wanders around her well groomed front yard, looking for a stick to tie it to.

finds one under a tree in the backyard. Feeling accomplished she made quick work of tying the white square of cloth to the stick.

why she would need to put it on a stick... he doesn't live too far from her.

walks to her gate and looks at it, thinking of how to attach it to the fence.

watches her from across the street, slightly amused...

frowns at the fence, trying to poke the stick in between the slats.

crosses the street and looks at her. "Good evening. Why are you poking my handkerchief with a stick?"

stops, looks up, sees Ludwig ... blushes bright red. "Uh ... Hi ... Ludwig." she hands him the stick, then flustered, switches and hands_

him the handkerchief again. "I haven't seen you around, and I've been meaning to give that back."

takes the handkerchief, thanking her. "You could have left it with my assistant."

frowns, "Your assistant, where would I find him?"

blinks at her, tucking the handkerchief away. "He lives with me at my house."

blinks back, "And where is your house?"

tilts his head to the side. "Down the street and to the left. Did you honestly think it was coincidence I always ran into you?"

I don't know ... I mean a couple of nights ago I was attacked by three vampires, and if that other vampire hadn't come to rescue me ... "

gapes at her. He didn't know if he had just heard right. "You... you were attacked by vampires?"

"Yes, there were two in the market. I thought they had me too. The young one though ... I found out he's a new vampire, he let me go_

because he could smell Alfred on me. The vampire with him was an older vampire. He was short and had a ponytail."

rubs the bridge of his nose, sighing. He had been a fool to let her go without protection. "You're alright now, yes?"

"Yes, it seems so. I'm pretty sure I saw a vampire on the way home from work, but he didn't bother me at all. Since Alfred started_

protecting me, for the most part the other vampires leave me alone. Alfred even fought another vampire on my front porch."

quite... surprised.

"Alfred spends time with me every day, so his scent stays on me. It seems to be working. I even let him bite me a little, but he only did_

it the one time."

stares at her.

looks at him. "What?"

shakes his head, he felt like he was going crazy. A vampire being nice to a human and a human not caring too much. "N-Nothing."

"I know, none of this makes sense. I thought all vampires were bad, in fact this demon I met told me all vampires were bad no matter what."

just shakes his head.

frowns, "Would you trust a vampire?"

gets a stern face. "Never in my life.

him a sad look. "I see, because I've been told Alfred is a very aggressive vampire, and he doesn't feed often, which makes him dangerous."

can believe that. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny revolver that she could easily hide in her skirts. "Keep this with you,_

_in case he does try to hurt you. It only has three bullets, but they are powerful enough to stun him to give you a chance to flee."

stares wide eyed at the small gun. "Are you sure you want to give me this?"

nods. "My father made lots of these. This one was one of his best. So keep it close."

hesitates for a moment, then takes it in her hand. "Uh ... thank you." looks up at him, holding the gun in her hands.

nods again. "It's for your protection. I'm not the one to tell you what to do, but I want you safe, in case... I have to leave."

"Leave? Where are you going?" Wonders why a vampire hunter would leave when there are vampires everywhere.

looks away. "I just must."

looks down at the small pistol. "If you leave, who should I go to if I need help?"

smiles to him. "I will leave you a number, so you can contact me."

"Thank you Ludwig, it's really confusing, one saying I can trust him, others saying I can't"

shrugs. "If in your gut you trust him, then trust it, but just be cautious."

"Alright, so far he's given me no reason to not trust him. I haven't seen him yet tonight though, I hope he's okay."