Chapter 2: Persuasion

"Yeah so does this club sound fun now?" I looked down at the ground. I had my suspicions about the whole ordeal, but to actually hear what was causing the incidents was truly petrifying.

"No." I said.

"I know for a fact that it's vampires doing this. It's not that hard once you clearly analyze what's going on. It's obvious that newborns are running rapid in Hamilton. Uncontrollable, insane, and thirsty. Just like any other vampire." Riley said.

I wasn't that surprised really. But newborns? Wow, it must be bad.

"We've all be keeping a close eye on things for a while. But all signs point to newborns. It's the fact that it's sudden disappearances, night only killings, and horrible corpse hiding. And there's no evidence what so ever. But it doesn't matter. There are monsters in the world. I just wish that whoever created them would train them. It's getting a little too close to home."

I couldn't help but look at all the names of the people. All of their promising futures…gone. And their families.

"Well it's a good thing I'll be more controlled. I mean we could move to the Galapagos, Islands." I said.

"Sea Lions? Oh no, I need a little bit more substance than that." He said.

"Okay then Switzerland it is. I already decided on Geneva." I said.

"Now that sounds like a better plan. And I'm sure that there's some good furry mammals there. Who knows maybe we'll run into some rather large coyotes. I don't know why they just don't call them wolves." He said.

I immediately looked at him. I couldn't believe he had just said that. It may have not meant anything, but it seemed like he was saying that hunting wolves would be awesome.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I take it all back since it obviously is offensive." He said. I could tell he wasn't really sorry.

"You know how I feel about the subject. Owen is still my friend. Even if he doesn't want to be." He came over to be and held me in his arms.

"That was very stupid of me and I hope you can forgive my dimwittedness." He said. I couldn't stay mad at him. I ran my hands through his short, curly hair. Man did I love doing that.

"Don't worry about it. I uh, was already in that mind state before you arrived. Owen needs," I saw a slight darkness to his eyes when Owen was mentioned; "Okay, I heard that he's depressed. I remember what it was like." Riley flinched at that.

Once again, if I hadn't mentioned it before, we never really talk about the whole 'leaving' issue anymore. It was like it was buried, never to been mentioned again.

"Don't compare his pain to yours. It's not like you've done anything wrong here Zane." I walked away and went to sit on the counter.

"I have to fix it. I feel like I'm the one to blame here and I sort of am. Besides, if I do that mom will get off my case." I said. The look on Riley's face was hard and rigid.

"You know how I feel about the whole werewolf thing. If you're unprotected something could happen. And I won't hesitate to cross a line. But then you'd be right in the middle of a war. Is that what you want?"

"God no! I…" he came over to me and stood between my legs.

"Good. Then I don't see why we can't just enjoy the time we have now." He said as he kissed me and sat back down at the table. I watched him pick up a DVD.

"Thank heavens that you're finally free. We need to update your movie collection. Seriously Zane, West Side Story?" I hopped down and sat next to him.

"Hey! It was good love story." I snapped.

"I guess so. Was it supposed to be like the Italian version of Romeo and Juliet?" he asked.

"I'll never tell. It's obvious that you don't like it so why say anything." I said.

"Because since I can't read your mind, I would like to know what it is that appeals to you."

"Well, I guess because it's sort of like us. It's about two people who are from the wrong side of the tracks and they fall in love. But something tries to keep them apart." I said looking at him. I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"Well doesn't that sound familiar?" he said as he placed his arms around my waist.

"Yeah it does. You know, without all the singing and dancing of course." I said as I kissed him again.

"Boy would that be something to watch. Vampires breaking out in a random dance party. Classic." We both laughed at that. Mainly because it would be hysterical to see something like that.

"But back to the conversation. I guess maybe Tony and Maria had this connection that couldn't be broken. And the other people should just have dealt with it. Love has a very power way of doing a lot of things." I said.

"I suppose. But you also have to be careful about who you fall in love with. It could have disastrous consequences."

"I believed that ship has long left the dock." I said. "And I don't believe I chose wrong. I think I did a damn good job."

"Yes, I would honestly say you did. I hope that you don't have someone to persuade you to think differently." he said.

"I don't see that happening ever." Thank God he knew what to distract me with. A lot of stuff had been weighing on my mind lately. So it was nice to have something else to think about for a while.

"What are you thinking about?" Riley asked as I held his hands to my face.

"Don't be mad okay, this really important." I said. He cocked his head to the side like a puppy.

"Sure, you know if it's important I won't mind." He said.

"Okay, good; well I was thinking that I should go see Owen." I said. He rolled his eyes and sat down.

"Not gonna happen." He said.

"Oh come on! I spent a lot of time down there with him and some of his friends. Nothing bad happened." I lied smoothly. I hated lying to him but did you really think that I if I told him I slapped a werewolf in the face and he almost killed me would not have gone well in my favor? It was obvious to me that he heard my sudden erratic heartbeat.

"Oh really? Care to explain the sudden excitement in your heart?" he asked. Damn he was good. "Seriously Zane, they're temperamental and unpredictable. I don't want you to become a statistic in getting hurt."

As much as I wanted to disagree with him, I knew I couldn't. After the whole issue with Katie, I couldn't even begin to come up with a good defense. I looked at his smug face.

"If you would take the time to know them instead of judging them, you'd understand." I said.

"Like they'd take the time to get to know us?" Ugh! I hate this stupid feud. "Look long ago, we happened to stumble upon Ridge Milligan. Of course Langston and Chloe weren't with us at that time. But regardless a fight was about to happen. It didn't matter that there were more of us then them. My mother and father convinced him that we could all live in harmony. That no fight had to happen." He said.

So Riley got to meet Owen's great-grandfather? Wow.

"Sadly the gene must have been passed on." I hope he didn't think that I'd missed what he muttered to himself. "I just knew the gene was gone forever." And then his gaze was on me. "It would appear that your magnetic pull for danger seems to just get stronger. Can you believe that it's strong enough to bring back extinct mutants? If I could cut the cord of the pull, it would be greatly appreciated."

I just stared at him. All jokes aside, I felt like he was accusing me of something. And that was a big no, no. "You do realize that I am not responsible for this right?"

"Then who is?"

"Vampires, well your family to be exact. My pull for danger had nothing to do with this." I turned around and went to the cabinet to get a glass.

"I honestly didn't know that." He said and shook his head.

"And I thought you knew everything." I muttered to myself as I poured myself some water. It was obvious that he had heard it because he was behind me in seconds.

"Did he tell you that?" I turned around to look into his golden eyes. It was something about them that just made me feel like goo. But I ignored those feelings for now.

"Think about it. When you first showed up, they were here. Then you leave and I'm sure you never saw them again, but then you come back and here they are. You really think that this is just some kind of twist of fate?"

"Ma and Pa will be delighted to hear this piece of information." He seemed a little more at ease now.

"Great now I feel like a super computer." I said. He walked over to the window and looked out. My guess is that he was trying to adjust to the fact that he and his family are responsible for my dear friend's abrupt transformation.

"No you're not. But this doesn't change anything. I still stand by my decision. I learned that from someone." He said and looked at me. I hate when people chose the worst times to use my actions against me.

So in a way he was saying no to the whole being friends with a giant mutant canine. I get that he was trying to protect me, but he wasn't getting it. I don't need to be protected from my friend, or so-called friend, whatever.

He didn't get the fact that I'm not as damaged as I was a few months ago. Owen in a way brought me back to life. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have made it. My sanity would have been forever gone.

It's not like I'm trying to blame Riley, because I'm not. As much as I hated to be reminded of my horrible time without Riley, which I talk to no one about, except maybe Zoey; I was the one who had chosen to do the things that I had done in Riley's absence. And might I say I did some pretty dumb stuff.

So to hopefully loosen him up a little, I went and sat on his lap once again and kissed his lips.

"I know that you have your issues with him. But I don't. He's hurting Riley." I said. "I have to help him. He was my rock for quite some time. And just because he's not fully human doesn't change anything. I know what he's going through. If you would've seen me…" the look in his eyes was pure regret. "I just feel that I owe him… a lot. If it wasn't for him I'd be a pure zombie by now. I need him in my life too."

"I hate what I did to you. And I'll never forgive myself." He said as held me. It felt possessive. "Even if I make it to ten-thousand years old." I grabbed his face so he could look at me.

"I don't blame you. To be honest, it was sort of romantic. Not the type of romance I would have wanted but all couples go through something right?" I said trying to light the mood.

"I suppose you are right." He said as he stared at me.

"I know I'm right. And what I care about now is that you are here. I don't care about anything else."

"But I still feel guilty. If it wasn't for my immediate departure, you wouldn't have run into the arms of that mutt." He said.

I couldn't help but grimace at his term. I mean don't get me wrong Owen wasn't much better. Venom-drippers? But in Riley's sweet but strong voice, it had an even worse affect.

"Okay let's see if I can make this clear," he said, his voice apathetic. "It may not sound pretty, but with the incidents in the past almost causing me to lose you and on top of that actually feeling what it was like to lose you, I can't take any chances."

"I'll be okay. I can handle myself." I said. He gave me a quizzical look. "Don't look at me like that."

"I can't help it. But Zane I want you safe, so please." He said as he held me close.

"What?"

"Keep yourself safe. Or let me do it for you. As long as I get some backup."

"I'll do what I can."

"You are the most important thing to me. Nothing else can compare to you. Don't you get how much I love you?" he asked. I pressed our foreheads together.

"My love burns for you as much as the sun does. God that sounded so cliché." I said. I felt him vibrated under me. I could tell he was chuckling.

"Just like the movies?" he asked.

"I guess." We both laughed at that.

"But on a serious note, the presence of werewolves is still forbidden."

"We all go to the same school, Riley." I said matter of fact. "It's not like I can avoid them forever."

"Hmm." He said as I ran my fingers through his hair. "I believe something can be done about that. If not, I'm sure I can come up with something."
"Whatever you say, honey." I said as I remembered what Owen's last text was.

'I wish things were different, but they aren't.'

It seemed to me that in a way he was on Riley's side. And that was something that they would never admit. That they had something in common.

A/N: And here's chapter 2! Yay read and review. I want the story to be like Eclipse the book and like the movie. I hope you all like it. Please, please, review. I love feedback. And I promise to have more up soon. XOXO ShadowBeauty.