February 17, 2002 – 3:20
"Cheetah isn't a cat, some of us can transform into an animal. I'll explain when I see you later, but Cheetah is me."
She hung up and returned to the group. Frank called his sister.
"She just called me. I convinced her to come back to my place, but she said she didn't want to frighten me more. You saw her at your work a few times… is it truly horrific? How?"
"It's not horrific per se, but she probably has blood all over herself. I mean, she had been fighting vampires and goblins all night, so she must be looking like a serial killer or something."
"Did you know about Cheetah?"
"Yeah, I knew. She can transform into a black panther, but it's not a practical form if she needs to walk around town without being seen, so she learned to transform into a miniature version, and well… that's Cheetah. I think it's your friend Victoria who started calling her like that when she's in that form, and the nickname stuck."
Meanwhile, Prince Hendrick was talking to his dad on the phone.
"BLUE!" said Prince Hendrick, handing her the phone when she turned to look at him. "Father wants to talk to you."
"Your Majesty."
"Don't ever call me like that again, I'm Matthew to you. I do not want to hear you address us with our titles. Hendrick told me what you did tonight to save Charlie's life. I do not know how I can repay you for saving my elder son's life. Tell me what you want and I'll make the arrangements."
"I don't want anything, sir. I helped where I could. Veronica and Hendrick helped me plenty to ensure the EBEE and questionable families wouldn't find out about my human boyfriend."
"I'll discuss it with my children, but you will get compensated for what you've done tonight."
An hour later, they finished cleaning the area and removing all shreds of evidence of what happened during the night. Coralis, Sebastian and Eva headed back to Montreal, while the vampires headed back to their compound.
"When I spoke to Father earlier, he told me that the Vase of Crimson Sky got stolen. They caught one of Lucas' vampires by the emergency stairs, but they couldn't catch the one who stole the vase. I told him not to worry about it," said Hendrick with a smirk growing on his face.
Charlie looked at his siblings. He sat in the front passenger seat of their black utility vehicle while Hendrick and Veronica sat in the back, and one of his guards was driving. Veronica was grinning.
"The Vase of Crimson Sky? Do you mean our family heirloom? Why is it funny to you that it got stolen? Am I missing something?"
"Oh, you've been missing plenty, brother. You'll see when we get home," said Hendrick.
"We're also bringing Father another present, we got the trolls who attacked you in the car behind us. Who do you think Father will want to interrogate first? The trolls or Lucas' vampire?" said Veronica.
"We shall find out in a minute, here we are. Home Sweet Home," said Hendrick.
"Finally, I desperately need a shower. It will take ages to get all of that blood off of my smooth skin," said Veronica.
Matthew met with them as soon as they climbed out of the car.
"Come with me, now!"
The siblings followed him to the dungeons in the basement.
"Before we walk in there, there is something we need to tell you," said Hendrick, glancing at his sister. "They think they stole the Vase of Crimson Sky, but they did not."
"Son, the vase is gone, I saw it with my own eyes. I tried to watch the video footage from the security camera, but it has been tempered. I the guy we caught is the one who messed with the camera."
Matthew was agitated. His hand on the dungeon door, he turned to look at Hendrick without opening it.
"I remember you mentioning that the EBEE had been inquiring about it when you told us that I was targeted. If you thought someone was after it, why didn't you increase security around it or move it elsewhere?" said Charlie.
"Because we wanted them to believe that they took it. Had we increased the security around it, we may have had casualties tonight and they would have known we suspected something. Blue came up with a better plan," said Veronica.
"The thief stole a cursed replica of the Vase of Crimson Sky, created by Blue. The real one is in Veronica's bedroom, disguised as a giant vase with dirt and flowers in it," said Hendrick.
"SHE DID WHAT?" said Matthew, letting go of the door handle. He turned around to face Hendrick and looked at his daughter, standing beside Hendrick, "The Vase of Crimson Sky is in your room right now?"
He walked past them and headed to Veronica's room. While in the elevator, Hendrick explained to his father what the fake version was intended to do to whoever tried to use it. Charlie started laughing.
"Okay, now I understand why you two reacted the way you did in the car. That witch is a genius, I gotta say."
Matthew entered his daughter's bedroom, followed by his children. He spotted their family heirloom right away and examined it closely.
"She said you two helped her out many times with her human boyfriend. How true is it?" said Matthew, pointing at his two youngest.
"You remember the Swamtons' mating ball 2 years ago? The Swamtons wanted her to mate with their elder son Ollyo, but she wanted nothing to do with that slimy thing, so we pretended to be a couple. You have heard the rumours between her and I, Father. Turned out, the EBEE believed we were truly together and we kept that rumour going, just so that they wouldn't find out about her human beloved."
"That's not enough. I'll have a crate of wine from the locked cellar delivered to her, but I'll think of something else to show my eternal gratitude. From now on, she will be under our personal protection. I will cut ties with the EBEE, but I want to know if they try anything against her. Charlie, I know I always insisted that you only frequent strong vampires, but I'd make an exception for her."
As they headed back to the dungeons, Coralis jumped off her stick, turned it into a keychain, shoved it in her cloak, and landed in cat form on Frank's window's ledge. She closed her eyes and ended the invisibility glamour she had on herself.
Frank was watching through his window when he saw Cheetah suddenly appearing by it. It startled him. He didn't know how she got to his window, but he wasn't expecting her to appear on it. He let her in before her paw could scratch it. He closed the window and turned to her.
She shifted back to her normal form in front of his eyes and he noticed a silver glow in hers.