The One That Got Away

by MadMaudie

Drew is a female djhamphir who comes from a dark past. She battles with a psychopath ex boyfriend and brother while trying to protect her charge Tally, the only remaining female djhamphir.

The One That Got Away

The Diary Entries of Talia Beaumont

Maude Green- Loft

12/29/10

Diary Entry 1.

Tally

Wednesday 2011

Yeah, it was a stupid ass bench. Not significant in any way except for the fact that I was sitting on it and they were clapping for me. I smiled my tight smile that on the inside says I HATE YOU ALL! You think its easy being perfect? Everyone always says Talia's so pretty. Talia has such good grades she's top of the class. Talia's going to Harvard. Talia's a great driver. Talia's so nice and polite. Talia, Talia, Talia. Blah, blah, blah. The truth is I don't want to be perfect; I don't want to be a freaking puppet. I'm not pretty at least I don't think I am, not with the layers of make up my step mom makes me wear. I hate school because I have all AP classes I want to know what it's like to fail one stupid class. I don't want to go to Harvard I want to be an art psychologist not a lawyer. Do I get to choose do I have a say? NO. I hate driving it scares the living crap out of me. Nice and polite my ass. I want to let my hair down. Be wild for once in my life. I want to FUCKING SWEAR WHEN I WANT TOO! I'm sick and tired of being Talia the perfect child perfect everything. I want friends real friends not suck ups. I want a boyfriend/ girlfriend. That's another thing Talia is as straight as a board. They all say that, but you know what I'm not. I tried to change for them but it's not happening. I want people to refer to my nick name Tally. It's so much simpler. I want to hang out have a sleepover my first one. I'm tired of being perfect.

Diary Entry 2.

Tally

Saturday

2011

Its midnight only a few hours earlier did I write my last entry. I'm going out to get something to eat. It wasn't long before I found someone who would change my life forever. She was busy writing bad language on the wall outside a stuck up bitch named Monica's room. Her hair was bright purple it was obviously dyed. She wore it in two pigtails with some bangs partly covering her eyes. It was about down to her shoulders and was stick straight. There were small amounts of blonde in it but enough to remind me of carrot cake. She looked a bit emo / punk. She was talking to herself as I approached her. She turned to face me and lifted a finger smeared with blue paint. I glared at her, "Don't you dare!" Her hand stopped cold and she tapped her chin like she was thinking about it. I glanced over at her graffiti.

"You know that's not nice at all" I gestured towards the blue skank scrawled on her door. She shrugged and said,

"I don't give a fuck, she's a biatch." It was my turn to stare.

I gaped at the sudden outburst, asking the first thing that popped into my head,

"You wanna talk about it?" She spun around and wiped both her hands onto my face so I looked like a reject of the blue man group. I gasped and grabbed at her. She didn't move, so I grabbed her arm and tugged, pulling her over hard so that she crashed to the floor. She glared at me, pushed herself up, and dived on me. I let out a squeak and we both crashed to the ground. Monica heard the noise and swung open the door; I grabbed Drew and pulled her along into a closet before we got caught. Drew grinned wickedly and hefted a sopping wet paint-filled sponge. She took aim at Monica's beautiful Barbie face. I quickly grabbed the sponge and threw it in a bucket. She glared at me,

"You're no fun." she complained.

"No apparently I'm not. Now let's go I'm taking you back to my room." She glared over at me, her tall slim frame towering over my slight one by at least five inches. I took a breath and asked,

"So who are you?"

"I'm Drew the Awesome."

"I'm Tal ~" I started to say Talia but changed it suddenly. "I'm Tally, Leo er he who shall not be named asked me to find you and help er hang with you."

She glanced at me and I could see a faint smile hovering on her lips, "Nice save." I smiled hesitantly. She made me jump as she bumped my shoulder, "Relax, God you're a skittish thing aren't cha?" I blustered through a no, but Drew just shook her head. She grabbed my hand and led me back to the room.

Chapter 1

Yeah, hi I'm Drew and all that stuff I'm supposed to say to introduce myself. I just pretty much got sick and tired of Tally's diary entries so ya know Imma go off on a tangent. We got to the room and that was where it got ugly. Leon was waiting for us and he shouldn't have been. He should have fucking gone and died for real this time. There was this one time when he, well that's another story, never mind anyway. We walked into the room and Tally smiled and waved tentatively at Leon. I came around her, saw him and pretty much pushed Tally over, grabbed Leon and flung him against the wall. He leapt to his feet and came stampeding towards me. Tally jumped up and got in front of me and I pushed her out of the way just in time. Leon slammed into me and we both went down. I disentangled myself hurriedly and grabbed one of the iron floor lamps in her room. I held it like a baseball bat and took a swing. It connected with Leon's skull and blood dropped down his face. Tally screamed and backed away from me. She turned to run over to Leon who was slowly sitting up blood masking his face as he clawed his way towards us. I hefted the lamp again and slammed it down on his head four times before he gave a grunt of rage and vanished leaving only the rapidly disappearing spots of blood on the tile floor. Tally backed away from me she grabbed for a weapon and ended up with only a hairbrush that she shook at me.

"STAY BACK! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" she managed in a trembling voice. I backed slowly away from her and set the lamp back on the floor. I stared at her coldly,

"Maybe you should read up on your history, before tangling with situations and people you know nothing about." I turned and walked towards her. She screamed and I stopped.

"Shut up people will lock you up and that's the last thing you want. Go research me tomorrow you'll find me. Drew Bain. Then may haps you'll trust me a little more and listen to me when I say beings like Leon are better left untouched." I turned and slammed open the door and stormed out.

The next day I spied on Tally she took my advice for once and went in search of me on the internet. I tiptoed up too her so she wouldn't see me. Or hear me you can never tell with Kuroi's and read over her shoulder the old article clipping she was looking at about my life well fake death.

Twin of Terminator Leader Leon Bain killed while Breaking Down the Organization

Drew Bain was born on June 16, 1994. She had a brother named Leon Bain who was her twin. Drew was a trouble maker from the very beginning. She had problems with her family, and ran away from home to live on the streets of Baltimore. She was eventually picked up and put in juvenile detention for stealing and other miscellaneous crimes. Her twin vanished two years later. He showed up around Drew's 12th birthday, and tried to make her join his organization to kill those who did not satisfy his demands. He spent a year trying to convince Drew to join him. When she refused Leon, being mentally unstable, flew into a rage and killed their mother and father. Drew never really got over the cold blooded murder of her parents. Unfortunately when she was released, Leon had her abducted. She spent three months with him, and in that time was a valuable member in the terrorist group. Leon and his organization went on large killing sprees murdering random people. The Terminators became a source of uncontrollable dread for the city and surrounding states. With their advanced weapons and technology they could not be caught. Drew had become sucked up in the group and had hooked up a device that would end to millions of people's lives. But something snapped back in place and she decided to turn the device on the organization instead. After the explosion that put an end to the Organization both Leon and Drew were nowhere to be found, and most presume they have deceased.

She looked up at me and I didn't acknowledge her at all, my gaze stony as I re read the article

"Did he really kill your family?" she finally asked after a long pause.

"Yes" I said steadily. She looked up at me her eyes echoing back what she felt. I looked at her small figure trying to sink back as far into her seat as possible hoping in maybe some way it would protect her. I laid a hand on her shoulder and said,

"We can help each other out you and me. Are ya in?" She fidgeted quietly under my hand and finally said, "Alright fine. I'll give it a go but if you keep anything from me I'm out, forever." I let my eyes sweep over her and said,

"It's a deal." We shook on it just to make it official and she clicked out of the article. I watched her as she closed the window, thinking to myself that she was bull shitting herself. Once you're in your in. Being a Kuroi makes you automatically in. I came back to reality just in time to feel my back braced against something and my arms pulled up and backwards. I let out a string of curses that would have left a truck driver speechless. To say the least Tally turned around. I hissed at her,

"Get out of here!" My foot came up and kicked Leon in his manhood. There was a sharp intake of breath from behind me, but he stayed resolute. I kicked again and again. The fourth kick did it, with a cry he broke away from me, letting me go in the process. I spun swiftly settling into a crouch facing him. His black eyes glowed with feverish energy. He surveyed me for a moment, and turned and made a beeline for Tally who had taken cover under a desk. I leapt forward and grabbed his heal causing him to trip and fall. He kicked me in the face and I released him. His foot free he moved with a hunter's grace towards the girl on the floor. I saw Tally's look of pure terror, which drove me into action. I ran and jumped off the library table giving a small grunt of effort I propelled my body through the air to land on his face. My heel shoved down on his upturned head. His screech was cut off and we both fell to the floor. That was a mistake. He was bigger and stronger than me. Wrestling was not where I wanted to be. He pinned me to the ground by the throat. I wiggled feebly clawing at his hand. He pressed down harder and my vision started to go dim. Tally watched from under the desk her face filled with apprehension. She wanted to do something but wasn't sure what to do. I made a chocking sound unable to breath I thrashed on the floor as Leon, relentless pushed harder. Then Tally pushed open her hands like she was throwing a basketball and a force hit Leon straight in the chest knocking him head over heels into the concrete wall. I was on my feet in an instant shaking my head to clear the fuzziness from it. I started towards Leon, but he disappeared with one last sinister look at me. Black eyes meeting green.

Tally was shaking all over when I got to her. She managed a stuttering question,

"W..w..what w…w…was t..t..that?" I held out my hand and hoisted her up.

"I didn't know you could throw hexes and strong ass ones like that." She looked at me and said,

"What's a hex?" I frowned at her briefly,

"The thing you just threw. It's like a really strong curse." She just nodded her head. I led her to a chair and made her sit down.

"I haven't been entirely honest with you, and now you know what you're dealing with." I paused.

She jerked back in surprise and opened her mouth to protest, but I held up my finger.

"You're not a weirdo although they do exist. I'm a djamphir- half vampire half human. Leon is also a djamphir. Female djamphir are rare and are more powerful than the males they can be deadly in fighting. However female djamphir are rare so therefore they are obviously powerful. So that being said, Leon and others are shovenistic pigs and wish to exterminate the female djamphir race." I glanced at her through my scissor cut bangs. She looked well rather angry. I absentmindedly brushed a loose strand of orange hair away from my face. She turned to me suddenly and said,

"So let me get this straight. I'm half vampire?" I nodded.

I'd like to say Tally accepted the fact right off the bat and made my life easier. I'd like to say that. Unfortunately I can't. She being the stubborn girl, she is didn't make my life easy. No, No instead she made it harder much, much, much harder. Where did all these questions come from? I mean come on. I didn't think there were enough words in the world for so many freaking questions. I stopped answering the, "So, I'm half vampire?" question after the 17th time. Finally after having enough of this I turned around and snapped at her,

"You know I am bleeding. You could offer me some first aid or something and not just sit there asking the same damn question over and over again." She closed her mouth on the vampire question she was about to ask for the umpteenth time.

"Oh. Sorry." I don't think she could have loaded that word with anymore sarcasm. I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily. I wish that was the end of it, but no. We bickered and picked at each other for weeks after that.

Chapter 2

It was Tuesday I think I don't really keep track, but we hadn't had a yelling match in four hours which was a new record. I was in Tally's dorm practicing my tai chi, and Tally was laying on the bed drawing some sort of painting for art class. I looked up from my awesome moves at tally. My bangs fell in my eyes briefly before I shook them out with a quick flick of my head. Tally seeing the movement out of the corner of her eye looked up.

"Why do you do those thingies for so long, look at you you're covered in sweat." I ignored the question and contented myself with rolling my eyes. It was the same question and comment every night.

"You wanna learn?" I asked like I did every night. She gave me a sideways look,

"No." More sarcasm. I sighed and muttered,

"No surprise there." She jerked her head up and looked at me frostily. I smiled sweetly back and resumed my Katas, Almost missing her muttered,

"Bitch." My shoulders went rigid and I stalked towards her. Opening my arms I said,

"Bitch huh? You ain't seen nothing yet. Commere and give Drew a hug." I opened my arms and started towards her. I've got to hand it to her. She moved fast for one so untrained.

"Oh no. Stay away from me." She said as she half scrambled half fell off the bed backing away. I smiled patronizingly and kept coming. She made a dash past me, but wasn't quite fast enough. I caught her in a tight, sweaty embrace.

"DREW!" She shrieked. She fought to get out of contact with me as I clung onto her refusing to let go. When she finally broke away from me I was bent over my hands braced on my thighs laughing my ass off. Tally was not amused, obviously. She glowered at me.

"I can't believe you did that! You're so disgusting and wrong!" I started towards her again,

"Oh you want wrong? I can do that too." I reached out and made a grab for her boob. She leapt back with a squeak.

"DREW! STOPPIT! You are so annoying. Go take a shower! I mean my God." I headed for the shower clutching my stomach and still laughing. I could feel her glare directed at my back. When I turned the corner however into the bathroom I saw a small smile escape to slide across her face.

I had a nice shower and had just put my bra and shorts on when Tally screamed. I charged out of the bathroom half dressed and came face to face with someone I knew but hoped I'd never see again. Tally was sitting on the floor cradling her foot which I gathered she had stubbed when he came in. I looked up through my bangs at the tall lean figure of Chase Santiago. Another djamphir whom was my closest friend until he betrayed me for Leon. Why he was here I have no idea. He glanced around the room with that snarky air of his. He gazed at Tally for a moment and I could see approval and hunger? In his gaze. Then all too soon his eyes came to rest on my crouched half dressed form. His eyes flicked up in a teasing expression.

"Lookin good, Bain always said you could use a little less clothing." I straightened up and sent him a death glare.

"Shut up perv. Go fuck yourself." He took a step back hands held up in a defensive position,

"And she has a bark. I wonder if her bite is as sharp." He winked at me. I vaulted across the room and slammed all six foot two of him into the wall.

"Why are you here Santiago? If I know you, you sure as hell didn't come here to try and seduce me." He peeled his face off the wall with a small effort.

"Just dropping by." He said with a slight smirk. I backed up and said,

"Right, okay, fine, don't push your luck Chase." I turned to Tally.

"Get to know him, and if he irritates you knock him out, and then shove him out a window." I headed for the bathroom to finish getting dressed. I came out a little while later to see an unconscious Chase draped over the bed, with an indignant Tally standing over him holding a frying pan. I swear I laughed harder then I have in my entire life. Tally hefted the pan and said peevishly,

"He tried to stick his hand down my shirt!" I wiped tears of laughter from my eyes and said,

"That's Chase for you. But Jesus you're amazing I think I'm in love with you." I hugged her tight.

"This training might actually be fun." I held out my hand, "Peace?" She took it and gave it a firm shake. "Peace."

Chase was groggy to say the least when he woke up. His first words were,

"Uunnnhhhh, wha happened?" He looked over at me and rubbed his eyes and then the bump on his head.

"Dude what the fuck! Did you knock me out or some shiz?" I choked on some held back laughter and said,

"Ya can't put this one on me. It was all Tally." He turned to her with a hurt expression,

"Common baby what did I do to deserve so much brutality?" Tally's form stiffened and I snorted at his remark. She having enough of his self pity yelled at him,

"Shut up you pedo. My junk is off limits, punk." He rolled over and sat up to look at her,

"Oooooo and she too has a bark." He got up and walked over to her.

"Your bite is probably harder, wanna try it out babe?" He reached out for her and she jumped back hefting the frying pan threateningly. He flinched away keeping one eye on the pan.

"Pfft whateves you'll come around…sweetie." He added the last part and was rewarded. He doubled over clutching his reproductive organs as Tally's frying pan struck again. I was on the ground laughing and faintly heard Tally's outraged screech of,

"DON'T CALL ME THAT YOU RAPIST!" Chase looked up from his doubled over state, and shot a death look at me. It only succeeded in making me laugh harder. He turned his gaze to Tally,

"Fuckkkkkkk, you've got to stop doing that sweetheart." Tally not letting his last word go over her head; raised the pan warningly and he quickly amended,

"I mean Miss Beaumont." She shook her head,

"Just call me Tally like any other person." He wisely swallowed a snicker, seeing as Tally was still holding the frying pan defensively. He stayed bent over and backed away from her, before straightening up with a slight groan. He shook his head letting his bleached hair shake up the dust motes as it settled back into its emo haircut. His snarky attitude returned and he smiled and said,

"So what's up, baby?" Tally came at him and swung the pan, quick as a flash he grabbed it and disarmed her, pinning her to his chest. I was up in a flash. Pushing off the desk I leapt around Chase and clothes lined him. He stumbled backwards letting go of Tally in the process. He ducked under my arm and grabbed my shoulder. I twisted, my hands hitting his chest, and I pushed off him doing a flip to come crouching onto the floor in a defensive stance. Chase shook his head again, drops of sweat flying off his spiky hair. He looked at me and I saw that far away look of remembering. Tally touched my arm tentatively. I took my eyes off of Chase to look up at her. I sighed and straightened up, patting her hand,

"I'm fine." My voice seemed to snap Chase out of memory lane, and he looked thoughtful. He opened his mouth to say something and closed it again. Tally was glaring at him with something that could only be described as intense anger. He rubbed his neck where I'd hit him,

"Well, you can definitely fight as well maybe even better since I last saw you." I put my arm around Tally's shoulders and said,

"You think it's been easy for me? When you left, I had to fight or die. I've fought Leon twice in two days a few weeks back."

His head snapped up and he glanced around warily,

"Leon? He's still around?" I snorted,

"Of course he is, especially with Tally's status." He brushed imaginary dirt off his shirt,

" Whoa, another female djamphir, you actually found one?" I nodded,

"I didn't think there were any left besides you, better hope Leon doesn't get wind of that." He whistled,

"So that's where you got that bruise." He gestured to my ribs on the left side. Tally gasped as I lifted up my shirt and exposed a pretty big ass purplish mass. I glanced at it,

"Eh, it's not that bad." Chase let out a guffaw,

"Oh sure just a fucking scratch." I peered at him sourly through my bangs,

"Shut up, Santiago! I've had worse, and you know it." Tally grabbed me and yanked me up causing me to wince.

"Come on, I'm taking a look at that." My protests were drowned by her adamant attitude. She gestured towards Chase,

"Don't move, hot shot!" He lazily sank into a chair and saluted sarcastically,

"Yes ma'am."

Once Tally had satisfied herself with smearing some kind of gunk on my bruise she allowed me to escape her clutches.

"Jesus Christ Tally, this isn't necessary. I heal fast anyways." Chase still sat in his chair much to my relief. He smiled crookedly when we came out.

"Still complaining Bain?" I glared at him and spat,

"What's it to you Santiago." He chuckled and shrugged nonchalantly. I turned to Tally who was covering a yawn. I agreed with her whole heartedly. Tally to tired for any more excitement headed straight for her bed, and I for mine. Almost there I realized Chase was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. I pointed to the floor, and said,

"Take the floor or the bathroom or you're out." He took neither and retired to the easy chair he was sitting in earlier. I dropped into bed and, was asleep before my head hit the pillow. Sometime around One AM I woke. I sat up to look around and realized I wasn't in bed anymore. I tried to sit up, but with a start realized that was impossible.

"You know, you should really post a guard. With two of you that shouldn't be a problem." Leon said from on top of me. My arms were pinned to my sides and he was sitting on my stomach/abdomen. I looked into his eyes. Remembering how they used to be a brilliant green, now they were stained by red. His messy emo boy hair cut fell into his eyes, making him look hot and sinister. His skin was a pale white that contrasted my farmers tan. I licked dry lips.

"Leon." I said, as best as I could. A ghost of a smile touched his thin mouth.

"Drew." He said, with a hint of laughter? Then with a more teasing edge,

"Bear." I tensed. "Drew Bear" that was his pet name he used to drive me crazy with, well before he became a psychopath. He sensed my tension, and reached out one cold finger to brush a strand of hair out of my face. I closed my eyes, trying not to feel that touch. He used to be my best friend, guardian, brother, my everything we were so close. Now, he was a monster. I opened my eyes slowly, and with immense horror realized that one single tear had escaped my efforts. I flinched as his finger came down and wiped it away.

"Don't." I said hoarsely. He stopped for a moment then smiled,

"I can do whatever I want Drew Bear." That snapped me somewhat out of it.

"Asshole." He chuckled.

"There she is." I glared profusely at him. He smiled again and that's when I made my move. Yanking my arms out from under his hands I smacked them into his chest. He flew backwards off me with a muffled curse. I leapt up. Not fast enough. He slammed me into a wall his forearm going across my throat non to gently. Not quite cutting off air but leaving me no wiggle room; his six foot four frame dwarfing my five foot six one. He pressed me up against him and clucked disapprovingly,

"Drew, Drew, Drew." I coughed trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of me.

"What do you want Leo?" I asked using my old nickname for him. Two could play at that game. He tensed only for a moment.

"Well for one I wanted to talk to you about your behavior towards me, and I also wanted to talk with you about Talia." I stiffened.

"You can forget about Tally, you'll never get her, and my behavior is what you deserve for abandoning me and killing mom and dad." He chuckled mirthlessly,

"Touché." He produced a piece of sticky tape. (Tape that's sticky on both sides). Then he stuck my wrists together behind me. Relinquishing his arm from across my throat. He threw me to the ground, bending down he said,

"We'll see about Talia." He stood up then crouched back down again. His face level with mine he said,

"And Drew? Don't forget about me." He pressed his lips to my forehead, then standing up he spun on his heal and vanished running faster than my eye could follow. His words imbedded in my head,

"Don't forget me, Drew." And that tiny flash of his old brilliant green enter his eyes again. With a small amount of effort I struggled back to my feet and tromped for Tally's room. I refuse to talk more about last night, but needless to say no one ever knew but me.

Chapter 3

The next day, training: I blocked the hammer fist coming towards the pressure point near my neck. Chase repeated the strike slower while Tally watched. Her quick eyes taking on an acute gaze of concentration. We did the block three more times then, she and Chase tried it. (She refused to hit me.) She was perfect. No mistakes, granted Chase wasn't trying hard she blocked each blow swiftly and effectively. We moved onto holds and strikes each going as smoothly as the blocks. I knew Chase was impressed as I was. Tally took a break, and was sitting on the bed with a bottle of water. She tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around,

"Huh?"
"I wanna see what a real fight against two djamphir's would look like." I chuckled. (I knew she wanted to give me an excuse to get out some of my anger at him, so we didn't end up fighting when things were serious.)

"Sure thing, snowdrop." I said glancing over at Chase who was sprawled on the floor. He glanced up at both of us,

"Conspiracy." he said wryly. I rubbed my hands together,

"You know it!" He made his way to his feet and clapped his hands together,

"Let's get this party started!" I smiled patronizingly; he met it with a smirk of his own. I gestured towards the door,

"I suggest we move ourselves onto the football field down the street at the high school." Tally glanced up looking a tad startled as if maybe she was having second thoughts. I clapped her on the shoulder,

"I'm going to enjoy this." Chase smiled widely.

"Ditto."

Tally sat in the stands while Chase and I retired down to the field. We both immediately began to stretch. Standing up I stalked towards him, critically analyzing all his movements. I waited patiently, and there it was. The initial flex of a certain muscle, the fist came down and it began. I blocked his downward coming hand, letting it slide off my forearm. I came in with a knife hand to the solar plexus. He blocked then in quick succession I kicked him in the head which he blocked and in the stomach which he didn't He stumbled backwards with a curse. Coming up from his unbalanced position state he threw a punch at my jaw. I spun away dropping low; I swiped his feet out from under him. This would have worked except he bounced into a one handed hand stand. Balancing himself he brought his lower body onto my shoulders. I fell backwards, thinking quickly I helped myself slam into the ground. I ended up knocking the wind from my body and pulling something in my back as well as effectively giving Chase a full blown face plant. Needless to say we both let go of each other. I got up painfully my back freaking killing me. Chase brushed his face off revealing a few scrapes and bruises. Without further ado he tackled me, this time I was ready. I used his momentum to catapult him over my head. Somersaulting up I went down into a fighting stance. He landed several feet away also in a crouched stance. I'm not proud of what happened next, but you know we would have been at it all day. On opposite sides of the field we ran at each other and collided. Both of us dropped to the ground clutching various body parts. I let out a muffled groan seeing as Chase had landed on top of me. He let out a groan laced with profanity and rolled off me. Tally ran over to us,

"Holy Shit! That was epic like two trains running in a head on collision." I propped myself up on one elbow, rubbing at my screaming back,

"Jesus Christ, that's what it fucken felt like." Chase mumbled his agreement from the ground,

"This is more pain then I've felt in five fucking years. You know, Bane this exact reason is why you never get any guys." Choosing to ignore, the comment I groaned and got up clutching my back,

"I feel like an old lady." Chase grumbled from the ground while Tally had a giggle fit. My eye felt funny, and I touched it winced, cursed and said,

"Fricken black eye." Chase finally budged from his position on the field, he complained as he made his way to his feet shakily,

"When did you get to be so fricken dense, Jesus! You're like a running into a mini concrete wall." I chuckled painfully,

"Yeah, well running full speed into someone eight inches taller than me isn't that great either. God! I think you elbowed me in the ribs, Fuckkkk." Tally skipped ahead of us as we glared at her back, and hobbled back towards the house.

Needless to say Chase and I didn't fight for days. We both had our fill of injuries would be my guess.

Chapter 4

Months later I was walking home from the store laden with groceries. It was a calm night a small wind rippling the summer air. The full moon was beautiful and a nice bright lantern so I didn't trip. I may be smooth during a fight, but when I'm not fighting I'm terribly clumsy. Despite the moon I tripped over a pebble, and three apples rolled out of my bag. Sighing I got down on my knees and grabbed the first two sitting up my legs tucked under me, I fastidiously dusted them off grimacing at the bruises. Looking for the third one a pair of shoes came into my view. I swallowed a nervous laugh and followed the shoes upward, meeting Leon's quizzical smirk. Jumping up I got the hell away from him.

"What the hell do you want?!" I said through gritted teeth. He smiled wider and said,

"I want you Drew." I grimaced,

"That could be taken a lot of ways, asshole." He chuckled,

"I thought maybe you'd have a change in heart, seeing as Kaid has joined us again." My head snapped up. Kaid my soul mate. Leon's best friend and then he disappeared without a trace when Leon went crazy. Just mentioning his name was enough to drive my already frayed temper out of control. I leapt at Leon with a strangled stream of curses half, biting half crying. He fended me off as I slapped, punched, whacked and hit. My pummeling came to an abrupt end, as strong hands gripped my shoulders and wrenched me backwards away from my brother. I struggled ripping out of the grip I turned on my keeper. His hands easily deflected my blows leaving his face totally unscathed. As if finally having enough he grabbed both of my wrists in one hand and yanked downward. I collapsed to my hands and knees, beside Kaid Savon. His grip was Iron strong, but soft and not painful. It was simply restricting the movement of my hands. I completely forgot about Leon and when I remembered too look for him, he was gone. Kaid sat there easy as you please one arm wrapped loosely about his knees. He let go of me and, off balance I fell onto my back. Looking up at him my eyes traced the planes and angles of his face that fit together perfectly with his complexion. A single whispered statement escaped my lips before I clamped them shut,

"Kaid." He half smiled his bright green eyes contrasted by his pale skin. When he spoke his voice was a soft tenor, with a teasing edge,

"Drew." I opened my mouth and closed it several times before turning away to gather up my scattered groceries. Standing up I searched around for that darn apple that had sparked this madness and it appeared in front of my gaze held aloft by a perfect hand. I reached out taking the apple, plopping it back into the bag. Quick as lightning the other hand caught my chin and tilted it upwards. My almost unwilling eyes met his. Kaid looked me over critically his black hair cut into the popular emo hair style. A single earring glistened from his right ear. He dwarfed me, he was an inch taller than Chase and my head was level with his shoulder. As I looked up at him he brought his lips down and gently pressed them against mine. It was as if a part of me had been missing and I had found it again. Slipping my hand through his we walked back together, and I finally felt safe after years of living on the edge.

When Chase saw us he gave a disgusted smirk,

"Ugh it's Kaid." That's all he would say and retired to the kitchen area. Tally being empathetic and an amazing person in general, understood and welcomed Kaid in. The only criticism she offered was a,

"Uh drew? What's with the apples?" I muttered something unintelligible and she shook her head.

"You tripped again didn't you? What was it this time, a pebble?" I could feel my face growing hot and answered indignantly,

"NO! It was a….rock." I trailed off miserably. She shook her head and said,

"Mhm." Kaid chuckled and squeezed my hand.

"Still clumsy as ever." I scowled at him. Tally sent us to do the laundry next and much to my dismay this involved giving Chase a reason to do a strip tease. He retired with grumbled complaints to the bathroom when Tally went for the frying pan. The laundry room was a small dank room surrounded by concrete walls on all sides. I sorted the clothes and got the washer going on load one. Turning around I practically ran into Kaid who abruptly walked into me. I stumbled backwards to avoid being trampled. My back hit the wall none too gently, and Kaid's arms came up to box me in. My hands pressed palm down against the wall. He brought his mouth down to mine and kissed me hungrily. It was mutual. It had been so long since I had that in my life it was a welcome change. My arms came up and, settled around his neck my fingers tangled in his hair. He brought his arms around my waist and lifted me up effortlessly setting me on top of the dryer. He leaned down to kiss me again and I tensed. Bringing his face away from mine he slid his hands onto my waist under my shirt. In a sudden rush of temper I unlatched his fingers from around my waist and pushed him away from me. He looked bewildered for a moment and then tried again to put his hands on me. On the dryer I was level with his neck so I only had to look up a bit to see his face. My hand came up and before I had known what happened, I slapped him across the face. His head swung to the side from the impact and he came back to stare at me in shock holding his cheek. Before he had a chance to speak I said quietly,

"That's for leaving me." He blinked and a crooked smile made itself clear on his face.

"Alright that's fair." He said calmly. Immediately after the words came out of his mouth I delivered another slap. He cursed,

"Damn it Drew, what was that for?" I glared at him,

"That's for showing up out of nowhere with Leon." He rubbed his cheek softly,

"Are you done?" I smacked him full across the face one last time slipping off the dryer. His sharp intake of breath was all that he showed of any pain.

"That last one was for your future asshole antics." He turned his lip curling into a sneer and I could see his right cheek was now scarlet.

"Fuck you." He hissed. I chuckled mirthlessly,

"I know you'd love too." He glared at me and I smiled hurling a pair of Chase's underwear at his face,

"Fold these." Effortlessly he snatched them out of the air before they could touch his face, gave me a dark look and folded dutifully. Finishing the laundry I plunked it into the basket and headed for the door. Kaid followed behind in case I dropped anything.

I could tell Kaid was pissed; just by the way he shuffled his feet. His shoulders were rigid as he sulked behind me. He needed to learn that I had damn well changed, and he was lucky to have me not the other way around. Getting back to the room I kicked the door open bad temperedly and swept in followed by Kaid. Tally who was washing dishes threw a puzzled look at Chase who simply shook his head. He leaned against the small counter taking the wet dishes from Tally and drying them. I plopped the basket down on the floor and began separating the clothes into piles. To my climbing irritation Kaid kicked over my pile spreading clothes around the floor.

"Grow up!" I snapped at him gathering up the strewn articles. He made a face his eyes flashing and imitated me. My shoulders went rigid on my list of things to drive me absolutely postal, mimicking was number two.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM, YOU DICKLESS WHORE!" My voice had cracked but I was beyond caring I was downright angry. Kaid's mouth popped open in surprise. I had changed. Before when I'd known him I would barely lift a finger towards him, let alone insult him and in less than ten minutes I had done both. He strode up to me calmly and grabbed my shoulder. I could see he was on the edge of losing his temper. His fingers dug into my skin and I tried to twist away, but he wasn't having any of it.

"Kaid let go." I heard myself say. He chuckled mirthlessly and tightened his grip. My wince more pronounced there, rippled through my body. Kaid brought up his other hand and, I knew he was going to slap me. My other arm came up instantly, but before I could block it he was torn away from me. Chase had ripped his grip off of me and slammed him against the wall. I looked up shocked as his Hazel eyes met mine with a look of resolve. The bleached wisps of his spiky hair stuck up at the angles of his Naruto style haircut. He pressed Kaid against the wall, the golden highlights in his eyes flashing. His voice was only mild,

"Whatcha doin bro." Despite the semblance of a question it wasn't. Tally had come out from behind the counter a kitchen knife clutched so hard in her hand that her knuckles were white. I sidled up to her and disarmed her patting her on the shoulder. She smiled worriedly at me and hugged me around the waist. I hugged her back my eyes never leaving Kaid's figure. As suddenly as the tension had come it leaked from his shoulders and he slumped against the wall. His voice was low in defeat,

"I'm sorry, Drew. I suppose we have some catching up to do." Chase relinquished his hold and Kaid walked lazily over to me. Dropping down on both knees in front of me he presented his face.

"Go ahead and hit me, I would have hit you." I sighed looking into his brilliant green eyes splashed with just a sprinkling of purple. Cupping his chin in one hand I looked down on him. Leaning in I planted a kiss on his nose, and cuffed him over the ear.

"In case you forgot, I'll remind you how difficult I can be." I said after a pause. Dropping his chin I went towards the kitchen, stopping only to reach up and stroke Chase's cheek once. Slipping past him I murmured small thanks. He nodded once and hoisted himself effortlessly up onto the counter where he sat his legs dangling. I stood just behind Tally my arms looping down around her shoulders. She had a hold of my elbows and was resting her head against mine. Kaid Was still in the middle of the room down on his knees, he hadn't bothered to get up. He looked up surveying the three of us his eyes lingering on Tally and I. The only look he gave me was a question and only a small nod answered it, and said it better than words could. Tally came first, for everything. She was the purpose, to my existence. She was my life now.

Chapter 5

Weeks turned into months Chase and I were bickering constantly. Kaid and I were getting better at understanding each other, (or so I thought.) Tally and I were closer, and she and Chase were closer. It was a Thursday, I remember it clearly. We were all spread out. I was cleaning my knives in the kitchen, Chase was napping on the bed in the middle of the room, Kaid was "doing laundry" and Tally was downstairs in the living room doing homework. All I heard was a scream; I knew it was Tally's. Leaping off the counter I grabbed the two knives and bolted down the stairs half falling half running. Bursting into the library ten seconds later, I saw Leon grab Tally's shoulder. My hand snapped out, the knife buried itself in Leon's left side just below the shoulder. He gave a cry of pain and grabbed at her with his other hand. My second knife out I raised my hand to throw it and felt my wrist grabbed. Kaid Wrapped steely arms around me forcing me to release the knife. Leon smiled broadly at Kaid,

"Thanks bro. I'd hate to have another wound, she has a thing for matching." Kaid's smile lasted only a second before I managed to clip him in the jaw with my elbow. Making a break for it I lunged forward. He caught my ankle, and pulled me back. Kicking out I screamed at Tally,

"HIT THE KNIFE, DRIVE IT IN DEEPER!" She turned and smacked the knife's hilt. Leon turned grey with pain. Ramming back into Kaid causing him to stumble I yelled,

"AGAIN, HIT IT AGAIN!" She whacked the hilt again and Leon moaned, sweat rolling down his body. One last time she hit it and he let go of her sinking to his knees.

"RUN! GO GET CHASE!" I yelled and turned around to clutch Kaid. He went to go after her and I tripped him causing him to stumble. Jumping onto his back he hit the floor me on top of him. I turned to look up and saw Tally was just disappearing around the corner. I punched Kaid in the side of the head once and raised my fist to go twice and strong hands grabbed me from behind. Leon had gotten up off the floor and grabbed me. He held me to the ground, legs folded beneath me. Kaid got up he had a bloody nose, split lip and a black eye.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Drew." He grumbled. Leon chuckled mirthlessly.

"If I could pick my family it wouldn't involve her that's for sure. Get the chloroform." Kaid grabbed a cloth and the last thing I heard him say before I blacked out was,

"If Talia won't come with us willingly perhaps we can persuade her to come to us via her best friend."

I woke up groggily in the middle of what looked to be an exercise room. Mirrors lined the right wall, the wooden floor hard beneath my body. I sat up slowly and tried to get to my feet only to find my legs wouldn't obey me. Propping myself up on my hands I scanned the room my eyes coming to rest on the door and Leon who was sitting by it. He chuckled,

"Sleeping beauty awakes." I cursed him and tried to throw myself at him. My legs crumpled and I pitched forward barely managing to catch myself on my hands. His smile widened,

"I hope you don't mind, I injected some paralyzing medicine into your legs as a safety precaution for myself and Kaid, since I know the dangers of keeping around a fully trained female djamphir." I growled and arranged my legs manually in a sitting position.

"You better watch your back, Bro." He got up out of his chair and walked toward me, squatting down so we were eye level. He opened his mouth and, I clubbed him in the face with a tightly curled fist. He keeled over backwards, and I dragged myself hurriedly to him throwing my dead weight on top of him. He thrashed and I punched him again rage making my vision red. I was on my third punch when Kaid arrived. He grabbed my biceps, pulled me off of Leon and pinned the limbs behind me. Leon rose his face a mask of blood. His gaze was a steady red of hate. I looked up at him defiantly still on my knees, my legs frozen. Kaid's steel grip relentless as he held me there. Leon now directly above me raised his foot and kicked me in the side. I groaned and curled what I could of my body over that side. No one released me. Again Leon kicked me; I'm not going to lie it hurt like hell. He tossed Kaid a ring of plastic, which he caught deftly and, secured my elbows together. Then he let me drop. I curled over my right side, it was burning fiercely. Leon, blood still dripping off him, looked at me, almost a thoughtful edge to his voice as he said,

"Rest up Drew, tomorrow were sending Talia a piece of media mail." He stepped over me and he and Kaid disappeared out of the room. I didn't like the sound of that at all. With a sick feeling I went over the past two days events. Leon grabbing Tally, Kaid acting strange. No wonder he had first appeared with Leon. I called myself ten kinds of an idiot for not seeing what had been right in front of my face. It had all been a set up. They needed me and Tally and the best way to get Tally was through me. Awesome just fucking awesome. Still feeling queasy sleep overcame me. When I awoke the next morning the first thing I realized was I could move my legs. My arms were still bound together, but the room was dark. I got up slowly my side twinging a bit. Djamphir's heal fast. Walking quietly to the door I turned around trying to get it open. Halting when a noise outside the door reached my sensitive ears. A key turning in the lock, abandoning the door I slipped back to my former position pretending to be asleep. Leon and Kaid appeared as the door swung inward. Kaid smiled mockingly,

"Come on Bane you're not foolin anybody." I opened one eye and gave him a glare that could've peeled paint. I hated that he knew me so well, and I hated myself the most for letting it happen. Leon flicked on a quarter of the lights, and I saw he was holding a tripod and video camera. I backed away quickly my retreat stopped when I ran into Kaid. He grabbed my shoulders, his grip firm but not aggressive. I felt myself pressed against his chest. I brought my foot up and slammed it between his legs. I felt him go rigid and he groaned releasing me. I danced away from him putting my back to a wall automatically sliding into a fighting stance. A thin smile crawled up Leon's face. Kaid clutching his balls cursed at me. I grinned at him,

"What seems to be the matter, dearest?" The mocking question slipped from my mouth. He rolled his shoulders and neck letting go of his bruised manhood he squared his shoulders and strolled toward me. Darting in he grabbed my arm and jerked me downwards. I fell forward, and tried to catch myself with hands I didn't have. He caught me instead, and grabbed another of those plastic rings. Attaching them to my feet he righted me. I shifted scowling. Apparently he hadn't liked my actions of endearment. My feet effectively hobbled, I stood there looking like a mad boar. To my mounting vexation, Kaid looked to Leon who waved his hand at me. Uncapping the video recorder he attached it to a laptop, and knelt down to power it up. Kaid having come up behind me put his hands on my waist, hooking his thumbs into my pants, pulling me tight against him.

"Don't touch me!" I was literally shaking with rage; he had no right to touch me! Leon having powered up the technology looked up at us and smiled,

"Awh how adorable, Smile Drew you look rather angry." I clenched my fists as Kaid chuckled overhead. Jumping lightly to his feet Leon clapped his hands together,

"Alrighty let's get this show on the road. I believe you're familiar with Skype, Drew." I shook my head suddenly afraid of what he was going to say.

"Well, Talia will hopefully be at the other end with Chase." He said his name distastefully.

"Anyways were going to convince her that you're having an awful time here, so she'll come after you." He smiled and my mouth went dry. She would, drop everything if she thought I was in any kind of fix, or if I was in obvious pain. I couldn't breathe; surely Leon didn't mean to cause me pain in front of Tally. I tensed and tried to pull away from Kaid for the umpteenth time; he simply wrapped his hands around my waist and slid them lower till they rested on my hips. Leon switched on the camera and walked over to us. He had one of those plastic ring things in his hand and when he drew away from me my elbows were secured together in front of me. The computer screen fizzled for a brief second then Tally's face appeared on the monitor. Her grey blue eyes contrasted her yellow blond hair as she took a huge breath and grabbed for someone behind her. Chase's face also appeared. He saw Leon then he saw Kaid and me. His eyes narrowed and he growled,

"Get your filthy hands off of her Savon!" Kaid who seemed to be enjoying himself replied,

"Who's what?" He paused smiling then smirked and said,

"Oh you mean me and my hands." With a chuckle he slid his one hand down around my butt, then around to the front side of my abdomen pressing me against him. His other hand trailed up my front snagging my shirt and bringing it up as his hand continued to rise. He let go of it as he let his fingers trail up my chest then getting to my neck he stroked it following my jugular up to my jaw line. I tensed and Chase lunged forward, I saw Tally grab him. Her eyes were bright with tears; his were full of helpless rage. I swallowed and spoke my voice catching in my throat, lying was never my strong point.

"Chase, chill. I'm-I'm fine. Don't worry abo-" I broke off because Kaid had started running his lips down my throat starting at my ear. Having had absolutely all I could stand I struggled and elbowed him full in the stomach. He released me gasping for breath. Chase's eyes lit up and he told me to get the hell out. I shook my head lifting up my foot an inch to show its impossibility. He cursed and, yelled at Leon,

"Where the fuck are you?!" Leon simply ignored his question and, said in a quiet voice,

"Now for Talia." Kaid had recovered and with Tally looking on he pinched my sides, I gasped for breath and went to my knees. Everyone has that spot, however in female djamphir it's super sensitive. It's a nerve and when someone who knows what they're doing pinches both of them at the same time the effect is a feeling of a mini tazer, without the lasting effects. Kaid grabbed my hair and jerked my head up to look at Tally. I struggled and he clenched down pulling my hair hard. I groaned and stopped moving on my knees head pulled back. I saw Tally's hands clap up to her mouth, before all I could see was the floor. Kaid pushed my shoulders down so I was on hands and knees. Standing over me he reached down and pinched again, I groaned trying to keep my shaking arms and legs from collapsing. Her muffled shriek came out from the laptop,

"DREW!" I gritted my teeth as Kaid went at it again. Trying to shake off the tremor of my body. I forced my head up,

"Tally, don't fall- ughhh, for it." She was openly crying now. My breath came in heavy gasps as I fought the pain and fuzzy feeling it left. I wondered why Chase didn't get her away from the screen, my arms gave out and I crumpled to the ground. Kaid loomed over me; turning me on my back he took the plastic off and, spread my arms out. Stepping on them so I couldn't move he called to Tally,

"You can make this stop. If you just came to us, she wouldn't be in this position. You're the reason she's in such….pain." He paused before he said the word a cruel smile making his face ugly. Reaching down he pinched viciously, my back arched off the floor. Five more times and I was gasping for breath, not being able to suppress the groan that came with the pain. Tally's tearstained face pressed up against the screen,

"STOP! STOP! I'll come I'll come just stop hurting her please!" Leon smiled at Kaid who nodded his head in approval.

"That a good little girl." He said looking down at my arched body. Sweat was running into my eyes and my mouth was stone dry, but I still managed to yell,

"TALIA BEAUMONT DON'T YOU DARE COME AFTER ME! DO YOU HEAR ME?! DON'T YOU DA-E." My voice was cut off by another spasm which Kaid caused in order to shut me up.

"Talia you have a day to get your answer together we'll check back in tomorrow." He turned to me,

"Won't we Drew?" Tears running down my face I swore at him, and he nodded to Kaid who pinched faithfully. My swearing cut off with a gurgle and Leon broke the connection. Leon turning away from the computer said,

"That went well; I'm pretty sure Talia's on board." He turned to me,

"I'd keep your mouth shut, Drew you're not in any position to be advising anyone." I turned my head my teeth still gritted in pain,

"Fuck You." His face turned up in irritation and he traded looks with Kaid. Kaid bent down once more and jabbed at my sides yet again. I arched my back my head almost coming off the floor and groaned with agony. Leon clicked his tongue at me and Kaid rubbed his hands together smiling. Gathering up his tech, Leon left the room. Kaid stepped off my hands, his eyes roving down my figure. I gingerly touched my sides and winced, my t-shirt was wet with sweat. It stuck to me hugging my curves, I'm sure that's what he was looking at. Kaid squatted down beside me; I looked at him with absolute loathing and turned my head away too exhausted to do anything else.

"Drew, look at me." He commanded. I swore at him and closed my eyes. In a sudden fit of temper he tore my clammy shirt off and flung it across the room. Turning my head to look at his snappy eyes I questioned,

"Satisfied?" It was a bitter angry tone that consumed the word. He regarded me for a moment and, bent down to grab both of my hands in his. Grabbing a ring he fitted it then pulled it tight. Releasing them he left me lying on the floor, in a bra. The door closing behind him with a bang, I heard the bolts slide into place and I was left in complete darkness.

Chapter 6

Sleeping was nice. For once in my life I enjoyed it. Tally ran through my mind. Chase was equally present. Kaid was also a constant visitor as well as Leon. All too soon though it ended, and I was shaken awake. Sitting up I rubbed sleep from my eyes with difficulty. Leon and Kaid were fidgeting with the video camera. Looking up from the cords Leon blinked in confusion and gestured to me,

"Where's your shirt?" I looked down, and sleepily pointed to Kaid,

"Ask him." Turning Leon raised his eyebrows at Kaid who snorted irritably and, disappeared out of the room. Coming back seconds later carrying a tank top and a pair of scissors he crossed over to me and knelt down. Cutting the ring off he tossed me the shirt. I snatched it and pulled it on, wincing slightly as my bruised sides gave a sharp spasm of pain. Reaching down with a quick jerk of strength I ripped the ring off my feet and flung it bad temperedly at Kaid. He sidestepped it neatly, and was in the middle of brandishing more of them when the screen came to life. Chase's face appeared this time, his deep voice bubbling out of the screen.

"Alright, where are you guys I'm bringing Tally." I could hardly believe what I was hearing. He really didn't care about me that much the freaking bastard! Leon was just about to answer when the screen went fuzzy, he cursed and, Kaid put the scissors down behind him, and bent to help Leon. The laptop became clear again, and Leon said,

"Alright Santiago, no crap from you. We want Talia that's it. You're free to go once we have her. Get something to write the address down with. 197 Ben-" That was as far as he got. Determined to stop him from ever finding me, I chucked the scissors into the computer. It sizzled and died. Leon and Kaid bent over the thing cursing, and I ran. I was out the door slamming it closed before you could say chicken shit. Half leaping half falling down the stairs I burst out the door partially tearing it off its hinges landing in a heap on the street in broad daylight. Scooping myself up I ran east towards the town knowing it would be easier to lose them in the crowds. Hurtling through the small streets I dodged people not stopping, but looking over my shoulder constantly. I slammed into him going full speed sending us both crumpling onto the pavement. He was on top of me and looked down with warm amber eyes peering through the light brown swoosh of his hair that framed a handsome face. Clearing his throat he hurriedly got off me and offered a hand to help me up. His figure was lean, but his arms showed a hint of muscle. He was tall and topped me by at least a head probably around six feet one inch. Looking around him I saw Kaid go into one of the stores his green eyes snapping with anger. Grabbing the guys hand I pulled him into the next street. He tried to wiggle his hand out, but my grip like iron I clung to it.

"Can you help me with something?" I asked knowing I was taking a huge risk. If Leon or Kaid caught me again I'd be as good as dead. He turned to look at me,

"Err I guess so." His expression was guarded but curious.

"There are guys chasing me and I need help to keep away from them." He glanced around startled, seeing nothing he turned back to glance at me.

"Why?" I shook my head

"I'll tell you later." He stopped and jerked his hand away from me,

"Forget it I don't even know you." I knew I had to do something fast, yanking up my shirt to reveal the large bruises on my sides I said softly,

"They hurt me." His eyes widened. His face melted and he looked at me with a new softness.

"Alright, fine what do you want me to do?" I let my shirt go and squeezed him.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" He waved it away a smile creeping onto his face.

"I'm Brock." Taking his outstretched hand I gave it a firm shake,

"Drew." Walking beside him I kept a weary lookout for my pursuers. Spotting Kaid walking in our general direction, I tensed. Brock looked up,

"What is it?" I laid my head on his chest,

"The guy walking towards us with the black hair, tall, green eyes, he's one of them; I don't think he's seen us yet." Brock looked him over.

"He looks pretty hostile" He whispered back. Kaid stalked towards us hands clenched into fists. I knew I had to do something that would mask my identity, and make him not recognize me. I did the absolutely most embarrassing thing I could think of. It totally worked. Kaid walked right on by, but it was awkward. Cupping my hand around the back of Brock's neck I pulled his face down to mine. Kissing him well, it took tremendous effort to stop. Once Kaid was out of sight, I pushed away from him ignoring my protesting mind. Brock was rapidly turning an interesting scarlet color, and I'm sorry to say I was too. I had to clear my voice before I trusted myself to speak,

"Sorry, I just can't get caught again, and that was the only thing I could think of." He grunted still bright red.

"yeahh." He refused to meet my eyes, I don't exactly blame him.

Brock showed me where he lived and, convinced his mom I was having family problems and had no other friends to stay with. After a short one sided argument Brock brought me inside. He regarded me silently, and I turned to him after surveying the room.

"I can't stay here Brock, I'm sorry." Looking genuinely startled he turned eyes searching the room for flaws,

"Why? Is there something wrong with the room? We could switch rooms if you want." I smiled. I couldn't help it he was just so I dunno genuine. He reminded me of what; it hurt me to think about it, but what Leon used to be. Shaking my head I said,

"No, no the rooms great. I just- I mean I'm automatically putting you and your family in danger by staying here." I walked towards the doorway he stepped inside it, blocking my way. Grabbing my shoulders he said,

"Look I know I haven't known you that long, but I don't care if you're dangerous. I know it when someone needs help. I've spent my whole life being rejected and pushed away because I'm different. Obviously your different, Drew. You're in a weird situation and, even though I know there's something that makes us different from each other I don't really feel it matters. I want you to be able to trust me, because I'm just insane enough to accept everything about you. Let me help you Drew, I need a little excitement in my monotonous life style." That last statement startled a bark of laughter out of me. With growing interest as his speech unfurled I had realized that all he said was the truth. With a sigh I gave into the war within me, deciding to let him in. I mean after he learned everything he wouldn't stick around, boy was I dead ass wrong. Brock stayed with me throughout my whole life much to my happiness. I can tell you Brock Daniels was freaking sexy as hell. He got me out of more fixes then a drug user takes. In fact he was always there for me, even Tally loved him and she doesn't like people all that much. Anyways I'm getting ahead of myself here, back to the present situation.

Brock having convinced me to stay headed down to the kitchen where I followed him. I offered a comment at the back of his head.

"I need a change of clothes and a backpack is there a good will store around here?" He nodded slowly,

"We could probably go today if you want." Nodding I said,

"The sooner the better."

Chapter 7

After Brock had gotten his things, we left his house. He gave it one last look, and we made our way into town. I noticed him slip an all-purpose knife into his pocket.

"What's that?" I asked.

"One thing I've learned, never go anywhere without some sort of sharp object."

I shook my head silently; a knife would do nothing against Kaid. We strolled slowly into town. Naturally, Kaid was still looking for me. As soon as I saw him, I turned around to find another route, but he spotted me. He ran at me, and Brock grabbed my arm pulling me into an alley. We ran to the back and found it was a dead end.

"Drew, only a few hours away and you're already seducing another guy, you know I don't much care for sluts." Kaid's voice was slimy and it slid up me making me shiver. His left hand snaked out and in it was a shock collar.

"Leon and I are not very happy with you Drew, not happy at all." I cringed slightly and tried to pull Brock back, but to my surprise he shoved me behind him. I hit the ground staring up at his back; rubbing my arm I hadn't realized he was that strong. His voice hard, and low he spoke behind clenched teeth to Kaid causing the taller boy to rock back on his heels with a look of surprise.

"Listen fucker, I don't know who you are, but I suggest you leave. Now." Kaid smiled at that and leaned forward,

"Step away, human. You don't know who you're dealing with." I reached up and tugged on his arm,

"Brock step aside, I don't want you hurt. I'll be okay I promise." I knew I was lying, and apparently so did he because he gave me a look and turned back to face Kaid.

"You get her over my dead body." He said his voice even. Kaid crouched down, more annoyed now then anything and said,

"That can be arranged."

Brock laughed, it was then that I saw his teeth. They weren't teeth at all, they were fangs, like mine but bigger almost like a male djamphir's. Pulling the knife out of his pocket he smiled icily at the other boy.

"First off, I'm not human. Second, I never turn my back on a hot girl." Brock said quietly. Lunging at Kaid he slashed like a mad man, but Kaid swatted the knife out of his hands. From my position against the wall I winced. I could have told him that would happen.

"Is that the best you've got?" Kaid asked, mocking him.

"No, this is." Brock answered. His hands came together and as they drew away from each a small ball of energy gathered in the palms of his hand. I'm pretty sure Kaid and I wore matching expressions of disbelief. Hex throwers were rare, but one of this magnitude was phenomenal.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, stunned by what I was seeing. Brock threw the hex. It hit Kaid square in the chest, and he flew backwards Getting up slowly, he made a hasty retreat, calling back his voice full of hatred,

"This isn't over. I will be back, and then you can watch helplessly while Drew and I have a little chat. Then I'll kill you, but slowly." He turned and vanished in a cloud of shadows.

"I'll be waiting." Brock called as Kaid vanished. Turning to me, a grin across his face, he looked me over critically. I tried to back away from him, but I was already against the wall.

"Who the hell are you? What the hell are you" I asked, genuinely afraid. I was in no position to fight him off.

"I'm not human. I'm a shadow walker." He said naming the oldest family of my kind who in theory had such powers, but no one had ever seen one. They had vanished from history more than 300 years ago.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, confusion being replaced by sudden anger forgetting about the total hypocrite I was in danger of being with both our situations.

"Would you have believed me? I don't tell secrets to just anyone, especially not that." He answered a small crooked smile lighting his face.

"Besides I don't remember you mentioning, that you're a Fetale." He said accusingly using the ancient word for a female of my kind. I didn't know what to say. He offered his hand, and I took it. Helping me up he stopped me from stepping around him by placing his six foot one inch frame in my way and grabbing my hips being careful not to touch my bruises. Straightening my arm, he frowned over the scrape on my elbow. Seeing his expression I shrugged,

"It'll heal quickly as long as it's not infected. Fetale heal faster than djamphir's." His expression refused to lighten and he tore off a corner of his shirt dabbing at it tersely. I tried to drag my arm away but really that's easier said than done,

"Ow, ow stoppit BROCK, STOP TOUCHING IT!" He chuckled infuriatingly and, stopped dropping my arm,

"God you're such a baby." I scowled at him and pushed past him. We walked out of the alley. He picked up his knife and slipped it back in his pocket.

"So I take it you're pretty good at hand-to-hand?" He asked glancing sidelong at me.

"Yeah, we don't usually use weapons, except for the occasional frying pan." I said, some humor slipping into my voice. The second thought that flashed into my mind was Tally.

"I have to go to her she's my charge she and I are the only Fetale left and she's not trained." I jabbered on my voice boarder lining panic. Brock laid a hand on my shoulder,

"So where are they exactly, I mean where did you last leave them." I rattled off the address fidgeting under his hand,

"346, Red Ringer Avenue, New York City." Brock smiled well humoredly,

"I always wanted to visit New York, come on then." We went to the train station while Brock got us some tickets; I paced back and forth fidgeting relentlessly. Finally having absolutely all he could stand Brock grabbed my shoulders pushing me down onto a bench, crouching in front of me he made me look at him,

"Drew, I know you're nervous but you are not the most subtle person right now and we need to be careful. From what I saw this Kaid isn't a very nice person, and to tell you the truth I don't want to run into him for at least a few days so can you just chill yourself down please?" I sighed my leg stopped shaking and I reluctantly quieted down. Our train arrived what seemed like days later, according to Brock it was only thirty minutes but still. I was in such a hurry to get on I tripped up the stairs nearly doing a face plant. Brock's hands shot out and grabbed me; he clucked disapprovingly and set me on my feet. His light voice smothering a chuckle,

"You know for someone skilled in hand to hand you sure are clumsy." Once safely up the stairs I turned to glare at him,

"Shut up." I spat, I knew full well of my clumsiness yet something irked me about Brock noticing and having to help me from accidentally killing myself. He held up his hands in a I surrender sign,

"Take it easy, Drew I was only joking…..somewhat." I had about turned away when I heard the last word, I can tell you the whole train ride from Vermont to New York was spent with me silently fuming at him. I was truly proud at how long my silent treatment lasted; it ended abruptly with my stupid feet not working properly. With a sharp bark of alarm I tripped down the stairs, missing a step I fell forwards only to be caught by a triumphantly grinning shadow walker. Brock had obviously heard my uneven steps and turned around to grab me out of my pre falling stage. For the second time today he set me down on pavement, I yanked my arm out of his grasp tripping over my bag, righting myself and marching madly off. He looked after me muttering a couple words loud enough for me to hear,

"Ooo touchy." My shoulders stiffened as I muttered to myself and with a sudden lurch took off running. After seven minutes of side turns, alley ways, cross walks, café's and what not I finally slowed to a walk sure I had lost him. Turning a corner I rammed into someone, stumbling backwards I fell over. A hand snaked out to help me up and a voice above my head said,

"It's very rude to try and ditch your traveling partner." I groaned in defeat grabbing the proffered hand to heave myself up.

"How'd you find me?" I asked.

"The Shadows are the ultimate hunters, we never lose sight of our pray." He answered a crooked grin across his face.

"Oh, so I'm your pray?" I replied, raising my eyebrows at him. He glanced down at me a snarky look sliding across his face; he suggestively bit his lip, and let his eyes rove down my figure. A blush spread over my face as I stared at the ground wishing it would swallow me up. He glanced over my shoulder and tensed,

"What is it?" I asked. Brock his face serious now cursed.

"Ivan, outcast of us; my half-brother." He explained as I made a questioning noise. As he approached Brock murmured to me,

"Hang tight." He stepped forwards body tense,

"Ivan, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I might ask you the same question." The boy, Ivan replied.

"Who's this and how does she know about us?" the boy asked.

"Ivan, this is Drew. She's a Fetale." He replied steadily as I van's eyes sparked with interest. Ivan eyed me, a sneer slid across his features and he suddenly turned glaring venomously at me. I took a step back his eyes reminded me of an arctic tsunami strangling the life out of me. On my way backwards I bumped into Brock's arm. He looked down at me turning his gaze away from Ivan's, his hand found the crook of my arm and he pulled me against him. It was oddly comforting and made some of my uneasiness disappear; he turned his eyes back to the other boy. Something in Brock's stare made Ivan hesitate. With a lofty sigh Ivan turned and waved prettily to Brock, and took a last glance at me before literally vanishing into the shadows.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, still completely lost, and not sure what to make of the other boys obvious dislike of me.

"Just forget about it. Where are we going, now?" He asked, his voice seemed a little off, but I decided to let it go.

"It should be a few blocks farther." I answered, and we started walking in silence. He had let go of my arm but it still felt warm and I rubbed at it curiously, my eyes searching the street names. We turned onto Red Ringer Avenue and I immediately started counting the house numbers. Stopping abruptly at the whitewashed house, the first thing I noticed was the white picket fence. My heart stopped when I saw the gate hanging off its hinges, Tally was a clean and order Nazi. Leaping over the gate with fluid grace I almost forgot I had. I ran up the stairs, slipping through the half open door. Surveying the family room I walked over to a dent in the wall, broken glass crunching under my feet. Tracing the cracked drywall I held my breath. There had obviously been a huge fight here. Brock stood in the doorway giving me the space I desperately needed. Anger boiled within me why did I always have to screw things up, or have to have people come after me. I was not a fucking damsel in distress. My hand came down with sudden force on the window sill, right onto a jagged piece of broken glass. With a muffled curse I pulled the piece out of my hand and threw it at the opposite wall. It buried itself into the grey wall paper still quivering, blood running off it. Blood spilled through my clenched fingers. Brock was suddenly beside me, tearing a square of cloth off his light plaid over shirt. He grabbed my hand and tied the make shift bandage onto it applying pressure. I winced and tried to pull away from him,

"I can handle myself. GO AWAY BROCK!" He merrily gripped me tighter his voice surprisingly soft,

"No, you're a walking accident waiting to happen, Drew. Stop struggling you're making it worse."

I tried again to get away from his vice like grip trying to close my ears to his words.

Stop struggling before I make the decision for you." He said, something in his eyes flashed warningly he began to change his grip and knowing I wouldn't be able to win this one I stopped.

"Where else would your friends go?" He asked his voice full of reasoning, but something else I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"Right here, now who the hell are you?" Came a voice from the door. Chase and Tally were both standing there, looking pretty beat up.

Chapter 8

The first thing I did was run at Tally and hug her. Here she was, right in front of me. I had tears streaming down my cheeks I was so happy.

"Alright, I'll ask again. Who the hell is the human?" Chase said, his voice a bit annoyed.

"No humans here, man, Shadow- walker. Drew here needed help, and I was happy to oblige." Brock said, keeping a calm tone, but I could tell he was pissed that Chase had called him a human.

"Shadow huh? I've heard about you. Glad to have you on our side." Chase said a sarcastic chuckle in his voice. I wasn't paying attention to this since I still had Tally in a bear hug.

"Um, Drew? I know you're happy to see me, but could you get the hell off me so I could breathe?" Tally asked. I let go of her and then instantly latched onto her again. She laughed breathlessly,

"Drew, you're all right?" I nodded hastily wiping the tears away.

"What happened here?" She looked around the damage,

"We had a spot of trouble with Kaid, but Chase fended him off pretty good." Chase snorted in the doorway,

"Pretty good? That mother fucker stumbled around like a drunken beetle once I was finished with him." Tally sighed and, turned to Brock. She held out her hand,

"I'm Tally, and that's Chase were both pleased to meet you." Brock took her hand and gave it a firm shake, still keeping a whether eye on Chase who didn't look too happy with the situation. Tally elbowed Chase in the ribs and smiled at Brock,

"Thank you for helping Drew, I was really worried about her." He nodded his mouth turning up into a half crooked grin.

"No problem, happy to oblige like I said." I smiled up at him and then remembering something casually put my injured hand behind my back. Unfortunately Tally's eyes had already caught the irregularity.

"What did you do to your hand?" She asked her tone accusing. I grimaced sheepishly,

"It's nothing just a little excess anger." Her mouth straightened into a tight line and she grabbed my arm.

"Will you excuse us for a second?" She said not waiting for an answer and pulled me into the kitchen.

"Alright. What the hell is wrong with you? You just drag some random guy into all this craziness?" Tally said, almost yelling.

"Tally, he saved my life, twice. He's a good guy and he wants to help." I answered, pleading.

"He saved your life?"

"Twice. We had a couple run-ins with Kaid." She didn't know what to say to this. We were both silent until a loud crash came from the other room. We ran in and found Chase and Brock wrestling on the floor.

"Now, if you insult me again, I'll show you just how your insides look." Brock said as he pinned Chase to the floor.

"What did you do Chase?" I asked, annoyed.

"Your friends got a smart mouth. I would get him to keep it shut before he gets himself killed." Brock said as he got up off the ground. He then offered a hand to Chase, who reluctantly accepted.

"Not bad. I guess you can stay, for now." Chase said sarcastically.

"Well, isn't this fun? You know Drew, I would have thought you were smart enough to leave humans out of this, but I guess I was wrong." Came Leon's voice from the doorway. I turned and saw him, smiling evilly.

"I guess your friend didn't tell you. I'm not human." Brock said. He cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck taking the knife from his pocket.

"Not human, huh? Well, this might actually be interesting." Leon said, and then he lunged at Tally. Brock jumped forwards tackling him to the ground.

"Get out of here. I'll hold him." Brock said as he got to his feet. Tally and Chase needed no second invitation. I however stayed,

"I'm not leaving you." I said. Brock growled at me as Leon started to struggle violently,

"Just go Drew, before I throw you out myself." With one last look I disappeared through the doorway. Hearing a grunt and sounds of fighting, I turned to go back, but an explosion from the house knocked me to the ground.

"Brock!" I yelled, scrambling up onto my knees I made a crawl for the house again. Through the smoke, I saw a figure walking towards us. At first I thought it was Leon, but the glitter of the knife set me straight. I heaved a shaky sigh of relief and, tried to dash the tears from my face but they kept coming.

"Are all of the people trying to kill you cowards? He vanished after thirty seconds of fighting. That wasn't even fun." Brock said a hint of crestfallenness in his tone.

"Well played, shadow boy. Well played." Chase said approvingly. For what seemed like the tenth time today, Brock offered his hand to help me up. I took it and he effortlessly set me on my feet.

"You ok?" I asked, searching his face for any signs of damage.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He asked. I shrugged and he looked at me for a moment longer.

"There's something I need to take care of." He remarked.

"I'll be back soon I promise." He turned to leave and swung back his fist headed straight for my face. I reacted instantly; my arm came up to deflect while I grabbed his other arm and flipped him over my hip. Following up I knelt on his back pinning his arms to the pavement. I let him up as he nodded approvingly,

"Just wanted to make sure you could take care of yourself while I'm gone." I scowled as he walked away still chuckling. The minute he was gone I turned around to face Tally and Chase. Tally smiled warmly at me and Chase raised an eyebrow and looked meaningfully in the direction Brock had gone. I smacked him bad temperedly on the arm making him dance backwards,

"Not a word." I warned. He chuckled and scooped Tally up into his arms right as her foot almost made contact with a broken nail. She grumbled something about neatness and grabbed him to steady herself. We made our way back up to the house opting to stay in what was left of it. With a grumbled sigh I collapsed onto the bed where Tally was sitting. Chase having grabbed a dustpan and broom was sweeping off the floor of hazardous materials.

The rest of the week went by nothing out of the ordinary until Monday a week after Brock had left. I was in the kitchen cooking some noodles while Tally and Chase were upstairs. They had told me they were practicing tai chi, but I'll bet they were "practicing" more than that. I was just straining out the noodles when I heard a knock on the door. Setting down the pan I turned off the burner. Opening the front door I looked up into Kaid's piercing green eyes. With a muffled yell I leapt back grabbing the first thing in reach, which happened to be a wooden spoon. Kaid rolled his eyes and stepped into the house, Leon following a hairs breath behind him.

"What are you going to do, Drew? Spoon me?" He chuckled his hard tenor voice teasing. I glowered at him and smashed the flat of the spoon into his right eye. He reeled backwards and snagged Leon in the process. I opened my mouth to yell for Chase when Kaid shook his head vehemently at me,

"No need for that Drew this visit of mine is mainly for your benefit." With that he drew a long flat ebony stake, and held it across Leon's throat. With a start I saw Leon's eyes go wide with terror.

"Have you gone mad?" I screamed at him my traitorous voice falling to little more than a whisper. He smiled,

"No Drew, Leon here is just soft and I don't like soft people." I looked at Leon despite all he'd done to me it still hurt. He was after all my brother. With one last sinister snicker Kaid looked straight at me and said,

"This one's for you Drew, your next." His hand moved only a fraction, and he was gone. I ran to Leon kneeling beside his crumpled body. His hands clutched desperately at the stake buried in his chest. He grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled my head down next to his mouth,

"Kill him for me Drew." He spluttered, I nodded looking down at him with too much shock to register. He died seconds later still clutching at the stake that brought him down. It was a bother to explain everything to Tally and Chase.

Chapter 9

The last day I went out for a run, it was raining pretty hard. I wasn't watching where I was going, and I ended up in the middle of the street. I heard a loud honk, and turned to see a semi barreling straight at me. I froze, looking calmly at my approaching death. Seconds before the semi would have hit me; a hand shot out and grabbed my arm, pulling me to safety.

"You know, I wouldn't have thought being gone this long would turn you into a mindless zombie, Drew. I thought you would be able to hold yourself together." Came a familiar voice. I turned and saw Brock glaring at me irritably. Ivan stood behind him, looking annoyed.

"You've been gone a month!" I said, accusingly.

"I didn't know you cared." He answered in a smart-ass tone.

"Whatever." I blushed.

"Hey, Fetale," Ivan called to me.

"If you know what's good for you, get lost you'll live longer that way." He said, his tone showing his contempt. I stepped back surprised and hurt by his sudden outburst. Brock shot Ivan a glance that he ignored.

"What's your problem? I've done nothing to you." The shock and hurt clear in my voice.

"My problem is you sweetheart." He answered his eyes slick with something I couldn't name. Ivan moved with such speed he caught both of us by surprise, stepping forward he grabbed my arm roughly, and shoved me against the wall,

"Such soft delicate skin, it would be a pity if it got damaged." Ivan snarled at me, he gave me a shake to make sure the message was clear. I tried to peel his fingers off my arm, but he wouldn't let go. He pushed my head backwards grabbing my hair he held me to the wall, and drew a small dagger out of his sleeve. With a small growl of rage Brock pushed the weapon aside, and shoved Ivan away from me with a snarl. Ivan held up his hands dropping the blade he gave Brock a condescending smile then spun on me. His gaze was as ruthless as his pointing finger. Turning suddenly, he stalked away. Brock turned to look at me his amber eyes appraising my shocked body. His hand found my waist and he pulled me into him resting the top of his head on mine. His warm arms wrapped around my soaking form. He murmured from somewhere above me,

"You okay?" He asked. I said nothing just buried my head into his chest. We walked through the city and eventually made it back to the house. It had stopped raining by then.

Brock reached out to push a strand of hair plastered to my face behind my ear. I smiled up at him,

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you came back." He leaned down, his eyes level with mine. His styled messy hair glistening with rain, the space was suddenly smaller between us. My heart bumped up another notch and, a genuine smile opened up his face. He placed his hand over my thundering heart, leaning down an inch more; he lightly brushed his lips to my forehead.

"For what it's worth I had trouble leaving you to fend for yourself." He said the smile still present on his features. I grumbled something trying to keep my head down to hide the blush creeping up my cheeks. His hand enveloped mine, it was warm and comforting, and his tone was soft and persuasive,

"Drew, look at me." I shook my head in a silent no. His other hand coming down to rest beneath my chin he gently forced my gaze away from the ground. Amber meeting Grey, I looked at him for a long moment searching. Reaching the steps he looked at them critically,

"I see you've done some repair to the house." I nodded and he suddenly stopped as if remembering something. Straightening out my arm he examined my hand, pocking at it.

"Did it heal alright?" I watched his long fingers test the scar tissue, and smiled crookedly,

"Well enough." I answered. Pulling my hand from his grip I preceded him up the stairs into the house. Closing the door behind us, I tiptoed around the spot where Leon's blood still lingered. Brock noticing raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

"Kaid killed Leon there." My voice was dead of any emotion. He looked up quickly trying to catch anything on my face to tell my feelings on the subject. I was ready, my armor was set and there were no chinks. The living room was pretty well in order, even though the furniture was damaged. Tally sat in a wooden chair reading a book. She looked to be half way through it, and glanced up as we came in. Her blonde hair framed her face having cut it to the base of her skull; she set her book down and rose to give Brock a welcoming hug.

"I'm glad you came back, Brock. Hopefully you were successful?" She settled back in her chair taking care to avoid the sharp edge of the broken arm. Brock nodded,

"Yes, I was very successful, thank you." The corner of my mouth twitched only slightly, but he caught it. Still smiling he elbowed me in the ribs. I danced sideways to avoid the full force of it and couldn't help grinning. Chase came clomping down stairs minutes later with a huge basket of dirty laundry; he stuck his head in the doorway,

"Drew you need anything washed?" I shook my head, thought for a second then changed my mind.

"Let me get changed and I'll bring you my wet clothes." I gestured to my dripping outfit. Brushing past him I ran up the stairs. Behind me I could hear Chase addressing Brock.

"Brock how nice to see you again, everything going well I hope?" Brock's voice,

"You too Chase, Yeah everything's going great." I tromped back downstairs holding my sopping bundle away from me. I handed it over to Chase who took it and dumped it in the basket. Tally waved over her shoulder at the direction Chase had gone,

"Why don't you go help Chase figure out the washer and dryer?" Obediently Brock loped after him. I collapsed into a bean bag chair across from Tally and we both listened to their voices filtering in from the laundry room.

"Alright so now what? Do we put the soap or the clothes in first?" Chase's tone was bemused.

"Let's go with the clothes." Brock said. Both I and Tally giggled silently as they loaded the washer.

"Is this how you start the water?" Brock asked.

"I dunno push it and we'll see."

"Nope guess not hope I didn't break it the girls would get pretty pissed." Brock sighed.

"Oh I got it, alright water started, now uhm how much soap are we using again?" Chase asked.

"Well, how about this much, yeah this looks good." Brock suggested.

"Just pour it in and then shut the lid?"

"Yeah sounds good, go." The clang of the lid was audible as it slammed shut. Tally and I waited. Chase was the first one to break the steady chug of the machine,

"Oh shit, Dude its friggen overflowing."

"Fuck, do something." Came Brock's incredulous voice.

"What?!, I dunno how to work this blasted scrap of metal."Chase said his voice sounding stressed.

"You motard now were definitely screwed." Brock's voice was hushed but getting louder.

"Me? You were the one who measured out the fucking soap!" Chase retaliated.

"Well you're the one who listened to me; I don't know anything about scrap metal either."

"Damn it's getting worse, just shuddup, and we'll leave it." Chase kicked the washer rather loudly.

"Right okay fine, come on." Brock said and we heard them shut the door. Seconds later they both walked through the door, sweating bullets. Tally got up from her chair and hardly able to contain her laughter, she glared at the both of them.

"He did it!" Both Chase and Brock said at the same time. I buried my face in my hands, looking up I rubbed my eyes.

"Let's go take a look and see how much damage you've inflicted." I said shooing them ahead of me into the laundry room. Opening the door I found myself in a giant bubble bath. With an expression of increasing incredulity I made my way through the suds to the machine. Unplugging it I turned towards the guilty looking pair exasperated,

"You moron's, I swear to God." They looked at one another and shrugged indifferently.

"When washing clothes in a washing machine, it's usually a good idea not to use DISH SOAP!" Both of them flinched, but as I turned back around out of the corner of my eye I saw both boys crack a smile. Tally hearing my outburst came in stopped and just stared.

"You're cleaning this up, both of you." She turned and grabbed my arm pulling me out of the room and slamming the door behind her. Behind us Chase and Brock both cracked up there obnoxious guffawing drifting through the house. The next hour was spent watching both boys carry mops and other cleaning shit through the house to de- bubble the wash room.

"Can't you use magic or something?" Chase asked Brock about two hours into their work.

"You think I would be doing this if I could?" Brock answered, sounding pissed.

Chapter 10

About an hour after the laundry room returned to normal, I was checking my emails and, on opening one my breath caught in my throat. I read it quickly and stood up so fast my chair fell over. Clattering downstairs I screeched to a halt in the kitchen doorway.

"I got an email from Kaid!" I got out breathlessly. Chase traced it to Nebraska, and it was by unanimous agreement that a road trip should be taken. I needed to kill the guy for myself, Tally and my brother. We all piled into our beat up faded green Honda pilot. Tally drove first, and shoved all her stuff into the shotgun seat so Brock Chase and I were forced to pile into the back. Our destination being Nebraska, we had a 1400 mile drive ahead of us. I would not recommend driving from New York to Nebraska with a shadow walker, two Fetale and djamphir.

I sneezed for the umpteenth time batting Chase's bleached spikes away from my face.

"Chase! Please get your hair out of my face." I growled. With a malicious smile he leaned sideways and stuck his head into my face. I let out a muffled noise of protest before hair clogged my senses. Brock sitting on the other side of me reached over and shoved Chase away. He rocked away from me glaring at Brock while I rubbed at my itching nose.

"Keep your hands to yourself dude." He sniped. Brock leaned over me practically in my lap.

"Don't stick your hair in other people's faces, dude." He said in the same tone. Chase narrowed his gaze and, pinched the other boy viciously on the arm. I leaned as far back in my seat as possible while Brock smacked at the grinning djamphir. Ten minutes later saw me still squished in the middle watching as a slapping cat fight unfolded over me. Tally looking in her rear view mirror caught my stony gaze as we turned a corner. She stifled a laugh and flicked her gaze back towards the interstate. After having enough of their petty fighting the guys each took naps. Tally pulled into a rest stop an hour later as thunderous snores resounded throughout the cabin. I looked to either side of me shaking my head at both Chase and Brock. Chase sounded like he was mimicking a rocket launch. Brock, on the other hand, slept silently.

"How can he be asleep with Chase making so much noise?" I asked Tally.

"I'm not asleep. How can you expect me to sleep with that?" Brock said, jerking a chin at Chase, scaring me half to death. His eyes were still shut.

"Then what are you doing?" I asked.

"Thinking."

"What are you thinking about?" He didn't answer. Instead, he opened his eyes and stared out the window. Tally pulled into a gas station to refill the car.

Fifteen minutes later saw us back on the road with me driving. Tally had taken the window seat and the boys were debating about who had the worst injuries.

"It looks like you take I-95 to Franklin then get on 210." Tally said looking at the map. I nodded,

"Have you even been to Nebraska?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Nope what's there anyways?" I laughed,

"Well there's cows, corn and – STAY IN YOUR GOD DAMN LANE, MORON!" I yelled as we swerved to avoid a particularly bad driver.

"Drew, you sure you can drive?" Brock asked. I glared at him, flipping him off I answered sourly,

"Yes, I can drive." A couple hours later, night had fallen. My eye lids grew heavy, and I could barely stay awake. A semi driving straight at us with its horn blaring woke me up enough to get us back in our own lane.

"How about we pull into a hotel for the night?" Brock suggested his voice completely calm, despite the near collision.

"Yeah, that sounds good." I answered, a bit shaken. Twenty minutes later, we were in our hotel room. Tally and I got the beds, Chase slept on the couch, and Brock took the floor.

As we got into the car the next morning, Brock took the driver's seat. Tally, once again, took the window seat, and for some reason refused to sit next to Chase, so I was stuck in the middle. It was about mid-day when Brock unexpectedly pulled off the interstate.

"Where are you going?" I asked. He didn't answer. Then he made a u-turn and got back on. He checked the rear-view mirror, cursed, and changed lanes.

"What the hell was that?" Chase asked.

"We're being followed." He answered.

"You think it's Kaid?" I asked.

"No. Kaid would already be in Nebraska. Is there anyone else who wants the three of you dead?" Brock asked.

"He wants you dead too. Remember the hex?" I replied.

"Well, Kaid is very low on a long list of people who want me dead." He said humorously. He continued driving; Tally demanded that we stop at the nearest gas station. Brock pulled into a station, and Tally ran inside. I looked out the window and saw a huge storm. The clouds were so dark, it was like night. Then the rain started. You could barely see anything. Brock was staring intently at a white S.U.V. four figures got out of the S.U.V., three of them went inside. The other walked around back.

"I don't like this." Brock said.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Drew, stay here. Chase, come with me." He said. He and Chase went into the gas station, leaving me in the car. I got out stretching my legs, and someone came up behind me, put a hand to the back of my neck, and I fell to the ground, passed out.

I woke up in the front seat of our green pilot ever so slowly. My neck hurt and I tried to rub at it and found that was entirely impossible. My hands were bound behind me and my body was pressed to the back of the seat by an impossibly tight seat belt. My first thoughts were

"Oh Shit, Kaid, Oh Shit, Shit, shit, shit." I almost afraid to look, but I glanced over at the driver's seat.

"YOU!" I gasped. Ivan glanced at me curtly his glare more intense than usual.

"Shut up and stop wiggling." He snapped. I struggled to keep my mouth from falling open.

"What are you doing? What's the meaning of this?!" I screeched tugging at my hands. Keeping one hand on the wheel he grabbed a chunk of my hair pulling my head back to look at him.

"Shut up or I will gag you, Drew." He gave my head a shake and pushed me against the window. I rolled my neck fighting back the pain of torn hair roots.

"You want silence; I'll give you more than you ever bargained for." I said tightly. Opening my mouth I leaned close to his ear and let out a blood curdling shriek. He winced and clamped a hand over my mouth which I promptly bit. With a grunt of pain he removed the limb and smacked me across the face.

"That's it next rest stop you're going to wish you had stayed unconscious." He growled. I rubbed my cheek against my shoulder,

"We'll see about that hot shot, too bad you don't have any friends to do your dirty work for you. I baited. It worked his self control shredded. He pulled the car to a screeching halt on the side of the road. Getting out he slammed his door with angry energy came around to my side and opened the door. The minute he was in range I booted him with both legs straight in the chest. Flying backwards he picked himself up and came at me carefully. He grabbed one foot throwing both my shoes out of the car. Grabbing a roll of duct tape he attacked my feet with it when he stepped back my feet were taped so tightly together I doubt you could slip a needle in between them. UN clicking my seat belt he grabbed my arm and slung me over one shoulder. I yelled and screamed trying to flag down any cars passing by, nothing. He dumped me unceremoniously back into the front seat, plopping a piece of tape across my mouth. Rolling his eyes up towards the sky he muttered,

"Ah, sweet silence." I glared at him and tried to drive my head into his stomach. He stuck out his hand grabbing my shoulder he reached behind me to snag my hands. Finding the head rest he bound them above me, and put my seat belt on. Surveying his "handy" work, he slammed my door shut and got back in on the driver's side. I rolled my head to the side to stare at him. I shifted uncomfortably and made a small noise of discontent. Barely glancing at me he checked behind him and cursed. With squealing tires he took off down the interstate, weaving in and out of traffic.

"Your little friends are pretty persistent; I'll give you that Bane. Kaid told me you were a slippery little weasel. He wasn't wrong not only are you extremely annoying you have a smart mouth and a bite. Oh well I'm pretty sure I can break you of that." The fuck you that I emitted came out as a mumble unintelligible noise. Ivan put his free hand to his ear,

"What's that you say, speak up I can't hear you." He chuckled at my outraged glare.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter now. As soon as Kaid has you, he'll put you back in your place, bitch." He checked the mirror, smiled, and laughed.

"Looks like they got that Tally girl. Now, if you promise to answer my question, I'll take the tape off." I nodded slowly, glaring at him. He ripped it off quickly, making my face feel like it was on fire. After a moment, I said,

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"It doesn't matter now. We're here." He said as he pulled into a small town. A few moments later, he pulled into the driveway of a beat up old house. Great. Once again, I was going to be Kaid's prisoner. Ivan pulled me out of the car and led me into the house. When we entered, Kaid was sitting, smiling at me.

"Where's the other one?" Kaid asked.

"Almost here." Ivan said smiling. Kaid held out his hand and Ivan slung me into his arms.

"Thank you very much. Package delivered." He chuckled, and slammed his hand onto my ass. I groaned in pain as the sting took over. He pressed me to his body, neatly fitting an arm across my neck, cutting off my air.

"I would stay quiet if I were you, Drew." He hissed in my ear. Ivan started towards Kaid, and stood to one side of him.

"Let her go." Came Brock's voice from the doorway. We turned and saw him, Tally and Chase. He and Ivan stared at each other, not saying another word. Brock lunged at Ivan.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Kaid answered with a smirk. Brock tensed as Kaid's fingers played teasingly with my side, pressing enough to make me twitch, but not enough to take effect. Brock's mouth was by this time a thin line as his eyes followed Kaid's fingers. Seeing his gaze Kaid smirked,

"Ironic, isn't it how she loves you, yet I can do whatever I want to her, while you can do nothing." Kaid pressed harder making sure to direct his smirk into Brock's eyes. I groaned as a small tingle passed through me causing me to shudder. At this, I saw Brock mouth something to me, but I couldn't understand it. He lunged towards me, but Kaid was faster. Brock never saw the small knife until a small cry from me stopped him in his tracks. A small trickle of blood dripped down my neck from where the knife point was dug in. Kaid's humorous voice sounded above me,

"Now now, let's not be so hasty." I caught a small glimpse out the door while he was talking and my eyes widened at the wave of djamphir's advancing towards the house. Knowing what I had to do I made no eye contact with Brock. He would not like my idea no matter if it was our only hope. I lunged towards the knife tying to drive it into my neck. Kaid's face was pictures of surprise, pain, need, and power. Pain finally won and he dropped the blade with a clang.

"Drew..." His voice was a shocked whisper. Ramming my tied hands into his solar plexus, I tripped him and he fell with a thud hitting his head on the chair effectively knocking him out.

"Not bad Fetale. Not bad." Ivan said, amused. I gave him a withering glance as Tally cut me free. As the last string fell free I launched myself on Ivan with a wild yell of fury. His eyes widened slightly as I landed on him swinging. It took both Chase and Brock to pull me off of him.

"Drew?" Brock asked. I breathed deeply,

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine let me go." He took one last anxious look at me and let go of me. I met Chase's look and nodded once. Turning away from Ivan I swung back and socked him straight in the face. He reeled backwards clutching at his eye and nose, collapsing unconscious to the floor.

"Now I feel much better." I announced. .

"I hate to break up this touching moment, but we have a big problem." Chase interrupted. We all looked out the window to see the wave of djamphirs approaching. We were outnumbered five to one.

I started to fight, losing sight of Brock. I tackled a guy to the ground and let loose punching him. Then I jumped at another one. Chase started going crazy on them. I couldn't see how the others were faring, but Tally had somehow figured out how to throw hexes. Five djamphirs fell to the ground without being touched. I would have been impressed, except a cry of pain from somewhere to my left made my mind go all weird. I fought to get to the center to see if Brock was alright. Then I saw him. He was lying on the ground, stomach bleeding. A djamphir with a dagger was standing over him, smiling.

"NO!" I screamed, not wanting it to be true, wishing that I was still asleep in the pilot, Tally or Brock driving. Then, his eyes snapped open. He jumped up, tackled the guy, and pulled out his own dagger, and stabbed the djamphir. The numbers of djamphirs thinned, and it looked like we had won. Now, I'm sure as you've realized by now, nothing can ever be that easy for us.

"CEASE!" Ordered Kaid. Everyone, us and the djamphirs, stopped to look at him. He was standing in the doorway holding a knife to Tally's throat. I was paralyzed in shock. That asshole had Tally, and was going to kill her. The world seemed to go silent and dark. I didn't know what I could do. Kaid spoke again,

"Drew and only Drew come here." I looked around and saw Brock shaking his head no. With a sigh I disregarded it and stepped forward.

"Someone grab her." He barked at the djamphirs. Two of them responded grabbing me roughly they pinned my arms behind my back forcing me to kneel. Kaid Looked down at me his eyes showing triumph and, to my disbelief he pushed Tally away from him. She stumbled forward and Chase caught her. My mouth fell open in shock. I was happy he'd let her go, but terrified at where this left me. Brock started forward his eyes grim as he stared at me. Kaid looked up meeting his gaze and smiled producing the shock collar he fitted it around my neck. I whimpered and struggled, but could do nothing while strung between two strong djamphir fighters. Kaid bent down and secured my hands with duct tape, winking at Brock who stiffened and cursed him. Letting me go with my wrists bound together in front of me he signaled his two cronies to stand on either side of me. Then with great theatric show he pushed the button for the first shock. It buzzed through me, the best way I can describe it is someone snapping you across the neck with a wet rag. In other words it hurt. I hit the ground groaning and tried to hold my neck but my spazzing limbs wouldn't obey me. Brock's face was a mixture of disbelief and disgust as he gazed at my writhing figure. Kaid made me get back onto my knees and get ready for the next shock I struggled back up to a kneeling position at his feet and he had his finger on the button when I heard a whiz go through the air, then a thump. Kaid fell to the ground, Brock's knife sticking out from between his eyes. At this, the djamphirs ran like hell. Unfortunately as a reflex Kaid's finger jammed down onto shock number two and I hit the ground my vision fuzzy as I fought unconsciousness, agony rippled through my body. Brock was at my side in a flash. He ripped the collar off of me crushing it with uncontrolled anger. He then rolled me over gently cutting the duct tape off my hands. He scooped me up in his arms as I fought to stay awake and functioning.

"What the hell?" I mumbled up at him.

"Shhh." He said trying to smile though his face was a mask of pain and concern as he supported my drooping body.

"You alright?" Chase asked.

"Yeah, fine." I replied slowly, trying to lift my head.

He pressed my head down firmly. He set me into the shotgun seat of the pilot the same one I had been tied to earlier that day and, we drove to a hotel with Chase and Tally in tow.

Chapter 11

Brock healed us with magic the best that he could. Now it just looked like we had been playing some serious football instead of fighting for our lives or getting shocked to death by a sadistic psychopath.. Tally took the shower in the room first. Chase fell asleep on the couch almost immediately. Brock looked out the window, distracted.

"Hey, thanks." I murmured quietly still being confined to a sitting position.

"What? Oh, right." He said snapping back into the present.

"You okay?" I asked looking at him. He smiled wanly at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He leaned down and slowly pressed his lips to mine. My spine went ramrod straight, but soon my mouth softened under his. He pulled away slowly, as if he didn't want to. It took me a couple minutes to recover, not that I had never kissed him before because obviously I had but this, this was different.

"I cannot believe you just did that." I hissed at him as Chase grumbled around on the couch. He smiled down into my eyes,

"You liked it, Drew."

"I did not!" I said indignantly, trying to not meet his eyes. He stuck a hand under my chin and lifted my head up gently,

"You're a God awful liar, Drew." He said shaking his head. I looked up at him my eyes meeting his.

"I know." I sighed. He drew my face towards his, and I was enveloped in another one of his kisses. As we separated once again I muttered through tingling lips,

"I'm getting better." Brock looked at me quizzically,

"With?"

"Lying." I stated sourly as the grin returned to his face. Tally came out and went straight to bed. At this, Chase jumped up and ran for the shower,

"Diiibs!", he yelled as he flew past on the way to the bathroom narrowly avoiding collision with Tally who leapt to the side. I rolled my eyes at his retreating back. All the hot water would probably be gone by the time he was done, so I just decided to shower in the morning. I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, Brock was gone. I got up and went to look for him, I found him down the hall in a chair by the window.

"Brock, you're starting to scare me." I said as I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Why?" He asked getting up slowly. I shrugged,

"You're really quiet." He smiled and bit his lip staring at me with those eyes.

"Can I help you?" I asked managing to keep a straight face. He smirked,

"Oh I think you can." He pushed me against the wall; his arms came up to box me in. I looked up at him, and bit my lip an invitation. He took a sharp intake of breath, and bit his lip trying to fight his emotions. I reached a hand up grabbed the back of his head and pulled his mouth down to mine completely shattering his self-control. With a groan he gave in and slid his hand down my body from shoulders to ass. My fingers curled into his hair, as I pulled him against me. His hands slid down to rest on my sides. He slid them underneath my shirt, and clenched my side aggressively, he pulled me against him; sandwiching me against him and the wall. I groaned in pleasure as he pressed me harder his kissing edging deeper. My hands slid down his chest, as they found bare skin. His warm skin rippled at my touch, and he tightened his grip on my sides as I grabbed at his lower back. He broke away from me panting. I came forward concerned that maybe I had gone too far. I got one step before he grabbed me and shoved me back to the wall,

"Where are you going? I'm not fucking done with you yet." Was his cocky comment. I giggled and shook my head,

"Are you always this cocky?" I asked. He smirked at me, ignoring the question he pinned my hands to the wall behind me. Moving in he brought his mouth back to mine, once more pressing his body into me. I moved with him as we kissed. He grabbed both my wrists in one large hand and, slid the other hand onto my face. Pressing closer to me his thumb rubbed my cheek, he move his hand to my hips and pushed them snug to the wall. He was fumbling with my shirt when someone slammed a door down the hall. He swore loudly and, pulled me away from the wall. He smiled at me for a moment and then with a start realized that I was disobeying doctor's orders with being up and about. He glared at me,

"You sneak, how dare you distract me. I might have to arrest you for prostitution. Get off your feet this instant Drew." He growled. I frowned,

"No, don't tell me what to do I'm fine." Brock gave an irritate sigh and said,

"I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this. I'll give you one more chance. Get off your feet Drew." I glared into his hard eyes,

"You wouldn't do anything." That was the wrong thing to say Brock advanced on me grabbing my shoulders he spun me around to face down the hallway towards our room.

"Last chance Drew, get moving."

I turned my head to look up at him and shook it firmly. He shrugged his shoulders and grabbed my bicep he slung me forward. I stumbled but he caught me. Then he walked forward into me as I tripped to keep ahead of him. I hated being herded and told him so. His only answer was a small snort and another push. Deciding to stop this Bullying I sat down in the middle of the hallway and refused to move. He glared irritably at me and rolled his shoulders.

"I'll fight you if you try it." I said looking up at him alarm spread across my face. He smiled his eyes dancing as he bent down,

"I'll take that into consideration, Drew. With that he grabbed both my wrists in a quick movement he had torn a shred from his shirt and tied them together. That done he swung me over his shoulder, by grabbing my hips, I struggled and he smacked my ass as a warning. I squeaked and he said threateningly,

"Behave." He tromped off down the hall with me in tow. He knocked on the door and Chase answered it.

"Room service." Brock said well humoredly. Chase chuckled and I cursed at him. Walking into the room Brock dumped me back on my bed. I glared and stuck my tongue out at him. He snickered and leaned over me supporting himself with one hand he brought his lips down to meet mine. When he drew away, he was smiling.

"You know I could take that as a serious insult, sticking your tongue out is the equivalent of flipping me off." I grumbled at him and shook my bound wrists in his face. He regarded them for a moment,

"I dunno Drew, maybe I should leave those on until you learn to obey me." I sat half way up only to be shoved back down by Brock. He grabbed my shoulders and pinned them to the bed, leaning down he kissed me hard. He left me breathless, and when he pulled away from me I had no breath to respond.

"Now, now Drew, don't be difficult…" I glared up at him, as he leaned over me once again this time when he withdrew he took the strip of cloth he had used on my hands. Sitting down beside me Brock put a hand on the inside of my thigh, Tally came to sit on the bed beside my head and Chase dropped into a chair by the window. We all looked out at the huge storm approaching us. Thank you, mid-west, for the wonderful weather.

Epilogue

Well that about wraps up our fantastic adventure. Brock and I are still together. Tally and Chase have fights every so often, but who doesn't. We all live together back in our white house in New York. We've refurnished it and everything, seeing as it was reduced to a skeleton from Leon and Kaid. Tally is closer to me then really anything, she's like my sister from another mother. Brock and Chase get along well they're a lot alike, both extremely cocky. Chase and I well we have a mutual dislike of each other. We never have heard from Ivan again, I suppose he'll probably show up in the near future. My life is good, I miss Leon sometimes. Yes he was a psychopath, but he was my brother.

Drew Bane