Under a blood red sky

Phaedra thought that, after three hundred years mostly alone, she could return to her state of solitude and being thought of as nothing more than a killer with some degree of ease.

She was wrong.

Harry and Lindsey were gone. Gone somewhere she could not even feel their minds, and she didn't like that. It likely meant dead.

She had cried, briefly. Violently sobbed, more like. And she'd broken several things in what had been Harry's house. A door was ripped off the hinges in her rage, upstairs, and the bathroom mirror was shattered.

She'd gone to Lindsey's motel room and had been sleeping there during the days, not allowing the maid to change the sheets on the bed. They smelled like him. She didn't touch anything. Some of his things were still there. She'd taken to wearing a discarded flannel shirt. A cowboy hat was on the bedside table.

She couldn't feel Saerian, either, but was counting her blessings for that, in the moments when she didn't feel gutted.

Tonight, Phaedra was leaving Lindsey's and returning to Harry's, walking at a human pace the entire distance. She was going to check her messages with the firm. Halfway there, a giant wall of a demon jumped out in front of her, clearly looking for a fight. Feral.

When Phaedra heard the footsteps approaching, she was silently flaying it alive, her face utterly cold. Gone.

It had taken some time, but Phaedra finally got to Germany.

Given what had happened with the dreams, and with Kincaid... she couldn't put it off anymore. She'd made sure Harry'd be alright for a few days, and had just checked on Lindsey when she left. Phaedra herself had never had what some vampires called the Cloud Gift, or the ability to fly... but she did know a wizard who had access to the Nevernever, and ways to and from places that took just minutes.

She checked the address on the slip of paper in her hand as she stepped onto the street where the last living, breathing member of her tribe lived.

It wasn't difficult to find the apartment, which, from the outside, looked decently large. Gathering together all of her emotions and questions, she rang the bell and waited, standing in the glow of a streetlight.

Once she'd woken up for the evening from the mess of a dream Saerian invaded, Phaedra immediately called Lindsey to make sure he was okay. She'd gone right for the source, though, and tried to find the man himself. It'd failed.

Two nights later, she was heading over to Lindsey's motel. There was too much going on to let him out of her sight for long. She knew he might be moving location, soon, too, and couldn't blame him. Saerian knew where he was. Might as well make it a little harder for the bastard.

She stopped just short of a block away from the place and turned around. There was someone there. She wasn't an easy woman to find, and not easy to track; she'd been moving faster than a human eye could see for most of her trip over.

A hand touched the hilt of one of her daggers, and she raised an eyebrow. She could feel someone there.

"This should be interesting," she said.

( more )

Saerian sat in Jack's apartment, eyes shut, hands moving as though he were directing an orchestra. He was dressed in a nice three-piece suit, once Jack's favorite. His shoes were immaculately shined, his eyes shone in the dark.

A cigarette dangled between his lips, and while he paced, Saerian used his mind to find the people of York that were sleeping. At this hour, it was really most of them. It was shortly before dawn, a time when vampires were settling down to sleep and humans would still be asleep at least another hour.

He could do a lot of damage in that hour. And he intended to.

The phone call to Michael hadn't put Phaedra in the best mood. Jack. Jack Robbins.

She knew who that was. She had a slip of paper with the address on it.

She wasn't about to run after him just yet. She needed a little bit of planning, a little bit of help...

Harry wasn't home, which was a shame. She wanted to talk to him about ways to stun or incapacitate Jack. Saerian. Whatever his name was.

She stopped at the kitchen table, pulling on her duster. Her eyes scanned the contents of the table as one pale hand pulled her dark hair clear of the coat's collar. There was something on the table with her name on it.

Phaedra's eyebrows furrowed and she reached for it. It was a simple, blank card. Her name was on it. Eyebrows still drawn together, she opened the card.

All it said on the inside was this:

Shandor Peszel
Brauhofstr. 15
10587 Berlin
Charlottenburg

030 32 70 48 46

It was written in Harry's writing. Phaedra smiled. She put a hand over her mouth.

Shandor had been, when she'd last seen him, her age, exactly. He was learning from an elder, simple folk magic, simple curses. He'd had an absurd mop of hair and a crooked smile. She strained to remember if there was ever a mention of him being a wizard. It was there, pushed way down. Perhaps she'd heard it said. Once or twice.

She supposed it was stupid to think that she was really the only survivor, when there were people like Harry and Molly in the world.

He could help, she hoped. He could tell her some way of stopping Saerian. Shandor had been there when it all fell apart. He may have been researching the demon the entire time.

God, she hoped so.

It took Michael the vampire four rings to answer his office phone, but he did. He sounded unrested, stressed and annoyed.

He had the office next to Phaedra.

Michael was 150 years old. He'd started his life in New York City and grew up in the Five Points. He was Irish, and part of one of the gangs that became part of the book, and then the movie, 'Gangs of New York.'

He was 23 when he was turned and had killed 15 men. Some of them brutally.

He was the closest thing to a friend Phaedra had at work.

"Sorry," he said, quickly, realizing who he was speaking to, who the phone call was from. "What do you need?"

His accent was all but gone by now. He'd made an effort to lose it.

"I need you to tell me who hired me on, for the job Joe just sent me the other day."

There was silence.

"Michael, come on."

It was as simple as typing a few commands into the computer. Or asking Joe. That's all it was.

"Phaedra..."

This was Lindsey's life. The hemming and hawing was concerning her. She closed her hand around the phone more tightly.

"Just tell me."

"The contract was rescinded," Michael said. "Apparently the client felt you were taking too long, or weren't going to follow through. Doesn't sound much like you. But Joe just kinda... blew his top and then slammed a few things around and let it go."

Phaedra never lost contracts. Ever. They also didn't get taken from her. And if someone thought she was dragging her heals, they must be in York. They must've seen her.

"Michael, just..."

But she could already hear him punching the keys. "Second," Michael said. "Got it. Jack Robbins. And there's an address.

Jo was missing a month of her life. So far, nothing had come back to her. No flashes of memories, no new nightmares. Nothing. It was just... gone. As if she'd somehow been hibernating. It didn't sit well with her.

She was now sporting a new tattoo on her ankle. Supposedly that would keep this from happening again, but it just didn't feel like enough.

When it came down to it, she hadn't really felt like she was in control since she'd come back from the dead.

Not that she wasn't grateful for the second chance at life, but she didn't like that she still didn't know what her resurrection had cost.

She wasn't sure if Phaedra would be able to help, but if there was even a chance that the psychic vampire could find some of the memories that she was hoping were buried somewhere, well then she wanted to take it.

Not to mention that she'd been meaning to ask Phae about the tattoo that matched the now fading scar that adorned Jo's wrist. There was a connection there to the demon that had forced Jo to carve herself up. She knew it.

So, armed with a lot of questions, Jo took a deep breath and knocked on Harry's door after the sun had set.

2-3 days after the confrontation with Lindsey

Phaedra hadn't been home in a few days. And she'd liked it that way.

She couldn't have predicted that that would happen, but she could tune in mentally, make sure Harry and his were alright. She knew he was fine. And her absence was a needed thing.

When she came home, it felt like coming down from flight. It felt strange to be in this house, now. It felt strange to share a living space with a man who wasn't the one running through her veins. Still, that was her job, and if she was constantly not here, something would come for Harry. Phaedra had no illusions about that. She'd been hired to a point and purpose, and her job would be one that was well done. Nothing would hurt Harry if she could stop it.

She hoped that she had enough energy to protect Lindsey, too.

As she strode up the driveway, she saw someone waiting by the door, and she knew it was someone waiting for her. A quick check told her Harry wasn't here.

The blond woman near the door was Karrin Murphy. She had a badge that said it, but Phaedra knew.

She felt marginally stupid walking up to the house in one of Lindsey's shirts, carrying her leather duster. At least that was the only thing she was parading in front of people. It could be worse.

Phaedra tossed her hair out of her face to the best of her ability and let the corners of her mouth curve into something just this side of a sheepish smile. The sun was still slightly red in the sky, but only just. It was a faded memory.

She knew that Murphy wasn't here for Harry, so she arched an eyebrow and gestured to the front door.

"Come in," she said. The door was unlocked. She went inside.

[ooc: back dated to before Phaedra's email, a few days before Thanksgiving]

Crap! Crap, crap, crap! She had forgotten her notebook at Harry's. And she really needed it for the potion she was going to try to make tonight! Normally this wouldn't be a problem. She'd just go back to Harry's, get the notebook then head back to the apartment, but she hadn't thought to look for it until after the sun had set. Now she had to go back there while it was dark. While Harry's "bodyguard" was awake.

CRAP!

She stood outside of Harry's looking at the door arguing with herself, her hands in fists at her sides tight enough her knuckles were white. "C'mon, Molly. You can do this. She might not even be there. Probably out...eating...someone." That made her frown and swallow harshly before forcing herself forward towards Harry's front door.

She had a plan. Get through the wards. Slip in. Grab her notebook then flee as if her hair were on fire. The first two parts of that plan went off without a hitch. She crept in quietly, her brows knit down tightly and her lips pressed together. Now all she had to do was creep quietly to where her notebook was on the dining room table.

This was going to be a busy night.

She'd wrapped up the part that involved feeling feelings with Harry in his kitchen, then put more reasonable clothes on and started to track Lindsey. He shouldn't be too hard to find, and they needed to talk.

Outside the bar where she knew he was, there were people milling around the parking lot. There was talking, laughing, chatting... it was a decent sized crowd. It took Phaedra a minute to realize that the high school football game had just let out, and that was something most of the town went to. She didn't understand football, really. She overheard thoughts about how the bar t.v. would be playing the highlights, and did you SEE that touchdown?

She sighed, getting ready to go inside, when she realized that there was another vampire there. She stopped in her tracks and turned, looking more carefully through the thoughts she was overhearing. Two twentysomething girls pushed past her into the bar, and Phaedra stepped backward to avoid getting knocked into.

She really wasn't in the mood, but that was too bad. That was how this place worked. Okay, I give up. The thought was sent to the other vampire as her eyes kept looking. Come out, come out, wherever you are.

Once she'd composed herself slightly, Phaedra pulled on a pair of jeans, unlocked her door, and went out into the rest of the house barefoot, pacing and angry. The laptop sat open on her bed, Lindsey's picture still on the screen. Her hair was disheveled, the black tank top she'd slept in was off one shoulder.

She got to the middle of the kitchen before she realized Harry was watching her pace and could fully see her scowling face. She was far from threatening right now, and far from any kind of focused.

She didn't say anything, she just shrugged and put both hands on her hips.

There was a lot to talk about with Harry.

So of course, he was home.

Dean was happy that everything was mostly back to normal. Jo was in her own body. And not frying electronics. He wasn't scratched anymore and craving human flesh. And most importantly, he did not spontaneously fly into the air without warning.

The fair had been fucking draining. Dean could live the rest of his life happy without a clusterfuck like that ever happening again. Evil was fine, demons were fine... but shit like that was not.

He shook his head and downed his drink, getting up from his spot at the bar and getting ready to go back to the Phoenix and get back to it. The door opened as he paid his tab, and the guy that walked in looked like someone Dean should know. He was familiar, somehow. He didn't know why. But the air he had about him was a strong one that said "not to be fucked with."

So, because it'd been that kind of week, Dean decided to fuck with him.

He waited until the guy was inside and seated at the bar before he started to talk. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Her phone started ringing almost immediately as she regained consciousness.

With the Halloween mess finished, Phaedra was back at Harry's, in her part of the house. Surprisingly, her cell phones hardly ever fried--possibly because she kept them hidden from Harry and rarely used them herself. When the phone rang and she saw the caller ID, she actually growled at the device in her hands before hitting 'accept' to take the call.

Joe's voice made her want to kick puppies. And he was the first thing she was hearing tonight? This was a bad sign.

"How's my favorite girl doing?" he asked.

"If you ever use the word 'my' to describe me again, I will not be held responsible for what I do to you," Phaedra said.

"I'm glad that your people skills aren't getting any rustier," he said, sarcastically. "Listen, this is a business call. I've got a job for you while you're out there. Can you fire up the laptop, please?"

Phaedra sighed, but kicked off her covers and dug out the laptop. She hadn't even turned it on since she'd come to York. There'd been enough going on, and she'd assumed--correctly--that if Joe wanted anything specific from her, he would call.

"Firing," she said.

"Good. We've got an easy hit for you. The contract's from a pretty high place, one of our long-standing clients. You've worked for them before and they requested you again."

"Always happy to provide an encore performance," Phaedra said, smirking. "Who's the mark? I can't take too much time for this. Dresden really does need the protection he bought."

"I'm sending you the information now, as well as a few pictures. It really shouldn't take you any time at all. This is cake for you. Take care of it, get back to babysitting Mr. Wizard. And we'll send you a large check."

"Consider it done," she said, opening the email with the case number and information Joe mentioned.

When she opened the photo attachments for her intended mark, Phaedra almost dropped the phone.

( Then she hung up. )

Dean stood at the edge of the maze, mag light in one hand and a bag full of everything but the kitchen sink on his shoulder. He had two hidden guns, a concealed knife, a jacket pocket full of extra salt rounds, a lighter, accelerant, a vial of holy water...and the Zippo lighter the man in the tent had given him. He wasn't going to think too hard about that one.

He'd been hearing accounts of people seeing Freddy Kruger chasing people around the fair grounds. He'd heard more than one person say that Freddy'd gone after one guy, just one guy. And that description sounded a lot like the demon that went after Jo.

Dean figured there was a good chance the answers about this fair were inside this maze. And he wasn't really looking forward to going in.

"Y'know, Cas," Dean whispered. "Now would be a good time for you to stop sucking so hard." He sighed, and started into the maze. "Yippee kay-ay, motherfuckers."

This fair stuff was bullshit.

That's all they'd talked about, once she'd risen. The fair, how fucking stupid it was that it was here, especially now. Going to check it out had been a no-brainer. There wasn't a choice. They were sure, too, that pretty much everyone else they knew in this place was doing the same damn thing.

Once they were there, both wizard and vampire were on high alert. Phaedra was doing her best not to look... well, like vampire. This meant her investigation was limited to reading minds, not to, for example, flying up to the top of the Ferris wheel and perching there to see what she could see.

Something strange was definitely going on.

After two hours, Phaedra read more thoughts involving love then she ever had before--and they were all coming from fair goers who were walking off the Tunnel of Love ride. She wasn't sure where Harry'd gotten to, so yet again, she broke his rule. We need to find out what the deal is with the Tunnel of Love, she told him, silently. Something's not right.

Lindsey had rescued his guitar and truck from further out of town, but it was only now he'd actually got around to playing the guitar. He sat perched on the end of his bed, shirtless, with jeans that were soft and worn through on one knee and bare feet.

Competent fingers slid over well-worn strings, the glossy finish on the guitar body worn away under the sound hole. He hummed softly now and then, snatches of melodies as he strummed; safe to say this wasn't a side of Lindsey that many people got to see.

When his fingers were beginning to throb, the buzz of the strings against the pads of his fingers edging into painful, he finally put the guitar down. Shoes, shirt, smokes, and he was ready to face the world. Or, hopefully, one particular vampire.

It had been easier than he'd thought to get the Queen's permission to come here. To explore on the caveat that he report back to her everything that he saw and did. She knew as well as he did that once he was outside of her territory, he would do as he pleased, but there wasn't much that she could do about it. She would wait for her information, and he would feed her what little he could and still get by with. He needed to be able to stay as long as possible, and if she got too much too quickly, she might think that the end of it. Call him back. He could disobey to some extent, but in the end, she was still his Queen. There were still politics.

Almost immediately upon his arrival, Eric knew that there was something much bigger going on in this place than he'd imagined. It felt different than any other place he'd ever been in his life. His entire life. It was as if this place crawled over his skin, tugged at him and pushed at him at the same time.

Yet it all looked so absurdly normal. To the point of boring.

Eric looked at the sky, at the moon, he'd seen York from overhead only moments ago. It had not looked any more significant from up there. Now, at street level, Eric was looking for signs of life, and starting to suspect that everybody who lived here went inside as soon as it got dark. He didn't think he'd seen a place so abandoned at night since the middle ages.

He'd just have to go get the Jeep tomorrow. At least Murphy could watch Molly for the night. With all the panic the girl was going through, he didn't want to put her in his place with Phaedra. Knowing his luck, Molly would attack Phaedra, then Phaedra would defend herself, and Harry didn't want to have to wake up from his painkiller coma to pull the pair apart.

His goddamn shoulder hurt, his head hurt, and he still wasn't sure what had happened. Molly was good at mental work. She'd wiped part of his memory before, so smoothly he didn't know it. This wasn't as smooth, but her state had been a complete wreck. There had been evocations, his own magic. And his rings were depleted. All of them. ( What the HELL? )

Character interaction may be NSFW. You were warned.



Phaedra watched a little girl and boy playing, saw the little girl trip and fall, and the boy walk away. It was just after sunset, and she was heading back to Harry's, past a park near an old church.

She had time to gasp as she saw the little boy walking back to his fallen playmate. And before she had finished a thought, she realized the boy wasn’t alone. He walked, freckled face smiling, hand in hand with a good looking man she recognized. Well, recognized might not be the right word. But he felt familiar

( The set-up )

Phaedra checked the local hospital to see how its blood bank worked. She had a talk with a nurse who was surprisingly okay with feeding a vampire about once a week, if needed. It was a small town, she'd said. And despite the recent surges in hospital patients and visits, they weren't using blood in mass quantities. Phaedra hadn't outed herself as a vampire; tonight, she wore jeans, high-heeled boots and a black shirt with 3/4 sleeves. The nurse's thoughts were easy to read. Talking to her a little, nudging her just slightly with her power, Phaedra made an already very open-minded woman slightly more open.

Just a little push.

With her contingency plan set up, Phaedra stopped at the local bar. She was still trying to find local vampires. Other things kept getting in the way. Like Dean Winchester. And demons. And Joe.

Joe'd called to check in after she'd met Dean, and pretty much fucked Phaedra's evening nicely. That man drove her crazy even from 3,000 miles away.

So tonight, the bar it was. Vampires looking to feed would be here. Information would be here.

So would liquor.

When she got to the Dark Side of the Moon, it was full of humans, which was disappointing.

Humans, Phaedra, and one vampire in the corner. Ahhh.

With a slight smile, she slid herself onto a barstool, watching the one vampire in the corner.