Chapter 2

Warm, soft leather engulfed me as I curled up in the seat, my head resting against a cold window that ruined the illusion. If I thought hard enough I could imagine I was on a couch, drifting to sleep in a cozy, dark room. But then there's that glass against my ear saying hold on, you are still in a car. I would move, or put on the hat I had scrunched up in one of our bags, but it really wasn't worth it. I was comfortable, relaxed, and as close as I could get to dozing off at the moment. Besides there was Alucard's coat keeping me warm, and the window wasn't uncomfortable. No need to move or to alert Al that I wasn't really asleep.

A soft stream of music played from the CD player we'd installed into the old car. It was a 1990 Toyota Camry that looked worse than it should. One of the side effects of fighting demons is that things tend to get destroyed. Buffy's house was a key example. They were always replacing walls, windows, and furniture. We just had to try to make do with dents, cracks, and other small car troubles that ended up costing an arm and a leg, which we were thankfully reimbursed for.

The watcher's guildwas almostdestroyed. All the highest ranking people had been blown up. It was a terrible accident. Not to mention a huge loss of wisdom. But the watcher set up was being rebuilt. All of the survivors had gathered together to move on. During their paper work and investigation as to what all the older and wiser members knew, they discovered a small fortune in money. My friend Giles was now one of the guys in charge, and he set forth using that money usefully. One of those uses was to employ Alucard and me. We were paid to go around and save these girls. I don't think he trusted us to do it on our own.

I wasn't heartless, I would've helped anyway. Don't know how I'd make a living, but I'd be out there fighting the good fight. Alucard would be by my side, but only because it was my side. Any other other Slayer wouldn't be worth it to him. But I was, and they were worth something to me, so he cared. He was a very good boyfriend.

We were on the sixth cycle through this CD, listening to Al's favorite song once again. While I liked the song I didn't need to hear it more than twice in one car trip. Alucard like the CD, and he didn't mind repeating things. So since he truly thought I was asleep (for good reasons) he figured it didn't matter what I thought at the moment. If I had been moving and chatting or even sitting up strait he would switch the CDs every few rounds, just because he knew I preferred it. See, didn't I say he was a good boyfriend?

Not that I was the hardest girlfriend to humor. I didn't need to eat much, so there weren't many fancy dinners to pay for. I bring in all the money anyway so it wouldn't have mattered. I didn't require gifts, and we didn't have space for them. I don't do the PMS thing, so the mood swings generally aren't around. And to top it all off I'm not exactly normal, mortal, or human.

You see, about one hundred and forty-one years ago I was cursed. It wasn't the worst sort of curse, no diseases or pain or ugliness. It wasn't one of those hexes you use to get back at people, or the small, annoying little things that don't allow you love or happiness or any of those positive emotions. No, this was a little more complicated, planed by the one and only Boss, to keep me alive long enough to use me for his own, sinister means.

This curse is very specific, and I learned quite a bit about it over the years, most of that two years ago in the big show down between me and the big guy. (In truth the Boss wasn't that big, he was my height). Before the curse was broken four years ago (long story, having to do with Buffy dying twice) I never needed to eat, sleep, drink or breath. I literally couldn't, to be honest. Trust me, I've tried, didn't work. Eating and drinking ended badly. Things came back up. On the plus side, I couldn't die. Tried that, too. You name it, I tried it. Well, I never threw myself out of a plane. I had been working on the idea. But I'm not so good around heights and I never got up the nerve to give it a shot.

To the point though. I can't die. There was a two year period where I could, but I didn't. I did age though, and I must say I look better at nineteen. More adult. People don't question the I.D. that claims I'm twenty-one anymore. I can't put my true age though, no one would believe it.

Want to know the trick? It's all revolves around the number three. So powerful, that little number. The whole spell is tied together with it. There are three ways to break the spell, three things I have to do for each way, Three ways to get it to work… and I'm sure there are other little bits of three that I haven't picked up yet. Want to know which way I used to break it? I became the third Slayer. There was Buffy, then faith, then me. And we were alive as a happy little family. Then there were all the others, all the potentials coming into their power, and there were many, many more than three. Just like that I was back to being cursed. Leaving that option out, unable to be tried again unless the demons get their way and slaughter enough of the newly made Slayers.

The other two ways are a little more mundane, but equally hard. I have to kill my three worst enemies, or my three best friends. Neither seem likely. You see there was this nasty vampire who was my arch nemesis back when I was normal, the first time, who could be considered my first worst enemy. But he's dead, killed by some other Slayer about a hundred years ago. Unless I see two more meanies who out do him that option's tossed out the window. However I'm one bad guy down, the Boss is dead by my hand. As for friends? There was a time where I felt responsible for a friend's death. He took my place in a raid and died because of it. To this day I wish that I had gone instead, but I've coped with it and I know it's not my fault. So for that part to work I'd need a new best friend. And to kill Alucard and Zeke.

Let's not talk about Zeke. He's not a happy subject as of this moment. I try to avoid thinking about him. I figure one day he'll show back up and we'll face that demon, but for now, he's not here.

Where was here? I'm not sure. Probably in Montana. Since that's where we're headed. Six times through a CD puts us at over three and a half hours of driving. He said we'd be there in four or five. Thank god for early sunsets, fall was good for that. And then after day light saving's time things only got better. With Alucard being a vampire and all that we lived at night. That didn't always work out with hotels, especially in small cities.

Believe me, we were going to a small city. Brunsee, Montana. Where is that? Not quite sure, it wasn't on the map. And we looked on several maps. Somewhere in western Montana, in a forest. That's what I knew. Thank the European Wicca for our information. They gave us directions to the place. I think they had to use magic to dig it all up, the hotel certainly sounded surprised when I called and asked to have a room for a week or so. I guess they must not advertise much. On the bright side I asked if it was okay if we showed up around eleven. They didn't seem to mind.

So we were heading for the latest Slayer. Unfortunately the Wicca couldn't give us much info on her. She wasn't too old, which meant probably not twenty. Other than that they didn't know anything. It was always annoying when they couldn't give us any details. They sent us to New York once to find one knowing only that her name was Ashley. Do you have any idea how many teenage girls there are in New York with the name Ashley? The first Slayer we found wasn't the right girl. But we hung onto her, trained her, got her ready to go, then yelled at the Wicca people for about an hour on how they can't send us to crowded places with nothing to go on. We never did find Ashley. There was Brenda, and Stacy, and Jewel, but no Ashley.

I heard Alucard start to sing along with one of the songs, softly, quietly, almost without thinking. I smiled into his coat, knowing that it hid my mouth so that he wouldn't see the movement if he checked. If I was suddenly found to be awake he'd blame his singing, and he'd stop. I liked listening to him sing, though. He wasn't particularly good, my brother was better, but it was cute. Besides, acoustic rock was great, and he should be able to sing along if he wanted to.

I shifted a little, barely moving. It was a movement like rolling in your sleep, where you're just trying to get more comfortable. I felt Alucard glance over at me, staring longer than he should have while driving at night, but my stillness convinced him I was asleep. I was good at being still. At least sometimes. As I said before I didn't need to breath. Not normally at least. I didn't run off of air, and food, and blood. I ran off of magic. Pure, unaltered magic. I took on the feeling, the mood, the power of the magic surrounding me. Don't believe me? Well, you've never seen me thrown into a crowd of blood thirsty vamps that are all dying to sink their teeth into my flesh. It's maddening to have all their magic sink into me. A nice loss of reality. Thankfully there was a witch around to stop me from trying to eat myself.

Now, there are sometimes when the magic willkind of… back off. It never used to happen, not before the curse went and came. It is one of the many new things that sprung up when the cursed returned. Sometimes I have to eat, I have to sleep, and I have to breathe. My heart beats, my blood flows, and for just a moment I feel alive. That doesn't happen a lot, normally the gaps in betweenare weeks, but it's always a hassle when they hang around at bad times. Like when we were fighting this really gigantic insect. I don't like bugs, and this one had pinchers and foul breath. We were fighting, and I was all un-hurtable, and then bam, I was hungry, there was a gnawing in my stomach. During this distracting moment those pinchers shoved themselves into my stomach, which hurt, and didn't heal nearly quick enough. I was worried I'd become a little too human for such an adventure. But Alucard rushed to the rescue and I healed just fine. Afterwards we went to dinner.

Did I mention I can heal? It's a great thing. Like in that last fight. Cut me up and I piece myself back together. It's part of that not dying bit. I've literally decapitated myself. But somehow the head stuck and it all glued itself up, not even leaving a scar. I had one scar on my neck, from my first vamp bite. Of course from back when I was human.

I'm only cursed you say, still human, but just cursed. I suppose that's true. By all logic I am only human. Dating a vamp doesn't change that. So what did? Again it comes to the Boss, except this doesn't exactly have to do with him, this has to do with Airaei.

What is Airaei? Who is she? Well, she's a Lerian. One of a very arrogant species that doesn't have solid form. They're like spirits, except not. It's odd, and hard to explain. But the important part is that they're similar to Liberian scholars. They want to know everything, and have their ways of doing so. They'll travel to other dimensions, spend about five hundred years in one, and gather information while there. Their methods are unusual though. They 'borrow' the souls of people form the future who'll make a difference in the world, then store the memories of the people they borrow away in their vault. When borrowing the souls they take on part of the person they are. In some cases they become that person. Airaei looked almost exactly like me. And we were more alike than most. She was also a Slayer. There are all sorts of little things that can be similar.

The difference between her and the other Lerians that came to Earth was that she grew to care about humans. I guess it's because she fell in love with one. Alucard was her body guard, and they got too close. In the end Alucard was turned into a vamp by a bad guy controlled by the Boss, and was told to kill Airaei. He did, and she died. It wasn't a happy ending.

However here I am, the real, and future life, out of our duo. Airaei never should have returned to our dimension, she had no reason to stop events from unfolding as they should. The Boss should have killed me and taken over the world as was predicted. It wasn't a prophecy, just a memory. A known fact. But Airaei interfered. She came back in my dreams, and did something, just interfered, and things changed. So here I am, in a future the Lerians have no comprehension of. They're probably still fuming two years after the fact.

Now, the big deal here, the not human part, was what happened right before I faced the Boss. Airaei… walked inside of me. She gave me her memories, her feelings, her thoughts, just herself. That's how I know how alike we are, and how different. She's still inside me, but it's no longer like a separate person. We're just me, and I have no problem with that, but sometimes it still seems like there's two people in my head. Not to mention I think part of the new abilities I've come up with have to do with Airaei. How? I don't know. But she's the changed veriable between the two times I've been stuck in this state. Somehow or another it all has to do with her. How much of her power did she leave in me with her memories? It's frightening to guess. I don't know that much about the Lerians.

"Liz," I barely heard the voice through my thoughts. "Liz I can feel your head buzzing. If you're asleep I'm a pig." I smiled again into his jacket, trying to smother my thoughts and relax into stillness again. He wasn't buying it though, and as he drove he was already starting to change CDs. Maybe he was tired of A Perfect Circle. But I doubted it.

I made one of those small, waking up noises that girls make and I felt Al smirk in satisfaction. In that one movement he said "Ha! I win." Though he actually never used those words aloud, it was my phrase. But everyone had some way of saying it. I was just more blunt than most. When I wanted to announce a victory I didn't go through the trouble of usingeasily over looked facial expressions, I just said it.

"How close are we?" I said groggily. He wouldn't believe I was asleep, but maybe he'd believe that at one point I had been.

He shrugged, shoving in some other CD and turning the volume low so that it would only be background noise. "Not too long now. If the directions are right," he said. "How're you doing?" he asked.

I lowered his jacket so that it wasn't covering my face, but I kept it draped over my body like a blanket. "Mmm, not bad," I murmured with a yawn. "Just enjoying the quiet. It's a nice change."

Alucard nodded, not needing to talk. I felt his agreement. We were both used to big cities and traffic with the noise of neighbors, kids, and animals all about us. Just the sound of our car driving with an occasional car passing now and again was nice, soothing, one of the reasons I'd just been sitting and relaxing. We sat together in that silence and I leaned back into the seat, my eyes half closed. "Don't go to sleep on me," Alucard cautioned. "I need someone to talk to if I get drozy."

I groaned softly in mock annoyance. "Just put your CD back in, I know you want to listen to it."

He shook his head. "You're better company."

"Good to know."

Alucard smirked again. "You can't be that tired," he pointed out.

"I'm not," I agreed reluctantly. "Not that tired at all. Just comfortable. Don't wanna move."

"Ah," Alucard murmured. "I see. Well, you don't have to then."

Smiling to myself I began to move anyway.The seats were separate, but not too far apart, and only with the parking break between them. I was able to snuggle up next to Alucard while maintaining some comfort and not getting in the way of his driving. He switched to using mainly his left hand anyway, draping his right around my shoulders to pull me closer. It took about two seconds for it to get uncomfortable, but I shuffled around a bit until things got better. Alucard waited for me to adjust, I felt him watching me.

"Keep your eyes on the road," I muttered.

Alucard laughed. "You're no fun. Besides I'm not going to hit anything. There hasn't even been a car on the road for the last forty minutes," Alucard stated.

I shrugged against him. "So? There's got to be something on the sides of the road. And at the speed I'm sure you're going I'm sure it would be unpleasant to hit anything."

"How would you know how fast I'm going?" Alucard asked. I just smiled until he chuckled softly more to himself than to me. "I'm not going too fast," he said in defense. I raised an eyebrow and he didn't have to see it to know what I was doing. "Really."

"Uh-huh," I said, hiding all sarcasm from my voice as I snuggled closer to him.

"Well at least I managed to cut time off of the trip. I think we're almost there," Alucard said. I tried to sit up but his arm resisted my movement, squeezing me a little tighter. "We aren't that close," he said, "no need to get ready to get out yet." Not wanting to move that badly I relaxed against him without a fuss.

The rest of the trip went quickly enough. I felt the car slow down not long after our conversation, and then he took a turn. We seemed to go strait for a long time before we took a few more turns. It wasn't long before we slowed down even more then finally came to a stop. Begrudgingly I pulled away from Al, stretching a bit as I did so. This time he just sighed and did the same.

Hearing Alucard get out of the car my hands searched the floor board for my purse, as always it was to my left and easy to find. I was throwing it across a shoulder when Alucard opened my door for me. I flashed him a quick smile as I pulled myself out of the car. He shut the door for me before opening one of the back ones to search for something else. I did the after-a-long-drive ritual of re-putting up my hair, brushing wrinkles out of my clothes, and rubbing my eyes awake under my sunglasses. It was one of those times where you knew you looked a little sloppy, but had done your best to improve things. The next thing on the list was a shower, and a real nap.

Alucard had found what he was looking for and came back to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. We stood there a moment, taking a deep, unneeded breath. I leaned against him, resting my face on his chest and breathing him in. It only took a moment for him to open up to me, so that when I pulled away I could look around at the hotel where we'd be staying.

The Hotel looked old. The whole town did, really. I followed Alucard's gaze, examining the road we were standing on the side of. It was dirt, but packed from years of traffic. Buildings and houses lined the road, but not too many. There really wasn't more than a convenience store, a diner, a gas station,what looked to be a school at the end of the road, and a building that was labeled town hall. Add in a fewold houses and you had avery, very small town. Not even a McDonalds.

All the buildings that were there were made from wood. It smelt very woodsy, which made sense, because the entire town was surrounded by forests. Alucard knew that there had been two streets branching off from the road that led into town, but other than that I didn't see any additional roads. Our heads turned back to the hotel. It was two stories, with a porch leading up to the front door. There were a lot of windows, and through them we saw either faded blue curtains to the right, or what looked to be a small restaurant to the left. Other than the town hall this was the biggest building on the road.

Alucard walked me up the steps to the porch, then opened the door for me and led me inside. One of those bells that rested above doors rang out to announce our arrival. Instantly I smelt food, greasy and fried. It wafted in from a door to the left, accompanied by the thick smell of alcohol. I raised an eyebrow, wondering how this place managed to be a bar and a hotel. It actually made sense, since this town probably didn't get a lot of visitors. Unless people came out here to hunt or something I couldn't think of a reason they'd bother.

There was a small bell on a desk in the entry. Alucard and I stood there awhile, looking around the room before I hit the bell. Alucard frowned at me, as if not having wanted me to do that. Maybe he figured someone would come out, but I just wanted to make sure they knew we were here. Standing around staring at tacky wallpaper didn't seem like a better idea.

I heard footsteps coming our way and turned to see a plump middle-aged lady walk into the room, taking short quick steps and fidgeting with a charm on her necklace as she came. Alucard and I gave her our best we-won't-hurt-you smiles, pretending to be nice, normal people. She returned the smile, though hers, also, seemed less than legit. She walked behind the desk, sitting in an old wooden chair as she pulled out a dusty binder. She flipped through a few pages before finally stopping at one.

"Ah, yes," she said, her voice soft and almost relieved. "You must be the Mr. and Mrs. Blake."

I smiled a little wider, trying to make it look like a "Why, yes we are," when in fact we weren't. Well, Alucard wasn't. Blake was my last name, but we found it easier to just say it was for us both.

Now, Alucard actually did the talking. "That would be us, Mam," he said, putting on that perfect, respectful, young man face. You know, the one guys like to wear when meeting their girlfriend's parents. Alucard had a way of making anyone think he's a nice, friendly guy. That trait came in handy.

The woman behind the desk didn't seem to take any notice. She just continued with her work. "Well then, we have you staying in room fourteen. That's right up the stairs and all the way down the hall." She smiled up to us as she made the announcement. Handing us the keys her job was done. "We have the pub open until midnight, so you can get supper if you'd like. Will you need any help with bags?" Alucard said no. "Oh, good. Well, if you need anything I'll be working right through here," she motioned to the pub, "don't hesitate to ask." And with that she was back on her feet hurrying to the room she had come from.

Alucard and I just stood there for a moment. "Huh," I murmured softly. "She's an odd one."

Al smiled but made a motion for me to hush. "I'm gonna walk you to the bar then get our bags upstairs, kay?" I nodded, and we ventured into the pub.

Just like in the movies this bar was filled with smoke. There was actually two sides, one non smoking and the other for cigarettes, but the room wasn't big enough for it to matter. It wasn't, however, gloomy or dim. There were plenty of lights to go around, allowing Alucard the opportunity of looking at each and every person lounging about. The room actually had quite a few people, more than I expected. It must have been the hot spot in town.

In order to maneuver through the room Alucard and I dropped to only holding hands, and he walked first as we slowly crossed the room. I felt, and saw, eyes on us as we passed through the room. It wasn't just my imagination that the noise level had dropped when we came in. Then after the hushed comments, which Alucard chose not to listen to. We stopped at the bar where five stools sat, and Alucard left me in the middle one. He kissed my cheek and murmured, "I'll be right back." Then he squeezed my hand tight before letting go, and things went dark.

I listened to Alucard leave the room, recognizing his footsteps over many of the others. The buzzing noise resumed a little after Alucard left. The words seemed rushed and curious, but I didn't actually listen. I may just be being a little paranoid from all of the stares I was certain I was getting. I sat, staring strait ahead, staying quiet. No one had asked if I wanted anything, and I hadn't seen anyone behind the counter who I may have wanted to chat with. I was almost sure that things in the room had gone back to normal, leaving me alone, when someone talked to me.

"You're new in town," said a guy's voice. I turned to the right, staring at who had talked, waiting for what he'd say next. "Where you from?"

I gave him my best friendly smile. "Washington."

"Really? What brings you all the way here?" he asked.

Shrugging I began to get uneasy. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the conversation, but still… something was off. "Oh, just getting away from reality, ya know? Needed a break," or so was the generic answer.

"Huh," I felt him lean closer to me, but I didn't move. "Just on vacation?" he asked, his voice getting deeper, more serious. "No business?"

I frowned at him, certain he was frowning back. "What business would I have here?" I said it not so nicely. "No offence to your town, but it's in the middle of no where."

"Keeps the visitors away," the man remarked. I raised an eyebrow.

Turning away from him I took a deep breath, not sure what to say. Being rather certain that looking uneasy here was the appropriate response I didn't worry that he saw it. Normally I only looked awkward at times where I should be relaxed. It made me stand out a little. At least now there was a reason and he wouldn't think anything of it.

"What's your name?" the man asked.

I turned back to him. "Elisabeth. You?"

"Lurio," he said casually.

I froze, making a great impression of a deer in the headlights. I could feel him staring as I sat there, wide eyes hidden by my glasses, but my absolutely still body on display for anyone who looked. I wasn't breathing, and it wasn't phasing me. Maybe no one would notice, but I couldn't for the life of me move.

The man kept talking, asking me a question, then when I didn't answer if I was okay. He said "hello" a few times, then again if I was okay.

By that time I finally got the breath to speak. "Um… sorry… you said Lurio?" My voice was strained. "Odd name."

He was quiet for a moment, no doubt looking at me as if I were crazy. "Yeah," he said finally, leaving me at that.

I turned back to face him and felt him studying me. It was no wonder, I was acting odd enough. Topics changed quickly. "Why're you wearing those glasses?" He questioned, "it's not that bright in here."

I shrugged. "Just like them," was my reply.

He smirked. "Yeah, I'm sure." Sarcasm dripped off his tongue. My eyes narrowed at him while he just grinned back. I got the feeling that he was leaning back on the stool, eyes fixed on my face. "Really, why don't you take them off?" he suggested. I had the odd feeling that he was searching for something.

"I find it easier just to leave them on," I stated curtly, my voice carrying an edge that said "don't push it."

Lurio stared at me for a moment longer. "What's so bad behind those shades? Nothing I can't handle, believe me."

My frown deepened as I sat there thinking. What the heck was his problem? He was pushing something trivial. It wasn't the first time people asked me about my glasses, but most just took the hint and left it alone. Besides, this guy, Lurio… even thinking the name made me pause for a moment. It was so stupid, pointless, really. It's no different then Elisabeth, there were thousands, surely there had to be a few guys named Lurio. So what? It's not like he was anyone important.

I put my thoughts into words. "What's your problem?" I grumbled as I went over how the room looked, who had been sitting where. My hearing narrowed in on conversations to place where people were at the moment. "It's not a big deal, just leave it alone." When I was sure I could walk across the room without a problem I got to my feet, taking a slow step away from the bar.

Lurio grabbed my arm, jerking me back.

Gasping in surprise I turned to him, not sure what to do. I was in a strange bar filled with a lot of people who no doubt knew this fellow, and Alucard wasn't here. He was just human, I couldn't fight him, but it would look cowardly if I shouted for Al. Well, not so cowardly if I just ditched the glasses. Right now, though, I just wanted this guy off of me. While my senses weren't saying anything was up it wasn't hard to see that he was still creepy.

I jerked my arm, using a little of my extra strength to try to pull loose. Lurio held tight, though, squeezing my arm a little. "Come now, no need to play rough," he said softly, laughter under his voice.

I glared at him, disgusted by his amusement. Was he just playing with me? Having fun at my expense? I couldn't help but wonder if he had some friends in a corner chuckling at the poor new chick. Either way I tugged again, trying to pull lose, but to no avail. Really, I didn't want to start a fight or make a scene, but I couldn't just let him do this.

Right when I was about to do something I'd probably regret someone else stepped in. I felt him before I heard him, and while he never actually touched me his presence was clear, right behind me. Lurio's grip loosened when he saw the man.

"Lurio," said the man, his voice deep. He sounded older, but not too old, firm, and a little rough around the edges. Most importantly he sounded authoritive and in command. At his name Lurio let go of me.

"Clayton, how nice of you to join us," said Lurio. There was something close to anger there.

Clayton nodded his head. "I trust you're staying out of trouble." Again he made it a command, a warning. There was no doubt as to who was in charge here.

Lurio nodded back reluctantly. "As always," he said rigidly.

"Maybe we should let this lady get to her room?" I turned to face Clayton as he said this. He was taller than me, I felt his shadow cross my face. He was also use to getting his way. There was no question as to whether or not Lurio would listen to his commands.

However I wasn't about to. "Actually, I'm just waiting for my friend. He'll be back in a moment."

Clayton was silent, pondering this until finally he said, "Of course. Would you like something while you wait?" He gestured to something, I think the drinks behind the counter.

I considered the idea for a moment. Sometimes I could use a drink, but sometimes it didn't work well and I didn't want to be dealing with that right now. So I kindly refused. "No, thanks." There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between the three of us, then I decided to end it. "I think I might just take you up on the offer of heading upstairs though." I smiled a thank you to Clayton, didn't bother with Lurio, than began to walk out of the room again, when I was stopped for the second time.

Even with Clayton's orders Lurio had grabbed me. I felt something between anger and annoyance come from Clayton as he reached for Lurio who's hand had yanked me back. I had stumbled back a step before tripping over a stool. Getting my footing back I waited for while the two men tried to figure things out.

"Lurio," Clayton said again. His voice was soft, empty, emotionless; a very dangerous cold tone that one didn't try to get in the way of.

Growling his frustration Lurio tightened his hold on my arm. It wasn't squeezing, or painful, but very firm and still considerably threatening. "We're just playing," Lurio said, his voice somewhere between annoyed and defensive.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, fun game. Can we end it now?"

Another hand touched my arm, Clayton's I presume. I could feel the two men glaring at each other, a battle of wills taken place over my head. Clayton's hand wrapped around Lurio's, and very slowly both pulled away. For appearances sake I took a deep breath. I could sense Lurio's furry, but Clayton was quiet, unmoved.

"Now, if we could—" Clayton was cut off before he finished.

Without any warnings Lurio charged. He shoved past me, or shoved through me, as if he no longer remembered I was there. In doing so he 'accidentally' back handed me. I say accidentally because I seriously doubt I was on his mind. However the subconscious can play tricks and perhaps some part of him remembered me, and my defiance, so it may have been on purpose. In either case the force of the blow knocked me back, away from the counter, and into a table somewhere behind it. I didn't fall on the table, but rather into it, and unlike in the movies the table didn't break, it just slid a little while glasses were knocked to the floor and people cursed. My hand rushed to my cheek, feeling the sting of his blow on it. And all the while I couldn't breathe.

Normally it's no big deal when I get thrown into things. I get up and keep running. Then again, sometimes things are different, sometimes I'm almost normal. Sometimes breathing tends to be important and getting the wind knocked out of me from a rather large, sturdy table actually leaves a dent. So in these next few minutes I can honestly say that I had no idea what was going on with the two men who seemed to have quarrels with each other outside of the strange girl and her now missing sunglasses. At the moment I was trying, unsuccessfully, to breathe.

The noise was a growing hum, and I felt bodies around me. Someone shouted "break it up!" and I could feel people trying to pull the two men apart. What was happening? No idea. Not enough oxygen was going to my lungs for me to focus on the fight, and the nice people in the tavern weren't paying much attention to the injured. Amid much shouting the fight stopped. I heard Lurio's voice screaming threats and curses. No sound came from Clayton, but for some reason I didn't expect any. In either case I think he won the fight. Don't ask me how or why, but I'd bet everything on it. More importantly, after the brawl ended it came clear to everyone that I was still here, and suddenly hands surrounded me, trying to help.

I kept my eyes squeezed shut as they sat me in a chair. More than one "Are you okay?" was asked. I just shook my head and focused on air moving in and out of my throat. At least the injury would assure them that I was human. Yes, I do have to breathe, even if sometimes my chest seems unnaturally still.

God I hated these episodes.

"Liz!" I hear Alucard shout, and realized it wasn't the first time he'd said it. He pushed his way through the crowd at the same time someone asked me to open my eyes and say something. Alucard shoved the guy who'd been speaking out of the way and grabbed my hands, swiftly checking for what had happened.

I was almost breathing normally.

"Liz," his voice was softer, not so frantic, but still worried.

I managed a weak smile. "I'm okay," I said hoarsely, my lungs hurting. "I just have to breathe, and was having some trouble." A nervous joke to explain what was up with me.

Feeling Al push my mind a little I blinked my eyes open, and saw through his. He stared at my face, and I focused on the people behind me. They were huddling together, talking in hushed voices. Alucard was more interested at the red mark on my face, he touched it gingerly. "Who did that, I wonder?" there was nothing kind in his voice.

"I'm sorry, sir," I heard Clayton's voice from behind Alucard. He held onto my hand as he turned to look. Clayton was tall, taller than Alucard I'm sure, though Alucard was kneeling next to me at the moment. He was dressed casually in a worn sweater and old faded jeans. Both of his sleeves were pushed back to his elbows, showing a veriety of scars along the arms, the most dominant looking to be old claw marks. His dark brown hair was left just long enough that you could see the waves in it, and there was the beginning of a beard, probably from him not shaving for a few days. Cold blue eyes stared down at us, not matching the polite, friendly smile he wore. The eyes weren't looking at Alucard while he talked to him, they were looking at me. "My friend Lurio is drunk, he didn't know what he was doing," Clayton explained, his voice growing quieter as he stared.

Most people don't look at my eyes with such emptiness. Other than that I've seen just about every emotion. Most people aren't sure of how to react when they look into someone's eyes and see nothing but grey. I don't mean just the irises. It's not like how some people have blue or green or brown eyes. I mean everything, the white and the pupils included, as if my entire eyeball had been filled with grey dust that swirled occasionally. Alucard said that it looked like Ash.

They weren't always this way. Once my eyes had been yellow, a greenish yellow, very pretty, I assure you. They were bright and aware of everything. The grey was so very different. My eyes now are dull, lifeless, and if you stared at them long enough the grey in them seemed to shift, to migrate. All of this was heresy, though. I hadn't actually seen them do that. I hadn't seen them at all. I hadn't seen anything for over two years without looking through Alucard's eyes.

It sucks being blind.

It also sucks being the ass who hit a blind chick. I guarantee you the blind chick's boyfriend wasn't going to have any of those bad excuses.

"Lurio?" Alucard asked, his voice thick with anger and something else, something more like disgust. The name meant as much to him as it did to me, and that wasn't a memory easily overlooked. But he moved on quickly enough, having a bigger issue to focus on. "What the hell happened here?" he demanded. I clinched his hand as a warning for him not to push this too far. He glanced back to me for a moment, I looked worried. We both knew it was for a reason.

Alucard ran his spare hand through his hair as he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He looked at me again, getting to his feet. I stood up with him. Together we looked into my eyes, searching for answers. What should we do now? We can't just do nothing.

We didn't really listen to the ramble made by several good Samaritans who took it upon themselves to explain the mess. According to the crowd Lurio had just had too much to drink, got a little fresh with me, and started a brawl when Clayton had stepped in. No big deal, nothing to worry about. We should just mosey on upstairs and go to bed.

In the end we didn't do anything. Alucard had curbed his anger, though I caught him scanning the crowd time and time again for this Lurio. I think we were both looking for the wrong person, making it hard for us to find the real cooperate.

For the entire explanation Clayton had stayed silent. He had apologized, and that was all he needed to do. His explanation had been simple, those around him had lengthened the story. I don't know how accurate any of it was, but Clayton stood still, hands shoved deep into his pockets as he watched everything unfold.

We just left. We could hear the chatting and rumors spreading as we left the room. Alucard was still surveying the room, and right before we left he caught sight of three people standing in the corner. They were in their late teens or early twenties, each carrying a beer of some sort to help themselves get thoroughly drunk. One in particular stood out, naturally he was standing in the middle. He had bleached blonde hair that was showing brown roots, a narrow face with bright, clear eyes. He was tall and lanky, but was more than skin and bones. I didn't see any fat, however the muscle was there. Not in mass, but enough to explain how he'd been able to slap me into a table. He stared back at Alucard and they studied each other in turn. Lurio took another gulp of beer as we walked out of the tavern and headed for the stairs.

"Doesn't look a thing like him," Alucard murmured.

I nodded agreement. "No, he doesn't. But I swear, he acted just like my brother."