Six months ago, he forsakes his legacy for something greater, something he had waited for through the last couple of centuries; a mate that could not only live as long as he could, but also would love him for as long.

Turning on his side, he looked at her contemplating the many things they would do together over the centuries to come. The world was theirs and resources were not an issue for the moment.

The sun would set in a couple hours. He decided to spend that time studying the things in her apartment that she chose to hold onto all of these years, in hopes of get ting still an even better idea of who she was in order to help understand who she is. She seemed to always stray quickly of any talk regarding her sire and first husband and many other topics that she was not yet ready to reveal to him, but that was okay they had time.

In truth, he had many secrets as well. Secrets that had the potential to rip their happiness apart should they ever come to light, but the odds were in his favor they never would.

It was enough for now that they had come together and agreed that it is their future that matters and not so much their respective pasts.

She started to stir slowly in concert with the sun’s withdraw. He took a seat in the chair across the room and sat their watching his love awaken from her deep slumber.

“Did you rest well my love?” His voice was soft and melodic reflecting what he felt inside for her.

Catherine lifted her sleepy eyes to him, she had slept well. Her bed was a mahogany canopy bed, with a black duvet and red cloth everywhere in the room. It was meant for her to be a symbol to the passion she felt all the time. Whether it was passion in love or passion in simply who she was, it described the Nephim quality of who she had been. She smiled, her hair mussed and eyes sparkling at him. "I slept very well thank you."

She stretched her body and every movement was graceful and seem to have a purpose. In her case everything seem to have a slight sensual tone, though it wasn't done on purpose, many years of practice had turned it into a habit. She gently slipped out from under the covers and walked towards him, wearing a black nightgown, it was ethereal, almost as if it wasn't sure whether it was there or not.

Catherine settled in his lap completely at home, feeling happy, for the first time in a while. She nuzzled his neck gently and kissed his cheek. "So do we have any plans for the night, or should we stay inside all night?" She wasn't really partial to either and really didn't mind which they did, though she would never get tired of him.

Max had not looked back since that fateful week he had broken ties with his fledglings. For the last six months, he had stayed with her every moment and spent his days watching over her. Therefore, what came out of his mouth next was sure to be a bit of a shock.

“Well in truth, I need to return to the compound tonight.”

He could not quite look into her eyes when he said this. Max did not tell her that he allowed his fledglings to live where as all others present had died. Nor did he tell her of the legacies in which he had left behind for them upon their release from the prison chairs. Max had just allowed Catherine to believe they died at his hand, since that was the logical assumption after the manner he had dealt with Alec.

“It may be nothing, it may be dangerous. In truth I don’t know what awaits me.”

Turning his head slightly away from her, she could see clearly that something was drawing a look of concern to the surface.

Catherine stared at her, though her face was blank of all emotions. She knew that at some point perhaps he would have wanted to go back, yet she didn't want him to, she wanted him to stay with her, or maybe she could got with him...

"Do you have to go?" Her voice was concerned and now her face registered the same look, one that was worried and concerned for him. She gently brushed his face that was turned away from her. " Are you hiding something from me? Is that why you can't look at me?"

She didn't want there to be secrets, yet she did understand privacy. There was a few things that she wasn't ready to discuss as of yet and one of them was her late sire, a man that she had loved and a man that had provided her with an escape from a place where she didn't belong. She didn't like the fact that he was keeping so much from her, and they said a relationship was built on honesty.

His voice cracked, “I did a horrible thing in slaying all present at that assembly. That is all except my five remaining fledglings. I could not bring myself to slay them.”

He knew that this secret was an active threat he should have told her about, but he did not want to worry her or worse have her set out upon a hunt to kill them herself to ensure their security and peace.

“One on one I do not doubt my ability to win a fight, but together they are possibly too much for me and I did not want to ask you to fight my battles even though I know you would stand by me without my needing to ask.”

Max knew the initial fear of the night had scared them away, but with time to recollect their thoughts they may very well be lying in wait, his entire mortal staff dead or worse, turned into their service.

He mustered the courage to look into her face.

Catherine stared blankly at him. "You let them live?" She couldn't believe he would do something like that. What happened if they decided to come after her or worse him? She could defend herself. She almost had 700 years of powers to boot and she wouldn't go down easy. There was one thing that was clear, they would either die or she would die trying to kill them.

"I would kill them without a second thought." She paused to look at him and frowned. "You got very attached to them and that I can understand, but you had to be aware that at one point perhaps this entire thing wouldn't work." She was surprised that he had killed everyone else at the assembly.

She got up and passed a hand through her mussed hair, that seemed to flatten out instantly into what it was suppose to look like. Perfect. She paced back and forth, to then turn to him. "I'm going with you and do not try to argue with me." She would go or he would have a lot to answer for.

He stood up as though to protest and then as suddenly let his body slump slightly. “Of course, it would be wrong to ask you not to.”

“Well we better get ready. Do you need to shower or anything?”

Max looked around as though mentally planning an outfit to wear or looking for an object like a watch or something. There would be no talking her out of going with him.

As he walked around pulling together pants, shirt, shoes and the like, he kept an eye on Catherine who was still either winding down or winding up. He had still to figure out how his firebrand lover’s emotions ran at times like this.

Catherine knew that he had been about to protest, but seemed to think better of it, good because she wouldn't have gone down without a fight. "No shower." She quickly moved around the room, shedding her nightgown and going for a the closet which held most of her clothes. There was no way, only one wardrobe would fit all of her clothes.

She quickly pulled on brown corderoie pants and a black t-shirt with a dark forest green sweater. She fasted the necklace that Max had gotten her around her neck and slipped into black sneakers. She was still muttering angrily about God knows what, though whatever it was, didn't wind her down. She would do any redhead proud. Annoyance was clearly visible and nothing would slow her down in the least. She was pissed off.

"I ready when you are." Her voice was clipped and contrarily to the anger that flashed in her eyes like a hot furnance, it was cold. Two completely different ends of the spectrum that she managed to mold together into one.

He had hoped she would have opted for a shower or some ritual so that he could have slipped out and left her behind.

Max still stood there only wearing pants. He was tucking another pair of pants, t-shirt, leather jacket, socks and boots into a backpack. From the outside pocket, he pulled a cigar and match. “We are almost ready.”

Stepping out onto the balcony of the penthouse, he looked in the direction they were heading and asked her to join him. “We will have to take them hard and fast if they are there. It is likely that they turned the guards that stand guard at night to help increase their numbers. I am not worried about the security as each of powers allows us to bypass the traditional use of doors and my passwords will still work on the back doors to the servers.”

Lighting the cigar, he began to smoke it. It was his first in nearly two hundred years and tonight the old ways seemed to be the best. “The first goal is to get into my chamber in the complex; from there we can evaluate the next step.”

Tossing the cigar over the balcony, he turned to her and kissed her on the forehead. “Are you ready?”

Catherine listened quietly and nodded. She was somber and the dark colours she wore seemed to be the best way to go. It was a good thing that she wasn't in the mood for bright colours. "Do we have to kill, the guards that were turn into vampires?" She was willing to put herself into a kill anybody mood, it was a good thing that she was alread pissed off. It would be easier for her to kill them.

Catherine knew that if she had taken the time to take a shower, he wouldn't have been here by the time that she had gotten out, besides if she was meant to kill people that would most likely mean being covered in blood and a shower was always better afterwards.

Catherine simply looked at him, her eyes dead, unfeeling. "I've been ready ever since I've been dressed." It would be easier for her to kill people, if she couldn't feel anything. "Let's go."

“If you encounter anyone that either sees you or gets in your way kill them, mortal or vampire.”

“Meet me in the room. We will each use our respective talents to achieve this goal as using the doors and codes would only alert them if they are still there.”

Pausing, “Okay I think we are ready. Let’s go.” With that, he put the backpack on making sure there was plenty of slack in the straps and transformed into the beast.

Turning his back to her, he leapt from the building disappearing into the inky shadow of night plummeting towards the ground of the nearby field that surrounded her building. His impact was almost non-existent as he melted into the ground as he had done during the battle when they had initially reconnected.

He began to traverse the distance through the earth itself.

Catherine watched him and knew what she had to do. She melted into the shadows that was on her balcony and was going through the city, faster than a speeding bullet, jumping from shadow to shadow, steering clear from the mortals that still walked through the city.

She arrived at th compound and hid down close to her shadow form ready for anything that would jump out at her. She caught sight of the cameras and one by one with her telekinesis disabled them. They wouldn't know what was going on, but they would know that someone was coming and Max's fledglings would be in a hell of a shock. She was one very unhappy vampire and when Catherine was unhappy she made her decisions with cold-blooded thoughts.

"Don't move or I will shoot." Catherine froze at the sound, a mortal guard had gotten behind her. She didn't move but the guard behind her choked until he lay on the ground dead. No one was going to escape her wrath. She looked at the guard and let a cold smile spread her face. Let the destruction begin.

“It has been six month Jennifer,” an agitated voice echoed from the hallway before Alexander entered the room, “if he was coming back it would have happened by now.”

Jennifer, kept as always turned her head towards her peer and sibling in blood. “Alex he fucked us over and killed our lines and for what some slut he has had a hard on for since the turn of the 21st century. I don’t care if it takes a century I will wait for him and have my vengeance and hopefully he will bring that whore with him.”

Alex simply shook his head. Jennifer had always been the planner and most rational of them all when it came to conflict, which was why she was Max’s number one but now, “you are too emotional and need to get some perspective on this thing,” he had decided to tell her.

She threw a chair at him. “Go to hell Alex. You must believe the same thing, feel the same wrath I do over this or you wouldn’t still be here.” In truth, he was still here because he was very fond of Jennifer and was hoping that she would come to see him in a favorable light, but he knew now that she would always be blind to his affections. “Of course.”

A guard came to the door, “you asked if anything unusual happened no matter how small.”

“Yes,” she snarled at the guard, “what is it?”

“It appears that the cameras on the southeast fence have gone inoperative. A repair crew has been dispatched.”

Wild eyed she turned to Alex and looked at him with a sense of victory. “He’s here.”



Max emerged in a hidden earthen chamber he had constructed within the walls of underground apartment in the event he should ever have to escape. Never did he envision having to break in by the same means.

Pulling on the steel handle attached to the sheet of rock, he pulled open the stone door that had remained successfully concealed all this time. Stepping in the automated systems turned on illuminating the chambers. ‘Damn,’ he thought. How could he be so careless as to forget something as basic as the basic functions? Lucky for him it would twenty minutes before a guard would be able to alert Jennifer or Alex to this power surge.

Remaining in beast form, he made his way into his office and found it as he expected. They had not been able to crack the coding to get into this chamber and to date had been unable to access his server. Punching in his password the screens came to life showing him the complex and gaining him access to master controls throughout the complex.

Sitting down into the chair, he allowed his human form to become dominant as he began to manipulate the keyboard. Looking at the situation board, he realized that there had already been a death. He smiled and said, “That’s my girl.”

Catherine's ears pricked up at a sound. Her eyes followed a group of men going to repair the cameras, they would get repaired by any mean or way, she had busted the entire thing in and out, it wasn't repairable.

Now she had to choose by either walking in the front door or taking a side door. She had seen the men walk through a side door and decided that side doors weren't really her style, besides her main priority was to reach Max inside, she couldn't do much outside to help him. What happened if his fledglings teamed up on him, then what was she supposed to do, if they left him for dead? No. Her being outside simply wouldn't work.

She melted into the ground and hid in every shadow until she was inside, she debated turning back into herself, then decided against it, there were too many cameras and that wouldn't be a good thing. She continued shadow hopping until she reached the outside of his room. She knew that if anybody looked closely at the cameras they would see a shadow hopping, but she wasn't too worried about that.

She slipped under the door and straightened out to her entire form. "Cameras out at the front and repair team on their way. They most likely know that we're here." She kissed Max on the cheek. "So how should we approach them? Storm them or let them come to us?"

“Oh I think we will find them one at a time.” Pointing up to the screen, “It’s clear they know I am here. I do not know if they suspect you are. They probably think I would do something stupid and try to come back by myself to protect you,” he said with a chuckle.

“It looks like the mortal staff is just here to do their job as they really don’t know anything has changed. All I see that stayed behind is Alex and Jennifer, and boy does she look pissed off.”

Turning in his chair, “I assume you would like the honors in dealing with Jennifer. She seems beyond my reasoning. Alex I assure you is only here because he has always loved her since he met her. She is the only one who could not see it though. I will find a way to deal with Alex; hopefully I won’t have to kill him.”

He knew that even now his unwillingness, his backslide from earlier in the evening was not going to set well with Catherine, but he respected Alex and he knew that Alex respected him and was sure that even now still honored him as his sire.

Catherine watched the screens and smiled at the image of a pissed Jennifer. "People who are pissed usually don't think well in situations such as this." Her eyes lit up at the mention of being able to go after her. "You are giving me, Jennifer?" Her eyes returned to the screen and darkened significally. "She is going down."

Catherine paused at the mention that perhaps he would save Alex. "Wasn't Alex the one that you said I might like?" She decided that perhaps Alex wouldn't be so bad, but he would have to be watched.

"I'll let you save him, but if it takes one step out of line, he's a goner." She took a pause as she looked back at the screen. "So how are we going to do this?" She then frowned. "Where are your other fledglings?"

“Well I think I have an idea.”

He spun around in his chair and looking at the screen picked up the phone in the panel and hit a couple of buttons.

His voice echoed throughout the complex. “Jennifer my dear you are so beautiful when you are angry. It is a real shame you have become so second rate since our last meeting. Beside’s didn’t I fire you.”

He put the receiver down and watched her begin to crazy with fury. Alex was already looking calmly at the camera nearby smiling knowingly, but it took Jennifer a bit to catch on to that. When she did, she marched towards the camera and started shouting silent obscenities at the camera obviously directed at her sire and former mentor.

“I don’t think she took that well,” he said smiling to Catherine.

Catherine frowned and she watched him as she stayed where she was. An amused smile played across her face as the message played throughout the entire base. He really could be funny if he tried.

"You don't say...I would be mad too if someone called me second-rate too. Do you honestly think that she will come to find us. She has too find where we are unless she absolutely knows where we are." She then frowned at a thought. "You haven't answered my question. Where are your other fledglings?"

“Oh she knows that I am now more than likely in my suite, but the funny part is when she gets here and we aren’t here.”

The smile on his face slowly drifted off as he looked in her face.

“Oh alright, the other fledglings returned to their homes I suppose. They all have independent lives and smaller scale operations of their own. The truth is Jennifer is still lurking and angry because she had nothing of her own; she was totally committed to the operation. That is why she had an apartment like mine in the complex.”

Suddenly he turned his head towards the door. “They are coming down; I can feel the earth vibrate from the lift.”

Catherine paused and frowned. "So where are we going?" Catherine had seen some of the complex, but she had a feeling that she would see more of it soon. "Well at least we won't have to put up with all of them, that's a relief."

She looked into the direction of the lift, feeling something as well though it was faint. She could hear it. "Alright if it's coming down here, shouldn't we be going? Considering you said that we weren't going to be here when she got here, right?" Catherine didn't mind meeting up with Jennifer right now, but it seemed that Max had other plans.

He tilted his body and pushed a button to his side. The camera outside his door came on the screen.

“Now you weren’t listening. The door is not something they can overcome; I will have to let them in.”

A smile came across his face. “If you look here,” he hit another button, “my young protégé decided to make the amateur mistake of coming alone,” he said as the camera in the lift illuminated the other screen.

“When she comes in she will only see me, because we are not here; just me and the shadows about the room.” He turned his head towards Catherine with a knowing look.

Catherine frowned at what he was saying. "So you are telling me to hide?" She wasn't sure she liked that idea, after all she was more of a forward type of person. "I don't want to hide, I'd rather see them straight on."

She was still frowning. She had a feeling that he had an idea or a plan and now he was keeping her in the dark. "You better tell me what you have in mind before I decide that I don't want to do anything that you are going to say." She wanted to have answer and she wanted one now. He'd better give her one and a good one.

He kicked the large rug that covered the floor revealing earth. “You might have thought I was fond of rugs, but in truth this is my escape route for the other plan we decided to put off.”

“She is going to walk in, approach me, and let the door close behind her. Without the code or my biometric signature, she is not getting out. I will leave you to come from the shadow and discuss her folly.”

Catherine thought is over. "I like it. It's simple, yet it will do just fine. I'll be in the shadows lurking. Simply get her in, I'll take care of it." She went to him and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

Catherine moved away and went to a shadow. She turned to Max, her eyes measuring him up. "Don't get yourself killed my love. I will have to hurt you if you do and I probably will never talk to you ever again." Catherine smiled at him one last time and then she took one step and vanished into the shadows.

Max picked up a remote and moved into the main chamber and sat down. Turning on alternate lighting to cast shadows about the room, he rearranged the master chair to be facing the door and removed the rug that stood between his feet and the earth underneath.

Sitting down in the chair and placing his feet onto the soil, he took a deep breath and was ready.

Pulling the remote from his pocket he pressed in a code and the main door opened. The blonde fury stood warily in the doorway. “Hello little girl,” he chided.

Jennifer’s anger with her sire was apparent, as was her indignation with his return to his complex. “Was she worth it Max? Was she able to give you something I couldn’t?”

“Little girl, you and I were over two centuries ago get over it. Besides a man likes to have a real woman if he can get one, and frankly I landed a queen.”

That was enough to get her across the threshold and with that he pushed the button shutting the door and sealing it behind her. “Is that supposed to scare me Max? You couldn’t hurt us before and I don’t think you will now?”

Max shifted forms from man to beast. “You’re right. I can’t hurt you.”

Catherine was curious and she watched wearily. She was surprised that they had dated, but obviously it was over and Max was all hers. She was amused that Max called his fledgling a little girl and flattered when he called her a queen. "I'm flattered Max, really. A queen?" She was still hidden in the shadows, though they seemed to shift before stilling again. That was simply to show that there was someone else is in the room.

Another shift in a different part of the appartement. "He isn't going to kill you, because unless you give a good reason not to, I will kill you." She then made her appearance, a red head with a lot of hidden fury. "Since I don't like you, it's going to have to be a really good reason."

A sneer crossed Jennifer’s face as she heard Catherine’s voice.

It was clear that a psionic shield was erecting in Jennifer’s mind. “If it isn’t the bitch that ruined everything,” she spat out in a venomous tone.

Turning to face Catherine she continued, “I am not dying here today slut and to be fair neither are you. Your fate will be drawn out and painful for centuries to come, but that is nothing compared to what I have in store for my dear maker.”

As she spoke, the nails on her hand began to morph her hands into claws while her face changed into a hybrid like appearance similar to Max’s bestial face. The shock on Max’s face was clear from Catherine’s vantage and his mind revealed true surprise to an ability that she had never revealed to him before. Jennifer was something like her sire, maybe more.

Catherine simply blinked at her. "I resent being called a slut, because I'm nothing like one. Besides if I am one, it takes one to know one." Catherine's face was blank, she hadn't called anyone names, but had found some sort of advantage in this. "Also name calling, doesn't do much for me. It really, really..." She paused thinking it over. "...makes me angry." Her anger didn't show and neither did it show when she took a few steps towards Jennifer.

She raised only an eyebrow at the transformation, she had faced worst vampires then that. Besides this simply made it more interesting. Her face returned to blandness. "Well, we can't have you hurt anybody, because that wouldn't be fair for me besides Max has somewhere to be." Telekinesis wrapped around Jennifer and slammed her hard into one of the walls and then pinned her there.

Catherine turned to Max. "I think that nothing in this room will be in one piece whenwe are done. I hope that you aren't too attached to anything in here." Catherine then returned her gaze to Jennifer and let ideas flash through her mind about what she was going to do with Jennifer, there were simply too many possibilities and none of them were pleasant.

Max thought about telling Catherine about Jennifer as it occurred to him they had never actually spoken in depth about his fledglings. He thought better of it though, it would not be good to give Jennifer the sense that Max thought she would even be a match for Catherine, and beside Catherine always did like surprises.

He shook his head as she commented on the furniture in the room indicating that there was nothing special that needed to be spared and with that he melted into the soil beneath his feet following the man installed path to the surface where he would eventually locate Alex.

Meanwhile Jennifer noted Catherine taking inventory of ways to punish or even kill her and with a smile said, “Look we can be civilized about this can’t we. I have to imagine a slut like you possesses manners and maybe even a sense of fair play or challenge. Or is it you fear me and that is why you insist on not fighting like a real vampire.”

The indignation had not left her voice.

Catherine tilted her head to the side and frowned at the comment. "I beg to differ, little one. Vampires fight anyway they can and use their powers to their advantages, but if you insist on throwing puches at me..." Catherine shrugged and released her. A soft smile spread on her lips though it held no warmth. "If throwing punches can be civilized..."

Catherine wasn't worried. Yes her strength laid with the shadows, but now there were a lot more she could do with the shadows. "You see, young one. To win a fight it has to be taken to your advantage and that includes any power you might have accumulated." she then smirked in Jennifer's direction. "So tell me how am I a slut?"

Jennifer was relieved to be free of Catherine’s grip, but not comforted by the power that Catherine had demonstrated.

In a straight fight, there was no doubt to Jennifer that she would lose. Though she still had one more trick up her sleeve this was not the time to reveal it as it may be the only thing let her lives to fight another day.

Needing to keep Catherine talking, as she needed the time to figure out how to get out of the trap she walked into like some rank amateur she replied, continuing to speak with equal insolence. “I call you a slut because you didn’t even wait to get into Max’s bed and use your mind control over him to get him to do you bidding. You had to of, that is the only thing that could have gotten a man like that to deviate from such a great plan of redemption for the world. First, you fucked him and then you mind fucked him. Slut.”

Jennifer was still highly emotional and feeling the tension of the situation. This combination was leading to a highly erratic behavior pattern on her part.

“Tell me I am wrong, tell me,” she shouted.

Meanwhile, Max continued to traverse the soil feeling out for Alex. He had always maintained some semblance of a connection with his five and now it acted as radar.

Locating him Max made his way to the area where Alex was sitting quietly, as though waiting for something. Still in the soil and preparing to emerge, Max heard Alex quietly say, “Hello father.”

Catherine frowned at her. Was that what Jennifer thought? Did she honestly think that Catherine had taken control over Max's mind? Catherine would never do such a thing, unless the person completely deserved it and Max definitely didn't deserve it. "I would never do such a thing. Max made his own decisions and I played the part of trying to stop him, but he came to his own conlcusions. I did not push him in a different direction, besides getting him away from plan A." She then frowned. "I don't even know why I am trying to convince you. You clearly won't believe me, no matter what I say."

Catherine's eyes glanced over to her, though her entire body was ready. If Jennifer even moved a single finger, Catherine would mow her down. There was no way that Jennifer wold get away from her, no way.

The truth was that she really did think that Catherine had place some form of supernatural force on her sire to make him change the path he was pursuing. It was not conceivable that a relationship rooted in time three hundred years passing would be the catalyst for the change.

It was clear that Catherine was waiting for Jennifer to make the first move, though it was this point not required. Destroying Max’s first sired would be more palatable for Max if it could be shown that Jennifer had taken it too far.

There was nothing to lose at this point. “Has your lover told him everything he has done in the last couple hundred years? Do you think you really know him? He will betray you I guarantee it. Ask him about the boxes he left us when he left us alive. Where is he right now? Did it ever occur to you that he needed time to lull you into a false sense of security? That you, like me, are trapped now in this room that has no exit.”

She smiled, “Lady you have been had.”

Catherine listened attentively, filing away all information that would seem relevant. "Max was always a bit of a black sheep, but I really can't blame him for anything that he has done. Some vampires have done a lot worse, so I really don't hold him completely accountable."

Catherine shrugged. "Now you are simply trying to make me not trust him. Though perhaps I will ask about those boxes, simply because I'm curious." She placed a hand on her heart as if she was truly afflicted. "It's a curse, truly it is."

Trapped? Her? She could feel the shadow cross from side to side and knew that she had a means to escape. "I'm not trapped, that's where you are delusional. I got in without opening the doors and I'll leave without opening them. You are so close-minded. There is more than one way in and out of the room. You simply have to think outside of the box." She paused and turned an indifference look to Jennifer. "Something that you obviously overlooked."

Jennifer smiled a full and wicked smile. “No there is something you are missing.”

While Max was away it was true that the main data server was something she could not crack, but encoding her voice into his quarters was something she could make sure was still encoded.

Catherine’s voiceprint was not encoded; Max had not had the chance to set her up.

“Lights, full illumination and lock setting.” Upon that voice command, the lighting in the room flooded the rooms in the suites reducing the shadows to practically non-existent.

Catherine gave a sigh as the lights were turned on to full blast. She gave an annoyed sigh. There was somethings that were interesting about shadow walking that most vampires didn't know. She had practiced it over and over again and now shadows were a part of her, ingrained into her. This would get interesting all the same.

Catherine laughed. "You think shadows is all I have, child. It's someting that I love to use, but shadows are necessary to your demise. There is so much about me that you don't even know. I could kill you without even moving, but then again, where would the fun be in that."

Her shoulder, neck and back cracked as she shifted. Her body getting ready for a battle that was imminent. "I don't need shadows to ultimately destroy you."

“No I don’t suppose you do, do you?”

Jennifer knew that death was the most likely outcome of this meeting and the options seemed to be becoming fewer and fewer.

Suddenly a whirl of a camera came from somewhere in the room. Taking advantage of this, she added, “It looks like Max is looking to see if you did his dirty work yet. I always knew he did not have the balls to deal with me himself. Alec was an easy choice on his part, he always regretted turning him, but he needed a master criminal like him to achieve becoming the master criminal.”

The dialogue was coming easier now, “In fact, now that I think about it Catherine, how you will ever stop Max once I am gone. He is going to betray you; he has just biding his time until he could figure a way around you.”

She morphed back to her human form and calmly said, “Did you even see one dead body? Did you confirm anything he told you, or did you just take his word for it?”

Catherine looked at her, her eyes not betraying her inner turmoil. It would seem that she would have to have a word with Max about a few things, but now was not the time to show uncertainty. Jennifer had to die and that decision had been made ever since she had met the woman. If ever she had the chance to kill her, Catherine would.

She gave a sigh, that showed only mild annoyance. "He likes his children too much, you can't fault him for that, now can you?" Catherine herself was a motherly person by nature yet with Jennifer she had a problem a really big one. "Perhaps he won't kill Alec, maybe he'll decide to keep him. Considering that I haven't met Alec, perhaps I will actually like him. Who knows?"

Catherine thought over the question. "If Max ever betrays me, what I will do to you will seem like a day at the spa, with what I will have planned for Max." She gave Jennifer a smile that held no warmth.

"I trust him, I do not to see anything. If you trust someone the way I trust Max, you do not need proof. It's like the belief in God, you never see him, yet many people believe in him. This is the same thing and it seems that that will be something that you won't understand, ever." Catherine crossed her arms and watched Jennifer. She was a foolish child to begin with.

The momentum of this encounter was not going to move in favor of Jennifer, she had decided. So what would be her next move? She was not sure what it could be beyond attacking this elder vampire.

Meanwhile Max and Alex had been engaged in a conversation that enlightened Max as to Jennifer’s irrational rage, a rage that put her very life in jeopardy as they spoke this very moment. Alex was calm and did not desire confrontation with his sire.

It was clear to Max that all but Jennifer had accepted the deal he had made through his departing gifts. Alex told his tale of heartbreak to Max. He told him of what had been transpiring since he had left for his time with Catherine.

Understanding and empathy for Alex overcame Max who said, “Can you control her?”

Alex’s head fell, “In truth I do not know. Is she dead?”

Max put is hand on his shoulder, “I do not know let us go see.”

Catherine and Jennifer heard the lift in operation.

Catherine waited patiently, with her arms crossed. It seemed that Jennifer was torn between either attacking her or trying to find another way around her. There was no way around her. Catherine had all her powers at the ready. If Jennifer even tried to hit her, it would back lash. A pretty bad one too.

Catherine didn't know what to do and this waiting only made her able to plan her defense better. She had different ways to fight and perhaps a more painful les power taxing move would be in order. She liked the possibilities really she did.

The lift took her attention away. Though she still had an eye on Jennifer, most of her attention was diverted to the sound of the lift. "Now who do you think, would come pay us a visit?"