Sofia was a little lost. Standing in the parking lot of a diner beside half a dozen motorcycles and waiting for Eloise to appear was not her idea of a good time.

Everyone knew to avoid Stan’s anyway as if the biker gang insignia wasn’t enough of a warning. How the place even stayed in business she had no idea.

A car turned into the parking lot. Its windows were tinted far more than what could be legal. Even stranger was the red licence plate, something only diplomatic vehicles had.

It pulled to a stop and a large man in a suit got out. After looking around, and giving Sofia a polite nod, he walked around and opened the back door.

Sofia should have seen it coming when Eloise emerged from the vehicle. She wore trousers and suspenders over a simple white top. Her claws were painted black, and her hair was tied up in a bun. She looked… professional.

Eloise adjusted her glasses, which were a smaller circular pair that fit her attire. Sofia couldn’t help but feel like Eloise was the reason vampires were attributed to natural beauty. She had been put together before but this was… another level entirely.

Eloise said something to the driver in a language Sofia didn’t understand before Eloise approached her.

“You speak German?” Sofia asked, doing her best to guess.

“I am German,” Eloise retorted with amusement. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

Sofia shrugged, and then something occurred to her. “Fuck, please tell me you weren’t a Natzi,” she winced.

Eloise chuckled, “No, I was not. Wasn’t even in Europe at the time.”

“Were other vampires involved? Concentration camps kinda seem like a very effective way to get blood,” Sofia scowled.

“I don’t know, but any person treated so horribly doesn’t have much life to offer. Blue blood is always the best,” Eloise smirked.

“Grass-fed and free range?” Sofia snorted.

“Precisely,” Eloise smiled, revealing her fangs.

Sofia shook her head. “Why are we here?”

“Who says we’re here for any reason?” Eloise retorted. “Wait in the car John, we don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

The large man nodded and climbed back into the car. Sofia didn’t even bother asking the other million questions buzzing around her head. How the fuck did Eloise have a diplomatic vehicle?

Sofia was coming to realize she knew very little about her sire.

Eloise was already opening the door to the bar, and Sofia hurried to catch up.

The bar was virtually empty except for the half dozen bikers at one of the far tables. Eloise practically skipped up to the bar and slid onto a stool. Sofia did the same if not far more hesitantly.

The bartender was a large burly man who did not seem particularly welcoming. “Two waters please,” Eloise smiled.

“Why are we here?” Sofia hissed.

Eloise leaned down. “ATM, cash only, this place gets virtually no business and yet has been up and running for years. It’s a front to launder money. And in this case, also a safe house, isn’t that right?” Eloise smiled up at the bartender who seemed entirely unsure what to do in this situation.

“The fuck do you two think you’re doing?” A gravelly voice asked from behind them as the bikers approached. Why Eloise hadn’t bothered to whisper Sofia didn’t have the time to figure it out, especially since the bikers were pulling out guns.

“Welcome to our world,” Eloise offered, squeezing Sofia on the shoulder as she stood. “If you have a gun, shoot yourself in the head.”

Sofia stopped herself from turning to look as a cocooning of noise exploded in the bar, bodies crumpled to the ground.

Eloise turned back around, slipping her glasses back into place as she took in the terrified bartender. She smiled, showing her teeth, “any large amounts of cash around here by chance?”

He nodded quickly, his eyes darting around to find an escape route.

Sofia glanced back at the carnage. Heads were torn open, and bits of skull and brain clung to the ceiling. The whole place reeked of human waste and blood, so much blood oozing from the corpses.

What a waste. Her hunger clawed at her. She could have fed on them. But no, Eloise had to make some kind of point. If she was warm she would have been horrified, but all she was was hungry.

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Eloise grabbed the bartender by the neck and pulled him over the bar, sending glasses shattering to the floor.

“Where is the money?” Eloise hissed at him.

The man didn’t get a word out, entirely paralyzed by fear.

Eloise released him and let him slump to the ground. “Eat up, darling, you’re practically drooling,” she added in Sofia’s direction.

With that Eloise vaulted the bar and disappeared into the back room.

Sofia stood there, staring at the petrified man. It was kind of silly to see a tough gangster type shaking in terror. It didn’t really suit him.

“P-Please,” the man managed to get out.

She could let him go. There were people out there that probably loved him, that would grieve him. But this day would haunt him forever, it would destroy his life even if he walked away with it briefly. At this point killing him would be a mercy.

The man bolted for the door with surprising speed. This was probably a good example of why you weren’t supposed to run from a predator. Sofia jumped before she even really thought about it, hunting instincts urging her after him.

They both went tumbling to the floor but one of them suffered their injuries. “Sorry,” Sofia winced as she pinned him down.

The man bucked, sending her practically flying off him. She may have been super strong but she was still physically small. Sofia jumped back up onto her feet, grabbed the man before he could slip away again and bit into his throat.

The man’s scream came out as a gurgle as Sofia swallowed mouthful after mouthful of warmth. That spark returned to her as her flesh warmed. It was so easy to let herself drift away in the heat of blood, the frenzy of feeding.

Her body strengthened with every swallow until the man went limp and his heart stopped pumping. She slid her teeth from his flesh and stood unsteadily as she shook from overstimulation.

The gangster made four.

Sofia burst into tears.

----------------------------------------

They rode in the back of Eloise’s car. Sofia was busy processing what they had just done while Eloise went through the stack of cash she had retrieved.

Eloise leaned forward and handed John a small stack of bills. No one said anything.

All that, seven people died for a bunch of bills. It was more money than Sofia had ever seen in her life but… it still felt stupid. No one had had to die, Eloise had chosen to kill, coaxed Sofia to kill.

Then again Sofia wasn’t much better, she had wanted to kill and she had.

“Here,” Eloise offered, holding out a substantial portion of the money. “You should really start keeping all your money stashed away somewhere and not in a bank.”

Sofia awkwardly took it. A stack of smooth plastic Canadian bills. Bills that could be physically washed if money laundering was so literal.

“Why?” That was all Sofia could ask.

“There’s no bank for immortals, and well… you may still exist legally but I died well over a century ago. Not to mention the last thing we need is to be tracked. Banks are simply far more trouble than they are worth. If we really need something you can’t buy with cash we have… other means of persuasion,” Eloise offered.

Sofia took that in and glanced at the driver then back to Eloise.

“Don’t worry about him, John is physically incapable of divulging anything even if he wanted to. And when he retires I’ll kill him and ensure his family is comfortable just to be safe,” Eloise added.

Sofia stared in horror. “Are you making him work for you?”

“She is not,” John offered in a heavy accent.

Sofia glanced at Eloise, John’s words meant fuck all.

“I’m not,” Eloise sighed. “What use is someone who can’t think for themselves? John and I simply have a… arrangement.”

Sofia shook her head. “Is he… blood bonded?”

“God no, that’s far too personal,” Eloise scoffed.

“Why not, then you wouldn’t have to… retire him,” Sofia offered, not liking the way that sounded.

“Look,” Eloise sighed, “I may have been hasty in my encouragement for you to bond with Jackie. Given what you would be dealing with and Jackie’s sexual proclivities I thought it might work for the two of you.”

The more time Sofia spent around Eloise the more she hated the fact Eloise could read human minds.

“What a blood bond really is… is a link of fidelity and dependency. The stronger the bond becomes the more the blood slave will crave their master's blood, the more they are obsessed and devoted to them, the more they love them,” Eloise explained. “Total enthralment.”

Sofia felt sick. “You… you told me to do that to her,” Sofia growled, her anger building to the point she was shaking. How could she? That was ever so much worse than her eyes. “I almost killed myself over all this! And… none of it was real…”

“No, no, you two are just extra fucking weird,” Eloise laughed, such a bizarre reaction that it quelled Sofia’s anger. “You’ve not even been dead three months, it takes decades for that kind of obsession. I mean humans can mimic a fraction of the brainwashing, they just don’t live long enough themselves to fully reach that point. Look, this is why I prefer my humans mortal, they get glitchy if they live so long.”

“I…”

“Hell, I don’t even really know. My sires' thralls were all totally devoted and a few centuries old, maybe that’s just how he did things. The point is… blood bonds are serious and a commitment, it’s a lot of fucking responsibility long term. It’s just not my thing,” Eloise placated.

Sofia sighed, she didn’t even really know what to believe. “How much of everything you tell me is just you guessing?”

“Fucking plenty. I haven’t spent decades testing out exactly what blood bonds do,” Eloise scoffed. “It’s not like there have been studies published. I’m trying my best here, I don’t know everything.”

“I’m sorry,” Sofia offered. “I just like answers.”

“Who doesn’t like answers,” Eloise retorted. “Look, it was wrong for me to suggest you two get into something so serious without either of you being well informed. I apologize.”

“Thank you, “ Sofia retorted. “If… if we’re going to be... rebuilding the… species. We need to have these answers. I mean if we don’t even know what we are capable of then how can we keep ourselves safe?”

“Fair enough I suppose, we should do some testing,” Eloise nodded.

“Sure, knowledge is power and all that, we need to amass knowledge,” Sofia agreed. “On the topic of knowledge, what exactly should I fear? What can actually hurt us?”

“You’re going to really hate my answer,” Eloise smirked.

“How can you possibly not know?” Sofia huffed.

“How would I know?” Eloise glared. “I’ve been shot plenty, stabbed plenty, blown up a little, danced in the sun, I’m still kicking. As far as I know, my sire is still dead. I left him to shrivel up in the sun and then cut him into tiny pieces that I scattered, so… avoid having that happen to you I suppose.”

“I… fine, noted,” Sofia snorted. “I guess the other thing when it comes to rebuilding is making more vampires.”

“Drain someone until the verge of death and then force your blood down their throat. Oh, you’re going to want to be well fed, I believe it’s the vitae that creates a kindred,” Eloise answered before Sofia could ask.

“Be warm, noted. Who do we turn though?”

“Intelligent people,” Eloise retorted. “Don't turn kids, that just seems like a nightmare waiting to happen, don’t turn people with serious psychological issues, don’t turn the religious. Though I would pay good money to see how that would go,” she smirked.

“What about sociopathic serial killers?” Sofia asked, inching her way towards what she really wanted to ask.

“Got someone in mind?” Eloise smiled.

“If I turned her we would be equals, I wouldn’t be a danger to her,” Sofia voiced.

“But…”

“I-I think she would like it too much, the power,” Sofia replied. “She’s already monstrous enough without it.”

“I’m certainly not going to turn her, it’s your call,” Eloise replied with a hum of consideration.

“Is there a way to make like… a mini vampire?” Sofia asked jokingly.

“Maybe,” Eloise shrugged. “Another experiment to conduct.”

Sofia hadn’t expected that response. She had expected a firm no, and an end to her mental debate. But… even if Jackie became a “mini vampire” they wouldn’t be equal then would they?

“I just don’t want to lose her,” Sofia sighed.

“I know darling,” Eloise offered, with a reassuring smile. Sofia didn’t feel particularly reassured.