First of all, I'd like to thank Ree and Tser, the two who took care of testing this thing out, and making sure I didn't make stupid spelling mistakes. I'd really like to thank Tser for letting me use her club, and chars. Ree, well heck, she already knows she the best sister I have, cuz well, she's the only sister I have. ;-)

And now, the story.

The shakes were worse than ever. How long had it been? A day? A week? A month? Hardly able to stumble across the room, Jeliza stared blindly into the mirror. For all her searching, Jeliza could see nothing but an empty husk, a constant reminder of what she once was, and what she was now. Her once brilliant blue eyes were so bloodshot from hunger and fatigue they seemed to glow a fierce red. Short, snow-white hair matted to her head from sweat, Jeliza frantically looked through her collection of pills again. Nothing. The pills did not work anymore. They just made her temporarily ill. Jeliza collapsed into a heap of silk, hysterical cries turning into crazed laughter.

Shawn looked over the myriad of faces in the crowd below the stage. She was not there. Again. She was not returning his calls, would not even answer the door. She had not been to the club in over a month. Worried, Shawn decided to go over to Jeliza's again after the show.

"Jel? Jeliza? Are you home? C'mon Jel, it's me, Shawn! Le'me in! I know you're in there, your car's out front!" Shawn pounded on the door again. Sighing, Shawn turned to leave when he heard something from inside the apartment. Jeliza hysterically threw pill bottles across the room screaming as loud as her parched throat would allow her.

Panicking, Shawn shoved the door open; surprisingly, it had been unlocked. Rushing into the bedroom, he saw Jeliza. But it was not Jeliza, was it? She was too gaunt, too pale, she looked dead.

"Jel? That you?" Shawn entered the room and slowly approached Jeliza. Glancing at the bottles strewn carelessly around the room he shook his head. "Jel, I thought you quit using pills." Shawn put his hand on Jeliza's shoulder and stopped. Her skin was cold and clammy through her silken stole. Turning her to face him, Shawn was rewarded with a cold, lifeless stare from once beautiful eyes. He quickly removed his hand; the coolness of her skin was unnerving. There was a knife beside her on the floor. It looked like she had used it judging by the blood on the blade, but there was not a mark on her.

"Jel? You ok? What's wrong?"

"I. . .I'm hungry." The words sounded distant and hollow to her ears.

"Hungry? Well, why don't you get dressed and I'll take you out for breakfast. When was the last time you ate anyway?" Shawn headed for the door, grabbing his trench coat off the bed as he did so.

"Ate? I. . . I don't remember. . ." Jeliza trailed off as she stumbled to her feet and flew across the room. Senses ablaze, she wrapped one arm around Shawn's shoulders for support while clamping the other hand securely over his mouth. Fangs gleaming in the dim light, she tore into the tender flesh of his throat. Jeliza became so caught up in the sweet ecstasy of draining Shawn of his life fluid. When she realized what she was doing her eyes flew open with fear and horror as she pushed Shawn's limp form away from her.

Shawn fought against the blackness that threatened to consume him. Jeliza knelt beside his prone form sobbing. Jeliza shook him in a futile attempt to wake Shawn. As the sun rose magnificently to bring life to the day, Jeliza did the only thing she could think of to save Shawn. Taking up the knife from where it lay, Jeliza slid its finely honed edge across her wrist, and let the blood drip into Shawn's mouth and down his throat.

Beautiful snow-white pegasi danced in clear blue skies over emerald green fields filled with unimaginable mounts of flowers. Shawn stared, dumbfounded, as everything changed. The dancing pegasi became coal black harpies with burning red eyes. Green grass and colorful flowers died, withered, and disappeared revealing chipped, broken cobblestone. Shawn looked around him and screamed in terror.

Bolting upright, Shawn's vision cleared to reveal the burgundy satin sheets he was laying on in the dim light of dusk. Sweat beads on his brow and the hollowness in his chest brought Shawn back to his dream. Beside him in the soft bed Jeliza stirred. "Shawn? What's wrong? It's not time to get up yet."

"Nothing Jel. It was just a dream." Shawn put a hand to his chest in a motion meant to calm his racing heart before he realized what had seemed wrong. He had no heartbeat. He was dead, but he was not. He was a vampire. Laughing silently at himself, Shawn rose to prepare for the coming night. As he showered and dressed, Shawn played that night almost a month ago back through his mind. Jeliza had made him what he was, but something about it just did not feel quite right. Jeliza was happy, she acted a bit loopy every now and then, but she always had. After a month, Shawn still could not get used to the death his new life called for. It all felt wrong, like he was not supposed to be there.

Shawn shrugged it off and re-entered the bedroom. "Jel, time to get up, babe. We gotta get to the club. Jel?" Shawn glanced around the room; Jeliza was gone. But to where?

Jeliza sat at the bar. Her hair was brushed forward to hide her eyes, even though the hood of her cape was bulled back. Icy blue eyes gazed boardly over the dance floor. The Carpe was in full swing. "Shawn's so boring. He'd have us sitting in some corner booth out of the way where no one could see us. This is where I belong." Jeliza mused quietly to herself.

"Hey Gorgeous, you wanna dance?" Jeliza looked up to see a tall, medium build, blond young man standing next to her. Silently cursing her lack of attention, Jeliza smiled slightly and accepted the offer. I might get dinner out of this yet filtered through her mind as she was led onto the dance floor.

Shawn was concerned. Jeliza was missing and gods only knew what she would do on her own. Jel tended to be pretty wild even when Shawn was with her, alone. . .she would be downright dangerous. Sitting on the balcony in the cool, dank night air Shawn tried to think of where Jeliza would have gone. Letting his gaze slide over the busy city below Shawn's eyes came to rest on a low grayish building in a darker part of town. The Carpe Noctem. Cursing his own idiocy, Shawn flew down the fire escape to his bike below. The Harley roared to life at his touch and Shawn sped off towards the Club.

Jeliza stepped back into the hazy light of the club, quietly sliding the curtain back in place over the small booth she had been in. John or Mike, or whatever his name was would be found the next morning, but by then Jeliza would have been gone from the club for hours. Glancing around to see if anyone had noticed her arranging of the curtain Jeliza stopped. At the far end of the dance floor stood an angry Shawn. Pulling the hood of her cloak up to hide her face further in the shadows, Jeliza crept along the wall away from Shawn. "I can come up behind him and say that I was looking for him. . .that I had left to get a quick bite and he was gone when I got back. . ."

Narrowing his eyes, Shawn looked towards the bar, Jeliza was not on the dance floor, but she was not up here either. Spotting Tser, Shawn's hopes of locating Jeliza rose. Tser saw and heard almost everything that happened in the Carpe. "Hey, Tser. You seen Jeliza tonight? She disappeared earlier and I can't find her." Shawn leaned against the bar and ordered a glass of wyne to please Arranz, the lycanthrope bartender, it was nearing the full moon and the lycanthrope was considerably easier to anger.

Tser looked up with a faraway look in her eyes, after a moments pause. Shaking her head, she glanced up at Shawn. "Sorry, I saw her come in, but she might have left by now."

"Thanks anyway, Tser. Hey, do you think I could play one or two nights a month? I've got a few ideas of late." Shawn talked quietly, almost distractedly as he continued scanning the large room for Jeliza. Tser nodded her reply and wished Shawn luck in finding Jeliza; he would need it, before she returned to her thoughts.

Shawn leaned against the wall in a darkened corner and sipped his wyne. Tapping his foot to music only he could hear, Shawn's eyes became glassy as he let his thoughts drift, allowing him to relax.

A hooded figure passed through Shawn's vision after he had let go of his anger and most of his fear. Jeliza could take care of herself, but Shawn still needed to find her. Shawn followed the figure with his eyes until he realized that the cape was one belonging to Jeliza, and she was being followed by a VH.

Shawn followed the two women outside into the darkened alley. No sooner had he stepped into the darkness did Jeliza whirl around to face the hunter. Snarling, Jeliza launched herself at the blond-haired woman. Shawn watched, ready to step in if the need arose, from the shadows. Jeliza took the VH out quickly, she must have been new, and moved in for the kill.

Shawn stepped in. "No! Jel, you can't just kill her! Look, she's new. That much is obvious; just leave her here. She can't follow us, she's already unconscious." Jeliza looked up at Shawn with a wild look in her eyes that reminded Shawn of a starved and beaten animal.

Shawn hesitated and in that moment, Jeliza ripped the young woman's throat out. Backing away, Shawn fled down the alley and towards the better lit part of town. Jeliza, finished, stood, smiled, and headed back to the apartment to wait for Shawn, he would come back before dawn, he had to, there wasn't any other place for him to go to escape the sun.

Shawn stopped running a few blocks away from the Carpe. Slowing his pace, Shawn started paying more attention to the buildings. Seeing one in particular ahead, Shawn broke into a sprint. "Tessa! Tessa, we need to talk about Jeliza! Open up!" Shawn was met at the gates of a large mansion by the raven-haired vampiress, Santessa Rose.

Sitting in Santessa's study, Shawn sat on the edge of his chair nervously tapping out a tune with his fingers. Calmly setting a glass of wyne on the small table next to Shawn, Santessa sat down opposite him. "Shawn, calm down. Now tell me what's happened that's got you in such a panic about Jeliza."

Shawn took a deep breath, forgetting he didn't need to breathe, and started with his dream ending with the hunter. "I don't know what to do Tessa. She's different, changed somehow. She just isn't the same as she was before." Shawn's voice had grown steady and calm as he spoke.

Shaking her head, Santessa understood Shawn's fear. "Shawn, I've seen this before. You've said she seemed to have changed even before she turned you, and that you aren't really comfortable with this. I understand your thinking, it took me a few years to be comfortable killing to live, but what you say about Jeliza. . .Something has to be done to control her." "I've tried Tessa, but what can we do? I can't go back to the apartment." leaning forward, Shawn held his head in his hands. "I'm just confused, I don't know what's going on, I don't know what to do."

Jeliza lay on the silk bed sheets a smile on her face. Shawn had not returned before the sun came up, and Jeliza figured he had found some place to wait the days end. Jeliza was satisfied; she had truly enjoyed herself for the first time since she met Shawn. Jeliza lay sprawled on the bed, still fully dressed having forgotten to remove her clothes when she returned, and dreamed of what she would do the next night, after she got rid of Shawn.

Shawn lay awake on Santessa's couch staring at the ceiling. Imagining the trouble Jeliza must have caused that night, Shawn just could not rest. Santessa had come down a couple of times to check on him, but said nothing. They had their plan, and he knew what he had to do, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Night came, and Shawn and Jeliza prepared for the coming confrontation. Shawn was never one for violence, and was depending on his mental prowess, while Jeliza knew she was the stronger of the two. Like a bad western flick, the two met in the alley behind the Club Carpe Noctem. The streets were unusually empty, which was probably a good thing as the two opponents faced off.

Shawn crouched ready to make the first move and try to take Jeliza by surprise. Jeliza narrowed her eyes, she knew Shawn was planning something, he always was. Normally it was some way to keep her under his control. They both noticed the shadow of an approaching person at the same time, but Jeliza ignored it as Shawn pulled back to see who it was before continuing.

Tser came walking, rather lost in thought, back to the Carpe. Her hair and clothes were mussed and she looked almost as if she had just woken. Slowing when she saw the moving shadows that were the vampires, Tser peered into the darkness. "Marry? Arranz?" She asked hesitantly.

"None of the above." Jeliza snarled as she leapt in Tser's direction. Moving to intervene, Shawn threw himself towards Jeliza, intending to knock her off balance momentarily. Yelping at the pain of running into a brick wall that doesn't give, Shawn sank to the ground to regroup. Jeliza hissed her anger at his attempted intervention and attacked Tser again.

As Tser just stood there staring blankly at Shawn, she was thrown to the ground as Jeliza pounced. Coming to, Tser tried to protect herself as best she could. "I bet your dentist just loves cleaning your teeth." Quipped Tser as she tried to keep Jel away from her throat. Shawn leapt at Jeliza, outraged at seeing her attacking her one-time friend. He wasn't overly surprised to find himself thrown back into the wall like a rag doll. Coming to a rest on the ground, Shawn looked up to see Arranz come out to investigate the noise before returning his gaze to Jeliza's dark beauty before his soul was finally laid to rest.

Glancing back towards the Carpe, Jel ignored the lycanthrope's growls as he checked on Tser, who was sitting up by now, before rising to challenge her. Instead, she turned and headed for the apartment. It was time to move on. . .but first, she wanted to collect a few things. Arranz itched to follow the vampire, but he knew he should stay with Tser and make sure she was all right.

Santessa stepped out of the shadows as Arranz and Tser retreated inside. Staring in the direction Jeliza had gone, she shook her head softly. "Such a waste. He had talent as a musician." She lamented Shawn, while pity for Jeliza grew. "It's a shame so many of them go crazy from the shock of dying. . .She really was a good kid before."