Two days later they were still at The Guild with no trial, no Joseff, and no dismissal. Rather than drag the human Xandria in front of vampires, Katelina stuck to the apartment watching TV. A special on the Heartless Killer, a Canadian child murderer who mutilated his victims, caught her attention. But, after half an hour, the crime scene photos were too disturbing, and Katelina flipped the show off.

"There's never anything on," Xandria said. "That's why I make up stories in ...