Chapter 1: Fight

It had become painfully clear that Mexicans were not good at soundproofing their houses.

Kate sighed and covered her right ear with a pillow, trying to block out the sound of the Gecko brothers yelling at each other in the next room. The left side of her face was pressed against a grey bottom sheet of a motel bed that smelled like bleach. She was feeling groggy, having just woken up from a nightmare full of fangs, stakes and blood. And fighting.

"I just don't fucking get why you had to come along!"

"What? It was the goddamn plan from the very beginning!"

"That was before you turned into a blood-sucking monster!"

"I was going to die. How many times do I have to explain it to you?"

"You did die, you son of a bitch!"

Ever since their arrival at a gloomy Mexican motel in the middle of nowhere, Richard and Seth Gecko had been fighting. It was only verbal (thank God) but only because Seth didn't want to be closer than five feet to his brother. And Richie… well, Kate guessed he was afraid he would transform and bite someone, so he too kept his distance. Luckily he hadn't shown any signs of turning back into a culebra, which made Kate extremely happy.

It had been only three days since they'd left Titty Twister but to Kate it felt like forever. The first two days had been spent driving across the desert, trying to get as far as they could from the ancient temple. They had made quick stops at random bars and gas stations but left as soon as they had bought something to eat and drink. For Seth it meant bottles of cheap silver tequila that he chugged down while driving like a maniac. Kate could have offered to take the wheel but she was simply too tired to care. Besides, there was really nothing they could crash into. Only sand and cactuses.

Richie hadn't drunk or eaten anything, but he kept chain-smoking like there was no tomorrow. Kate wasn't sure if he even ate normal people food anymore. Maybe he only craved for blood. She hadn't dared to ask because she was almost sure Richie didn't even know himself.

After two long days and an even longer night of driving, Richie had spotted a motel in the distance (his vision had gotten a lot better now that he wasn't a human anymore) and they decided it was time make a longer stop and plan ahead the continuation of their trip.

Seth had parked the car behind the motel reception and ushered Kate to go "handle the business" because apparently she was the least suspicious looking of the trio. The amount of dried blood on her clothes told a different story but she went anyway. The receptionist was an old Mexican lady who had hardly even looked at her and was seemingly uninterested to know if the deep red stuff on her was blood or chili sauce. So Kate had uttered a few words in her best Spanish and managed to get a two-room condo for them.

The sun was setting when they finally got inside. Kate had practically crawled to the nearest bed and fallen on it, feeling exhausted. She had closed her eyes ready to pass out, wishing that the sleep would come fast and all the nasty thoughts in her head would stop torturing her, if only for a couple of hours.

But then they had started it.

"I'm just so sick of all this! I was supposed to be somewhere decent by now – filthy rich and without a fucking vampire bitch wanting to chase me down!"

"Then you'll be pleased to hear that you're not the one she's after."

"That's exactly my point! You're the reason why every one of us is fucked. Why should I be the one suffering from it? Tell me, Richard. I'm dying to know!"

Kate threw a light blanket off her legs and sat up in the bed. She didn't know the time but she figured it was almost dawn. Soft red light peeked through the wrinkly flower curtains and Kate could feel the air getting hot again. How long had she slept? She couldn't remember when Richie and Seth's angry voices had faded into a restless sleep. Maybe five hours ago? It felt like she had been asleep for two seconds. It was unfair how many nightmares could fit into such a short sleep.

"We were in this together. From the beginning."

"Well I changed my mind. I'm fucking done with you."

"You don't mean that."

Kate could hear Richie was getting tired. She didn't know whether it was from the constant yelling or the first rays of the sun, but his voice had definitely lost its edge already. She had learnt during their road trip that Richie wasn't really allergic to the sun like "normal" vampires were, but he got drowsy and wanted to be left alone. She herself hadn't talked much, none of them had. It became obvious now that the Geckos had been just saving themselves for one ridiculously big argument.

Kate's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door slamming. Then it became silent. She got up and walked to the bathroom. The water from the tap was brownish and smelled like iron but she sprinkled some of it on her face anyways. She lifted her gaze to meet her own eyes in the cracked mirror. They looked dead tired with dark circles around them. Her cheeks looked narrower as if she had suddenly grown up and lost all the remains of baby fat. Was she still seventeen? She certainly didn't feel like it.

After finishing with her self-examination, Kate returned to the room. She noticed the door was ajar.

"Seth?" she asked and was startled to hear how small her voice sounded. No one answered so she walked up to the door and opened it. There was a short hallway and a kitchenette in between the two rooms. Both the front door and the door to the second room were closed. She knocked on the room's door. No answer.

Suddenly she felt anxious. She was pretty sure Seth had been the one slamming the front door. He must have left somewhere. Which meant she was left alone with Richie – for the first time since… that. She hadn't exchanged a word with him in days, and she still wasn't ready to face him after what happened between them in the backroom of Titty Twister. It felt too weird. And her mind was occupied with other things anyway. There was no room for hazy memories of the two of them kissing, for God's sake.

She hesitated, wanting to just go back to her own room and leave him be. But something made her put her hand on the doorknob and turn.

"Richie?" she said entering the room. It was similar to the other but it had two beds instead of one.

Richie was sitting on the bed that was closer to the door, his back facing her. He had taken off both his jacket and shirt, wearing only a white wife-beater.

"Where did Seth go?" Kate asked when he didn't say anything or acknowledge her presence in any way.

"How should I know?" he answered quietly, still not facing her.

"I don't know, I just thought maybe you would…" Kate let her voice die. She truly didn't know why she bothered. She should have just let Richie be alone. She started to turn around, intending to leave and go back to her own room and her own miserable state of all-feelings-denied.

"Kate. Wait."

Kate stopped in her tracks and looked back. Richie had stood up and was standing there, a bed between them, looking… sad? His blue eyes glittered in the sun, bluer than ever now that he wasn't wearing his glasses anymore. They looked reddish and watery, like they hurt from the light (they probably did).

"Yeah?" Kate asked hesitantly not knowing what to expect. She averted her eyes from Richie's, scared of what he might see in them like he always did. He still had that "I can see straight to your soul" thing going on. It felt even more empowering now.

"Are you alright?"

Richie's question was so simple and so unlikely heartfelt coming from him that Kate felt slightly choked for a bit. She could feel the back of her eyes burn and blinked rapidly. It was so stupid to get emotional now after many successful days of not feeling anything besides self-blame and tiredness. And in front of Richie of all people (well, out of him and Seth, she would have chosen the latter).

Kate sniffed and tried to rub her eyes nonchalantly but failed miserably. And suddenly Richie was right before her, looming over dark and tall, smelling like cigarettes and sweat and death.

"Shh, don't cry," he said in a low, soothing voice, but to Kate it was nearly as comforting as the thought of her dad bleeding to death in her hands. Richie's presence felt intimidating and strange and nothing like it did before – when they had first met at the pool or sat together in the backroom of Titty Twister, his lips touching hers. She was scared of him for the first time.

Richie must have seen that because his eyes darkened and he lowered his hand that was about to touch her shoulder. Kate could feel a single tear run down her cheek. It felt cold.

She kept her eyes lowered, looking straight through Richie's chest only to realize how unmoving it had become without the beating of his heart. He stood there like a frozen statue, unsettling and scary, and suddenly all Kate wanted to do was to run as far as she could.

But she couldn't make herself move and the minutes grew longer and Richie didn't say anything or do anything, and so they just stood there.

The moment was broken when the front door was opened and Seth stormed inside, almost slamming into Kate. Richie flinched like a kid caught doing something inappropriate and backed off, averting his eyes. Kate could have yelled at him for acting so guilty. Seth looked from her to Richie and back, his expression turning angry.

"What the fuck did you do?" Seth growled at Richie and grabbed Kate by her arm. She must have looked pretty devastated for Seth to act so protective all of sudden.

"Nothing, I swear!" Richie said and raised both of his hands up as a sign of surrendering.

"You keep your hands off her," Seth barked and started pulling Kate with him. His grip on her arm tightened.

"Seth, you're hurting me," she pleaded and tried to yank her arm free.

"You heard what she said, let her go," Richie said and stepped closer.

"Stay away, Richard," Seth warned, then pulled a sharpened wooden stake out of his jacket's inner pocket and pointed it at Richie, still not letting go of Kate's arm. "Or I'll poke you a few extra holes."

"You think I'd do something to her, huh? Like I didn't have a chance before?" Richie scoffed eyes full of fire. Kate started to feel ridiculous hanging there like a puppet. Her fear was long gone and she could feel the familiar numbness coming back. It gave her much needed courage.

"Just stop, both of you," she sighed and finally managed to pull herself free. She stumbled a little and rubbed her sore arm, looking fiercely at Seth. "I'm so tired of you two fighting all the time."

She glanced at Richie whose expression clearly said he started it. She was happy to see he wasn't childish enough to actually voice out his protest.

Still glaring at his brother, Seth hid his stake inside his jacket and crossed his arms across his chest. Kate wondered if Seth had been carrying that thing with him all the time.

"Shouldn't we like… plan what to do next?" Kate suggested. "I mean, we can't stay here forever, can we?"

"I suppose we can't," Seth said, his voice flat.

"She doesn't know we're here," Richie said, staring into nothingness.

"And how do you know that?" Seth demanded.

"'Cause I can feel her thoughts if she's close and I don't feel anything," Richie explained like it made all the sense in the world.

"Oh, right." Seth's voice had a sarcastic edge to it. "So we just go somewhere and wait until you feel her thoughts before running again. Yeah, sounds like a fucking perfect plan to me."

"What else do you want me to do?" Richie asked through his teeth.

"I want you to get lost so Kate so I can go on living our lives – which, by the way, we still have – and you can go fuck your vampire bitch for all I care."

"Seth! Stop!" Kate almost yelled before Seth could do any more damage. "That doesn't help!"

"She's right, Seth," Richie agreed and looked into her eyes. She blinked.

"I think we should just calm down and… make a peace. For a while at least," Kate said hesitantly. "And if things are like… like Richie said, then we're not in danger yet."

"Okay, let's be civilized from now on. Like Kate says," Seth said, walking to the bed and slumping on it heavily. He ran his hand through his sleek hair and looked at Richie and Kate expectantly. "Any brilliant ideas?"

Kate's head felt empty. They didn't really expect her to come up with anything, did they? They were the ones praising themselves to be the masters of planning, being infamous bank robbers and all. She was just a girl who knew nothing, had nothing. She glanced at Richie who was looking at the floor like it was the most interesting thing ever. Seth raised his eyebrows.

"Fine. I say we kill her," he blurted. "That's how we get rid of her, once and for all."

Richie let out a frustrated sigh. "You can't just kill her, Seth. She's basically immortal now."

"And I thank you for it."

"Seth, please," Kate pleaded and turned to look at Richie. "Are you sure she's even looking for you?"

"She wants to… find me," Richie said hesitantly. "But I don't know what she wants from me."

"Isn't that pretty obvious? She wants you as her boy toy! She wants you to fuck her, looong and deeeep."

"It's nice how seriously you take this, Seth."

"Well, she's not my problem."

"Yeah? Like nothing is your ever problem, you insolent bas–"

"STOP IT!"

Kate had finally had it. She was shaking from anger or exhaustion (or both), tired of sharing the space with two of the most obnoxious persons she had ever had a chance to meet. She was tired and pissed off and sad, but there was nobody to care about it. What had she been thinking when she left with the Geckos? Had she thought it would be pure pleasure, traveling with two murderers? They were the reason why she was alone.

Before Richie and Seth had time to react, Kate had stormed out of the room and out of the condo, slamming the door behind her so hard the windows tinkled.

A/N: So there you have it. I think it's pretty obvious I didn't like the way things went in the end of the Season 1 so I created my own interpretation of what could happen next... Tell me what you think! P.S. I also want to thank my beta, DevynQ, who's been doing a great job.