Again no one was talking to me. I sat there alone wallowing in my own worry, my own uncertainty on what was going on around me. How can you report on something that is so hidden. Not only hidden but forcibly locking you out unless it needs you. I couldn’t think of any leads on any thread that I was being teased with. Boss’s warehouse had been empty (Lucy and I checked casually one night), Jesus’ followers still hadn’t seen him, Walter was next to dirt in usefulness, Isabelle was not showing up, I really had no leads except the vampire.

So I went. While the rest of the city was celebrating their third of July I got in Lucy’s car and drove back to the place that nearly killed me. I didn’t know what I’d do if it attacked me again, I just knew that I needed some answers, I needed something.

The street was busier than the other night. Fridays are busier everywhere. I could hear fireworks being illegally detonated all around me on the other streets, but here, nothing. Nothing except another car parked opposite the street from me. A black Lincoln town car. The type only chauffeurs or mobsters drive. The minute I stopped my car, it blinked its lights at me, and then Julian stepped out of the driver side door. He had his hands raised up in a sign that I’m sure was suppose to make me feel at ease. It said Peace. His black on black suit made him look like an albino devil.

I thought to myself. “I’m already dead if he would of chose to make me so. This is something different.” I got out of my car. He smiled, took his coat off, threw it in the car, and brought out something wrapped in a small towel. Then he came over to me. I hopped on the hood of the car and waited.

“Hello Alex, nice to see you again, I thought I’d return this.” He opened up the towel to reveal the knife that Lucy had embedded in his throat.

“Thanks,” I said trying not to freak out. I pointed to the car window and he threw it in. You never know when you’ll need a good chef’s knife in the future. “that all you came down here for?”

“No, I was hoping to speak with you in private. I guessed this might be your only lead from reading your blog.”

“and that I’d be stupid enough to return.”

“You sell yourself short Alex. I guessed that you would be brave enough. I’m not the only one either. Isabelle would not of sent you if she didn’t want you to do something here in the first place.”

“She wanted me to die.”

“Yet you live!”

I gave him a look that said “fuck yourself”. Eyes bulging a bit and a middle finger half out, but I kept quiet.

“You are lost, no? No where to go, no leads, no friends. I’ve decided to tell you the one bit of information that you are not seeing.”

“Yeah, out of the kindness of your cold fucking heart? You tried to make me jump out my window.”

“I was misinformed about you. I have since corrected my position, but you should know by now that nothing my kind does is out of the kindness of our hearts.”

I couldn’t tell if Julian was old or not. His face would tend to relax into that almost dead state for brief seconds but then immediately come back. If I had to guess he was not young, but not old. A tweener vampire. Lucy was younger, a lot younger. She didn’t bullshit me, she had a kind heart.

“ah I can tell you doubt that now. I might not be able to read into your thoughts but I can see it on your face. If your friend was so kind, why is she not here? Why did she not come back? Is it because her mother told her too or because they got what she needed to get from you?”

“You really need to fuck off Julian, completely get the fuck away from me.” The words came out of me with a bit too much force and a bit too soon for my liking.

“Ah not yet, Alex, not yet. I must tell you what Isabelle wants from you first.”

Well there it was. He thought he knew what Isabelle wanted from me. “How would you know?”

“Because I have read your journal with fresh eyes.”

“What do you want then?”

“your forgiveness for my past transgression, and considerations of friendliness in the future.”

I almost laughed, he wanted me to forgive him and show him favor at a later time. I don’t know much about vampire politics but I’m pretty sure trying to gain the favor of a human is pretty lame.

“sure, I forgive you, and will show you friendliness”.

“Then you will be happy to know that Isabelle doesn’t care about you, she only wants you to lead her to your friend, Suzanne. ”

I wasn’t expecting that, but the moment he said it, it made sense for the most part. “fuck, she sent me out here to be almost killed hoping that Suzanne would show up again. Shit, and she recruited me after Jesus tried to change me, during the bloody shits which was the second time it happened, and she knew it. Shit. Fuck. ”

I got up off the car and started pacing. Julian just watched. What did she want Suzanne for? Why hadn’t she been able to just track her from the last few times I met with her? You’d think that a vampire as old as Isabelle would have not trouble with that, unless Suzanne had some type of actual anything that would help her stop that. Like I have this messed up ability to not be controlled by them, or let them use me to get to her. Shit.

Julian had no more answers for me as I ranted out the questions to him. He just smiled and shook his head.

I smiled at Julian. “I owe you one.” Then I got in Lucy’s car and drove home. Once there I started writing this. If vampires are going to play the silent game, I’m going to play the loud game. Everything can be on the table until the table falls. Let’s see how much can go up before that happens, I suspect it’ll fall soon. Julian isn’t a nice guy, he didn’t do this just for some favors. I think I’m going to get fucked.