"Interesting," Katherine said. She absently took another sip from her thermos as she tried to sort through the different scents from Leila's plate. They didn't necessarily smell appetizing to her, but it wasn't unpleasant, either.

Leila ate quietly, getting used to the different food. Fortunately it was fairly tasty, so she didn't mind so much. It wouldn't be her first choice in food at home, but it wasn't bad either.

Katherine finished her own meal, and got up from her seat.

"I'm going to go rinse this out," she said, gesturing to the thermos. "Be right back."

"Alright." Leila finished off her own dinner and paid while she was waiting for Katherine to come back. She figured they could do a bit more shopping and then head back for the evening.

Katherine quickly rinsed out her thermos and then tucked it into her bag. Then she went back out to meet Leila again.

"Ready to get some more shopping done?" she asked.

"Yup." Leila grinned and merged into the crowd, since now a lot more people were getting off work/away from tour groups and were wandering around on their own. Unfortunately, Leila wasn't keeping too close an eye on Katherine.

Katherine wasn't keeping to close an eye on Leila, either, although the crowds really weren't helping. When she realized she'd lost track of Leila, though, she paused. It shouldn't be hard to find her again, so why couldn't she?

Carlos was pretty pleased with his luck. The night weather was nice, the crowds were teeming, and he was very firmly in Uncle Vlad's territory. Life was good. Even better, he'd managed to lure a pretty young thing out of the crowds for his dining pleasure. He might not have inherited any of the other 'good' powers from his sire, but he did manage to inherit Uncle Vlad's fabled hypnotism. And tonight, it served him well.

Leila hadn't even noticed anything was wrong. She was still wrapped in a happy kind of little bubble, following the man away from the crowds and out farther back into the town, where it was darker. Street lights weren't lit, or had burned out back there, and she blinked when she noticed that. But she still wasn't alarmed, just tilting her head as she looked at the man in front of her.

Carlos took his time, making sure the girl was calm and floating in a happiness-induced stupor. Once he was sure she was under his influence, he lowered his lips to the pulse point on her throat and gently slipped his fangs into her skin.

Katherine looked everywhere for Leila, until she stumbled upon the smell of the soap her friend used. She followed the scent out into the darker part of town. When she came upon her friend, she hissed a bit.

"Leila!"

Carlos jumped a bit. He hadn't realized this girl was with someone. That made things harder. Letting go of the girl's neck, he turned to see if he could put her friend under as well and cursed when she recognized the other woman.

Leila barely reacted to the two, still smiling a little and staring off into middle-distance. Life was good at the moment, since she couldn't feel much and had no idea what had just happened. She was starting to feel a little woozy, even though the hyposis-induced haze.

"Kitty, what are you doing here?" Carlos asked, looking at Katherine.

"I'm with my friend, Carlos," Katherine said icily. "The one you decided would make a good meal."

"Shit, she's yours?" Carlos would have blanched, if he could. Then he found some courage somewhere. "You shouldn't have let her go, then."

"Let her go, Carlos," Katherine said. "And I won't have to separate your arms from the rest of you." She darted forward when she saw Leila swaying a bit, and caught her friend as the girl tipped over. Quickly, she checked Leila's pulse. "Good god, Carlos, how much did you take?"

"Who cares?" Carlos asked. "She's just a human."

"She's my friend," Katherine replied as she picked Leila up. "And you better pray she recovers, Carlos. For your sake."

Leila was slowly coming back to her senses, and she didn't much like her senses just then. Though she didn't hurt, she was feeling dizzy, and disoriented. This was not what she remembered last. And why the heck was Kat carrying her, she could walk. She squirmed a little, and then groaned when that just made the world spin faster.

"Kat?" she mumbled.

"Just relax, Lei," Kat said softly. "We're heading back to Uncle's place so you can rest." She threw an evil look towards Carlos. "If I don't kill my idiot relative before we get there."

"Don't pin this on me, Kitty," Carlos retorted.

"I will fully blame you, Carlos," Katherine snapped.

Leila nodded, resting there for now, though she was still feeling indignant at being carried. "What happened?" She looked at Carlos. He looked familiar, but it took her a bit to put two and two together and figure out why he looked familiar. "Saw you earlier, in the crowd. How'd we get here?"

"This idiot thought you looked good enough to eat," Katherine said, jerking her head towards Carlos.

"And how good she was," Carlos commented, just to rile Katherine. Katherine bared her fangs at him, hissing a bit, and he held up his hands. "Alright, okay."

Leila muttered something unintelligible and closed her eyes again. She did not approve of how the world was spinning.

Katherine made sure not to jar Leila as they made it back to the manor. Thankfully, they had the car and the driver didn't ask questions. As soon as they were back, Katherine took Leila up to the room and put her into the bed.

"I feel sick," Leila groaned, rolling over to bury her face in a pillow. "The world's doing weird things. I want to get off now." And now she was cold, too, her heart fluttering unevenly and irregularly, trying to keep the blood that was left in her flowing properly.

"Just close your eyes and rest," Katherine said soothingly. "You're back in my room, you're safe now."

Leila nodded, trying to relax. It only sort of worked. "So, what?" she asked quietly. "You know him? He's one of you?"

"Carlos is a... I suppose you would call him one of my nephews," Katherine said, thinking for a moment. "Uncle is his great-grand-sire, rather than grand-sire like he is for me." She ground her teeth a bit. "He is American, like us. And stupid. He should choose his prey more carefully, or not take live at all."

"Clearly you don't get along very well," Leila observed. Talking was helping to distract her from how she felt, which she figured was a good thing right now.

"He's like an obnoxious younger sibling," Katherine said. "I was an only child, so I never had siblings before my turning. I am... not accustomed to brothers, or nephews."

Leila snickered. "Neither am I," she said quietly. "I don't think I like him too much just now, either." Although she had to admit she was probably slightly biased in her opinion.

"I'm tempted to pull his teeth out," Katherine muttered. She sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let you get hurt. I should have been paying more attention."