Research Paper ((attn: Simon, invite only))

Sitting at the large work table, copies were splayed out before him. Notes, photos, articles, descriptions of evidence and the materials he'd collected himself. All of them pointed in one direction. Closing his eyes, pushing his clean and empty glass away, Alec reviewed the materials one more time, rolled back through the acquisitions and the actions that had led him to this conclusion...and tried to find another. And failed.

Had it only been three days? It felt like an eternity ago, but that was the way of bad news...a lingering that just wasn't any kind of fun. It had started with his routine break in to swipe the surveillance tapes and site files from the excavation team responsible for the Hillman cleanup (which was still on hold, all these months later). The theft was uneventful - it provided no warning, no glimmer of insight into the weight of the documents he had stolen. Files like these would have been a treasure trove to Kyle in his old life, but the blue collar workers were blissfully unaware of the solid gold findings that they were sitting on. For the writer, it would have been proof positive of his beliefs. Of course, he'd gotten that anyway, and in a way that was far more tangible and real than he could have imagined. He got what he'd thought he'd wanted. Ha, ha. Joke's on you, Evans.

Now the joke was on Alec, and soon would be on Simon. Just what they had always wanted. The answer to the questions asked. Answers like these kept people from asking questions. Ever again.

Site reports indicated that a Joe Radcliffe had gone missing the day they'd excavated shaft three. Toward the end of the day they had carved their way into a small area that had been mostly sheltered from the blast. Joe had decided to check things out. The foreman, Daryl Hodges (who later went missing as well), descended with three of his other team members to search out Joe. The area that they'd descended into contained piles of dead rats, according to a Michael Levy. He'd also seen rats impaled on bits of the broken and twisted superstructure. About that time, Joe screamed and the three men climbed back up just as fast as they could. Their foreman didn't follow, so they called the superintendent and EMS.

The EMS and police reports were easy to get - some well placed money got them conveniently left beside a park bench, thank you, Clan Tacharan. A day or two later, the bodies were found. Both had been mauled by "some sort of animal, possibly feline", and both reports noted a remarkable amount of blood loss within the cadavers which was not in keeping with the small amount found at the site where the bodies were recovered. The medical examiners seemed to think this indicated that the men had died from injuries in a fall, as each had broken bones, and were later ravaged by some animal. Though distinctly contradictory to the firsthand accounts, the examiners were confident in their assessment. The police let it lay, the "animal" was never found, though a cat of that size would not have been able to climb out of the shaft, and put the excavation on hold until they could collect more data. The vampiric political machine kicked in, and the red tape went a-flyin'. The investigation was placed on hold due to a specific forensics specialist's insane workload, and the site was sealed.

Poorly sealed. Alec was able to walk right in and hook up to the climbing harnesses that the original crew had set. Sliding down into the bowels of the earth, he'd looked around. At the base of the shaft, he'd found the rats, still stacked fairly neatly in the corner. Most cats didn't stack exsanguinated rat carcasses...he didn't have to be a biology major to know that. They generally didn't impale them on loose steel struts, either. Odd behavior for a cat, that. There had been something living down here, a great predator, yes, but feline it was not. A thorough investigation yielded some...interesting findings. Scortched leather, many rat bones with fang marks and distinct bite patterns, and in the unexplored areas beyond where the corpses were found, signs of habitation and sooty, bloody prints on the steel and on some bundled materials that looked like they'd been used as a bed or nest of some sort.

After torching the evidence of vampiric activity, planting some artfully arranged rats and spreading about a large amount of cougar fur, he'd made his way out. He'd done his duty to his species, now it was time to do right by his family.

The prints were easy to analyze, and the results had come back quickly. The bite pattern was consistent with a person of the right size. For Alec, the burned leather was what really sealed the deal, and he would bet it would for Simon, as well.

Sorting through the collected smells coming faintly from the bit of hide...there was leather, obviously...and faint leather oil...most had burnt off...carbon scorching and the stench of burnt flesh...filth of a wide variety, mostly of rat or rodent quality...and then, twining through it all, was the scent of Ellis...her sweat had saturated the leather. After being worn for months, it was bound to take a hold on the hide, but to *smell* it meant that she'd survived.

No...there could be no mistake. She was alive when that area was excavated, and clearly had left the scene before the search crews made their descent the next day.

Cleaning up the table somewhat, Alec arranged things into their source piles - site workers, EMS, police, Tacharan and hard copy. He left his statement directly in front of the chair...next to it a little plastic bag with a strip of ripped leather. Turning to his computer, he paged Simon.

Heading to the kitchen in what used to be his apartment, past all of the safes and surveillance equipment, Alec poured himself some bourbon, looked at it, and poured it down the sink. Shuddering, he tossed the glass into the sink, and walked back into the living room. Some moments were best met with full clarity.