The words of the vampire fell nearly on deaf ears. I was weak, because I arrived home after a long day in less than professional dress, on my own doorstep? The indignity wracked its way through me, nearly immobilizing me from the place where I stood. How dare the stupid leech look at me as if it I had comically thick clown makeup plastered all over my angular face. Did the red lip paint make me look stupid? I found myself at a loss for words, even though there were a million I wanted to hiss at him at the same time. There had been negative ... side-effects of jobs I had been contracted to complete. Had they ever followed me home? Yes. I kept the apartment I owned in the city for just that reason, leaving my mansion outside city limits properly untouched and unattended to for brief periods after jobs. After all, it was more likely that anyone looking for me would come to the apartment, and it was far more likely that someone might notice another human entering. For the other location, honestly it wasn't any different. I didn't have guests often, and the maid and help would be concerned for another's entrance. As it should be.

"What, were you expecting Arnold Schwarzenegger to arrive in a blaze of glory and roll up with a tank, prepared for battle?" I asked, dumbfounded at the nerve. He continued to speak, and with my tongue between my teeth, I found it within my grace to let him finish, only if to keep myself from shrugging the interaction, and returning to find the witch who had helped me put Frank in his current state.

"My reason for Frank's ... current dead state? Let's see." I grit my teeth, obviously growing irritable and unamused with the interaction. Why had I attacked Frank? Other than the obvious contract, it had been rather adventurous to complete the task in a different manner. Besides that, finding a witch to do dirty work for me was also fairly close to the surface. The woman who had helped me floated to the surface and began stirring the various reasons I had derived in the face of the question of why I had harmed Frank. If my reason was good enough, he would leave me alive? "Actually, quite the opposite. I was incredibly, stupendously successful."

The vampire didn't have a choice.

I shook my head in response once, my eyebrow rising in agreement with my obvious lack of remorse. It would be fairly difficult to conceal a fight in the street beneath my apartment, but not impossible. I had new abilities just itching; no. Just begging to be exercised, demonstrating the vast amount of rage I had pent up somewhere with vampirism's name all fucking over it.

"Now, you're on private property. You can either leave, or I will have the pleasure of removing you forcefully. The choice is fortunately yours. I like either option."