You learn the weirdest things about yourself, lying beneath the kitchen table. Aiden had been there for hours before anyone noticed his absence; maybe he wasn’t as important as he thought. He wasn’t sure what made him crawl under the table all that time ago but he hadn’t moved since. He was sprawled out on the floor, staring up at the underside of the table. The gnawing pains of hunger had been eating him away and his eyelids drooped with an exhaustion he ignored, like he ignored everyone’s questions, and remained exactly where he laid.

“Can you at least tell me when you plan on coming out?” Brandon said crouching next to him. No answer. Aiden didn’t know if he’d ever move, even if he wanted to he didn’t think he’s body would obey him. As he lay there he felt like he was empty, that he was hollow. It wasn’t that he was depressed; the emptiness wasn’t from him wanted to put a bullet in his brain or down a cocktail of whatever was under the sink. It was so hard to explain that he didn’t even bother to open his mouth.

Aiden was always at center stage, always getting attention some way or another, but always with a careful consideration as to what others thought. He would steal, lie, drink, scream as long as it was the newest fade and people would once again shine the spotlight on him for it. The fact that he was lying under the table now confused Brandon to no end. He would have called Aiden’s usual crew if he though they would come. Friendship is such a fickle thing. He was considering asking Kiora and Seth back but he realized Kiora wouldn’t care and Seth would make it worse.

Brandon was sort of wishing for a line of cocaine and a bottle of brandy because so far that was the only thing he could think of to lure him out. By the time he finally gave up he remembered the girls upstairs who haven’t eaten in a while. Brandon dragged himself over to the fridge and after grabbing a bag of blood began to rummage through the fridge trying to find something for Helena. Another failed mission. He grabbed the phone on the charger and lugged himself upstairs to the small vampire’s room. He cradles the phone between his shoulder and ear talking to kid with a strange accent, trying to rouse Chalaine from sleep for dinner.

Walking down the hall he creaked open Helena’s door and popped his head in. “What do you like on your pizza?”

“Uh, cheese and olives I guess.” She said yawning. Brandon talked to the accent boy for a few more seconds before clicking the phone of and setting it on the table.

“It’ll be here in half an hour.” He paused looking out the door and down the stairs. “You wanna come into the kitchen for a minute.”

Helena sat down beside Brandon on the floor. Helena listened to him explain the little he knew about Aiden’s current situation. He asked her to see if maybe she could do anything, gave her money for pizza, then left. She crawled under the table, moving closer to Aiden. She was thinking about what she might be able to say to get him to at least open his eyes, and she nearly jumped when she felt his arms snake around her waist.

He pulled her close to him, close enough that he could smell the lilacs in her hair, her bubblegum lip gloss. He felt almost at ease with her cuddled up against him. It was the first time in years he had was holding someone just for the sake of holding someone. A blush spread across Helena cheeks, she had barley talked to this boy since she was brought here and now she found his arms wrapped around her.

“I need to get out of here.” He murmured, running his fingers through her hair. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of her heart beating. It was speeding up like little red riding hood’s must of when the big bad wolf bared his teeth. And maybe that’s all Aiden was, some mythical creature that preyed on little girls who wandered into the dark. “This place is killing me.”

“Why don’t you just leave then?”

‘Will you come with me?”

“What?”

“Come with me.” He said turning on to his stomach and staring into her eyes. Helena felt a shiver go down her back as she stared into his deep hazel eyes. He crawled up from under the table and grabbed Helen’s hand. He tugged on her wrist and pulled her to him, dragging her to the door with him. He grabbed a leather coat and tossed a helmet to her.

“Hope you don’t mind getting your hair messy.” He grinned.

He walked out into the driveway with Helena close behind him, grabbed on to a sleek cloth that covered some big bulky object. A shiny black motorcycle, which looked like a lot of money and time had gone into it, sat in the driveway. Aiden jumped on to the bike and jabbed the kickstand with his foot. He motioned for her to come sit behind him and turned the key into the ignitions. Aiden closed his eyes as the engine purred to life, savoring the feel of the machine against him, the smell oh Helena and just the way that everything seemed perfect in that instant.

As soon as she sat down Aiden speed off down the street, a hurricane of dust behind him. Helena squealed and wrapped her arms tighter around him, burring her head into the back of his jacket and tried not to feel sick. The wind sped past them blowing her brown hair into the wind, dancing in little spirals as they sped down the street. She closed her eyes and thought back to younger times when she’d go on the swings for hours. Trying to swing right over the top, trying to be somewhere else, always somewhere else.

The trip seemed to go on forever; he made twist and turns, going everywhere before her finally pulled into a parking lot. His get away turned out to be some sort of nightclub. Helena looked around the outside, only to see many people who looked a lot like Aiden. She wondered if she even belonged there, looking down at her clothes it sure didn’t look like it. Even Aiden in his insomniac state looked like he could be king of this place but even with her best efforts she doubted she could even blend in. Aiden grabbed some stuff out of a small bag attached to his bike, grabbed her hand again. He took her into the club and made a quick root to the bathroom, pulling her in with him.

Helena looked around the men’s bathroom no one else was in there but the two of them but she still felt rather uncomfortable. She sat against the counter and watched Aiden smear his eyeliner on thicker then she’d ever seen anyone else wear. He poured a bunch of hair products in his hands and pulled his hair up into a Mohawk. With his hair up Helena could see the fading streaks of purple that ran threw it. He hadn’t shaved the sides of his head and little strands of purple and black curled around his ears.

“I need to cut these.” He said glancing at her in the mirror as he ran his hands threw the hair at the base of his Mohawk. The hair gel made it less curly but it still twirled a bit every so often. He slipped on a skull earring on one side and a small black anarchy sign into the upper part of the other ear. Her grabbed some paper towels and rubbed the gel of his hands then put on a pair or fingerless black gloves.

“So you ready to party?” He grinned.

The club had lights flashing in every direction, a band played on a black stage. The lead signed screamed into the microphone and a crowed of black seemed to blend together into one blob of noise. Aiden pulled her over to stand just in front of the crowed. People ran in a circle pushing each other around, yelling at the top of their lungs. Aiden waved his hand at a person standing near the speakers and he turned it down, despite protest from the others. Aiden’s mouthed moved with words she couldn’t hear and took of into the pit.

Of course she had no idea what to do. It would help if she had heard what he said. She couldn’t go home, she felt out of place just standing there but she defiantly wasn’t following him. She slinked back into a small part of the room that was unlit and leaned against the wall. Watching the people in the club it was hard to tell everyone apart from one another, even with the streaming lights it was very dark in the room and with everyone wearing black, no one was more then a silhouette.

“Hey babe, you look lonely.” A boy clad in fishnet slipped out of the crowd and walked towards him with a sleazy grin on his face. He stood right in front of her and leaned in, his hand resting on the wall. His breath smelt like stale beer and old cigarettes and he had smeared lipstick on his neck, she could feel his hot breath on her cheek. Helena pushed herself closer to the wall trying to distance herself from the stranger.

“Um I’m just waiting for someone…” Helena whispered. He raised his hand up to her cheek and ran his thumb brushed her bottom lip. He gave her a big grin and leaned in till he was only inches away from her. She wanted to scream and run out of that club, run home, run to the police and tell them everything that had happened. Even with Catharine she’d never have been caught in a situation like this. She didn’t want to be here, she hated places like this, she didn’t belong with people like this. It wasn’t that she was stereotyping really, she wasn’t. It was the loud music, the yelling, the close proximity, the alcohol, the drugs and all the people making out in the dark. Even by Catharine’s standards this was bad.

“Well hope ‘bouts I keep you company till then?” She closed her eyes and wished him away. Somebody help. He moved even closer to her something she thought wasn’t possible. The loud music seemed to fade away till all she could hear was his breathing. All she could smell was the beer on his breath; all she could feel was the heat on her cheek. She wrapped her arms around herself and leaned her head down.

“I don’t believe the lady much appreciates your presence.” Helena’s eyes shot open; standing just outside the pit was Aiden. He curled his hand into tight fist, his knuckles turned white, his eyes narrowed till nothing but a sliver of iris shone past his dark stained eyes. His voice was low but seemed to ring threw the whole room. His body almost shook with rage at the sight of the drunkard near his guest.

“Hey why don’t you go-“ He was cut short when Aiden’s fist collided smack into his jaw. Blood sprayed out between his teeth and on to the floor, his body following close behind. Aiden took several steps closer as the man stumbled back on to his feet. He cocked his head to the side with a smug grin on his face and rested his hand on his side.

“You were saying?” The drunken man yelled and charged him fist flying in the air, Aiden though needed to do little then step aside to avoid his attack. Aiden grabbed the back of the man’s head and slammed it in to a near by table. Deep within Aiden’s eyes shown an unimaginable amount of rage, something that had laid its seed long ago and had now grown into a thick tangled jungle.

He continued to attack the intoxicated stranger and with him being able to do little to protect him Aiden was doing his fair share in damage. Moments ago Helena had prayed for him to come, wished that he’d save her. Now he seemed to be the problem, he’s the one that was scaring her, that was making her shake in terror. Every time his fist collided into that mans cheek, every time he slammed his head into something, every time blood splattered onto the floor pushed her closer to the breaking point.

“Aiden stop it.” She whimpered. Aiden’s head snapped around like he hadn’t realized she was there before. He looked around the room the music had stopped everyone was staring at him. He could hear the drops of bled as the dripped of his hand; hear the groan of the man on the floor. Suddenly he felt suffocated, he needed out of there, he needed air. Grabbing his coat he stormed out the back door into the ally way, Helena followed close behind.

“Aiden…” She whispered as he lit a cigarette. He stood there leaning against the brick wall one foot rested against it not moving at all, like a picture captured at the wrong moment. She took a few more uneasy steps. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

Still he didn’t move, just stared up at the sky, smoke pouring out from between his lips. His eyes glazed over like he was thinking about something long ago, something that must have calmed the dragon that had roared to life not moments ago.

“Did you hear me? I said I-“

“You don’t get it do you”

“What? Aiden I want-“

“It just goes right over your head.”

“What are you talking-“

“They can say the love you all they want sweetheart, but the tides change quickly and by tomorrow they can be gone. You can’t trust anyone, least of all me, I’ll leave you hard and fast, I’ll break you into a thousand tiny pieces and you can never be whole again after you’ve been shattered like that.”

“ Not everything’s so hopeless Aiden. Do you even know how to be happy anymore?”

“Stay away from me Helena.” He muttered taking another drag from his cigarette. Helena looked at him her eyes starting to rim with tears. She took a few uncertain steps toward him before throwing her arms around him.

“Aiden I-“

“Go back to your boyfriend Helena, I’m letting you go, none of us will come back for you okay?” He said pushing her off him. He tossed his cigarette to the ground and crushed it out. Helena looked at him, wondering how he knew about Daniel. She had never talked about him. Aiden seemed to know a lot more then he let on. Turning around he grabbed a helmet and tossed it at Helena. “You never have to see any us again, maybe you should just forget this night ever happened.”

“What am I supposed to go back to? Catharine was my best friend-“

“Not a very good one.”

“She was still one of the only people I had. At least she understood me and-“

“She didn’t understand you.”

“Stop that! You can’t just act like you know me. I wouldn’t even be in this mess if not for you people!” Helena screeched at Aiden. He just looked at her with unblinking eyes as he fished another cigarette out of his pocket. Helena expected another monologue that described some punks view on life’s hopelessness but the only thing that came out of his mouth was little circles of smoke.

‘I’m not letting you come back.” He said shoving his helmet on and climbing on to his motorcycle. “The most I can offer you now is a ride home.” She took a step towards him the helmet clutched to her chest. her head drooped and her lip quivered for a moment before she managed to squeak out a reply.

“Home…” She murmured. Images flashed in her mind, of Catharine, of the white sheets stained with blood. Aiden realized his mistake, remaindering her of the home she left, a small apartment covered in blood. He griped on to the handle bars, Aiden was never good with words and apologize would only make things worse right now.

Aiden sped off almost as soon Helena sat down. The ride back was long and quite, Helena watched as the lights started to bleed into long thick lines like a painting in a gallery. The city noise blurred together into one buzzing sounds that shot past her ears. Her face pressed against the leather of Aiden’s coat, her arms entwined his waist. She reached her arms up to his chest her hand above his heart. She stayed perfectly still hoping her hand would feel a pulse, that she’d catch the sound of the blood pumping through his veins. But there was no pulse, no heartbeat. She knew if she lifted her hand up to his neck, that his skin would be as cold as the stale night air that raced passed them.

At first she thought he might have been taking her back to his house, but soon they turned into the center of the town. Slowly she began to recognize stored and houses. Familiar places flashed by her, and she figured out where he was taking her. When they finally reached Daniels house it 4 am already, she could barely keep her eyes open and had to lean on Aiden’s shoulder for minor support.

He left her standing at the front door. He drove off with out another word. She wasn’t sure she could move her legs even if she wanted to, walking into that house seemed impossible right now. Everything seemed only a dream and maybe walking up the stairs into Daniels room would make it all real. Helena could picture him asking what happened, where she’d been, asking her question after question until her head exploded. Then thing that scared her the most though was that she didn’t even know the answers herself.