Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns Bloodlines, because she just does.

I lay on the soft green sofa, staring up at the grey and white dots on Clarence's ceiling. Stating I was bored, would not do my current state justice. The world around me seemed as dull as that pattern on the ceiling. And I couldn't even drink to make the time go faster. I just stared, and stared, until my vision became blurry, and the dots I was looking at started to form shapes. A moon and a star. A fish. A cat with large eyes and a mischievous grin, reminding me of Alice in wonderland. A bottle of gin. And a rose.

I barely felt the madness of spirit sweep over me, like a gust of wind brushing my mind. Then her face appeared before me. Her brown eyes glimmered in the soft light, and I drank in her beautiful, familiar features as she leaned in closer, her long, curly hair brushing against my skin and her lips moving in slowly toward mine. Just before they touched, though, something stopped me. Subconsciously, I'd started to breath in her familiar scent. Or rather, did not breath in, because it wasn't there. I blinked in confusion, and when my eyes opened again, Rose had disappeared. Instead, there was my father. He'd appeared where Rose had stood before, way too close to me. He stared off into the distance, like he wasn't seeing me at all.

"Dad?" I spoke, finally.

He just kept staring, gaze angry.

"What's going on?" I asked, again.

He remained silent.

"Why do you keep ignoring me?" I was desperate now. So many times, had I wished my father would just forget that I existed, so he wouldn't give me hell for living the life I lived. But now he was actually ignoring me..

"Danielle" My father suddenly spoke, "Why did you have to protect him? We could have just let him get locked up, and we could've stayed together. The name of the Ivashkov's could have remained almost intact, everybody already knew our son was worthless. "

I noticed that he was staring intently at one spot on the wall, almost as if he was looking at someone. And then I realized, he probably was. He was seeing my mother. He was talking to her. And I was seeing only him. And he didn't acknowledge me, and talked about me like I wasn't there, which meant he probably didn't see me either. It was confusing. Who was real, and who wasn't? If my mother was really there, then, what was wrong with me that I didn't see her? And what if I wasn't really there, and their interaction was real? Or was my father just an illusion? I'd just heard him speak. My head began to spin again. God, I really didn't need alcohol to make myself crazy. My father remained still after that, eyes frozen in an almost emotionless expression.

"Goodnight, dad." I murmured, and after a while, I finally fell asleep.

When I woke up, my head felt surprisingly clear. My father had disappeared, and I could think straight again, which seemed like a gift from the gods to me. I got up to play some pool. I didn't really have anyone to play with, so I just played with myself. Needing to take my mind of the spirit-induced 'visions' of last night, I dreamed about having my own place. If I had that, I could throw parties, and maybe even get to know some hot girls. Back at court, I had had quite a group of cute girls that always seemed willing to come with me, wherever I wanted to go, to just put it nicely. But here, I didn't have anyone to even remotely flirt with. Well.. except maybe Sage, someone of whom I was pretty sure I scared the hell out of. The thoughts about pretty girls inevitably led to Rose. Rose had been special, more than pretty. Straight out beautiful. Seeing her face last night had just reminded me of that. Just as I lined out another shot on the pool table, I heard a knock on the door. Before I could stop myself, I already had irrational hopes of seeing Rose's face. But of course it wasn't her.

"Oh." I said disappointedly , as Sydney walked in, while I knocked the red ball into the hole. "It's you."

"You were expecting someone else?" She obviously caught on to my disappointment, because she gave me a pointed look. "Am I interrupting your social calendar?" She glanced around the empty room, giving me a glimpse of the golden flower, a lily, I now noticed, on her cheek. "I don't want to keep you from the mob of fans beating down your door.

I was quick to reply, telling something close to what I'd been thinking earlier.

"Hey, a guy can hope. I mean, it's not impossible that a car full of scantily clad sorority girls might break down and need my help."

"That's true," she replied, surprising me for not ignoring my comment entirely, like I'd expected her to. "Maybe I can put a sign out front that says 'ATTENTION ALL GIRLS: FREE HELP HERE'"

I considered it. "'ATTENTION ALL HOT GIRLS', I then corrected. Didn't want some obese grandma to ask me for help.

"Right," She said, while I continued studying her. She had crossed her arms, and her hip moved sideways. "That is an important distinction." I then noticed what she was wearing. Like always, her clothing was super-neat and seemed like something you'd wear at a job interview. At least her dark jeans were sort of tight fitting. Ooh. How daring.

"Speaking of hot," I said, "I like that uniform." I enjoyed teasing her so much.

She rolled her eyes, and swayed her hip to the other side. She was super skinny for a human, and I was almost surprised the simple movement didn't break any bones.

"Are you the only one here?" She asked.

"Nah. Clarence is around, doing… I don't know, old man stuff. And I think lee's fixing that loch before he heads back to LA." I'd watched him for a while, and I had noticed something strange. "He seems upset that he needs to use tools. He keeps thinking the strength of his own hands should be more than enough."

She actually smiled at that. It lit up her face, and I noticed again how pretty she was. "I don't suppose you offered help?"

"Sage," I said, using my most formal tone. "These hands don't do manual labor." I showed what they did do, by knocking in a blue ball, this time. Talking to Sage, and teasing her was pretty fun. A lot more fun than I had had alone. "You want to play?"

She seemed surprised by this offer. "What? With you?"

"No, with Clarence." I said, sarcastically.

She stared at me, confusion clear on her face. Sometimes she made me wonder how someone that smart could be so stupid.

"Yes. Of course with me." I sighed.

"No." She said. "I need to talk to you about Jill."

I froze.. I hadn't drunk anything. Well except if you counted those liquor filled chocolates I ate, but how could I have known they contained alcohol? Had something bad happened to her? Then, I assumed my not-like-I-care-attitude, and continued playing pool.

"She wasn't sick today." I said bitterly. And I'd paid for that by having to see visions of my father being disappointed in me. If I wanted my father to be disappointed in me, I could just call him, and he'd be up for the task anytime. No need for spirit to show me.

Sydney continued speaking. "No, well, not in the same way. She got sick out in the sun during PE. I'm going to see Keith after this, to see if we can get a medical excuse." She paused, "But that's not why I'm here. There's a guy who likes Jill. A human guy."

I didn't really see the problem. Yes, Jill couldn't date a human, but that was easily solved. "Have Castile rough him up."

She leaned back against the wall. "That's the thing. I asked him to. Well, not rough him up, exactly. It's Eddie's roommate. I asked Eddie to tell him to back off and make up some reason for staying away from Jill- like that's she's too young. You understand why it's important, right?"

"Yup." I said. "I'm with you there, Sage. But I still don't see the problem."

"Eddie won't do it. He says he doesn't think Jill should be denied the chance to date, and go to dances. That it's okay if she and Micah hang out, so long as it doesn't get serious."

This surprised me even more. I was pretty sure Sydney hadn't noticed Eddie's big fat crush on Jill, but I definitely had. His aura was dripping with affection whenever he was around her. "That is weird. I mean, I get the logic, and there's something to it. She shouldn't be forced into isolation while she's here.I'm just surprised Castile came up with it."

She didn't ask why, specifically it was strange that Castile thought of that, saving me from having to explain feelings that weren't mine.

"Yeah, but that's a hard concept to live by. Where do you draw the 'casual' line? Honestly, I get this feeling Eddie just didn't want to confront Micah—the roommate. Which is crazy, because Eddie doesn't seem like the type to be afraid of anything. What is there about Micah that would make Eddie so uneasy?"

"Is Micah some big hulking guy?" Castile wouldn't be afraid of him, would he? He was a guardian for fuck's sake.

"No," She said. "He's built, I guess. Good at sports. Real y friendly and easygoing—not the type you'd have to be afraid would turn on you if you warned him away from your sister."

"Then you can talk to him. Or just talk to Jailbait and explain things to her." I knocked in the ball triumphantly at having solved her problem.

"That was my plan." She said, I just wanted to make sure you'd back me. Jill listens to you, and I thought it'd be easier if she knew you agreed with me. Not that I even know how she feels. For all I know, this is all overkill."

It was nice that she'd actually came to me for help. It made me feel a little less useless. "It can't hurt to be too careful with her." I said. Jill had, after all, died.

"Thank you," She said, actually smiling at me now. I smiled back.

"Now, will you play a round with me?

I don't really-

The door opened, and Lee walked in, holding a screwdriver.

To be continued…

Hey you guys! I'm back, with another chapter. I hope you liked it! Next chapter will be a display of Adrian Ivashkov chivalry. That's going to be fun!

For you who read bloodlines, I have a question. Do you think Adrian actually slept with those moroi girls in LA? It is implied in the book, but I'm not really sure if I should let that happen. Tell me what you find more Adrian.