Another 100 years had passed since his encounter with Catherine thwarted his plans leaving him battered, but ultimately happy in her arms, but something had gone terribly wrong. Maybe it was a sub-conscious resentment, maybe the gods just did not want them to be together, or maybe he just could not make her happy but whatever the reason they parted ways.

It seemed appropriate, he deserved punishment for his losing his way all those years ago, but now on his 400th birthday he stood in the ruins of the park he hunted in all of those years ago; the park where he had reunited with her.

The hour was nearing midnight. It was warm and the rain was pouring down hammering down on the remains of a foundation that had once been the park’s central feature, the clock tower. The light of the moon was pushing through providing some illumination on his weathered figure.

Max no longer looked the part of the stylish man nor that of the beast, but rather a bit of both. His taste in expensive things seemed to abandon him and he was back in blue jeans, t-shirt, boots and a basic leather jacket.

He stood there hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, the rain coating him. He stood there thinking on it all.

Catherine had barely left the city. Demaitre was her home and after all these years, especially after ridding herself of all her sire's possessions she was now free to do as she pleased and quite rich too. So instead of traveling the globe and making sure that everything was in order at each place, she would and would start over, every fifty years. It was tiring and cost quite a bit of money, sometimes she could difficultly afford the trip. Now by selling most of it, she was rich and didn't have to worry.

She was outside on a rainy night a kinetic shield protecting her head from the rain. There were few people out and none would notice that the vampiress' hair wasn't getting wet, nor was anything else that she was wearing. Catherine didn't care, because she could easily fix it with her mind, she wasn't shy of using her powers, but was careful not to use them too much. Besides the kinetic shield used to almost no energy, so it was easy for her to set up.

So now, Catherine had almost everything her heart desired, yet only one thing remained that she still had had no luck with. Love. Where was the fleeting emotion? She wanted so much for someone the love her, yet it seemed almost impossible. Every time thing s seemed to be going great something would happen to push them apart. Was she meant to be unlucky in that aspect of her life, for the rest of eternity or would someone come along that would change that? No one knew what the future held.

Just as it would be her luck, she noticed Max letting the rain roll down his clothe and out of care for this man that she had loved and still loved, she kindly extended her shield. "You are lucky you're a vampire, or else you would catch your death out here."

He knew she was there, how could he not.

However, her joke was lost on him, as was her kindness, at that moment. All he could do was stair at that foundation. The foundation seemed to be a metaphor for him; though a tower had risen and fell upon it, it remained weathered by age. That is how he felt at that moment, risen and fallen weathered by age.

Max finally understood what the elder vampires had been telling him all of those years ago. He could not turn his head, look at her, but he spoke all the same.

“I was going to call on you, but I needed to come here first. There is just something about this place for me. Besides it looks like you still have that knack for knowing when I come to town.”

He was truly glad she was there, it was something, but the timing left him at a loss. Max had not been able in all the time it took him to walk back to Demaitre of a single thing to say to her, and that is what hurt the most.

His appearance also left him a little self-conscious as well. He was back to being the pauper fledgling by the look of him, not being able to use his money since he left, it felt tainted for some reason. It reminded him of the fact he slaughtered his fledglings and theirs and so on. It appeared he still had a conscious and that vexed him so at this point in his life seeing so many of his fellow vampires unencumbered by it. Why did he still carry mortal values after all of this time?

“I am glad to see you.”

Catherine knew that that night had changed him and he was no longer the man that she had met before, yet every single being deserved kindness no matter how wicked they had been. She knew his past, yet he knew none of hers, she had always been willing to share, but didn't want to add to his already heavily burdened shoulders. He carried so much already, she could keep her past to herself.

She smiled and shook her head. "It simply seems that way. I was simply out for a night time stroll, taking time to enjoy the beautiful warm night, despite the light rain." It was no obstacle to her powers, though she did hope for something more grand and more enticing, though she would have to wait.

Amusement flickered on her face as she came to stand next to him, looking at the clock tower. "How can you be happy to see me, if you don't even look at me Max?" She knew that she hadn't changed and neither had he, but she simply wanted to see his face. It was a simple request, yet she wanted him to look at her. Perhaps it was much to ask, yet she still asked it.

Look at her, good god how could he look at her.

Max pulled his left hand out of his jacket pocket and brushed his hair out of his face and past his ears, which were not slightly pointier similar but not as sharp as his alter ego.

Slowly he turned towards her with his face still facing the ground and looked up into her face. His features were sharper more defined, more blended with the beasts. It was not hideous but it was clearly noticeable.

He opened his mouth to speak and his teeth had the blended appearance of mortal and bestial teeth, with clearly defined canines.

“I can be happy you are here Catherine, even if I am uncomfortable with the timing of our meeting.”

Catherine simply looked at him. There was nothing but pure joy at being able to see him, it didn't matter what he looked like, or what he had become, he was simply here now and that was all that mattered. She brushed his cheek with her hand. "Well isn't that better, I would much prefer to see your face then your back. It's much more attractive and it's better to talk to."

Their meeting untimely? She hoped that he hadn't gotten into anymore mischief he had gone through that enough and she simply wanted him to be happy and yet something seemed to always step in his way and well as hers. "How is it untimely?" She had been happy to see him and still was, yet now she was worried as well as concerned. What was going on? "What did you get yourself into?"

Max smiled, well as close to a smile as his new features allowed him to, and answered, “What makes you think that I have gotten myself into trouble?”

Of course, he realized that answer was obvious. He kicked the dirt beneath his feet with a chuckle.

“So how have you been?”

He just shook his head, could he really of just said that. What was next out his mouth, it looks like rain.

Catherine shrugged and then answered sarcastically. "Oh I don't know, the other dozen times that you have come back to Demaitre trouble trailing not far behind. What is it this time Max? Spies, vampires, the mafia?" She wasn't afraid of any of them, she could hold her own against any vampire near her age and everything was a piece of cake.

She returned his smile. "You should smile more, it lightens your face." She hesitated before answering and plowed ahead. "Been somewhat bored without you around, hanged out with chi for awhile. I think she would like to see you. She mentioned that you were in some kind of trouble, but didn't elaborate." She continued to simply stare at him. "So Max, what's going on?"

Chi, now there was a name he had not spoken in centuries. “I hope she is doing well, perhaps I will see her.”

“Did Thefarie ever come back to the city? Is he around?”

He had not seen either ancient since he had left all those many years ago.

Max smiled, “There is nothing this time, not really. Since we parted, I have wandered aimlessly around the Americas. It is funny really, I have kind of gone old 1990’s television; the vampire who helps people.”

Turning head away, “the only problem is I came to use my power a lot in doing so and may have made a few enemies here and there, but the good I did outweighs that issue. The only thing is the developing integration of my two sides into this one.”

“So how have you been doing?”

Catherine shrugged. "The last time I talked to Chi, she hadn't seen him in quite some time. Then again I talked to her about a month ago." She smiled. "She would like to see you too. She said something about going to try to track you down, if you didn't visit her. I don't doubt that she could do it. She is doing very well, getting in her seventh millenia, well she keeps saying so. I suppose that I have to believe her, she keeps telling me about stories of her youth and some of them are really interesting. I'm sure that she would love to see you."

Catherine smiled. "I'm glad that you seemed to have straightened out. No offense to you, but we all go through that phase. The one where we help complete strangers and bring good to this world." She paused a moment and then continued. "Alright, perhaps not all vampires do it, but quite a few do. I still do it."

"Haven't really done much in the past few years, still alone and looking out for a few people that I know, most of them undead and still quite young." She looked at him. "so what brought you back to Demaitre."

“I really don’t know why I am back to tell the truth, it is where our kind congregate and I missed feeling normal if that makes any sense. Out there our kind is the anomaly, sure there are pocket covens and gangs, but it isn’t like our city.”

The rain began to let up slightly as though reflecting the lightening of his mood and he smiled.

“Besides this is where my stuff is, I hope. I am tired of being an immortal vagabond and would just like to reclaim some semblance of a life. My company still exists and still owns the land with the complex even though it has gone a bit derelict.”

He looked at her, “Do you think it would make a good suburb, it looks like the city is finally reaching its borders?”

Catherine nodded, understanding. "I know what you mean. Even all my years in Europe, nothing can compare to the feeling of the city. It's truly undead in feeling and perhaps why there are so many of us here. It's the vampire capital of the world. There is nowhere else where we would feel truly at home, but here."

Catherine beamed at him. "Oh please stay and don't go, I would be truly sad if you left again." She didn't tell him that she had cried the few other times he had left, there was no need for him to go again. She really wanted him to stay here for good, at least for awhile and if he did leave, she wanted to go with him this time.

She continued to smile at him. "I think so, but it's a bit of an industrial place, are you seriously going to live there." She wasn't going to tell him that she had been back at the compound and had cleaned up everything, making sure that whenever he returned, it would cleaned. Anyways as much as she could keep it. She may be a vampire, but she was still only one person.

Max truly surprised by Catherine’s reaction and her desire for him to stay in the city stood there dumbfounded for a brief moment.

Could she really have missed him? He was not sure that was possible.

So he cleared his throat, “It is a bit industrial on top, but I am talking about the apartment caves beneath. I am thinking about redevelopment, putting up family homes, maybe a little park, and shopping area to bring in some life around me. I of course would build a large dwelling on the elevator site.”

“It would serve many purposes nicely.”

Had Catherine missed him? What kind of question was that? Of course she had missed him. She was a vampire, but she had emotions and desires and wants like everybody else. This therefore meant that she could miss people and she had missed him, no matter what he thought of her as a vampire. She counted him as one of her most important friends, one that she was close to. Over the years she had meant a lot of people, yet her love of the mortals often meant that they died and she didn't. To alleviate such sadness, she spent her time more and more with immortals and lately with Chi, the ancient had much wisdom to impart that Catherine was grateful for.

Catherine eyes lit up. Houses would be people, probably mortals and that would be families, which would mean children. That was probably the one thing that Catherine regretted from being an immortal, her inability to have children, though she loved them dearly. "You mean with families and children?" She hoped that he would say yes. How she would love to spend times with the children, granted she would only come out at sundown, but still simply knowing that they were around would be wonderful.

“Yeah rows of houses filled with mommies, daddies, kids, dogs, cats, and maybe even the crazy uncle or aunt thrown in there or laughs,” Max replied.

Well the idea seem to meet with a favorable response, even though her reasons were different from his it was still nice to hear some positive energy thrown behind the response.

Still smiling, Max nudged his head towards the old complex direction and said, “Walk with me the old place?”

He was hoping that the place was still operable enough to give him a shower and a decent enough sleep. Tired, but recently fed, Max was just ready to stop moving for a time. He was ready to learn the technology and culture of this century and to reintegrate into a society. Sure, he had picked up what everyone had over the years, but he had not really studied in depth its infrastructure and the human factors that drove it.

Catherine was truly happy and even ecstatic. This would be wonderful, a residential area with rows of houses and families. It would be fun to truly be part of a community again. It would be wonderful. "That sounds wonderful, it would provide at least homes for hundreds of people and provide places to stay near the city, instead of an industrial power plant. Well that's what it looks like anyways."

She walked instep with him on the way back to the place that he had built and that could be considered his home near the city of vampires. "You know, I went to the 'old-place' as you call it to clean up a bit. With time things break and things fall apart, so I did what I could to keep the place in shape, yet I don't have the technological knowledge of this time to really do any major fixing." She had needed to do something and that had seemed appropriate when she had too much spare time and little to do. It would be fun to help someone out and keep busy.

Max again amazed at Catherine’s statement continued to walk. She had decided to take the time to maintain property that was not hers, that was his. It was clear now that he was a fool allowing whatever it was that pushed him out the door and back on the open road to keep him from going back.

“Thanks Catherine, it is good to know”

He did not really care about the complex on top that was just derelict property. In fact, the government might have reclaimed it by now, but he knew they had not. They continued to walk in the sound of the falling rain, Catherine’s shield keeping them dry.

“Well I think that will be the project that follows cavern reclamation then.”

In his wanderings down south he had saved a man that turned out to be a contractor and picked up some knowledge about the industry; this time with him gave him the idea.

Catherine was happy to help and when she had little to do, she liked to keep busy. Their was an entire complex that needed to be looked after and she was more than willing than to keep it in shape as best she could. She read books and learned what she could to make sure that everything worked fine, as best to her abilities. Catherine brushed away his thanks. "You don't have to thank me. I did it because I love to help." It was also because she loved especially to help him, yet she didn't know where they stood as of yet. They had been separated for one hundred years.

Catherine knew that she wanted to be part of this, perhaps not a front runner, but perhaps some that did some sort of job. They only problem was that today people used technology and she wasn't the best with technology. "Is there something I can do to help in any way? I really want to." It could be anything and she was ready to learn to do anything she could to help. "Perhaps to help decorate the model home or something?"

Turning back giving her a wink he said, “Catherine you can be as involved as you desire.”

Suddenly a glint caught his eye putting a smile on his face. Walking over he found the tube door to where he kept his car all of those years ago. Accessing the panel he stepped in to see the car sitting their waiting for new life.

It would have to wait as Max turned to the opposite wall and coded in the subterranean elevator to rise to the level they were standing at.

“Our apartments are most likely need of work but they should be safe.”

The hum ceased and doors opened in the stone to an elevator compartment. He stepped in waiting for Catherine to join him.

Catherine beamed at him with a beautiful smile that lit up her face. "Thanks." She could use something to do. He was back so he would take care of the technology aspect of the complex and she could be the decorator. She would enjoy this, her apartment was completely decorated and she thought that she would go insane if she didn't have something to do. She didn't want to redecorate again for the fourth time in her time in that apartment. She had spent the last fifty years there and redecorating again would put a dent into her savings. She had expensive taste.

She followed him into the complex, looking at the car before watching him step up towards the panel and into the elevator. She followed him without question, he was one of her older friends and she had missed him dearly. She wanted to hear about what he had done since he had left killing everything from his old life. She wouldn't mention that incident, it had marked him quite deeply. She would wait until he was ready.