They were there, curling about her torso. Formless shadows, snaking their way across her body and filling her mouth and nose. She tried to scream but no sound emerged, she tried to reach to the comm lying by her bed but found a tendril had wrapped around her arms to pin her hands above her head. They were icy to the touch, freezing the very blood in her veins. Wide eyes silently screamed for someone, anyone to help her. She tried to kick and thrash but found that ability taken from her as well. The inky darkness squeezed her harshly, taking her breath from her lungs.

Lyria couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe! The malignant force was suffocating her without making a single noise. The icy touch was so cold it practically burned at her skin to the touch. Her bulging eyes glanced over her body and that was when she saw it. The cruel mockery of a woman's face, twisted and grotesque. Her jaws opened wide, drool falling from a long lolling tongue and fangs glinting in the soft moonlight. Then there was the voice, oh God that fucking voice. It felt like blood might dribble from her ears just from hearing it.

"You think me a joke, elf? Let us see you laugh after I am finished..." The creature growled, lunging forward with a mouth filled with rows of razor sharp teeth...

Lyria shrieked as she awoke, sweat glistening over her form. Her wide and fearful eyes searched around the room and her heart thundered in her skull. Her breathing was loud and laborious as she searched for the monster of her nightmares. She slowly realized there was nothing there and sighed in disgust as she slumped back in her bed. She swallowed hard, her mouth feeling rather dry and rubbed her clammy hands against her forehead. She felt so cold and yet at the same time felt hot.

Damn Sam for filling her mind with his nonsense about some spy master of darkness. She shoved the covers from her body and stumbled out of her room, trying to calm herself. The elf flicked on the lights of the kitchen and produced a cup, which she filled with tap water. With long greedy gulps Lyria downed the cold liquid, gasping for breath after she finished. The woman slowly calmed her body down, telling herself over and over again that it had just been some stupid nightmare. There was no monster sitting in the shadows, waiting to tear her throat out.

The elf flicked the lights off and moved back towards her room. She noted that Sam wasn't raising a fuss from her shriek earlier; perhaps he's slept through it? That would hardly shock her to discover. She made a mental note to come up with some punishment for causing her to think like this. Lyria crawled back into bed, pulling the sheets back over her body before closing her eyes. As she did the thought in her mind was directed away from invisible monsters in the shadows. Finally she managed some semblance of peaceful thoughts and smiled a bit as she was about to drift off to slumber.

"That must have been some nightmare."

Lyria froze instantly at the sound of the erotic feminine voice, her eyes shooting wide. Her entire body tensed up and she felt utterly paralyzed. She couldn't move. She didn't want to move. A whimper escaped her lips as she imagined the monster standing right behind her, poised to rip her throat out. The cool, domineering, powerful elf was gone and in her place was a woman paralyzed by the sheerest terror. Only with heroic willpower did she manage to turn her head towards the source of the voice.

There sat a woman, wearing a dress of the darkest color. Her dark hair cascaded down her back, curling ever so. Full ruby lips were turned up into a slight smirk. Her features were flawless though her skin possessed an almost greyish pallor to it. Black nails on her fingers and toes glinted in the darkness. What hypnotized Lyria the most however were the pools of crimson in her skull. Like bright rubies where her normal eyes should be. Just staring at them too long made her feel like she was falling into those eyes.

"You must be Lyria Lysender. Pleased to meet you my dear."

Lyria swallowed and reached for the light switch near her bed.

"Ah, I would prefer if you did not turn that on. One with my... condition is not suited to bright lights." The woman said.

As Lyria looked closer at her she noted that in her right hand, looking like a terrified rabbit caught in a trap was Sam. His eyes met hers and their mutual terror was certainly communicated. Lyria found the word 'condition' was ringing around in her skull. Specifically in regards to her aversion to light as well as her almost unnatural presence. It was then when the condition itself hit her like a sack of bricks. Something that was spoken of with fear by human and metahuman alike.

"You're infected with HMHVV." Lyria stuttered out.

The woman chuckled, rolling her red eyes. "That is the technical phrase for the condition yes. I prefer Vampire myself but to each their own, Ms. Lysender." She said, shifting her grip on Sam so he was dangling from her fingers by his arms.

"This one is pretty cute, isn't he? Don't think I've ever seen a two inch tall man before. Is he for sale by any chance?" The woman inquired, her tone light and conversational.

Lyria gathered her courage and shook her head, earning a pout from the pale woman. "Pity. I can think of a few lovely uses for him besides sitting in those heels out there. Ah well, catch."

The elf only barely managed to catch Sam in midflight, holding her human pet tightly. He was practically shaking with fear and it took a moment for her to realize she was as well. Her guest merely stared at her with those blood red eyes, as though waiting for her to say something. Lyria tried to calm herself down, failing, before wracking her brain for something to say. Anything to distract her from those hypnotizing ruby eyes.

"You are Xana." She stated.

The HMHVV infected woman giggled. "I assumed that went without saying. You posted up a request on the forum so now I'm here."

"Your response time is... impeccable." Lyria said, trying to make light of things despite her terror. The request, yes, she had sent a request for help. She needed to focus on that. Not the eyes.

The vampire sat down on the bedside, a little too close for Lyria's comfort and offered a smirk. "I like to stay... on top of things you might say." She whispered, the sound of her voice sending tingles across Lyria's body.

Lyria tried to gather her thoughts though the most prominent among them was thinking how much of a mistake this had been. This so called Xana was infected with the Human Meta-Human Vampiric Virus. As Lyria recalled only humans afflicted by the virus became Vampires, her own people tended to become Banshees. Those afflicted tended to become immune to aging and were extremely dangerous for their ability to transfer the disease. As Lyria had little desire to become a Banshee she figured it best to try and deal with this as quickly as possible. Her guest seemed less interested in sucking out her essence but who knew when that might change?

"Ahem. I do indeed have a job I would like done. It is a rather sensitive matter. Would you like to perhaps move to the kitchen to talk?" Lyria inquired, recovering her wits.

Xana shrugged. "We're on your dime."

The elf nodded and stood from the bed, gesturing for the woman to follow. As they left the darkness of her room and crossed through the apartment Lyria got a better look at the vampire. She was shorter than Lyria by an inch or two and looked as close to human perfection as it got. Normally not much compared to an elf but Lyria felt the unnatural pull Xana exuded and had to check herself before falling into the hypnotic state again. Just looking at her and being near her was too much.

They sat down at the kitchen table and Lyria placed Sam in the pocket of her robe, figuring he was frightened enough. It was unlikely he could contribute anything meaningful to the conversation so Lyria opted to just let him tuck himself away. How she wished she could join him as she sat across from Xana. She also made a note never to laugh at her pet's superstitious sounding advice again. Being caught off guard like that was something she'd very much prefer to avoid.

"Yes. Well, according to some sources of mine an insider in a research facility I oversee hired a group of Shadowrunners to break in and steal some data. This was a cover for them doing something while attentions were on them. I don't know who they might be or what their goal might have been however I need them found and taken care of in a timely fashion." Lyria said, finding her pace as she looked anywhere but Xana's eyes.

Xana was silent for a moment. "Will this be infiltration and assassination or do you want to make them disappear on your own?"

The elf was silent for a long moment as she considered it. "I wish to handle this my way. I would like them found and delivered to me discreetly. That is what I would require from you."

"Mmm... not much to go on, but doesn't sound overly difficult."

"I can give you the name and location of the facility and clearance-."

Xana raised a hand. "No need. Let's talk payment. I have two methods you can pay me, conventionally or in essence."

Lyria swallowed. "Whose essence?"

Xana smirked and leaned back. "Doesn't matter to me, though elven essence does have a rather... fine taste to it."

Lyria's heart skipped as her smirk revealed a pair of ivory fangs and her tongue peeked out to lick over her teeth. Just the thought of those teeth on her neck was the stuff of nightmares. Yet staring into her eyes almost made the prospect sound appealing. Such was the power of one infected by HMHVV. With the Awakening the world became saturated in magic once more and the dormant disease returned in full force. Even still those with the disease- aside from Ghouls- were fairly uncommon. Thankfully so.

"I have access to test subjects in the underground portion of the facility. When you are down there during your investigation you can pick out what you want and I'll set them aside as your payment." Lyria said, more than willing to break some company policy to salvage the situation.

"That will do nicely. Alrighty then, I think I know what I need to do then. It will probably take me a week. Where do you want to meet up when I find them for the transfer?" She asked, clapping her hands together in a pleased fashion.

Lyria thought for a moment. "The lab of Dr. Eleanor Lawson. She'll be kept in the loop during the matter as I trust her absolutely."

Xana lifted a brow. "Oh? Are you certain that is wise?"

The elf nodded. "She would have no reason to work against us as the project is as much her baby as it is mine."

The vampire thought for a long moment, staring at Lyria with those infernal eyes. Slowly she extended one of her pale hands across the table. The elf hesitated only a moment before grasping Xana's hand and finding it felt ice cold. The other woman pulled her arm across the table, jerking Lyria from her seat with a yelp. She pulled back her sleeve and revealed the elf's pale creamy skin and started tracing a large vein with one hand. A queer smile adorned the woman's face, paralyzing Lyria as she feared the vampire had decided she really wanted some elven blood on her lips.

"Mmm... your heart is pounding so fast. Are you afraid of me I wonder? Are you waiting for my fangs to fall upon your skin and bleed you dry?" Xana asked.

"Yes!" Lyria said, the words ripped from her involuntarily.

"Ha! Honest at least." Xana said, releasing her grip.

"Not to worry, Ms. Lysender, draining clients is bad for business. I rather like repeat customers you see. I'll take the job and call you once I've got the insider." The vampire continued, standing and moving towards the door before pausing and looking back to Lyria to offer some parting words.

"It should go without saying that if you back out of the payment I'll collect directly from you. Every single drop of it. Goodnight, Ms. Lysender."

Lyria waited until the door shut behind her guest before letting out a breath she had not been aware she had been holding. Her palms were sweating and shaking as she slumped back in her chair. That... had been harrowing. Lyria had seen her share of close shaves given her tastes and the fact she frequented rough neighborhoods, however none had been quite so frightening as that. The vampire's parting threat had been entirely unnecessary as the elf understood all too well what screwing the creature would bring her. A few less pints of blood.

Still, she figured at least she was hopefully going to get her info and then some. Lyria had an idea how to make her problem disappear once they were ferreted out, something that would be more of a hassle than killing them but would draw less questions than if a body turned up. With a few calming breaths the elf plucked her pet from her pocket and found Sam still looking terrified. She set him down on her palm and started stroking him, trying to soothe her own nerves through the motions. The elf said nothing and the human was happy to keep the silence as well as owner and pet just tried to settle their nerves. It was many hours until Lyria managed to lie down again though no sleep visited her that night.