Chapter 7

I hadn't been able to find the bathroom by myself. It really wasn't that surprising. I'd stomped into the next room and had gotten myself sufficiently out of view, then I had just stood there uncertainly until someone came to my rescue. Clayton was smart and didn't come after me, but I think he was responsible for sending Jessie to take care of me. Without solid proof, though, I'm willing to ignore that she just happened to be there at the right time and know exactly where I needed to go. It's possible she just had good intuition.

After leading me to the bathroom, setting out a towel, showing me where to find all the cleaning supplies and how to use the shower, Jessie disappeared again to grab some of her clothes to lend me and I began the complex task of getting myself clean. Not only did I have to scrub at my face and chest, but I'd managed to get blood in my hair, and my entire body was coated in some residue that I think was left over from my experience in Gran's bath. I felt like I had just dried off after swimming in the ocean and salt was pasted on everywhere.

After a moment of vigorous scrubbing I slowed down. I was too damn tired to rush strait into the task, and for a few moments I let the water flow down on me. Jessie came and left while the room began to fog up. I wasn't sure where to start thinking about the whole mess. I liked the simple facts. Like, I was in a town filled with werewolves, but it was a whole month until the next full moon, so in theory I'd be okay. And there was always the fact that I wasn't dead yet. That was another good one. Alucard was also, in theory, not in too much trouble. Just focusing on that gave me a little more strength back. I had to get through this shower, get dressed, and find someone to get me to Alucard.

Beat the hell out of thinking about everything else.

I resumed the lengthy process of scrubbing every inch of my skin. Somewhere there was a loofah, and after I found it, got it untangled from some other stringy thing, and managed to get the soup stuff on it, I set to work. Some long length of time later, I was struggling with that bit of your back that takes much stretching to be able to reach. But I could feel the gunk sticking to me there, so I spent what must have been at least five minutes getting it all off. Then there was the hair, which I was scrubbing at for the second time when I smelt a change in the air. Why did I smell it before I felt a brush of cold air enter the shower? Couldn't tell ya. Then I felt someone outside the shower a second before the curtain was ripped aside.

My body froze for a moment, waiting to respond to whatever the person would do next. He or she stood still, but a growl was growing angrily.

"Get out." It was definitely a girl, a girl who was grabbing my arm and trying to pull me out of the bath. I tried to jerk myself free, but her grip was like steal. I was really beginning to get tired of super strong people. "I said get out!" she growled. Her voice had changed, it sounded less female and more beast. I braced against her next tug, planting a food against the side of the tub to steady me.

"Wait a second here," I said, "who the hell are you, and why don't you just give me a second to rinse off before we settle things?"

All I got in response was a longer growl and two hands wrestling me out of the tub. I tripped on my way out and the woman let me fall. The floor was very hard.

"You cannot be here." It was an order as much as an accusation, and for the first time I had a vague feeling of recognition.

"Wait, who are you?" I asked as I began to push myself into a sitting position. As a reward, a foot slammed into my chin. Yelping I fell back down and the woman put her foot steadily on my chest.

"You cannot be here," she repeated smugly, content that she was in control.

I could have handled being kicked. My ego's not that big that I won't let myself be pushed around a little to keep things simple. But when she practically stood on top of me, that was too much. I grabbed the foot that wasn't standing on me and pulled it out from under her. For a moment extra pressure was put on my chest, then she fell over. I moved quickly to try to get out of the way, but it was unnecessary because she was moving as soon as she hit the floor, and even with me trying to avoid her she ended up on top of me, this time with her gripping both my wrists while she straddled me to keep me down. She moved faster than any human I'd met, which meant that along with strength they got speed. Oh, joy.

Dimly I was aware she was leaning down towards me. First she buried her head in my hair, right behind my ear. I was left with my face in a similar position. Amazingly it made sense. I could smell her. She had cherry shampoo, but beneath that was something more. She smelt human, said my mind, but it was a smell I had never noticed before. Not only did she smell human, but she smelt strong. It was as if the power that radiated from her wasn't a feeling that I would have picked up normally, but a smell you had to know to look for.

But she wasn't stronger than me. The little voice in my head that understood all of this was quite certain of that. Still, I wasn't strong enough to push her off. At least not until she shifted downwards and her face headed for my crotch. She may be a girl, but I was naked and my comfort level was only so adaptable. I used her lack of leverage to twist my arms away from her grip. She backed up to try to grab them again, and I punched her in the nose.

Grunting, she pulled away a little, before reaching for me again. Apparently she could handle a little pain. I grabbed her wrist, pulled it forward so that her arm was completely extended, and slammed my other palm into the back of her elbow as hard as I could. I have super strength, too. Something broke.

That got me a gasp and a hiss, and then a chance to stand up. I was by no means out of a fight, though. The part of my mind that seemed to know everything I couldn't see took over, and my body moved on instinct. The women through punches, scratches, and kicks, and she did it all with more skill then I originally gave her credit for. Even though I'm certain I heard a snap, both arms were put to work in the assault against me. In the end she was faster. I had raised a knee to block a kick, and before I could get back into a stable position she had me off balance and on the ground again. Then there was a knee against my back and her arm around my neck, attempting to cut off oxygen that wasn't needed. Still, struggling got me nowhere.

"You do not belong here," The woman stated harshly. "If you ever enter this house again, I will kill you. Clayton is not in my home. He will not be able to protect you." I tried to get air through to say something in response, but it was no use. She let the words sink in for a moment before coming closer to whisper to me, "I am alpha bitch here, and I don't care what fantasies Clayton has about you. You are not going to change things in my pack." Then my head was slammed into the floor. The sting hadn't warn off by the time she was off me and at the door. "Make sure you tell Clay about this." I thought for a moment she was talking to me, but then someone else answered.

"Don't worry, Vanessa, I'm sure you'll have the story spread soon enough. He won't be able to avoid it." Charley had seen the whole thing. The moment he talked I realized that I had smelt him in the room. How the hell could I smell him?

Vanessa left and I heard Charley come forward. The ringing in my head was almost gone, and my sixth sense had settled to the point that I could feel him come. When he got in reach he reached out to help me up. I pushed his hand away and climbed back up to my feet.

"Liz…" His voice trailed off into a sigh. I didn't say anything to help him out. "Clayton had challenged her through you. This is the female house. No man should come here without a woman's permission. Not even our alpha. No woman is allowed in without the alpha female's permission. Gran never leaves, though, and you would have died…"

I shot him a glare and his voiced faded. "And you just stood there? The whole time?"

He sighed again. "She forgave Clayton for bringing you because she's not such an ass not to let a dying pack member be saved. But you didn't leave afterwards, and that was an insult to her. If I had interfered it would be me challenging her. Which would mean that I thought I was higher in the pack then she was."

Great. Now we were getting into politics. "So she would have kicked your ass, also? Or would you have held your own?"

"Given an excuse, she would have killed me." He said it so flatly that it took me by surprise.

"What?"

"She would have killed me, then everyone in the pack who I alone protect." It was such a neutral statement that I knew he was hiding every bit of emotion that went with it.

"Then why did you even come?"

He moved towards me while he answered. "Clay wanted one of his wolves here to see things for themselves, to know that Vanessa wasn't lying, and that she didn't have a reason to kill you. You need to wash your hair better, it smells like blood." The sudden switch in topics caught me by surprise. "Come on, I'll help you, it would take you all day and you'd still miss something."

"Wait, I'm naked." Now that things had calmed down the thought actually started to bug me. I had realized it when Vanessa was beating on me, but she was a girl, and I can handle that. Charley was a near stranger man.

Charley chuckled. "Sally has made it perfectly clear that any questionable conduct with other women will lead to my castration, and since I have no reason not to believe she's entirely serious, believe me when I say you're safe with me."

Strange thing was I believed him. Sally hadn't seemed too right in the head when I first met her, and she was very easy to upset. But still… "The clothes—"

"—Would get wet," he finished. "Now into the tub."

I almost insisted, because he would have given in, but the simple fact that neither Charley nor Vanessa had made any gesture that they cared about my lack of clothes made me feel silly for thinking it was a big deal. I suppose all the stories had it right about werewolves comfort with this sort of thing. Besides, Charley managed to clean my hair completely the first time through. He also helped me with my finger nails, my neck, and the tricky spots behind my ears. I trusted him when he said we had done all we could to get rid of the blood, since he could hardly smell any trace of it. Smell was a big thing amongst the wolves. My sense of smell had improved. Rapidly. Accepting a towel from Charley I did my best to ignore my clenching stomach as I dried off.

Charley helped me get dressed. The skirt was a different sort for me. You wrapped it around twice and tied if off at the end. It was made so that even though it was tight up top, there was a lot of room to move in. I could probably run without much of a problem. The bra was a size too small, but it was also a sports bra, making it easier to wear. The shirt a simple tank top, my guess being that it was a little boy's extra large by the way it fit. Overall I approved.

When all was taken care of, Charley took a step back, looked at me, and sighed.

"What is it now?"

He shook his head and guided me out of the room. "Nothing," he said evasively.

My eyes narrowed, and I went with the 'I'm offended' approach to get it out of him. "If I look like shit just tell me instead of doing all this sighing nonsense."

"No, nothing like that," he said quickly, "Just the opposite, really."

That was just confusing. "Wait, so I look good and you sigh all sad like at me?"

He let out a slight groan and continued to walk me through the house. "It's just… You look like Jesse. A more attractive Jesse. With a lot of differences, but close enough that it matters."

And that was baffling. "And that matters why?"

"Because Clayton's sleeping with Jesse."

That stopped me in my tracks, if only to get Charley's attention. "Hold up, why is that important?"

He tugged on my arm. "I have every intention of explaining, after we get out of this house. Neither of us wants Vanessa sending her goons in." That I could agree with. We kept walking. It didn't take long to get outside, and walking out the door was like walking into the perfume section of a department store: overwhelming with an awful stench. Except this smell wasn't as bad, there was just so much of it, so much of everything. Charley actually gave me a moment to get accustomed to it all before moving on, this time at a slower pace.

"It's hard at first," he said, "but in a lot of ways you're lucky."

I didn't have the energy to argue over the fact that I wasn't a werewolf. I didn't think he'd believe me, either. They'd chalk it up to denial and pat me on the head. Instead I asked, "How am I lucky?"

He didn't answer at first, instead he took advantage of a flight of stairs to carefully guide me up without mishap. Finally he explained, "You have a month to adapt. Your first change won't be so sudden. You'll have expected and prepared for it, especially with the pack's help. They're rough at first, but you're one of us, we take care of our own." He spoke as if he knew from experience.

"So everyone here is a werewolf," I said only to confirm it.

"Yeah," he answered. "It keeps life interesting." Then we were at a car, and he was helping me in. It smelt musty and dank, like the doors had been left open too often during rain. I let the scent sink in and tried to push it out of my mind for a moment. After walking around to the driver's side Charley climbed in himself and started the car. He put it in gear and we were off.

"Okay, I'm going to try to keep this simple," he began. "The pack operates under a sort of hierarchy. The strongest, toughest wolf leads the pack. The leaders tend to be male, because men are naturally stronger then women. Not that women can't be among the strongest in the pack, Vanessa sure is, they just generally aren't at the very top.

"Women are important though, and are often considered a class of their own. They have their own leader, the alpha female or alpha bitch. You can pick witch term you use. Because of conflicts in the past the females now have their own safe house, where we came from, where men are forbidden without permission. All permission can be vetoed by a higher female member of the pack, with the alpha female having the ultimate control over it. That's why she was mad at you. If you had gotten away with the insult it would have been a sign of weakness on her part.

"This is why you two had to fight. The stronger of the two of you would be seen as dominate, and would be the alpha female. Little squabbles go on all the time between pack members, but after awhile there is a general understood order in pack hierarchy.

"Those are the basics, any questions?"

I shook my head. "It's like a classic werewolf story. No big deal."

Charley smirked. "A lot of the stories are based off facts," he agreed, "but onto the next part:

"Clayton is the current alpha male of our pack. He's only been in charge for about two and a half years, though. Before him we had Jeremy, who had been running this pack for close to two decades. He's the one who set it up and established the protections needed to keep us safe. He had a lot of followers, and none of them were happy after Clayton fought him for the title."

"Where is he now?" I asked, having a sneaky feeling about the answer.

"Challenges of that much importance tend to be to the death."

"Figures as much."

Charley grunted his agreement. "The story goes on, though.

"Jeremy had been training someone to be his replacement. Had the kid hand picked back when he was young. Everyone had just expected that when the time came the roll would be handed over to him, which makes sense, because Lurio's the second strongest in the pack."

"Wait, Lurio?" I snapped.

He laughed. "Yeah, no kidding. Can't say I'm sad he never made it. But the problem is that half the pack thinks he should have. And it's a damn good thing that Jeremy had enough people pissed when Clayton came around, else Vanessa and Luiro would have had his throat. Literally." Again, I believed him. I had seen both humans and demons who wanted power enough to kill for it.

"After the initial shock wore off Clay could have smoothed things over. While Jeremy's supporters had, in their own twisted way, loved the bastard, they also responded to power. Vanessa would have supported Clayton's power had he not snubbed her.

"Us wolves are attracted to power. We aren't demons, but the demons are still in us, and they recognize each other. More than that, they're attracted to each other. I can tell you if a random girl on the street is a wolf or not, because the demon would know, and if there weren't any other wolves around there would be a strong urge to chase after her. And like a lot of animals, we want the strongest mates possible. So, traditionally, the alpha male and alpha female were mates. They weren't exclusive, but they were a couple. Clayton wanted nothing to do with Vanessa. For more reasons than I care to mention.

"Which brings us to Clayton's string of women. He never stays with one for more than a few months, and he rarely dates one higher up in the pack. All of the girls he sleeps with are under his protection, and when you're low in the pack you want to be protected by someone, so Lurio and Vanessa have a hard time hurting them without it being a direct challenge to Clay.

"There have been rumors, though, that Clayton's just biding his time until he can find a different woman to take over as alpha female…" his voice trailed off here, but I only waited for him to keep talking. I heard the car pull off the dirt road and onto gravel. Then the crunch of gravel slowed as Clayton pulled into a parking spot. "The thing is, you're just Clayton's type," he began again, "and I can smell the power on you. It's not wolf power, but it's able to adapt to it. You smell strong, and I've seen you fight. Given enough time the wolf in you may grow to rival Vanessa. Clayton wouldn't want to let that chance slip by." He put the car in park and turned the engine off. We sat in silence a moment while I considered this.

"So basically you're telling me that people are mad at Clayton, and at the same time they're worried I might start sleeping with him in case he decides to try to help me take Vanessa out and take control of the pack?" I asked, then as an afterthought added, "Has everyone forgotten I have a boyfriend?"

Charley leaned back in his seat as he answered, "That's the best part. They're all yelling and shouting about it because Clayton won't let them kill him. Apparently you're going to make him go away soon, and it won't be an issue, which brings up more shouting about us not being able to trust him if he leaves, so we can't let him do that." Charley's sigh was the largest he'd made yet. "I'm so damn tired of all of this."

"I hear you there," I agreed. "So where are we, anyway?"

"Clayton's place. He's not here yet, though, and the door's locked. We have to wait for him to show up."

I shrugged and settled into my own seat. "Do you have a lot of problem with theft around here?" I asked as a joke.

Clayton smirked. "Nah, but last summer someone poisoned half of Clay's food. We hunted down the wolf who did it, but Lurio had gotten there first and tore the guy's throat out. Because he attacked our alpha, he said."

"Right," I grumbled. "And a lock will slow down the bad guys?"

"Granny's lock will slow down the bad guys."

"Ah." I suppose that made sense.

Both of us sat in silence. We were both tired and content to rest while we could. I for one didn't know what was coming next and I wanted my brain to sort itself out before I had to deal with whatever it was.

Gees, they were all worried Clay and I would hook up. Like that would happen.

My thoughts skipped a beat. It almost had happened. Without Gran's interference it would have happened. Maybe the pack wasn't so crazy to be having those thoughts after all. I made a promise to myself not to get carried away again. I would do my best to focus and if nothing else, to just be aware of what was going on. Everything had happened because I hadn't known what was happening. From now on I'd do my best to know.

Then Charley was getting out of the car. "He's coming, I'll get the door for you." I waited until he came around and helped me out.

"I don't hear another car," I said softly, and then I felt him coming too. It was an entirely new feeling, as if some part of me was approaching. It felt familiar, comfortable, and safe. The voice in my head whispered family, pack. And then Clayton stood next to us. I wanted to reach out and touch him. Not for sex, but because at some point a bond was made between us, and it felt like the right thing to do. I knew he was looking at me just then, and I wondered if he felt it, too.

Then he turned to Charley and the feeling began to fade. "So?" the one word implied a million questions.

"Vanessa went easy on her," Charley answered. I wasn't happy that Vanessa's 'easy' had ended with me unable to defend myself. I suppose eventually she would have tired first and I could have done something, but that would have taken a long, long time.

Clayton nodded and then gestured towards the house. "Shall we?" Of course we followed him towards it. Charley helped me up the stairs to the porch while Clayton unlocked the door, then both of them motioned me inside.

Upon crossing the threshold everything changed. All of the small, common sounds of the woods disappeared, the scents faded away, and it was as if I had entered a silent, empty room. Except I felt people. Not right here, but throughout the house, there were many, many people. Charley and Clayton followed me in, with the door swinging shut behind them. There was a click of a lock, then Clay moved forward to guide me inside.

He put his hand on the small of my back as he stepped forward, and I could feel the warmth of it through the cloth between us. So much of me wanted him to touch skin that the half second that it took him to complete the step and brush his arm against mine was utter torment. Then with a spark our skin met, and I could feel his body as if it were my own.

He was tense, very, very tense. He had said he wouldn't touch me again. He didn't understand what happened when he touched me. It was like he was inside my mind and completely open to me as well. He didn't like that in the least. But it also felt good to be this close to me. And it felt good to know that through him I could see again. Right now he was looking at me, staring at my wide eyed face, admiring how I could be so surprised with this connection, while at the same time completely excepting it. He wondered just how far this would go.

Then Charley made a noise and we were looking at him. He stood in a hallway, watching us uncomfortably. Clayton was looking at his expression, reading his friend with years of practice. I was thinking that Charley seemed like the sort of guy who would wear a cowboy hat, and that his fit him nicely. It would have been better with matching boots, but the nikes would just have to do. Through Clay I knew he was worried, though. Charley knew Clayton, and he knew he didn't open up to people this quickly. Even the girls he slept with never got close to him. Not really.

Thinking of other women reminded me of what was happening. I realized that I had crept closer to Clay. He had his arm around my waste and held me in a half hug. He knew the moment I realized it, knew that it scared the shit out of me, and he let go. I gasped as he pulled away from me. It was almost painful to suddenly be so alone and distant.

"I'm sorry." I wasn't sure who Clayton was talking to, but both Charley and I ignored the shaky side of his voice. "Follow me," he said, his voice making it an order. Then he walked off, leaving Charley to make sure I obeyed.

We followed him obediently through the hallway and into another room. There were people there, lounging about. The small conversations had hushed as we came down the hall. When we entered the greeting wasn't cold, simply cautious. Everyone was looking us over to see what had happened near the door. Scents swam at me, identifying people to the feelings in my mind. Scent is the most memorable of senses. Chances were I could recognize any of these people in a crowd just by having smelt them here. There were four all together, and after a moment they stood up and came to greet us.

The first I recognized as Sally. It was a hunch that it was her, but when she walked up to Charley and kissed him I knew it was true. Then came a girl who smelt younger than the rest. Probably still a young teenager, who came up to Clay and gave him a hug, calling him "Uncle Clay." He laughed at that and playfully pushed her away, where she walked over to me and looked me up and down. Clayton was left to talk to the two men as the girl studied me.

I wondered briefly if this was the slayer we were looking for. She was the youngest person I had seen in town, it was entirely possible. But she didn't smell particularly strong. She was weaker than the two men with Clayton, and far below Charley and Sal. Knowing this made me certain she was just a wolf.

Then I over heard Clay ask, "And the vampire?"

Which was followed by the answer, "He was making some racket awhile ago, but he seems to have calmed down."

"Wait, Alucard's here?" I asked, throwing everyone into silence. They were all waiting for Clayton's response.

I felt him study me for a moment, and smelt a new emotion come off of him. I didn't know what it was, though, and the voice in my head wasn't helping here. "He's downstairs," Clayton said, his voice soft. "Brad, why don't you let her go down."

I could feel Brad hesitate, but he knew better than to say no to Clay. Instead he nodded agreement. "Follow me," he said, resigned, and I followed the sound of his voice. He led me to a door, and I could sense everyone's eyes on me.

"The door's only open from this side," Clayton explained from the other end of the room. "We can hear what's on the other side, but you won't hear us. When you go through this door then will be a stair case, and another door at the bottom. Leave that door open else you won't be able to get back up. Then knock on this one when you're done."

I felt Brad tense besides me as I nodded. He opened the door to let me through. I turned for a moment before going down. "Thank you." It was the only thing I could think to say.

Clayton didn't answer, so I started down the stairs.

No one came with me to help. I didn't blame them, there was an angry vampire at the end of this tunnel. In response, though, I made my way slowly downwards. The final landing took me by surprise and I had one of those jolts you get when you expect there to be another step and your foot comes down too hard. Muttering under my breath I reached forward for the door. It was easy to find the knob, then to twist it and pull it open.

Then I was on my ass once again, this time with Alucard on top of me, hands around my throat. We both froze for a second in surprise. I should have figured he would be waiting for the door to open. He had no way of knowing it would be me on the other side. "Liz," he said in amazement, and then I was picked up in a squeezing hug and welcoming his kiss.

We stayed locked together for some time, even though the kiss lasted only a short while. I managed to get my feet on the ground and my arms wrapped around him, but we never pulled apart. My head rested against his shoulder as I hugged him, and he held me tight against him. All the worry I had over whether or not he was really alright vanished. I could feel him right in front of me. Everything would be okay. Clayton would let him go and then… I didn't know what would happen then. I let my uncertainty be washed away in the feeling of him. This is my pack I whispered to whatever voice may be listening. This is my home.

In the end we were on the floor, still holding each other. We had opened up our minds to each other, and he had a glimpse at my feelings, since that was what we could share, and I could see his hunger. It was small, for now, but he hadn't fed in two days, and he would need to soon. There was blood in our trunk, in a special refrigerator set up to run without additional power. As long as we didn't open it frequently it would keep the blood cool enough to be useful later.

"Are you okay?" He asked finally.

I nodded against him. "Yes. Now I'm fine."

He squeezed me tight for a moment, then kissed the top of my head. "Now you're better, but are you okay?" I could not pretend with him that something wasn't wrong. He could feel that I was worried.

"I… I don't know," I said at last. "There's so much…"

He squeezed me again. "Do we have time?" He asked.

I nodded. "I think so."

"Then tell me."

And I did. I started at the beginning with Charley walking in on me, then explained the flash back with Lurio. I talked about the poison and Clayton's response to it, then the side effects of Clayton's response to it. I let him know about the theory that I was a werewolf, about the politics going on right now between the werewolves, and about the deal I had made with Clayton to get Al out. When I finished he just held me closer, and neither of us spoke for a long time.

A creak at the top of the stairs caught both of our attention. In a flash Al was standing and between me and the door at the top. Just as quickly I felt Clayton come inside and shut the door behind him. The moment Al recognized him tension built between the two. They stared daggers at each other as I climbed up to my feet.

"Clayton, what're you doing in here?" I hadn't meant it to sound like an accusation, but his gaze shifted to me and I felt anger behind it.

Still, he answered the question, "The others don't want me to release the vampire." The world 'vampire' was said like an insult. Alucard was used to this, however, and he made no response. "I have agreed to discus it further before letting him go. I came in to let you know that before you can leave, he must go back into the cellar."

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but Al's touch stopped me. He squeezed my arms softly in reassurance. "For how long will you be discussing this?" He asked, not bothering to hide his skepticism.

"I promised Elisabeth I would let you go. I did not lie to her," he said defensively, but it wasn't answer to the question. Alucard and I both caught that.

"How long?" he asked again.

Clayton's answer took awhile. "I don't know," he admitted finally, but added no explanation. Alucard nodded, satisfied only because Clay had told the truth, then he turned away from him.

When he turned to me he pulled me into a kiss. It was deeper than our earlier one, and he didn't just pull me against him for comfort. I could feel that he was jealous of Clay, jealous because Clay had been closer than me then he should have, because Clay had been able to touch me and kiss me while Alucard had been locked up here. He was also angry that he hadn't been able to do anything to stop it. I would have pulled away from the kiss if it hadn't been a quick one. I didn't want to be used as a petty way to get back at Clay. But when Al hugged me afterwards it wasn't just for some small revenge. I could feel his sincerity and all of my annoyance disappeared.

"I love you," he whispered into my hair.

I clung to him. "I love you."

Regretfully he pulled away. "You have to go now."

I began shaking my head, and this time didn't let him stop me from talking. "I don't want to leave you here. You need—"

"—I'll be fine," he assured me.

"But-"

He pulled me back into a hug, "No buts. I will be fine. I need to know that you will, too."

"I could stay here," I suggested.

I could feel his strong disapproval of that idea. "No. You don't need to be here." The words were harsher than needed. I wondered why he felt so strongly about it. His feelings didn't answer the question. "Go," he said, "Clayton will take care of you." I knew it hurt him to say that. I also knew he believed it. I didn't know why. But his feelings told me he would take no other answer than 'yes, I will go.' Even still I hung onto him. He pulled away again, and put distance between us. "Go." I didn't move. He actually looked up at Clay, silently asking for help.

That was what did it. He wanted me to leave so badly that he would ask Clay of all people for help. I took a step backwards towards the stairs. Alucard sighed in relief and backed up himself.

"I love you," he said one last time. I turned around to answer him, but the door had already closed and he was back in the cellar. I stared at it for a long moment, wondering how I could have let him go.

I almost walked back to it and followed him in, but then I felt Clayton take my hand to lead me up the stairs. Once again I hadn't heard him approach. My brain snapped away from the feelings that lingered from Alucard. Clayton wasn't comforting, he was angry. Angry at Alucard. Angry at me. I let him lead me up the stairs as I puzzled over the reasons. He felt my confusion and he grew angrier still. We reached the top and he pounded on the door. It opened at once and he guided me through. The moment we were out of the stair case the door shut, and Clayton let go of my hand. For a moment he stayed beside me, as if uncertain of what he should do, then he stormed off, and I could only stand awkwardly wondering what I did to piss him off.

Then it hit me. He wasn't just angry, he was jealous. Alucard had succeeded more than he could have hoped for, and I didn't for the life of me know why.

All of the people in the room were being quiet, as if they were trying to avoid my attention. I had no where else to go, though, nothing else to do. Clayton had left me confused and alone, and as far as I was concerned that was more than enough reason for me to be pissed at him. Everyone in the room would have to put up with me. I had no where else to go, so I sat right outside the cellar door.

And I wasn't moving until Clayton came down and told me to himself.


Fine then, don't review. I'm gonna keep writing anyway.