End of the Road ((Attn Nikki, Steve))

Now what indeed, Amby wondered as she looked at Nikki. It was almost uncomprehensible how well the girl was taking everything. 'Or maybe I am just the only one who freaks out when it happened?" She wasn't sure. The how, the when and where you could usually discuss with others of their kind but feelings, thoughts... all those didn't usually come up. Well they had, but only once for her.

Shaking off the train of thought, she came back to the here and now. "Well, first things first," she said more to herself than the other vampire. Amby stood with a feline like stretch then spent a couple minutes grabbing some juice boxes from her fridge and getting the two humans up and out of her suite. She'd much rather have them recover someplace else, so she and Nikki could speak freely. And so they didn't linger to remind her.

Once they were alone again she closed the heavy inner wood doors and walked into the living area. Resting her hands on her hips, her mouth scrunched as she looked at Nikki thoughtfully.

"Where are you staying? It needs to be secured and you need to seal out all sunlight now." She paused a second then added, "Yes, sunlight will light you up like a match now. As will fire. So, I hope you weren't a sunbathing pyromaniac!" Her lips twitched and her eyes sparkled.

Nikki watched quietly as Amberelle tended to the two humans. It was odd, to think of other people as human. It had always been part of her, just a simple fact, anyone she talked to was human. Now, she knew this to be a falsity, because she herself was not human. She dismissed her musings as Amberelle returned from ushering the two outside. She would have time for philosophy later, now she needed to think clearly. Amberelle began talking about her home, telling her how to make it vampire friendly. She nodded, thinking. "I live over in the old town, a little apartment in the middle of the city." She thought about how to get the windows blocked, without seeming suspicious. Perhaps some really thick blinds? Thankfully, she rarely got visitors, the apartment was set back from the road, behind the main building. She would be set there. Her mind went to her job. She could quit, but she still needed income. She decided to talk to Rex, her boss. The paper could use her now that she was a vampire. Of course, no one could ever know, but she could use her new gifts to get the best information. She would have to start working nights, but that suited her just fine. She liked the night, and she would enjoy her job even more now that she was to be working in it. Her social life had never been great, so she didn't need to worry. Even Pual had stopped calling her. The grim thought caused a slight shadow to cross her face, before she shook off her feelings. She would have Steve help her. Perherps she could hang out somewhere dark until he got the place up to snuff if they couldn't get it done by sunup. But there was still the problem of Steve being down for the count. She remembered that Rex still owed her for bailing him out of jail a few months ago. She would have to call in that favor.

With plans made, she looked at Amberelle, gave her the short version, then smiled. "I hate to soud full of myself, but I think I got this part down!" If only the rest was this easy, she thought.

Amberelle grimaced when Nikki detailed where her place was. An apartment? Not the easiest to secure or guarantee no one would bother you. And if a fire or gas leak happened during the day that required evacuation? Her mind ticked off countless reasons why apartments were not a good choice. They had been ingrained into her thoughts by her family, probably to ensure she never wanted to move out, but she still couldn't argue the logic.

But she did chuckle at Nikki's proclamation to have "that part" down. The woman was really something. Just hours after being turned and she was practical, thorough and seemed relaxed.

"If you must.. apartments are just little death traps to me." The blonde shrugged. "A house with a nice basement you could seal and secure would be your best choice. Maybe get some steel shutters over the windows. Oh.. or install a walk in fridge that you can lock from the inside.. something like that you know?" There were lots of options and they could go about getting her place up to snuff tomorrow.

"There's just a couple hours till dawn, so I had figured you would like to stay at the Manor today. You would be safe, and you could be near Steve.. but it's your choice, so whatever you prefer. But I'd suggest leaving soon to get back to town before the sky gets light. We all have different levels we can stand.. some are not even able to be awake while the sun is up." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled slightly thinking about that.

The fact that the older, more experienced vampire didn't seem to approve of her plan didn't set well with Nikki, but she wasn't sure there was any other option. Not just yet. But she didn't mind that at all. She had been taught, both at home growing up and in the military, to improvise. She grinned at a sudden thought: maybe she could con Steve into trading her homes. She almost laughed at the thought of what he would say to that.
Nikki raised an eyebrow at Amberelle's last comment. So, Steve was going to remain here, was he? She didn't like that at all, especially not since she had not had the chance to talk to him about the night's events. She looked straight into the other woman's golden eyes, and spoke in a voice that was quiet, but wouldn't leave anybody with a desire to argue. "If Steve is staying here, then there is no way in hell I'm going to leave. I'm sure as hell not gonna leave him here alone while he's wounded." She hoped inwardly that her sudden change of attitude didn't piss Amberelle off. After all, the woman had saved both her and her brother's lives. Nikki had no doubt that she could just as easily take them. She also hoped that Amberelle understood that she didn't just want to stay for herself and for Steve, she wanted to be on-hand in case her hot-headed brother got a wild hair up his ass and tried to take on some poor unsuspecting person. No doubt he would get killed pretty much instantly by any nearby vampire, but she wouldn't want to be that first unlucky bastard Steve got his hands on.

Nodding, Amberelle completely understood and respected her refusal to leave her brother alone here. If she was in Nikki's shoes... no force in the planet would move her from her big brother's side. But then Cavalier would never be in the situation Steve was. He wasn't rash or hotheaded like Steve. With a chuckle she recalled the last time Steve had been here and the trouble he'd tried to get into. "You know that is a good idea. There was quite a fuss the last time he visited.." She shook her head. "Speaking ofSteve.. we can go see him if you want? Let me just call and see where he is.."

She stood, crossing the room to the phone. It only took a couple of minutes to get information on where in the far wings he was being treated relayed back to her. It wasn't too far from the dojo, and close to Celeste's room. She knew that wing quite well actually. Thanking the man softly, she hung up and looked back to Nikki. "He woke up earlier and asked about you.. they got him to settle down when he knew you were safe with me."

As Amberelle offered to take her to Steve, Nikki felt as if a heavy pack had been taken from her shoulders. Her determination to get this whole vampire thing nailed down had kept her from thinking of anything else, at least for the most part, but a sliver of worry had found its way into her mind and had been growing steadily. She waited patiently as Amberelle made her call. The word that Steve was up and asking for her was reassuring, but she wasn't sure about him settling down. That wasn't like him. Whatever these two had done, the vampire had certainly won Steve's trust, that much was plain. The thought stirred another question in her mind, one she was rather keen to ask, but wasn't sure she'd like the answer to. "So, you said Steve was 'involved' with a vampire? what can you tell me about them?" She placed the question casually as the two made ready to leave, but she couldn't help feeling that the blonde could tell that the question was anything but casual. She kept her eyes firmly downrange, lest she show just how intently she was listening for the answer.

Amberelle was really not sure how to answer Nikki's question. The blond paused and turned to look off into space. her mind went over what little she knew and finally all she could do was shake her head. "I really don't know much. The vampire he is.. involved with, I do know her but she never mentioned Steve to me. And he isn't the type to open up and spill his life's story as you know," she chuckled to herself as she said the last bit. "I think for those answers you are just going to have to ask him."

Moving over towards the door to the hallway, she cocked her head at Nikki. "If you're ready I can take you to see him?" She didn't bother going back to grab her shoes, Amby knew the route there through the maze of hallways by heart and would go the round about ways that kept them indoors.

Nikki nodded thoughtfully, not entirely pleased with the answer. She gave Amberelle a small smile and a nod when the vampire suggested that they go see Steve. She followed the woman through the door, making note of the fact that she was barefooted. Nikki made a mental note of the fact, even though it was probably unimportant. It did clash with Nikki's own style, however. She would never get so at ease in a place like this, even if it became a home to her as well, as to wander about outside the safety and security of her quarters without her shoes. Just one of the many little oddities of her soldier's nature. She followed as the woman led through the place, taking what seemed to be the longest possible route, but Amberelle obviously knew where she was going, because they didn't once get lost, or at least not as far as Nikki could tell. A sudden worry crossed her mind, and Nikki stopped dead in her tracks, making a soft noise that any soldier would recognize, then caught herself and spoke quietly. "Amberelle?" she said, "Can you do something for me? Could you talk to Steve, tell him what happened? If he's going to turn on me as well..." She didn't finish her fear. It was far too much. She kept her voice and gaze steady, expertly hiding her tumultuous feelings behind her iron-and-ice expression that she had developed so well in the Air Force. She bit back her fear, and spoke again. "If he's going to turn on me as well, I don't think it would be a good idea for me to be in there when he finds out. He's rather hot-headed, in case you didn't know," She added a joke in order to keep her tone calm and smooth, "It's pretty likely that one of us would have to knock him senseless, and I don't want to do it, but if anyone else tried to I'd have to break my boot off in their ass." She smiled at Amberelle, trying not to sound belligerent, but there was still that spark in her that no amount of sweetness could snuff out. Sometimes, she really did hate being who she was. It made life so much more complicated.

Amberelle listened as Nikki spoke. Inwardly she smiled a little, recognizing the request for the nervousness it was but the blond had the compassion not to point it out. Instead she simply nodded to the new vampire. It was impossible to imagine anyone turning against their own sibling, but it was possible. At the very least Steve's usual hot headed temperment could have him blurting out something he didn't really mean. That was far more probable. So she was right, it was probably best to warn him.

"OK I can do that.. no problem. Just wait out here then and as soon as I make sure he's awake and umm.. informed.. I'll come get you."

Passing the communal bathroom for the wing she motioned for Nikki to wait just beside the door to it. She pointed to the door just across and down the hall from it then walked over and knocked softly before inching the door open. As she did she sent a prayer up that if Steve was awake he hadn't gotten the bright idea to bolt or attack anyone who came in.

"Steve? It's Amberelle." She poked her head inside and looked for the human.

Steve was getting jumpy. The two 'medics' had left him to his devices, and he was getting more than a little irritated by his present predicament. Not only that, but the last family he had left was now running around this horror-show of a manor with a woman who would more than likely see her as a scooby-snack. However, he had to trust Amberelle. After all, she had saved both of them back there, and had pulled his own sorry tail out of the fire more times than he cared to admit. He sighed. He was getting way too old for this crap. As he laid back against the pillows he had propped up on the bedframe, he head a noise outside the door. Voices. He slowed his breathing, not wanting to draw attention, and looked around. His gun was way out of reach. Too bad. He listened hard. Footsteps approached the door, then there was a knock. His heart lifted only slightly as Amberelle spoke.
"Hey," he said. "I hope you aint hoping to kick my ass tonight, because somebody already beat you to it!" He stopped. Now was no time for jokes. Then again, he was more than likely screwed anyway. "You gonna stand there spying on me like a perv or are you coming in?"

She laughed, a soft and feminine giggle loud enough to carry across the room. The very thought of her as a pervert was incredibly amusing to Amberelle. Mainly because it was as far from the truth as possible. She nodded to his question thought and stepped in, shutting the door softly behind her. Her amber eyes roamed over the human and around the room. He sounded like he was feeling better but then Steve was probably, no definately, capable of a lot of male bravado and bullshit. She snagged a small chair from nearby and moved it over to the bed's side, between him and the door. Flopping down in it she sighed and looked at the cop for a long minute before she spoke.

"Since I'm sure you are worried, you can relax. Nikki is fine. She's waiting outside to talk to you when we're done. I promised her I'd talk to you first about what all happened." Amby leaned back and picked at the arm of the chair for a moment while she put her thoughts in order. "What can you tell me about this guy?" Her face was neutral as she waited to get some details. Anyone who would be so reckless as to turn someone and leave them like that was a liability. She had a bit of experience cleaning up those kinds of... problems. So even though she had a gut feeling the siblings would want to hunt him down themselves she was taking a special interest in this, just in case.

Somehow, despite all that had happened on this night, Steve was actually glad to see the younger-looking woman. Perhaps vampires were starting to grow on him. In any case, he doubted she was going to take a chunk out of him now, so he calmed slightly, even more so when he found out that his sister was just outside the door. He pondered her question. He almost refused to answer, but she had saved his stupid ass from that monster tonight, so he figured he owed her.
"Well," he began, "I'm not sure there's much to tell. Me and Nik were still in the Air Force, I had just been given command of our wing about a month before. This guy, Ben, was one of my junior pilots. He was rather reckless, but I didn't think there was anything really wrong with the guy. He and Nikki started seeing each other, and things went smoothly for a while, but then he got a little loopy. Neither of us know why. But he got bad enough that Nik tried to break it off, and that's when the shit really flew. He got obsessive, following her, threatening her, breaking into her place. She couldn't even call the cops or me because he was always right there. So, I finally took notice when she didn't muster with the rest of the wing for a training exercise, and I went over to her place, and found him sitting outside. I went in, found Nik, got her to tell me what had been going on, then I went outside and told Ben to leave her alone. He took a poke at me, so I let him have it. When he was released from the base hospital and returned to active duty, he seemed like he had his head out of his ass, but he deserted after a week or so. I guess the little bastard had bigger plans." Steve stopped, coming back to the here and now. He looked at Amberelle, a wry smile tugging at his features for a moment. "I knew there was something up when he punched a superior. Busted my cheekbone, too." He sighed, then a frightening thought crossed his mind. "Tell me something, Amberelle. What on God's green earth possessed you to bring my sister and me here? Namely my sis. There had better not be anybody chewin' on her. If so, they're gonna find themselves rather crispy." He dug in his pocket, and pulled out a small aerosol can, to which he had taped a cigarette lighter. Homemade flamethrower. It was crude, but effective. He placed it back in his pocket to avoid trouble, then stared the blond woman right in the eyes. "Well?"

Well after listening to Steve Amby knew this Ben was good and obsessed with Nikki. Enough to want to keep her around for eternity. God, what a pig to stalk her and then do that to her. Robbing her of her humanity was just.. It pissed Amberelle off a lot. The blond just sighed when he produced his little homemade weapon. Why didn't it suprise her? Ahh well. She'd get it away from him before she let Nikki into the room. Better safe than sorry.

"I brought you two here for a few reasons. First you're under clan protection.. unless you and Trin parted ways?" She didn't really pause long enough to let him answer. "Tell me, when you found this Ben with Nikki, did anything about him seem different to you? Because he was. A lot."

As soon as she mentioned Ben being different, Steve knew exactly what she was talking about. He had seen what the bastard was when Ben had rushed him. It surprised him greatly that it had taken him so long to remember it, but there could be no doubt. "No, not really," Steve growled, a shred of his defiant personality coming back to him, "not unless you count the fangs hanging out of his mouth. I'm certain that that bastard was the real deal, too. He was moving a hell of a lot better than I can, and, not to brag or anything, I can take on anyone that runs around in the daylight." Anger flared within him, and he suddenly wanted to fight. Anyone would do, even Amberelle. He was just figuring angles and the range of his little toy when he caught himself. It would do no good to wax the blond. After all, she was on his side, and he was in somewhat friendly territory. He took a breath or two, trying to remember the bullshit that anger-management instructor, an over-grown hippie being paid well by the state, had taught him. His heart slowed back down, and he waited for his breathing to settle to the slow, almost non-existent rate that marked his calmness. Once he had control of himself, he ventured a question, and he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to it.
"Amberelle? What the hell happened when I went down?"

Amberelle had tensed when she heard Steve's pulse start to race and his breathing got more agitated. Sliding to the edge of her chair her gaze sharpened. The Creole had a few moments wondering if he was going to lose his temper and if he did just what rash actions he'd take then. She kept a close watch in his body language until he seemed to relax. But even then she didn't.

Realizing leaving him armed while she told him what had happened wasn't the brightest idea, Amby held out her hand and made a grabbing motion with her fingers. "Give me the torch. Then we can talk about what happend." As soon as he gave her that she'd go over and grab his gun from the dresser across the room. And put them out in the hallway, very far away from him.

Steve eyed Amberelle carefully. Disarming himself in this place seemed like a very bad idea, after all, he had never learned to trust vampires. He doubted he ever would. However, with the blond holding the cards, he had no choice. He dug the contraption out of his pocket and tossed it to her, then, once she had stashed it, he sat up as straight as he could. "Ok, enough screwing around," he whispered. "What went down out there?"

That wasn't so hard she told herself as she shut the door to the hall. She'd given Nikki a slight shrug as she set the gun and home made flamethrower down beside the frame. The blonde figured that she wouldn't be suprised at her brother's resourcefulness, or the need to disarm him before giving him such, potentially, unpleasant news. God knows she would have done the same to her own brother. And, he wasn't even a hot head.

Slowly taking her chair again, Amberelle sighed softly. Looking at him, her face was neutral but her eyes bored into his and were incredibly serious. Drawing in a breath she started at what was to her the beginning.

"I was in the area looking for some thugs for ahhh.." she shrugged, figuring he'd guess she meant a meal. "I smelled blood, and went to investigate. Inside it was silent as a tomb. I found you and Nikki in an office upstairs. Someone had locked you two in from the outside. You were both down but when I came in you stirred long enough to ask me to look after her." Amby shifted in her seat, getting in a better position to spring up and restrain him if needed as she continued. "I was a bit suprised when she stirred and suddenly I had a gun pointed at my head. But she's a bit more rational than you since she let me explain who I was." The blonde smirked at the cop slightly. "She gave me a little run down on what had happened and we got you out to your car." Pausing slightly, her eyes dipped to the side for a moment as she chewed her lip.

"I insisted we bring you here to have you checked out without having to worry about any questions or complications a hospital might have. We do keep doctors on staff here at the manor for just that reason." Licking her lips she kicked herself for avoiding the primary reason she was here. Skirting around the issue wasn't going to work with Steve. She felt tense and tightly coiled as she continued, ready to leap up and dodge or grab him, whatever his reaction was.

"Steve there's something you should know. I brought Nikki here because she was affected by what happened there too. Before I arrived," she made sure to add. "But she was ummm... turned. By this Ben guy I guess."

What exactly had happened between his going unconscious and her arrival would be for Nikki to fill in, if she wanted to say and if he was able to listen.

Steve slumped over, his head in his hands. It was too much. His baby sister, a vampire? Anger built up inside of him. What had been done to Nikki, who had been through so much already, was simply heinous. He wanted to find that bastard, and rip his head from his shoulders bare-handed. He steadied himself. It would be for Nikki to find Ben and take her revenge. Steve just hoped she would let him help. He looked up at Amberelle. "How's she taking it?" he asked.

Nikki listened hard as Amberelle talked to her brother. Her newly enhanced hearing made everything happening in that room sound like it was happening on her eardrums. She smiled slightly as Amberelle came out and set Steve's weapons on the ground. No doubt he had something else hidden somewhere, but she doubted he'd use it. Even he couldn't be that crazy. She strained to hear, despite the fact that she could hear them talking perfectly, when Amberelle went in and resumed Steve's debriefing. She tensed as Amberelle told what had been done to her. Amazingly, Steve didn't lose it. There were a couple of silent moments, in which Nikki feared that Steve was about to do something, or else already doing it, then she heard his voice, beaten and tired, ask about her. Nikki sighed. Nothing to worry about. He seemed to have is head on straight. She opened the door, walked in, and sat down on the bed. She gently pushed Steve back down as he tried to get up, then she looked him over, checking the work that had been done to patch him up. Once she was satisfied that Steve was well taken care of, she looked into his eyes, and gave him a small smile.
"You shouldn't be worried about me," she said, her voice quiet. "You'd better be worried about not getting beaten to death. I'm a little tired of having to watch someone patch you up over and over again." She gave him another once-over, then looked over at Amberelle, try to thank her without words.

Steve jumped slightly as the door opened, and his first thought was that another vamp was coming in. He looked around, and his morale lifted as he saw the short, thin figure that was his sister slip into the room. He tried to get up, but before he could she was there, her hand on his shoulder, pushing him back. He grunted slightly, then checked her over. She seemed to be all in one piece. She seemed to notice his concern, because she smiled and told him that she was okay. Steve shook his head but said nothing. Nikki promptly began to get after him about his current situation. It was true, he did get the living daylights knocked out of him far too often, but with Amberelle in the are he sure as hell wasn't going to show weakness by admitting that.
"Hey, I'm fine," he said, ignoring the pain throughout his body, "I've been rough on myself, but I've never overdone it." His face hardened, and his voice got serious. "Are you alright?" he asked, watching her face closely for any sign that she wasn't.