She pushed the door open, slowly, and saw Emily's sleeping figure safe in her bed. She lingered a moment longer until she was sure she saw the rise and fall of Emily's chest as she breathed. Emily was fine, and just hadn't heard anything. Mary shook away a sudden disappointment. It wasn't as if she'd called for help. Besides, she'd rather Emily be safe and dreaming than on the pointy end of a pair of fangs. Mary pulled the door shut and it squeaked on its hinges.

Emily: "Mary...? What's wrong? Is everything okay?"
Mary: "It's fine, Em, go back to sleep. I didn't mean to wake you."

She closed Emily's door and headed for the bathroom. A moment later and she stepped into a scalding hot shower and stayed until the water ran cold in the dark, her own thunderstorm in the sanctuary of her bathroom. Her nerves had began to calm, but there was no chance of any more sleep that night.

She padded back to her bedroom, tentatively checking the closets and under the bed, her nightly ritual. Usually she expected to find serial killers or a burgaler, if anything. Not monsters. Though for all she knew, the vampire was one in the same.

She got dressed, then picked up her notebook and opened it to the first page.

She keept extensive notes on all of her vampire research and on the first page had created a master list of the most prolific vampire traits as well as what she'd seen with her own eyes. She picked up a pen and crossed out 'Needs an invitation to enter a home' and 'Can be burned by holy water.'

She frowned at the list decided not to cross out 'Held at bay and/or burned by crosses/crucifixes' just yet. She didn't want to risk discounting a possible defense if it turned out she just got a bad batch of holy water. Could be the priest was just being lazy.

Mary: "I wonder if I could sue for fraud or something..."

She flipped to the next page and stared at the empty lines, contemplating.

The Kidnapper Vampire is working for someone.

The Kidnapper Vampire knew about the Rabid Circus Freak Vampire.

Andy knew about Rabid Circus Freak Vampire AND the Kidnapper Vampire, but didn't seem to know about the other three kidnappers Mary had made up. He'd also gone along with her when she said she'd received no injuries, even though he'd seen her when she returned from captivity. Was he just trying to be polite? And if he supposedly had people looking into the kidnapping, how could he not know whether "his people" were looking for two or five kidnappers? Was he just busy and insincere, or was there more going on?

Mary drew on the paper, first the Kidnapper Vampire, with an arrow pointing to the Rabid Circus Freak Vampire. On the other side, Andy, with an arrow pointing to the Rabid Circus Freak Vampire. Then a dollar sign, with an arrow pointing to The Kidnapper Vampire. Finally, she connected the dollar sign with Andy's name.

She let out a breath sharply that she hadn't even realized she was holding. Now that that was settled, she could move onto the question that was really bothering her, the answer to which was not in any of her books - why the hell was the Rabid Circus Freak Vampire blue??