Chapter 2

The sunlight poured in the windows that morning. It surrounded Katherine's silhouette in golden rays until she walked in the door. "Why must you always have those windows wide open?" Kat pouted, covering her eyes.

"Because I'm not a vampire," Byrne teased, pulling the shades down. He knew she spent most of her waking hours at night, but more importantly, though she would never outright say it... she didn't want to be seen. And he respected that. She was his best customer, after all.

Byrne rummaged through his desk in the back of the shop, finally pulling out a paper to show to Katherine. "Here, tell me what you think of this," he said, handing her the sketch. It had a small, spotted, tropical cat, and next to it... a female human layout with a spotted pattern design. "I finally did some research, and based the design on it. You were right; they're not just plain spots, are they?"

Katherine shook her head, smiling at the picture the red-haired artist had put so much time into. "It's wonderful, thank you." Setting the picture down, she leapt up to sweep her friend into a hug. He only patted her on the back, keeping out his sneaking suspicion of what the spots were actually for.
Byrne frowned as his finger swept over a discrepancy in Katherine's back. "What's this?"

"Oh nothing, just ran into a wall the other day..." Katherine winced as his fingers brushed over the wound. "You know, a nail came out of nowhere or something."
Byrne turned Kat around and pulled her shirt up her back to gingerly inspect the injury. "Nonsense, that's a bullet wound if I ever saw one."

Kat quickly turned, pulling her shirt back down hurriedly. "Don't be silly. Why would I have a bullet wound? It's just a scratch. Besides, we aren't doing my back today." She went to sit down in the chair and extended her right arm below the needle. "Come on, I need two done while I'm in here."

Aaron rose from the table and stepped before the judge. "The defense calls as a witness, Mrs. Emily Marshall."

The slim woman rose gracefully, her green dress flowing around her legs as she swore in and entered the witness stand. Aaron cleared his throat and began the questioning, "Mrs. Marshall, where were you on January third last year?"

"I was working in the library."

"And who else was in your section of the library that night?"

"Oh, the usual crowd. Mike, Laura, Sammy, Mr. Allen, and… Katherine.

"Aaron nodded, a tired smile crinkling his cheeks. "And did you speak with Miss Tregaron that night?"

"Yes, I checked out her music discs for her, and wished her a happy new year. She said something like, 'Too late, but thanks anyway.'"

"Thank you. The defense rests."

(this chapter will probably be continued, so keep in mind you can only review a chapter once!)