Definition: Life
Chapter 7: Missed
Warui-Usagi
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'As I go, remember all the simple things you know.
My mind is just a crutch and I still hope,
That you will miss me when I'm gone.'
--The Last Song, All American Rejects
x x x
No, no, no, no…How did this happen?
These places were never guarded. We'd never been here before! What were Seekers doing here, of all places? It didn't make any sense.
My eyes were glued to the floor of the van, my mouth slack with disbelief. It couldn't be over. Not now. I'd only had my body—my family back for a few, incredibly short months. Why did they all have to be taken away from me now? Jared, Jamie, Uncle Jeb, Wanda…I loved them all so much, and they'd never get to know how I felt before I had to die. My heart felt like it was collapsing in on itself—twisting and contorting in pain. I could hardly breathe; my hands shook violently as I reached for the pill tucked away in the pocket of my shirt. It wasn't until I tried to focus, to make sure I was coherent enough for those last few seconds to take the poison, that I realised I couldn't see anything. The tears were already flowing in thick streams down my cheeks. There was only enough time for me to be grateful that I hadn't let Jamie come along on this raid. I raised the capsule to my lips, forcing my mouth to open…
"Get out of here!" Someone hissed loudly from outside. They kicked the door hard to punctuate the command, and the sound made me jump about a foot in my seat. I gasped when the pill slipped from my fingers and landed with a barely audible thud on the floor by my feet.
I looked frantically to the left, wondering who an earth it was out there, but Jared had the engine starting up in that second, his expression one of pure determination. I watched the little lines around his eyes crinkle as his brow furrowed in concentration. I couldn't believe it. What did he think he was doing? We couldn't risk capture! We had a family to protect! If they caught us while we were still alive…
"Wanda!" Ian suddenly roared, his voice beyond furious. I whipped around in my seat to face him, wondering what was going on.
"Shut the door, Heath," Jared ground out through his teeth beside me. Heath didn't move—he was still crouching on the ground, his face betraying his shock and grief. I imagined mine must have looked the same.
"Do it now!" Jared growled. I watched as Heath shook himself out of it, and stumbled over towards the door.
Ian was suddenly jumping in the way, using all of his strength to keep it open. "Wanda! No! NO!"
I suddenly felt like I'd swallowed a stone; the pain of the realization had the oxygen in my lungs whooshing out in a horrified groan.
Wanda. Wanda had been the one outside. Wanda was the one trying to save us. No, no, no, no, no! She couldn't…
I reacted automatically, my body reaching desperately for the door, but a strong hand lashed out and latched itself onto my wrist like a vice. "Don't you dare," Jared muttered heatedly under his breath, his expression so hostile and furious that I barely had it in me to object. "I've already lost you once. Like hell I'm letting you run off again."
I felt my own temper start to bubble up. My eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to leave her—!"
"Get off me! Wanda!" Ian suddenly exploded from behind, and impulsively, Jared and I both turned to see Ian struggling to get to the still open door. He was putting up a decent fight, too—Heath wouldn't be able to hold him much longer. Jared was jumping out of the front seat and over into the back so fast I could barely keep up.
"NO!" Ian boomed. I watched in horror as Jared received a well placed kick to his stomach, grunting loudly in pain.
"Melanie!" he huffed, not looking at me as he slammed the door shut right in front of Ian's face with one arm, while using the other to keep him away. "Drive. Now. Move anywhere else and so help me, I'll duck-tape you to the passenger seat."
I gulped, realizing that there was no bluff in this threat, but I still didn't move. I stared as he fought to restrain Ian, my body frozen in shock.
"Now, Melanie. Think of Jamie. You want to get caught? There's no time to take our cyanide pills now—they're all long gone. If they catch us, everyone dies."
That thwarted some of the shock in my system—enough for me to move. I fumbled out of my seat, trying to feel for the steering wheel. I plopped down in the driver's seat, hurriedly adjusting it so I could reach the pedals. I tried not to think about what I was driving away from. I tried to ignore the grieved rambling of Ian behind me. Despite my best efforts, my eyes were still stinging with tears. I turned the key in the ignition, and the engine roared to life.
"No, no, no, no! WANDA! You selfish bastard, Jared! Let me go!"
I hastily wiped at my face with my grimy shirt, but it did nothing to improve my view.
"Floor it, Melanie!"
With tears still pooling in my eyes, I slammed my foot down on the pedal as hard as I could, jerking everyone forward with the sudden momentum. The tyres screeched almost deafeningly along the pavement as I struggled to keep the van on the road. It was horrible, like something had reached right through me and torn out a chunk of my chest. The further away I managed to drive, the more it seemed to hurt. I could hear a strange, high-pitched grating sound over the dull roar of the engine. Suddenly, it was all I could do to keep the van straight on the road—breathing had become almost an impossibility. I couldn't pull over though. I wouldn't let the Seekers take anymore of my family. I could feel my lips trembling, the sob caught in my throat.
Wanda…
"No…Wanda, no. Not again. Please…no…" Ian had fallen to his knees, sobbing so hard it was impossible to take. What we were doing to him by leaving Wanda behind….I tried desperately to keep my eyes on the road—tried to stop the van from swerving in-between lanes so much. I was lucky it was so late, I chastised myself. Or else I probably would have killed us all by now anyway, making Wanda's sacrifice in vain. I checked once through my blurry vision in the rear mirror—nobody was following us, which seemed hardly like any relief after what had just happened; it only served to make me think it was possible to still go back and grab her.
"Pull over, Mel," Jared was abruptly whispering my ear. He reached across me, gently and slowly steering the van off the road. My shaky hands put up no resistance. "I'll drive now."
I took my foot off the accelerator and climbed over the back of the driver's seat almost immediately, and straight into his arms. I let the grief take me then, soaking his shirt with salt water. The sobs came hard and fast, the realization of what had just happened finally etching itself into my awareness. I didn't want this; the sound of Ian grieving loudly in the background made the whole situation that much more unbearable.
"She's gone…she's gone…" I clung to Jared, unable to do much else.
"Don't worry. She'll be fine. They won't hurt her," he assured me. But I was already shaking my head.
"No. They won't hurt her," I mumbled, trying not to panic when what they would do came to mind. "They'll just ship her off to some other planet. To 'get her away from the bad influences' she once told someone."
"Me," Ian whispered, staring uncomprehendingly at the floor with his eyes wide. "She told me." He groaned. "Oh, God! That means by the time she knows what's happened to her, she'll be halfway across the universe on some other planet…"
"And we'll all be dead," Jared finished numbly.
Ian was already in motion—scrambling to his feet and wrenching open the door—before Jared and I even realized what he was trying to do.
"No!" We both shouted together, but Ian was faster. He jumped out of the door and ran off into the pitch black night.
Jared was out the door a few seconds behind him. "O'Shea!"
Heath was on his feet a second later. "Shit! Should we go after them?"
I hesitated, unsure of how much help the both us would be in a situation like this. Maybe Heath… "You go," I said, not entirely sure what I should do. "I'll catch up."
"Right." He jumped out and onto the road. I stood there listening as the sound of his thin-soled shoes clattered away on the pavement, and panic set in. What if the Seekers were coming to find us right now? They'd be here in only a few short minutes—we hadn't driven far before pulling over. Either way, we didn't have long. Abruptly, I was furious. What the hell did Ian hope to accomplish by running off like that? He'd get us all captured and inserted with Seekers, and then everyone we loved would be dead. Jamie, Jeb, Violetta, Heidi, Sunny…even Kyle. Did he want that? Did he really want Wanda's sacrifice to mean nothing? She'd given us the time we needed to get away, and it was being wasted horribly. Besides, there would be much more thought out ways to rescue Wanda. Jared was stupid if he didn't think I'd try. I tried to be optimistic now; tried telling myself that I would definitely see her again. It was hard. There was so much I didn't get to say to her before she…
"No!" someone shouted from a fair distance away, interrupting my thoughts. I stood very still, listening now. "I want her back, you hear me? I refuse to—"
"And you'd jeopardize everybody else's safety?" A more familiar voice was arguing back just as loudly—Jared, of course. "Wanda knew what she was doing. She wanted to save you. To save us. Don't throw that away! Stop being so selfish!"
Sudden inspiration came to me just then. I was already jumping back over and into the front seat, over the cup holders until my hands were gripping the steering wheel and my feet were pressing themselves against the peddles. The keys were still in the ignition; I turned them without a second thought. The engine roared to life, the sound almost deafening after the almost deathly silence of the desert outskirts. I had to get the van off the road, away from such a conspicuous place. I didn't want to attract anymore unwanted attention, so I kept the headlights off, driving straight out into the black landscape, hoping the whole time that I didn't hit anything that would damage the van. Night would have to serve as the only camouflage for the van right now. I didn't think it was still visible from the road, not that it mattered much if the Seekers were determined enough.
I killed the engine and swung the door open, jumping out onto firm, sandy ground. I listened carefully again, trying to remember which direction I had heard Jared and Ian fighting, trying not to panic…
"…But she promised! She promised she wouldn't leave!" I could hear Ian now; I relaxed. He sounded much closer. I walked towards the sound, squinting my eyes in a pathetic attempt at seeing through the blackness. It was impossible to see just about anything, save the occasional shadow—the moon was bright overhead, casting the sand in an eerie, almost otherworldly silver glow. I could see three, barely distinct figures in the distance. My feet were moving quickly now, anxiety twisting my stomach.
We had to get out of here. Now.
"I know." It was Heath this time, his voice calm. "I know you're upset. Don't make the mistake of thinking you're the only one, Ian. We all care about her. She truly is one of the most selfless people I've ever met. Do you honestly think it would make her happy to see us captured as well?"
Ian growled. "Stop talking as if you're reading her epitaph! She's not dead!"
"We need to leave now, O'Shea. Wanda's probably distracted the Seekers enough for a little while, but they'll come looking for us soon."
"Shut up, Jared. I don't want to hear it. Not from you, of all people. You have what you want, and that was given to you at Wanda's expense as well."
Now Jared was losing his patience. "We don't have time for this, Ian—"
"What would you do if it was Melanie?" he roared, cutting off Jared's retort. His rage resonated loudly in the dry air, the agony and desperation in his voice all too apparent. It was much too real—even harder to take, I abruptly understood, because I'd been in exactly the same situation before. And here I was again, about to tell him to make exactly the same decision.
"The same thing he did before," I whispered in the furious silence that followed. Ian and Heath started; clearly they weren't expecting me to be here. "Save those he can immediately, and come back for those who can hold their own later." I took a rather shaky breath, hoping it didn't give me away too much. I had to believe that Wanda would be okay for now, or else I wouldn't be able to walk away. It didn't matter if it was only temporarily—it was still going against every protective instinct I had. Wanda was so…so small and naïve. But this was her world, not ours I reminded myself, and as I searched the memories she'd left me with, I knew she would be okay. At least for a little while…
There was a strange gurgling sound that cut through my thoughts, and I watched as Ian crumpled, falling to his knees in the sand with a dull thud. Not two seconds later, loud, desperate sobs were tearing out of his chest.
I had to really fight now—I could already feel my eyes starting to water. I bit my lip and titled my head up towards the starlit sky. I took a deep breath. She was going to be okay. She was going to be okay…she was going to be okay…out of all the situations in life that Wanda didn't understand, this would be one she could handle…
"Ian," I mumbled, sinking down into the sand next to him. Hesitantly, I reached over and patted his back, hoping to soothe him. I knew Wanda could hold her own for a little while, surely, but I was starting to have doubts that Ian's world might not last that little while. I swallowed hard, trying to fight the panic. "She'll be okay, Ian. We will come back for her," I promised, trying to pull him to his feet. He was so heavy—he didn't even budge. "Please, Ian." My voice cracked when I said his name, and I had to take a moment to compose myself again. "Please"—I was starting to lose my patience now—"this is really hard for me too, y'know!" I nudged him hard in his side.
Ian shook his head, but said nothing as he stumbled to his feet. He started walking ahead of Jared, Heath and I without waiting, or any indication of where he was going. Right then, I put it down to pure coincidence that he was heading in the general direction of where I'd parked the van. We followed him in silence; nobody had a big enough need to speak. Progress was slow as I watched Ian trudge along in front of me with his shoulders hunched.
The drive back to the caves was equally as quiet; the only audible sounds were the different rates of breathing. I tried to be inconspicuous about it, when I peeked at Ian in the rear-vision mirror, but he never seemed to notice. He always looked exactly the same every time I checked, which was often—eyes glazed over as he stared at the wall of the van, his expression empty of any kind of emotion or even thought it seemed. I watched the road pass by underneath us; the anticipation of returning home had long since been consumed by grief. And the hardest part was still to come, I realised, as if losing Wanda wasn't enough. Anguish twisted in my stomach as I thought about delivering the news of her…sacrifice to our family, but it was Jamie, Doc and Jeb who I knew would take it the hardest. Jamie most of all, I knew, would be devastated, and I wished that there was anything…anything that could spare him from such pain. Even if I wasn't intending for it to last.
I must have fallen asleep for a while after that—I started when I heard the crunch of gravel underneath the tyres: the sign that our trip on the highway had ended, and we were almost home. Dawn was just starting to break across the desert, dyeing the sand a strange pink colour as the sky brightened. I tried to keep my breathing even, but I didn't quite manage it. Jared reached for my hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
Jared drove our decrepit van under cover, letting the engine idle for a few moments while we all tried to get up the courage to tell everybody about what had happened. The silence wouldn't last I realised. Everybody had probably already seen the van—they would know we were home. I tried to feel my face, tried to force the muscles surrounding my lips to move—to curve upward into some kind of reassuring expression—but they wouldn't. I could feel my grief pulling them in the opposite direction, my jaw straining shut as I tried to fight it.
"Dammit," I hissed when I felt the warm salt water streaming down my face. No. I had to be strong. I couldn't let Jamie see me like this. I wanted him to have some hope, something to look forward to. I could feel something strange there, in my throat; it was blocking off everything but my unstable breathing.
"We'll get her back, Mel," Jared said, moving to pat me lightly on the shoulder. "Remember how easy it was last time? We just need to wait for all the hysteria to die down. Once it does, we'll go back for her."
"This raid was supposed to be easy," I snapped, incredulous. "But it wasn't,was it? Thanks to our easiness, I just lost a pretty big part of my world, and Ian's lost his entirely." Some small part of me realised I was getting angry about the wrong things, and definitely at the wrong person. And yet, at the same time, I found it extremely difficult to care. "That's not easy, Jared. It's just plain cruel." I wiped futilely at my face, trying clean it up before Jamie came running over. "What happens the next time we go out? Will we lose Jeb? Heath? Andy? Trudy?"
I didn't want to hear his answer. Before he had the chance to speak, I was kicking the passenger side door open and jumping out into the already warm pre-dawn haze, running as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I knew I was being irrational and childish. We were the ones being hunted. Nowadays, there wasn't a human alive that hadn't already lost the better part of their family and friends to the Souls. Nobody. I'd lost my parents, my grandparents, cousins, friends…What used to be my entire world. But in doing so, I'd gained more than I could have ever hoped for. More than I probably deserved. Losing my family had hurt. A lot. It was one of those things that I thought I'd never really recovered from. They'd known me my whole life, after all—loved Jamie and I more than I thought what was possible at times. They had been the only thing I knew.
…So why did this feel almost worse?
It didn't make sense…and yet, at the same time, it did. For so long, Wanda had known my every thought, feeling and secret. I'd never been able to hide away from her for extended periods of time. She knew everything about me, and loved me…protected me even, despite how much I hated and manipulated her in the beginning. Despite all my floors. It was the strangest, wonderful, most horrifying thing I'd ever felt in my life, to be that accepted. Even Jared and Jamie—the two people I loved on this earth more than anything in the world combined; the two who knew me as best as two humans could possibly understand a person—didn't know everything about me. But Wanda had used her life here so many times to protect what I loved and cherished, even when she knew she might die. Even when she knew she'd die. How could I not love her for that? The only 'unhuman' aspects of Wanda's entire being were her selflessness, naivety and intolerance of violence. All qualities humans found attractive in one aspect or another. It made sense to me that the reason she was cared for so much—adored by most of the people here—was because she was so alien in that particular part of her personality.
"Mel!" Jamie called suddenly from far off in the distance, dashing out carelessly into the light. "Mel! Yay! You're home!"
When I looked up and saw his overjoyed face getting closer with each passing second, I felt like a razor-blade had sliced right through the centre of my chest. He reached me a moment later, completely oblivious as his long arms wrapped around my neck like a vice. I was limp in his embrace; too tired and shocked to make my own arms move. It didn't take him long to notice then that something was wrong. He pulled away from me almost immediately, his entire expression morphing instantly into one of concern.
"Mel?" he whispered, panicking. "Mel? What's wrong? Where is everyone else?"
"They're still coming," I mumbled, looking away when my eyes started to water.
It didn't take long. I heard them all coming up behind me, almost at the same time Doc, Jeb, Maggie, Sharon, Kyle and Sunny appeared at the mouth of the cave. These were the people Wanda had ultimately protected, and at just the sight of them—most waiting anxiously to see her, it was nearly impossible for me to hold myself together. I felt my control slipping, but somehow I managed to keep a straight face.
"Heath! Jared!" Jamie cheered, running off behind me. I heard Jared slap his arm over Jamie's back.
"Hey, kid," Jared mumbled. For the first time that day, he sounded almost as bad as I felt. I imagined he must have been smiling; I knew that if I turned around, I'd probably lose it. "You been good while Mel and I been away?"
"I think I was," he said, sounding completely oblivious. "But y'know it's hard to tell—Sharon's always angry, even when she's happy."
I knew I should have laughed at that. I knew I usually would, but I just couldn't. Not even Jared could say anything after that. Again, it didn't take Jamie and the others long to process our moods. His smile disappeared almost instantly. Auntie Maggie and Sharon's expressions didn't change.
"What the hell happened?" Uncle Jeb demanded suddenly, striding closer out into the open. "Where's Ian and Wanda?"
"Ian's still in the van, I think," Jared said, his voice subdued. And then he added after a moment, "I don't think he'll be coming inside for a little while. I should probably stay out here and keep an eye on him."
Of course, everyone was bewildered for a moment. "Why won't he come inside?" Doc asked, though I could see he was already coming to his own conclusions, as was Jeb—his eyes darted around the little group that had gathered, and in a rare display of emotion, I watched as Jeb ducked his head and turned away. Doc was nodding his head slowly and like us, too shocked to process anything further. I didn't want to even look up at Maggie and Sharon.
"Melanie," Jamie whispered anxiously in a thick voice. "Where's Wanda?"
It took me a few minutes before I was sure enough that I could speak without my voice breaking. This was where I had to sound positive—to reassure Jamie that we would definitely get her back. That she was just gone for a few days while we regrouped and waited for the fuss in the city to die down. That would be all I needed to tell him. It should have been easy—I was the one planning to go out and get her in a few days. What were a few days? Nothing really. Nothing…
"When Heath and Ian left the van to start loading the Heal," I heard myself say, my voice almost dead. A monotone. "Some Seekers spotted us on their patrol…" I averted my eyes away from Jamie's crumbling face, to the sand at my feet. I couldn't look at anybody. "When they spotted us…When they spotted us she distracted them so that we had enough time to get away."
Nobody moved. Nobody made a sound. There wasn't even a breath of wind as the sand beneath my feet began to warm.
"She's gone?" Jamie breathed, his voice breaking on the last word. I looked up at him then, and I instantly wished that I hadn't—his expression was horrified. Shocked. Angry. Scared. Agonised. The one I hadn't seen since the Soul controlling Dad's body found us, and had tried to turn us over to the Seekers.
"Just…Just for a little while," I wheezed. "We'll get her back very soon."
"NO!" Jamie shook his violently, the tears that had been pooling his eyes splattering all over his face. He glared right at me. "Don't make promises you can't keep."
"We'll get her back, kid," Jared said, coming up beside me. "We won't be able to survive without her for very long. We need her."
Jamie scoffed, surprising everybody. "Of course we need her. But that's all you care about, isn't it? You don't give a damn now that Wanda's not attached to Melanie's body anymore, do you?" he screamed, clenching his fists tightly at his side. I heard Sunny squeal—Jamie's anger was frightening her—trying to bury herself as far as she could into Kyle's side. "She saved you at the expense of her own life and all you have to say is that we'll need to get her back so you can take her back out on another raid she won't come back from?" I didn't look behind me to see how Jared was taking the criticism, but I could imagine well enough. I could almost see the lines between his brows creasing as they narrowed, and the tight set of his jaw.
"Calm down," Jeb urged, patting him firmly on the shoulder. Jamie shook him off almost immediately.
"You know that's not what he meant," I said to Jamie through gritted teeth. Where was this outburst coming from? It wasn't like him.
The silence was as long and awkward as the tension was palpable. I watched Kyle discreetly try and pry himself free from Sunny, though I couldn't hear what he was saying to her. She ran off at full speed into the caves a moment later, while Kyle snuck around the group and headed in the direction of where the van was parked. Probably to check on Ian, I thought solemnly.
Suddenly, Jared sighed loudly, sounding almost exasperated. "Just get it off your chest okay, Jamie. What do you want me to say? What is it about the situation that I can lie to you about to make you feel better?"
"Jared!" I growled furiously, whipping around to face him. "What the hell! He's just upset!"
"So is everyone else!" he bit right back. "If the kid wants in on all the grown up conversations, wants to start acting like an adult, then he needs to grow up! You're just as upset as he is! Everyone is—Ian more so than the majority here, that's for sure. If he's just going to stand here and blame everybody else for what happened, then he can leave! It's certainly not helping."
"Jared!" I was joined this time by Aunt Maggie, Sharon and Doc in my outrage. "Shut it. Right now! You are the one who's not helping anything right now."
"I'm not going to pat the kid on the head and tell him everything's okay. It's war. Everyone here has lost someone they love. It's how it is these days."
"Wanda's not dead! She's fine," I ground out through my teeth, glaring right back at Jared. "We'll find her and bring her home in a few days—it's nothing to worry about. And you more than anyone should understand how Jamie feels—I distinctly remember you punched me in the face when you thought I was dead."
His whole face closed off as his eyes blazed. "That was different—and we can't just walk out there and pick her up like we did last time! That'd be suicide! The Seekers will definitely be on the lookout for humans now!"
"Stop it!" Jamie suddenly screeched at the top of his voice, making us all jump. He ran off into the darkness of the caves before anybody had a chance to protest.
"Jamie!" I called after him. "Jamie, come back!"
I was about to go after him, but Jeb stopped me. "Just let him go, hon. He just needs some space."
"But—"
And just when I didn't think things could get any worse right then—how long had it been since Jared and I fought like that? Had we ever…?—Kyle came charging over the sand dunes at full speed, shouting at the top of his lungs with a strangely anxious expression on his face.
"Ian's gone! The van is still there, but the Jeep's missing."
"Oh, crap," Heath mumbled.
I could barely hear him—my vision had narrowed considerably, all the hysterical noise ringing in my ears faded to nothing but indistinguishable background noise. I felt…no, I heard something snap inside me—heard every crack and splinter as the world in front of me all but shattered.
It took all I had not to scream.
A/N: Sorry for the extremely late chapter guys. Several contributing factors, I can assure you, the biggest of which happened when my computer got about 25 different viruses 2 weeks ago and just crashed. I haven't been getting much sleep the past 14 days, because I pretty much thought I'd lost everything. Turns out I didn't, which is a relief, but at the same time, all of the new anti-virus software the computer people put on my laptop created some serious software conflicts, again making my computer crash. So I've been doing nothing these past few days but uninstalling and reinstalling huge quantities of software on my computer. Not fun. :S
I know everyone was expecting this chapter to be from Wanda's POV, but I thought it might be a tad interesting to try Melanie's, and to show what was happening while Wanda was being looked after by the Healers. That argument Jared and Ian have as they're speeding away was the first thing I wrote ever for the Host. My wanting to explore Jared and Ian's sort-of unsteady relationship was the catalyst for this story. I know that Stephenie Meyer gave the impression that all problems those two had with each other had been resolved when Melanie and Wanda were separated, but there's a big part of me that doesn't believe it was, or that it would ever be that easy. Jared certainly sees the lifestyle-changing benefits of having Wanda around with much more clarity than Ian does, because of course, Ian's blinded a little by his adoration and protectiveness of Wanda, while Jared doesn't feel anything at all like that. Though I'm sure Jared does care about Wanda, he's nowhere near as involved with her as Jamie, Jeb, Doc, Heidi and the others are, I think, partly because no matter how much he comes to understand Wanda and appreciate what she does for everyone, there's still a small part of him that can't forgive Wanda for taking Melanie away from him, even if he did get her back in the end. I also think that Ian probably sees Jared's using Wanda on raids as more than a little careless, and he also probably thinks that Jared doesn't care about Wanda's welfare at all. I just find it all so interesting. Probably too interesting. XD
Anyway, enough crap – I was more than half way through with Questioned, (the original chapter 7) before I started writing this, so it should be up as chapter 8 relatively quick. Here's a hoping! Good news for all my poor, neglected Midnight Waltz readers as well – an update is about a week away maximum, if that. Finally getting that off the ground again. :D
As you all know, comments, criticism, praise, flames…all of it is welcomed and adored in review format. :D
And if I don't update again before the big two-five, I hope you all have a fabulous and Merry Christmas, and an awesome New Year!
~Warui-Usagi~
