Savannah walked through the darkened  streets of  Brooklyn, NY  wearing her usual  black leather skirt, and red corset with a loose fitting jacket. Her twin guns hidden in her shoulder holsters,  when she lifted her head hearing footsteps behind her. She was still on edge after the attack only months before when Max had his goons beat and rape her badly in the alley along the club he owned,  she also knew she needed to get some new bodyguards and was told of a place that she recruit them from. 

Looking behind her, a shiver ran down her spine that made her blood boil. It was something she felt so many years before and pushed it aside 

And on the other side of Brooklyn...

Katherine Pierce was chasing for young blood. She looked at the dead face of her young victim. It reminded her of her own past. Back in 1467 she was born and grown up to really beautiful girl. Katerina Petrova was her name. Then...she ran on him. One of vampire founders. His skin pale ,eyes gray, his coldness attracted other girls. But he only wanted Katerina. She is the one to brake curse...

Her bitter memories got in her cold heart,but mind pushed them aside as she drank last drop of victims blood. 

Lifting her hand through her long black hair, she moved silently with a soft sway of her hips  and a click of her heels upon the sidewalk. Sava had knew it would be only matter of time before Max would find her again but this time she was ready for, stronger and much more faster than before. But first she needed those damn Bodyguards, She frowned slightly as she gripped her stomach and leant against the wall, hunger took over her and pushed it aside  as she turned the corner and headed to a cafe to grab something to settle herself  

Anita holstered her browning pistol, and looked down at the body in front of her. Most of the head was completely gone and she could see the pavement through the hole in its chest where its heart had once been. Most people thought the only way to kill a vampire was to stake it through the heart, Anita knew different. Silver buillets and destroy the brain and the heart and only the very oldest of vamps stood a chance of regenerating that much damage. This was her 4th execution in as many days, there seemed to be something happening in the city, seperating vampires from their masters and turning them bad. It was only a few short months ago that Anita had believed that all Vampires were evil blood sucking monsters, but now she new the truth. Vampires could be just as good or evil as any human, and most were happy to live out eternity in peace. It had been Jean-Claude, master of St Louis that had changed her mind.

At 5'3" she was probably the smallest of the government sactioned executioners, but she was definately one of the most feared. Her long, curly black hair reached to her waist, framing her pale face and deep brown eyes. Her slender but curvy figure had earned her the nick name of 'Ma Petit' from Jean-Claude, a name that she had fought hard for him not to call her, but that had slowly changed as she fell in love with him. Who'd have thought it, Anita Blake, the woman that Vampires called 'the Executioner' in love with a vampire. She stepped back from the expanding pool of blood, her black Nikes with the red swoosh and black jeans perfectly hiding the small amout of splatter that was enevitable from an exectution at this close range. Walking out of the alley at the back of Nick's Diner, she noticed another woman hurring down the street, sticking to the shadows, obviously trying to hide. Anita studied the figure for a moment, before she was sure the woman wasn't coming for her.

After a few hours, Sava found the club walking up to the door with a sway of her full hips. She reached out and wrapped her fingers around the handle and pulled open the door. Letting out a soft sigh as her stomach growled again, her eyes scanning the area for the bar at least. When a guy came up to her 

"Miss Savannah Dubrinsky, i gather please follow me i have found the two guys we spoke about on the telephone"

"Thank you Klaus, your a true friend but also can you bring me a sandwich as well seeing i left the house all day without any food"

"why of course " Clicking his fingers as the waiter nodded 

Crossing the street, Anita picked up the reciever of one of the 25,000 pay phones in New York City and rang the operator.

"Hello, Operator."

"Yeah, I nead long distance, St Louis 5538 please"

"One moment please, connecting, please insert 25c for the first 5 minutes."

Anita drop the coin into the slot, and the phone was answered moments later by the usual brusk tone of Lt Rudolph Storr, or Dolph as he preferred to be called.

"Yeah?"

"It's Anita, Dolph, Markus Wagner is dead. I couldn't get anything out of him about what's going on though."

"Keep at it Blake."

Dolph had hung up, just like he always did, without even a goodbye. Anita shrugged her shoulders and replaced the reciever. Pulling out the next wanted bill, she looked at the picture and name. A female, known as the Ruthless Queen, formerly Katerina Petrova. So far she had killed 5 humans and that number was rising all the time. She was old, almost 500 years dead, but she'd never be a Master. Some vamps, no matter how old they were, would never have that power. Now it was time for Anita to make sure Petrova never had a chance to.

Walking to the back booth, Sava sat down and crossed her legs as she waited for both her sandwich and the two bodyguard. Running a tongue over her perfect teeth and lean't back, when her phone rang flipping it open as she lifted it to her ear. A deep rich voice of one of her people, she knew in an instant it was her guardian Gregori 

"Savannah, are you alright i just heard that Anton was killed. I'm coming to NY  now to find you"

 She sighed softly,  before she replied "Gregori, please stop treating me as a child i am not your life mate " A shiver ran down her spine as she heard him growl in frustration

"Damn it Savannah, i gave my loyalty to your father and mother the day you were born  to protect you from all those out to kill our people"

"Fine Gregori, but for your information i am finding another two men that are of our people to be the replacements to my guards" she buckled over and clutched her stomach the pain was worse this time. As beads of sweat lined her brow, he knew of this 

"The hunger, is rising my child you will soon need to feed as you will grow weaker "

Anita knocked on the door of an apartment building in Queens. The whole street had been lined with identical apartment blocks, and it had taken her some time to determine which one was the right one. Standing at the door, she knew this was the right one. Her senses tingled as her inate abilities seeked out the dead. There may not be a vampire currently in this apartment, but there was definately a corpse. She could feel it calling to her, caressing her mind like a lover, willing her to raise it up. As a teenager she wouldn't have been able to control her necromancy, and the corpse would have risen, just as her pet dog had risen and followed her to school, its white sightless eyes and black swollen tongue lolling in its mouth still haunted her dreams from time to time.

Putting her shoulder to the door, the wood splintered and gave way. There were definate advantages to bearing the marks of a Master Vampire. She shone her torch around the cramped apartment. The curtains were open, and a body lay just inside the sitting room. Drawing her browning, Anita entered the room. Laying on the floor was a man's corpse, reaching for the open curtains. The bottoms of the curtains, the wall up to the sill and the carpet around the window were all burnt. Half way up the curtains two large burn patches were also evident. Anita knew what had happened. Self immolation by sunlight, the last desperate act of a Vampire gone mad. The man must have been the Vamp's human servant, bound in death as in life. This would make things more difficult. None of the Vamps she'd killed had given much away, but suicide had rulled out any chance of getting info from Petrova. Anita sighed.

Reaching into her bag, she took out a bag of salt, before removing the machette from her hip. Bending down she searched the man and removed his wallet. Karl Jackett. Standing up she grabbed the machette and drew it across the palm of her left hand. Letting the blood drip on to the floor. Slowly she walked a circle around the corpse. As she felt the circle close, the power called to her.

"Karl Jackett, I call to you. With Blood I call you. With Steel I call you. With my power I bind you. Rise Karl Jackett. Rise from your sleep and do my bidding."

Like a marionette, Karl rose from the floor and stood before her, his sightless eyes staring unwaveringly. Anita rased her bleeding hand to his mouth and pressed the wound to his lips. Almost immediately the corpse gripped her arm and held it in place as it drank from the wound.

"With blood I bind you. Come to me Karl, answer my questions."

Anita felt the power surge out like an invisable shockwave, and the sightless eyes changed to a pale blue, the slack features took on the look of the living, and Karl drew a deep shuddering breath. He was dead of course, and didn't need to breath, but the brain did funny things, it remembered the body needed to breath, and therefore it forced the lungs to draw breath. Anita pulled her hand free and looked at the corpse, waiting.

"Wha...what happened? Where am I?"

"Karl, I'm Anita blake. I'm sorry, but you are dead. Your master killed herself, and her death consumed you both. I need to ask you some questions, would that be OK?

Karl looked confused for a second before licking his lips and nodding.

"Thank you Karl. Was your Master the Ruthless Queen?"

"Yes"

"Why did she kill herself?"

"Her sister... she tried to protect her sister, but she failed. Savannah Dubrinsky, is her name. She's here in New york. She has a contact at the Incubus Club. You must save Savannah, please."

Anita nodded. She had what she needed.

"Ok Karl, I need to return you to your final rest now. Is that ok?"

The zombie nodded. Anita reached for the salt and sprinkled some around the circle of power and the corpse.

"Karl Jackett, with salt I bind you, with steel I bind you, with blood I bind you. Sleep, return to your grave and sleep. Your work is done."

Anita wiped the machette across Karl's forehead, smearing her blood on his lightly tanned skin. Silently Karl's features returned to that of a corpse, and he slumped to the floor, once more dead. Gathering her belongings, Anita left the apartment.

Two big guards, came closer as Sava looked up  her brown eyes danced over their bodies. biting her lip nervously as her hand reached up to her throat and her heart beating faster. Gregori was right the hunger rose deep within her body,panicking slightly as she reached down and picked up the sandwich 

"you Savannah, we was told you were looking for us to guard you from a Max von Swartz" 

She nodded her head, shivers ran down her spine as she reached for her gun "Someone is watching me guys" A figure stood in the doorway, in the darkness but then spoke in a deep rich voice 

"Gentle m'lady Savannah, i do not wish you any harm "

Anita stood on the sidewalk and considered her options. She really should phone Dolph back and inform him of the changes in the investigation. There was a new name now, and a firm location. That was the one good thing about the dead, they didn't lie, well at least not to the person who raised them. Having said that, this Savannah Dubrinsky may have nothing at all to do with the case other than being related to the Ruthless Queen. This brought up another point, if this Savannah lady was related, then that could put her at 500 years old as well. The Master of New York had mentioned nothing about two such powerful vampires running about his city. If he didn't know they were here, that that meant that both were more powerful than she had assumed. Naw, things were moving too fast to risk phoning Dolph again. Flagging a taxi, Anita got in.

"The Incubus club."

The driver looked shocked.

"You sure you want to go there miss, I don't think its your kind of place?"

"Trust me, I've been in worse places."

The cabbie shrugged and pulled from the side of the road into the rest of the street traffic.

She pushed up out of the seat and growled low "who the fuck are you Sir, and come out into the light where i can see you" A smirk appeared upon his lips, he could see her anger and also the hunger maybe he could us it to advantage  as her thought to himself. Savannah picked up the thought "Don't even think about it Sir, you would be dead by the time i leave the club

Anita stood outside the club as the taxi pulled away. There was no indecation from the outside that it was a club, and that immediately set alarm bells ringing. Checking that her browning was still securely in the custome shoulder holster, Anita reached out for the door and went inside. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the gloom of the barely lit interior. There weren't many people in. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long.

He stepped from the darkness and smiled, as he made his way over to the table and sat down

 "The same old Sava,  still stubborn as ever "

Sava smiled when she recognized, her father's brother Julian "Damn it Julian, don't ever do that again. Scaring the hell out of me with both you and Gregori, can give a girl a heart attack " Julian laughed as he clicked his fingers for a bottle of Carpathian red wine and two glasses .  

"You know me, mon cherie always the joker of our people. It's not why i brought you here as well as your bodyguards, i must inform you that Max is on the prowl again but i have some of the leopards out watching his every move" 

Anita sat at the bar and ordered a glass of orange juice. There was no point in dulling her senses with Alcohol. She looked around the almost empty bar, her heightened senses cutting through the gloom. A young lady sat in a booth at the back surrounded by powerfully built men, and whatever the conversation, they weren't chatting her up. Anita couldn't be certain, but she was willing to bet that this woman was either Savannah Dubrinsky , or knew where she was. She drained her glass and asked for another as she continued to watch.

Lifting her eyes, catching someone watching her from the bar a shiver ran down her spine wondering if it was a spy of Max's and motions one of her guards to go to the bar and bring the girl closer 

"bring her here now, i want to know what the hell is she watching me for" He nodded as Julian turns his head and watched the guard walk over to the woman

"Miss Dubrinsky, would like you to come to the table miss"

Anita watches the man approach without actually staring at him, toying with the miniature umbrella in her fruit juice. When he speaks she looks up suddenly as if startled.

"Miss who? Sorry i don't swing that way, I'm a strictly girl on guy kind of girl."

He laughed "nor does she , but if you follow me. Savannah is a little  confused on why you were looking over at her table" 

"What if I don't want to go? I'm sorry if this Savannah person thought I was staring at her, I was just having a look around, i've never been here before."

Anita was glad to have her suspicions confirmed, but there was no point in walking straight into the lion's den, that would just confirm her guilt.

Savannah watched from the distance, and got up  brushing her hair from her eyes as she walked silently towards the girl followed by her other guard and Julian.

"Pray tell on who you work for " clenching her fist as she felt the anger rise within her