Florence paced at the edge of the town. It was getting closer to dawn, and she see the nighttime sky grow just a hint brighter. Even though she disliked the daytime, she knew that was probably the best time to approach them. If she showed her face to them at night, they would probably be more suspicious. She continued pacing. Suddenly, her steps faltered when she heard a solitary voice tear through the silence. It was quite obviously distant, but her sharp hearing picked it up nonetheless.

[b]"...gone right into a human inn. There could be protectors anywhere!"[/b]

Fool. If she could hear him from where she stood, just imagine who else did. The town was probably crawling with Protectors just waiting for a chance like this; for some loudmouth vampire to show up at their doorstep. Florence shook her head and resumed her pacing, listening as the vampire continued his very audible shouting. Some part of her deep down wished she had his confidence, though. She wanted to be able to confront the Protectors and ask to be ID'd, but every time she had an opportunity she shied away.

[i]Not this time.[/i]

This time, she resolved to approach them at last. No matter how inwardly terrified she felt.

---

"Yo, Chris," Zach said, flicking his wrist in a cheery two-fingered salute. "Come to visit the boss today, too?" He reached into the McDonald's bag to retrieve a breakfast sandwich, which he tossed to Chris, and then gestured at a leather couch positioned across from where he was sitting. "Why don't you join me as we wait for him to rise from his eternal slumber?" He dug in the bag to draw out a second sandwich for himself, tore off the wrapper, and took a large bite, letting out a satisfied groan. It wasn't the most delicious food, but hey, what can you expect from a two dollar meal? As long as it filled Zach's rumbling stomach, that's all that mattered.