He woke up very slowly. The banging on his door persisted. He pushed himself up out of his chair and stretched the muscles of his back and shoulders, trying to get the stiffness out of them. He swore to himself that he would never fall asleep at his desk again. The same swear he had made last night and the night before, but that didn't matter now. He glanced at the mirror briefly and preferred not to glance again as he opened the door.

He blinked several times at the-was it a man?-standing there. The man on his doorstep was easily over seven feet tall, with a barrel chest and big shoulders. In fact, he was built like a circus acrobat, with slender and muscular limbs. There was no hair on his head and he wore a tight, dark-blue body suit under what appeared to be a doctor's lab coat. "I need your help," he said in a strange voice like sliding gravel. "I was told you could handle guys like me."

"Sure," he said, shrugging. If there was one thing he had learned in his line of work, it was that if someone came into your office leading a four-headed fuzzy purple llama, you pretended like everyone went about leading four-headed fuzzy purple llamas and put your eyes back in your head. He looked up at the man's eyes, which were black and slightly bulging. He stood aside to let the man enter.

"My name is Ezarius," said the man. He made no move to come inside.

"I'm Detective-"

"Lorn Valence, I know," said Ezarius. "It says so on your door."

Lorn frowned. "Speaking of doors," he said. "Know how to use one?"

"You'll have to invite me in," Ezarius said. There was a hint of shame in his voice, and he did not meet the detective's eyes. Lorn squinted at his face, then looked him up and down.

"So," he said finally. "You're one of them."

"Understand," said Ezarius. "That I wouldn't come unless I needed you. I was referred to you by-"

"By Luciaerre," Lorn finished bitterly. "And if your case is like his, I don't want it. That's the last time I ever do something like that. Did he tell you what happened?" Ezarius nodded. "Then you should know that I'll never take that much of a risk again. That was too close a call."

"Please understand," said the vampire. "You're the only detective that will help our kind-"

"I wonder why."

"You've got to help me!"

"I can't!"

"Detective Valence!"

"No!"

The vampire opened his mouth. Then he closed it. He bowed his head, with his massive shoulders hunched forward. Then he drew in a deep breath and got down on one knee. Lorn's jaw dropped. Never in his life did Lorn think he would ever see a vampire, especially such a large and obviously powerful one, kneel before a human.

"Please," said Ezarius. "Mr. Detective, I...I am afraid. I have never been afraid before. I do not like it. I think that you are the only one who can help me. I ...I...I beg you not to turn me away."

The last worlds came out in a jumble and a rush, so that Lorn could hardly tell the one from the other. Pity welled up inside of him. If there was one emotion Lorn hated, it was pity. He stood back from the door, then went to his desk and took out a wooden cross, one end of which had been filed into a wicked point. He kept it firm in his hand, but out of sight. "Okay," he said. "I invite you in."

Ezarius straightened with a smile and strode into the room, dipping his neck and shoulders at the last minute to avoid the door, and later the ceiling fan. He sat down in the chair opposite Lorn and smiled brightly at him. "Good!" he said. "Now. Let me tell you a little bit about myself, darling."

"Don't call me darling," Lorn said, color rising into his cheeks. "I happen to be straight."

"As if I'd ever fancy you," Ezarius groaned. "Bare with me, dear. Now, I used to have close relations with a lady vampire some time ago. She died. There was no doubt about it. I watched the whole thing. But now she's back."

Lorn nodded and put the cross down on his lap so that he could write some notes down in his book. "How did she die?" he asked.

"Burned," he said, a nearly undetectable shudder in his voice. He cocked his head to one side and squinted an eye at the book, trying to read what Lorn was writing.

"Can that kill a vampire?"

"Of course!" Ezarius exclaimed, snapping his neck forward and leaning an elbow on the desk. "What do you think? We can't really survive once our bodies are gone and our skin melted off and our organs all-"

"I get. The idea," Lorn said testily. He ran a hand through his soft brown hair and could feel the flattened side he had slept on. He suddenly realized that he had, in fact, just woken up and therefore was, in fact, a total wreck. He stood up and paced over to the bathroom built into the east wall. "Keep talking," he called over his shoulder. "What's this girl's name?"

Ezarius hesitated. "Catalira," he said gingerly, as though checking the word for leaks. "Catalira Evanesca."

"A mouthful," Lorn remarked. He turned on the sink and cupped his hands under it, letting the water gather before flinging it onto his crazy mop of hair. He turned off the faucet and picked up the comb, trying to tame his tangles flat. "So? What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

Ezarius played with a pencil on the desk, rolling it back and forth. "I...I need you to find out where she is. I haven't actually seen her, but I know she's there. She's watching me."

Lorn gave up on the comb approach. He knew there was grime on his skin, anyway. He started preparing the shower water and unbuttoned his shirt while he thought about what the vampire said. "So what you're saying is," Lorn stated. "Somehow, you get the impression that a twice-killed girl has come back to life and is threatening you, even though you haven't actually seen this mystery woman? Are you sure you're not just suffering from a case of paranoia?"

"I know she's alive!" hissed a voice next to Lorn's ear. The detective whirled around and backed up against the wall, waiting for his heartbeat to return to normal as Ezarius towered over him. The vampire slammed a hand onto the tile next to Lorn's head, letting the detective glance at the iron claws attached to his fingers before gripping the human's chin and tilting his head back to look up at his face. "She sent a messenger. I could feel her aura on him. I don't want to believe it, detective, but she is alive!"

A tiny gasp escaped the frightened man's lips. Ezarius let his head sag forward with a sigh and released his chin. The detective backed away, very aware of the fact that nothing was covering his torso. He felt exposed and afraid, and pulled the first piece of cloth he could find around his shoulders and the back of his neck.

"Look," said Lorn. "I think you'd better go. I feel for you, really, I do, but I think you need to calm down a little. I'll call you tomorrow night and get the rest of the information over the phone, okay? Is that alright?"

Ezarius peered at him, his eyelids half-closed. "Yes," he said. "I'm sorry I lost control there. I find humans very frustrating, lately. I hope you'll forgive me." He ducked through the doorway and then straightened. He half-smiled at Lorn. "I should go. May I have my jacket?"

Lorn realized to his discomfort that it was the white lab coat he had slung about his shoulders. He took it off and, feeling more exposed than ever, held it out to the vampire. Ezarius nodded, smiling. "And try to eat something," he said, staring pointedly at the detective's concave stomach.

Lorn felt his face grow hot and turned away fuming as the vampire laughed. "You should go," he growled. Though he didn't hear a thing, the vampire was gone when he turned around again.

He headed back to the bathroom and turned off the water, picking up his shirt, knowing that if he tried to drive home, he'd be looking over his shoulder all the way. He picked up the wooden cross from the floor and sank into the chair. Another night at the desk wouldn't kill him, no matter how stiff his neck felt in the morning. In the sunshine, he might even be brave enough to take his shower.