Well it's finally out. I spent a lot of time on this one, so I hope you all like it. It's a lot longer than the others (11 pages on Word) since I really got into it this time. Which is thanks to all the feedback that I got on the last chapter, so thank you everyone who reviewed, I appreaciate it a lot. I'm actually leaving on Tuesday for Creation Fest in Penslyvania, and I won't be back 'till Sunday afternoon so I won't be able to write for a while. If you want to see me there though I'll be with Community Lutheran church from Michigan. Well I'm now finished so I'll let you get on to the story. Please tell me what you think of this chapter as well.

As the Bride Wishes

The snips were in rhythm. It was kind of weird to hear, especially when they were in tune to Yankee Doodle. Not exactly something you’d want to hear in this kind of situation. Especially when the thing in question was your hair being cut.

Alia had viciously declared that she was an expert hairstylist. So viciously in fact that I immediately accepted her offer to cut my hair in fear that if I didn’t she’d eat me. Literally in this case. So that’s where I now sat, stuck in an elaborately wooden chair -it was oak could you believe it- and desperately hoping that the girl snipping away at my hair was not going to make it look like she took a chainsaw to it. To tell the truth though I was more afraid she would make me look like a beauty queen. Pretty was not in my vocabulary and I wasn’t prepared to let it enter at this time. To counter this I had squeezed my eyes shut with such ferocity that it probably looked like someone was causing me incredible physical pain.

"Well Ellie, are you gonna look or aren't you?" She didn't sound to happy with me. Even without her revertence to normal speaking I could tell she was becoming just a little more than peeved. I hurried to do as suggested, before the scissors were cutting something else off. Like my ear perhaps. So I turned and my eyes shot open to stare at my reflection in the mirror.

To say I was amazed was an understatement. I actually looked somewhat cute. Not pretty, I couldn't live with pretty, or beautiful. That just wasn't in my agenda. (Though I wasn't actually sure where it fit in Lyle's.) But cute I could live with. It wasn't hard. At least with cute you didn't have guys salivating all over you. My hair was cut to about an inch below the tops of my shoulders. For the first time I had also gained layers, and bangs might I add, though they were side bangs and feathered off to wherever. I really liked it, especially since she had managed to grab hold of some black hair dye and colored both my bangs and some random slips of hair. It toned down the red quite a bit. I really liked it, and I was positive that Lyle would certainly appreciate it.

The mere thought of him set my blood pulsing and my hand shooting to my neck. Which was big mistake because Alia took the initiative immediately. Her eyebrow raised and she placed a cool hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright Ellie?" she asked, though the venom in her voice was quite hard not to notice. "You've seemed nervous all day. And my dear brother hasn't talked to me either."

Her hand was starting to clench down on mine. Her voice had also become deeper, finally showing off her anger better than her eyes were. "I've also noticed," she growled, prying my hand off the side of my neck. I fought but against Alia it was a losing battle no matter how you looked at it. "That you have somehow bruised your neck quite badly. Care to tell me how? Hmm Ellie," she ground my name out between clenched teeth. I was a little more than scared at this point. I had just realized the reason she had always lodged herself in the ever decreasing gap between us. She was afraid for me, or something of that extent. Afraid to allow me into their world.

Not that I was complaining. If Lyle hadn't been so damn sexy I wouldn't have wanted to be a part of it either. So he should technically be blamed. Especially the way he seduced me last night, the son-of-a-bitch.

“I tripped and fell,” I stated, in my rather shaky voice. It was about the lamest excuse I could have thought of at that point but it was better than nothing I suppose. Or the truth at that.

Alia didn’t buy it. By the way her eyebrow arched though she might have found it somewhat amusing. That didn’t mean she was going to let up on me though, there was no way that would be happening anytime soon. “Really? And did you happen to fall on a fork Elaina? Those holes look awfully painful.”

I cringed at that one. So she had noticed. I had figured maybe the bruising would cover up the bite marks. It was hard for me to see them anyway and I was the one they were on. “I dunno,” I retorted, trying my best to save myself any way I could. “Maybe I did, I don’t remember much of what happened afterwards.”

She gave a small nod and an ‘Mmm’. Her hand left and my hair whished slowly back into place. Alia took a few steps back to the vanity and picked up her scissors. “Now explain this,” she said, examining the potentially life-threatening object in her hand. “If you can Ellie,” and this came out so sickly-sweet that I regretted ever waking up at all. “Why do you smell so much like Lyle? And it’s almost like you have some venom in your blood. Could you explain that to me as well? Did you not only fall on a fork, but a poisoned one at that.”

I was caught, not that I hadn’t been from the start, but now there was no escaping it. I had hoped that maybe I could skirt around the subject for a while, at least until Lyle could get around to explaining the situation, but I had been ambushed and I should have seen it coming then. I was, as they call it, screwed.

I jumped up then and almost succeeded in knocking the chair over. “Well thanks for the haircut Alia. It’s adorable. I think maybe I’ll go show it off.” God that was almost as bad as my last one. I took a few steps back before bolting for the door. A whoosh and a slam later and I was once again face-to-face with the she-devil.

Her face was still screwed into that little doll happiness but her eyes were blazing. “Now that’s not nice Ellie,” she said, in that same sweet voice that made me internally cringe. “Didn’t you know it is terribly rude to just walk out on someone. And we were having quite a darling little conversation weren’t we.” She placed one pale hand on my chest and pushed. It was like all the strength had gone from my legs. I fell back to land with my butt on the chair. Which had somehow gotten turned around in the last two minutes. (God only knows how)

If I had thought I was in a fix I had something coming. It was clear now that I had past screwed and entered the thoroughly fucked area. I cleared my throat and tried to come up with a logical answer. One that would possibly save my ass, or at least part of it anyway. “It’s not that bad is it Alia?” I asked, my throat going dry at once. “I mean, now I’m like, one of you.” I tried to laugh at that and failed miserably. I had never seen myself this worked up. I had always been the one giving the interrogations, and when I had been on the receiving end I had always managed to keep my cool. To be this shook up was a new experience for me and I was quickly learning it was quite an unpleasant one.

“Bad?” This seemed to have hit a nerve because she stomped her foot so hard the floor reverberated. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!” Her eyes really went wild now. There was a loud twang and the scissors she had never got to putting down twisted into some weird shape. “Do you know how much shit brides have to go through? Tell me Elaina, did you for one second think about the consequences for you?” I took a moment to consider telling her I hadn’t really gotten a choice but thought better against it. If I had told her that I was probably going to be a very lonely widow.

“There is nothing good in it for you!” she continued, taking a moment to discard the now unusable scissors. “You’re going to be hunted now Elaina. You aren’t part of the human world anymore, no hunter will buy that bullshit from you! You positively reek of vampire and venom. Just think about it, not that it’s really going to matter anymore. They will come after you. Everything that moves. If another vampire feels threatened by you or Lyle he can take you away just like that,” and at this she snapped her fingers. “And since you‘re not ignorant anymore they won‘t hesitate if they find you alluring enough. Did you know it was possible to steal another’s bride? Probably not. ”

I had to admit I didn’t. I actually really knew next to shit about the whole thing altogether. Except that I was linked to Lyle anyway. That part he had gotten across pretty well.

She seemed to notice this because she took another stomp at the floor. “You know what else Elaina,” I was starting to become afraid to know. Not because I was fearing for my well-being but because I was starting to become deaf in both ears. “Hunters are not the friendliest of people. They will shoot and ask questions never. If they even think you have a possibility of being linked to anything to do with us they will come for you. And if it’s not already clear your marking is a pretty big billboard for them.” She roughly grabbed my shoulder and shook it to emphasis her point. “To make it even more clear here’s an example. They see you, take a whiff, and the chase begins. No one is going to believe your fork story Ellie, sorry to break it to you. And you have to think of the strings. Vampires don’t make themselves vulnerable. They get Lyle, you’re dead. They get you, you’re dead. But here’s the hitch, you’re little vampire friend can go on living without you. He may have to live by how we consider a vegetarian would, after-all the venom only recognizes one person, but he’ll still be alive. How does that make you feel Elli?”

Now that was news. So I was merely a life-line. And a possibly hindering one at that. If the asshole could have lived without me then he should have asked for my consent before he had taken a chunk out of my neck. It wasn’t like he was fucking with his life anyway. The only thing that happened with him was he couldn’t go a fuck with another girl. Not that that would probably stop the son-of-a-bitch. He was probably doing it right now.

I stood abruptly, apparently startling Alia because she jumped, and headed for the door. She wasn’t going to stop me this time though, probably figured that she had not only gotten her point across but I wasn’t going to be so forgiving this time. I grabbed the handle and threw the door open as hard as I could, something to vent my anger on a little anyway. There was movement down the hall but it was Trevor or Oliver (I didn’t sense the object of my hatred down there, something that had started just recently. For the majority of the morning I think he was in the kitchen) probably staying far away from me, a good idea if there ever was one. So I stomped down the staircase and twisted to head into the den.

There he sat, in the middle of the den on that oversized couch, all smug smiles and arrogance. I growled as I crossed the threshold, clenching my fists so hard that I was afraid I would draw blood soon. “You sonofa,” I snarled as I made my way over to him.

“Now that is no way for a lady to talk,” Lye interrupted me. He had steepled his fingers and rested his wrists on his crossed legs. “Is there a problem I need to know about?”

God I wanted to rip that smile off his pretty face. “You damn well know there’s a problem you bastard,” I snarled through clenched teeth. I had reached him by now and reached down to take hold of the front of his shirt. “You didn’t tell me this was such a double-edged sword before you decided to eat me. Of your own accord might I remind you.”

He didn’t seem fazed at all. In fact, he looked like he found this rather amusing. That only pissed me off all the more and I was inclined to give him a good punch to the jaw. As if expecting my next move he grabbed me by the wrists and pulled. I hadn’t really expected this and I tumbled over onto his lap. “I believe it was your fault really Lanie,” now that was a new one, “You just turned me on to much. I couldn’t help it.”

“Then think with your head and not your damn dick,” I muttered into his shirt. The whole thing was making me flustered, something that inclined I was desperately straying from my original path. Which was not what I wanted to do.

Lyle chuckled at that, picking me up to sit on his lap. I tried, but no amount of squirming was getting me out this time. “That is quite a hard thing to do when it’s you. Why did you have to be born so damn cute?” I snorted at this, which he responded with a, “Don’t lie to yourself. You’re adorable. And that new haircut only makes you cuter.”

“Alright enough!” I had finally managed to escape and was staring down at him with a flushed face. “You damn near took my virginity, without my permission might I add again!” I pointed an accusing finger at him, like it would help me make him feel any type of remorse. “And now I’m supposed to believe that no matter what happens to either of us it has a high chance of me ending in death. Nuh-uh. No way man. I am human, and as a human my self-preservation is top priority.”

Lyle’s face went stony at this. With all my yelling I hadn’t expected such a reaction. So when he stood up and took the first few steps towards me I was shocked enough to take a few back. “You dieing?” He grabbed my arm and pulled, I rammed into his chest and he held me against it. “The very thought makes me sick. You will never be dead when I am alive. Remember that Elaina. You die, so do I.”

Did he ever cease to amaze me? The ladies man just kept handing them out, like it was free pizza night at a Chuck.’s. I had no other response then to nod my head against his chest. It wasn’t like I could move anything other than that and my legs, and at this point kneeing him in the groin was probably not a good idea, for both of us.

And now the smile came back. The same one that pissed me off to no extent. “Now about that virginity thing. If it’s weighing that heavily on your mind then maybe we should get rid of it.”

My eyes went wide at that. “Lyle, no! Do you hear me? Forget it!”

Obviously I wasn’t going to get my way though because on the couch we went. He managed to pin both my arms above my head and straddled my waist. “Oh come now Lanie,” he teased. “You know you want it, I can smell your arousal.”

“Arousal my ass!” I snapped, kicking my legs wildly. “Get off me!”

He tsked and slid his hand under my shirt. I gasped as his cool skin touched my warm stomach. “You shouldn’t struggle. It makes it seem like you want it all the more.”

I gave a frustrated scream and glared at him. “You are the biggest ass ever. I take back everything good I’ve ever said about you, you hear that?”

Lyle shrugged and moved his hand further up. The fabric of my shirt slid easily up as he moved it, the stupid thing couldn’t even work as an obstacle. He was at my bra in no time, not that that was much of a challenge for him either. He simply slid his hand under it and brushed his fingers against my breast.

I gasped and sent one more kick into the air. That didn’t exactly do much good, it didn’t even hit him. I just accepted it at that point. It wasn’t like I wasn’t going to be losing my virginity to him anyway, might as well get it over with. But there was one thing bothering me, and I wasn’t going to just let it slide. “Um Lyle,” I mumbled, too embarrassed to really be any louder. He nodded to show he was paying attention. “Could you um, close the curtains? I think we’ve attracted a crowd.”

His head shot to the window and he went into hysterics almost immediately. “Gotta love New York,” he said between laughs, slowly releasing me to stand up and walk over to the window. I took this time to sit up and rub my wrists. I was able to see him give the finger to a family -complete with about a nine year old boy and his parents- two teenagers -that probably went to our school, yippee me- and an old couple, before he whisked the curtains closed. “Can’t keep their nose in their own affairs can they,” he muttered as he made his way back to me.

I shrugged, mindful to keep from making eye contact with him. I was too flustered to be able to face him head on, another emotion I was growing to dislike quite immensely. “Well they all thought they were going to see someone get it on. For real life instead of those cheap movie things. Why wouldn’t you want to stick around and watch?” I was saying this half-heartedly, but I still managed a chuckle out of him.

He yawned as he sat down next to me and pushed me over again. I prepared myself for the feel of his hands on my breasts again but what came instead was his arms. He hugged me to his chest and somehow managed to find a blanket to throw over us.

“I didn’t know vampires slept,” I jabbed, happy that I could tease him for once.

He snorted sleepily, “It’s a pastime I’ve grown rather fond of thank you.” I had to hold back a laugh as he burrowed his nose into my hair. “You smell like vanilla,” he mumbled into my head. I flushed again and muttered a ’Really,’ He was asleep almost as soon as I had finished. I twisted to look at him and found that he was rather adorable when he was sleeping. No smug smile to make me want to punch him, no laughing eyes. Just innocence. I was sad to admit it but it made me kind of proud to be his. But that was something I was never going to say. No chance in hell.

So I snuggled against him and pulled the blanket tighter around us. If he was going to sleep I might as well too. It wasn’t like I would be able to get out without waking him up (in which he would just pull me right back under) and staying awake meant having to listen to Trevor yuck it up and Alia lecture. I wasn’t even sure what Oliver would do, but it would probably help to piss me off. I closed my eyes and let myself be lulled to sleep by his steady breathing.

&

Mondays. I will always hate Mondays.

We had decided to have me stay over for another night, needless to say Grandma was more than pleased. Saturday had been pretty rough which showed because apparently Lyle and I slept almost the whole day on Sunday. The others (excluding Alia of course) thought it quite comical. I had spent that night listening to Oliver say how nice it was to see Lyle finally settle down, and Trevor make cracks about the whole thing. It exhausted me even more and I went right back to sleep.

It would have been better if second period, like first, would allow me to just sleep. I swore I loved my counselor. But English was not as forgiving and I was forced to hold my head up. The giggling thing next to me wasn’t helping all that well either. Alia apparently found my position quite comical. She hadn’t had a problem going back to sleep, and on another note she wasn’t the one who had to go back and hear her grandma yap at her the rest of the day. I had a headache coming on already.

“Now settle down class. Please settle now.”

I had always liked Miss Ophelia. She was probably the youngest in the school’s staff and by far the prettiest. It also helped that she was pretty much an angel. Always talking in that soft voice, not to mention she was about the nicest person you could ever find. But today I had to admit that I was in no mood to deal with even her. So I completely ignored her and dropped my head into my curled arms.

She was probably smiling now, she always was so there was really no doubt about it. “We have a new student. Our second one in the last two months. It’s exciting isn’t it?” There was some mumbled agreement though the class probably only agreed because it was Miss Ophelia who said it. I personally couldn’t give two shits at this point. Fuck the new student they could get by just fine without my acknowledgement.

“This here is Derek Eingry, he’s just transferred here from Michigan.” There were quite a few gasps and I was disgusted to note that several of the girls were gossiping now. Which meant he was hot. Which in turn might mean that the attention might be diverted from Lyle for a while. Now that was something I wouldn’t mind happening. “Miss Shrerief, please sit up. It’s rude to sleep when you’re being introduced to a new classmate. I’m sorry but you can sleep in the infirmary at a later time.” That was something that I did mind. It was incredibly hard to be angry with Miss Ophelia but I was finding it increasingly easier to be annoyed with her.

So I sat up, and that’s when it was my turn to gasp. My eyes went wide at once and I gripped the edge of my desk. The girl behind me snorted and turned to whisper to the girl next to her, “She’s got Lyle, but now that she’s seen someone else who’s hot she’ll sink her claws into him.”

I didn’t particularly mind that, though I had to admit it was kind of funny to think people really thought that about me. It was really Alia’s questioning stare that made me uneasy. She looked like she thought I did something horrible. Like I had slept with the guy or something. I took a breath and leaned over to whisper, “That’s the guy from the club. The one who was following me.”

It was her turn to look shocked. Actually shocked wasn’t really a good word for it. Horrified was probably better. Her own hands went to grasp each other, twisting themselves into the hem of her shirt. The tension was increasing tremendously as ’Derek’ stood in the front of the classroom. His eyes roamed around the room, studying each person he saw. He stopped when his eyes found me, and they widened considerably. I looked away, which was probably a big mistake because I was face-to-face with an empty chair and the realization that he would be sitting next to me.

“You may sit next to Elaina over there Mr. Eingry. She’s a rather nice girl, you’ll get along fine with her.” The girls behind me laughed. I wasn’t really aware of them but Alia turned and shot them a look of utter hatred, in which they shut-up at once.

The boy gave one nod before strolling over to his new desk. (I was actually kind of sad at the loss of the desk too. I had normally put my stuff on it, and had become accustomed to sitting sideways with my legs on the chair.) He sat rather quickly and then went on to staring at me. It was extremely awkward. I had him on one side and a rather frantic Alia on the other, not to mention my heart had already started thumping so hard that my chest hurt. If I understood correctly then they had thought he was a hunter. Not good considering that Alia claimed I smelled like venom or something like that. The gauze patch on the side of my neck probably didn’t help that much either. It was when he put his arm on me that it really hit home though.

I must have jumped six feet in the air. It was so bad that I even startled Alia, who had probably been expecting just that reaction. “Um,” he started when I had finally settled down enough to properly acknowledge him. I probably looked like a frightened rabbit so shook up I was. “I was wondering if you could show me around the school. If it’s not to much trouble that is. I would appreciate it.”

I was about to answer when the door flew open. “Who the fuck touched her!?” I knew that voice, that ever annoying voice. On any other occasion I would normally have been happy to hear it, but right now it was just uncalled for.

I stood, slamming my hands hard on the table to pull myself up. “Why in God’s name are you here? Go back to class you moron!” I shouted, plenty aware of the fact that, once again, we were the main event. It was also pretty easy to tell that Alia was plenty annoyed. She had her head in her hands and was groaning wearily.

Lyle stormed across the floor, nearly knocking over the desk of the kid in front of me, and grabbed my arm. “I’ll leave when I damn well please. Now who the hell thought it was a good idea to touch you?”

I wiggled my way out of his grasp and continued to glare. “Would you get over this shit. No one touched me.” I was pretty sure he was talking about my burst of horror a few minutes ago. They had gone through a pretty detailed explanation yesterday on how a vampire and their bride sense each other. Apparently they could feel what both were doing, like their positions and how they were feeling and such. It sounded all corny and romantic but it got really annoying at times. Especially when you had a complete blockhead for a partner.

This time it wasn’t just some grab, he just about snatched at my arm and roughly pulled me towards him. “Don’t lie to me Lanie,” he growled into my ear, “I can smell him on you.”

Now that pissed me off. If he could smell that damn kid then he could have just whisked up and killed him. Why did he have to bring me into the whole thing? “Really now?” I snarled back. “Well then maybe when you’re finished sniffing me up you could do something useful. Like get your ass back to your own class!” I shouted the last part, right in his ear too.

He recoiled, clutching his ear with both his hands. He growled once but was quickly subdued by Alia’s eyes boring into him. The anger subsided and he gave me that smile again. Not the smug one, but the cocky one -the smug suggested that he had the authority to do as he pleased, this one just said that he would. I gave him a wary look before his mouth collided with mine. I was shocked and by the time I got a hold of myself he had already pulled away.

“Good-bye honey,” he said sweetly, a hint of something more in his eyes.

I flushed and was about to snap back when something touched my arm. It was clear to say I went purely frantic. I jumped at once, throwing my arm backward to get whatever it was off. Derek stared at me with astounded eyes, his arm raised at a weird angle from when I threw it off. “I’m, sorry,” he said softly, probably more bewildered than anything else.

What surprised me was that Lyle hadn’t gone completely feral again. He had been so worked up before, and now that he had just seen it for himself he looked rather calm. Another look at him told me I had just gotten the whole thing completely mixed around. He was so angry that feral was probably lost to him right now. Even with the contacts in you could tell that his eyes had gone the creepy shade of a pure black.

“I would think twice before I’d touch her again if I were you,” Lyle said, completely calm.

Derek went from being startled to angry in a matter of moments. “Who made her yours? You treat her like an object,” he snarled back.

Miss Ophelia, who had been trying to fix the problem from the beginning, just gave up. She sat down and put her head in her hands. I kind of felt sorry for her now. She really didn’t deserve any of what was happening.

Lyle was holding himself back now. His hands were clenched at his sides so hard that his arms were shaking. I immediately sat down, afraid that I’d get caught in the crossfire if I didn’t. Alia gave another groan beside me and at that moment I felt like following her lead. This was purely exhausting.

“I will assure you,” Lyle started, doing a pretty good job of keeping his voice in check, “that I don’t treat Elaina like any type of object. And I’ll also assure you that Elaina knows she’s mine.”

This got a few startled gasps. Apparently my classmates hadn’t thought that the actions he had done so far showed that we were going out. It actually took a confession to get it through to them. It saddened me to know my classmates were all so thick.

“That kind of thinking makes women stray,” Derek shot. “You see, if you behave like that then when someone else comes around your girl will leave you for him.” He smiled and gently took my chin. I jumped again and almost succeeded in pulling myself away. “Let me show you an example.” Derek ignored Lyle’s warning growl and bent down as he pulled me up.

Twice in one hour I was kissed. And by different men at that. It was pretty much a blur after that. I remember Lyle giving off the most ferocious snarl I’d ever heard, and then I heard one of the guys hollering and shouting out ’It’s a smack down!’, but other than that the only thing I recall happening was Derek being ripped away.

I happened to fall back in my seat, completely bewildered and drained of energy. Alia was on me in a flash. “Elaina, are you okay? Please talk! He didn’t use tongue did he?” She kept going and I just couldn’t comprehend it. I wasn’t like, amazed at his kissing ability or anything corny like that. He actually wasn’t that good a kisser (then again, I could just have set my expectations way too high because of Lyle). I was just surprised he had had the gall to do that at all. Not only was he a new student, and new students just don’t try and make out with someone on their first day, but he had gone up against Lyle. And it didn’t matter who you were that was just a big no-no. It probably would have been better if he hadn’t have actually kissed me. I mean touching was one thing, kissing another guys’ girl against her will was a completely different thing. Alia had even explained last night that vampires were extremely protective of what they thought of as theirs.

“It seems some party’s started up without me.” And here came annoyance number two. Trevor stood in the threshold of the door. He was making possibly the smartest move he had ever done when he didn’t move at all and instead opted to just lean on the hinges of the door.

There was a gasped, “Trevor’s back!” (I couldn’t really tell the gender but it sounded kind of like a man) and then the room went up in squeals.

&

“You two looked like you were having fun.”

“Why don’t you fuck off,” Lyle growled.

This garnered a few laughs. Both him and me were probably the only ones not laughing. I had to admit though Trevor was the one who had gotten the both of us out of that sort of predicament. That didn’t mean we were completely free of it though. It was easy to say that at least two people were going to be getting a detention slip. I probably would be seeing another one soon too. Lyle and Derek might have started the fight, but I had done my fair share of yelling as well.

Speaking of Lyle it was becoming really hard to walk. It was obvious the whole thing had made him sore (his pride that was) and as soon as we left he had wrapped his arms around my shoulders and wouldn’t let go the whole time. I wasn’t exactly annoyed with it, to tell the truth I found it rather cute. But I couldn’t say that so I had to at least act like I didn’t like it a little. Though it was easy to see that Lyle either knew it was an act or simply didn’t care.

Alia sighed from her place beside Trevor and gave an annoyed click of her tongue. “That boy, insolent that he is,” she pouted, sounding quite like a child. Trevor did nothing more than chuckle. “Placing a hand on our Ellie. He knows not what is good for him.”

Lyle grunted his agreement, taking care to squeeze me a little closer. “The bastard should learn his place,” he growled into my hair.

“It wasn’t like he was trying to rape me or anything,” I said. I don’t know why I was speaking up on his behalf. It was probably because I was sick and tired of having to hear about him. All I wanted to do at this point was completely forget about the whole incident.

Both Alia and Trevor gave me looks, though Alia’s was more pissy and Trevor’s was more amusement. “Why are you defending him?” Alia snipped. “After what to you he did.”

“Why are you?” Lyle continued, giving me a rather annoyed look. “Don’t tell me you actually enjoyed that little kiss he gave you?”

Trevor chose to speak up now, and quite cheerfully might I add. “Perhaps Ella has become tired of our favorite playboy.”

This received two growls and a kick to the shin. “Take the enemy’s side you not!” Alia snipped, crossing her arms over her chest. “He a perverted, ingrate that he is.” She was really getting fired up about the whole thing. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her as angry with someone other than me and Lyle as she was right then.

“Alright,” I interrupted, “I don’t like the kid. I think he’s an egotistic bastard.” I paused for a moment to stare back at Lyle. “Maybe that wasn’t a good choice of words.” This got a few more laughs and Lyle just snorted into my hair. “But the fact still stands I hate him,” I paused for a moment to make sure they were all listening. I had a tendency of talking to myself with these guys, they never seemed to listen when it didn’t concern them. “I just want to forget the whole thing okay. He like raped my mouth, I don’t exactly want to think about it.”

It was silent for a moment and I was kind of afraid they were all going to start to laugh. My legs were swept out from under me and I desperately flailed my arms to catch hold of something. I almost gave Lyle a few good smacks before I was able to clutch to his neck. Trevor was chuckling and Alia was giving Lyle a rather sour look. She still didn’t seem to be all to happy with us.

“Could you maybe stop trying to murder your husband.”

“I’m not married to you,” I muttered, immediately going a bright pink. “And maybe if you would stop doing these things without a warning I wouldn’t.”

He sighed and kissed my cheek. “You were just so cute right then I couldn’t help it.”

“Ah so frisky today are we? This is the first time I’ve seen you two so intimate.” I averted my attention at once. It took me a moment to figure out that it was Sheri (our counselor if you had forgotten) who had spoken. It took me even longer to realize that we had stopped just outside of that horribly cheery room.

I was a little surprised. Trevor had come in and told us that the three of us were wanted. I hadn’t dreamed that we were all going to see the counselor. “Um, hi?” It was more of a question than an actual greeting. I was a little too confused to really say anything other than that.

“She’s one of us, don’t be so timid Lanie,” Lyle said as he put me down. Much as I enjoyed being carted around I was pretty happy to finally be able to stand again. Being carried around like that was way to embarrassing.

Alia giggled and gave a little twirl. “What she is, guess can you?”

I shrugged and thought a moment. “A fox?” It was a pretty stupid answer, and I was rewarded by a chorus of chuckles and laughs. It was my turn to be sore now and I crossed my arms to pout. “Well fine, I won’t guess anymore.”

Trevor put on arm on Sheri’s shoulder and proceeded to lean on her. “She’s a pixie,” he said. “I know what you’re thinking, pixies are supposed to be like all mischievous and everything. Well Sheri here is kind of an outcast,” he followed up when I opened my mouth to speak. I closed it at once and gave a nod. “Explains the childishness quite well doesn’t it?”

Sheri gave a giggle and ushered us all in. “Come in come in,” she cooed. “No need to be shy.” I was hesitant to go in, even with the niceties. It wasn’t like I could really accept the fact that the women I had seen everyday since the first day I had come here had been in on the whole thing from the beginning.

“You surprised?” Lyle asked, clasping my hand in his and pulling me along. “It shouldn’t be that weird. Why else would I of all people be seeing a counselor? If you didn’t notice I’m not exactly a problem child.” He grinned when he continued, “Unlike some people here I seem to recall.”

I smacked him then, going back to my previous shade of pink. “Oh whatever,” I snorted. “At least I was creative about it.”

Alia sniffed from her position in a lime green chair. “Flirting will cease at once and seating yourselves will be,” she ordered. The both of us hurried to do as we were told. Getting Alia any more peeved at us probably wouldn’t have been a good idea.

When we were all settled Sheri crossed her legs and began. “So it’s true then,” she said, giving Lyle a look. “We have another joined into our ranks.” With this she gave a rather giddy smile and waved energetically at me, “Welcome to the family Ella!” I waved back weakly. “Anyways,” she continued, clearing her throat and attempting to look a little more serious. “So is it true? About the hunter coming.”

This time it was Trevor that answered, something I was rather surprised to note considering he hadn’t been in the whole conversation. “We believe so. That transfer student who tried to put the moves on Ella, Derek whatshisface.” He wore that same grim expression that I thought was rather out of place on him.

“I see,” Sheri said thoughtfully, “So it’s the Eingry boy is it? He did seem a little awkward in the main office.” She clicked her raspberry painted nails against the miniature table. “We have to be careful around that one. He’s very talented for his age. I think he might have been able to see through my illusions.” With that she reached over the table and fingered the gauze pad on my neck. I jumped and grabbed at Lyle’s hand frantically. I wasn’t exactly scared but it was a little unnerving to have anyone look at the mark yet. Not only did it look like something had just beat me with a boulder repeatedly, I was a little embarrassed to show it off. What with what it meant and everything. Lyle squeezed my hand and gave me a reassuring smile.

Sheri seemed to realize that it was a little uncomfortable for me because she patted my other shoulder with her free hand. With her other she gently peeled the pad away and studied it for a few minutes. She gave a cluck of her tongue and a long sigh. “You didn’t have to eat the poor girl you know Lyle,” she tsked as she gently patted the gauze back in place. “I’m sure a simple bite would have sufficed.”

Lyle scowled from his seat. “I didn’t kill her did I? And she was fine afterwards, she just got tired. Which is normal when you have a large amount of venom injected into you.”

Sheri sighed again as she stood and walked over to one of her filing cabinets. “Normally you don’t inject it all at once. Intervals make the bruise a little less noticeable you know. Or did Oliver and Alia forget to inform you of this little tidbit?”

“Thanks,” I muttered, giving him a rather bland stare. Lyle just shrugged and smiled back.

Our counselor shuffled through the top drawer for a minute before her hand finally emerged. She returned to the table carrying a vial with a rather ugly purple colored liquid sloshing inside. “Here, I’m sure Oliver would try and make you something but he’s not experienced in these kinds of tonics,” she explained holding the vial out for me. I took it warily, not really sure what it was going to do and almost positive that I wouldn’t be drinking it anytime soon. When Sheri saw my confused expression she quickened to explain. “It’ll help settle the venom in your blood. Plus it will at least try and clear up the bruising, make it a bit lighter anyway.”

I gave Lyle another look before I nodded. “That might be a little nice.”

Alia gave another sniff and Trevor just chuckled. They were a very contradicting pair that was for sure. Whatever one was doing you could be sure the other was doing the opposite. It was annoying at times but you had to admit it was more comical than anything else.

After giving me a very thorough look (she always had to make sure I knew she disapproved) Alia went back into that same state I had seen her in on Saturday. “We must rid ourselves of him fast then. He could potentially uncover all of us. All our careful work would be put to waste.”

Sheri gave a rather dry smile and a curt nod. “I know Miss Alia, I know.”

Trevor let out a frustrated sigh from his chair and covered his eyes with one hand. “This so is not helping. What did we ever do to those damn hunters anyway?”

“Who knows. Most hunters have some type of grudge against monsters. Then again, he may be one of the special cases. The ones who do it for the fun of it,” Lyle shrugged, rather boredly might I add. Though if you took a close enough look you could see he was getting rather anxious.

Alia snorted, crossing her legs in an act of frustration. “He could possibly be one of those loons who’s in the family business.”

“That may be why he was able to catch on so quickly,” Sheri agreed.

I was a little lost. It wasn’t exactly everyday that stuff like this happens to you. I would think it normal for someone like me to be at least a little overwhelmed. But I had to admit that I felt rather useless, like I was in the way. I wasn’t exactly helping them so I was pretty much just a presence in the room. A sudden thought occurred to me, though it took a while for me to actually bring it up. “Um, what about what happened on Friday?” The other occupants each gave me a weird look. I cleared my throat and tried again. “When Trevor got attacked or something, wasn’t that a hunter?”

The werewolf’s face alit with recognition and he nodded fiercely. “It was a hunter. Definitely not that Derek kid though.”

“You sure?” Lyle asked, and I noticed his other hand had balled up into a fist.

“Positive,” Trevor said, looking quite cheeky for the situation. “Unless he can come back from the dead. I killed the other one.”

Alia slammed her fists on the table succeeding in making the whole room jump. “Shit!” she almost screamed. “That’s why the damnable thing caught wind of us.”

Trevor shook his head. “I wouldn’t count on it,” he said. “I made it look like a knife fight. A rather bloody one but kids on the streets these days have probably done worse than I did.”

The girl shook her head, “They can smell a wolf a mile away Trevor. Do not forget that. It would have been wiser to just dump him in a river. It would have been more suspicious but the scent would have washed away.”

Sheri gave another exasperated sigh before standing up. “Shoo,” she ordered, waving her hands at the door. “This is now concluded. I’m way to tired to carry this on further. Plus it would look suspicious with you all in here.”

We stood and shuffled out the door. Lyle gave my hand another squeeze and bent down to kiss the gauze pad. “It’ll be alright Lanie,” he reassured. “Nothing’s gonna hurt you.”

I blushed again. “I’m not worried about that,” I shot back halfheartedly.

Lyle gave me another soft smile, “Of course you aren’t,” he said. “Of course.”

We headed to lunch then. Second period was long over and third was, if anything, close to being done. I was embarrassed, but we held hands the whole way there.