Klaus growled as Adrian hung up on him. Then, he sighed and went back to the bedroom. Selina was sitting up in bed now.
"What are you doing?" He asked. "You shouldn't be sitting up yet!"
"I'm getting better," she said. "I'm just a little sore!"
He gave her a look. "Are you lying to me?" She shook her head. "No. Why would I do that?" He sat down next to her. "I don't know. You tell me." Selina leaned forward, wincing a little. "I'm not lying to you. I swear. I'm getting better." He looked at her seriously. "Good. Because if you weren't getting better, I'd be more than happy to tie you to the bed so you couldn't get away."
Selina smirked. "Actually, I'm really trying to get better so you and I can go out tomorrow. Full moon, you know." She winked.
He looked at her in surprise. "You of all people want to go out during a full moon?" She shrugged. "Yeah, why not?" "Well, I'm just surprised. That's usually something I have to goad you into." She grinned. "Well, let's just say that having a chandelier dropped on me made me realize that I have an existence I need to take advantage of." He ran his fingers through her hair. "You go to bed. I'll wait up for Adrian, and then check on you again in the morning."
Adrian came back just a little after two in the morning. Klaus had fallen asleep in the living room chair, and Adrian had almost gotten to his room without being stopped, but Klaus opened his eyes just in time. "So, how was your night?"
"Fine," Adrian said uneasily. Now he was beginning to feel a little guilty for having hung up on his father. "How's Mom?" Klaus nodded. "Oh, she says she's getting better. We're going to go out tomorrow. I assume since you're dating a werewolf girl, you'll be wanting to go out again too?'
Adrian nodded sheepishly. "If it's not too inconvenient."
Klaus nodded. "Sure, why not? You're young. You should make the most of it."
Adrian nodded. "I'll be going to bed now." He headed upstairs to get ready for bed, but found his bed was already occupied.
Klaus was in their bedroom by sunup, having spend the night on the living room sofa so he wouldn't inadvertantly roll around too much and jostle Selina.
"Feeling better?" He asked her as he came in and handed her a blood bag.
She took a few sips, swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm great, actually."
"Why don't I just check?" He said and began prodding her stomach gently. She giggled. "That tickles just a little." He grinned. "Oh, yes?" He climbed into bed next to her and began working his way up from her belly button, then peeling off her shirt and bra and rubbing her breasts. She moaned. "Is that painful?" He asked. "Yes," she gasped. "But in a good way. Keep going." He sucked on her for a little while and then unzipped her pants, penetrating her with his tongue. She giggled. He felt so good! She put her arms around his neck, clutching him tightly as he got under the covers and thrust into her, again and again and again.
By the time it was over, they were lying beside one another, naked, sweating and breathing hard. "How?" Selina asked when she could finally speak. "How is it that we go from you checking my injuries to ending up like this?"
He grinned and kissed her again. "Well I have always liked playing doctor."
Adrian stared at the bed. He wasn't surprised that she was here. "What do you want?" He asked. "And how many people did you have to kill so that i could see you?"
Helene shrugged. "Not too many. Just a couple. Anyway, I didn't come here to cause trouble. I just wondered what you'd be doing tomorrow night."
Adrian eyed her suspiciously. "I have plans. Why?"
Helene crossed her arms and put his pillow against her chest. "Because I was just thinking that since it was a full moon, I could come over and spend the night with you, you know? Like we used to. It could be fun."
"Oh, yes. Lots of fun. Like when you abandoned me so you could go to that 'save the trees' protest with Anthony and I was left all by myself." Adrian rolled his eyes.
"Hey!" Helene said defensively. "How about you let that go? I think it would be better for both of us. And do you really think its a good idea for you to be alone with a girl during a full moon? Especially if she doesn't know everything about you?"
"She does know, actually," Adrian said. "In fact, she's one too."
Helene pouted. "Well then, there will be other full moons, won't there? Can't you leave your precious girlfriend alone for one night? Do I suddenly not matter anymore just because I'm dead?"
The books began falling out of Adrian's bookshelf and the light fixture swung back and forth.
"Okay, okay!" Adrian said quickly. "I'll stay at home with you tomorrow."
Helene looked at him suspiciously. "Really?"
Adrian nodded. "Yes!"
She held out his phone. "Call her right now and cancel any plans you had. I don't think you'll do it if I'm not right here."
Slowly, he reached out and took the phone from her, dialing Tessa's number. When she answered the phone, she sounded happy. "I had a great time tonight," she said. "And I think tomorrow will be even better!"
He cleared his throat. "Actually, Tessa, about that: my parents have decided that we need to do a family bonding thing and try as I might, I can't get out of it, so I'm going to have to cancel."
"Oh." Tessa was subdued now. "Okay. See you some other time then."
"Yeah," Adrian said assuredly. "Of course you will. Goodnight."
He hung up, removed his clothes and crawled into bed. Helene came to stand next to him. "See you tomorrow," she whispered as he shut his eyes and fell asleep.
The next day was tough for Adrian. Tessa called once to ask if she could bring Rosie over for a playdate with Rusty, but he had to say no. "The house is a mess," he told her. "It's not really fit for company."
She giggled. "Well we wouldn't be inside, silly! We'd be out and about! I could bring a ball and we could play a little soccer...you played that when you were younger, didn't you?"
"Yes," he said. "And that sounds wonderful. Under ordinary circumstances, I would say yes, but..."
"But what?" Tessa asked. "Adrian, you can tell me. It's okay."
He sighed. "No, you wouldn't believe it."
"Oh, please," Tessa said. "I'm a werewolf, okay? My tolerance for the supposedly unbelievable is pretty high."
He sighed. "Okay. When I told you that my parents wanted us to do something as a family tonight, I wasn't telling the truth. In fact, they aren't going to be home. It's a thing with my ex. She's a little crazy. She's also a little...dead."
Tessa cleared her throat. "Dead like a zombie or dead like a ghost?"
"Ghost. She was electrocuted and drowned on our prom night and now she wants to get a new body so that she and I can be together."
Tessa was silent for a moment. "Then she said, "Is that what you really want?"
Adrian shook his head. "No," he said immediately. "Or I thought it was. Now, I'm not so sure. And about tonight..."
Suddenly, there was a click and the line went dead. Adrian gave the phone a shake. "Tessa? Tessa, are you there?"
Just then, he heard another voice. "Tessa's not here anymore. Naughty boy, giving away all my secrets to people whose business they aren't."
Adrian cleared his throat. "Well, I was just trying to explain why I wouldn't be able to go out with her tonight. I at least owe her that."
"Oh," Helene suddenly appeared before him. "So she gets explanations and you just throw me aside like trash? What makes her so special? The fact that she's still breathing? Well, let me tell you something, Mister. Life is a curiously temporary condition that can be cured very quickly. Something I might just look into."
"Hey!" Adrian cried. "I said I was going to stay with you tonight. What is your problem?"
Helene rolled her eyes. "Oh, no! Don't even bother! If it's too much of a chore for you to do me the one favor, you can go out with Tessa tonight and have your fun and kill whoever the hell you want. I don't really care anymore. Something else we have in common."
Adrian backed up. "It's not that I don't care, it's just..."
She disappeared before he could finish the sentence.
By the time night fell, she was feeling much calmer. She went back to the house and found it empty. "Adrian? Adrian, are you here?" She walked from room to room, but saw no one except for an extremely moody redhead that was stomping around a room on the third floor and grumbling to herself. She decided to ask if the woman knew where everyone had gone.
"Oh, they've all left for the night," she said. "Apparently, for werewolves full moons are a big deal."
Helene nodded. "Yeah, I've heard that. So you're telling me everyone is gone? Even Adrian? Because he promised me we would hang out tonight. Just like we used to."
The redhead scoffed. "Oh, please. Like he'd waste his time with a dead girl when he's got a pretty, live one waiting in the wings. I saw her. She's gorgeous. She came by not twenty minutes ago and they headed out. Going to hike or something and then they'll have a good hunting range for when they change."
Helene looked her over. "I've seen you before. Who are you?"
The woman was silent for a moment. "I was born with the name Ena. When I was a young woman, my father, who was the head of a tribe of witches, told my twin sister Enid, myself, and our older sister Hazel, that he would chose one of us to rule based on who was able to create the most spectacular bit of magic. Hazel stayed within witch parameters, doing spells and protecting nature, but Enid and I, we branched out a little. She had a lot of issues with men, getting dumped several times, and she decided that the only being that had ever been wholly faithful to her was her dog. And that maybe all men should be dogs. And some nasty women too. She then created werewolves. She and I had always been competitive, so I took it upon myself to create a race that was even stronger. I was bathing in a lake in the woods one day about a thousand years ago, when a wave came through and nearly drowned me. But I was rescued by a young man who'd just abandoned an arranged marriage..."
"Wait a minute..." Recognition dawned in Helene's eyes. "You're Vanessa! You tried to kill Adrian and me once!"
Vanessa nodded. "Yes, but it was nothing personal! Adrian, his father, his mother and that sister of his are abominations! They are going to allow Enid to win, and then Father is going to pick her to be the head of the tribe, and I just can't stand the thought of it. Therefore, I need to get rid of all werewolves."
"But Adrian's father is a werewolf too," Helene pointed out. "Do you honestly want to get rid of him?"
Vanessa sighed. "No, of course not. When I chose him to be one of the first vampires, I had no idea that he had a dormant werewolf gene already. And once all the other werewolves are gone, I can use my magic to make him just a vampire again. Then he and I can rule everyone."
She sighed with satisfaction. "Of course, first I have to get my powers back because Enid took them away."
"How do you plan to do that?"
Vanessa gazed at Helene and then a smile broke out across her face. "You!" She said. "You can help me do it!"
"How?" Helene asked curiously.
"Well," Vanessa began, looking sheepish. "I have a confession to make. And a proposal. The confession might make you a bit resistant to the proposal, but just hear me out, all right?"
Helene frowned. "Okay..."
Vanessa nodded and brushed hair out of her eyes. "You're not happy being dead, are you?"
Helene shook her head. "But who would be?"
"Right, right, right. Well," here, Vanessa paused. "Well, I was the one who caused your death. Sort of. My original plan was to kill Adrian on your prom night so your friend Anthony could have you for himself, but something obviously went wrong and you died instead."
Helene's eyes narrowed. "Why you..."
Slowly, Vanessa began to choke. Finally, her face blue, she managed to croak, "I can fix it!"
Distracted, Helene released her hold. "How in the world do you plan to come up with restitution good enough for what you did?"
Vanessa massaged her throat. "What if I told you that I could get you Adrian back? It'll take a little time, but it'll work."
Helene nodded. "Fine. What do we have to do?"
Half an hour later, Vanessa was sitting in front of the bar at Enid's again. Enid came out and gave her sister a look. "What do you want now? If it's your powers, that's not going to happen."
"But I have a really good reason for needing them!" Vanessa said. "Just hear me out, please!" She did her best to look innocent.
Enid smirked. "Oh, this ought to be good! Okay, shoot."
Vanessa lowered her eyes. "Well, one of my last tricks led to the death of a young woman. Adrian's girlfriend, Helene, in fact. Now I've found her spirit and I'd like to make restitution."
Enid reached out for her sister. "Really? That's so sweet and...so unlike you. What's in it for you?"
"Nothing!" Vanessa said quickly. "Just the knowledge that I've righted a wrong."
"Uh-huh." Vanessa wiped down the counters. "And what exactly do you need your powers for?"
"Well," Vanessa put her head on her arms. "It seems like Adrian has lost interest in Helene since her death, so..."
"No," Enid said immediately. "Helene's body was lost, and you aren't going to kill someone else so you can magically get Helene a new body and reunite her with Adrian. That would be wrong. If he's found someone else, just let them be and chalk it up to experience."
Vanessa narrowed her eyes and smoothed her short skirt. "He has found someone else, as a matter of fact. A werewolf named Tessa."
Enid's eyes lit up. "Pete's niece! How wonderful! I never would have thought of that." She gave her sister a severe look. "You aren't going to interfere with them, Vanessa."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Vanessa said. "In fact, I have another boy in mind for Helene. And I can bring him back without needing an extra body. I know right where his is."
Enid sighed. "Oh, fine. As long as you promise to leave Tessa and Adrian alone, I won't give you your powers back, but I will use mine to give you whatever you need."
Vanessa smiled. "Thank you. You're a good sister."
Enid rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just go. I don't have much time until the full moon."
Vanessa had told Helene to meet her and Enid at a cemetery just outside of town, near a particular grave. When Helene finally saw Vanessa and Enid approach, she greeted them and then stepped back to give the grave a once over. "And just who is Hanz Lutze?"
"An old friend of mine," Vanessa said. "I think you'll like him. He's just your type."
"Hot?"
Vanessa grinned. "Definitely."
She and Enid held hands and chanted and Helene looked at the grave intently. The young man had been just twenty years old when he'd died in 1894. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and a filmy shape appeared next to the grave. Eventually, it formed into a very attractive young man with black hair and blue eyes, wearing tan pants, a tan vest and a white shirt stained red with blood.
"What do you want?" He asked. "Why won't you let me rest in peace?"
Vanessa pointed at Helene. "Hanz, this is Helene. I thought you two might like each other, that's all."
Hanz looked Helene over and then a grin broke over his face. "I suppose this was worth being woken up for."
Helene grinned back. "You aren't so bad yourself."
Hanz pointed. "There's a bench over there. Would you like to go and talk?"
Helene nodded. "Sure."
They went and sat down. "So," he said, "May I ask how you died?"
Helene pointed to the black singe marks all over her dress. "Struck by lightening. And I drowned too, but that's not so noticeable anymore. What about you?"
"Consumption," he said. "That's all it was, but the townsfolk turned it into something much worse. Thirty years prior to my death, a town down the road from ours, called Mystic Falls, had an infestation of vampires. Even after they were supposedly eradicated, the fear was not. It spread to our town. In one summer, my mother and my sisters Myna and Rachel all died of consumption. Then, I caught it. In one of my feverish delusions, I told my father that I thought I'd seen Myna standing near my bed, her mouth covered in blood. The other men heard and they went to the cemetery and dug up my sister. Her cheeks were pink and healthy, her heart clotted with blood. They thought it was mine, that she had been slowly draining the life from me. They took her body from her casket, removed her heart and burned it. They mixed the ashes with water and gave it to me to drink, but I still died. Then, they burned my heart too. Just in case I would feel the temptation to rise and walk the night."
He pulled apart his shirt and showed Helene the deep cut down his chest.
Helene sucked in her breath and ran her fingers gingerly over his scar. "They actually removed your heart? You poor guy!"
Hanz nodded. "Barbaric, isn't it? Especially since there are no such things as vampires."
Meanwhile, Vanessa watched them with satisfaction. "I think I've done my good deed for the night. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner to be getting to. Good night, Enid."
The waiter led Klaus and Selina to the nicest table in the restaurant. They sat down and grinned at one another as they took their menus. "I'm so glad we were able to get away tonight!" Selina grinned.
Klaus nodded. "It was wonderful of your uncle to offer to take Roxie for the evening."
Selina nodded. "I'm sure she'd rather be with him than us anyway. The two of them seem to have developed a rapport over the years. What are you going to have?"
Klaus grinned toothily. "Steak. Rare."
Selina laughed. "Yum. Just the thing to get the appetite going."
Klaus shrugged. "You have to start somewhere."
The waiter came by with their wine, a red of course, and then the host came and looked at them hesitantly. "There's a young woman upfront who says she's a friend and would like to join you. Should I send her to your table?"
"Who is it?" Selina asked. "Is her name Vanessa?"
The host nodded. "And a very persistent woman she is, too."
Selina rolled her eyes. "Sure, send her here. I suppose there's no other option."
He brought a beaming Vanessa a few minutes later. "Thanks for letting me come and join you. I'll sit down in a minute. I have to go to the ladies' room."
Selina put her napkin back in her lap, smoothing the wrinkles out of the skirt of her dark red dress. "Sure, fine, whatever."
Vanessa smirked. "You should come too. You have something in your teeth."
Selina shook her head. "No, I don't."
"Yes, you do." Vanessa took Selina's glass of wine and dumped it down the front of her dress. "Oops! What a shame! You better go and scrub that out before it really stains."
Selina growled at her and the two of them went off to the bathroom.
When they reached it, Selina quickly began dabbing the wine off her front, groaning at the stain that had already accumulated. She'd have to get it dry cleaned before she wore it again.
Suddenly, Vanessa grabbed her from behind, shoved her in the handicapped bathroom stall and somehow managed to get it locked, slamming Selina's head against the wall so that she was knocked unconscious and in a crumpled heap against the toilet. Then, she shut off the lights and put the sign on the front of the door that said: This Bathroom is being cleaned. Use the other one down the hall.
Grinning with satisfaction, she went back to the table where Klaus was waiting.
"Where's Selina?" He asked.
"Oh, she got a call from her uncle," Vanessa said apologetically. "Emergency with Roxie. She had to leave immediately. She told me to tell you that she's sorry there wasn't time to say goodbye. But you and I can still enjoy ourselves, right?"
Klaus looked at her suspiciously. "I guess. But..."
"Good!" Vanessa interrupted, taking her menu. "What's good to eat here? I'm starved!"
When Jake and Roxie arrived at Enid's just prior to the full moon, the first person she saw was Vince.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "My parents want to use tonight to be romantical, so I'm stuck here. It doesn't help that you're here too. Just don't talk to me."
Vince looked out the window and followed her to the corner of the bar near the television. "You do know that in an hour or so you'll be a disgusting, snarling, drooling monster, right?" He loomed over her and growled.
She looked up at him, unimpressed. "If that's your idea of being scary, you need to go to scary camp and get some new lessons."
He frowned. "Are you saying you can be scarier then me?"
She nodded. "Of course I can, stupid."
He laughed. "No, you can't. You're a girl and girls can't be scary."
Roxie smacked him in the head. "Yes we can, you chauvinist jerk!"
He rubbed his head. "Ow! What does that mean?"
She grinned. "It's a shame you're too dumb to know."
Just then, Enid announced the moon was coming up. Everyone headed outside, transformed, and headed in different directions. Jake stayed with Roxie and Vince. They were very competitive, killing every small animal either of them came across. When they reached a a group of campers, they stood tentatively at the edge of the campsite, but when Jake bounded toward the group, Roxie followed. The two of them actually fought for a few kills. Roxie won one. Pete came and led Vince away, but just before the moon went down, Vince came back again. He and Roxie fought hard over a squirrel Vince caught and after Roxie got it and finished it off, they both collapsed.
Vince woke up the next morning and saw that Roxie was asleep and breathing evenly next to him. He also saw two spiders right by her head. He picked them up and put the larger of the two on her stomach and the smaller on her face. He watched with glee as the spider inched toward her open mouth. Then, just before it got in, she opened her eyes and sat up.
"Spider! Oh, icky! get it off, get it off, get it off!"
He burst out laughing. "There's another one on your stomach. Don't forget about him."
Roxie looked down and screamed again. She began scratching wildly, trying to get them off her and once they were on the ground, she ordered him to stomp on them.
"Why?" He asked. "They have just as much right to be out here as we do."
She frowned. "But I don't want to be out here! It's icky and cold and I'm not wearing any clothes." She noticed him watching her with a smirk on his face. "Do you mind? Look away. Look away!"
Vince rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll go see if I can find Uncle Pete." Roxie glared. "And try and find some clothes, too. You're absolutely disgusting."
But as he walked away, she got up, followed him, and shoved him headfirst into a nearby river.
"I hope you know how to swim!" She called, grabbing her clothes, which were by a tree, putting them on, and then sauntering away.
A few minutes after Roxie found Pete and Jake, Vince snuck up behind her. he was naked and covered in mud and river water. He grabbed her from behind, turned her around and kissed her once, quickly on the lips and let her go.
"Ewww!" She cried as he ran away and giggled wildly while he dressed. "Did you see, Uncle Jake? He kissed me and now I'm covered in dirt and boy cooties!"
Jake and Pete just looked at one another and laughed.
"Aren't they just cute together?" Jake asked Pete when he could get a breath.
"No we're not!" Roxie said quickly.
Vince looked up at her. "Technically, you've got mud on you cause it has water in it. It's only dirt if it's dry." He said, as if he hadn't heard Jake's remark.
Roxie scrubbed angrily at her dress and frowned at Vince. "Well techincally, I don't care."
Vince just grinned, rolled his eyes and walked away. Then everyone got in their cars and headed home.
When Jake got back with Roxie, Klaus asked him if Selina was with them too. Jake said that she had never been.
Roxie looked up at Klaus. "Is Mommy gone?"
Klaus nodded. "It looks like it."
