Veins of Desire

11. We Keep This Love In A Photograph

Almost two hours later, Eleonora, Elena and Rose arrive at Slater's Residence in downtown Richmond. Eleonora is quite surprised to find out that the vampire lives in a freaking penthouse. Okay, maybe not the most luxurious sort, but not too shabby either.

Once they have walked up the stairs, Rose bangs her fists against the door. "Slater? Slater, it's Rose. Open up!"

However, no one answers the door. Rose drops her arm and looks at the twins, grimacing. "He's not home. Sorry."

Elena shakes her head, a determined look spreading over her face. "Mm-mm. No. We didn't come all the way out here for nothing."

The vampire sighs at her persistence, but then proceeds to push the double door open, using her vampire strength.

"After you," she says, motioning for the girls to enter.

Elena, as always, takes the lead, strutting directly into the penthouse. Eleonora follows, though cautiously. Breaking into someone else's house doesn't sit well with her.

"Slater?" Rose calls out, walking past the girls farther into the apartment. Eleonora follows her - and nearly screams out loud when she almost stumbles over the corpse of a young man lying in the spacious office and living room space. His ashy, pale skin is covered by the same gray, protruding veins as Elijah's has been when she found him pinned against the door of the abandoned old house, a wooden stake sticking out of his chest.

Eleonora's eyes grow wide when she recognizes him as the third vampire from the coffee shop. The one Elijah's blown up.

"I don't think he's gonna be much help," Rose states, sadness creeping over her face.

Elena gasps loudly at the sight of the dead vampire on the floor as she joins them. Wiping a few small tears from her eyes, Rose grabs the dead body and pulls it out of the way, while Elena immediately starts searching the desk for clues.

"Looks like whoever blew up the coffee shop found him and killed him for his information."

Eleonora's face pales as she nervously nibbles on her bottom lip. Did Elijah really kill him? For what reason could he have done that?

"Yeah, probably to stop him from helping people like us," Rose states as she walks back into the room - without the vampire corpse. "The guy was a vampire almanac. Knowing too much information just bit him in the ass."

She walks over to the window front and pulls the curtains back, letting sunlight into the room. Elena looks up from the picture she's found standing on the desk, immediately alarmed.

"What are you...?"

"Tempered glass," the vampire explains. "U.V. rays can't penetrate." She woefully glances out of a window for a moment, soaking the sunlight into her skin. "I used to just come here and watch the day."

Eleonora joins her at the window and hesitantly places a hand on her arm. "I'm sorry about Slater."

She really is. Somehow she can't shake the feeling that it's her fault he's dead. Elijah has made it very clear to her that he doesn't want anyone to find out about her existence. If he killed somebody to ensure that, it's totally her fault.

Rose smiles at her faintly, before turning around to Elena, who's still searching the desk for any sort of clues. "Any luck?"

Elena turns on the computer and the grimaces. "Um...It's password protected. I can't get in."

Rose sighs, in relief or resignation, Eleonora can't tell. "No, this is fine. Let's just go."

Elena opens her mouth to protest, as they suddenly hear the sound of a door knob being turned around, very close by. Instantly alarmed, Rose places a finger to her lips, mouthing "Stay here" to the twins, before walking past them to a set of doors.