Hidden Problem

"Dammit!" Selena said. She held the limp body of the Zombie in her arms. "Wake up Zombie! You were supposed to turn, not die!" She hit his chest gently, but there was no heartbeat. Vampires were very attuned to the sound of a beating heart. "I really messed up. What will Cardual say when he realises I killed one of our benefactors?"

The zombie wasn't a bad looking guy, and he had some spunk and defiance in him, she liked that. A lot. Also, those tricks he did, they were interesting. Not powerful, but he used them so well that it made her wonder how powerful he'd be with some actual strength.

"Not that I really planned to turn you, not yet. I just wanted a taste…" She was more impetuous than her companions, but trying to turn someone without permission was too much, even for her. However, an unauthorised vampire would be easier to explain than a dead diplomatic escort.

She looked at the body in her arms. Still warm, but lifeless. She hadn't even drained all of his blood, she wasn't that thirsty.

'I made a mistake. As soon as I bit him, I tasted the essence of my blood from earlier. How could I have forgotten?'

Vampire blood has amazing restorative properties, and is sought after in the blackest of black markets for many dark spells. Less well known though, vampire blood is a requirement to turn a human into a vampire. It reacts with the mild poison in their fangs, making it much more powerful; killing and converting the human so the magic in their blood can resurrect them. Selena was surprised a simple zombie resisted the process. 'Maybe he was so weak the poison took him out before the conversion could take place?' She thought that made more sense. Vampires were very magical, and usually chose powerful mages to turn and become new acolytes.

"Do I try to hide what I've done, and leave the body here? Or do I bring it back to Cardual and admit my mistake?' It wasn't a simple problem. Cardual knew she was following him, so how could he escape her long enough to be killed by someone else? 'He will be so angry though. Killing this zombie could be a diplomatic incident too… since he is friends with that branch family noble.' The whole problem was giving her a headache.

'I need to do what is best for my people, not just me. I'll hide the body for now, and tell Cardual the truth once we are away from the Branch Noble.' With a plan of action, Selena stopped hesitating.

She grabbed the body with one arm, and started climbing up the side of the building. It was several stories tall, and the largest building on the block, so the roof wasn't visible from anywhere nearby. Though it was mostly sharp angles to keep the rain and snow from gathering, she found a flat section by a bank of chimneys and left Shinra's corpse there. Then she headed back.

'Cardual is definitely going to punish me… hopefully I keep all of my limbs.'

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"So you're telling me, we managed to kill 12 mages by ourselves and you all just watched? Like it was the next round of the gladiator arena bouts?" Sardi had woken up groggy and disoriented, but that had cleared up fast when he found himself in a strange little apartment surrounded by vampires.

"Well, it sounds bad when you say it like that. We would have stepped in if things took a bad turn," Eltast said. His smile made it hard to take him seriously though.

"How could we trust our safety with you, if you couldn't handle a few low level attackers?" Mimi said. The look of confusion on her face was enough to make Eltast laugh out loud.

Cardual watched them all, silently. Sardi couldn't read the man's expression, but he seemed not to notice the antics of his companions.

"And Shinra has gone to get the Sheriffs? Honestly, I hope he blames it on some random gang turf war or something. It won't look good if he says it was us," Sardi said, and brought his hand to his head, as if to ward off a headache.

His statement caught Cardual's interest though. "Why don't you want credit for dealing with scum like this?" He asked, and he sounded genuinely curious.

Sardi looked at him in surprise, once again caught up by the vampire's velvety voice. He focused again. Then Sardi laughed. "Well, it just looks bad if our body count hits 18 in less than a day." He laughed again, "I guess the day isn't over yet." He rose to his feet. His head hurt like crazy, but he didn't think he'd hit it. His arm though, that worried him. He looked down, and saw that his coat and shirt sleeve were gone, replaced by a wad of bandages tied tightly in place.

'That magic harpoon was bad. I might lose strength and dexterity in this arm,' Sardi thought. He flexed his fingers, and was happy to see they all responded. Curiously, his arm didn't seem to hurt. He steeled his nerves, and poked at the bandages. His back and shoulders already tense in anticipation of the pain.

That didn't come. "Huh?" he said aloud, staring at the bandages.

"You didn't think we'd leave our hero injured. Do you?" Eltast said, his face almost looking serious. Even Cardual's face almost flickered with a smile.

"Uh, right. Um, thank you…" Sardi was suddenly, desperately worried he'd been turned by them in his sleep. He'd heard the tales, and knew that he had to obey his maker. 'I'm so young, a virgin still, and they have taken my life away,' he thought. His soul trembled as he quaked in despair.

"You are not a noble vampire. We wouldn't do that to someone who hasn't reached their full potential. It would be a waste," General Mimi said. Her voice was calm and without humour. "We have our own magics. A wound like yours was nothing to worry about."

Sardi couldn't help it, he cut the bandage away and revealed his unblemished arm beneath. "Thank you." He meant it, that was not a simple wound. It must have taken considerable ability to heal it so completely. He didn't even have a scar. "How long have I been asleep for?"

"We've only been here about 2 hours. Deputy Shinra left to bring the Sheriffs, and asked us to stay here and watch over you," Mimi shared.

"Ok, then they should be at the scene already. They will be looking for me by now, but if Shinra isn't back, then I should stay with you…" Sardi looked around as he spoke. "One of you isn't here though, where is the brown one…" he said, then looked embarrassed, "I mean, Selena."

"Just as Shinra was worried about you, we decided that he shouldn't go out alone, in case there were other attackers waiting." Cardual said calmly. "Don't worry, Selena is a ghost. Your friend probably doesn't even know she is there watching him."

As if summoned, Selena walked into Shinra's apartment just then. She looked as lithe as a dancer as she stalked in. Her dark clothes looked dusty, and her hair looked a little wild, as if she ran through the wind.

"That's right, he had no idea I was there. He stayed at the Sheriff's station though, so I followed the Sheriffs back here. They are combing the scene with their magic and gathering the bodies. It might be a good time for you to make an appearance Deputy Sardi." She looked at him critically up and down. "Maybe you should borrow a shirt or coat… it might be tough to explain why your sleeves are gone, but not wounded."

"Good point!" Selena's arrival seemed to catalyse Sardi. He grabbed a jacket from the back of a chair and started moving. "Ok, if Shinra is fine, then I'm going to go out and connect with my team. Stay here until Shinra and I come back, then we'll come up with a plan to get you in protective custody at the right level with the Imperial household."

He ran out the door, so he didn't notice the crack in Selena's smile when he mentioned Shinra.

Cardual saw it though. The room was quiet for 6 heartbeats. "What did you do Selena?" Cardual asked.