It was a nice apartment. The owner had kept it in good shape. Brown leather sofas and a matching coffee table fit well into the picturesque IKEA living room. All the glasses, plates, and bowls matched in the kitchen. The stainless steel appliances were spotless, but they lacked any sort of personal touch.

In fact, the whole apartment did.

There were no photographs anywhere. No oddly sentimental books or knickknacks to be found.

It was a sterile environment, much like Troy's own work space in Washington had been.

The Haunt wasn't here to talk about work though. Unfortunately, "MaDhAtTeR", the resident of the lifeless space, liked to steal identities, and had inadvertently tried after Troy's. Normally he would have just given a lead to law enforcement or crashed the amateur's computer, but he was so nearby that a more personal visit seemed like fun.

As things stood, Troy sat at the desktop in the master bedroom perusing the various files and emails on the system. He had better security than your average person, but it was hardly sophisticated. Among the various victims were soccer moms, young professionals, and an alarming number of people who thought they were signing up for premium porn. It was the internet, though. Such things happened.

An hour passed as Troy delved into the life of the MaDhAtTeR. His real name was Jason Gregos, a 25 year old game designer, youngest of three, $46,321.67 remained of his student loans, and until three months ago he had been over-drafted on his bank account by nearly a grand. By the looks of things he had been ripping off internet illiterate locals to make up for his debt. Troy had been there. He had been young and broke. He could on some level empathize with Jason's situation. At the same time, he was a little offended that some lightweight with a hobby had tried to rob him.

"Some lessons have to be learned the hard way." A few key strokes and clicks later, the computer didn't have antivirus software. After ten minutes the system firewall was in pieces and the proxy service Jason had been using was gone. Troy logged into the chat room where Jason had picked up his tricks. It wouldn't take long. The MaDhAtTeR would be eaten alive in no time.

The Haunt clicked off the monitor, then the lights in the apartment, and finally took his place in a corner near the bed. It was 2:00am and Jason would be home soon. Troy let the power of his blood slip over him gently, shrouding him in the night, and waited patiently.

Not ten minutes later the front door unlocked.

Jason walked into the bedroom, he looked tired, bags under his eyes. Still, Troy wasn't picky. For a few moments he followed behind the Kine, silent footsteps behind the warm heartbeat. They were truly helpless things by comparison. Daeva had their beauty, Ventrue could issue a command, but Haunts only had stealth.

Troy waited for him for him to step into the living room, dropped his cloak, and then bit down gently. There was a tearing of flesh, and then a flow of fresh blood.

A few minutes later a Haunt stepped out of the apartment and left without a trace.