Allen

When I went inside the bar, there was a new bartender. It was a young woman, probably around my age, or slightly older. I sat down and asked her what her name was.
"Grace." She told me. She looked kind of sleepy, but she had a smile on her face.

"Are you new? Did the other guy die?" I asked her.
She laughed. "I'm the bartender's daughter. I've been covering for him while he took care of some business."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."
I decided to stop talking. I wasn't in the mood for banter and I really didn't feel comfortable conversing with her. At least, while I was sober.

"What's your name?" She asked me.
I didn't trust her just yet.
"I... am an idiot. But you'll find that out after a couple of drinks."

The real bartender, her father, comes from the back and laughs.

"I didn't know you had a daughter." I told him.

He looked me straight in the eyes and replied,

"I didn't know you were an idiot."

We both smile, and his daughter leaves.
"About time." She said aloud as she left.

The bartender shook and laughed. Then he said, "So, lets get to business. If you tell me what's bothering you, I'll give you free drinks the rest of tonight."

I answered, "Deal, but I want something new. I wanna try a whole new cocktail of stuff.

The bartender made a tsk tsk sound.

"You must be going through a lot."

I smiled and said, "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told your daughter. You'll find out after a couple of drinks."

The bartender pulled out a notepad. "Back to the basics then, huh? What will it be?"

I thought about it for a moment, then said, "First, get a pitcher. Start with a quart of vodka."

The bartender frowned. "Hmm. o-kay."

"Next, use 2 cups of bleach, 5 tablespoons of silver powder, and 2 teaspoons of ground wolfsbane."

The Bartender waved the notepad in my face. He started smiling, though he tried to hide it. "Aren't you a werewolf?"

"That's the point, chief."

The bartender laughed, a big nice laugh that made me feel welcomed and safe despite all the other crap I was dealing with.

Jamie

  It was nearing midnight, and we were all getting ready to sleep. Isaac insisted on us staying down in the lab, because it was after. If a weak, dying vampire can get passed upstairs security, anybody could sneak up on them.

Of course, Donovan felt the need to ask why Isaac's security was so basic in the first place.
Isaac responded saying that the upstairs is just part of a trap, to lure the vampires deep underground to kill them. He didn't intend on making this building a completely safe place. Isaac's​ worries were mostly about himself, until Jocelyn and Kim came along.

I knew Jocelyn. Her parents were killed by the vampires and she almost died too, until a werewolf saved her life. Mostly a free spirit, she used to travel alone until other packs found her.
After reading her thoughts and emotions, most werewolves automatically stepped in line to help the little girl. Isaac was no different.

They had quietly pushed Elijah back down into the fiery elevator pit when she wasn't looking. Donovan was sitting up in one corner, eyes closed.

"Are you seriously going to sleep like that?" I asked him.
He started snoring in response.

Isaac and Kim was whispering something to each other, and that got me thinking about her.
I've never seen her before, so she must've met Isaac while we were captured. She could've been seeking refuge at that time, when vampires were massacring us, but I felt like that was unlikely. She didn't seem like any werewolf I've met before, so I kept thinking she could be part of a new generation. That means she could have new gifts and abilities we could use.

I'd doubt we'd get to use them though. Linking into his mind, he was very protective of this girl.
The thing is... Isaac shouldn't be able to give her lycanthropy. And if he didn't, who did?

"Can I sit with you?" Jocelyn asked me. I snapped out of my daydream and looked at her. She had been with Marissa, lying in her lap and playing with her hair, until Marissa fell asleep. I guess she was bored now.

"Yeah, sure." She sat in my lap for a minute with her head rested on my chest, saying nothing. I was any to ask her why she couldn't have stayed with Marissa when she asked, "Can you do my hair?"

"What?"
"Can you do my hair?"
"I don't know how to do hair."
"It's okay, just make something goofy."
"Alright."

I started playing in Jocelyn's hair, only combing through it at first. Then I separated it into two separate parts and tried to tie it like a shoelace.
When I was finished, I said, "There. Done."
She was quiet, and didn't answer me. I turned her around and realized she had already fallen asleep.

Donovan stopped feigning sleep and laughed at me. "You're a hairstylist now Jamie?"
I grinned. "I guess so."
I carried her gently over to Marissa, who was curled up in the fetal position. I put Jocelyn as close as I could to her, and when she felt the warmth of her skin Marissa instinctively pulled her closer.

I moved back over to my side and tried to sleep. Thoughts of Danielle and the pile of dead bodies plagued my mind. I kept seeing images of Elijah, and I eventually gave up on sleep and just stared at the wall, like he did before he died.

Elsewhere

Late that night, around the same time, the vampires were wide awake. Gabriel had been sent to the head vampires office, and the whole building seemed deathly silent. Everyone was worried. Some were being tested for the virus, and some were looking for someone to blame. Only a few were actually calm, and they were trying to convince others not to commit suicide.

Gabriel walked past several revenants talking to each other, looking like extras from the walking dead. They stank of perfume and cologne, trying to hide the smell of decay. Their fangs no longer retracted into their mouths, and their eyes were either pink or a bright bloody color.

The vampires that hadn't gotten the illness had started spreading lies about the ones ​that did. There were even rumors that some vampires were going to get together and kill the revenants because it might stop the illness from spreading.

There was no truth in this, because even some vampires that had been completely isolated had also gotten the illness.

He approached guards twice his size and they stared him down.
"I have a meeting." He told them.
"Really? We didn't hear anything about it."
"Because you are smart enough to need that information." Gabriel said bluntly.
"Get out of my way."
One of the security guards reached for his shirt, and Gabriel raised his hand.
Their eyes shone like headlights and they dropped to their knees, clutching their eyes.
While they were screaming, Gabriel's hands began to spark. He raised his fist, about to deliver a finishing blow, when the door opened.
Avery stood at the door, holding her hand up to stop him.

"Gabriel, enough. I need bodyguards, not piles of ash."
The sparks disappeared, and the bodyguards inched away from him, still grasping at their eyes.

"Fine. But next time, give me some type of security clearance so I won't have to go thru this again? Maybe you could hand these monkeys a list of names at the door of the people who have meetings. Otherwise, I'll incinerate them next time."

He followed her into the room. It was a pretty big office, with one wall being completely made out of glass to look at the city around them. Almost everything in the room had the same color pattern: white and gray. The walls were sparsely decorated and the room contained different type of chairs, including bean bags, so it looked more like a game room. Avery herself, was

After entering, Gabriel instantly felt the magical pressure in the room. The were at least seven people hiding in the room, and Gabriel guessed that three of them were mages and the other four were vampires.

What's with all the security? Are you that paranoid?" Gabriel asked Avery.
"Relax, it's not for you. It's... hard to explain." Avery told him.
"How do you know that I don't already know?" He replied, staring directly at a wall were he assumed someone was hiding.

She looked at him. "If you do know.. would you tell me what they might be planning, and when they might arrive?"

"Of course I would... If I knew."
She turned to him.
"The Midwest territory is coming for us."

He looked confused.
"Are they coming on a diplomatic mission, out are they trying to take over?"
She sighed and sat down in the chair by her desk. She was starting to lose faith in his magical abilities.
"It's an assassination. They think we've done a poor job of containing the remaining werewolves in our territory. Mostly because of the things that happened to the vampires that guarded them. They also blame us for the revenant epidemic, because we have the most revenants in the US."

Gabriel looked stunned. "That's insane, they can't blame one territory-"
She raised her hand again. "Doesn't matter. They have. Sit down."

He did as he was told, still wary of the hidden figures throughout the room. He could actually see them now, mostly transparent, but becoming visible. Either their spell was fading out or his senses were getting stronger.

He noticed a couple break from their positions and move towards him. His heart sped up, and he got nervous.
"Hey, I haven't​ done anything I wasn't told to do. I only know what you tell me."

She could see the fear in his eyes. He thought he was about to be killed.
"I said relax." She told him. "We don't have any intention to kill you. There aren't many mages that practice the magic you and Shaye practice."

"If that's the case," he asked her, "why does Shaye have to die?"
She gave him an annoyed look. Shaye knows too much, and has been planning to help them, and save Danielle. You know this."
Gabriel inhaled and exhaled slowly. "You're right."

She looked at him curiously, watching his actions.
"Why is it so few mages decide to study intersight?" She asked him.

"Well, number one, we could, and eventually will, go blind. Number 2, the older you get, the stronger it gets, and you end up seeing too much. You see everything, including the end... Of everything. And it's not like your seeing the future, it's not like you can change anything. You see everything, with absolute hopelessness, because you know you can't do or change anything. The outcomes are fixed. Everything exists to tell you it ends, and that's just what happens to your mind. That things that your magic did effect you, the people you use it on, and everything around you if you learn too much."

"Why would you choose such a burden?" She asked him.

"I was trying to save someone cursed by a witch using dark magic. Her heart kept beating but she was practically comatose, she wouldn't wake up. I learned this type of magic to see inside yet mind, and urge her to wake up, but she had been dead the whole time. The beating heart I heard was just a trick the witch played on me."

Suddenly, all the hidden figures broke their disguises. They swarmed Gabriel and Avery pulling them to their feet. Gabriel was prepared to destroy them all and fight for his life, when they turned from him and spread their arms, shielding them both.

"What the-" he started.
A slight ringing sound buzzed in both of his ears, followed by static, like an old television being turned on.
The door be came through for completely blown to bits,  and pieces of the door flew everywhere, showering Avery, Gabriel, and her secret service in wood chips.

Emerging from the wreckage was a ghastly looking revenant, with darkened skin and milky gray eyes. His body have off a rotting stench, and it made Gabriel's stomach churn.

"DID YOU THINK YOU COULD HIDE IT FROM US?!!" he screamed. "Squatting here, hiding, while everyone else rots and dies... I'LL KILL YOU!"