"When did they call you? What did they sound like? Where's the list? Come on, Talbot, where is it? I want to see it!" Mick's questions came rapid fire, like rounds of ammunition out of his mouth. With every thought, with every question, he took a step closer to me, closing in on my personal space again.

If Guillermo hadn't been removing the IV's from my hands, I would have thrown them up in defense of his onslaught. "Go easy on him, man," Guillermo whined. "We don't need a relapse."

Mick scowled at the other vampire. "Don't you get it? Someone... some human has a list of all the vampires in Los Angeles." The word, 'human' rolled out of Mick's mouth on a wave of disgust that made me momentarily ashamed of my nature. "Doesn't that raise any alarms in your head?"

Guillermo shrugged. "I'm not surprised, Mick. Think of how many freshies there are. Think of all the humans like Talbot, here... like some of Kostan's financial partners... like," he paused, considering his next statement carefully, "... like Beth..." and when no fury arose in Mick, he continued. "Like Beth, who are humans involved with vampires. I mean, we like to think that we're all secretive and sneaky and shit, but we're not, man. Really, we're not."

"But..." Mick stammered, making sharp, parallel gestures with his hands, "a list."

"Listen, Mick," Guillermo smoothed out the bandage on my left hand and gave me a nod to tell me he was finished, "if it bothers you that much, go check it out," he gave Talbot a meaningful look, "I'm sure our new friend here will be more than cooperative with you."

For my own, I nodded in agreement. Whether I really wanted to protect the vampires, help St. John, or just generally get on his good side at that time I didn't know, but all I knew was that I wanted to share this secret... the bizarre secret of the bizarre list... with someone. Who better than Mick St. John?

"Where is it?" Mick rounded on me, his demeanor still harsh and demanding.

"It's... it's in my office."

Mick nodded once, a sharp toss of the head that made his hair flop down over his eyes. He shook his head back and fixed me with that goddamn stare of his. He pulled his phone from his jeans pocket, and started dialing it. The call connected, he walked into the bathroom without another word, and slammed the door.

My heart pounded in my chest at the thought of giving the secret up, especially to a member of that seemingly exclusive club that comprises the mystery list. If it was excitement or fear, I didn't know, but there it was. I swallowed, waiting on the edge of the bed for Mick to come back out, and as I watched Guillermo pack his medical bag and collect the tubing, bags, and paper for the trash, the bedroom door opened, and Beth walked in, rubbing her eyes.

"Ben," she beamed. She crossed the room, holding her arms out. Instinctively, I did the same, until she was enveloped in my embrace. Christ, but she was soft and warm and probably the most comforting thing I'd experienced in the past twelve hours. She pulled back and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek, which made me blush. My hand automatically went to the site of her kiss, covering it, holding it in place. "Thank you," she said, and straightened. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm fine," I replied.

She bent down and hugged me again -- at the very moment when St. John came striding back into the bedroom. Shit. Shit shit shit. I looked up, my eyes made contact with his, and he growled. Mick actually growled at me. Jesus! Beth, God bless her, pulled away from me, turned, and melted directly into his arms.

"I was just thanking Ben."

Mick bent his head down and made a show of kissing her in front of me. Asshole. He pulled away and Beth looked at me, biting her bottom lip in embarrassment. Mick kept his eyes on her, but his words were directed at me. "Meet me at my apartment in one hour," he said, his tone clipped, "and bring the list with you."

***************

Mick St. John's apartment, to the uneducated observer, just seemed like the living quarters of a very neat, very fastidious individual. Stark, basic, drab, colors accented here and there with red, spartan furnishings... not meant for comfort. His art decor consisted of strange paintings of an almost morbid nature -- the guy was obviously fascinated by death and the human condition, and rightly so.

I would describe more to you, but I honestly didn't have enough time to take in the architecture of chateau St. John. Mick met me at the door, greeting me in a not so friendly manner by holding out his hand and shaking it. "Give it to me."

There was another presence inside, and the voice that came from the living area was vaguely familiar. "Now, Mick, is that any way to treat your houseguests?"

Mick looked over his shoulder, paused for a moment, and then turned back to me, rolling his eyes with impatience. He gestured toward the living area. "Come in."

"Thanks." I said, tentatively, and then took a few embarrassed steps into the space. I couldn't help but look around, taking in everything around me as much as I could.

"Mick's apartment is very interesting, but I think we can save the three penny tour for after we conduct our business, Mr. Talbot."

I looked at the man and just blinked, my brow furrowing. I shook my head, cleared the cobwebs there, and held out my hand. "I think you have me at a disadvantage, Mister...."

The man looked down at the hand, then up to my face, then down at the hand again. He turned to Mick, a questioning smile on his face. "You didn't tell him?"

"Come on, Josef, just introduce yourself so we can get on with this."

Josef looked back at me, and cocked his head in an odd, but familiar fashion. "The young ones simply have no appreciation for manners, and certainly have no patience." He held out his hand to me, I took it, and his smile became friendly. "Josef Kostan."

My hand pulled back of its own accord, but only slightly. Kostan. The list. Vampire. I managed to hold whatever emotion, whatever fear gripped my body at the thought of touching a vampire in check. I hoped, I prayed that Kostan didn't notice my error....

... but he did. He smirked at me and carried the expression over to Mick. "You weren't kidding, Mick."

"What?" I asked, confused and near-panic.

"You're deathly afraid, pardon the pun. I can smell it on you, and damn, but it stinks. I apologize, Mr. Talbot, but you really ought to do something about that, because it's rank."

"Then it's... it's... true." I stammered, trying to hold on to some semblance of bravado in spite of Kostan's verbal abuse.

"There are many things about me that are true, Mr. Talbot, maybe if you got into some specifics I could be of more help to you." Kostan sniped.

"You're... you're a vampire."

"Well, yes. Give the lad a cookie."

I inhaled a shaky breath and clamped my mouth shut. Funny how fear works. I could actually feel the sweat start to bead up on my forehead, pool up beneath my collar, well in my fisted hands.

Kostan stepped around me, to my side, behind me, circling me like a big cat sizing up its prey. He lifted my arm, the one I'd sliced open, and raised it to his face. Part of me wanted to yank it away, fearful of a bite, but another part of me was fascinated. Kostan lowered his nose to my bandaged wound and inhaled, just as Mick had done the night before. "You weren't bitten."

Mick stepped forward. "He slashed his arm open, fed me from the wound," Mick interjected.

Josef regarded me with what I interpreted as an impressed look and a crooked eyebrow. "Brave man," he nodded slowly, pulling down at the corners of his mouth, "suicidal and stupid, but brave. Mick was very fortunate." His eyes roved up my arm to my neck. He reached up toward me with two fingers, and again, I couldn't help but recoil at the thought of a touch, but I held my ground.

His cold fingers made contact with my damaged throat and I winced with the pain. He jerked his hand back, glanced over at Mick, who squirmed and turned away. Josef peered back at me. "Oh, dear. Did Mick do this to you?"

I inhaled sharply through my nose, flaring my nostrils. I swallowed nervously and nodded as Kostan's hand rose once again to the ruined flesh on my neck. His hand hovered there for a moment, and then he turned it sideways. He squinted one eye, sizing up his hand with the marks on my skin. He squeezed the air, and a wicked grin split the features of his face.

"You should have squeezed harder, Mick." His eyes narrowed and flashed white. My own eyes went wide, and I felt my adam's apple bob up and down as I gulped for air, swallowing and breathing rapidly.

"Leave him alone, Josef." Mick stepped between Kostan and myself, holding his arms out to the side. "Back off, man."

"Oh, come on," Josef scoffed, sticking out his bottom lip in a false pout, "can't a vampire have a little fun? I mean, you won't let me play with Beth. Let me play with this one, please? Please, please, pretty please?" Kostan held his hands together beneath his chin like a petulant child.

"Maybe..." I winced, "maybe I should just... leave."

"No!" St. John whipped around and grabbed me by the shoulders. "No, Talbot. Josef... Josef is only joking, really," he glared at Kostan, "aren't you, Josef?"

I half expected Kostan to dismiss me, wave the regal hand in my direction and send me bowing and scraping out into the deep, dark, night. I expected him to snatch the list from my bag and shove me out the door, or bite my neck, or break my neck, or rip out my neck, or defenestrate me, or gouge my eyes out and eat my brains for lunch through the eye sockets, but I didn't expect... I didn't expect Kostan to put his arm around me.

I shuddered again at the contact, but Kostan kept his grip. His face was turned toward mine, and he moved his head with every movement I made to keep my eyes in sight of his. "Relax. We don't want your fear, Mr. Talbot. We want your loyalty, okay?"

I nodded.

"As long as you stay loyal to me, loyal to us," he indicated himself and Mick, "you have nothing to worry about. Trust me." He smiled, genuinely. "You can breathe now, Talbot. It's allowed. You're human. I know you need to."

The breath I didn't even realize I'd been holding exploded out my mouth. Kostan kept his grip on me. St. John, for his own, stood watching, his hands on his hips, his mouth set in a straight, determined line. I looked up at him, and he smiled. Oh, thank God but he smiled. I let out a relieved puff of breath.

"That's better," Kostan released his grip on me. "My profuse apologies for the gallows humor, Talbot. I'm over 400 years old. I need to get my jollies somehow. I promise, it will never happen again."

"Uncross your fingers, Kostan," Mick said, half-warningly. Kostan raised his hands and splayed them open on either side of his head. "Vlad's honor," he said, and then winked.

"Now," Mick said, once again holding out his hand, "let me see the list, please."

"You're so polite." Josef joked, but Mick didn't respond. His gaze was fixed on my briefcase. I opened it and pulled out the black folder with the red seal. I handed it to Mick. He took it and sat down on his couch, spreading the folder on the glass coffee table. I sat beside him, and Kostan sat on the other side.

Kostan reached out and fingered the red seal. Although I had only known the man... the vampire... for a few minutes, I could tell that the shaking of his hand and the widening of his eyes were uncharacteristic of him. "When did you get this?" The shakiness translated into his voice as well. Holy crap, but he was just as frightened as I was.

In a way, I'll admit, but don't tell him this... I was thrilled by that. I mean, wouldn't you be? It was like... you freak me out, I freak you out. Ha. Gotcha. Take that, you vampire thing you.

But I digress.

"What, what is it?" Mick leaned over to peer at the seal. "What's wrong, Josef?"

Josef's fingers danced over the seal, tracing the circle embossed into the wax, the small florets and vines around the edge, and finally, the intricately carved letter "L" at the center. He pulled his hand back, as if the seal had caught fire, and sat back against the couch cushions. "Open it," he demanded.

"But... Josef... what?" Mick started, but Josef cut him off.

"Open the goddamn envelope," Kostan growled. I opened it, took the contents out and handed the list over.

Josef, for what seemed a very long time, looked down his nose at the stack of papers I held before him. He sat stiffly, his mouth slack open, and while he raised his hands, he let them hang suspended in air beneath the paper, loath to take it into his grip, as though if he touched it it would shatter the illusion that it wasn't real, that it wasn't true. That if he lay his hands upon it it would become truth.

I knew the feeling.

Josef finally took the list, but didn't flip any pages. "Mick's name is on it?"

"Yes."

Mick shifted in his seat, but remained silent.

"My name is on it?" he asked, in the same, flat, matter of fact tone.

I reached over his arm and flipped to the last page. I pointed to his name printed in Garamond font at the bottom. "Yes."

He dropped his head to his chest, and let the list fall from his fingers. The paper fanned out on the floor beneath Mick's coffee table, at Kostan's feet. He kept his head down, staring at the paper.

Mick bent down, reached over, and picked it up. He placed it back in the envelope, and pulled the entire file away from Josef. "What does it mean, Josef?" He handed the whole package to me, and nodded toward my brief case, indicating that I should put it away. "What does "L" stand for?"

"Legion." Kostan answered, his voice hollow. "Legion," he repeated, whispering.

"What in the hell's Legion?" Mick stood, obviously disconcerted by Kostan's tone. "Josef, what is going on here?"

"Your attackers were human."

Mick shook his head and creased his brow. "I think so. It happened so fast, I can't be sure."

"No, they were. I'm telling you they were." Josef stood and paced into the kitchen area. "They were humans. The Legion... they're humans."

"Why would humans have a list of vampires," I asked, scratching my head, "and how is this connected to what happened last night to Mick?"

"If they would have succeeded," Josef began, "Mick would just have been another secret statistic, another missing person... another dead vampire... who would have cared, who would have noticed?"

"I would," I offered up, weakly.

"No!" Josef barked. "In the grand scheme of things. What humans... Beth excluded, of course... would have even noticed?"

"None. But other vampires would have." Mick said, darkly.

"It was a message." Josef sneered and jabbed the air with a finger toward Mick. "You were meant as a message, man. I mean, they went so far as to try to off you with silver. They wanted us to rabbit onto them, they wanted us to know that they know how to kill a vampire."

Mick's jaw dropped. "Oh my God. They wanted us to know they knew how to kill a vampire, and...."

I cut him off. "That they wouldn't hesitate to do it." I shook my head and shrugged. "But why?"

"The Legion is not simply a group of bookish human geeks who study vampirism. They have a more sinister goal." Josef paced back to the living area.

"Forced extinction," Mick whispered.

"Close." Josef raised an eyebrow. "Try again."

Mick closed his eyes. "There are too many of us. They're frightened, trying to control our population."

"Exactly. Ten points to Gryffindor." Josef pointed and clucked his tongue.

"But there's one thing I don't understand," I pointed at my own chest, "why did they pick me? Why did they send me the list?"

Silence. And then...

"Sit down. I think I have an idea." Josef ordered. He pointed. I obeyed.

Mick folded his arms and stood watch again. Somehow, I knew I wouldn't like this. Not one bit, and just when I thought it couldn't get worse... or more surreal. It did. I mean, I crossed over from floating around in a Klee to drowning in a Dali. That surreal. Where were the melting clocks and half-horses, I didn't know, but part of me expected to grow a big curly mustache right then and there.

"Talbot," Josef said, "if I'm right, and I'm always right, they targeted you for your family connections."

I looked up, thinking, trying to piece it together. "What does my family have to do with it?" I mean, my father was a Pennsylvania steelworker and my mother a housewife. "There's nothing special about my family."

"Ever read Anne Rice?" Josef sat beside me. He leaned forward and rest his elbows upon his bent knees.

"Yeeeahhh..." I intoned, "but I don't see where this is...."

"David Talbot." Josef said.

I gave Josef an 'are you insane' look and stood up, putting distance between myself and this crazy person... vampire... thing. "He's a fictional character! Anne Rice dreamed him up and wrote him!"

"I could get Louis de Pointe du Lac on the phone if you would like me to," Josef said, flatly. "Lestat's purely fictional, though... which, if you think about it, is extremely fortunate."

"So, you're telling me, that my relative... some relative I don't even know exists, is a member of some elite bizarro-world super force team of vampire hunters, and that some weirdo writer from New Orleans wrote him into her books?" I scoffed. "Do you know how fucking weird this all sounds?"

"No weirder than the fact that vampires exist." Mick added.

He had a point. He had a very, very good point.

Josef continued. "But David Talbot....he doesn't exist, not anymore."

"What happened?" Fuck me, but as strange as this all was, I was intrigued, and here I thought nothing else could surprise me. Yeah. Right.

"He died two years ago," Josef said, sadly.

"How do you know?"

"He... he was a member of the Legion from the time he could wield a stake. But, things changed with him. He... met... some vampires, talked with them, learned what they were like, understood their needs, wants, desires... and...."

"Changed his mind?" I said. "He turned traitor, sided with the vampires, right? Is that right?"

Josef nodded slowly. "Your uncle was a very good friend of mine. He was a kindred spirit in human form, a confidante, someone I could spill my rotting guts to... and he never, not once, judged me." Josef shot a quick indiscernable look at Mick.

Mick winced and turned away, his arms crossed over his chest.

"His death must have been very hard on you." I observed.

"It was, truly it was." Josef's voice clouded over with sadness and melancholy.

"Then... how did he die? Did the Legion find out what he was doing and kill him?"

"No," Josef heaved a sigh. "I killed him."

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