Anarchrist ---------- The Buchner Children's Home was not in a part of town the vampire had been to before, but she rode her quietly purring motorcycle through the sleet to it anyway. Slipping on the ice was a thrill of danger that just added to the cool chill sensation of the icy rain pouring through her shaved skull and down the neck of the raincoat that this night had replaced her customary leather jacket. Stashing her bike in the bushes around the back, quickly donning the wig and large tinted glasses, then returning to the side door, she jammed it a bit as she entered. Didn't hear any alarms go off, apparently Geeves had been right and this place wasn't what you'd call high security. People don't kidnap dying children very often.. the ransoms aren't gonna go that high. A nurse approached her and received her charming smile. "Can I help you find anything," and she responded, "I'm just here to visit my little sister, drove my bike through this weather cause it was the only time I had off... and you never know how much longer we have..." Presence helped the nurse to nod, and smile sadly, and wave the vampire on her way. She stalked on down the hall, melting sleet dripping off sleek vinyl trenchcoat. Peeking into a room, she saw a sleeping child, and visually guessed at his age by the size of the lump he made under the covers. Too young, that one. She stepped lightly across the hallway to the room opposite. Here a girl of about twelve, with wispy light brown hair in braids, was reading by dim lamplight... David Copperfield? A biography of the magician, maybe. Big book, anyhow, plain dark green cloth cover, the dustjacket had got lost somewhere. The vampire went closer, and thought maybe the girl was fourteen, her figure seemed mature, anyway. Good enough. A quick check of the chart at the foot of her bed, as the girl, still absorbed in her book, apparently took her visitor for a night nurse, or perhaps didn't notice her at all yet. Not long to live, for this one, completely antibiotic resistant strain of tuberculosis. Tragic. And she was fourteen as it turned out. Had been dying for four years, and it was almost over. The vampire hated to scare the girl, so she moved fast, burning blood that would soon be replaced anyway. Book plucked aside, hand clamped over mouth, teeth sunk into pale soft skin and drank.... the vampire released the girl's mouth once the blood began to flow, and the child clung to her savior, until so much of her life's blood had gone that she could no longer cling, but only lie limply.... at last, the vampire ran sharp fang along her wrist and opened the vein, letting droplets fall into the girl's mouth, then smiling as the girl clung again, this time sucking hungrily. She let the girl suckle until she felt the first faint twinges of the red hunger eating at her, knowing she did not wish to be out of control in this place, she stopped the girl, licking her own wrist then kissing the girl's red-stained lips. As one last gift to the child... now childe.... she drew the curtains and pulled the blinds tight. "Fear the sunlight now, little one," she said softly into the ear. "Now rest, you have all eternity before you..." Room after room the vampire visited, selecting a few for the dark gift she bore. Celerity and Presence served her well, though she also had to gag and restrain a few of the staff members, one of whom had a few doses of tranquilizer shot; she pocketed those. Perhaps they had got a good enough look at her to recognize her later, but she did not think so; Celerity made her a blur, and Presence lent her an otherworldly glow. And the curly auburn shoulder length wig, and light blue tinted lens glasses, made her look almost a completely different person. Her dreadlocked natural hair would fully regrow by day and she'd look like herself again tomorrow night. Down in the lower level, there were offices and the small morgue... sad to see such a place in a home for children, she thought. A young boy and girl were whispering in one of the offices. The vampire peeked in... listened for a few moments... to the sound of young, doomed love... and thought, how kind to save them now... give them eternity in each other's arms... quickly, she gave the girl a dose of the tranquilizer, and to the boy she gave the Kiss... drawing out most of his blood into her body, then burning a portion of it as she lifted both limp forms and carried them quickly to the morgue. She embraced each there, carefully making sure the tranquilizer would not lull her too into unconsciousness (it did not, though it felt deliciously relaxing) and feeding them enough not to be starving when they awoke... made tiny pierces into the wrists of each, and fed them one another's brand-new vitae, adding the start of a blood bond to their pre-existing passions... then wrapped them as though they were corpses and, as a last ironic joke, slipped them together into the refrigeration unit. She wondered what their names were, as she slipped out, reclaimed her bike and drove off in the freezing rain still coming down. She ditched her disguise where it would not be found, dropping the remains into an incinerator after ripping the wig and raincoat apart and breaking the glasses under her heel... then pulled her cap down over her bare skull again and returned to the latest temporary haven, work complete, just as the sky began to lighten. Ahh... she might very well find out, soon enough.