Three Men and a Witch

Author's Note – First of all, let me offer my apologies for taking so darned long for this whole thing. I don't have a good excuse except that I got disenchanted with it.

Secondly, I apologize that it's kind of short.

Thirdly, I have a few questions posted at the bottom. It would be really awesome if you could answer these questions for me in your review. Then I can get some feedback and work on the second draft of this story.

Chapter Nine: When Every Thing's Lost, The Battle is Won

[Hannah]

Dylan had called all of us together because he apparently had something really important to say. Shane had agreed to come home for a while, mostly for a shower and a change of clothes as he waited for better news of Emmalyn.

Shane, Andrew and I sat at the table as Dylan leaned against the kitchen counter, hands crossed over his chest. There were a stack of papers on the counter.

"Is there going to be a test on this later?" Andrew asked jokingly, pointing to the stack of papers. Dylan rolled his eyes and pushed himself away from the table.

"This is serious. I think I have some information that could help save Emmalyn."

"Yeah, you said that already," Andrew said. It had been the exact wording he'd used when he'd called the meeting together. The same words he'd used over the phone talking to Shane. Apparently Dylan was not all that creative when it came to things like that. Not that creativity had ever been at the top of my list of Dylan's qualities. Or maybe he'd just planned this out, all organized like so we would take him seriously for once.

"I think my boss might be the one who attacked Emmalyn," he said. Now we all stared at him, open-mouthed. His boss?

"Who?" Shane asked.

"My boss. Nelson." He looked at all of us as though we were idiots. I tried to remember if I'd ever seen his boss before. I'd only been inside his work building like twice, and all I'd seen were those kids he worked with, and the girl at the desk.

"You know, the tall, skinny guy who looks like a vampire?" he added, when no one showed any sign of recognition. Of course, once he mentioned that, I remembered who he was talking about. The day I'd gone inside and he'd had to take that little Hispanic boy into the office. I had thought he looked like a vampire, but I hadn't thought he could actually be a vampire. Hadn't even thought vampires existed at that point in my life.

"No way." Andrew leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands over his chest, shooting a disbelieving look at Dylan.

"Look, it makes sense!" Dylan exclaimed. When no one spoke for a minute, he picked up the stack of papers and handed one to each of us. "Info abt. Vampires" was written across the top, followed by a bulleted list of traits:

* skinny

* pale

* dark hair & eyes

* secretive

* good w/ppl

* need blood

I couldn't help but think that he'd wasted a whole piece of paper to put a couple inches of words. Especially since he didn't need copies for everyone.

"So…" Andrew asked, putting his sheet on the table. He pushed it into the center of the table and looked up at his friend.

"So, you've met Nelson, right?" Dylan asked. "Don't you think those traits fit him?" He pointed to each one on his sheet.

"He's definitely pale and skinny, and his hair is practically ink-black." Dylan raised his eyebrows, "People love him, and he's not really open about his personal life. And plus how he smells like dirt. That probably comes from living in a coffin all the time." Dylan set his own sheet down and looked around the table. I didn't know what to say, because, really?

"Do you really think he would've bitten Emmalyn?" Shane asked. Dylan shrugged and pulled out a chair.

"Honestly, it's the only lead I have right now. But I think he might have already bitten Carlos."

"Who's Carlos?" I asked.

"One of my charges. He's usually really nice and everything, but yesterday when I was working with him he snapped at me and wouldn't let me even see what he was doing." Dylan looked like he was more bothered by this than he wanted to be.

"So?" Andrew asked, "If I was him, I would snap at you, too." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but Carlos is never like that!" Dylan exclaimed. "And he's got the other signs, too. He's gotten really pale, and his eyes were really dark, too." He counted out each characteristic on his fingers.

"Okay, so let's say we take your word for it, and both Carlos and your boss are vampires, and that Nelson turned Emma," Shane said, "How do you think that's going to help us?" he asked.

"Yeah, do you think he's just going to turn her back if we ask him nicely? Andrew said, sarcasm practically dripping from his words. I knew it was hard for him to take this all in, but I didn't know why he had to be fighting this at every turn.

"Actually, yeah," Dylan said, "I thought it'd be worth a shot, at least." I stared at him, unwilling to believe that Dylan was considering a non-violent approach to solving our problems. That wasn't like him at all.

"Oh yeah, sounds like a great plan," Andrew said.

"Look, I haven't seen you come up with any better ideas!" Dylan countered. Andrew stood up, facing Dylan as if to challenge him.

"I don't have any better ideas because I think this whole this is ridiculous." He took a step forward, and the two of them were face to face. I stood up as well, wondering if I should try to stop Andrew from doing something rash. In a fight against Dylan, he would no doubt lose; Dylan was not only stronger, but he also had the protection spells on his side. If Dylan's angry ex couldn't harm him through one of those, Andrew had no chance at all – he'd get creamed.

"Hey!" Shane shouted, his loud voice startling all of us, including. Everyone turned to face the only one of us still seated. "I think we should try Dylan's idea," he said.

"Are you serious?" Andrew raised his eyebrows. He looked as though he wasn't sure who to believe, if anyone.

"Look, it's the only real option we have now, and I think it's worth a shot." Shane shrugged. "It's hard enough not knowing whether Emmalyn's going to get better or not. I want to at least have some idea about whether she's going to be like this for the rest of her life or not."

"Should we take a vote?" Dylan asked, looking mostly at Andrew. It wasn't a look so much as it was a glare, and I was afraid they were going to start arguing again.

"No, no vote," Andrew replied, sounding defeated, "Shane said he wants to do it, we'll do it." He shrugged and left the room. I glanced at Dylan and Shane before following Andrew out of the room. With his long legs, he was up the stairs and part way down the hall before I could catch up with him.

"Andrew?" I touched his arm, but he wouldn't turn around.

"You don't need me to go with you," he said, "I'm just going to stay here." The tone in his voice was what worried me. He didn't like being the odd man out.

"I'll stay with you." I couldn't leave him like this.

"You know, you're the one that started this," he said, finally turning around to face me. But the angry look on his face made me wish he was still looking at the wall.

"What?"

"If you hadn't gotten kicked out and move in here... if we hadn't gotten together... nothing would have happened to Emmalyn. We wouldn't be having a conversation about finding vampires and all this stupid shit!" He slammed his hand into the wall, and then pulled it back, cradling it against his chest. I stepped forward, wanting to comfort him. But he wouldn't let me touch him. I couldn't believe that he would be this angry with me still. And over something that I could not change.

"Andrew, if none of that had happened, I would still be a witch. I can't change that," I said, "Trust me. I would get rid of this if I could, just to make you like me again." His anger almost melted away.

"Hannah…" he almost whispered my name, and pulled me close into his arms. I tilted my head up and we kissed, his lips soft against my own. Their warmth was comforting in all this uncertainty.

"I don't hate you." He rubbed his hand on my back, "I just… all of this is very confusing to me." He shook his head.

"It's confusing to me, too," I reassured him. He smiled.

"Think the others will miss us for a couple minutes?" he asked, tugging me towards his bedroom. I didn't answer, other than to follow him willingly.

[&]

"You guys ready?" Dylan asked, giving Andrew extra scrutiny as he tapped his fingers on the table. Shane also looked amused.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Well, normally Nelson works all day. So I figured we'd stop there first," Dylan explained. Shane nodded. "We're taking my car. And I'm driving," he added. I rolled my eyes. Nevertheless, we followed him out the car. Shane took the passenger seat, and Andrew and I squeezed into the back seat together, not that I minded the close quarters. It left room for him to hold my hand in between his. He kept shooting me meaningful looks and I was glowing.

Having never been in the car while Dylan was driving, I had never noticed how fast he liked to drive. And by "fast" I do not mean a couple miles over the speed limit. I mean at least fifteen miles above the speed limit. And he didn't bother asking anyone whether they wanted the radio on, because he turned it on full blast. A male singer screamed about, well, I couldn't understand what the singer was screaming about. But it was probably something worth screaming about. Love, maybe.

"Jesus Christ, dude, you're going to get us killed before we get there!" Shane shouted over the music. He was gripping his arm rests like he thought that would save him. Nothing short of a protection spell would save him if we were to get into an accident going this fast!

"Don't worry, buddy. I've been driving like this for a long time." Dylan even took his hand off the wheel to pat Shane's leg. By some miracle, we managed to make it to the parking lot of the center alive. Dylan screeched into a parking space and turned the car off. "Ready?" he asked, glancing at us in the back seat. I looked over at Andrew and then unbuckled. The four of us got out of the car and stood in front of the building, staring up at it. Why did I get this horrible feeling of foreboding?

Dylan led the charge – I mean, the walk – into the building. He waved at the woman at the desk and headed towards the office we'd been in before. The door was closed, but Dylan just turned the handle and went right inside. I was surprised that it wasn't locked. However, no one was inside the room. There was a desk, a bookshelf, a mini-fridge and curtains over the windows. Dylan started rifling through the papers on the desk.

"There's nothing here," he said, "Just applications and stuff." He shrugged. Then he spotted the mini-fridge and headed towards it.

"Should we even be going through his stuff?" I asked, feeling like we were definitely doing something bad. Dylan seemed to have no such qualms, and no one else said anything either in agreement or disagreement with me.

Then Dylan opened the mini-fridge and paused as he looked at whatever was inside. Beer? That was my first thought, but that was not what Dylan pulled out.

"Is that…?" Shane started.

"…blood." Dylan finished, holding up the plastic packet filled with a dark red liquid. It looked like those packets they had at the hospital when they did transfusions. Not that I had ever seen one up close, but movies couldn't be totally inaccurate, could they? There could only be a handful of reasons why Nelson would have pints of blood in his freezer, and I was willing to be that he didn't do emergency transfusions.

"Just goes to prove my theory," Dylan said, grinning. He put the blood packet back into the fridge.

"And also that he's not here," Shane pointed out, "Unless vampires can turn invisible. So we'd better find out where he is." Dylan nodded, and the four of us filed out of the office, shutting the door behind us. Dylan approached the woman at the desk.

"Do you happen to know where Nelson is today?" he asked, smiling sweetly. I found it funny that he had completely changed his tone from the way he'd been at the hospital – all demanding and angry.

"He went to the hospital," she said, "He said he had to visit one of his friends. He'll be gone all day." She smiled up at him, like maybe she was actually charmed by his odd behavior. Acting was all it was. Dylan would be this way if he didn't want something.

"Thanks." He tapped the desk and gave her another grin before leading us out the door. Well, that had been pointless.

"What do you suppose he's doing at the hospital?" Dylan asked innocently, sounding like he knew exactly what he thought Nelson would be doing at the hospital. I had an idea, but I said nothing, not really wanting to think about it. Shane had no such qualms, though.

"He's looking for Emma," he said, voice hard. "Now turn the fucking car on and book it before I find out my girlfriend is dead." He glanced over at Dylan, who didn't need to be told twice. I grabbed Andrew's hand, preparing for the screeching ride to the hospital. Once again, we made it alive, pulling into the parking lot next to a dark green Jeep. Dylan was halfway across the parking lot before the rest of us could catch up with him. He wanted to keep going and head right up to Emma's room, but Shane grabbed his sleeve and stopped him.

"I want to make sure they haven't moved her," Shane explained. He went to the desk and inquired about Emma. We couldn't hear what he was saying from where we were standing, but I saw the way he squared his shoulders and his jaw hardened when the receptionist told him something. He turned to us.

"Says she's already got a visitor. A tall, pale guy who claimed to be her uncle." He was gritting his teeth.

"Fuck!" Dylan exclaimed, "We gotta get up there!" He glanced toward the elevators, where a young couple was just getting in. "Stop!" he shouted, holding his hand out, "Hold that elevator!" I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.

"You're not in a movie, Dylan," I reminded him. But the way he dashed over to the elevator suggested that he thought perhaps he was an action hero or something. The couple held the doors for us and Andrew, Shane, and I followed Dylan into the elevator. It seemed to take ages for the elevator to go up to the third floor, but we finally made it. Dylan pushed past the couple and headed down the hall towards Emma's room. Once again, the rest of us were jogging just to keep up.

He stood before the door with the rest of us crowded behind him, waiting.

"Open it," Shane hissed. He put his hand on the doorknob and turned it, slowly. When he finally pushed open the door to the room, what I saw surprised me. Dylan had been right! His boss, Nelson, was standing beside Emmalyn's bed, holding a packet of blood, similar to the ones we'd found in his mini-fridge, to her lips.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Shane shouted, starting across the room before the rest of could stop him. He grabbed Nelson by the collar, causing him to drop the blood packet. It spilled all over the floor, but no one seemed to care.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" Shane asked, still not letting go of Nelson. But the man was apparently stronger than he looked as he wrenched himself out of Shane's grip.

"You shouldn't have come," Nelson said, taking several deep breaths. His eyes shifted over towards Emma, who was lying on the bed, motionless. This drew Shane's attention to his immobile girlfriend, and he went to her bedside, grabbing her hand.

"Is that supposed to be doing that?" Andrew asked, gesturing to one of the machines next to Emmalyn. It was beeping, quite loudly.

"I said that you shouldn't have come," Nelson said, bending down. He picked up the plastic packet, but there was no blood left in it.

"That's not an answer, asshole!" Shane exclaimed, "I want a fucking answer before I punch you in the face." All of a sudden I remembered the scary Shane of the first time we'd met. Then it had just been his looks that were scary, but now his words and actions were scaring me, too.

"You don't understand." Nelson shook his head and stood up, shaking the plastic bag. A bit of blood dripped out onto the floor. I saw Shane's hands clench up into fists.

"I understand that you turned my girlfriend into a monster," he said. Just then, the door burst open and in came a tall black guy in a doctor's uniform.

"What's going on here?" he asked, looking around the room. Dylan's eyes sparkled as he looked at the guy, and he smiled.

"Warren." All he said was that name but there was a lot in his voice, a lot packed into that one tiny word.

"How many of you are there?" Nelson exclaimed, "Are you trying to get this girl killed?" Shane stepped towards Nelson again, looking like he was about to explode.

"You're the only one that's trying to kill her," he growled, "We're trying to save her. That's my girlfriend, you know," Shane added, in case Nelson had confused the over-protective behavior for that of just a casual acquaintance.

"I wasn't trying to kill her," Nelson said, his voice soft, "I was trying to save her." I know I shouldn't have, but I wanted to believe him. I mean, he didn't exactly look menacing, and he hadn't made a move against any of us yet. If he was interested in killing people, there were plenty of us in the room that he could go after. The black guy in the lab coat went over to Emmalyn's side and looked at the beeping machines.

"Her heart race is increasing," he said, "her temperature has reached normal."

"That's good, right?" I asked, though I still didn't know who this guy was. He nodded.

"She's doing a lot better." But the news didn't make Shane calm down any more. He was still in a staring contest with Nelson, and it was making me nervous. If Emmalyn was doing all right, there was no need to antagonize Nelson the vampire. He could attack us or something.

"I told you that I was helping her." Nelson crossed his arms over his chest and looked vaguely smug. "You all were almost getting her killed. She would have died if she hadn't gotten any blood." He glanced at lab-coat, Warren, in the corner, as though he weren't sure if he could trust him. I wasn't sure if we could trust him, either, but with the way Dylan was eyeing him, it would probably be all right.

"What are you talking about?" Shane asked, "She was doing fine." But he faltered. She hadn't been doing fine. Her condition had not gotten any better from the time she'd gotten in the hospital in the first place, and it had been weeks.

"Shane?" It was her voice – weak, hoarse, but most definitely Emmalyn's voice. Shane was instantly at her side, grabbing her hand and looking down at her.

"Oh baby, are you all right?" he asked, his voice gentle, a complete turnaround from only moments ago. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," she croaked, "But I feel a little better than I did before." Nelson glanced over at them.

"She's going to need more blood if you want her to fully recover," he said, looking at Dylan, "I can supply her with some to start with, and help her out for the first couple of months, but after that she's going to be on her own. Will you let me help?" He actually sounded like he wanted to help. I was inclined to believe him, because Emmalyn was actually awake and talking, because it seemed like he was actually helping.

"So she's going to be a vampire?" Andrew asked, "There's no way of changing her back?" Nelson shook his head.

"It's irreversible. Of course, I'd like to find that jerk that attacked her in the first place. He obviously doesn't follow the rules so well."

"It wasn't you?" Dylan asked. Nelson shook his head.

"I don't do that kind of thing," he said, "I get my blood the legal way."

"What about Carlos?" Dylan asked, back to the defensive tone. "Didn't you turn him?" Nelson didn't answer for a long moment, but that was the only answer we needed.

"I apologize for it, but the boy was so insistent. He was afraid about the other boys in school teasing him. He wanted to be popular. He wanted to be like me. And, I shouldn't have done it. But I did, and for that I apologize." No one said anything for a long moment, but Andrew just squeezed my hand. What next?

"I think maybe we should leave Emmalyn and Nelson to talk about this," Warren said finally, "It will make it easier for her if she has someone explain everything."

"I'm not leaving." Shane was defiant. Nelson just shrugged.

"That's fine." But the rest of us left the room, standing out in the hallway. Andrew was still holding my hand, and Warren looked at Dylan, as though waiting for introductions. Dylan seemed oblivious, until Warren made a fake coughing noise and looked pointedly at me and Andrew.

"Oh, uh, Warren, this is Hannah and Andrew. And um, this is Warren." Not much of an introduction, but I supposed it was the best one could expect from Dylan. Warren reached out and shook my hand and then Andrew's. We were all quiet for a long time.

"Well, what's going to happen next?" Andrew asked "If Emma's really a vampire, how are we going to deal with that?"

"The same way we deal with me and Hannah being witches," Dylan said, "It's just part of who she is. I mean, if Nelson will help her to understand it, then I guess that's a good thing. And if she can still be mostly normal, then what's the big deal? Shane still cares about her, obviously." He shrugged.

"You really think it won't change anything?" Andrew asked, "You really think everything is going to be like it was before this whole fiasco?" Dylan glanced at Warren. Yeah, I knew what that was, and I was surprised because it was not something I had ever expected to see from Dylan, of all people.

"Of course it will change stuff. I mean, things will be different, but we'll just have to deal with them, right? Just take whatever life throws at us and –"

"...Make lemonade, right?" Andrew finished, snorting, "You read that off the back of a cereal box or something?"

"Oh, shut up," Dylan muttered, "I'm just trying to be positive here. Look ahead; think happy thoughts, all that garbage." He shrugged again.

But Dylan was right. We couldn't go back now. We would just have to make the best of the situation. I squeezed Andrew's hand, glad that, at least I had someone by my side to navigate the rough moments. And I wouldn't have asked for anyone else.

The end

Author's Note – If you have read this story, I would love it if you could read these questions and write a response to them in your review, so I could know what to fix in my next draft of this.

1. What parts of the story did you like the best? For example, did you have a specific scene you really liked... did you like the grammar, the plot... etc. Anything that you really liked and thought was done well. (Not a character, because that question is later)

2. What parts of this story could use work? For example, the ending (I know it needs work!), a certain character, plot developments, etc. Anything that was unpleasant and took away from the story (not a character, because that question comes later)

3. Which character did you like the best? It can be any main character, side character, a person that showed up once but you liked. Why did you like them?

4. Which character was your least favorite? This is not necessarily because they were bad, but because they weren't developed well enough, or just didn't fit with the story. Why didn't you like them?

5. If this story were rewritten and the stuff you didn't like was changed to make it better, would you read it again?

6. Overall, if you were to grade this story on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best you've ever read, 1 being the worst, where would you rate it?

THANK YOU to everyone who read this, and to everyone who answers the questions. It really helps me to develop as a writer, and I hope you'll continue reading some of my other stories, too.