I looked out of the window into the streets. The sun was going down; soon it would be night.

I stepped out of the room and started going down the stairs to the first floor. The building had 2 floors plus there were stairs going up to the roof. This building was one of those half shop half home kind of places. The first floor had shelves and 2 small tables and in the middle of the main hal,l at the end of the room, there was a reception, to take orders it seemed. The second floor was overall for living only : there were 3 different bathrooms, 1 kitchen, 2 living rooms and another 5 rooms. All of them were already furnished. The place seemed very clean : someone had to be taking care of this place. The first floor also had a lot more rooms but they weren't anything special. Half of those rooms seemed to be for storage purposes, there was also one room that was a big workshop because it had a lot of electronic tools and some tools that i couldn't identify.

This building also had a back entrance, making it quite neat. The main entrance was in the reception room where showcase windows showed the insides of the room.

- My Lord, this building has wards that identify and record the individuals that come and go. It also keeps unwanted guests outside of the building. Moreover, keys aren't necessary either because the doors open at the owner's command.

I nodded and looked at the back door. I touched its handle and could see some faint light coming from the lock. It made a Ching kind of noise. The door unlocked and i was able to open it.

As i was about to leave, Leraje quickly stood next to the door and said :

- My Lord, do you want me to escort you ? Things could happen and you may need a hand or another pair of tools to use.

I took a glance at Leraje. He really seemed rigid and awkward sometimes, keeping his face blank all the time for some reason. Even if i only knew him since a few minutes ago , he can be a bit awkward to be around.

I turned to him. Leraje's posture was as always, very straight and it seemed like he was expecting to talk.

- First of all, don't call me Lord in the future; it can lead to quite a lot of misunderstandings. Just call me Dawn like everyone else.

I looked at his face; for a moment he didn't seem like a person, more like an object.

- Always talk out your own opinion. It doesn't matter if it is helpful or not; plain advice could also help and don't be so rigid, ask questions if you don't understand something not only to me but anyone else too and third...

I raised my palm to his face and said :

- If you figure out how i tied you onto that chair without you knowing, you can be my bodyguard. Until then, you are free to do anything until i call you understand ?

He nodded while making a bit of a troubled face but still, this is the first time i saw an expression on his face. He could become a good friend in time.

- Now, follow me ! We are gonna investigate a bit; you may be able to help me too.

And so, we left the building to the city of Los Angeles. I would be lying if i said i wasn't excited.

The city was bustling with so much noises coming from every direction that it made my head go dizzy. Once i left the building, i lowered my hearing sense somewhat to keep my head cool... the building seems to have other kinds of effects because when i was inside, i didn't hear anything. I looked at Leraje, walking beside me while keeping a passive face but i could see his eyes swirling around, curious of everything in our vicinity. He also asked me some questions when he couldn't keep it inside and i answered as best as i could.

We were walking down the street. If you asked where we were going, then it wasn't anywhere in particular. I was just looking to the people and using my hearing sense on them to see if their heart was beating normally or very slow. The reason i was doing that was because my last encounter with vampires led me to believe that their heartbeats were almost non existent. The sun wasn't down yet and i couldn't find anyone who had an abnormal heart rate. I didn't even know if vampires would come out at full night or not.

I sighed. Leraje seemed like he picked up some of my frustration.

- What is it my Lor... i mean Dawn.

I looked at him; he wasn't wearing his black mantle and hat and looked like a normal guy. He was 27 years old but his face looked like that of a 18 or 21 year old.

The people we were passing, especially the females, were looking back at us. I could sometimes hear some remarks about us, some nice, some very disturbing. I almost wanted to wear my mask again but forgot it at home.

- I am trying to find vampires.

Leraje made an ugly face as i said that.

- Why would someone like you want to find such vile and disgusting creatures ...?

I could literally feel the disgust in his voice. I dismissed that thought and said :

- It's for information i need from them. I heard that some big shot from russia came and started to plot something with the Los Angeles vampires. I am curious about what he wants; it is also kinda part of my job but i am not really supposed to do this... it is just more convenient that way.

He nodded to me and started thinking aloud :

- From my experience, vampires usually gather at places where they can get easy prey... Like a brothel, a bar or even a harbor sometimes.

He had a point but i am really not sure if a brothel could be found in the open here, as for a bar... We already passed 20 of those in this one street. It would take too much time to search something like that and the harbor was really out of question... Where else could it be ?

I sighed once again and stopped in my tracks. Leraje stopped too, pondering. My stomach started grumbling : i was starving.

I looked around to see if we could find some place to eat... Wait no ! For me to eat. Across the street there was a restaurant. It was called a wafflehouse and it was still open; decent amount of people were eating inside. There were a lot of people with their families in there too.

- Leraje, come. I need to eat something. Anyway, i don't think we are going to find anything today.

Leraje nodded and we started crossing the street. While we were walking, i saw a black dog sniffing around from the corner of my eyes. I almost dismissed it... Until i saw his glowing red eyes. I stopped walking and stared at it. It had mangled black fur, glowing red eyes and was easily twice as big as a normal dog. It was walking up the street, sniffing following some trail toward something. I was aghast for a moment but quickly came back to myself because the people that were passing the dog didn't seem to notice him at all or they just didn't care ? Wait a minute...

- Leraje, look at that and tell me what you are seeing ?

I pointed my finger towards the monstrosity of a dog. I wasn't even sure if it was a dog; it kinda reminded me of a hound because of its flat downwards ears.

Leraje looked at it, his face was still passive as if nothing was out of ordinary.

- Its a hound, a dog species; what about it ?

I was confused, was i seeing things ? I massaged my eyes for a moment and looked again... Nope, still a giant monster hound.

- Is anything wrong Dawn ?

Leraje looked puzzled and little worried too; i looked back at the dog. As if it was feeling my stare, the giant dog raised its head and looked towards me. When i saw its face, i almost wanted to puke : the hound's face was a mess. Flesh was missing at some places while fur was also not in the right places. Some parts didn't even seem to have skin at all. I looked back to the wafflehouse and started walking; it didn't have anything to do with me. I wasn't really scared of it but this odd appearance of a hound just reeked of trouble for sure.

- Is everything okay Dawn ?

- Yes.

Leraje squinted his eyes a bit and looked at the hound, crossing his arms. I was already starting to leave him behind so he let go of the issue and started walking too.

We then entered the wafflehouse.

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