She eased her body
into the window and dropped silently to the floor of the cruddy apartment.  She took a deep breath and smelled the air;
she smelled the sea, cleaning products, someone’s very foul body order.  Then again, another deep breath, under it all
was the faint smell of oranges and humans. 
How many she wasn’t sure, four at least. 

            She leaned up against
the wall and saw that the room was empty. 
She walked to the door of the room. There was definitely a lingering of
Helena in the room.  She wondered what
the children had with them that smelled so strongly of the woman.  What ever it was, they’d taken it with them,
and for that, Jo was grateful.

            Jo punched the wall
leaving a huge hole in the wall.  Her
anger flared hot and hard as she realized that they were already gone.  She’d needed a good ending to wipe away the
pain she’d been in for weeks, no for months. 
This wasn’t what she’d been hoping for. 
She clung to the hope that she might still be able to track them, but
she knew in her detective heart that she was back to square one, or at least
square two and that meant a lot of leg work.

            “Fuck.”  Jo swore as she walked into the living room,
seeing that they’d left in a hurry, a huge hurry from what Jo could see. Some
of the children’s clothes had even been left behind.  She didn’t touch the clothing, it would give
her nothing but scents.  No images could
be gathered from them, she was much too far away from Emma Young to synch with
her powers and glean even a hint of vision from them.

            “Merde… how did you
know I was coming…”  Jo asked the empty
room, her vampire eyes taking in the scene. 
She tilted her head to the left as she focused on the garbage can in the
corner.  Something was there, something
strong with memories and smells and perhaps a clue.  She walked to it, kicking it over quickly and
seeing the small stuffed animal of a frog in the garbage.  A dark green with a bright pink tongue,
something worn and cherished discarded, no doubt, by Winnie.

            Jo
lifted it to her nose and smelled it, it was the smell of Helena
and the child.  The boy from what she
could tell, yes it had to be.  Now Jo had
something to go off with, she closed her eyes and followed the yellow and
orange scent of the young boy taking form in her vampire vision.