Blood of The Rose

Chapter 37: Breaking and Entering

Downtown LA, Skyeline Apartments

The elevator doors swished open, allowing a mane of red-tipped hair to protrude, followed by silver eyes probing about inquisitively.

"Think this is the right place?" Ruby whispered.

With an indulgent sigh, her sister pushed past her, confidently strolling up to the only door in this hallway. "Mailbox for the fifth floor said 'P. Anderson', figure that's our boy. None of the others have that first initial, an' I seem to recollect the name being mentioned a couple of times around the bar."

"Well, okay, then." The diminutive fledgling stepped over to the door, regarding the rudimentary though solid-looking lock. Just as Yang was about to open her mouth in reprimand, Ruby raised a hand to knock, sticking her tongue out at her sister impudently.

"I know, I know, make sure it's unoccupied first," the brunette snarked as she rapped on the door. "Delivery for Paul Anderson," she called out. "Looks like a black trenchcoat and some really sweet shades!"

Yang let out a snort of laughter. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, y'know… Mr. Anderson?" Ruby grinned widely. "The Matrix?"

"Oh my fucking god, you are such a dork," the blonde finally sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Betcha he's a hacker."

"No, Rubes… just, no."

The shorter Kindred giggled merrily before doing a rather poor imitation. "Hmm, Mr. Anderson. You disappoint me."

"Please stop…"

"Fine… spoilsport…" After waiting a suitable length of time, Ruby crouched down and got to work with her lockpicks. Yang stood by and watched, leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed.

"You're holding it wrong," the blonde spoke up after a half minute had gone by.

"This is how I hold it."

"Yeah, but it's wrong."

"You taught me!"

"I didn't teach you to hold it like that."

Ruby gave her sister a glare. "You wanna do this?"

"Nah, go right ahead… It's just gonna take you longer, with you holding it wrong."

Sighing, the brunette turned back, subtly adjusting her grip on the torsion wrench. Thankfully, Yang didn't comment further other than to quirk a smile, and the door popped open soon enough.

The sibling vampires walked into the apartment, closing the door quietly behind them. It was the same basic layout as Ruby's new one, though the furnishings are obviously different. Dim floor lamps illuminated the front where a large semicircular couch, sitting atop a round rug, faced a wall-mounted television. The kitchen, from what they could see, was barely illuminated by a slim sliver of light from the open fridge.

They spread out, looking for clues. Yang perused the dining room table, strewn with papers, while Ruby headed into the kitchen.

She didn't get far before she tripped over something solid. Arms pinwheeling, she faceplanted next to the rigid corpse of a young male in jeans and a dark tee shirt.

"Hey, Yang," she groaned, her voice muffled. "I found Paul."

"I see that," the blonde chuckled. "Um... "

"I know, I know… vampire senses and all, shoulda seen him lying there."

"Yup."

Sighing, Ruby got herself into a sitting position on the floor. "Worst. Vampire. Ever." She gave the corpse a quick poke. "Definitely been dead for awhile. Guess the whole plague thing is spot-on."

The two girls bent over, rifling through the body's pockets before both were standing with their arms crossed. "Nothing," Ruby murmured in disappointment.

"Hey, check it out." Yang pointed at the kitchen counter. Resting atop the cheap formica surface was another tape-player answering machine, the red light there blinking slowly.

Ruby gave an amused snort as she stepped over to the counter. "What is this, the 90's?" she quipped.

Her sister grinned in reply as she headed upstairs to investigate further. The brunette pressed the 'play' button, knowing Yang would be able to hear just fine from where she was.

A woman's weak voice came across the scratchy tape playback. "Hi, Paul? It's Hannah. Just callin' to see how you are. I hope I didn't give you what I've got. Ugh, I feel like crap... Actually, I need to ask you a favor. Could you pick me up some cold medicine at the store? I hate to bother you but…" The playback was briefly interrupted by weak coughing. "I can't seem to get out of bed. The code on my door is 1203. Hey listen, I, uh…" After a hesitant pause, she resumed once again. "Had a really good time the other night. Maybe we could do it again sometime? Sorry… I'm rambling. Okay, bye."

"Aww, that's kinda sweet," Ruby murmured as the tape playback stopped.

"Yeah, in a Romeo and Juliet sorta way," Yang chuckled mirthlessly as she descended the steps. "Literally. She's probably infected, too."

"Yeah, well… she's probably in this apartment building…" The brunette fledgling tapped her chin thoughtfully. "We're on the fourth, that Muddy guy should be on the second… So either one of the ones upstairs, or down on the third, yeah?"

"Brilliant deduction, my dear Watson," her sister snickered. "Orrr you could just ask the gal who already looked at the mailboxes and could tell you Hannah lives on the sixth floor."

"Ohhh, lookit me, I'm Yang the super-agent," Ruby snarked in reply as the pair of women headed out of the apartment. "Didja find anything upstairs, Agent Xiao Long?"

"Only piles of dirty laundry," she replied, wrinkling her nose.

They called the elevator up, and in a matter of moments were facing another familiar-looking door, though this one had a security keypad on the side. The display read 'Skyeline Security: Glazer Residence'. After punching in the code, the door unlocked for the pair, allowing Ruby to edge it open cautiously.

"Hellooo…?" she called out. "Hannah? We're friends of Paul's…"

When silence greeted the two vampires, they shared a glance before moving inside, quickly checking the living area. The decor in this apartment was more subdued and definitely on the classier side. A backless sofa faced a narrow console with a small television. There was a lit candelabra atop a delicate endtable, burning low with the flames flickering in a desperate attempt to stay alive. On the floor, a nice-looking but threadbare Persian carpet lay in between the couch and console. Asian-themed artwork of scrolls and calligraphy lined the walls, and a Japanese long buffet rested against the wall adjacent to the door. On it was an impressively large bonsai tree and a pair of silver vases.

Nothing of interest was gleaned after a cursory examination of the living area and deserted kitchen, so the fledglings wordlessly headed up the stairs. The loft area was pitch-black but Ruby could still make out a rolltop desk and a pair of large plants.

Yang, though, gestured towards the closed bedroom door. The brunette frowned, concentrating, but then nodded as she picked up on the same faint heartbeat and ragged breathing that her sister must have heard.

The blonde Kindred took the lead, pushing the door open gently. Inside the bedroom, another buffet similar to the one downstairs was across the room, obviously used as a dresser. A lone, full-sized bed was situated somewhat oddly, right by the door, and sprawled across it with her head by the bottom rested a woman clad in low-rise jeans and a yellow crop top. Her orange hair stuck up messily as she stirred at the intrusion, blearily peering at the visitors as they slipped into her room.

"Paul, is that…? Hey, you're not Paul! Who are you? What are you doing in here?" The girl, presumably Hannah, ended her querying with a wracking cough.

"We're friends of Paul's," Yang interjected smoothly. "He just wanted us to come and check up on you." Ruby was content to let her sister do the talking as she watched, worriedly chewing on her bottom lip. She could smell her, now, and the girl just reeked of wrongness, of sickness and impending death.

Hannah, though, smiled weakly. "He did? That's so sweet. He's such a nice guy. Is everything okay with him?"

Yang shared a quick glance with Ruby, though the lighting in the bedroom was too dim for Hannah's mortal eyes to catch the significance of it.

"Yeah," Yang murmured. "Yeah, sure. You sound pretty sick, Hannah. What have you got?"

The girl coughed some more, dry and hacking. "I don't really know. I- I've taken all kinds of medicine, but I can't seem to get rid of it. I- I feel like I've got a fever and a sore throat. I'm real weak… can't seem to get out of bed. What day is it? I- I can't remember."

The blonde vampire ignored her questions, knowing she had to get information out of the dying girl quickly. "Sounds pretty bad. Where did you get it?"

Hannah's voice was growing noticeably and steadily weaker the more she talked. "Well, I think… I got sick from one of my… clients. I was feeling fine until I… I uh… I saw her a few days ago. Then I saw Paul… And later that night… I started feeling bad..."

Ruby's eyes lit up in understanding. Ohhh, she's a hooker…

"Uh-huh." Yang leaned forward slightly. "Who was this 'client'?"

"She was just a woman who called. She, uh… she found my ad on Craigslist. Usually only do business with referrals, you know, but she was offerin' a lot of money."

"What can you tell me about her, Hannah?"

"Her name was... Jezebel… Jezebel Locke. I'm usually not too good with names, you know, but hers was so strange… I can't seem to get it outta my head." Hannah's eyes closed as renewed coughing once again wracked her body. She spasmed weakly even after the bout passed.

Yang's low voice became more urgent, sensing that time was slipping away. "Where did you meet her, Hannah? Where is Jezebel Locke?"

Hannah took a shuddering breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was so breathy and soft, likely only vampires would have been able to pick it up. "She has a room at… at a nearby hotel, I can't… remember... Paul's… okay, right? He's not... sick?"

As her sister straightened up, having gotten as much of an answer as she could, Ruby took a hesitant step forward. "Paul's just fine, Hannah. Don't worry about him."

"Good… He… He's a nice guy… I hope… he calls me… again… sometime…" Hannah's eyes remained closed, her chest barely rising anymore.

"Yeah," Ruby whispered sadly. "I'm sure he will, Hannah."

"I hope so… I… really do…" With that, Hannah stilled as the last breath left her body.

"Right." The brunette looked up at her sister, silver eyes shining fiercely in the dim light. "We're gonna go take care of Jezebel Locke." It was a statement, not a question, though Yang nodded in agreement nonetheless.

"Yeah, we gotta find out where, though… Check around the bedroom, I'll go look out on the desk, see if she has an appointment book… I didn't see a computer…"

After a few moment's searching, the slamming of desk drawers punctuated by Yang's curses, they were met with success. As it turned out, for whatever reason Hannah had left the book atop a pile of dirty laundry in her closet, perhaps by accident brought on by her fever. Together they flipped through the pages while sitting on the couch downstairs.

9/5 - Arthur Kilpatrick - meet Arthur at his place in Santa Monica. Remember to bring the handcuffs and the orange jumpsuit, as he likes to play "Lockdown at the Women's Prison". This guy is sick.

9/7 - Vandal C. - 7:30 at the Blood Bank. Bring pliers and the blowtorch.

9/12 - David Hatter - Room 413 at the Luckee Star in Hollywood. He likes that weird umbrella and water balloon thing.

9/15 - Simon Milligan - Downstairs in his room. God I hate that guy.

9/16 - Jezebel Locke? - New client, responded to ad on CL. She has a suite at the Empire Hotel here Downtown. I don't know what to think of this one, but there's something about her… her voice… I don't know. She's offering big bucks so I guess I can't pass it up.

9/17 - Paul Anderson - An honest to god date! I can't believe he asked me out! I'm so excited!

"This is gonna take some prep," Yang mused. "If this bitch is dangerous, I'm gonna want to pick up some stuff from the bar… And you still want to check into this Muddy guy, right?"

Ruby chewed on her bottom lip, wincing as she yet again nicked herself with a fang. With a resigned sigh, both for her decision and the fact that she was likely never going to kick that habit, she shook her head resolutely.

"Let's look into Jezebel tomorrow night, I doubt she'll be going anywhere… maybe we can hit her first thing?"

"Sounds like a plan, Rubbles." As they rose, Yang pulled out her cell phone and tapped a button. "Lemme just cover our asses first…"

They paused outside the elevator doors, Ruby waiting until Yang was finished with her call. After a few seconds, the blonde's face lit up with a toothy grin.

"Arthur! How ya been, old man?" She chuckled lightly. "Yeah, yeah, I've been busy, what can I say? So, y'know that cute lil' girl you got working for ya… No, I know ya aren't replacing me, though I did hear about your bud Carson, sorry about that… Anyways, yeah, so Ruby, she's my kid sister, as it turns out. Nope, no shittin'. So we're kinda teamed up here…"

Yang paused, nodding as she listened to the other end. "Got it in one, Arthur my man. So we cool? I'll take the usual cut, just split it with my sis... Yep, you too, man!"

The older Kindred slipped her phone into her jeans and hit the button for the elevator. "Right, we're good, all legit and all. You ready to do some bounty hunting?"

"Oh, yeah," Ruby grinned happily, skipping through the opened doors.

Four floors down, she made quick work on the cheap lock of the door where Sean Milton apparently resided, after having knocked on the door to deliver a phony pizza. What met them was quite a bit unlike the apartments they'd been in so far.

Though it was the same layout as the others, this apartment was far more rundown and threadbare, uneasily reminding Ruby of the Haven in Santa Monica. Bare floorboards were ineptly covered by a worn throw carpet in the middle where a couch that looked like it was dragged inside from off the curb rested, dull red and dingy with the stuffing leaking out of multiple rends and tears. The chalk outline of a body was just across from the doorway, where someone might have been quickly overwhelmed if they'd opened the door to an assailant. The walls were unpainted and stained yellow from years of nicotine.

She was immediately overwhelmed as soon as she entered. The entire place reeked of decay, forcing Ruby to concentrate on not breathing. A crappy-looking little television rested on the floor across from the sofa. No other furniture was in evidence.

In the dirty kitchen and atop the counter were an ancient boombox, a few car stereos, and a surprisingly new-looking digital answering machine and phone combination with a blinking light. Also strewn across the stove and sink were several days-old delivery boxes with stale half-eaten pizza and some crusty plates. There was no dining room table, just a dartboard against the wall, though the darts themselves seem to have gone missing save for a single one lying on the floor.

"What a dump," Ruby snorted, immediately regretting it as she gagged slightly on the rancid smell of decomposing food.

Instead of responding, Yang walked over to the counter and hit the button on the answering machine. The voice that began to play had a slow, measured tone, obviously someone used to being obeyed completely.

"Mister Milton. You know who this is, and I do hope you realize we're still on for tonight. Meet me at the agreed upon location across from the bar by the underpass. Bring your associate, Mister Durbin, as it is a two-man job that I am proposing. With any luck, the two of you are already on your way and I shall see you soon. Goodbye."

The following digital reading dated the call to earlier that same evening, only a few hours prior.

"We could still catch 'em," Ruby murmured thoughtfully.

"That we could," Yang smiled almost hungrily. "I only know of one bar situated by an overpass nearby, and that's The Last Round."

"Sweet! So what are we waitin' for?"

"Hold up there, Rubes, no use running off before we case the whole place, ok?"

"But Yaaannnggg… it stinks in here!"

"So hold your breath!"

Grumbling, the brunette followed her sister upstairs, lamenting over the situations she seemed to find herself in, such as sewers and apartments full of rotting food.

A quick check upstairs revealed unopened moving boxes in the loft area. Ruby opened a few curiously, noting that they were full of car stereos, likely stolen. The bedroom contained a dingy mattress with no sheets, a bookshelf with mostly junk and trashy novels, and a stack of porno mags. Dirty laundry littered the floor and a cheap five-string electric guitar leaned against the bookcase. There were some clothes actually hanging up in the closet though accompanied by mostly empty hangers. Poking at the piles of clothing, Ruby came across one potentially interesting book lying on the floor, Kendo for Advanced Students. She idly picked it up and flipped open to the first page, reading out loud.

"If you have gained the insight, willpower, and form from your first two years of Kendo, you are now ready for the secrets of the Kendo masters. Here is the one ancient rule every warrior must remember - only one can land the killing strike. Hit the kill zone or hit nothing. If you cannot control your attack, you are dead. This book raises-"

Yang laughed as she picked the book out of Ruby's hands, flipping it over her shoulder. "That's way too advanced for ya, Rubbles, don't even bother."

The brunette pouted in response. "I'm pretty badass now, y'know."

"Yeah, you are," her sister chuckled good-naturedly, "but that's at a whole 'nother level of badassness."

"Whatever," Ruby huffed. "So, we gonna go chase some bad guys down?"

"Yep." Yang's lilac eyes sparkled with eagerness. "Let's go hunt."

A/N: Ahhhh I'm still alive! Barely. One step away from life support. Yeah, the new job has been kicking my ass, leaving very little time to write, much less read other fanfics. I'm going to try and pull some chapters together, though. I really wish I could adhere to any sort of update schedule, but right now it's best described as "whenever I possibly can manage." That said… I have the next two chapters after this one written, and working outlines for another six. Things will pick up soon, I hope, but it might be in spurts.

Huge thanks as always to my wonderful Beta and collaborator, SilvanaCrowe, and much love to all of you awesome readers and reviewers: Sharkdude5, DennyIsMenece, AntonSlavik020, Blacsparrow, Lavits Dragoon, EteDesp Jirachi Of Frost, noone297, TacoKing23, Knight of Everwatch, SirSpangler, randomlolguy, DarkFox17, Riley and Sophia, speaker of babbel, and 00Mogar372. Special shoutout to zerosabers whose review had the best summary yet of how I try to portray the Malks in my story: "Malkavian chapters also have the best scenes, they feel so dynamic like a disney movie that just bludgeoned 12 people to death and is telling it to a 13th as a joke."

Stay shiny!