Slade and Leona walked into Gustaf's office and found Gustaf and Andrei still embroiled in conflict. It was as if they never changed places from the night before. The storm of words raged on in Romani and Slade felt so out of place. Leona entered and slammed the office door hard creating an interruption that stopped the men. They turned to look at her and glared at her strong enough to freeze her movement. "Will you two stop arguing, so we can tell you the news about Connie?" Leona injected loudly in Romani.

"What happened now?" Gustaf threw at her.

"She will be coming home from the hospital soon. Her broken bones are healed and all other injuries are gone. Whatever was done worked too well." Slade told them.

"Oh, no that is good news, but also bad. It means we did too good a job and her transition has begun long before it should." Andrei added. "She must be told tonight, before it goes too far. Who will tell her? She also needs someone to mentor her on the transition and help her."

"Leona will be a good mentor for her. I am not sure who should tell her. It can be a very traumatic time and be very emotional. She may be angry at first, but she will regret her choice, then accept it all and move on with her new life." Gustaf sadly reported.

"Slade and I will go to her hospital bed and tell her. He is her partner and close friend. I have met her and know how I felt when Andrei turned me." Leona told them. "I will work with her while she changes and bring her to her new life."

"Well, it is settled then. We can get on with our business and get Connie into the vampire world to join us here." Gustaf happily said.

Slade questioned his enthusiasm, "What if she wants to stay a police woman and work with me? She could be an asset and a good liaison between the human and vampire communities. Something we all need."

"True, detective, we need to foster and strengthen that relationship and make it grow. Having her remain as your partner will work well for both of us." Andrei spoke earnestly in a feeling of true harmony.

"Let's just let her decide what happens, after she hears the news and gets on with her life." Slade injected with Leona agreeing.

Gustaf and Andrei nooded their heads in agreement. The foursome sat down around a small coffee table and had tea and coffee before Slade and Leona had to leave. They exchanged views and ideas of how to tell Connie, but nothing devious would work. It felt better to come right out and tell her what happened. As long as Slade was there, things should be fine. Connie loved Slade and he was her rock. The time spent between Leona and Slade the night before certainly complicated matters now. Gustaf and Andrei suspected there was something more, but did not press the issue. Slade and Leona left to go visit Connie with the news and Gustaf stared at Andrei.

"What is going on between Slade and Leona?" Gustaf asked Andrei.

"I don't know but it might interfere with our plans for Connie." Andrei replied.

Slade and Leona walked into the hospital and went straight to Connie's room. When they got there, her bed was empty and the guards waited outside the room. Slade heard the shower running and knew that Connie was in there. Her only method of cleaning up for the past few weeks was a bed bath every few days. These did not get her as clean as she liked. Now with her casts removed, she could shower and get clean again. She wanted to look her best for Slade, when he came to visit later. She did not know he waited for her outside in her room with Leona. The shower stopped and almost immediately the door to the bathroom opened and Connie emerged naked drying her hair. She saw Slade, stopped, dropped her towel and ran into his arms. Slade hugged her and kissed her chastely on her cheek. Slowly his eyes looked at Leona and Connie turned her head to see her standing there watching. Connie quickly removed her arms from around Slade, ran to pick up her towel and covered up her nudity. The visible parts of her body turned a bright glowing red with embarrassment and she went back in the bathroom to finish drying off. In ten minutes, she came out of the bathroom in a clean simple hospital gown and her hair wrapped in a towel. She went to the bed and sat demurely on the edge of the mattress.

She tried to speak, but the words stuck in her throat, "Sssorry, you surprised me by your visit. I expected you would come later."

Slade, looking embarrassed still, replied, "We thought to come early to catch you while you were still awake."

Slade sat in one of the stiff backed visitor's chairs. Leona sat in the comfortable visitor's chair next to Connie. Connie looked at them and knew this visit was not just a social one.

"OK, out with it. What is going on?" Connie almost yelled as the tension in the room rose rapidly.

Slade looked at Connie, started to speak, but looked at Leona and nodded signaling it was her turn to speak.

"We have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" Leona began.

Connie looked confused, but answered, "Just put it all out there. I can take it all right now."

Leona looked at Slade and over to Connie and said, "The good news is the sharing of blood worked. You are healed and ready to go home. The bad news is the blood sharing worked too well and you will become a vampire in a few weeks."

Connie jumped off the bed, ran to Slade fell into his arms and cried, "Why did it happen? Why did you let them do it to me?" She pounded on his chest with her fists. "I don't want to be a creature of the night, a monster. I want to be human and spend my time with you solving cases, living with you every day. What will I do?"

Connie beat on Slade, pounding on him as if he were the cause of her plight. Her pounding slowed as her feelings of utter helplessness and despair rose and wracked her body with huge sobs and tearful gasps. She shook as she fell against him and held on to him wanting his strength and resolve. His arms slowly encircled her and held her loosely to him. He watched helpless to comfort or give solace to this woman who loved, trusted and respected him, broke into pieces. Slade looked over, saw Leona rise and approach Connie to comfort her, but he waved her away. She stopped and felt more than saw, her comfort and closeness would be another invasion of Connie's life. Nothing Leona could say or do would erase the despair and helplessness now. She must wait and see. Connie wrapped her arms around Slade's neck and buried her head against his shoulder taking comfort that he was there to give support and love. Her sobs and tears stopped slowly, but her feelings of despair and hopelessness overrode all other things. She lifted her head and kissed Slade's cheek. Her face was tear-streaked but there was a small hint of a smile and a glint in her eyes. She stayed in his lap and sat a little straighter on his leg. She wanted to talk about her future and why did this happen to her.

"I have a lot of questions in my head right now, but I guess the most important one is how did this happen?" Connie inquired.

Leona answered, "This happens in rare cases. As far as we can determine there are factors in your blood, which allowed the healing process to accelerate rapidly. While it did that, it also grabbed the vampire genes and added them to yours. The splicing of the genes caused your genes to die albeit slowly. When your genes die, you will become a vampire. It is in your case a rapidly changing process. You will require help making the transition."

Connie inquired, "Who will help me? What will I do? Can I still work as a police woman detective?"

"Leona will be your mentor, a guide during and after the transition. She will get you set up with proper housing and protection. She will be your main contact from now on. Andrei is your maker and feels very guilty about what happened. As for your job, we have to work on that." Slade answered. "There is a task force in place right now to provide training for human police to handle vampire issues. Training happens in our squad room every week. There is talk of adding vampires to the police force to work alongside human police. Your being a trained detective makes you an invaluable asset to this new force. It means a promotion to full detective and you can continue to work with me every night."

"That sounds alright for now. It appears that some thought and planning has gone into this. I just want to remain with Slade and Leona for now. That is most important." Connie thankfully replied.

Leona stood, walked over to Connie and Slade, pulled his arm out and sat in his lap. Slade grimaced as she sat in his lap. It was not the weight, but the two women would soon be rivals for his affection and they would be equals in other ways. Leona rested her head on his shoulder, as she nibbled on his ear. She never nibbled on a man's ear, but found it a pleasurable thing and it seemed to please Slade. She kept her thoughts on Connie, as she read her young vampire mind. What she read was the typical confusion of becoming a vampire, but there was an undercurrent of thoughts about the future of working with Slade and being a police officer as well as being his main girl friend. This last piece bothered Leona, but she would not let it deter her desires and needs.

Connie sat on Slade's other knee and rested her head on his chest. She was shorter than Leona was and would have to stretch to rest her head on his shoulder. She looked up at Leona and saw that she nibbled his ear. This behavior irritated her, but she would not make it an issue right now. She needed to feel his closeness and strength. What she learned tonight weighed heavily on her mind, her heart and her soul. She no longer would feel sunlight or be awake and alive during the day. She would have to find a place to 'sleep' during sunlight hours in total darkness. These were foreign to her now. The most depressing part of this transition was she had to depend on the woman sitting opposite her.

Leona sat up, looked at Connie and offered her hand to her, as she stood up. Connie accepted the hand and stood with Leona. Leona turned to face Slade and Connie followed her. Leona took Connie's hand and twirled her around, letting Slade get a good view of her.

"Do you see anything different about Connie?" Leona asked Slade.

"Other than the fact she is ready to get out of here, in a word, NO!" Slade replied emphatically.

"Connie, do you feel any different, other than you are healthy again?" Leona asked.

"Not really, but I do feel stronger and more aware of things around me. I can hear better. I seem to be able to read what people are thinking. It is a new world of surprises. I may enjoy discovering my new powers. The only thing I need is a place to stay that is dark and if I hunger for blood what do I do?" Connie replied quickly.

"You and I will become very best friends, as I show you everything you will need to know, as you acclimatize yourself to this new lifestyle." Leona happily told Connie. "The change will start in a few days. You can get your daylight tasks done now, but you will know when that change comes. I will help you at night get a place with me so you can sleep in daylight. Feeding will take some time, but you will handle it."

Slade watched the interchange between the two women. He saw the friendship developing, but there was a rivalry there too. These women became the most important people in his life. Having them as friends might make for problems, but if they worked together as the vampire interface to the police, it would be good. Connie would be the police officer handling vampire affairs and Leona would be the vampire liaison. This may not be the most ideal thing but it would work. So far, it looked good and Connie's depression disappeared as she talked with Slade and Leona. He thought that things were not as bad as they could have been and would work out.

Connie and Leona sat on her bed and looked like two girls having a sleepover. They chatted, giggled and screeched at things. Slade watched and smiled, as they got loud. The two women were about the same age, in their late 20's. They made ideal friends. With Leona as her mentor, Connie would spend a lot of time with her, learning and doing everyday things vampires do. Right now, it was the start of a new adventure, but it may become a very large burden to carry. Connie was a strong young woman and the task will not be easy but she was always up for a challenge and this was a big one.

Leona hugged Connie and they got off her bed and came over to Slade. Leona stood quietly by as Connie chatted a little, held Slade's hands, told him things would be fine and bade him good-bye. She kissed Slade firmly on his lips. She turned to Leona hugged her and kissed her chastely on the cheek and told her good-bye. After saying good-bye, she walked slowly to her bed, laid down and waved as Leona and Slade left her room.

It was still about four hours until daybreak and Leona felt like just spending some time with Slade. She did not need to feed and Slade was off duty now. They drove around the city watching the few cars on the road hurry to their destinations. They felt happy and relieved that Connie seemed to accept her fate. Leona sat very close to Slade with her arm draped behind his head running her fingers through the hair just above his neck. She loved the feel of his soft fine hair and if felt so warm to her. Her head rested on his shoulder and she nibbled on his ear again. Her mind felt relieved and now she concentrated on how it felt to be in love with this man. He was now a very integral part of her daily life as a vampire. How it happened and why did she feel this way mystified her. Her maker and her brother felt the same way. She was in love with a human man, a policeman no less. She smiled, as the thought floated through her mind.

She stopped nibbling, kissed his ear and whispered, "I love you, Detective Slade."

Slade almost drove up onto the sidewalk when Leona spoke. He pulled to the curb, stopped the car, turned to Leona, wrapped his arms around her, as he held her tightly and kissed her ever so gently on her lips.

"I love you too." He said softly into her hair as they embraced. They kissed again, but this time there was urgency with lust, as well as love.

Slade sped up and quickly found his way back to the warehouse where Leona lived. As they turned down the street, a rather non-descript truck pulled out of the warehouse and drove away. Slade looked at Leona as her expression turned to one of baffled puzzlement. He started to ask her a question, but paused as they entered the large edifice. Things looked normal in the building, but there was an eerie sense of foreboding in the air. Something was wrong everything was too neat. The truck did not speed away so it appeared that it was a normal delivery.

Slade got out of the car and went to Leona's door. She got out slowly and held onto Slade's hand and his arm. They walked around the warehouse, looked in every room and sat on the front of Slade's car. Slade's eyes searched the area continuously. He knew something was amiss, but did not see it yet. They walked into the kitchen area and looked around. They checked the cabinets for food and other things. Nothing was out of place. The refrigerator contained nothing unusual. It was then that Slade noticed that the trashcan was not empty, but contained some empty bottles and other unusual things. Someone had left behind several empty containers of charcoal lighter fluid, copper wire and battery cartons.

Slade told Leona to get in the car. She walked swiftly to the car and got behind the wheel. She had her hand on the key to start the car in case something went wrong. The big steel door rolled up slowly as Slade looked around at the rest of the kitchen. Nothing stood out, but he felt something was still wrong. He walked into Leona's quarters and did not see anything but there was the heavy smell of lighter fluid in the air. Slade left the door open and entered carefully. He walked to her cabinet and saw the locks were intact. The curtains around the room were wet with the fluid. The carpet around her coffin squished as he approached it. He looked under the coffin and saw a bunch of batteries wrapped in paper towels and copper wire at each end.

He opened the cover of the coffin. Nothing exploded. He looked inside and felt the lining. It was soaked in lighter fluid and then he felt it. Heat emanated from the battery pack wrapped in paper towels. The copper wire glowed as the batteries turned it red hot. The paper towels burst into flames and they started to burn rapidly. The lighter fluid on the floor burst into flames and spread swiftly to the curtains on the walls.

Before the fire spread to far, the internal fire control system turned on, sprayed the entire room with retardant and water to extinguish the fire. Fire was the one thing that vampires feared, more than anything.