For a little while, it seemed like they had lost their tail. Unfortunately, a young man eventually stepped out of a side street, in front of Leila and Katherine. The street was pretty much empty; it was a section of the town that didn't see many tourists, and there were few people out and about.

The man said something in Russian, gesturing at Katherine. He glanced at Leila as well, seemed to note the coffee and danish in her hands, and then refocused on Katherine again. He snarled another word and pointed at her. Katherine's Russian was only passable at best, but she still understood him.

Stop where you are, monster.

Vampire.

"Leila, go back to the hotel," Katherine said softly to her friend.

Leila's eyes narrowed a little. She could tell something was not right about this whole situation, and she didn't really want to leave Katherine there by herself.

"You want me to see if I can find some police or someone?" she asked quietly, eyeing the man, who looked a little crazy to her.

"I can handle this," Katherine replied, not looking at her friend. "Go. I'll meet you there, I promise." She wanted Leila out of the area, and it had to happen now. She didn't want her friend seeing the confrontation.

Leila hesitated before she nodded slowly and backed away half a dozen steps before she turned and headed back for the hotel. She remembered the way, and it didn't take too long to get back.

And then she tracked Katherine via the GPS in her phone.

As soon as Leila was out of sight, and therefore out of danger, Katherine turned her attention back to the hunter in front of her.

Half an hour later, she managed to make it back to her hotel room. It took a little bit of doing, but she somehow got back without anyone asking any questions about why she was holding her shoulder, and why she looked so disheveled. Throwing open the door to her room, she stumbled in and closed it heavily.

Leila heard her close the door and moved into the bathroom. "Kat? You okay? Do you need anything? Want me to get anything for you?" Because Leila was a hovering mother hen when she was worried.

"I'm--" Katherine paused as she ground her teeth and pulled the last pieces of a crossbow bolt from her shoulder, "--I'm okay. Or I will be." She hissed through her teeth a little, a less-than-human sound. Leaving the bathroom, she shaded her eyes against the suddenly too-bright light of the room. The crossbow bolt had been tipped in silver, and the contact with the metal was keeping her from healing. It was bring out the worst in her.

Leila hesitated, just barely able to hear the not-quite-human sounds of pain. "Do you want me to go get something for you? Maybe you should rest for a while. At least lay down. You don't sound so good."

"Laying down won't help," Katherine replied as she turned the lights off. Her eyes adjusted immediately to the dim ambiance, and she went to pull the shades on the windows as well. "However, I think I need to make a phone call..." She would be safe with Uncle until she healed up again. She didn't trust staying in Russia anymore.

"Do you want me to make the call? Or text?" Because now Leila was anxious to help. Because clearly she was just that helpful.

Katherine opened her mouth to say no, but thought better of it. The light from the cell phone would likely hurt her eyes at the moment.

"My phone is in my purse," she said. "Open it, and create a new message to 'Uncle.' I need you to write, word for word, 'I need Uncle.'" That was a code that everyone in her line knew. It literally meant that she'd run into trouble and needed to stay with the head of the family for a while to recuperate and find somewhere safe to go.

Leila blinked, puzzled, but decided now was not the time to ask questions. Instead she got the cell phone and created the message, texting quickly before sending it off.

"Okay, did that. Now what?"

"There should be a message in reply soon," Katherine said as she settled down on the bed. She sat against the headboard, holding a folded washcloth to her shoulder. She had other scrapes and scratches from silver-edged weapons, but the wound in her shoulder was the worst. "Something along the lines of sending transportation." She looked at her friend. "I apologize, but our visit to Russia is being cut short. Uncle lives in Romania at the moment, and I don't want to just abandon you in Russia by yourself."

Leila paused for a moment, taking that in. After a moment, she smiled.

"Well, it's a good thing I've always wanted to visit Romania then. Um, any idea when we'll be going? Do I need to pack again? Are you sure you'll be okay to travel that far?"

"I'm sorry, but you will need to gather your things again," Katherine said apologetically. "I will be fine. Our transportation will arrive as soon as it can, likely by tonight." Carefully, she lifted the folded washcloth to check the wound. It still bled sluggishly.

Fortunately for Katherine, Leila was too busy fluttering over doing other things to notice the blood.

"Here, I'll get some of your things together for you. Are you sure there's nothing else I can do to help?" Leila frowned as she looked back at Katherine.

"I'll be alright," Katherine replied. "Don't worry about me. I'm sorry for making a mess of our vacation." She looked at her friend. "Although I do want to warn you, he is an honorary uncle. There are a few generations between him and myself. And... Well. I'm not sure you'll believe me if I tell you just why my extended family is so strange."

Leila snorted. "Honey, I've heard lots of strange things. I lived in the South for a little while, remember? They were strange. I doubt you can top Southern family strangeness."

Katherine looked at her friend and raised an eyebrow.

"I can top it," she said. "I've technically been nineteen for the last three hundred and twenty years." As soon as she said it, she froze. She hadn't meant to say anything like that. It was the truth, but she was so used to keeping it to herself that she hadn't meant to let it slip.

Leila looked at Katherine for a few long moments before she snickered. "Three hundred and twenty years? Where'd you pull that out of?" She started laughing. Because it was so preposterous to her that anyone was that old, she figured Katherine was just playing with her.

Katherine just kept her gaze leveled at Leila.

"Sixteen ninety-two, Salem Massachusetts," she said. "Technically, I'm almost three hundred and forty now. Almost. In October. And Uncle is almost twice as old. My relatives aren't... typical."

Leila giggled again, and then slowly stopped when she realized Katherine wasn't joking.

"No. No way. That's not possible. People don't live that long." Because she was very firmly in denial now.

"No, they don't," Katherine said softly, looking down for a moment. Then she shook her head. "Regardless, Uncle is a little eccentric, so don't let him bother you."

Leila looked briefly disturbed, but she didn't give herself much time to really think about that.

"What do you need packed?" she asked instead. Because clearly a change of subject was in order.

"Not much," Katherine replied. "I didn't unpack everything. My things in the bathroom, and I need to switch this dress for something more comfortable." And it would hurt like a bitch to take the dress off and get a shirt on, but she would manage.