Her work was done for the evening, but Mari didn't feel like leaving the office. It was a feeling she couldn't describe. A kind of extra sense, like how she would imagine an animal felt about an approaching storm. Something was not right. The air felt tense.
Dr. Marisol Harrison shared an office space with another therapist who saw people during the day. She was the only doctor in the city that held sessions at night. It was a gamble that had paid off. Most of her clients were vampires like herself, with the odd human here and there. She was getting more human clients though, the word spreading about the lovely female therapist who made everyone feel at ease. One human male had said that being around her felt like a shot of morphine. Of course this was right before he had asked her out, which she had turned down.

It wasn't that she was against humans as some of her kind, mainly the glymera, were. But an interspecies relationship just did not work. Many had tried, very very few had succeeded. Especially once their nature was discovered. Some humans were lucky and could have their memories removed and go on with their lives.
The ones whose minds could not be cleansed?
Many sacrifices had been made for the protection of the race.

It had been a miracle of the Scribe Virgin that Gage had been nearby when she had gone into transition. If he hadn't, Mari surely would have died from either pain or starvation. It had almost been too late once he had found her.
Picking up her shoulder bag, Mari locked the office and walked down to the street. She had enough time to stop by the all-night Chinese place before heading home. She put her head down and walked fast. This side of town was not awesome to walk in during the day not to mention at night. But this was the cheapest office space her and the other therapist could afford right now.

It was near an alley that a sickly sweet smell hit her nose. Her body went rigid.
No...
That sweet smell... like baby powder... the scent of Lessers.

She was about to hurry past the alley when the sound of fighting and cries of pain made her stop. Peering around the corner, she spotted around five Lessers surrounding a male vampire, beating him and demanding answers about The Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood? Mari's breath caught at the thought of the large powerful warriors who helped protect the race. No civilian vampires knew much about them, where they lived, how to contact them. It was safer that way. Or at least it was supposed to be.

Mari cringed at the smell and appearance of the Lessers. Pale hair, pale eyes, thin bodies... once the Omega took their soul the former humans paled out gradually until no color was left on them. They were impotent as well, unable to taste or feel pleasure. The Omega was a cruel master.
They would kill that male when they were done with him. She had to do something.
Rushing into a group of Lessers was not smart. She would end up dying too after being beaten. Fumbling in her bag she pulled out her cellphone. Human police did not frighten the Lessers, but the threat of exposure and the red tape of the human legal system was enough to get them to leave. She was in the process of speaking to 911 when she was spotted. She screamed as two came towards her. She pulled out her pepper spray, knowing it would not stop them but would slow them down.
The male begged her to run but she stood her ground, spraying the Lessers that came at her right in the eyes with the blinding spray.