The alarm clock turned on as the clocked turned 7:35. Ophelia Morgan peaked out from under her sheets, her best friend, a black and white cat, Jinx, peeked down at her from her headboard. " Hey Jinxie" said Ophelia, climbing out of bed.
Ophelia got to her feet and straightened her fuzzy pink pajamas. She stumbled into her kitchen and found her coffee pot already brewing. She waved her hand at the cupboard next to the sink, the door opened and a cup floated across the kitchen and landed gracefully next to the pot. Ophelia waved her hand and the pot slowly slipped out of the machine and poured into the cup. Ophelia took the cup, she had yet to master using her magik to drink it without hands and boiling hot coffee pouring down her breasts would not be the way to start her new job. Ophelia pulled her pajamas off and walked for her bathroom, tossing them at Jinx, who sat on Ophelia's bed cleaning her paws. Ophelia walked into her bathroom and turned the shower on. She set her cup down and climbed into the shower's warm spray.
She still was having a great deal of difficulty wrapping her brain around her new job. Two years ago Ophelia was studying to get into med school when bizarre things started happening to her. She was afraid she was starting to loose her mind like her mother. Then one particularly bad night, when her mind was almost screaming at her, the room shaking, and everything floating on her desk a man came to see her. A short grey haired man that was able to make it all better. He sat her down and explained what she was; she was gifted with the ability to control the flows of magik. It was the same plague that destroyed her mother's mind; they couldn't reach her in time but they had found Ophelia. He went on to explain that they could teach her to not just control her ability but use it to help people. As a future doctor Ophelia was ever interesting in helping people and readily agreed. What she didn't know at that time was that they would not just teach her magik but about all the monsters everyone said where imaginary. Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts, Zombies, Ghouls, and Demons, the things that lived under your bed as a child were real albeit they disliked living among the clutter of children's bed and preferred dark and out of the way places. Ophelia quickly became Ebenezer's star pupil at the Academy in Britain, passing the courses in only two years while it took four for most. Now she was back in her native Los Angeles, ready for her first day with Malcolm Toombs and the Chosen.
Ophelia pulled on her lucky black lace bikini panties and bra before slipping on a comfortable shirt and loose jeans. Her favorite old worn Vans and black and white stripped socks came next. Ophelia looked at her short black hair in the mirror, she put her hands in her wet locks and mused it until she was satisfied it looked perfectly messy. She grabbed her purse and gave Jinx a big kiss goodbye. She was excited to start work and skipped down the stairs that led to her apartment and into the courtyard of her building. She climbed in her car and started for Smiling Jack's Billiards and Bar Supply in North Hollywood.

Malcolm sat in the workshop hidden within Smiling Jack's Billiards and Bar Supply watching Smiling Jack work. Smiling Jack was in fact Jack Simms, one of the best weapon smiths and alchemists in all of the Chosen. " Mal, Mal" groaned Jack, picking the rotting flesh from the Bloodstone and Malcolm's Redhawk, " if you are going to use your gun, use bullets that is what they were made for. You smashed the damn stone. Bloodstone isn't easy to make you know."
" Yah, yah" said Malcolm, " but at the moment it was that or become a vampire snack."
" I guess in that case I will have to make some new Bloodstone" said Jack, " but you will have to resort to using a less decorous gun until I'm done."
" I think we might have a few backups" said Malcolm, " damn why isn't John back yet, I'm starving."
Malcolm walked across the laboratory to a large walk-in closet. Malcolm turned the light on illuminating a wide variety of weapons, from pistols, to sub machine guns, to rifles of every size and calibre. Malcolm walked over to his wall of revolvers and browsed. He settled on his old favorite, the Webley Mk VI. He took it down and slipped it into his holster. Things would get hairy for a while since they busted up that nest last night.
John walked in carrying two boxes of Dunkin' Doughnuts. " What a mess today" said John.
The three started to dig into the boxes when they heard the buzzer for the store ring. " On three" said Malcolm.
The three did rock paper scissors; Malcolm lost and grumbled, " Starting to be a great day."
Malcolm walked from the back, through the false wall and into the store's backroom. Malcolm walked out into the storefront and stopped. Standing in the entry was a gorgeous woman with short black hair, glittering green eyes like brilliant emeralds. Malcolm smiled, " Welcome to Smiling Jack's Billiards, what can I do for you?"
" Malcolm Toombs?" asked the girl.
" If you're her sister, I swear we just talked" said Malcolm.
" Ophelia Morgan" she said, with a big warm smile.
" Oh, then please come this way" said Malcolm.
Ophelia walked around the counter and into the backroom where she saw the open section of wall. Ophelia walked into a large workshop and laboratory. " Guys" Malcolm announced, " please welcome our newest member, Ophelia Morgan."
" Welcome to our happy home" said Jack, " I'm Jack Simms, and that is John Rodriguez. I'm the resident alchemist, gunsmith, store owner, John is, well, our resident tough guy."
" So how long have you been in our happy Chosen family?" asked John.
" Two years" said Ophelia, " I was a pre-med student at UCLA then my powers awoke."
" What is your level?" asked Jack.
" 17" said Ophelia.
All three men whistled in amazement, " Wow, Malcolm here is barely an 8" said Jack, " you'll be a welcome addition to our happy little family."
" So what is up?" asked Ophelia.
" Well in the last couple of months vampire activity has been extremely low" said Jack, " they are laying low, feeding from their own sources. With exception of last night we've been mainly chasing down the occasional renegade and trying to figure out what the hell is going on."
" Tonight we'll be going on patrol" said Malcolm, " nothing very exciting, we patrol the clubs on Sunset, do a sweep through the valley, it will be a good start for you."
" Okay" said Ophelia, " any doughnuts left, I'm starved."
" Plenty" said John.
The four sat around and got to know one another.

Jenna and Melinda walked down the long hallway and into the morgue. On one of the tables Kevin was fast asleep. " Dr Garcia, it is two thirty this is your wake-up call" said Jenna.
" Go away, I'm dead" said Kevin, " only a corpse could lay on one of these things."
" Any information for us?" asked Melinda.
" Plenty" said Kevin, " firstly the teens were killed one by one, the survivor at county was lucky the vigilantes showed up when they did."
" So you are saying it was the vigilantes" said Jenna.
" Most of the other victims were killed by gunshot wounds to the head, only evidence left behind were shell casing and the dead bad guys" said Kevin.
" Great, Captain will love this" said Melinda.
" I wasn't finished, the other guy, one with the broken neck" said Kevin, " his name was Tyler Reynolds, 31. Two years ago he was a bounty hunter, had his prints on file from when he was bonded."
" You mean we actually have an id? A real 100 percent id?" asked Melinda.
" I did some digging" said Kevin, " Tyler was a bounty hunter for six years then two years ago poof."
" What poof?" asked Jenna.
" Poof, nothing, no tax records, credit card recipes, parking tickets, zip. This guy just fell off the face of the earth" said Kevin, " I have his last address in the report."
" Thanks" said Melinda, " maybe this is the ticket to us cracking the vigilantes once and for all."
" Good luck" said Kevin, still laying on the slab with his eyes closed.

Celestine Blanchard gently licked the neck of the girl she had just met on the beach. The blonde giggled from the feeling of Celestine's tongue, " I like that, why don't you lick a little lower."
The blonde took her bikini top off; Celestine smiled and started to kiss her way down. Both turned to hear the death march ring tine coming from Celestine's discarded pants. Celestine growled and looked up at the blonde, " Don't go anywhere cutie" she purred.
Celestine climbed off the bed and tugged her thong up before grabbing her pants. She found her cell phone and ducked into the kitchen. " You really have the worse timing" said Celestine, " I just got a fresh meal."
" Sorry" said Devlin D'Valaria, her employer, " we need to met tonight."
" The usual place I assume" said Celestine.
" Midnight" said Devlin.
" No problem, now I need to get back to meal before we ruin the mood" said Celestine.
" See you tonight" said Devlin.
Celestine hung up her phone and tossed it in the refrigerator; if it rings I won't hear it. Celestine walked back into her bedroom and smiled, " We won't have to worry about that anymore" she said, climbing into bed, " now where were we?"

" That was great" purred the blonde, " you really know who to get a girl off."
" I've had some practice" said Celestine, nuzzling the girl's neck.
The girl giggled, " Nibbler huh, well keep nibbling I like it" she purred.
Celestine slowly pressed her fangs into the girl's neck, the girl sighed and slowly drifted off into sleep. Celestine drank the sweet tangy blood; teenage girls were always the yummiest. She drank her full and gently licked the two puncture marks. They slowly healed up; Celestine tucked the girl into bed and gave her a little kiss on the cheek. Celestine walked into her living room and flopped naked on the couch. She turned her Playstation 2 on started killing time until midnight when she would have to meet with her boss.

The stately abode of Tyler Reynolds a unit in a rundown apartment building. " So I guess bounty hunters don't live high on the hog" said Melinda.
" You never know" said Jenna, " we'll go inside and find the biggest entertainment center ever."
" Maybe we do and maybe it was never there" joked Melinda, " he's dead and my TV is starting to crap out on me."
The pair got out of the car and walked up to the front door. A woman came out dressed in a faded blue moo-moo that was littered with cigarette burns. " You finally came to arrest that pig in 4B?" she asked, " son of a bitch keeps playing those awful hillbilly albums all hours of the night."
" Actually no" said Melinda, " we are here to see Tyler Reynolds' apartment."
" That's him 4B" said the landlady, lighting another GPC cigarette, " thankfully the asshole has been out for the past couple of weeks."
" I'm afraid to tell you that he is dead" said Jenna.
" Great, another tenant dead, the day my husband runs off with that stripper from San Diego this entire place has gone straight to fucking hell" she muttered, " first that awful murder in 3B."
" When was that?" asked Melinda.
" About two years ago now" said the landlady, " back when this place was still had tenants we had two college girls in 3B, one night a psycho climbed in their window and had his way with both of them before gutting them. It was sooo awful, I still don't rent that unit out because the blood stains never seem to go away."
" Did 4B leave around that time?" asked Jenna.
" Actually he did for awhile" said the landlady, " he packed some stuff up, and left. Six months later he came back. He said something about Mexico, I always thought he was into drugs, probably spent those six months killing people for some cartel."
" Could we see the apartment?" asked Melinda.
The landlady took out a ring of keys, " Help yourself, it is almost time for Dr Phil anyways, lock up when you're done if you want, not like I care what happens to his shit."
They made their way inside the building and to 4B. Jenna unlocked the door and pushed the flimsy door open. " Nice place" said Melinda, " I really guess bounty hunting pays nothing."
The apartment was sparsely furnished; a cheap Orion TV sat on an empty telephone wire spool across from a broken green couch. Next to the couch was a fairly decent stereo with a disgusting large collection of country music stacked next to it. Jenna looked into the small kitchen; pizza boxes and empty beer bottles filled the overflowing garbage can. Jenna walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. To her surprise there was more beer and cold pizza. " Anything?" Jenna called out.
" Couple of handguns, and a book from Neal Duncan, 'White America, An Endangered Species', this guy has all of that whacko's books" said Melinda from the bedroom, " odd for a single guy not to have porn."
" Right wing politics must be his porn" said Jenna, " bet this guy must have been a great at parties."
Jenna joined Melinda in Tyler's rather empty bedroom. Jenna lifted the mattress and saw the floor was seriously warped underneath. " Bet the rent in this place was probably all of twenty bucks a month."
" Hey if it was I would move in" said Melinda, " my rents gone up again."
" Move off the beach" said Jenna.
" And how would I met all those cute guys them?" asked Melinda, " there isn't anything here."
" What about 3B?" asked Jenna, " the landlady said there was a gruesome murder in 3B right before Tyler disappears for six months, and then ends up dead in Van Nuys."
" You think Tyler hooked up with the vigilantes after that murder?" asked Melinda, " the case will still be on file, better take your allergy medicine Jen we're going file hunting."

Celestine gave Tara a big kiss goodbye, the perky blonde agreed to call sometime during the week. Celestine waved by and hurried back into her apartment to get dressed. They made love again at 10, Celestine knew she shouldn't but she couldn't say no to a cute surfer girl. Celestine slipped down the backstairs and into her 72 Mustang. Celestine turned the car on and listened to it purr before she sped off to her meeting.
10050 Cielo, Devlin loved meeting in spooky places. The house changed hands almost four times a year; it was a beautiful house and had a great view of LA that was when you could actually see LA through the smog. The house's history gave the entire place a strange feeling that even unnerved an old vamp like Celestine. Celestine saw Devlin standing by the split rail fence watching the glittering lights of LA twinkle in the clear night sky. " You're late" he said.
" Sorry" said Celestine.
" She cute?" asked Devlin.
" 17, surfer cutie" said Celestine.
" Why do you bother?" asked Devlin, " feeding is easier on strangers."
" But it tastes better the more your drink it, especially after stellar sex" said Celestine, " what's up?"
" You hear the Chosen hit the renegades in Van Nuys?" asked Devlin.
" Yah, sometimes letting them clean our messes up is better for everybody, we keep the peace among the families, and keeps a healthy fear of the Chosen in their minds" said Celestine, leaning against the fence, " we planning vengeance? Isn't that Alonzo's department?"
" We aren't planning vengeance against the Chosen, you said it yourself it is better for everyone that they did, while watching the building I noticed someone else" said Devlin, " wearing a black cloak and hood, wearing a blank white mask."
" Blank white, no eye holes?" asked Celestine.
" Yes, when I tried to pursue he just melted into the night" said Devlin, " didn't even leave an aura trace."
" Mages? Conclave?" asked Celestine.
" The Conclave might be old fashioned but even they realize we are no longer in the 18th century" said Devlin, " no I think they are the eyes of somebody new, or somebody very, very old. This is your project, talk to your people, I want answers, report only to me, we know Dante is a little paranoid these days."
" Dante is paranoid, not a little. Must come with being leader of the most rebellious bunch of vamps in the world" said Celestine, " you know if he stays alive another year he'll hold the record for controlling this city the longest."
" All the renegades these days are making him worry that Vegas or SF are trying to move in again" said Devlin, " this place is too lucrative for them not to."
" If they do?" asked Celestine, " we'll have another Blood War, what if this time they succeed?"
" Then we will serve our new masters like we have served out old masters" said Devlin.
" I love LA" said Celestine, " no other city is so exciting, I'll start questions some of my contacts. Nice place."
" I remember partying here in the 60s" said Devlin, " those were the days."
" What if I find this white masks guy?" asked Celestine.
" Bring him to me" said Devlin, " I have survived 600 years by being always the first to know."
" I'll give you a ring if I get anything" said Celestine.
" Even rumors or gossip" said Devlin.
" Don't I always" said Celestine.
Celestine climbed back into her car and started down towards the beach. Things were starting to get more interesting, and Celestine was worrying the revolutions and conspiracies where starting to wane.