"We've got another one reported." Kaylee said as she tossed the folder down on Kayleb's desk. Kaylab ran a hand through his spiky red hair and leaned back in his chair as he picked the folder up and glanced through the pictures which showed the same bloody scene that they had seen over a dozen times already. He tossed the folder back down on the desk and sighed.

"Who the hell is this freak?" Before Kaylee could reply Chief Michaels walked up and slammed his meaty hand down on Kayleb's desk. Kayleb looked up at his red face and varicose vein covered nose and waited for the outburst he was sure was coming.

"Why is this murdering psychopath still running loose?!" he bellowed as his breath blew his wiry gray mustache and Kayleb was reminded of some kind of living insect with hundreds of tiny legs... 'A millipede,' he thought. 'The chief has a giant millipede on his face.'

"Are you listening to me!" Chief Michaels demanded and Kayleb tore his eyes away from the living creature above his lip and looked up at his angry blue eyes and he noticed that the whites of his eyes were looking slightly yellow.

"Sir, I think maybe you should go have your liver checked, you're looking a bit yellow." Kaylee threw him a look that clearly said 'shut your mouth' and he shrugged and barely held back a laugh.

"You think this is funny?" the chief demanded as his cheeks reddened and Kayleb could practically see his hypertension kicking in as his blood pressure rose. "Sixteen children and their families dead! You are the supernatural task force. You are paid to put a stop to supernatural crime and yet this jackass is still running free!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, our job is one hundred times harder than yours. Our criminals can quite literally just disappear and they don't exactly leave fingerprints or witnesses." Kayleb replied as he threw open the folder and began looking back through the photos. The chief moved away from his desk and looked at Kaylee.

"You better find this jackass or you're both going to live to regret it." he warned and then he stormed away and they heard the door to his office slam shut. Kayleb stood up and rubbed his hand over his freckled face.

"I'm off the clock." he said. Kaylee shook her head.

"What are you talking about? We just had a triple homicide!" she exclaimed. Kayleb shrugged.

"Stupid mortals. We've warned them. Keep your children with you. Sleep with wooden stakes. Put garlic out. Invest in holy water and hang up some crosses. Do they listen? Hell no they don't listen."

"Kayleb, these are children." Kaylee reminded him and he shrugged again.

"Not my problem." he replied and then he felt the need to defend himself when he saw the look of angry disbelief on his twin sisters face. "Look we've tried to find him and we can't. We even had Uncle Jake see if he could track him but he couldn't. There isn't a damn thing we can do to stop him unless he messes up or goes after the wrong mortals and gets his vampiric ass kicked. Now I'm leaving. I pulled the nightshift and I'm tired." Kayleb patted his sister on the back and then walked away.

***

"Grandma! Where is my purple tank top!" Kaitlyn's voice yelled up the stairs.

"Which one dear, you have a million of them." Rebecca called back down to her granddaughter.

"The one that matches my skinny jeans!" she yelled back and then she winced when she heard a door slam and Jake's angry voice growled,

"Another one! Another damn teenage girl! I am moving out!" He came stomping down the stairs in nothing but a pair of black pajama bottoms with his long black hair sticking out in all directions.

"Good morning, Uncle Jake." Kaitlyn said with a megawatt smile that she had inherited from her mother and tossing her blond hair over her shoulder. Jake gave her a look that would have withered flowers on the vine but only made her smile more brightly.

"I need coffee." he grumbled and stalked away from her toward the kitchen.

"Grandma, I really need that tank top!"

"Oh yes because the world will stop spinning for sure if she doesn't have the perfect purple tank top to match her skinny jeans!" Kent said from somewhere in the house in a high pitched, realistic impression of a teenage girl. Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. If her mom and dad were here they would understand but they were gone to Milan for a fashion show and they were going to be gone for another week.

"Grandma!" she yelled again. She heard the sound of boots coming from the other end of the mansion and then she saw Laney's mate Hunter at the top of the stairs. He was already dressed in jeans, a flannel shirt, cowboy boots and hat and Kaitlyn wondered if the man knew that fashion was always changing. He had been wearing the same thing for years.

"Hi Hunter." she said happily.

"Blood. I need blood." he mumbled sleepily and he walked around her and down the long hallway toward the kitchen.

"Grandma, I really need my shirt!" she yelled again and she waited several long moments but received no reply. She let out an irritated screech as she stomped her foot. "Fine, I'll just find something else to wear!" she exclaimed and started up the stairs to go to her room.

"Thank God!" she heard her uncle Jake call out from the kitchen.

"I believe you're gonna drive him crazier than Kaylee did." Kaitlyn turned to see her cousin Kayleb standing there and she squealed and threw her arms around his neck. She was only twelve and already nearly the same height as his five feet ten inches but he was stocky and muscular and he wrapped her in a tight hug.

"You haven't been home in weeks! Where have you been?" Kaitlyn demanded. Kayleb ran a hand through his hair and shrugged.

"Working, women. Women, working. There are a lot of things to keep a hot stud like me busy." A laugh came from the hallway behind them as Lane walked past on his way to the kitchen.

"You sound like me before I met Joey.... Well except for the working part." he said. He patted Kayleb on the back and then continued on his way. Before Kaitlyn could say anything else Jordan came down the stairs behind her.

"You better hurry your butt up." she said. "We are leaving for school in ten minutes." A look of panic crossed Kaitlyn's face.

"Hurry up because you look like hell." Kayleb teased and she made a face at him before sprinting up to the third floor. Kayleb made his way to the kitchen where Jake, Hunter, Lane and his dad were gathered.

"Kayleb!" Evan said with surprise. "It's good to see you."

"Thanks dad." Kayleb said as he poured a cup of coffee for himself and sat down next to Jake.

"Long night?" Jake asked. Kayleb nodded.

"That damn vamp struck again. Killed a little girl and her parents about two counties over."

"Vamps. I hate them damn things." Lane said with disgust and then he grinned sheepishly over at Hunter who was looking at him from behind his cup of blood.

"Well most vamps." Lane amended. Hunter grinned and turned his attention back to Kayleb.

"Do you want me to take a look the crime scene?" Jake asked. Kayleb shook his head.

"There's no point. You know as well as I do there won't be anything new. It's these damn stupid mortals. They think those little home security systems they love so much are gonna keep their families safe. We've warned them that if their kids start talking about monsters under their bed to get the hell out of the house but mortals think they know everything and refuse to listen."

"As a formal mortal, I am offended." Kayleb turned to see Jake's mate Angela walk into the kitchen with their one year old son Brent on one hip and Lane's nearly two year old son Charlie on the other.

"Obviously you were an exception to the general stupidity of mortals." he said.

"And what does that make me?" Lane's mate Joey asked as she too walked into the kitchen and took Charlie from Angela.

"The second exception the general stupidity of mortals." Kayleb replied with a grin. Angela and Joey both sat down at the table.

"Is he still doing the same thing?" Angela asked and Kayleb nodded.

"Yeah. Members of the family say that the children start complaining about a monster being in their room several days before the murders. It's like he just likes to torment the kids for a while and then without warning one night he attacks and he doesn't leave anyone alive in the house."

"He's smart." Jake added with frustration. "He knows how to block his trail so he can't be traced and he's old. He knows what he's doing and how to not be caught doing it." Kayleb rubbed his tired face and yawned.

"You need to rest." Evan said matter of factly. "Get upstairs and say hello to your mother and then go to bed." Kayleb was too tired to make a crack about his overbearing father still telling him what to do and simply stood up and left the room.

"This is crazy." Joey spoke up in her soft, quiet voice once he was gone. "I killed a lot of immortals before I met Lane but those rogues were always blood thirsty and almost mindless. This creep is planning all these murders out. He's tormenting these poor children." Lane wrapped his arm tight around her small shoulders and kissed his sons dark hair.

"You couldn't trace him?" Evan asked Jake. Jake shook his head.

"No."

"Couldn't you hunt him down, big brother. You used to be good at that before you became an old married man." Lane said with a grin. Jake shook his head again.

"I'm keeping my nose out of this. My hunting days are over and I do not want to do anything to make that bloodthirsty bastard turn his attention to my family. Not when we have all these kids running around here."

"Kaylee and Kayleb are good at their jobs. Hopefully this vamp will make a mistake soon and they will catch him." Angela said hugging her son just a little tighter against her. Everyone at the table nodded in agreement.