[DFM]

"Hey there, Gorgeous. Been a rough night?"

"A little. I need your computer."

"My what?"

He smirks expectantly and I eye the sign hanging above the old electronic monster.

"...Your crimeputer."

"Go right ahead! The database is all there, every bond going back to nineteen ninety four."



I don't bother to sit down. Hopefully this won't be long.







Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am.



Probably killed by the Asian. I thank Arthur and hurry out the door onto the street. I need some damn shoes. It isn't long before I reach the clinic.



I love the clinic.



The receptionist in the lobby just nods me through. I guess she thought I still needed something for my friend. Or I looked shitty enough that she thought I was here for the ER.

Against my better judgment, I peek into the room where the redheaded girl was.



Thank god. One good deed. Even if I screw up everything else tonight, at least I managed to do that right.



Morgue. Morgue could be anywhere. Probably in the lower stories, though, given my luck.



I head down the stairs. It doesn't look like this section is connected to the blood bank at all. A little weird, but I don't really care. I don't know if I could deal with that place again.



It isn't far off from the stairway. I hope I don't have tear apart the place to find him.



Hades is a merciful god.

There's a crate in the corner holding the belongings of the deceased. It looks like Virgil is the only recent occupant, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what's his and what isn't. I jimmy the lock and open the empty trunk.

That's g- Wait.



Foxy Boxes. I remember seeing a Foxy Boxes sign... not too far from the Asylum. Scavenger hunt step two.



I leave the clinic and take a shortcut through the alleys. I don't know why that's all he had on him or what he did to piss of this other vampire... thing. I suppose I can always ask it when I find it.



The building's right across the street, barely sticking out of the background.



I think I'm about due to see something pleasant on the other side of a door. Maybe it'll be a balloon warehouse. Or a candy factory.



Well, that's not so bad. I lean against the wall, near the door on the right and slowly push it open.



Empty. Looks like a computer on the desk.











That would be... Therese, Tung and... it'd have to be Jeanette. At least, those are the only three vampires I know about in Santa Monica.







Well, that's pretty flattering. Assuming he's talking about me. Hmm... if he was, he'd probably have mentioned something about, I don't know, the fact that I was one of the largest arms dealers of this last century? I mean, it wouldn't take much research to turn up my face. Of course, if he didn't have a name to go by...



That's strange. He's talking about me like I'm... a remarkable foe.



In fact, with his operations blown wide open, I might have even stopped an eastern invasion. Maybe I'm actually still something to be reckoned with.



I leave the office and head for the door that must lead into the main warehouse. He knows I'm coming, so that's probably where he's hiding.



I open the door and step inside the room.





He bows to me from across the room. He reaches calmly behind is back and unsheathes a sword half as large as him, holding it in a combat stance. I pull the tire iron from my purse and drop the cumbersome bag to the ground, mimicking his stance.

I see him flash and my skin hardens just before he appears in a second flash to my left and swings the katana into my side. It stops a half inch in, unable to pass through the hardened skin. It catches him off guard and he hesitates a moment, unsure what to do. Must not have expected that. I smash the tire iron across the side of his head and send him tumbling across the floor, sword still in hand.

I charge towards him, blood running through me like some kind of demonic PCP. I'm stronger, faster, tougher than I've ever been. He only just makes it to his feet when I bring the tire iron down on him with both hands.



I can feel the back of his skull crack open. He swings his sword upward blindly, awkwardly. He can't see with all the blood running down his face. I don't imagine he can think too well, either.



It's a weak, haphazard swing. The sword bounces off my chest. I step back and give him room to stand. He's beaten so badly it's almost funny.

I don't think we have to worry about Eastern vampires.

He circles backwards, facing me, sword in a guard position. It takes a moment for me to recognize the expression on his face. Desperation. He's realizing that he's fighting in his tomb.

I raise the tire iron and charge him. For the first time, I feel like I imagine a vampire should feel. An unstoppable, invulnerable tiny god. My bare feet pounding across the cement floor. In a split second I've almost closed the distance.

Then... something goes wrong. I stumble, almost fall to the floor. Every part of me is aching. I'm hungry. Hungry. I can hardly move, I think I'm weaker than when I came into the warehouse. Before I have a chance to think, the vampire's on me.



I don't feel the sword until he's already finished the arch of his swing. Then what little's left of my blood explodes from the two foot gash in my torso.



I manage a two handed swing with the tire iron that somehow connects and knocks him back against a stack of crates. I think I'm about to split in two. The tire iron's bent almost to a U. I half stagger, half fall towards the vampire. He's already on his feet. I don't know how he's still fighting through the beating I gave him. He launches himself into the air, sword raised high in one hand. I lunge forward, bashing his ribcage with all the strength I can muster, and the twisted remains of the tire iron pass through him.



I collapse into a heap on the pile of crates, the tire iron clattering to the floor while I stare up at the wooden beams criss-crossing the ceiling. My torso's already healing, but I don't feel any better. I twist onto my side and force myself up onto my knees. It feels like I really am a walking corpse. I glance over at the place where the eastern invader met his end.



I reach out with one hand and grasp its handle as I stand up.



I walk back to the office area with dead shamble. I can't just carry around a sword in public. I grab some newspapers from a pile by one of the desks and wrap it as well as I can, sticking the bundle under my arm with my monster purse. Awkward, but at least I'll get to keep it. I pass by the vampire's computer before pausing, and returning for one last entry.

+-------------------------------------------+
|               Cananite Observation        |
+-------------------------------------------+

Now I have a sword.