Downtown Chinook, Annik's Apartment, Early October

    It was the next night when Annik hung up the phone. One of her co-workers had called to ask if she could cover her shift tonight. Annik was the go to girl for covering shifts, especially since her mothers death. Annik had no interest in being home alone with only her thoughts for company. And since she had no one to call or to visit, her only option was to cover shifts at work. Wiket was her only friend and company. Once again the cat was in her apartment. Wiket had almost taken up residence in Annik's apartment since her mother had died. It was almost as if the large grey cat understood that she wasn't in her happy place right now.

    Refusing to cry anymore Annik started to pet the cat in her lap and thought about working tonight. It was much better then thinking about how lonely she was. So, yep it was definitely time to stop crying at the drop of a hat. No more crying if she can help it. And what do you know it was something she could help, at least for tonight. Annik hoped that when she got home from work she'd be to tired to think or worry about anything. She had to focus on the now. Not the past. Not the future. Just the now. Anything else and she'd just break down, again. After all the future was now a thing to fear, not anticipate. What was there to forward to after all, just a lifetime of loneliness.

        Yesterday had been terrible. Sure, western Washington was often beautiful in the fall. The trees were dressed in beautiful colors. The brisk air was neither to hot nor to cold. Refreshing after the humid mugginess of the late summer. Yesterday, however had been the other kind of day that you got in the Pacific Northwest in the fall. Blustery wind that drove the cold drizzle into every little gap or opening in you clothing. It was like every little drop was a homing missile homing missile doing its best to chill you to the bone. The bus she took to work had been standing room only.

    Thanks to the weather, people who might normally walk had taken the bus to stay as dry as possible.The smell of wet clothes was added to the stink soup that Annik dealt with every time she got on the bus. The aroma made Annik feel like she needed a shower as soon as she disembarked. Her skin felt like it was trying to crawl off her body for most of the trip. None of it had helped the headache that had hit her almost as soon as she had left her apartment building. By the time she'd reached her stop for work, it had been bad enough to upset her stomach and make her almost loose the meal she'd eaten before leaving her apartment.

    Then there had been the "wonderful" day at work she'd had. Her boss at the Foundry didn't let the customers get grabby with his waitresses. Not unless they wanted it. However that rule didn't apply to him. The slime ball had been trying to get her to "date" him for most of the night. At least, Annik thought, I didn't have to worry  that he'll force the issue. The Foundry had working girls unofficially on the pay roll for just that kind of thing. The bouncers that the Foundry were very good at making sure that the waitresses didn't have to put up with unwanted attentions. The city would just looove a reason to shut the Foundry down but so far had not been able to get the evidence that they needed. How that had happened Annik had no clue but suspected that the Foundry's owner was paying someone off.

    So, yeah none of the waitresses needed to worry about being forced into doing something they didn't want to do. But dodging his attentions all night long had made her headache even worse. On a good day the customers were a handsy bunch but for some reason yesterday they all had gotten the same memo. It had seemed like just about every single male customer had grabbed her ass. That had been the cherry topper to a lousy day sundae. Some days it just didn't pay to get out of bed and yesterday had so been one of them. Annik so hoped that today would be better, but even if it wasn't she was going to go into work. Thinking about the grabby customers was a whole lot better than thinking about her mother.

    Wiket looked up at her purring like a chainsaw, making the whole futon vibrate with the intensity of it. "Sorry purr box, I just got called to work so we're going to have to cut the cuddle session short."

    Wiket gave a merrow in protest like she understood what was being said. Wiket often seemed to understand what Annik was saying. Who knew maybe she did. The cat stopped the purring and started butting Annik's hand with her head. Again trying to get her to start back up with the petting. Lately Wiket had been with Annik just about every minute that she'd been home. So much so that she'd overheard her neighbors comment that she had "stolen" the cat from the rest of them. At least Annik knew that they were joking, otherwise she would have been worried about that as well. After all everyone knew that Wiket chose where she was. No one ever made that cat do anything she didn't want. Wiket's presence was a comfort that Annik was truly grateful for. It was the only one that she had.

   Annik slowly rose, torn about going to work. As much as she didn't want to be alone at home. She also didn't want to put up with the handsy customers at the Foundry. And since being at home alone was worse to her then dealing with the customers she'd said yes to her coworker even though she didn't want to. Carefully removing the cat from her lap, Annik stood and started to get ready for work. Going over to her dresser and getting her work clothes and putting them into her back pack before heading to the bathroom for a shower.

    Even though Annik didn't have to leave for work for a couple of hours she needed to get her shower in as early as possible. Even using a hair dryer it took her hair forever to dry. Stupid stuff was so thick it was almost a pelt. Add to that the fact that Annik preferred to keep it long. It was never fast to dry her hair. It was however usually a good distraction but in the last couple of days had not worked as well as it used to. Annik wished that she could clean her mind of the thoughts that made her cry as easily as she cleaned her body.

    Looking in the mirror after her shower Annik didn't recognize herself. Her reflection showed all the same things that it always had. Long, light brown hair that was the same shade as her mothers. The sea-green eyes and heir amber star bursts must of come from her father. She had no clue what her father had looked like. Her mother had always refused to answer any questions about him or what he looked like.  Obviously he'd existed which was a duh, if he didn't she wouldn't be here.

    Her mother had been running for as long as Annik had been alive, and had never once said why. All that Annik knew was that she'd been terrified. The fear had been obvious in the fact that they had moved, once a year at minimum, to not only a new city but a new state. Changing their name every time they moved. Whatever had set her mother running was something that had scared the woman so much that even decades later Ingretta had zero interest in talking about it or him.

    Four hours latter Annik was chasing Wiket out the door for the night. Or at least until she got home from work, cause dollars to doughnuts Wiket was going to be at her door as soon as she got home. Annik had learned over the past two weeks to give herself an extra twenty minutes just for chasing the large grey cat out of the door. Tonight Wiket had not wanted to go so she'd needed every bit of the extra time.

    Wiket had managed to get into places Annik would of sworn were to small her to fit. The almost twenty pound cat had no fat on her muscular frame and had managed to squeeze herself into places Annik would of sworn a kitten wouldn't fit into. Who knew that a cat could compress themselves like that. But the damn cat couldn't stay in her apartment while she was at work. Not just because she had no litter box for the cat. But because Annik had no idea what she'd do to the furniture if Wiket decided that she needed out and there was no one here to open the door. So out Wiket went, with Annik hard on the cats heels.

Downtown Chinook, The Foundry, Early October

    Annik was running. Risking a glance at her watch while trying to keep the other on the sidewalk was an exercise in balance. Seven-thirty, she was going to be late damn it. It wasn't even her shift, she was covering for a fellow employee. Putting on a burst of speed, she sprinted towards the employee's entrance of the Foundry. The stupid bus had been late, again. It had been far too crowed for Annik's comfort. Everyone had seemed to want to bump into her at one time or another. It was looking like today was going to be a repeat of yesterday, headache and all. At least she wasn't going to have to put up with her boss today. He almost never was in on Mondays.

    That was Annik's thought as she turned the corner into the alley where the employees entrance was. The first thing she saw was her bosses car parked at the end of the alley. Slowing to a walked Annik was annoyed. What the heck was he doing here today. He was almost never here on Mondays. Like having a pounder of a headache and almost being late wasn't enough? Now she had to deal with him too? Clearly her luck had gone from bad to worse.

   The alley that held the employee entrance was pretty normal for it's type. Dirty and smelly, used condoms and syringes littering the ground with the overflow from the dumpster next to the door. No matter how hard they tried, the bouncers couldn't keep the druggies and whores from using the alley for their business.  Or with the results of all that illicit activity. The older Lexus that her boss drove clashed with the dark and dingy alley it was parked in. A major case of one of these things is not like the others. The car was chosen more as a status symbol then as a means of transportation. The fact that the car was also freshly cleaned made the dichotomy with the dirty, disgusting alley all the greater.

    Her boss used the car to look wealthy and successful and considering the roaring success the club was it really wasn't needed. He was probably going to be able to upgrade to a newer better status symbol fairly soon. Honestly, Annik thought to herself. Why do people think that a car or a house is the end all, be all of status. Wouldn't it make more sense to use the money on something you actually liked no matter what other people thought? But then, I'm not rich am I. Maybe being shallow was a requirement of being rich.

    Gathering herself, Annik entered the club to change into the shorts, fishnets and halter top that made up her work clothes and to apologize for being late. With any luck her boss wouldn't notice that she was at work today since it wasn't her usual shift. Annik had a feeling that today was going to be a repeat of yesterday, headache and all. Not something she needed. And the music that poured out of the state of the art speakers so wasn't helping her headache. The pounding of her head was in time with the beat of the music making her wonder if someone actually could pull a scanners and have her head explode at any moment. This shift was so not going to be a good one. With the way her luck was going today she'd puke on a customer and get fired. Well at least she was getting paid and the tips were usually good. And since she'd have a headache no matter what she might as well pull a paycheck at the same time.

    Three hours later Annik's prediction had been proven true.Her shift had turned into a real ball buster. The customers were even grabbier then usual. Her boss had been after her again to try and get her to be more then just a waitress. Considering how young Annik looked. Anyone that wanted a "date" with her was probably a pedophile or worse. And to top off her terrible day her headache had gotten even worse. It was a true miracle that she hadn't upchucked on more then one customer. She was starting to think fondly of beating her head against a wall because it would feel better when she stopped. At least it was time for her lunch break. Which meant she could escape to the female locker room to eat. Her boss couldn't follow her in there which meant she'd have forty-five minutes with no one pestering her.

    Annik wasn't paying attention to the floor now that she was on break. So she failed to see the short squat man walk in. Not that he would of stood out even if she had paid attention. He was dressed in black combat style pants, a black tee-shirt and a black trench coat. But somehow they guy just sort of faded into the back ground. For some reason that Annik didn't get, they usual customer dressed up more for the club then they did for church. Not that she'd ever been to one of those in her almost twenty-five years of life, at least not for services. But then Annik didn't really get why they came to the club at all. As long as they did though she would have a job and good tips.

    Annik knew that her mother would have wanted her to move as soon as she had died. A new town would mean a new job and a new place to live. Annik knew she had no special skills and the job market was tight everywhere. So here she was to stay, at least until she could find the strength to leave the last place she had memories of her mother.

    Annik didn't see the man watch her walk across the room, he'd gotten a good look at her when she crossed in front of him on her way to the back. And would have misunderstood the look if she had seen it. Annik was to busy paying attention to where she was going to see who or what anyone else was looking at. She also didn't see the evil smile that crossed the mans face as he watched her leave the floor for the back room. As soon as she was gone he also turned and left, unnoticed by everyone around him.

Downtown Chinook, The Foundry, Early October

    Gregori couldn't believe his luck. He'd just about given up on finding the girl when ran across her in the most unlikely place. Maybe she really was her father's daughter. He'd been looking into the dance clubs and bars only to be thorough. Gregori hadn't wanted to explain to Mikhail or the Beloved Lady why he hadn't looked under every stone. Yeah, Gregori decided shivering at the thought, best to not have that particular conversation. Instead he was going to be able to tell Mikhail that he had found the wayward girl. Most likely Mikhail would tell Gregori to grab the girl but there was a chance that he had other plans. After all Gregori had been told to find, not to capture the girl. Either way Mikhail had seemed awfully interested in her. Not a regard that Gregori ever wanted trained on himself.

    "Far better she than me," Gregori said to himself as he took out his Nokia, scrolled through his contacts and waited for his call to be answered. An evil smile spreading on his face.

    Two hours later Gregori was back at the Foundry. The line for entrance had started to form about an hour earlier. Fortunately he had no desire to go inside. No, he was near the back door. Not to close of course, no reason to tip his hand to any security that they might have. He didn't want anyone to know that he was keeping an eye on the place. If they were unsuspecting then the snatch would go much better.

    Again he was waiting, but this time he didn't mind, too much. He was waiting, a little impatiently, for his back-up to arrive. The first time he'd scouted out the alley there had been an older Lexus parked at the end of the alley's dead end. Whoever had owned it had left though so Gregori used the space to illegally park his mom mobile mini van. He wasn't going to snatch the girl now but wanted the locals to get used to the van being there. Then they wouldn't associate the van with her disappearance. At least not in time for it to do them any good.

    He'd been told by Mikhail that he was supposed to watch the girl for now. Find out where she lived and as much of what she did as he could without letting her know that she was being watched. There was no reason to spook her into running after all. Once they had her scheduled learned they would snatch her and if she did live with the thief they would get the book at the same time. Pre-planning was the key to a successful op after all. And the best way to avoid problems with the Human cattle.

    "It took you asshole long enough," Gregori muttered when those he'd been waiting for finally arrived. He was short tempered at the best of times. Having to wait made an already short fuse dangerously short.  Even if, like right now, he was in a relatively good mood. If he could have gotten away with it Gregori would have taken his temper out on their bodies. If only by punching them a couple of times. But since he couldn't, he'd take it out on their ears. "In the future. If I call you, you will get to me promptly. Or I will see you on your knees in front of Mikhail and our Beloved Lady. Do you understand me?"

  The anger and fear in the other Undying was clear to see in the tight shoulders and faces. Not that they could or would do anything about either. Gregori was in charge. Not only of this particular operation but of all of the Undying in this part of the world, thanks to being handed this particular task. Subject only to Mikhail who was the Beloved Lady's right hand male as it were. This was a both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because he didn't have to put up with any bullshit from the other Undying. A curse because now he had to deal directly with Mikhail. Not something that any of the Undying did if they could avoid it.

    "I want at least two of you here at all times. The girl that we've been looking for works here. Don't worry about the front door, the employees only enter and exit through this door. We are going to follow her wherever she goes. Any questions?" Gregori's voice clearly said that there had better not be any questions.

    Gregori looked at the Undying before him, sizing them up. Wondering if any of them were going to let him down. Doubtful in this case as letting him down would mean letting down not only Mikhail but more importantly their Beloved Lady. No one wanted to let the Beloved Lady down. Letting her down would mean an eternity of the kind of pain and torture that would make Torquemada's seem like cuddling puppies. So yeah, he didn't think any of them would let him down on this one. If only out of self preservation. Something that all of the Undying very good at indeed.

    "We need to find out where she lives. What name she is going by and if she has anyone else in her life. We need to know if she has any plans to move. Basically we need to know everything we can about her. That way we can grab her safely. I don't care how you scheduled the shifts as long as there is always at least two of you here at all times."

    Turning away from his subordinates Gregori left the alley. He had a meeting to get to. Not one he wanted to go to but definitely one that he needed to attend. One didn't ignore a call from Mikhail since it often came at the behest of the Beloved Herself.

    An hour after leaving the alley Gregori arrived at the rundown Victorian style house that the Undying Society used as their headquarters. They had intentionally let it fall into disrepair. That way the interest in it would be less. And as it kept the rain and the light out they had little to no interest in cosmetic repairs. The Undying always lived in the poorer areas of any town they were in. Neighbors tended to keep their noses to themselves as a matter of course. The house having access to the unremembered underground tunnels was a unlooked-for bonus.

    The cheery rosy red paint of the building as well as the white trim was peeling, badly. So much so that the trim was almost gone. And the building looked diseased. The windows were all boarded up in what looked like a haphazard way but actually wasn't. The overgrown yard was so untended that it looked more like a jungle then anything found at a house. The building looked abandoned. Honestly the whole effect was kind of creepy, especially at night. Which was what they were going for. The vibe of the place was more horror film then neighborhood home. That way they didn't have a lot of people knocking on the door and bothering them for any reason. Well except the ones that left annoying little notes on their doors complaining about how the place looked.

    Taking a copper key from his pocket, Gregori walked onto the porch and opened the front door. The inside of the house was in the same kind of shape as the exterior. Any furniture that had come with the place had been left where it was to finish it's decay. Everything was covered in layers of dust further changing any colors from faded to dingy grey. Walking through the dark rooms to the basement door. Gregori didn't see the disrepair and decay all around him. It was always there after all, not something to be noticed or fixed.

    The only thing of any importance about this house was the basement. That was where everything happen. and most importantly it was where the Beloved Lady contacted them. It was also where any new Undying were inducted, adding to their membership. As much as Gregori dreaded meeting with Mikhail, he was glad it wasn't the Beloved Lady he was meeting with. Meetings with her could be deadly, even to those that were technically dead already. Gregori often wondered if you could call it living you weren't actually alive. Mikhail, as bad as he was, was nothing when compared to the Beloved Lady. Especially if she was unhappy. Every member of the Society made it a life goal to keep the Beloved happy.

    Going down the stairs to the basement, Gregori thought about the night he had been inducted into the Undying. It had been in Romania during World War Two. He had been a follower of the Beloved Lady for years by the time he joined. Using the knowledge and power that he had gained as a follower to become the mayor of his home village. A position that he had used to his fullest before his induction. What right thinking man wouldn't.

    It had been during the Nazi "invasion" of Romania. Right after the slaughter of his whole village in fact. A slaughter that he'd engineered.  It had been his willingness to sacrifice his whole village, including his wife, that had gotten him chosen to be induced. After all the better the sacrifice the better the odds that you would become one of the Beloveds chosen. His plan was to use the deaths of the villagers as an offering to the Beloved Lady. The arrival of the Ashen War-Kin a week before everything was due to go down had almost ruined everything. Gregori had long ago decided that he had made the right choice. The benefits were more then compensation for the price he'd paid then and was still paying.

    The door that he stopped in front of wasn't to the room he had met Mikhail in on his last visit. The one that he thought of as the Beloved Lady's audience chamber. No, this was to a different room. The room that Mikhail played in whenever he was in town. Which was most of the time since this was the overall headquarters for the Undying. This was also the room that they all used to torture anyone unlucky enough to fall into their hands. After all even the Undying need to relax.

    Gregori knew what he would see as soon as he entered the room. There would be an ancient black oak table in the center of the room. Well, it looked like a table at first blush. As soon as you saw the manacles at the four corners you knew it wasn't a table. Or at least not the kind most would have in their homes to eat at. One wall had various tools for creating pain, whips, cat-o-nine tails, clamps and masks hanging from hooks on it. Those were the tamest things to be found in the room. Mikhail like to play with his food, a lot. So the walls looked like they were painted in fresh blood. Which was almost the case. The floor and ceiling were painted a deep black. not to hide any blood but to give the impression of empty space. If Gregori had possessed any empathy he would have felt sorry for whoever Mikhail was playing with. But since Gregori also liked to play with his food, he was more then willing to help with the games.

    Entering the room Gregori saw someone on Mikhail's table. The female was chained down to it, a mask covering her upper face.  "I see you have a new toy," Gregori said walking over to the side of the bloody table.

   Mikhail's only response was a smile that showed a flash of fangs. The hunger for pain was an integral part of the any Undying's personality. A trait that they all shared. Something that Gregori knew from personal experience. Having once ended up on the very table in front of him. It had been a short time after his induction into the Undying. It was an experience that all of the Undying had. One that gave them the incentive to never, ever diappoint Mikhail or more importantly the Beloved Lady. Even with that experience Gregori like the rest of the Undying enjoyed causing pain to others. He wondered about the Anvidai female chained to the table before him. What was Mikhail going to do and could he join in? After all he was hungry too.