The sun was starting to rise over the horizon as Chris walked up the steps to Nightshade Inc. front door and went to open the door. The door didn’t open causing Chris to be puzzled from the door not being unlocked at this time.

  “Odd, she nor-” Chris cut short when he heard the door unlock and he waited a bit before opening the door to the shop. “Late start to the day?”

  Ophelia was in her longer housecoat as she got behind the counter. “Yes, I need to make a few calls before I go formal cloth testing with Diamond and Aziza.” She said and paused when she looked at Chris.

  Chris was holding a medium flower pot with purple and yellow tulips. “This is an apology gift for you for yesterday.” Chris said as he pced the pot on the counter. “I also want to say I still see you as Ophelia Ashwood, the scary vampire dy who has to deal with Diamond.”

  “Thank you, Chris,” Ophelia said as she touched one of the tulips. “Also tulips, normally people use roses as an apology.”

  “Roses are for lovers or to give a werebeast an allergy reaction.” Chris chuckled and Ophelia cocked her head to the side in a bit of surprise.

  “It's not common knowledge that roses were magically bred to be werebeast repellent.” Ophelia said. “Where did you learn about that?”

  “First hand experience,” Chris said with a smirk. “Anyways I came here to update you about the Carlos case. Richard’s fingerprints were a match and the out town gang he’s been talking to is called ‘The Razor Wolves’.”

  “I’ve heard of them, they have been on our radar for a while now.” Ophelia said and rubbed her temple. “From what we heard they are trying to become the fifth big gang in this city.”

  “Guess they haven't had an easy time getting a foothold as I haven’t heard anything about them.” Chris said and Ophelia nodded. “If they are lucky they will be absorbed into one of the gangs or if they are smart they will leave.”

  “Alright, is there anything else, if not I need to get ready,” Ophelia said and seemed to have stars in her eyes. “I rarely get the chance to use Diamond as doll for fashion~”

  “That’s all,” Chris said with a scared smile. ‘Good luck, Diamond.’ Chris thought as he left the shop. Ophelia locked up the shop as Chris left and returned to her loft above the shop.

  Aziza, Lay, and Ophelia were sitting on Diamond’s couch. Ophelia had brought to Diamond’s apartment a few racks of clothing and Diamond was currently in the bathroom changing clothing.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask, why are we here?” Aziza asked while looking at Ophelia. “Besides seeing you torture Diamond with different fancy outfits.”

  “As if I’m going to the Winter Solstice Ball, you're coming with me as it would be a good learning moment for you.” Diamond called out from the bathroom. “Lay is here because she is going to be dragged to the Moonlight Coven Winter Ball.”

  Ophelia leaned over to Aziza “Transtion, ‘If I’m going to suffer this, you’re going to suffer with me.’” Ophelia whispered and Aziza gave a weak smile seeing the stars in Ophelia’s eyes.

  “You don’t have to transte that,” Diamond said as she walked out of the bathroom. She was wearing a deep red sequin dress with a slit on the left side and had a deep plunge. “Okay where is the real outfit for me?”

  Ophelia sighed in defeat seeing Diamond’s scowling face. “Only five dresses in but then again I have more models to py with today.” Ophelia said as stood up and walked to a rack of clothing.

  “Why do you dislike that dress, it looks good on you,” Lay asked and Ophelia let out a small giggle as she grabbed a bck bzer on the hanger.

  “It just gets in the way if I need to fight.” Diamond said as she took the hanger that Ophelia offered her. “A foe can grab it easily and get ripped, then I’ll get ear full from Ophelia about damaging it.”

  “Also she would have to wear heels to complete the outfit.” Ophelia said as she sat back down and Diamond returned to the bathroom. “Both the Luna and Sor cns tend to wear no footwear at formal events.”

  “Sor Cn, is that some kind of sister cn to the Luna cn?” Aziza asked and Ophelia smirked.

  “Good logic and correct, the Sor cn is a sister cn to the Luna cn and there are the same number of members.” Ophelia said as gently pyed with her bangs. “Both cns have many legends behind them and solo remaining members have simir backgrounds.”

  “Don’t believe the legends, it’s just poets and storytellers changing facts to make a story more grand.” Diamond’s voice called out from the bathroom before leaving it.

  Diamond came out in bck pair of dress pants, the bck bzer and deep red sash around her waist. She wasn’t wearing an undershirt and moved the bzer to show the flesh color nipple covers on her breasts.

  “Well not all them are false but Diamond is right,” Ophelia said as she rubbed her chin, “Storytellers tend to stretch the truth or completely lie about fact to make a story more grand.”

  “You said that the solo remaining members have simir backgrounds, what do you mean by that?” Aziza asked as looked at Ophelia but gnced at Diamond a few times.

  “Amaris and Sona were found in icebergs, frozen in time.” Ophelia noticed the gnces to Diamond and made Aziza feel more rexed. “They were found by a Spanish oil tanker that got lost and the reason why the two new names are Spanish in nature.”

  “Wait, found in an iceberg, I remember you mentioned something like that.” Lay perked up and Diamond adjusted the bzer before heading back to the changing room.

  “I did, and I was thinking of those two,” Ophelia said. “Both of them used their magic to freeze an ancient vampire tyrant but the backsh was they were caught up in it too.”

  “When all three were unfrozen the vampire was detained and ter beled too dangerous for modern times.” Diamond said as she walked out of the changing room and held a hanger that had the bzer outfit on it. “He was put to death a week ter and his ashes dumped in the sea.”

  “That is the simplified story of how the Luna and Sor cn returned from the dead,” Ophelia said as got up again to a different rack of clothing. “Hang that up on an empty rack, Dia.”

  “Alright,” Diamond walked to the empty rack to hang the bzer up on. “You will most likely meet my godmother, Sona, at the ball, Aziza.”

  “Try these on, Aziza,” Ophelia said as walked over to them with several dresses on hangers and Aziza gulped before getting up from her seat. “Oh come on, it’s not like I’m asking you to jump out of a pne.”

  Diamond sat down in the spot Aziza was in and leaned towards Lay. “Just a small tip, turn down any vampire offers while you’re at the coven party.” Diamond said. “Oh and if one doesn’t understand ‘no’ as an answer, then ask if you have a drink.”

  “O-okay.” Lay said as Diamond rexed more in chair and closed her eyes. Lay started to look around at Diamond’s apartment before her eyes caught the Kek corkboard. “Bring work back home?”

  “It’s something personal.” Diamond said as Lay got up to get a closer look. “You can look but don’t touch it.”

  Lay put her hands behind her back and kept looking at what was on the board. Her eyes were drawn to name and picture, “Who is Jack Turner and why is the French fg beside his picture?” Lay asked.

  The picture was a mugshot of caucasian male with long straw blonde hair tied in a messy ponytail and he had green eyes. He did have a week worth of stubble on his face and he was scowling. Under the picture in Diamond’s writing mention he was five feet and eight inches tall, he was werelynx and tormentor.

  The room felt like it dropped a few degrees and the air felt heavy as the name left Lay's lips. Lay felt her blood run cold for a second and looked towards Ophelia with a slight scared look.

  “An escape felon that ran to France to hide.” Ophelia said and hand signal for Lay to stop. Lay nodded and took a step away from the board before sitting back down. The room returned to normal and Lay shifted slightly away from Diamond.

  Aziza came out of the bathroom with a blush, “This is a bit tight.” Aziza said. The dress was a rich blue mermaid dress with a deep plunge and some fabric dangling in front of it. “But also airy as well.” She turned around to show the dress was backless with an even bigger plunge that showed a lot of ass cleavage.

  Lay turned bright red and bit her lower lip, “At least you don’t have to worry about ripping your dress if you shift.” Lay squeaked out and tried her best not to jump off the couch.

  “Are there any special panties I can use?” Aziza asked as moved her hand to try to cover some of her ass. “Because I noticed a lot of the dresses are…airy around the ass.”

  “No, why would it matter, werebeast formal wear is meant to be worn without bra and panties.” Ophelia said innocently and stood up to walk over to Aziza. “Also I don’t think Lay is compining.”

  Lay was practically drooling at this point and she used her sleeve to wipe it away, “L-Let’s see the next dress.” Lay said and Aziza blushed deeply seeing Lay’s reaction.

  “Just to remind you both, you are in my apartment.” Diamond said and both of them jumped from Diamond's cold and tired voice. “As well, the walls are thin in these apartments.”

  Aziza coughed before walking back into the bathroom, “Yes, by the way you never said the date for these events are happening.” Lay said. “And I heard your family normally ignore it, what do they normally do on that day?”

  “December twenty-first, mom is normally in winter hibernation, and dad and Tullia stay home and watch old movies.” Diamond said as she pulled out her phone and showed Lay a picture of Tullia. “I normally would join them after…”

  “It’s also Diamond’s birthday too,” Ophelia piped up when Diamond trailed off and Diamond gave Ophelia a side eye. “This year she will be turning twenty-six.”

  “Now I have to tend the ball, and with mom still awake she can watch old movies with Tullia.” Diamond said and her phone started to ring causing Diamond to put it to her ear. “Diamond speaking.”

  “Hey Diamond, it’s Chris, we may have found Richard’s body,” Chris said and Diamond got up from the couch. “I’m outside right now if you can make it.”

  “I’ll be down in a minute.” Diamond said before hanging up and heading to the main door.

  Chris parked at the start of the bridge beside other police vehicles and both Diamond and Chris got out of Chris’ unmarked truck. Diamond spotted members of CSI under the bridge with Nix, who was starting to bag a body.

  “Patrol spotted the body and called it in.” Chris said as the two head down the pathway down below. “Did you find the head yet?” Chris asked Nix as they got close enough to her.

  “No, and CSI haven’t found anything either.” Nix said as she put the body on the gurney. Diamond tilted her head at the body and saw the chest was ripped open.

  “Must have been one of the five members of the scout party of the Razor Wolves.” Chris said and Diamond nodded. “They were mostly the aggressive attacker and took the head with them.”

  “Agreed but why do you come with that line of thinking?” Diamond asked as tilted her head to Chris.

  “Foot prints and truck tracks the CSI are currently taking pictures of.” Chris pointed out the CSI. “From above I could see if I was fighting while four others were standing by a truck-like vehicle. What’s your thoughts?”

  “No silver weapon.” Diamond said and opened up her coat to show her silver knife hidden inside of the coat. “Most werebeast and vampires that deal with criminals carry a silver weapon, unless…”

  “Unless you don’t want to seem as a threat and to gain trust with fellow criminals.” Chris sighed then paused to look at Nix. Nix felt his eyes and adjusted her winter coat to reveal a snub nose revolver on her belt.

  “Though I rarely use it, ripping off the person's head does the same thing.” Diamond said as closed her coat and Nix moved her coat back. “What makes you think they took the head.”

  “The Razor Wolves are known as skull collectors.” Chris said and looked out to the bridge. “I also know it's a scouting party as I got in contact with Ontario police that deal with this gang daily.”

  “If it's really a scouting party, why are they here in winter?” Diamond asked as looked away from the bridge. “Most gangs slow down in winter time and can’t get good data on other gangs in the area.”

  “Actually normally they would y low in winter and come spring and summer is when they would collect information.” Chris said and started following Nix up the hill. “Come autumn they make a choice if it is worth time to get a foothold.”

  Diamond turned around to follow them back up. “You said normally y low, killing a vampire isn’t ying low.” Diamond said and they stopped at Nix’s van.

  “I think the murder of Carlos changed that,” Chris remarked and adjusted his coat colr. “They didn’t want him in the group because he would have brought a lot of police sniffing around.”

  “So they killed Richard and this scout party left the city to be repced by a clean scout party.” Diamond said and helped Nix get the body in the van. “That or they bunker down and hope went chalk up as some random gang violence.”

  “I would think of the second one as they didn’t leave they’re normal calling card.” Chris noted and Nix strapped down the gurney. “Unfortunately we already had information about being in contact with Richard.”

  “Excuse me for interrupting you two,” Nix said as hopped out of the back of the van. “Chris, I need you to iron your formal blues for the twenty-first and clean shaven.”

  “Okay, why do I need to do that?” Chris asked and gnced at Diamond, who mouthed to Chris, ‘Suffer like I do’. “Do I need to get a haircut as well?”

  “You are going be my date for the Moonlight Coven Winter Ball.” Nix said and gave Chris a small kiss on the lips. “Just slick your hair back and shave, and don’t forget to wear your metals.”

  “Yes, madam,” Chris said as Nix smiled as closed the doors to the van and went over to the driver seat. Chris looked at Diamond and Diamond handed him a tissue. “What’s this for?”

  “Bck looks good on you.” Diamond smirked and Chris paused before remembering Nix lipstick color. He cleaned his lips with a slight blush, “You hungry?”

  “I can get something to eat.” Chris said and smirked. “Are you using that as an excuse to avoid being a dress up doll for Ophelia?”

  “Kind of, but I already got my outfit squared away.” Diamond said. “I just didn’t want to see Lay drool over the dresses Aziza is made to wear, and vice versa.”

  “Don’t like sexual teasing, what about normal flirting and gestures of love?” Chris asked as both of them walked back to his truck. “Like that small kiss Nix gave me.”

  “Small flirting and gestures of love don’t bother me,” Diamond said as enter the passenger seat. “It’s the dramatic public flirting and sexual teasing, don’t do it in front of me. Don’t get me wrong, consensual sex is natural but I don’t want to see people doing it in front of me.”

  “Fair, and with that information, you must hate spring.” Chris said as got in the driver seat and Diamond just made the most annoyed groan he has ever heard from her. “Take that as a yes.”

  “I'm just thankful I don’t live in a ‘spring break’ hotspot.” Diamond said and Chris started to feel like he stepped on a ndmine as he started to drive. “Worse is when they hit on me thinking I’m still a virgin due to my attitude.”

  “What?” Chris asked and looked at Diamond wide eyed. “What man had balls of steel to bed you?” Luckily they stopped at a red light when Chris looked to Diamond.

  Diamond slowly looked to Chris, “Forget what I said and shut up and drive, Chris.” Diamond said with an icier and harsher tone than normal and the cab of the truck felt colder now.

  “Alright, no more digging into your love life.” Chris said and returned to driving when the light turned green. “Sheep’s burgers?”

  Diamond walked off the elevator of her apartment building and entered her apartment. She spotted the clothing rack still in there and saw Aziza and Ophelia on the couch. “Still trying out clothing?” Diamond asked.

  “Lay’s turn.” Aziza said with a blush and Ophelia looked like her mind was blown. Diamond pointed to Ophelia and raised one of her brow in question. “She measured took Lay’s measurements”

  “I knew she was big but…” Ophelia trailed off and her eyes trailed to the clothing rack. “She’s going to need a more customized dress…”

  “Okay…I brought some food.” Diamond said as she raised up a rge brown paper bag with Sheep’s Burger logo on it.

  “That sounds good.” Lay said as came out of the bathroom. She was wearing a deep blue dress with a slit on the left side. The slit reveals her left leg and the blue flower garter tattoo around her thigh. The dress also was another plunge front that showed a lot of cleavage on Lay and simir crossing string as Aziza’s first dress.

  “You picked out dresses that mirror each other, didn’t you, Ophelia.” Diamond said and Ophelia was off in her own world. “Well, congratutions Lay, you broke Ophelia with your bust size.”