Justine looked at the phone in her hand for a few seconds before tossing it onto the bed. The voice sounded vaguely familiar but she just couldn't place it. In her past life she had learned to leave things alone and eventually the memory or whatever it was would come back to her. She didn't see why it should be any different now. The urge to rest had passed so she opened up her laptop again and pulled up vampires again. Like before she was overwhelmed with the amount of information there was about a life form that until she had been turned she really hadn't believed in but then there was the ease in which she accepted this new life.
She started her search again with finding out how one was turned. The prevailing theory was that one had to be bitten, and there were varying opinions on how many times the victim had to be bitten before they were turned. The number of bites required ranged from one to seven and all of the accounts agreed on one thing, the new vampire needed a guardian or an experienced vampire to help them survive.
She found that interesting because she had been doing just fine on her own. She wondered what that meant but then things had always come easy for her; she had also never been one to cry over what she did or didn't have. Whatever was thrown at her, she took it and kept moving. It was that determination that got her through school and into the law firm that she was currently employed at.
"Shit!" She cursed remembering her job. She would have to call in; there was no help for it. The rent on her apartment was paid up three months in advance as were all of her bills. She found herself grateful that she was a planner; she could concentrate on totally on what was happening with her now.
Her next thought was about Pam and where she was. The one thing that she was sure of was that she wasn't dead, she would have known it, she would have felt her die but time was running out.
"Where in the hell are you?" Justine asked into the air.
*******
Pam lay on the bed wondering what had just happened. She was all set to go and Malcolm had just taken off like a bat out of hell. As she lay there she had to wonder if Malcolm was sensing the changes in her and if that wasn't why he left so suddenly. If that was the case then she had to be more careful, she had to keep acting like the scared, insecure woman that was brought here. The question was whether he would buy it or not.
She was no longer worried about Justine; she knew that she was alright just as she knew that Justine was coming for her. Pam felt a pang of guilt that she even doubted her. In all of the time that they had been friends and that had been all through college and law school Justine had become the sister that her real sister never was. They studied, cried and passed the BAR together but the icing on the cake was getting hired at the same law firm together.
For a short time they talked about renting an apartment together but decided not to. They were such an unlikely pair to become best friends that were closer than most blood sisters and.... "Justine has always carried me." Pam thought to herself and here she was waiting for Justine to rescue her again instead of trying to help herself and Justine. It was time for that to change starting now.
**********
Mikhail thought about all that he had been told and observed about Justine Graves. That she was highly intelligent and versatile there was no doubt and those were two things that he respected in a being no matter the sex. There was something about her that intrigued him much as it had Jeremiah except that his intrigue ran to the hows and not to the physical appearance as Jeremiah's did even though he didn't admit to it. He thought back over the conversation that he had with Jeremiah, something was very off about it, "He's lying about something." Mikhail said to himself. He let the thought go for a moment and thought about Justine, "just who and what are you?" he asked, "you figured out how to feed , vanish and protect yourself all without the benefit of a mentor, how did you know to do those things?"
Mikhail walked around the penthouse stopping in front of the large window. He looked at the twinkling lights and wondered where Justine was. One of his strongest skills was being able to smell his prey no matter where they were but he caught not even the slightest whiff of Justine since he was in her apartment. Hiding her scent was yet another ability that she shouldn't have had but yet she did. He was also sure that she was stumbling across her gifts not realizing that she had them until the need for them arose and then she quickly adapted and moved on. A man could do much worse than to have a mate such as her but there was something else, Jeremiah was afraid of this woman and Mikhail wondered why, what else was there besides her having gifts that she shouldn't have been able to use without guidance?
Mikhail vanished from the room to the grocery store from which Justine had done her vanishing act. He casually walked through the store looking for the vampire who in his excitement tipped Justine off. He found the nervous vampire working behind the counter in the meat section. As soon as he saw Mikhail he blinked rapidly and began to panic.
"Settle yourself." Mikhail said softly, "I only want to talk to you."
"About what?" he asked nervously.
"What is your name?" Mikhail asked in that same soothing voice.
"J....Junior Tibbs."
"Junior, you have no need to fear me." Mikhail said, "I only wish to ask you about the woman."
"What about her?" Junior asked looking as if he was ready to run.
"Tell me about your conversation with her, what you noticed about her and leave nothing out."
Mikhail listened intently as Junior told him about Justine's visit to the store. He stopped him when at the point where Justine told him not to lie.
"She said that?" Mikhail asked.
"Yessir."
"And she knew that more guards were coming and yet she stayed to question you?"
"Yessir." Junior replied. "I thought that kind of odd myself and the next thing I knew... she was gone."
"Was anyone or anything with her?" Mikhail asked.
"I didn't see anything but the security guy up front might have." Junior said pointing his chin at the front door.
Mikhail made his way to the front of the store to find the security guard who was also vampire. The question that he had was this, he could understand why Junior couldn't or didn't stop Justine but this man was much older than Junior and Justine and had powers so why couldn't he stop her? Unlike Junior, this one wasn't nervous or afraid as he didn't avert his eyes from Mikhail's.
"Help you with something?" he asked a challenge in his voice.
"Yes, I have questions about the night that the woman vanished from here."
"Who in the hell wants to know?" the guard asked standing to his full six feet six inch height.
Mikhail recognized it for what it was; the vampire was trying to intimidate him. He smiled politely at the posturing guard before speaking.
"I am called Mikhail...."
That was all that he got out. The vampire paled, everyone knew who Mikhail was, he had even used Mikhail's name to get his children to behave and now Mikhail was stranding in front of him.
"My apologies!" the guard gushed, "I didn't realize...."
"Tell me of that night." Mikhail said disregarding the apology.
