~Deep Freeze~

Oh no!

I cursed under my breath.  Pretending to need a shot in the rear: I had seen low, but that was beyond.  What she needed was a swift kick in the rear.  I should have taught her a lesson then and there.  She had really scared me with that prank!
Scared.  What was with that word all of the sudden?  I shook my head, evicting any and all thoughts of concern for Angelica the Brat.  I chuckled.  It was a good name for her.
Angelica the Brat could be popular all on her own.  She didn't need to be my ringleader.  I was my own circus show.  I could draw attention to myself without her, even if not in the most positive light.  Besides, who needed popularity when you had an eternity to live?
I remembered then that it was only six weeks before my change from a fledgling to an initiated vampire.  I would have new abilities and greater power when it happened.  Angelica would no longer be an issue for me.  She would eventually die anyway, and I had learned that it was better not to get attached to humans, even in the most innocent of ways.   I reminded myself again that she was only a meal ticket.  I had no emotions for her, and, as far as I knew, she had none for me.
So why did it make me sad?
I swore again, not at Angie-Bee this time, but at myself.  She was growing on me like a bruise that one kept agitating.  I hated it.
I was walking slower than usual, at a human's jogging pace.  I looked around for the first time.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  In fact, it looked peaceful, completely calm, in fact.  I inhaled deeply, taking in the scents around me with my acute nose.
Mixed in with the natural odors was one that I knew all too well, one that I knew meant trouble.  I examined the block again.  Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary at first, but, looking again, I spotted a feminine figure standing next to an alley.  She appeared normal enough, but her smiling eyes were a cold ink color: vampire eyes.  She smiled at me when she noticed me, flashing her glistening white fangs and beckoning me with a finger.  I gripped my emergency bag tightly and moved towards her.  If this bode ill for me, I had to be ready.
My suspicions heightened when she pulled me into the alley behind her.  She was not alone, either.  Two male vampires were with her, one with brown hair similar to hers, the other with red hair and a beard.    Ugh, Irish, I'll bet.
"It's about time, Sissy," said the brunette.  "We thought you'd never find him."
"I just wish I'd found him before the count had," she grumbled back.
I sighed and barked at them, "What is this?"
"Are ya sure 'es the one, eh?" the Irish man asked her.  "If ih's nah, mehbe we should be goin' elsewhere?"
"No, it's him," the other boy defended.  "I can feel his power over here."
I stepped back, but the red-head grabbed me.  In retaliation, I squeezed his wrist and pushed, popping the bones out of place.
"A-yup," he grinned.  "Tha' be 'im."
The girl held up her hands in submission to me.
"We don't want to fight.  We do have to talk, though," she told me.
"What for?"
"Dracula is using you," the brunette boy hissed.
For several minutes, the only sound was that of the Irish man working to get his wrist back in the proper place before it healed incorrectly.  The brown-haired vampires watched me, waiting for me to show some indication of what I was thinking.  I kept my face blank to prevent them from reading it.
"You're rogues, aren't you?" I muttered with an empty voice.
The girl nodded as her 'brother' crossed his arms over his chest.
"Used to work for him," he said.  "Saw what he was doing.  We didn't like it."
"And who's pulling strings?" I asked.  I turned to the girl.  "You?"
"Ach, we can' be tellin' ya tha', now can we?" the Irishman said.
"It's not safe," the girl added with a nod.
"I won't betray family," I growled.  "Good-bye."
I turned to walk away, but a voice stopped me.
"What do you know about family?"
It was the girl.  I glanced over my shoulder.
"My brother, Jackson," she turned to the brunette boy, "he made me what I am.  He saved me from consumption.  I remember.  Do you?"
I ground my teeth together, angry that they were digging in old graves.
"They're dead," I snarled.  "Drop it."
"And the girl, then?" Jackson asked.  "What about her?"
"What about her?" I snapped.
"Ya spend a lo' of time with 'er, lad," the ginger sang.  "We aren' the only ones what notice."
"Not the only ones?  Who else, then?"
Jackson sighed, "The Red-Coats; Dracula's coven, I'm sure; and the Xing Xaou Clan are all keeping an eye on you.  Then there's us."
"There are probably rogues who are afraid of you, too," Sissy added.
"So what?  I can handle myself," I smirked.
"And that human girl?" Sissy wondered out loud.
If I had a heart, it would have stopped.  Angie, my Angie-Bee, would be threatened by rogue vampires because of me.  Wait, my Angie-Bee?  Where did that come from?  Again, I shook my head to erase the thought from my mind.  I would not allow myself to even consider that brat child that way.
"I- I don't care," I stammered half-heartedly.  "She's… nothing."
I do not think that they believed me, but I did not care.  I left them standing alone in the alley and went to my home, to my room.  Climbing into my casket, I forced myself to relax and sleep.
I had the same dark dream again.  I fell through space and time for an eternity, never touching the bottom.  It no longer scared me because I was falling; it scared me because it did not make sense.
I woke after only a couple hours, exhausted by my restless slumber.
Sleep is not mandatory for a vampire.  However, if we do not rest, our reflexes slow and our powers wither.  Blood keeps us alive, but rest keeps us moving.  I was ready to give up on sleep.
The clock on my wall showed the time as 3:17.  The sun would not be up for many more hours.  I sighed, fatigued and bored.  I changed my clothes to something that Angelica had chosen for me, though I was so tired that I doubted it matched then began to walk outside.
No one else was about in the building.  They were never home this early anyway.  I could be gone two or three hours and still be back before them.
My feet pushed me through the city.  I went about two miles before I realized where they were headed.
"Ugh," I groaned, "I don't wanna go there…"
But I did nothing to change it.  After another minute, I heard a siren.
New York, siren, no big deal, right?  I blew it off and kept walking.  As I got closer and closer to Angelica's house, the siren grew louder and louder, and I moved faster and faster.  The house finally came into view, as did a bright blue police car, siren blaring, light flashing, and all the neighborhood yelling.
Angie.
I ran towards the car.  Angelica's parents were talking frantically to an officer.
"Ricky," I called out.  "Ricky, what happened?"
Angelica's mother grabbed my arms and pulled me into a tight embrace.  I could barely hear over all the noise as she said, "Angie!  Angie's gone!"
"Who?" I asked, my voice muffled by her chest.
Ricky responded this time, "The note said 'Got your girl'.  Then there was some kind of Asian-looking writing underneath, Japanese maybe?"
I pulled away.
"I gotta go."
It had to have been Korean.  They would pay.
The Xing Xaou Clan would pay.

Author's Note

Poor Angelica...kidnapped!