Crystal was saturated in a coy ruby liquid, but it wasn't her's so it was okay. Not only was the ruby liquid blood, but it was all non-human. If the worst she had to deal with that night were a five chickens and a pig, she wouldn't walking with a slight limp. Three vampires killed in one night. That was a record even for her.<br/><br/>With the smell of their blood clogging her nostrils and her mutt's muzzle, she fumbled with her keys to the front door with 1 1/2 hours till dawn. Fang, her large dog, nearly raced ahead of her, the amount he was looking forward to her full bed. She followed after him with a tired smile and broken gait. First, she would shower, then sleep. Definitely sleep.<br/><br/>Stripping out of her now stiff clothes, she clamored into the bath/ shower and turned the heated water on full blast. After a few moments, her body temperature adjusted to the heat as it slowly released all the tension from her lithely muscled body-thanks to the gym, kempo, and her job. When she was satisfied that all traces of blood was gone from her skin, Crystal tugged an oversized shirt and a pair of cotton panties. Fatigue was starting to drag her under when the phone rang. She was about to leave the caller to the answering machine before she heard an all too familiar voice.<br/><br/>"Crystal, it's Blake. If you're there, pick up." Silence. With her blood rushing through her veins enough to excite even the most stalwart blood sucker, she sprinted to the phone, nearly dropping it when it slipped from her fingers.<br/><br/>"Blake, Blake! I'm here!" she practically shouted into the mouth piece. A couple barks came from a cranky Fang as she interrupted his precious sleep. She heard the remainder of a soft chuckle in response.<br/><br/>"Happy to be so amusing. What do you want?" Oh no, the fatigue was beginning to set in again. Great, just great.<br/><br/>"I need you to do some investigating for me," he told Crystal evenly. She scowled.<br/><br/>"Are you shitting me? My job is to<span style="font-style: italic">kill</span>, not to sit behind a desk researching." He laughed again.<br/><br/>"Don't worry, you'll get to do some killing. Just not right now."<br/><br/>"Thanks for giving me something to look forward to," she said, letting the sarcasm drip off of her every word. She was too tired to play his little games at the moment.<span style="font-style: italic"> Would he just let her get to sleep?</span><br/><br/>"No problem. Sleep tight, I'll call you in the morning." He hung up. Crystal didn't even bother taking the few steps that would lead her to the bedroom. She simply curled up on the couch with a worn quilt. It didn't take long for the darkness of sleep overtake her.