I realize it has been awhile since I last updated this particular story. I try to fit in time to work on my active FanFiction stories whenever I have free time. I finally broke thru the writers block I had with this Night Huntress story recently.

Here is the new chapter of Leaping out of the Frying Pan into the Flames.

I'd greatly appreciate your constructive feedback! R&R! Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Misery Loves Company

I have no idea what the exact time was. An orangey purple sunset overpowered the baby blue skyline indicated it was getting close to evening. Vlad hadn't returned back yet.

The few hours I spent exploring his massive library I learned more about him. Old leather bound and paperback books were haphazardly mixed together with more modern books. There was absolutely no organizational system arranging the enormous book collection. I took this daunting task upon myself to simply pass the time.

The house staff occasionally passed through the library to check up on me. They offered me a variety of snacks and refreshments. Shrapnel strongly suggested I ask his Master's permission before completely overhauling and arranging the book collection. I said nothing except flashing my middle finger at the vampire "butler". To hell with proper manners. Shrapnel offered no more objections afterwards and promptly left me alone in my fortress of solitude surrounded by tall stacks of books. Several grueling hours later, books were neatly filed away on the sky-high shelves. The books were organized by era. Within each era, it was further divided by genres. I was damn impressed with myself. Books can tell a lot about a person it seems. Soreness shot through all my body's nerve endings. I'd basically gotten a full body workout organizing more than 2,000 books. My half-vampire genes made me stronger than the average male yet weaker than a "young" vampire.

The house staff didn't appreciate me aimlessly roaming around the Vlad's palatial residence. I decided to venture to the basement. All Master vampire households housed their willing human blood donors in the basement. Three guys and three girls comfortably lived in the spacious basement. Surprisingly, the three college-aged boys were a set of triplets. I'd never encountered anything except twin siblings my entire life. I can't imagine what life was like for triplet siblings. How did all three somehow ended up as willing blood sources for Vlad Tepesh's Romanian household? That was a baffling quandary in itself. Immersed in their own little world, the boys' attention was directed at the interactive shooting video game on the big-ass plasma TV screen. They hardly noticed my presence in the spacious yet cozy basement.

The girls were exuberantly happy to interact with another female human who was college-aged. I didn't bother to tell them about being half-vampire. Neither did I correct them that I was actually 26 years old. Yet, I didn't look a day older than 21 or 22 thanks to my vampire genes. My short stint at Ohio State University almost four years ago gave me enough material to converse with the girls. Ironically, they'd dropped out of Ohio State University last year.

Leigh, Alessandria, and Karen were close friends and sorority sisters at Theta Pi Sigma. I never had much friends growing up so I never knew what it's like to have a close-knit group of girlfriends. My mother was the closest thing I had to a friend. The one girl, Stephanie, I befriended during my short-lived college stint at Ohio State University turned out to be a murderous psychopath doing Hennessey's evil bidding. These three girls gave me a glimpse of what it was like to be a normal college-aged girl. My life motto: You can't miss what you never had. The past six years Bones has taught me to proudly embrace my vampire heritage...never to be ashamed of my genetic fluke.

After a few hours, we watched two romantic comedy movies. We even lavishly pampered ourselves with facial and mani-pedi treatments. The facial and mani-pedi treatments were drastically tamer compared to Bones's torturous makeover to transform me into a slutty vampire huntress all those years ago.

The time flew by faster than I'd realized. Soon my stomach violently grumbled prompting me to leave the spaciously cozy basement and head to the kitchen for food. Being around those girls, I'd almost forgotten about my own shitty drama revolving around the one and only Gregor. Fuck the French bastard! Always putting a damper on my brief moments of joy. I'm absolutely sick and tired of Gregor raining down misery in all aspects of my life!

All my thoughts kept returning back to two people: Bones and Gregor. It was basically a flashing neon sign screaming for me to do something to change my shitty circumstance. I won't let others control my destiny!

I raided the massive refrigerator for whatever human food I could get my hands on to make the intense rumbling of my stomach subside. Wow what a variety of food I found! It was so difficult to decide on what to eat for dinner. Ultimately I fixed a plate with huge portions of meat lasagna, New York strip steak, red-skin mashed potatoes, and sweet corn. Dessert promptly followed. Ever since I was young child, I've always had a major sweet tooth. Thankfully my undead DNA makes it practically impossible to get diabetes or any other disease or sickness. Also, I'll never become fat. My genetic fluke did come with some wonderful perks. An unopened Ben & Jerry ice cream pint sat in the fridge calling my name. Karamel Sutra was the flavor the Ben & Jerry ice cream. My twisted sense of humor appreciated this innuendo-filled fun ice cream flavor name.

I'm starting to better understand why humans would willingly choose to permanently reside in a vampire household. The six willing human blood donors here wouldn't ever leave this household considering all that was available to them within the walls of this palatial mansion. They hardly need to leave the comfort of Vlad's grandiose residence. Hell if I was them I'd abandon my old life and live here without a moment of hesitation! All Master vampires, no matter if they were ruthless son of bitches, had to take care of everyone under their line even their willing human blood donors permanently residing in their households. The laws of vampire society seemed barbaric to me initially. Soon I came to realize how much more efficient it was compared to human society which was very hypocritical when executing fair, unbiased justice upon its citizens. The past several years deeply embedded within the supernatural community opened my eyes to this shocking discovery.

Finishing off the Ben & Jerry ice cream pint carton, I rummaged the walk-in wine cellar, which situated right in the kitchen, for alcoholic beverage. Something strong preferably. Cabernet sauvignon. Pinot noir. Moscato. Chardonnay. Grey Goose vodka. Jack Daniels whiskey. Cabo Wabo tequila. Hennessey brandy. Bombay Sapphire gin. I debated between Grey Goose vodka, Jack Daniels whiskey, and Bombay Sapphire gin. To drown away my misery, gin was my choice of poison. I might drink vodka or whiskey next depending on my mood.

Right now alcohol was my coping mechanism to not dwell on how much I missed Bones. Before furiously storming out on me four days ago, he cast me off as his wife. No intention of contacting me nor his close friends. My phone has been blowing up with an overwhelming amount of text messages and voicemails from my family and friends, who were deeply concerned about my sanity and well-being. I didn't want to talk to them. I wouldn't even know what to say. I needed to figure out what I'm going to do next. No more wallowing or dwelling on the past that can't be changed. No one else will dare tell me what needs to be done.

The Blue Sapphire bottle was empty. I had burned through half of the Jack Daniels whiskey. Slipping away from reality, I was completely lost in my conflicted internal musings. My tumultuous emotions were viscously brewing up a storm in my head. I hardly noticed that Vlad had returned. Standing a couple feet away, I still couldn't sense the Romanian vampire's presence behind me.

"I thought we'd gotten past is stage where you drown your sorrows with copious amounts of alcohol," Vlad exasperatedly commented.

His voice immediately snapped me back to reality. Taking a huge swig of whiskey, the liquid suddenly went down the wrong way. It instigated a fierce coughing fit wanting to expel the burning liquid from my wind pipe and lungs. I noisily slammed the Jack Daniels bottle onto the granite counter almost falling off the tall stool. One hand tightly gripped the counter for support while the other hand smacked my chest. It was several minutes before I could conjure the ability to coherently speak. Despite the burning sensation diminishing, hot tears painfully stung my eyes. I swiveled around on the stool throwing an infuriated glower at the Master vampire. "Holy shit, Vlad. Why the fuck can't you announce yourself instead of stealthily sneaking up on me? " I rasped while wiping away the tears with my free hand.

He arched a dark eyebrow at me. "I thought you had sensed my presence already. God you reek of whiskey and gin. You can't completely ignore your nutritional needs by replacing it entirely with alcohol," he harshly reprimanded me.

"Not that it's any of your business, asshole. I will damn well do what I want!" I defiantly barked. "For our information, I did in fact eat real food for dinner tonight. It's past midnight. Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to have return back a few hours ago."

"I don't need to explain myself to you, Catherine. I can't help that my meeting with some business associates went a little longer than expected. You are more than capable of entertaining yourself." He removed his wool coat and elegantly draped it over his arm. "I can't drink from you tonight with this overpowering whiskey and gin stench emanating from you. I'm very exhausted and heading to bed right now. I trust you can get back to your bedroom without my assistance."

He swiveled on his heels and walked away from me. "Wait!" I blurted. "I know I look like a fucking mess right now—"

Partially turning around, he arched a dark eyebrow at me. "Understatement." Vlad was known for his brutal honesty. It was one of the qualities I loved but simultaneously hated about the Romanian vampire.

"At least me finish my sentence first dammit," I snapped, aggravation heavily interlaced each word. "I've contemplating about at my shitty situation with as much objectivity as I can conjure right now. Sometimes we hold onto things so tightly to the point it is completely irrational. I've made my decision of how I'm going to move forward with my life."

"I'm truly glad to hear you've been doing deep soul-searching today. Dwelling in the past is not how one moves on with their life. We can discuss this matter more tomorrow when both of us aren't awfully fatigued. Good night."

Vlad sauntered out of the kitchen and down the long darkened hallway. The palatial residence was pretty much silent with the occasional sound echoing through the house. Lethargy seeped deeply into my bones sapping whatever energy was left. Gripping the island countertop for stability and support, I clumsily stumbled off the tall stool. The Blue Sapphire and Jack Daniel bottles remained on the countertop. It seriously sucks that I cannot get drunk because of my unique genetics. There are times I long to possess normal human capabilities. My conflicted musings continued to fiercely attack my thoughts. My deep soul-searching was refreshingly enlightening but had given me a raging migraine. I want to blackout and forget about my shitty problems for one night.

The winding staircase was somewhat of a challenge in my knackered state. I stumbled and tripped a couple times on steps that entirely escaped my notice. Even in my exhausted condition, I decided a shower would ease the uneasy tension in my body. I slammed the heavy mahogany door behind me. I stripped off my clothes, haphazardly tossing them onto floor, and padded towards the bathroom. Twenty minutes, the overpowering stench of whiskey and gin no longer lingered on my skin. I combed my damp hair using my fingers, brushed my teeth, and searched the closet for clean clothes. My semi-wet wavy tresses clung to the collar of the baggy grey t-shirt.

Climbing into the huge bed, I tightly hugged a spare pillow to my chest, which violently contracted with overwhelming emotions. All the emotions I'd deeply suppressed ferociously exploded inside of me. Never-ending tears spilled out of my eyes. My body violently trembled from my powerful wretch sobs. I have no idea how much time passed while I uncontrollably balled like a baby in a semi-fetal position. No matter how mentally and physically exhausted I couldn't fall asleep. Dammit insomnia why do you relentlessly plague me! In frustration, I throw the pillow into the air as it toppled off the bed onto the floor.

The clock on the small table next to the bed read three o'clock in the morning. I don't know how many more sleepless night I can take. My body has been barely functioning on 2-4 hours of sleep these past four days. I can't sleep restfully through the night...only intervals of fitful sleep. I wouldn't be surprised if I start deliriously hallucinating things soon.

I don't want to be alone. The silence feels excruciatingly suffocating especially tonight. My hands reach out for my cell phone on the night stand. The screen lit up informing me of 35 missed text messages, 22 missed calls, and 10 missed voicemail. My mother, Rodney, Spade, Denise, Tate, Dave, Juan, and even Ian had made an effort to get in touch with me! They don't understand that I don't want to talk to any of them. I threw the phone across the room. Thunk plop. It ricocheted off the wall onto the plush carpeted-floor.

There was only one person I really wanted to be with. Bones. The only problem is he doesn't want to be found. Not even his best friends, Spade and Ian, or co-ruler know where he is. Although, I'm extremely thankfully Vlad allowed me to stay with him as long as I needed to recover and bounce back. My friends and family probably think Vlad Tepesh will take advantage of an emotionally vulnerable scorned lover.

Tossing back the sheets, I hopped out of bed. The past couple of nights Vlad had slept next to me. It has been surprisingly comforting and therapeutic. I scrambled to find shorts or pants, but ultimately gave up. I'm not too uptight about my sense of modesty especially after knowing Bones and his friends for many years. My pajamas have been a form-fitting t-shirt, without a bra, and "granny" panties. Vlad respects our friendship way too much to take advantage of my emotional volatility by seducing me. I'm not completely blind to the fact of his stunning gorgeousness, but I don't think of Vlad like that at all.

I threw on a beige silk robe not bothering to tie it. Shutting the heavy mahogany bedroom door behind me, the hallway enveloped me in almost complete darkness. The only source of sparse light was the antique Victorian-era crystal chandelier lining the long hallway's ceiling. Vlad's bedroom chamber was at the opposite end of the hallway. The house staff informed me Vlad occasionally sleeps in the other vacant bedrooms. The Romanian vampire fiercely cherishes his privacy. He doesn't often entertain guests in his palatial residence. I'm very glad there aren't other guests milling around the house especially right now. Despite what my friends and family think about my current living arrangement, I willing chose to stay with here to seek sanctuary and solace away from my problems.

I lightly rapped three times on Vlad's bedroom door. Muffled sounds came from the room. My ears strained to hear the stifled voices but could only pick up bits and pieces. It seems the Romanian vampire had company. I don't want to rudely interrupt. I proceed to walk away. A few moments later, the door swung wide open. Maximus stepped out into hallway. I could vaguely make out the shape of his tall stature amidst the darkness. Flashing a fanged smile, his grey eyes, which tinged green, raked me from head to toe. "You can go in, Red Reaper."

My beige silk robe loosely hung open revealing my partially naked body. A light flush spread across my face. "Thanks," I tersely replied avoiding direct eye contact, tightly tying the robe closed. Brushing past Maximus, I sauntered into Vlad's bedroom.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of Leaping out of the Frying Pan into the Flame.