to be undercover and get pulled into doing more evil than you bargained for.”

He wanted to tell Kermit that he didn’t regret it. He wanted to shout that he’d enjoyed it, and if he could do it over again he would. Instead he slowly turned towards Kermit with his empty eyes. “I’ll let you know when it’s safe for you to be around me again,” he said with a mouth full of fangs, and his nostrils flaring when he got a whiff of Kermit’s fragrant blood. “Because if you don’t leave now, you never will,” he growled, already beginning to move closer to his friend.

Kermit backed off, no more hesitation.

“And Kermit,” Peter continued when the human had reached the fire escape.

“Yes?” Kermit turned. Peter stood right behind him, almost close enough to push him over the edge.

He'd fully intended to not let Kermit get away from him, but when he met Kermit's worried eyes, he came to his senses. That single caring look, gave him victory over the dark urges. Kermit wouldn’t die tonight. “Forget you saw me like this,” he barked, using his power to ruthlessly assure Kermit's compliance. Not remembering how close he’d been to die in Peter’s arms would be a kindness to Kermit, as well as an act of self preservation for Peter. Kermit had almost succeeded in killing him once; he’d try again if he ever thought it necessary.

When the ex-mercenary climbed down the fire escape, Peter could hear him faintly mumbling to himself. "What the hell am I doing searching rooftops? This is futile. I'm not going to find Peter unless he wants to be found." Mission accomplished, Kermit didn't remember finding him up there.

Peter held onto the small amulet he had put back around his neck, willing it to work. A sliver of light penetrated the black surface. Slowly, the darkness within him retreated back to a more manageable level. The stone didn’t return to its original green Jade, but the light that cracked up the surface was clearly a reflection of the awareness within him. He knew the light he’d been blessed with by the Shambhala masters would always come back to him once he stepped away from the darkness, but this time it wasn’t soon enough.

The power he’d leached off of Bon Bon Hai had been much too strong. He could still feel its suggestive power flowing through him, enticing him to abandon the light entirely. For a while he had indeed lost that light. It had cost dearly. No matter what happened, he must be very careful around Bon Bon Hai in the future. If anything could tilt the precarious balance he kept, it was the dark power of Bon Bon Hai. It was all too easy to allow darkness to reign, and it was getting harder to remember the goal of the mission.

“I’m sorry for tonight, Kermit. But you were not supposed to see what you saw in me.”

Thinking of Kermit, the hunger reminded him that it was time to return to the lair again. Chaar was expecting a report. He put the amulet back inside the coat and shirt again, hiding the light from sight. It was time to put the dark power he’d gained to good use.

~~~

“What happened to Amadeus? Shouldn’t he be with you?” Chaar wondered when Peter told him about Bon Bon Hai’s lack of interest in cooperating. The crime lord may have opened up a bit after Peter’s evil demonstration, but in the end he had not agreed to any of Chaar’s demands.

“He was nowhere to be found. Nobody’s seen him since early last night. So, I went without him. No sense in delaying things just because he’s out somewhere.” Peter tried to sound worried about Amadeus.

“That’s strange.” Chaar frowned. “I gave him strict orders to help you out with this.”

“Anyway, since Bon Bon Hai didn’t agree to our terms, I’ll have to go over there again. I’m sure that can wait until Amadeus shows up again.” He never would.

“Any leads on the killer?”

“I've been gathering DNA from as many as I've could. So far no matches with the DNA traces found on the victims. I'll continue until I have tested everyone here. Shouldn't take more than a couple days I think.” He was on friendly terms with a number of them now, wouldn’t be too difficult to get to know them even closer.

“Good, good, then we’ll be able to put this behind us and concentrate on getting the local crime syndicates in line.”

“Yeah,“ Peter nodded, for a moment considering staying on to make sure Bon Bon Hai stopped spreading evil in Chinatown in the future. “I’m heading for bed. Let me know when Amadeus shows up.”

“Sleep well. Good job tonight, Peter,” his Master acknowledged with a nod.

Peter nodded back and left, happy that he’d successfully managed to lie to Chaar. The power he had gained from their enemy made him more than able to hide his emotions and thoughts even from Chaar. It had been easy to lure Amadeus into his and Kermit’s trap. Amadeus wouldn’t show up any time soon, he was quite dead.

It would be interesting to see who Chaar selected to go with him next. There were a number of candidates, including his second in command; Black, the darkest black man Peter had ever met.

Part 8

Peter breathed deeply when he left Chaar’s office. He felt strong, invincible and in total control. Chaar always knew how to make him relax and treasure every aspect of what he had become. The cold rage Bon Bon Hai had infected him with was still there, lurking under the calm surface, waiting for a reason to be ignited. He scanned the room, subconsciously looking for that reason, as he started towards his room. He dismissed the gang of three drinking in the corner and the submissive old Chinese woman who was mopping the floor over by the elevator.

A frightened squeal echoed across the room when he reached for the door knob to his suite. He turned, to find two arriving vampires begin to bully the old woman. “Who the hell told you to mop the floor before dawn?” one of them growled.

“My shoes are wet,” the other whined. “You know how much I hate getting wet!” He pushed her down onto the floor in front of him. “Dry that off, slave!”

She was shaking, cowering in front of him, clearly too frightened to even move. “Please no…” came a whimper from her quivering lips. Peter’s anger flared when the guy twisted her head up to look at him. Not even Bon Bon Hai’s evil influence could make him stand by and watch a defenseless woman get beaten up just for the fun of two jerks.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he said with a menacing hiss, as he approached them.

“We’re teaching this woman a lesson in obedience,” one of them quipped almost casually, not taking Peter seriously.

“Do you have any idea what this feels like for her?” Peter’s fangs grew, and he instinctively knew that his eyes were changing too.

“Who cares?” was the reply.

Peter couldn’t contain his disgust at their attitude. “I do!” he growled, and pushed the other away from the woman. The guy seemed plastered to the wall for a moment, before he crumbled to the floor. The force of the impact had made a small crater in the wall. Peter grinned at the result; he hadn’t even made an effort.

“Go back to my suite,” he urged the little woman, and squeezed her shoulder for comfort, as she passed him to get away from the other vampire, who was now starting to advance towards Peter. She didn’t say anything in reply, but she was gone instantly when allowed an escape.

Peter let the anger envelope him. With a cold smile he reached towards the other with more than his hands. He could feel the dark energy flowing out though his fingertips, towards the other vampire.

Peter pushed, and the other went down. It was the strangest feeling to touch and yet not use his hands. The power was like an invisible force. He pressed down onto the other’s chest and throat, willing it to crush. It did. He smiled, satisfied with the effect. The injured vampire stayed down, groaning in pain. While vampires didn't need to breathe, they could still feel pain.

Another of the vampires in the room came to the rescue of the fallen bully. Peter was the new guy, the one they had so far accepted, but now they turned against him. He turned his attention towards the new attacker and pushed to be rid of him. Instantly, the other flew through the air and made another dent in the wall.

"Anyone else?" he growled. This was fun. With Bon Bon Hai’s power at his disposal, his Kung Fu skills had moved to a whole new level. They were all much older and more powerful as vampires, but they couldn’t touch him now.

“Stop! Now!” a forceful, commanding voice interrupted them.

Peter, as well as the others, stopped and looked towards Chaar’s angry apparition behind them.

“No fighting allowed! This ends now,” he commanded in a way that made it impossible to disobey. There was no doubt who was the Master in this lair.

They all looked at one another, realizing how silly their squabble really was. “Okay, boss,” they mumbled, and went their separate ways. Even Peter’s rampant anger cooled down in an instant. He didn’t need to beat the crap out of these guys. Assholes or not, they were supposed to be his friends.

Chaar didn’t bother to pursue the reason behind the argument; he stepped back into his office with a mumble, shaking his head, when the fight had stopped.

Peter didn’t bother to look back either, he had a victim to comfort.

He found her frantically cleaning the sink when he entered the suite. She was a strange sight, now that he took the time to really look at her. She moved and behaved like a very old woman. She even dressed like one, with a formless grey sack of a dress. Her long still dark hair was pulled back into a haphazard bun in the neck. Everything, including the tired, sad eyes, told of great age, and a loss of will to live. How long had they been doing this to her?

But she wasn’t really ‘old’; she was a vampire like him. The tired features were that of a barely twenty-year-old girl. It hit Peter like a club across the head. They had never told her what she was. They had never showed her what she looked like, or what she could do. They had only kept her around to do the cleaning and the laundry.

“I’m Peter Caine, who are you?” he asked gently in Chinese when her movements slowed down and she hesitantly looked at him. He had a creeping suspicion they hadn’t bothered to teach her English properly either.

“I am Lee,” she replied shyly in English, not even looking up to meet his eyes. But then again, if she was Chinese she would be very submissive, as most Chinese women had been through the ages.

“Please, Lee. Look at me,” he whispered, and tilted her head up, so that he could meet her eyes, with a soft gesture. She was breathtakingly beautiful, in spite of her sad brown eyes, and non existent makeup. This was a woman totally unaware of her own beauty, who had probably never seen her own reflection. Damn the vampire custom to ban mirrors. If she had been allowed to see how she didn’t age, been allowed to see her own beauty; she would never have stayed their submissive slave, heritage or not.

“From now on, they will have to find another to do your job,” he told her, still in Chinese. He didn’t want her to misunderstand what he had to tell her.

“Why?” she wondered, trying to look away from him, but he didn’t let her.

“You are one of us. You are worth just as much as anyone here. They have treated you badly, but I will make sure you know exactly who and what you are.”

“I am nobody, I am worth nothing. My father gave me away,” a pink tear escaped her eye.

“No, Lee. You are a beautiful young woman, with an eternity to live and enjoy life. You are strong; I can feel the power flowing inside of you.”

“I don’t understand,” she whispered, again trying to shrink away.

She wasn’t listening, not really. He’d have to show her. “Tomorrow night I’ll take you to a friend of mine, she’ll bring out the hidden beauty in you.”

“I don’t understand,” she said again. “Why are you doing this? You bear the evil eye just like all the others here.”

“Maybe I do, but I can’t stand by and watch an injustice like this. Besides, you have it too, my sweet.”

“I do not!” she said, denying it so totally she backed away in horror, her eyes actually flashing yellow. He’d obviously hit a nerve there.

“Okay, okay,” he backed off. “But tomorrow I will show you that you are still young and beautiful.” He better not push about the being a vampire thing just yet.

“I am sixty two years old, how can you possibly think I’m beautiful?”

He found it easy to smile back at her. “I used to be Shaolin; we’ve been trained to see beyond appearance since childhood.”

“Oh no!” She looked incredibly sad again. “You were a warrior of the light? They destroyed you too with their evil?”

“No, my sweet, no. They didn’t destroy anything. I am just as much a warrior of light as I am of the dark.”

“You haven’t been here very long. You will succumb too. I am so sorry.” She looked away now, returning into her shell.

“Please, Lee, don’t be sad. I’m not. I may have been smitten by evil, but there’s good in me too, as there is in all of us. Even in you. You fuel the anger against what they’ve done to you, you want to destroy them for it, but so far you did nothing. Acting upon your dark urges is always your choice, as it is your choice to do something good.” Explaining to this woman sure put things back into perspective.

She looked at him with wonder. “You are wise beyond your years, young one. I will do as you say. If what you say is true, and they lied to me, I will take my revenge.”

He could see the fire of determination ignite within her. It was a magnificent sight. “Come then, my sweet, you can spend the day in my guest room. Tomorrow I'll take you to my friend.”

She let him guide her to the room next to his. She locked the door behind her at his insistence. “I will not take advantage of you,” he stated. “If you want to share my bed, you will have to take the first step.”

A low “Thank you” came through the closed door. He heard her quietly move towards the bed. Peter left her to make some calls to make sure Yee-Mei had everything ready at the salon when they arrived after dark.

~~~

Kermit couldn’t suppress a yawn when he stepped into his Captain’s office in the late afternoon. He’d managed a couple hours sleep, even though he’d awakened several times that night. He couldn’t remember the dreams that had disturbed his sleep, but he had a feeling they were related to vampires. Something was nagging at him, just beyond awareness. He sighed and focused on the present.

“I gather the press conference went well?” he asked, as he sank down onto one of the chairs. There had been a time when he’d felt less comfortable in his Captain’s office, but lately they had both seemed to feel more relaxed together. Or maybe it was just the exhaustion of the latest mission that made him drop his guard. Whatever the reason, he liked and welcomed this comfortable feeling of warmth between them.

He realized he’d been spacing out on her when she spoke. “The commissioner is so happy about our results, he almost kissed me," she said with what looked like a suppressed shudder. He knew she would never bad mouth a superior, but this was as close as she’d come in attitude.

"Happy?" Kermit said with a half frown, half smile. The man was the last guy Kermit would have thought could look ‘happy’ with anything. "Pleased I would have understood, but happy?"

"I swear I heard him humming when he arrived at the press conference," Karen said with a slight smile of her own, shaking her head. "It's nice to know we can actually do something right by the man."

"Why don't you tell him we could use some new computers around here?" Kermit suggested innocently. If the Commissioner was that grateful, maybe he would reward them with increased funding the next budget period.

Now Karen smiled outright. "Let's not push it just yet. For now, he 'invited' us to do his personal security for the new Opera opening ball tomorrow. Somehow he's worried Bon Bon Hai will retaliate."

Kermit rolled his eyes. "Oh happy day!" He was secretly happy he already had his assignment and didn't have to go. Doing security at high society functions was usually considered a perk, but Kermit found them rather boring. Unless something actually happened of course; then it might get more interesting.

"Don't think you'll get off this so easily. I fully expect you to keep an eye on the event as my date, Detective Griffin." She was reading his mind.

Kermit groaned. "But…"

"No excuses. I'm sure Peter will be perfectly okay without his shadow for the evening. Besides, I thought you liked the opera."

"I do like opera, but not when I'm working and have to have my attention everywhere else but the stage."

"There's no point complaining. I'll have the limo pick you up at seven."

"Limo?" Kermit shook his head. "If we're doing security I should be there in advance."

"You're supposed to be my 'date', remember? Talk to Blake, he’s coordinating our resources for the evening. I’m sure he’ll be happy to know you’ll be there too.”

"Yes, Ma'am," Kermit confirmed with tight lips. This was an assignment he did not particularly care for. The temperature seemed to have dropped several degrees in the room. He adjusted his glasses and nodded goodbye to the Captain wordlessly. He had better hurry if he was to be ready by seven.

Kermit pulled up the messaging software on his computer when he arrived in his own office. A short note would tell Peter he would be on his own for the better part of the night. He hoped the kid didn’t have anything in mind for them tonight.

~~~

Lee gaped in surprise when she entered the small Chinatown beauty salon, the mirror along the wall had no problems showing the reflections of both her and Peter. He knew she had not expected to see anything. On the way over, she told him they had told her their reflections had died with their souls when they became vampires. She must have seen her reflection in the water, or when she polished a sink, and subconsciously taken that as another confirmation that she was not a vampire. Peter’s heart sank when he thought of the hell she’d been in for so many years.

She touched her own face in wonder. “I’m still young …” It was time for her to take the step into the real world. He’d make sure she would never be someone’s slave again. When he was done with her, she’d carry hear head high.

“Hiya, Yee-Mei,” Peter greeted the petite Asian woman in charge of the place. He’d known her for years, ever since he’d saved her husband from being murdered.

“Welcome,” she greeted with a bow. “It’s an honor to do you this favor.”

Peter shoved the shy Lee forward. “My new friend here needs one of your famous makeovers. Do your best,” he ordered. “Make her the queen of any party.”

Peter smiled when Yee-Mei made Lee turn around for her. Expert eyes looked at her from all angles. “No problem. It will take a couple hours though.” Peter trusted her completely.

“Good, thank you. You’re a sweetie, Yee-Mei,” he said and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek. She blushed at his attention. It wasn't hard at all to hide his evil aura when he needed to.

When Yee-Mei was done inspecting Lee, she turned her attention towards Peter. With twinkling eyes, she looked him up and down too. “You could use some attention from my girls as well. If you’re going to escort this queen, you can’t look like some street punk, you know.”

She sure knew how to put things to make him feel awkward. He looked down; he looked like he’d always done in jeans and shirt. “What’s wrong with this?”

She just shook her head. “Take my advice; you need a makeover too if you’re to match what I plan to do with this young woman of yours.”

He shrugged. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling the length of it. He guessed he could have used a haircut soon anyway. “All right, I guess I have some time to kill while you work on her.” Sitting still in a chair while they pampered him wasn’t his idea of a good time. He was usually restless half way through the wash, before they had even brought out the scissors.

He waved bye to Lee, and followed another of the tiny Chinese women to the men’s salon a few doors down.

~~~

"Got a hot date tonight, Eagle-eye?" a teasing voice came from the shadows behind Kermit while he was struggling with his bowtie in the bedroom mirror. He spun around, grabbing for his Desert Eagle on the table beside him. His hand found nothing where the gun had rested only moments ago.

Kermit was already groping for his backup located in a secret drawer under the table when the intruder stepped out of the shadows, waving the large gun in the air. "Looking for this?"

Kermit forgot the other gun when he recognized the familiar features of an old friend. "What the…” It couldn't be. “Charles?" The man looked exactly the same as he had done twenty years earlier in the jungles of Vietnam.

"In the flesh," the younger looking man said with a laugh, casually tossing the gun on the bed next to him. Kermit relaxed somewhat, he hated looking down the wrong end of the barrel of his own gun.

"But, you're dead…" Kermit had seen him take round after round of rebel bullets right before his eyes. The man should be dead.

"I'm not that easy to kill, Eagle-Eye. Griffin is it now? Detective Griffin?" Kermit realized the other had not only grabbed his gun, he had his wallet in his hands too. He didn’t let that upset him; he had no secrets in there. The presence of his old friend in his apartment was the bigger mystery.

"How?" Charles had not only sneaked unnoticed into his house, past all his top notch security, but grabbed his gun and wallet without him even noticing. Was he getting soft in his old age? Was his easy life as a police detective starting to seriously affect his hard earned survival skills?

Charles chuckled. "Reminds you of someone?" he said with a tease, and then he was gone.

Kermit backed up, desperately looking around the room. Where did he go?

"Boo!" came the voice right next to him.

Kermit jumped sideways in surprise, throwing a punch towards his friend in pure reflex. But he only hit air, Charles moved away almost effortlessly. "Yes, you remind me of YOU. Twenty years and you still like to drive me nuts with your pranks." It was like the old days all over when Charles had taught him dirty survival tricks. He’d never been able to hit Charles back. Not once. Anger at the other's attitude began to push though his initial confusion.

Kermit blinked, and Charles appeared sprawled on his bed. "I'm here because I believe we have a friend in common," he began mysteriously.

"Who?" Could any of the old gang be in town without his knowledge?

"Peter Caine." Charles said with a grin.

Finally, all the pieces fell into place. Kermit understood. "You're Chaar!" The other's youthful appearance, his miraculous resurrection, and why he was there now; all made sense.

"Of course I am." The other grinned. "And now that you know about vampires, I can finally show you who I really am."

Kermit was stunned again. His old friend was a vampire! No wonder Charles always used to take the night assignments, and always managed to pull the most impossible stunts. He also understood with frightening clarity how Charles had saved his sight…

---flashback---

"I can't see! I can't see!" Kermit screamed in pain and fear when he realized the grenade had not just pushed him to the ground, it had also blinded him. His whole face felt as if it was on fire.

The night around him went darker than ever. His eyes were burning. “Sergeant? Charles? Are you there?” he called out, but he couldn’t hear anything either. His ears were ringing from the blast.

He stumbled when he tried getting up from the ground. The smooth path had been transformed into an inferno of burned pieces of trees and foliage. How could he have been so stupid as to think he could take the lead in this damned darkness. He should have let Charles take care of it, he always did. Damn, why did he always have to be so damn over confident? This time it had almost killed him.

A strong arm grabbed him across the shoulders, and a finger appeared across his lips. “Kermit,” came a voice right next to him. “Be quiet. Let me get you away from the path. The enemy is close.” He was amazed he could even hear Charles through the damn ringing in his ears.

“Okay,” he groaned through clenched teeth. He braced himself against the pain, and allowed the other to carry him across his shoulders. He suppressed the beginning fear the few paces it took to take them away from the devastation, and hopefully into better cover.

With his heart pounding wildly, Kermit waited in the dark for the enemy to find them. He could hear explosions in the distance, footsteps way too close, and voices speaking Vietnamese. No one found them, but he couldn’t stop shaking. While the ringing in his ears had eased almost immediately, he still couldn't see anything. Even if he wasn’t captured by the enemy, he would forever be trapped in the darkness.

“My eyes, Charles. Something is wrong with my eyes.” He tried to be brave, but he couldn’t stop the fear from his voice. He was a soldier, he wasn’t supposed to show any fear, dammit.

“Let me have a look,” he heard Charles say. He turned wordlessly towards his Sergeant.

“You have a cut in your forehead, its bleeding down into your eyes. There doesn’t seem to be anything else wrong. Maybe you got some dirt in them as well?”

It couldn't be that easy. “It hurts, and I can’t see. There has to be something seriously wrong.”

“Let me rinse you off, I still have some water left in my bottle.”

Kermit leaned back on the ground to make it easier to get to his eyes with the water. He had no hope it would help, no amount of blood and dirt could make this much damage. He couldn’t see even the slightest sliver of light, or variation of black. Barely a month in this hellhole of the world and he was already damaged for life. Resigned, he let the lukewarm water rinse over his eyes and face. It stung like a thousand needles for a moment where it pooled in his eyes. Then his eyes started to let in light again. It was a miracle!

“It works! It works. My sight is coming back!” the relief made him cry all over again. Happy tears. He wasn't going blind!

Chares laughed. “Told you, silly. Just some dirt in there.”

Kermit blinked away the last of the remaining water, and the pretty embarrassing tears. He touched his eyes with his fingers. They came away red and bloody when he looked at them. He carefully touched his forehead. It was sore, and he felt even more warm stickiness on his fingertips.

“See, you have a cut up there.” Charles handed him a slightly soiled bandanna.

Kermit tied the bandanna around his head with a tight knot to help stop the blood flow. Could that cut be it? Blood and grime? He’d been so sure his eyes were damaged beyond repair. “Sorry that I overreacted. Don’t tell the others, okay?”

Charles laughed. “It’ll be our little secret, rookie.”

--- end flashback---

Kermit looked at Chaar, this time seeing through the lie of appearance. This was the ancient evil who had made Peter a vampire. "You hid your secret well, old friend. Why were you there? Why did you help me, us, like you did?"

Charles sat up on the edge of the bed. Glimmering yellow eyes looked back at Kermit. "I may be a vampire, but I'm not a monster, Eagle-Eye. The evil I do are always aimed at the already depraved and lost souls of society. In times of war, much good as well as much evil can be performed under the veil of combat."

Kermit nodded. He owed Chaar his life, twice over. He took his sunglasses off. "What did you do that night when you saved my sight?"

"I did what I needed to do to heal your wounds. I dripped some of my blood into your eyes. Only, your eyes not only healed, they became 'better' than they were before. I gather you still have the enhanced sight that gave you the nick name Eagle-Eye? Unfortunately, you also became more sensitive to strong light, like any vampire."

"Yes, I still see perfectly even at night. I also have a way of making people very uncomfortable if I look straight at them, without any glasses in between. Much changed that night, but I've learned to live with it. You have no idea how good it feels to finally understand what it was that happened to me back there." Kermit smiled at Charles, and wondered how the man could ever be mistaken for an evil creature.

Charles grinned back. "I see you're already dressed for a party, would you mind if I tagged along? We could revive some old memories."

Kermit looked down at his tux. This wasn't the right party for old Nam buddies to get reacquainted. He sighed and shook his head regretfully. "I'm afraid this is work related. They wouldn't understand if I showed up in the company of the 'bad guy' we're after." That was a problem. What would he tell Peter about his new master?

"You do know I'm not the bad guy here, don't you? Peter did tell you I pretty much turned him to find the so called vampire killer, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he told us. But I'm afraid my Captain isn't buying it. She thinks you're manipulating Peter, and frankly so did I. Until I found out who you are, that is. After all these years, I'd still trust you with my life, Charles." It was true, he would. Something about the other man oozed trust and dependability.

Charles chuckled. "You really shouldn't. I'm a vampire, and deep down we are not to be trusted." He flashed his eyes again, and suddenly Kermit was enveloped in such coldness the hairs in his neck started to rise. He shivered.

"What did you do?" Kermit frowned; the other seemed dangerous all of a sudden. He backed away from Charles predatory eyes and demeanor.

"For a vampire, I'm as 'good' as we get. But this is who I really am." He snapped his fingers, and suddenly he was back to the warm, caring and dependable Charles again.

Kermit shook his head, wondering if he was dreaming this whole sequence. If not, the other was playing with him. "We better have that catch up drink another night, my date is waiting." He felt bad making excuses, but he really was starting to get nervous in the presence of the other. Just as nervous he usually felt around Peter these days. Vampires could not be trusted, friends or not.

Charles nodded and before Kermit knew what had happened, the vampire was gone. Damn annoying habit!

Part 9

Two hours after he'd left Lee, Peter ran his fingers through a slightly shorter and a lot darker hair. All the sun bleached highlights were gone. His hair was back to its shiny, rich natural brown.

The last of his tan was also gone after the thorough cleansing they had made him suffer through. His skin almost glowed white. Satisfied with his new look, he ran his hands down the smooth black silk of the suit. The expensive fabric felt wonderful against his skin. Maybe this makeover thing had been a good idea after all; this suited him so much better.

He looked just like he felt; dark and dangerous. Now to see what they had done with Lee. He was beginning to feel the embers of hunger and hoped she had her hunger under control. She had barely touched her meal that morning. She had only swallowed what she absolutely needed with a grimace of disgust. He wondered how she had managed to convince herself that it wasn’t blood, and that she wasn't a vampire. Blood tasted better than any food or drink he ever had as a human. To her it was a necessary evil, something they had done to her that she hated.

When he stepped into the beauty salon, it seemed empty at first, except for a low giggle from somewhere. Two young Chinese voices were chatting along behind a curtain in the back.

“Yee-Mei? Lee?” he called out to get their attention.

The apparition that came out from behind the curtain made him almost forget to breathe. “Lee?”

She nodded, her long curled hair bounced around her face and shoulders. She wore the long black dress proudly. “You were right, Peter. I’m not old at all.”

“You’re beautiful, my sweet,” he said with a smile that matched the warmth that was growing in his heart. Suddenly, his world didn’t seem so dark anymore.

She smiled back and the next moment she was in his arms, hugging him fiercely. "Thank you!"

When she let go, she tilted her head back to look up at him. He bent down to kiss her small red mouth. She tasted of Roses and peppermint, beauty and strength. She didn’t pull back, but rather returned the brief, uncertain kiss.

“Let me show you the world, my sweet,” he offered, wishing more than anything to get to know this woman.

She nodded. “I think I would like that.”

“Wonderful! Let’s crash a party. I feel like celebrating.” He knew just the place to go.

~~~

“What is this place?” Lee wondered with big eyes when Peter escorted her up the stairs of the magnificent looking new building in glass and marble. “I have never seen such a building.”

“This is the new Opera House. There’s a big opening gala going on tonight. I think there’s some foreign star who set this up. Anyway, it’s apparently a big deal in ‘High Society’. Every big shot in town is probably in there. What better time for you to make your debut?”

“But how will I talk to them?” Lee was still talking Chinese, as was Peter.

“I will help you, my sweet. You will not have to speak a word, they will worship the very ground you walk on anyway.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We are vampires. Humans will find us utterly fascinating, even if they have no idea what we really are. You’ll see. They will love you.”

She nervously clinged onto his arm. Peter caressed her now beautifully manicured hand affectionately. It was not every night he had such a beauty at his side. He wondered how many people he knew would be there. Hopefully, nobody who would make a scene at least. He smiled, he didn’t exactly look his old self in the expensive suit, and the aura of suppressed danger he had chosen to surround himself with for the evening. It was not only Lee who had changed.

“Do we have tickets for the play?” Lee wondered when they slid past the guards at the door with only a glance from Peter. He’d used his skills almost automatically to gain access.

“No, the play is already over I’m afraid. This is just the after show party.”

“Oh,” she looked disappointed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you another time. You might like the music. I can’t say it’s my cup of tea, but it’s something everyone should experience at least once.”

“Okay,” she nodded, she was way too busy studying all the other guests to do much else.

Peter scanned the room himself, looking for known or dangerous faces. It was the reflex of every cop when they entered a room. Almost instantly, he spotted Captain Simms, and the Commissioner across the room, talking to the Mayor. A closer look around the edges revealed both Strenlich and T.J.. He wondered if they suspected some kind of retaliation for the recent busts. What other reason could there be for the added security? He scanned the room a second time, looking for Kermit. He was slightly surprised that his Captain had not convinced Kermit to escort her there. Something was going on between those two, he was sure of it. Or, maybe Kermit had dumped her in the Commissioner's lap as soon as he possibly could.

“Come,” he said to Lee. “Let’s dance.”

She followed him easily, even though she had never danced like that in her life. She was delightfully light on her feet, and so perceptive to what his next move would be that he almost wondered if she could read his mind. “You dance exquisitely, my sweet,” he complimented her when the music switched from waltz to a foxtrot. “Why don’t we go grab something to drink?”

“In here?” she looked alarmed.

"Don't worry, my sweet. It's perfectly safe. Let me show you." He led her towards one of the many corridors leading down towards the theatre part of the opera. There would be plenty of dark corners where they could lure some unsuspecting party visitor.

~~~

More than a few heads turned when Peter and Lee came back to the lair. Peter held her close, with an arm wrapped around her waist. He could feel her tremble against him. She had conquered the ball like a Queen, but facing her tormentors made her lose all her gained confidence. He had tried his best to calm her down in the limo on the way home, but she was still a nervous wreck.

“Keep your head high, stand tall and proud, and they won’t even recognize you, my sweet,” he’d reassured her in the elevator.

She clinged to him, but she managed to otherwise look cool. Peter steered her towards the small group gathered by the bar. They might have gotten some nice taste bites at the party, but they both needed more to drink. What better time to show off their makeovers. He was determined to take Lee from a slave status to equal status among the lair inhabitants. She might not be old in vampire terms, but even new converts were treated better than she had ever been.

“Nice!” Carly, one of the other females, said with a leery grin. She looked Peter over and licked her fangs.

If Peter could have, he would have blushed at the obvious advance. He’d expected the men to come onto the new girl, but not the women to throw themselves at him.

“He’s taken, bitch!” came out of Lee’s mouth before Peter had recovered enough to respond himself. He looked down at her, as shocked as Carly. She’d said it with such power and conviction, Peter wondered what had happened to the shy Lee he’d been escorting all night.

“Exactly,” Peter agreed, and hugged Lee even closer.

Carly threw her hands up, and backed off with a grin. “Let me know when you’re done with him,” she winked. Carly was tough. What Lee had said was something she could have said if the roles had been reversed. Lee had won her first battle.

Lee nodded her head ever so slightly. The queen was emerging. Peter smiled.

“Welcome to the lair,” Black said with a supposedly charming smile when he came sneaking up from behind. Peter couldn’t suppress a shudder, something about the black man made the hair on his neck stand erect. Not even Chaar made him react that way.

Before either Peter or Lee had time to react, Black had pulled Lee away from Peter and given her a playful bite on the neck.

Lee screamed, and Peter pushed Black away from her without even thinking. The dark power within oozed towards the offending vampire. Black hit the wall with a most satisfying thud. “Stay away from my woman!” Peter growled menacingly.

Black shook his head, clearly confused as to what had happened. “Okay, man,” he groaned, and then slowly walked away with one last glare over his shoulder.

Peter ignored him, and focused on Lee. He held her close, comforting her. “Hey, it’s over. He’s gone now, my sweet,” he crooned, as he expertly swiped off the last traces of the slobbery bite on her neck with one of his sterile cotton napkins. One more sample acquired for the DNA testing.

She settled down again, and Peter let her go enough for her to face the four remaining vampires. They looked as stunned as Black had, even though two of them had witnessed his last attack when he’d defended Lee. He was beginning to like this; they’d certainly respect him after this. “By the way, this is Lee,” he finally introduced.

“Welcome to the lair,” Carly said. “Sorry about that guy, he’s not representative of the residents here. Just because he’s second in command, he thinks he can do whatever he pleases. I’m glad to see someone can put up a fight.”

“Thank you,” Lee said with her heavy Chinese accent, and bowed traditionally.

“Lee is new in town,” Peter explained. “She recently arrived from China, so she doesn’t know much English yet.” If they didn't recognize her, he wouldn't be the one to tell them who she really was.

He smiled when all four offered to teach her almost instantly. A full glass of blood found its way into her hand as quickly as she could point her eyes towards the bar. She would do just fine now, Peter was relieved.

~~~

“Here,” Peter said, handing Kermit his latest saliva sample. “This is from Black, the second in command. Creepy guy.” He was glad he had been able to secure a sample from Black that easily, even if it had scared the hell out of Lee in the process.

“Only one? Where’s the sample from that girl I saw you with the other night?” So Kermit had indeed been at the party, lurking somewhere. He must have been the reason every one of his old friends from the precinct had stayed away from him and Lee all night.

“Oh, you mean Lee? She’s not a suspect.”

“Oh, really? And why not may I ask? I had thought for sure we’d be staking her tonight like the other woman you befriended.”

“You’ll find her blood mixed with the saliva. But you better understand; she is ‘not’ a suspect!” Peter replied with more force than he had intended.

“Okay okay. Take it easy, kid!” Kermit held his empty hand up in a surrendering gesture.

Peter couldn’t help glare a bit extra at Kermit with his vampire eyes. There was just no scaring the guy. He better not go after Lee.

“I’ll get this to the lab, I’ll talk to you later,” Kermit grouched, as he turned to leave. He walked with a brisk pace towards his car right at the end of the alley.

Peter chuckled when he saw Kermit hurry off. The human wasn't as unaffected by the vampire's power as he pretended to be. When he was alone again, he took to the skies to get back to the lair. Lee was waiting for him. He had promised to teach her how to fly.

~~~

The night was barely over when Kermit contacted him again. He looked at the short message on the cell phone. “IT’S HIM!” it said, sender unknown of course. Peter didn’t need caller ID to know the message was from Kermit, he’d received way too many “NEGATIVE!” up until now. It was their standard way of reporting success or failure on the project. This was the fastest response so far though. The evidence must be very clear.

They were close to the lair. “Lee, will you be okay getting back to the lair on your own? I have an errand for Chaar to take care of.”

“No problem, Peter,“ she said, still with the big grin on her face she’d had ever since they had left the ground hours before.

“No detours, dawn is not far away now. Okay?” he realized, he was feeling more than a little protective of her. If he'd had the time, he would have followed her all the way to the lair. If he was to see Kermit and make it back to the lair before sunrise, he had to hurry.

“Okay.” She nodded, and he could see that she was serious.

“See you shortly then,“ he said, and left her with a speed he knew she wouldn’t be able to follow.

He hid out of sight on the ground to make sure she did as told. He did not want her following him right now. She had enough with her own experience of flight to bother about where he disappeared to, he realized.

~~~

"We had more than enough saliva to do the test. There's no mistake, Peter," Kermit reassured him, when he doubted the accuracy.

Black was Chaar's trusted right hand at the lair. What could possibly have possessed him to do such deeds? "The guy may be creepy, and rude as hell, but he's Chaar's second in command."

"But Chaar obviously didn't trust him with this assignment, did he? He took in an outside man to find the killer." Kermit pointed out.

"You have a point there..." Peter mused. This wouldn't be easy to tell Chaar. Or, had Chaar maybe suspected something all along? Was that the reason he had given him the assignment instead of Black?

"On another note. We did test the woman's blood, and found something very interesting," Kermit added.

"Oh, what?"

"She's related to Black. Close enough for a daughter. If we had only her DNA, and not his; she would have been a definite clue to the identity of the real murderer. Maybe even a suspect. Their DNA is completely different from any other’s we have tested so far."

"He made her a vampire, but he's not her birth father. I had no idea that the change into a vampire even changed your DNA." No wonder then that he had lost his connection to his real father. Kwai Chang Caine was technically not his father anymore. "Would be interesting to check out what happened to my DNA in relation to my father and Chaar," Peter reflected out aloud.

"We could run some tests on yours I guess, the lab wouldn't have to know the specifics. What would you do if you find out that you are no longer related to Caine on a genetic level?"

"I guess this makes sense of how vampires like to live as families, they 'are' families. In my case, my father will always be my father, no matter what's in my DNA." He wanted to smile at the situation; how he was hogging fathers. Chaar was his third.

"No matter, we have our killer. His DNA betrayed him. The Captain may want you to go on undercover to find more drug dealers, but this is over any time you want now."

"She wants me to stay on? I should have guessed," Peter groaned.

Kermit nodded. "I told her it wasn't a good idea, and she pretty much agreed it would be your call."

"I'll give Chaar the news, and then we'll see."

"What do you think will happen?"

"I have no idea. If it had been anyone else I would have said death. Now, I have no idea."

"If Chaar won't do it. We will have to." Kermit said grimly.

"I guess we'll know soon enough." Peter left Kermit's car. The sun was about to rise, he had to hurry back before he got trapped for the day.

~~~

Kermit remained leaned against his car as he watched Peter disappear into the near dawn twilight. For the first time since this whole affair had started, he felt hope. This would work out.

They had found their killer and they had gotten some bonus drug dealers. But mainly his hope for the future depended on his old friend Charles. They had not had the chance to talk since before the ball. He knew Chaar wasn’t who he had seemed to be. They wouldn’t have to kill him after all. He was sure Chaar would let Peter return to humanity. Chaar would perhaps also agree to working with the Police in the future.

He had not told Peter yet. There would be time for that after Black was taken care of. He wondered what Chaar wanted to do about Black. Peter had said Black was Chaar’s closest in command. It would be a hard decision, he was sure.

Kermit yawned and adjusted his sunglasses. He entered his car with a tired sigh. It was time to return home for some well earned sleep. He was pretty sure nothing would happen until dusk anyway.

~~~

With only seconds to spare from certain death, Peter escaped inside the lair. His hands and face were sizzling, and he spread a disgusting odor of smoked bacon along his path towards Chaar's office. He noted that Black was there, talking to a small group by the bar. Peter didn't bother refueling before he knocked on his Master's door. He could drink, and start the healing process soon enough.

"Enter!" he heard from inside.

Peter stepped inside, and closed the door firmly behind him.

"Peter! You really shouldn't cut it this close when you're still so young." Chaar immediately went for the bar when he saw Peter's seared features.

"I found out who the killer is." Peter blurted out. "I didn't want to get trapped somewhere until tonight."

Chaar spun around, the drink he had poured forgotten. "You did!"

Peter nodded, starting towards the bar. He really needed that drink.

Chaar saw his need, and handed him the glass. "Who is it?" he asked impatiently.

Peter inhaled the blood before he looked up to meet Chaar's eyes. "It's Black."

"Black? Are you sure?"

"Yes, my source is certain. The DNA matches perfectly. It's Black."

Peter grabbed the bottle, and poured another glass while Chaar digested the news. Half a bottle later Chaar was still silently fuming, moving towards his desk. Peter put the glass down, his face and hands had stopped aching. He looked down at his hands, the blistering was already gone. His skin was back to its normal smooth white. Vampire healing was a miracle. He wondered briefly if the secrets behind this miracle physique could be found in the DNA, or if something more supernatural had something to do with it.

"Send Black in here, would you?" Chaar ordered when Peter looked up again.

"Of course," Peter confirmed. He left the room silently. Whatever Chaar was going to do, it would be between the Master and Black, for now. Whatever Chaar did, Black was doomed. If Chaar didn't kill him, Peter and Kermit would.

Black was still in the main room. "Chaar wants you, Black!" Peter called out to the tall man as he approached the bar. His skin might look normal, but he craved more blood.

"What did you do now, Caine? He has to call me in to clean up your mess?" Black sounded as patronizing and condescending as usual.

"I think not, you bastard," Peter mumbled, ignoring the other.

Before he knew what had happened, Peter found himself pushed up against the wall by a very angry Black. He sure had a short temper. This time Peter pushed his own anger back. Black's days as the bully were over. "I wouldn't keep Chaar waiting, if I were you," Peter growled through his teeth.

"I'll be back," the black man growled back as he let Peter go.

"I'll be waiting," Peter snarled back. And if Black indeed did come back out from Chaar's room, he would hold nothing back. Black was a dead man.

Part 10

“You’ve endangered us all!” Chaar was growling loud enough for everyone in the lair to hear. Black had been so confident he had not even bothered to close the door behind him when he had entered the office. Peter, along with everyone else present, rushed towards the opening to find out what was going on. They were all as curious what could enrage Chaar to such a degree.

“I’m sorry, boss!” the seven feet black man cowered before the Master. It was a strange sight to see the always so cocky Black get chewed off by the usually so calm and deliberate Chaar.

“You’re SORRY? You’re SORRY!” Chaar only seemed to get angrier the more Black tried to be submissive.

“What part of my code of conduct didn’t you understand? What made you think they didn’t apply to you?” Chaar’s eyes were like volcanoes of anger.

“I…I…” Black couldn’t get any coherent words out.

“You forgot to THINK, didn’t you? You let your instincts take over!” Chaar slowly shook his head.

Black sank down on his knees in front of Chaar, defeated. He knew what he had done, and he clearly accepted any punishment. “Do with me what you must, Master.”

“You have been my companion for many years, but this is beyond forgiveness.”

Peter gulped. The pure, undiluted anger that had taken over Chaar was a frightening sight when he looked away from Black, to regard the spectators. “Watch and learn!” he growled. “Obey the rules, or leave my lair!”

A common gasp went though the group when Chaar grabbed Black’s head, tilted it aside, and bit down ruthlessly into his neck.

Peter swallowed with another gulp. He was the one responsible for this. He had found the evidence against Black. He’d wondered what Black's punishment would be, but he’d fully expected to have to stake him himself with Kermit’s help. Chaar’s reaction had been so much more violent than he had anticipated.

It didn’t take Chaar more than a minute to empty Black’s veins of blood. Deathly pale, Black sank to the floor when Chaar let go of his head. Black's dark, fearful eyes were still open and aware. “Bring me that stake, Peter!” the Master commanded, waving in the general area of his desk.

Peter quickly did as he was told. “Here you are, Master,” he said with a submissive bow, holding out the stake.

Chaar looked up at him, and got a strange smile on his face. “You do it, Peter.”

Peter blinked, surprised. Then he took a better hold on the stake. It was after all Black’s fault he was a vampire again. His fault he was sinking into darkness. The rage came easily when he realized this was the guy who had started it all with his killing spree. He deserved to die. “Die! Traitor!” he growled, as he plunged the stake into Black’s chest. He smiled when Black’s body turned into ash right before his eyes. If the darkness hadn’t been so firmly in control, he would have been shocked over the pleasure he felt.

He looked at Chaar. His main mission was over. He wondered what would be next. Bon Bon Hai was still resisting control, but the main reason Chaar had turned him was now taken care of. “What now?” his eyes said when he saw how Chaar began to calm down again.

“Show’s over,” Chaar grouched. “Get the hell out of my office!”

Peter turned to follow the crowd out of the room, but was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Not you, Peter.”

Peter stopped, and turned. If the hand on his shoulder had not been so gentle, he would have been worried he was next on the kill-list. “What’s up?”

“Don’t be afraid, kid. The killing is over for the evening.” Chaar stood at the edge of the pile of ash. He looked sad now that the anger had melted away.

“I’m sorry,” Peter said sincerely. He could imagine how he’d feel if he had to kill Kermit this way. But he also understood why it was necessary. Kermit had not hesitated either when he had seen Peter as a threat. If any of the others thought they could get away with it, they’d be back to killing in an instant. No this was for the best, no matter how it might hurt. Chaar knew this too.

Chaar bent down, and picked up a piece of glimmering gold; the only thing not turned to ash. “Here, this is yours now,” he said, opening his hand towards Peter.

Peter looked at the heavily ornate gold ring. It had Chaar’s crest on it, the twin to the ring the Master wore on his right hand.

“Take it. Consider yourself promoted,” Chaar said when Peter hesitated.

“Are you sure? I am after all still the new guy around here.”

“Yes. I see great potential in you. And so far your work has been excellent. Besides, I wouldn’t trust anyone out there with my business.”

“All right,” Peter slowly agreed, picking up the ring from Chaar’s palm. He slid it on his finger, it fit perfectly. For a second it glimmered, as if by magic. He looked closer at the symbol; it vaguely reminded him of an ornate yin-yang, splintered into pieces.

Peter looked up, to find a smile on Chaar’s face. Damn, the man trusted him. It would have been so much easier to do what he had to eventually do, if he had not.

“Now get back to your lady out there, my friend. Celebrate while you can, tomorrow you begin your new duties by finding a replacement for the cleaning-lady you stole from us.”

“You noticed, huh?” he should have known nothing passed unnoticed by Chaar. Or almost nothing, he obviously didn’t know what he and Kermit were up to. Suddenly, he felt very nervous about that. Death was not what he had bargained for when he had signed on for this assignment.

“Black may have enrolled her and created her, but I make it a point of knowing everybody who’s here on any kind of permanent basis.”

“I just couldn’t stand by and watch such an injustice go on. From now on ‘everybody’ cleans. One week each.”

That idea made Chaar laugh. “Go for it. This will be fun to watch.”

“You don’t think I could make them do it?” Peter quipped, as he let the darkness playfully cloud his eyes.

“Oh, I have no doubt. I’m gonna enjoy their groaning and moaning while they do it.”

Peter grinned too. “Me too, boss. Me too.” He knew Lee would certainly get a kick out of it.

“Now go have some fun, kid. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Chaar nodded towards the door, and Peter knew he’d been excused.

Peter could see the smile fade from Chaar’s eyes as he moved away. Peter felt sorry for the man.

When Peter closed the office door behind him, he looked around for Lee. He had been so preoccupied with Black and Chaar he'd forgotten all about her. She must have been worried. He had expected her to be in his arms the moment he stepped out of the office, but she wasn't there. Maybe she was sleeping already, it was late for their kind, and she had been out all night testing her powers.

"Lee?" he called out when he entered the suite. Still silence. An uneasy knot formed in his gut when he realized both doors to their bedrooms were wide open, and the rooms were empty. She wasn't there.

He went back out to the lounge. "Anyone seen Lee tonight?" he called out. Nobody even seemed to take notice he was there. Black's death had caused quite a turmoil among the people of the lair. He ran his hand through his hair, uncertain what to do. If Lee wasn't there, where could she be?

The glimmering ring on his finger caught his attention. He smiled, he could order everyone to look for her if he wanted to. It was as if just flashing the ring in the air had called out to the others. A wave of gasps came from around the room, then all conversations died down, and they stared at him en masse.

He had their attention, but he also saw them distance themselves from him. He realized what it meant to be Chaar’s second in command. It was in their eyes, they saw not the newbie Peter anymore, they saw Chaar looking at them through Peter’s eyes. The ring meant power, but it also meant that he wasn’t one of them anymore. Why then, did he have this sinking feeling that he had just tied the bonds to this lair even tighter? “I asked you a question,” he growled impatiently when they remained quiet. “Anyone seen Lee this morning?”

All he got in return was confused headshakes. They had not seen her; of course he wasn't that lucky. Maybe she had seen Black in the main room, and decided to hide? He wondered where her old quarters were located in the building. He grumbled, it wasn't like he could ask them either, it would reveal too much about who she really was. He wouldn't do that to her. Maybe Terry knew? The bartender was the only one Peter felt he could trust with the secret.

He was already walking towards the elevator when it cranked open. Jack stepped out, closely followed by Terry. The human looked very nervous; Peter could practically see the shiver. Jack held a letter sized envelope in a tight grip.

"What's going on, Jack?" Peter asked with a frown, when the nervous gangster came closer. What the hell was he doing there?

"He says he wants to talk to the Boss," Terry cut in when Jack came to a stop, and still didn't say anything. Then he pushed Jack further towards Peter.

Peter saw how Jack went pale when he got the full attention of not only Peter, but the whole room. "I'll take care of it, Terry," Peter confirmed the intended suggestion from the bartender.

"Good, I have other things to do." Terry started to turn to leave when he too noticed the ring on Peter's finger. "Oh, I see congratulations are in order."

Peter looked down at his hand. That thing on his finger sure stirred more attention than he had thought it would. Apparently it was a big deal. "I guess," he shrugged.

Terry didn't say anything more, but he made a hint that Peter should come down to the bar later. Peter nodded, and grabbed Jack by the arm to take him to Chaar's office. Whatever it was that Jack was delivering from Bon Bon Hai, it would be of interest to Chaar.

"I hate to disturb you, Master," Peter said when they had been invited into the office. "This mortal has a message for you."

"You could have handled it, Peter. But it's from that cocky Bon Bon Hai, isn't it? He thinks he's more than he is. Someone should teach him his proper place, once and for all." The Master sounded just as annoyed as Peter felt. Chaar sank down into his leather chair with a glass of blood. "Read it to me, mortal!"

Jack's hands trembled so hard that Peter had to open it for him. He snatched the envelope from Jack, and ripped it open. "Sheesh, what kind of messenger are you?" He shook his head at Jack. Where had the confident attitude from last time disappeared to?

"I have your lady," it began. Damn! Anger surged through him. Bon Bon Hai had kidnapped Lee.

Jack shrank back even more when Peter looked up from the letter, barely able to keep himself in control. "I had nothing to do with that. I tried to tell him not to piss you off. Honest, I had nothing to do with it!"

Peter grabbed Jack by the jacket before the man could even react. "Is she all right? What did he do with her?"

Jack only gasped, his mouth moved but no sound came out.

"Tell me!" Peter growled. "What did Bon Bon Hai do with Lee?"

"He didn't do anything serious. He put her in a cage, that's it. I promise, Peter."

Peter believed him, only Bon Bon Hai would be stupid enough to try such a stunt. What did he think he could possibly gain? Peter continued to read the letter. "I want you out of my business and out of my city! Your leader will meet me, and agree to do so, or the lady dies. YES, I do know how to torture and kill a VAMPIRE!"

"The man is obviously demented if he thinks this will do him any good," Peter said with a disbelieving shake of his head. It would only cause to turn a potential ally against him. You do not piss off a master vampire without serious consequences. A very bad move indeed.

“It’s time for us to take action against Bon Bon Hai. This has gone far enough. I will not tolerate this!” Chaar's eyes glimmered dangerously.

"I agree," Peter nodded grimly. It was strange how he both dreaded and anticipated the contact with the dark power again. It was way too seductive to reject, and way too dangerous to embrace. Whatever happened tonight, by morning he would have stepped even further from the light of Shambhala. Would it even be possible to purge such evil from his soul again? Would he want to even lose the power? Subconsciously, he fingered the amulet under his black silk shirt; it was squirming against his skin. A sure sign the dark powers were gaining in influence.

Peter's attention snapped back to his Master when Chaar almost pushed his chair through the window when he rose. He looked like he was going to blow any moment. “Calm down, boss,” Peter urged. “It’s not even dark out yet, plenty of time to plan our strategy.” He surprised even himself when the words of reason came out of his mouth. He should be the raging one, he was the one who had put Lee in harms way. If he'd just left her alone, Bon Bon Hai would never have taken her.

“Everything is going wrong in this damn city! Not even the crooks do as they’re told, and now this with Lee. I wouldn’t put it past that damn obstinate Bon Bon Hai if he had somehow influenced Black to do what he did. You told me yourself that he transferred his evil onto you in his presence. Could he be the reason Black went nuts?”

Chaar was clearly on his last straw, trying to find a reason to why his oldest and most trusted friend had failed him so miserably.

“I don’t know, but it could definitely be a contributing reason. If Black was unhappy with the restrictions you force upon us, Bon Bon Hai’s personal evil could well have triggered the acts. And the scariest thing is that they might not even have been aware of the other for it to happen. All Black might have done was land on Bon Bon Hai’s roof by mistake, and he’d get influenced.”

“Then how come you didn’t go nuts? You spent a lot of time even closer to him.”

Peter laughed coldly and let his eyes turn black instead of gold. “What makes you think I’m unaffected?” He reached towards Jack with his newfound power.

Jack gasped and stepped backwards in shock and surprise when a black heavy cloud of darkness descended upon him. Peter pushed harder, and the mortal went down on his knees, unable to fight the invisible force. “Stop!” he gasped.

Peter stopped as abruptly as he had begun. Jack fell lifeless to the floor, already unconscious. Couldn't be the first time Jack had been the target of it. This was how Bon Bon Hai used it, to choke his victims into submission. Damn, he hadn’t even known he had picked up the talent until it had flowed out of him in anger. He had quickly learned how to handle it; it was a very addictive power.

Chaar looked at him funny, and with a new respect. “No wonder I felt such kinship with you, Peter. You have inherited my ability to absorb the dark powers of others without drinking their blood. I had not thought this possible to pass along; none of my hundreds of children has shown even the slightest hint of this gift.”

“You mean this happens to you too?” Peter was amazed. He’d thought it was a result of his involvement with Shambhala, and not something he’d gotten from his vampire father.

Chaar nodded with a smile, as he turned towards the bar. “I’m going to enjoy teaching you how to use, and control your abilities.”

“Good. If we’re taking down Bon Bon Hai tonight, I’ll definitely need your guidance to get down from that power high.” He casually stepped over Jack's body, to join his master by the bar. He was getting hungry too.

“Yes, tonight we eliminate that evil bastard.” He poured Peter a drink from the pitcher on the bar. “And have your fill before we go. It’s always best to attack on a full stomach. Hunger can make you do rash things when you need to keep your head calm and in control.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Peter asked, between gulps. He was secretly wondering when Chaar would realize that maybe Bon Bon Hai didn’t broadcast his powers, and that it was Peter’s unique ability that had made it possible. But then what could have caused Black to do what he did? Bon Bon Hai was definitely an easy excuse, but was it the real reason? He guessed they would never know now.

“Nothing elaborate, we drive over there, rescue Lee and kick the crap outta him.”

Peter grinned, he liked that plan. “And then we kill him!” he added.

“Exactly. Take care of family first, then we have some fun.”

It would be hard to take out Chaar when Bon Bon Hai was gone. There was so much he could teach Peter about being a vampire. Peter almost felt like kicking himself at that thought. He was NOT going to remain a vampire, dammit! But here he was, taking his new self for granted. He didn’t need Chaar’s advice; he wasn’t staying any longer than he had to.

“Let’s go!” Chaar ordered when Peter put the last of his drink down, unable to get anymore down.

"Now? It's hours till sunset." Peter didn't understand.

Chaar grinned. "I didn't tell you about the car, did I?"

"Uh, no," Peter was still confused.

"I've customized a van with the same type glass I have in these windows. As long as we stay inside the van, the sun won't hurt us. There's also some protective gear for brief exposure to direct sunlight. It'll be enough for us to drive over there, and get inside without getting hurt."

"Perfect!" Why hadn't he thought of that? Tinted windows were commonplace these days. He could go wherever he wanted with a car like that. Without further due, he grabbed the limp form of Jack, and threw him over his shoulder.

~~~

Peter tossed Jack's lifeless, but still alive, body down on the table in front of Bon Bon Hai. "Here's some trash I found in our garbage. Where's Lee?"

"Oh, she's over there." Bon Bon Hai nodded towards the far corner of the big room. A cage swung empty from a chain.

"Where?" Peter growled impatiently.

"I'm afraid I had some fun with her, and 'poof' she was gone. Oops…" Bon Bon Hai didn’t look one bit sorry; on the contrary.

"Damn you!" Peter growled, and in an instant he was all over Bon Bon Hai, strangling him with all his might. "You had no right killing her, you bastard!"

"Be gone!" Bon Bon Hai growled, and before Peter knew what had happened, he was flying across the room. That bastard was stronger than he looked. He had used physical strength, not mystical, to get Peter off of him.

"Stay back, Peter. I'll take care of this insolent kid." Chaar's voice dripped of sarcasm when he turned fully towards Bon Bon Hai. "You may be able to match my son's power, but you are still a child; an insolent child in need of punishment."

Bon Bon Hai didn't hesitate, the dark power he was famous for immediately blasted out towards Chaar. Even Peter could feel the raw power from across the room. It touched his senses, and he drank it in as if it had been ambrosia.

Chaar only laughed, he remained where he was, seemingly unaffected by the dark cloud. “You cannot hurt me Bon Bon Hai. I am also a son of the Dark Warrior, none of your dark powers will hurt me or my people; it will only strengthen us."

"Then I will just have to kill you the way I killed the woman," Bon Bon Hai growled, and waived for his soldiers to come to his aid. None did. He quickly looked around, to find what Peter and Chaar already knew. They were alone. "Guards!" Bon Bon Hai growled furiously.

Chaar slowly started to walk around the table. "We're vampires, we're already dead, you can't kill us. All you can do is surrender.”

Peter smiled when Chaar effortlessly danced around the blindly charging Chinese warrior. His master sure knew how to taunt his opponent. There was no question who was the master of the two.

Bon Bon Hai picked up a long iron-tipped wooden spear from a stand along the wall. Screaming madly, he rushed forward towards Chaar. The vampire easily evaded the thrust, and at the same time used the attacker's momentum to push him out of balance forward across the floor.

“I’ll take your fucking head off!” Bon Bon Hai manically yelled when he had stopped skidding face down across the floor. He rushed forward again, his face so red and puffed up by anger, that Peter could swear he could see steam coming out is ears.

“You have to catch me first,” Chaar laughed and continued to taunt his opponent. He easily danced away every time Bon Bon Hai came at him with the spear. It looked ridiculous, like a cat toying with a mouse; but Peter loved every moment of it. He moved across the room to make himself comfortable, he had a suspicion this could be a long night.

He casually slumped back into Bon Bon Hai’s high chair; the heavy table that used to be in front of it was already in pieces across the floor. Peter winced when he saw the many sharp wooden pieces, but he knew he didn't need worry about them; Chaar was on top of the situation.

Chaar was definitely having fun with Bon Bon Hai; enraging him more and more. He wondered how long it would take before Bon Bon Hai understood he indeed couldn’t win this fight when his best weapon was useless against his opponent. All Bon Bon Hai had was physical strength, and that wasn't nearly enough when fighting a vampire. The two could easily go at it for hours, but dawn and a chance for reprieve for Bon Bon Hai was a long time away.

Watching two such powerful warriors was like watching a well rehearsed play. Chaar definitely had some neat moves. Peter could have helped Chaar end it very quickly, but had been warned to stay out of it. He was more than happy to sit back and let the dark power wash over him from their angry opponent. The amulet around his neck wasn’t just black anymore, it practically radiated evil. The sliver of light that used to sneak its way across the surface was long gone, had he bothered to look.

Suddenly, Chaar pushed Bon Bon Hai right into Peter's lap. Peter playfully picked the spear out of his hands, and raked his fangs along the base of his neck before he pushed him back towards Chaar’s waiting fangs. “Well thank you, I always wanted to take a bite out of you,” he taunted, and easily snapped the spear in two pieces with one hand; all without even getting up from the chair.

Bon Bon Hai staggered, bleeding profusely from the deep gashes in his neck, towards his opponent. The brute strength of Peter’s shove propelled him forward with such force he couldn’t stop, even though he could barely stand on his feet. “If I can’t take your head off with my spear, I’ll do it with my bare hands,” he growled, as he made claws with his fingers.

“You’re pathetic!” Chaar sneered. “You’re not worth my efforts.” He stepped back and let Bon Bon Hai fall flat on his face on the floor instead of hitting him head on.

“I’ll get you for this…” Bon Bon Hai continued to curse. Peter wondered what was wrong with him when he didn’t understand when he’d been defeated.

“Peter,” Chaar commanded. “Why don’t you do the honors? This pathetic weakling is not worth my attention. I had hoped for a worthy adversary, but this is ridiculous. All that power, and he is only bark and no bite. Pity.” Chaar promptly turned his back on Bon Bon Hai and left the room.

“Thanks,” Peter called out to Chaar’s retreating shadow before he turned towards Bon Bon Hai. “This is just what I need; a proper drink,” he mumbled, and slowly unfolded himself out of the chair. And not just any drink either. This was Bon Bon Hai, he’d been out to get a piece of him for a long time. With a toothy grin on his face he stepped forward. “Come to me…” he commanded seductively to the pathetic figure still trying to get off the floor.

Bon Bon Hai stopped struggling, and turned towards Peter. His eyes still rebellious, but he had no strength left to fight. “You’re not strong enough! You can't do it, cop!” he barked.

“Oh, you’d love to believe that, wouldn’t you?” Peter slowly walked closer. “But you’re wrong; I have all the strength I need to finish you off.” He laughed; this was the perfect ending to Bon Bon Hai. He wished his father could be there to see it.

Bon Bon Hai cursed wildly when Peter grabbed him, and brought his neck to his mouth. “Silent!” Peter commanded right before he buried his fangs into him. Strangely enough, the command worked, every sound was zapped from his mouth. Peter quickly ceased to care what the other did; he was drowning in the pleasure of the act. Bon Bon Hai fought, though silently, until the utter end when Peter had sucked out the last drop of blood, and his heart had stopped beating. He dropped the lifeless body to the floor.

He walked over to the small cage in the corner. Lee was gone. He looked down at the pile of ashes that was the only thing that remained of her. They had been too late. He could have loved her. The darkness he'd absorbed from Bon Bon Hai numbed the pain, but the feeling of great loss still clawed at his heart. No matter that it had been Bon Bon Hai's hand that had driven the stake through her heart; it was still Peter's fault that she had been a target.

He looked over at the dead body of his old enemy. A stirring of life had caught his attention. “Damn!” he swore. That was one bastard he didn’t want to return as a vampire.

“Stay dead, you bastard!” he growled. With a quick movement, he twisted Bon Bon Hai’s head to break his neck. It wouldn’t kill him if he was turning into a vampire, but it would keep him out of commission long enough for something more permanent to be arranged. He would have to burn him and spread the ashes. That would certainly make sure he’d never return.

Peter looked around. There was plenty of broken furniture around that he could use for a fire. He found a piece that would be perfect for a stake. He looked over at Bon Bon Hai and saw his staring eyes silently blink back at him. No, he could never be sure he'd stay dead. With his body only partly a vampire yet, he might survive if somebody took out the stake. Convinced he was doing the right thing, he started making a pile on the roof. The stars, the moon, and later the sun, would be fitting witnesses to the end of the Dark Warrior’s champion.

Part 11

When Bon Bon Hai’s body had caught fire, Peter felt a powerful presence come up behind him. He turned, to find the Dark Warrior standing there, watching him. “I was wondering if you’d show up,” Peter calmly told the other. He felt no fear, the Dark Warrior was not the enemy anymore, any hint of light in Peter's soul was already gone.

“Peter Caine, are you prepared to fight?” the warrior growled. A mighty sword appeared in Peter’s hands.

Peter weighed the sword in his hands, making a few practice swings. It was masterfully made, with a balance and weight to match his strength perfectly. “But we have nothing to fight over. I am already yours.” He put the sword down in front of him and leaned his arms on the hilt.

The Dark Warrior visibly hesitated. "Mine?" The growling voice almost sounded like that of a vampire.

"Yeah, you already won. I have your blood in my veins, and your power in my soul. There's nothing left for us to fight about."

The dark one put his sword down and reached towards Peter with a gloved hand. Completely unafraid, Peter let the other touch his chest to feel the color of his soul.

"You are indeed on my side now. Then how come you killed my champion?"

"He pissed me off," Peter replied simply, meaning every word.

A growling laughter came from behind the warrior's mask. "A deed in my spirit, indeed."

Peter grinned back when the Dark Warrior disappeared into the shadows. "Sucker!" he taunted. He might wander on the dark side, but he had no sense of loyalty towards the Dark Warrior.

He didn’t see it, but when he spread the ashes of Bon Bon Hai to the wind right before dawn, the sliver of light made its way back across the surface of his amulet. All he knew was that now there was only one thing left to do before he could return to his old life. Chaar. Without Chaar there, the rest of the lair members would disappear into the night to find another Master to follow.

~~~

Peter had stayed too long on the roof, watching Bon Bon Hai burn. The sun’s first inklings of light on the horizon felt like an itch against his unprotected face. He patted his pockets to find his sunglasses. A crunching sound in his suit pocket told him they had been just as crushed as his cell phone during the fight. He briefly considered going back inside the palace for protection, but decided against it when he felt hunger stir at the back of his mind. He didn’t trust himself to resist the temptation of fresh human blood in the condition he was currently in. He was amazed he even had the urge to resist. In three half flying steps he was across the roof and over the edge in a seemingly careless manner.

He landed right in front of the van. Chaar had told him he always kept a small supply of emergency blood in the back. It would take him through the day if need be. Quickly, he reached to open the door to the driver’s seat, but was faced with a locked car. “Damn!” he cursed, it was locked. How could he have been so stupid? Of course Chaar would lock his van, especially in this neighborhood.

He used his strength to force the door open, severely damaging the lock and the handle in the process. He didn’t care; he had to get away from the rising sun. Furious, he slammed the door shut behind him. He was out of the sun, but he was trapped. The alley faced east, the sun flooded the car before he had the chance to even look for another escape.

Peter slid open the door to the separate back area of the van. He found a surprisingly spacious room with two comfortable seats and a cot folded against the side wall. In one corner was a mini-fridge and in the other a small TV and computer. The floor and the walls were covered in a plush but tasteful soundproofing material.

“Not bad,” he mumbled to himself with a whistle. He had feared he’d have to spend the day in an empty box, but this was actually comfortable. Not that it would really help him when he began feeling restless. He was sure he would soon enough.

He slumped down into one of the seats. He spun it around to check the content of the fridge even if he wasn’t really hungry yet. Never hurt to know what he had available.

Two of the new bag-in-box wine containers took up the whole space. Printed across the California brand in Terry’s neat handwriting was an expiry date several years into the future. Almost subconsciously he wrinkled his nose. This must be the vampire equivalent of canned food. He wondered what his friend had added as preservative. This was the first he had seen about preserving blood more than a few weeks.

He grabbed one of the plastic cups fastened on the wall above the fridge. He was curious to see what the stuff tasted like. He flipped the lever and the red stuff came flowing out, spreading an aroma of whisky and blood. A twinkle of worry churned through him, he had no good experiences with alcoholic blood. It tended to make him lose all inhibitions. But then he had never drunk it from a bottle, mixed outside of the body. Maybe the effects were different than when you drank from a drunk human’s blood.

He took a careful sip of the liquid. It was whisky, strong too. The combination was delicious. Why had he never tried that before? He deserved something to help him relax; this would definitely do the trick. Within 24 hours he had solved the case, killed his greatest enemy and was still alive to enjoy it. He didn’t care if he got a blasting hangover. If he could get through the day without hurting someone it would be worth it. He wanted more than anything to get his mind off what he needed to do next.

He swiped the rest of the blood/whiskey mix. He wanted to hurt someone. He poured another cup. Maybe he could drink enough to pass out before the urge to hurt someone overpowered him and he acted upon that wish.

~~~

Almost morning and still no word from Peter. Kermit was pacing back and forth in the alley behind the vampire lair where he had last seen his young partner. 24 hours without any contact during such a critical stage in the operation was screaming danger to Kermit. What were they doing? Was Peter in trouble? He sure hoped not. He’d called a number of times, and sent a bunch of messages without getting any response. He looked towards the entrance to the club in the basement. He knew it wasn’t a good idea for him to go in there, but he had to find out what happened. Terry might have a better idea what was going on.

If he couldn’t find Peter, maybe he could find Charles instead? With renewed determination he stepped towards the club, only to hesitate with his hand on the cool steel of the door. Even now, when he knew why, it was difficult to overcome the instinct to turn away and run that came over him. That instinct had saved his life many times over the years, he’d learned to trust it without question. He took a deep breath to shake off the worst of the uneasiness before he pushed the door open.

The place was empty, except for Terry. He wondered what it was about Terry that was different. None of the warning bells in the back of his mind went off around the bartender, like they did around Peter and Charles. There was no way to tell what Terry’s role in the whole thing was. He could only hope that he could trust the man enough to help him get in contact with Charles.

“Hiya, what’s up?” Terry greeted him, as if nothing had changed since he was working at Delancey’s. Kermit found his favorite brand beer in front of him even before he had time to state his business.

“I need to get in contact with the Master, Terry. I can’t reach Peter, something’s wrong.”

Terry’s friendly smile disappeared in an instant. “I’m not sure that would be such a good idea right now, Kermit,” he replied. “There’s indeed things going on tonight.”

“I know. Why do you think I came?”

Terry nodded. “All right.” He reached for the phone behind the bar, but hesitated again. “You sure?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Make the call.” Kermit ordered. “Chaar knows who I am, don’t worry about me.” As far as Terry knew, Kermit was just another human to Chaar. Terry didn’t know about their friendship, nobody did; not even Peter.

“You have a human visitor, Master.” Terry explained over the phone when he got a reply. “Kermit,” he added after a brief pause.

Kermit had a drink from the beer as he watched Terry’s worried frown turn to surprise. “He’ll be down in a moment,” the bartender told him, shaking his head incredulously.

Kermit grinned, apparently a personal appearance was very unusual. “Thanks.” He took his beer and walked over to one of the booths along the wall to wait.

Whatever Terry’s concerns, Kermit wasn’t quite prepared for the wild appearance of his old friend when he came storming through the room a couple minutes later. Kermit could clearly see the vampire in Charles’ face even through the dark glasses, and tightly closed lips. Had the discovery of Black’s betrayal done this? Kermit swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. Maybe this meeting was a mistake.

“Leave us!” Chaar ordered Terry forcefully. “Lock the door behind you.”

“Yes, Master.” Terry replied with a respectful, but not very submissive, nod. Kermit instantly realized that Terry wasn’t all that afraid of Chaar. He might call him Master and act all obedient, but he was his own master. He was like a high ranking officer signing on as a foot soldier; he may know exactly how to act, but the true rank would sometimes show through.

“Don’t worry about me, Terry,” Kermit told him when the bartender’s concerned eyes turned his way. He wished he was as certain as he tried to sound. The version of his old friend who sat down across the table looked anything but stable and reliable. “Right, Chaar?”

Chaar didn’t reply. When he took off his glasses, Terry visibly paled. The bartender was gone in the blink of an eye. One moment Terry was there, the next Kermit heard the door slam shut across the room. He was alone with Chaar.

When Chaar turned back towards him, Kermit saw what had scared Terry off in such a hurry. Pitch black holes where the vampire’s yellow eyes used to be, met him. He gulped. Something was wrong, very wrong, with his friend.

“What happened?” was all Kermit could ask, and even that was difficult when his whole body screamed of danger, and his mouth dried out like a desert.

Chaar closed his eyes, sighed, and leaned back for a moment. Apprehensively, Kermit watched the vampire take several deep breaths to get himself under control. When Chaar opened his eyes again, they were back to his normal blue.

“Sorry about that, my friend. You caught me at a bad moment,” Chaar explained almost casually. Bad moment? Yeah, right!

Kermit tried to probe cautiously. “Is everything okay?”

Chaar just stared blankly at him for a moment. “I think you know what happened. Someone I trusted betrayed me.”

“I’m sorry.” The words seemed somehow inadequate, but they were honest.

“I did what had to be done, Eagle-Eye. I think you will agree that a traitor and murderer must be punished, even if he happens to be a trusted friend.”

Kermit nodded. A muted “Yes,” came over his lips. He wondered if he had been as upset when he found out about Peter being an evil vampire. He didn’t remember the decision to kill Peter, but he was sure it must have been equally difficult.

“What made you contact me again? I’m sure it wasn’t to have a drink.”

“I haven’t been able to reach Peter since I told him about Black. You know I trust you, but I have to know what happened.”

Kermit’s heart skipped a beat when Chaar’s eyes went dark again for a brief moment. He’d apparently hit a nerve with his question. “He’ll be fine in a couple of days,” Chaar answered in a rather evasive manner.

“He’s hurt?”

“No, but it would be a good idea if you left him alone for a couple days. He’s still young, he doesn’t have the control I do.”

“What happened?” Kermit wanted to scream out his frustration when he didn’t get any kind of real answer from Chaar. He squeezed the beer glass to the verge of breaking in an effort not to grab Chaar and shake an answer out of him.

“We were both exposed to the greatest evil any of us ever met.” Kermit could see the disgusted shiver down Chaar’s back, it clearly reflected on his face.

“Bon Bon Hai?” Now he remembered where he had seen those black eyes before. In the face of Bon Bon Hai after he became the Dark Warrior’s champion. No wonder Chaar was still in shock after the meeting.

Chaar nodded “Yes, we went over there to kill that arrogant bastard, once and for all. I broke him and left what remained for Peter to dispose of as he saw fit. I do believe the man is long dead by now.”

“He killed him?” Kermit didn’t understand. Where did Peter get that kind of power? Nobody had been able to even touch the evil bastard since his ascension.

“We did the world a service. As a cop, you’re probably better off not knowing too many details. As a friend, you are better off not knowing the depths of evil a vampire is capable of.”

“Don’t patronize me! You have no idea what you left me capable of doing either,” Kermit snapped back. “You gave me your blood. How do you think it affected me? Do you really think it didn’t go any deeper than my eyes?” The anger he’d spent so many years trying to get under control started to slip.

“You’re a good man, Eagle-Eye.”

“You made me a monster. I spent fifteen years as a mercenary.” Not until now he knew why. Blaisdell had seen behind the mask of indifference he had worn all those years. A mask he himself had come to believe was his real face. It had taken years before he’d dared let himself care for another human being again.

“I’m sorry.” Now it was Chaar’s turn to apologize. “All I wanted was for you to survive. I truly didn’t mean for anything like that to happen.”

“I’m sure you didn’t. And now you say Peter has been influenced by evil as well?”

Chaar squirmed. “I’ll make sure he comes out of this all right. I’ve come to care for the boy too. I promise I will take good care of him in the future. I already gave him Black’s job as my second in command.”

Kermit realized then that Chaar didn’t know Peter had a way to return to humanity. The vampire Master fully expected to keep Peter as Black’s replacement. Now was not the time to tell him. With the evil influence Peter might not even want to return anymore. He better stand back and watch what happened from a distance. “Okay, I’ll back off for the moment, but rest assured I will keep an eye on the both of you.”

Chaar smiled for the first time since he arrived. “I’m sure you will.”

Kermit somehow managed to show his teeth in what might have doubled for a smile in return. Then the vampire master was gone. Kermit was alone in the club. “Watch your back, old friend. You’re Peter’s next target,” he said to the empty room. Why had he not told Chaar about the threat to his life? He had intended to warn him, but something in the other’s attitude had silenced him.

~~~

Kermit walked cautiously through the debris of what remained of the furniture in Bon Bon Hai’s great hall. He wished he had been there to witness the fight between Bon Bon Hai and the two vampires. From the condition of the room, it must have been a truly magnificent battle. The rumor was that Bon Bon Hai had faced a rival and lost. Nobody had seen or heard from him since then.

Kermit turned towards a corner of the room when he heard a weak moan from that area of the room. “Who’s there?” he called out, pointing his gun that way just to be safe.

“Help me…” came a weak voice in response.

Kermit was over there in a flash. “Pete?” He put away his gun, and started working on the debris of broken chairs and a table on top of the weakly struggling man beneath it.

It wasn’t Peter, Kermit thankfully noted. It was a very battered Jack Wong. “What happened here?” Kermit demanded when he saw that the mobster was still awake and aware.

Jack only gasped and wheezed when he tried talking, he obviously had some lung damage. Kermit saw something he never thought he’d see in this particular criminal’s eyes; fear.

Kermit sighed, and reached for his cell phone. He needed an ambulance. Maybe the injured man would tell him more when he’d been patched up a bit. It was time to involve his coworkers at the precinct, maybe even call in the organized crime taskforce to clear up among the remains of the palace.

~~~

Pure pain flashed through Peter’s head when he moved. “Damn!” the alcohol still gave him a blistering hangover. What had he been thinking? Groaning, massaging his temples, the vampire stepped out of the van, into the early evening. He needed a drink to recover from the alcohol. Preferably something fresh. He closed his eyes and concentrated. After a moment he managed to tune out the traffic from the next street over, the birds and the many air conditioners around him in the alley. Voices; rushed, scared voices and their accompanying heartbeats hit his senses from above.

Effortlessly, he floated up towards the palace rooftop where he’d burned Bon Bon Hai’s remains that same morning. Peter stayed in the shadows beyond the edge of the roof to observe the men. He had never seen anyone of them before, from what he could remember. The palace had seemed deserted at the time of the fight.

“I swear, they were monsters!” one of them, a short slightly overweight Asian male in his late thirties tried to tell the others. His face was flushed, and his heart was beating faster than was healthy. Peter could see them perfectly well even if they couldn’t see him.

“No more monsters than our dear old boss,“ another, taller and older man in an expensive business suit sneered back. The two others, merely boys by age but probably seasoned criminals, didn’t say anything. Though Peter could see them nodding their agreement.

They all seemed nervous, but the first of them seemed even more so. Peter grinned when the man looked over his shoulder with a visible shudder. The guy was very wise to be cautious. “Monsters or not, do you have any idea how powerful they must be if they overpowered and killed Bon Bon Hai?”

“Are you sure he’s dead, Chang? He’s tricked his enemies before,” the other countered, apparently not convinced what had happened at the palace.

“Yes, you fool! Bon Bon Hai is gone! I saw him burn!” The tone was both triumphant and scared at the same time. “One of the monsters burned our Master, then he scattered the ashes. You know no mere mortal would ever be able to do that.”

“Will he be back to kill the rest of us too?” one of the so far quiet young men piped up with a shivering voice.

“Calm down, both of you,” the old one said, almost sounding irritated at the others’ weakness. “Let’s try and be rational. Our Master is gone and the monsters are not here now, are they? Our main concern right now is the cops searching the palace below us. If we don’t come up with a plan, they’re going to catch us when they get up here.”

“Fire escape! Let’s go down the fire escape,” one of the boys sputtered with a wave in Peter’s direction. “Let’s go down the fire escape!” Peter grinned; they would be running right into his arms.

When the group turned towards the fire escape, Peter emerged from the shadows to stand between them and the illusion of freedom. He had seen and heard enough of their bickering, it was time to feed. All of them stopped dead in their tracks when they saw him. Then as one, they started backing up, ever so slowly.

“How fortunate for me that you guys showed up,” Peter hissed through his fangs. “I could use some breakfast.” It was quite fun to see their panic stricken faces when they almost fell over one another in their eagerness to escape this new danger to their health.

With his short and stubby legs, Chang was easy to catch. Peter grabbed him by the shoulders. He spun him around. “You are wise to be afraid,” he hissed, meeting the scared brown eyes of the mortal with his own black pits of darkness. “When you wake up, you work for me,” he ordered. Chang’s eyes glazed over at the hypnotic command.

Informant or not, he had a meal in his arms. He gave into the hunger. With a low growl he bit down into his victim’s neck to reach the artery pulsing beneath the surface. The rich blood was tinted by the fear, something that made the blood taste even better. Peter had to force himself to quit drinking before Chang died in his arms; he had other plans for the guy. With a quick lick, he withdrew his fangs. The wound closed quickly with the vampire saliva to aid the healing process.

Still not satisfied, Peter looked up to see how far the others had run off. Not very far. The rooftop door had closed, and they didn’t have a key. All three of them were ripe for the picking.

Peter didn’t care that the two remaining men screamed and banged on the door for someone to help them, he could easily hear that the cops were still two floors down, unaware that there were men in danger on the roof.

One by one, he left them unconscious on the ground. He didn’t kill them. He found it a more fitting punishment to let them continue living with the constant fear that he might be back to finish the job if they ever spoke of what had happened up there. He grinned wickedly. Next time they saw him he would be as human as they were, but they wouldn’t know that. They would fear him, and they would obey him.

It was time to visit his father to take care of that other need; the need to return to humanity. The longer he stayed a vampire, the harder it would be to return. Already he doubted his decision, but he stood by it.

Peter rose up into the skies, heading towards another part of Chinatown.

~~~

The colors of the many bright neon signs of Chinatown lit up the night when Peter entered the small sidewalk café not far from his father's apartment. He could have flown directly to his father's place, but even if he had satisfied the hunger, he still didn't trust himself alone with the Shambhala Master. Something about facing such a force of light and good made his skin crawl with disgust. It didn't matter that it was his father. The evil he'd been infected with from Bon Bon Hai was growing stronger and getting harder to control. The amulet may have a crack of light, but Peter's eyes were still black pits. He coldly watched the evening crowd from behind a new pair of dark sunglasses as he waited for Caine to appear.

The waiter brought him a pot of tea and two Chinese teacups. The man knew Peter, and who he was waiting for. Peter poured a small amount of the green tea in one of the cups and pretended to sip. Appearance was everything for a vampire who wanted to survive in the mortal world. Chaar’s teachings were very clear on that point; arouse no suspicion, blend in, make every effort to appear as one of them. Rules he’d constantly broken last time he was a vampire: rules that were now beginning to lack in importance to him.

He grinned slyly; he had a few new tricks up his sleeve this time around. For a moment he forgot why he was there and began scouting the street for someone to play with.

Part 12

“They say Bon Bon Hai is dead,” Caine said by way of greeting when he had poured himself some tea.

“Yes,” Peter confirmed with a slow nod. “I killed him early this morning. I personally spread his ashes across Chinatown.”

“Well done, my son.”

Surprised at the Shambhala Master’s response, Peter finally turned and looked directly at his father. He had not expected praise for a kill. A slow grin grew on the vampire’s face. ”And now all the dark power that he possessed is mine.” What was he doing there again?

“I am sorry. I did not know this would happen.”

Peter shook off the desire to leave. “This ends tonight. Either you bring me back, or I will turn on you again.” It was time; the darkness was rapidly overcoming him. He was surprised he was even there, asking his father to help.

Caine bent down to retrieve something he had previously placed on the ground; a large flat object wrapped in a protective leather pocket. “I brought the book; it will take care of Master Chaar.”

“Good,” Peter hissed, and snatched the book from his father’s hands. It was time to take care of Chaar and leave this dark new life forever. Mixed feelings almost made him drop the book again. Did he really want to kill off Chaar? YES! He growled at himself, this had gone far enough. Any further, and he wouldn’t just trip people on the street, he’d push them in front of cars or make drivers plow into bystanders. He had it in him, and it was growing in influence; the same disregard for human life he’d experienced last time he was a vampire.

Peter held the book tightly in his arms as he won over the impulse to destroy it. He left his father behind before he could change his mind, throw the book back at him, and never look back. First he would send Chaar to Shambhala, and then he'd go himself.

He headed directly for Chaar’s office after he had landed on the roof of the lair. It was still early, the main room was empty. Not that anyone could have stopped him, he felt confident he could have pushed every one of them away if need be.

“Chaar!” he called out as he pushed the door open and stalked in without waiting for his Master’s approval.

“Peter?” Chaar’s surprised voice came from the bedroom area of the large suite.

Peter hastily unwrapped the book. “This is the end,” he growled. Ignoring the searing pain the contact with his bare hands caused, his fingers found the bookmark his father had put on the page he needed. Holding the book away from him, he opened it. He squinted behind his dark glasses, when the full force of the Shambhala light was revealed. The ancient master disappeared with a flash of light strong enough to knock Peter back against the wall. The book flew out of his hands.

Slightly dazed from the force of the blast, Peter blinked rapidly a couple times to clear the spots dancing before his eyes. He reached for the fallen book on the floor. The pain it had inflicted in fresh memory, he hesitated briefly before he grabbed it. This time the pain was slightly muted. Maybe his action against the vampire master had redeemed him somewhat?

He stalked back outside the office with the book in his hand. The room was still empty. Damn, he had hoped to get a few more with the book before he left the place. No matter, it was time to get back to his father’s place, so he could join his Master in Shambhala. This nightmare would soon be over.

~~~

Caine accepted the book back with a grateful nod. He hugged it to his chest almost as if he had been worried Peter wouldn’t return it to him.

Peter watched his father put the book down on the altar, and open it to the right page. He had to fight the urge to flee. He may want to return to humanity, but the evil inside of him revolted when faced with immediate annihilation. Thankfully, his father had the book open before he had the chance to change his mind. The bright white light blinded him even through his dark glasses.

He closed his eyes and tried to brace himself from the shock of losing the vampire part of himself. He couldn’t remember how it had happened the last time, but he knew he had lost consciousness. He wondered if it would be more difficult this time with the added dark power.

He was still closing his eyes when the light suddenly went out. He had not even felt any movement. He opened his eyes, only to find himself alone, and still in his father’s meditation chamber. “What?” he was confused. Why was he still in his father's apartment, and not in Shambhala?

And why was he still a vampire? He sighed and shook his head; he should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

He went over to the book again. With a knot of fear in his gut, he opened up the book. At first nothing at all happened. The strong white light was gone, no matter what page he turned to. Then, when he was about to close it, a flash of light hit him squarely in the chest.

Peter dropped the book, and stumbled backwards. He landed with a teeth-clattering thud on his butt. “Ouch!”

He looked down, and found his shirt open, and the amulet bared. “Whoa!” It was back to its original light green Jade. Only a tiny crack of black crept across the surface as he watched it.

For a moment he felt as if he’d been cured. It felt as if the heaviest of burdens had been lifted from his shoulders. Like when you open up a window on a crisp spring morning, and take a deep breath of fresh air.

Whatever had entered his mind when he met Bon Bon Hai was gone. He felt liberated, as if an invisible chain around his heart had been broken.

~~~

Welcome back, Master Chaar,” the Shambhala Masters said with a unanimous bow.

“It has been a long time; I had given up hope that you would ever accept me back.” He smiled. Peter had done it! He had brought him back to Shambhala! Joy filled his heart when he looked around the peaceful temple.

The Masters bowed again. “We are sorry; the archives from that time were sadly destroyed, or badly corrupted. While time moves at a different pace here, it has been many generations since you left.” It had indeed been a long time, longer than he cared to think about.

Chaar bowed back. “I have been patient, and I am most grateful that you found another Champion to take my place as your representative among the Dark Ones of the world.” He had known Peter was something special the moment he had first met him, but that he would be the one to deliver him home, he had not even dared to think.

“When we finally found out who you were, we agreed to protect Young Caine in his endeavor to ‘take you down’. He knows nothing of this, as you know. He thinks this is over now.”

“Will you let it be over?” Why did he even ask? Peter wouldn't be returning to humanity any time soon. He felt sad for the boy, as he many times had felt sadness over his own destiny.

“We think Peter and his father are great champions, we will let him represent us for a while.”

“He won’t like it, though I do think he has what it takes, especially now that he’s inherited my power.” Yes, Peter did have what it took to keep the darkness at bay. Chaar had no doubts Peter would do a great job.

“He’s been infected with the Dark Power by that Bon Bon Hai who snuck in even here,” one of the Masters said. “We will purge him of that, and then he’s on his own.”

“What will you do now?” another of the Shambhala masters asked Chaar.

“Now I will do what has been denied me all these years. I will settle down somewhere in the sun. Maybe find someone that I can love with all my heart.” He’d been dreaming of that for the last millennia or two. “You have no idea what it means to be a Champion of Light, trapped on earth as a Dark One. There have been times when all I wanted was to forget you, and be what I pretended. There were even times when I succeeded in forgetting. But through it all I still nursed a dream that once I’d be a normal human being again.”

“And yet when you found Peter, who had achieved what you most desired, you brought him back into the Dark world. It would have made more sense to us if you had pumped him of information.”

“Thousands of years in darkness is a heavy burden to bear alone, especially when you find someone so young who’s beaten it and survived.” He knew he sounded bitter, but he couldn't help it, they had forgotten him for way too long.

The masters looked guilty again. It was their and their ancestors' fault that he had been forgotten and abandoned on the field. They should have brought him back before a new generation had taken over as Shambhala Masters, but instead they had forgotten him.

Chaar sighed. Whatever their reason was, his life as a vampire was over. Even if he could he did not want to return to earth, there were plenty of other nice places he could spend the rest of his life.

A flash of light interrupted his thoughts. It was Peter’s real father Kwai Chang Caine, one of the newer Masters of Shambhala. Chaar bowed, as did the others in greeting of the commuting member of their council.

Caine looked mightily surprised to see Chaar there, and in the same white garb as the rest of the Masters.

“Why?” Caine asked, looking at Chaar.

Chaar was most happy to explain to the younger man who he was. The look of surprise turned into that of tightly controlled anger when Chaar had finished his tale.

Caine turned towards the other Council members. “You promised to protect and return my son to humanity. Why will you not grant him passage here?”

“We will return him to humanity, Master Caine. But not right now. We need him to balance the Dark influence among the vampires. Without it, you will have a community of rampant mass murderers. The influence of just one vampire working for us can not be underestimated. When Chaar was finally returned to us with your help, we decided to let Peter take his place.”

“My son does not want to be a vampire. He only did this to catch a killer.”

The council didn’t budge. “Then imagine how many lives he will save by remaining a vampire; taking Chaar’s place.”

“How long?”

The five council members squirmed at Caine’s glaring scrutiny. The man had considerable power himself, and his gaze was hard and demanding. Chaar shook his head when they looked at him to tell the angry father. He didn't want to tell him it was a job with no end date.

“How long?” Caine almost growled, when he didn’t get a reply.

Chaar felt sorry for the man. “Indefinitely,” he said with a low voice.

“What?”

The elder council man took a deep breath before he began speaking. “We made a huge mistake with Chaar. We do not intend to do the same mistake with Peter. While he will not be able to contact us himself, we will keep an eye on him; through you or someone else when you are gone. When it is time, we will find a replacement for him.”

Caine was clearly stunned. “The last of the Caine line…” he mumbled. Chaar wondered what that meant. Looking very much older, and defeated, Caine turned to leave.

“It won’t be so bad, Caine,” Chaar called out, as the other man left. “He might even grow to like it,” he added even as the other vanished from the Shambhalan plane of existence.

He thought that maybe he understood Caine. While Peter would have a very long life on earth, he would never be able to have a family there. The moment he returned to humanity, earth was off limits, or he’d die in a hurry.

He forced the thoughts of Peter’s plight out of his mind. This was his time to celebrate. He’d finally been granted the thing he’d wished for. He was human, and he was still alive.

“I’ll see you guys later," he said with a growing smile. "I’m going outside to enjoy the sun.”

~~~

Peter still hadn’t quite managed to understand exactly what had happened, when the book flew open again, and his father appeared before him. He scrambled to his feet to find out what happened.

“I am sorry, my son,” Caine began.

“Yeah, you should be. I’m still a vampire.” Peter had difficulties keeping calm now that he had someone to aim his disappointment at. “What the hell happened?”

Peter could see his own yellow eyes reflect in his father’s eyes when he met them. His father did look honestly sorry. Peter gasped when he realized the bond the both of them had shared since he was a child had returned full force. He could ‘feel’ his father’s mixed emotions now. He blinked, and the vampire obediently retreated.

“What’s going on here, Pop?”

“You have been purged from the evil that had invaded your mind.”

“Yeah, but why am I still a vampire?”

Caine squirmed, it was the oddest sight. When had Caine ever had trouble with honesty? “The other Masters wants you to continue on as their Champion for a while.”

“What’s that got to do with me being a vampire? They know damn well I’ll fight on their side any time. You are the Shambhala Master, not me!"

Caine squirmed again when Peter still didn’t understand. “This is a great honor for our family. They have not had a knight to fight on our side for millennia. For the first time, we are even remotely affecting the vampire threat.” Peter frowned for a second; something about his father's words didn't ring true. He must be hiding something from him.

His father continued. “They feel you will be in a better position to fight evil as a vampire.”

“But, Pop?” He felt like a whiny kid when the parents had decided something over his head, without consulting him first.

“I am so sorry, Peter. You made a very good impression on them. Even under the heaviest influence of evil, you didn’t abandon your mission.”

“I did a damn good job, and this is my reward?” He didn’t give his father a chance to reply. He turned; he couldn’t face his father’s sorry eyes. He knew none of them had any say in the matter if the other Masters had already decided his fate. Peter hoped they wouldn’t come to regret their decision later on.

Without saying good bye, Peter threw himself off the balcony, something he never thought he’d do again. With closed eyes against the cold wind, he pushed himself upwards, into the dark sky. Anger, disappointment and total confusion warred within him.

Peter didn't understand how the Masters of Shambhala justified releasing a new force of evil into the world? How could they be so certain he would work for them when all he could see ahead on the path was darkness? He'd been ready to return to humanity, he wanted to return. At least that was what he kept telling himself. Even now, the powers of the vampire seduced him, called out to him to abandon everything he’d been and revel in the power. If the human race didn’t want him anymore, he had no reason to feel guilty either. Why even fight it when the choice had been taken from him?

A light rain interrupted Peter’s troubled flight. He decided to return to the lair. He could use Chaar's office for some privacy. He wished he had kept Chaar alive; he could have used some of his Master’s age old wisdom about now. How does one prepare to live forever?

Chaar had been around for thousands of years, and yet he had died as easily as Moura. How many years would Shambhala keep him a prisoner of the night? How long would it take until he truly became a part of it? Would they cut it short if the darkness overcame him? He had no way of knowing. Hopefully his father could find out more before it was too late.

Peter knew he wouldn’t be able to return to his job as a police detective either. His only option now was to continue to work under cover indefinitely, or treat the resignation as real and cut all ties. But he knew he couldn’t bear watching their lives move on, and not include him. He would have to live without them long enough as it was. Immortality was a cruel fate.

All the darkness and all the ugliness the vampire was capable of, were smoldering just below the surface; barely restrained by the tattered remains of his conscience. Nobody dared to even look at him when he stalked through the lair. He aimed for Chaar’s office, it was just about the only place in the building where he could be alone, and he needed some privacy.

~~~

Kermit made himself comfortable in the front seat of his car when the rain started to really come down. He was parked in his usual spot across the street two short blocks from the lair. He had free sight over the entrance and the street outside, as well as limited view of the roof, but the rain made it difficult to see much of anything beyond the next street light. He had early on in his surveillance of the lair been surprised to learn that a fair number of the vampires still used the front door like normal humans to gain access to the building.

The sun had set over two hours ago, and still no sign of Peter. There had been a flurry of activity around the lair right before the rain had started, as if they’d known in advance and didn’t want to get wet. Kermit had retreated from his position in front of the lair to his car to make sure he wasn’t spotted.

Kermit hoped Peter was okay. Chaar's words worried him more than he wanted to admit. Peter as an enemy was something he didn't want to even contemplate. If Peter had turned evil, would Chaar protect him? Idly, he pressed redial on his cell phone. Peter didn’t answer this time either. He ended up directly in voice-mail as before. "Damn!"

This assignment was rapidly turning into pure disaster. He was about to retrieve the private number to his captain from the phonebook when the car door was torn open with such force Kermit almost fell out onto the street. Out of reflex, he groped for his gun before anything else.

One hand already on the gun, he realized he had gone for the wrong weapon. He didn't have to see the glowing eyes and sharp fangs to know that the strong arm that lifted him out of his seat belonged to a vampire. No human was that strong. The bag with the stakes and holy water next to him in the car was instantly out of reach.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" the vampire growled. The large framed vampire pushed Kermit roughly up against the car with so much force the ex mercenary actually lifted off the ground. He winced in pain, hoping he hadn’t broken his back.

"I'm not…" before he could even finish the sentence he had the growling face of the vampire barely an inch from his own, and a firm hand effectively blocking his airways The vampire had moved faster than his human eyes could even register.

The familiar position triggered Kermit's survival instincts. But the moves he'd learned, that had saved his life more than once in the past, didn't work this time. The vampire was too strong, and too quick to trick. Without the element of surprise and Peter's assistance, he really didn't have a chance against a vampire.

Kermit began to see spots, his wildly beating heart used up way too much oxygen and the firm grip around his throat effectively blocked his airways. He weakly tried one last time to free himself. The grip didn’t budge.

He greedily drew air into his lungs when the vampire's grip shifted and he was spun around to face the car. "Calm down, or I'll bite," the vampire hissed into his ear from behind. Cold breath tickled his neck as the vampire pulled Kermit's arms up behind his back.

Kermit cursed between gasping breaths. The grip was too tight, and the very real threat of exsanguination made him cease his efforts to free himself. If he couldn’t free himself by force, then maybe he could use his friendship with Chaar to get off easy.

"Okay, okay, take me to your master, he'll vouch for me," Kermit replied, doing his best to ignore the pain radiating from his arms and shoulders.

"My master, huh? And just who is that exactly?" The vampire wasn't impressed.

“His name is Chaar, he’s a friend of mine!” Kermit almost shouted when the vampire’s mouth made contact with his neck.

Finally he had the brute vampire’s attention. The grip loosened and he could turn around.

“All right, I’ll take you to him. But don’t think you’re out of the woods, human. Even if you indeed do know him, he won’t be pleased that you are spying on us.” The glowing eyes faded slightly, and Kermit relaxed somewhat. He didn’t struggle when he was pushed in the direction of the lair. Damn, this was not good. Not good at all.

~~~

After pouring a healthy amount of blood from the bar in Chaar’s office, his office now, Peter sank down into the comfortable leather chair by the desk. He spun the chair around to look out over the lights of the city through the dark glass, and to think.

He had not even had time to finish the blood before the door burst open behind him. “Damn! What now?” he growled, his eyes flashing in anger. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone?

It was Adam, one of the lair guards. “Sorry to disturb, Master, but we caught a mortal spying on us from across the street.” Peter could see the burly looking vampire’s bow reflected in the window, as he unceremoniously dumped the guy on the floor in the middle of the room.

Peter finally turned the chair around, only to meet the astonished eyes of Kermit down on hands and knees on the floor in front of him.

“Peter?”

“Leave him to me,” Peter ordered with a dismissing wave of his hand to the guard, just as surprised to see his friend there.

“Yes, Master,” Adam bowed and retreated out the door.

Finally, all the pieces fell into place for Peter. For a brief second he looked down at the ring on his finger, the sign of the Master. Chaar had appointed him his heir. He wouldn’t need to make any forced excuses as to why he should take charge now that Chaar was gone. All the power Chaar had accumulated through the millennia had been transferred to him in one single blast as the old Master had been sucked into Shambhala. Had this power been one of the reasons behind the Shambhala Masters decision to keep him a vampire? Were they responsible for it?

“Peter? What is going on here?” Kermit immediately got himself under control, and got up from the floor. ”Why did he call you Master? Where’s Chaar?”

“I think I just inherited the position,” Peter said with a chuckle. “Chaar is dead.”

“What?” Kermit looked more shocked at the news than Peter would have suspected.

“I sent him to Shambhala.”

Kermit paled visibly at that, but didn’t reply, he only stared at Peter with empty eyes. Somehow he’d managed to lose the green glasses in the struggle with Adam. “Kermit?” Peter asked hesitantly “What’s wrong?”

“You didn’t have to do that. We could have trusted him. He wasn’t such a bad guy.”

“What are you talking about?” Peter didn’t understand why Kermit defended the vampire Master all of a sudden.

Kermit shook his head sadly, and then sank down into one of the chairs across the table from Peter. “I should have told you as soon as I found out who he was, but I thought we’d have plenty of time to discuss what to do with him once we got rid of Black.”

Peter started to get impatient. “Told me what?”

Kermit took a deep breath, and yet his voice came out low and shaky. “Long ago, in another life, Chaar and I were friends. He died saving my life for the second time. Or at least I always thought he had died, until he came to see me a couple nights ago. He knew everything about us, Peter.” Kermit looked up, his eyes were full of regret. “And what do I do? I repay his trust with a silence that resulted in his death.”

“Yes, of course he knew, Kermit. He brought me into this to do what we did, to find the killer.”

“But he didn’t want to let you go when you were done, did he?”

Peter shrugged. He honestly didn’t know if Chaar would have let him go, and now it was too late. “I never asked.”

“I thought you were going to return to humanity after it was done? Why are you still a vampire?” Kermit looked at him suspiciously.

“That was the plan, yes. However the Shambhala Masters decided that I could do more to help them fight evil like this, they refused to let me return. So, here I am; the new Master Vampire in town.” Peter sank back in the chair, and again took a healthy swig of the blood. “Peter Caine, Shaolin Vampire Cop. Has a certain ring to it, don’t you think?”

“Oh yeah?” came the uncertain answer.

Peter grinned back at Kermit, not one bit uncertain. “Oh yeah!” Seeing Kermit again put things right back into perspective. He might be a vampire, but he was also an undercover cop. His eyes glimmered like the sun he’d never see again when he realized that there was no limit to the amount of damage he could do to the criminal elements in the city. He’d enjoy this. “Oh yeah!”

 THE END