Thanks so much for everyone's patience!!! I['m so sorry for the extra long wit. I've been slacking!!!Thanks so much for you wonderful reviews as well. In fact, I've been getting so many I can't really write out responses individually anymore. So I'm going for one great big thank you for everyone! I hope to see you reviews for this next update, and I hope I get it up soon!!

I was only half asleep when an unexpected amount of weight crash landed on my stomach. "Ugh!" I cried out and lashed out instinctively. My arm collided with a soft and furry mass and flung said mass off of me. An agitated growl sounded off, and I immediately gasped and flipped on the lamp.

"Oh Thursday baby! I'm so sorry!" I cried, and dropped to the floor to bring solace to the offended feline. "I'm sorry kitty! Thank Jesus you're okay!" I flooded him with apologetic kisses and scratched his chin.

After a few moments of my pathetic groveling, he seemed to forgive me, and promptly jumped back up onto the bed, and curled up beside Marko, who lay sound asleep. I sighed and leaned back against the side of the bed, when I suddenly got a whiff of myself. I grimaced.

"Needa shower." I mutter and pulled myself up. I shuffled around in my drawers and pulled out a fresh shirt and jeans and plodded to the showers. After a good half hour, I

found myself to smell presentable and dried off. I looked down at my bandage that I had tried so hard to keep dry. The cloth was stained an ugly dark red, and I wondered what the actual wound looked like. As tempted as I was so unwrap myself, I didn't for fear of reopening the wound. I dressed.

As soon as I had buttoned up my jeans I heard a shuffle outside the door. Well, it was either the animal or Thursday. I opened the door to find Marko leaning back against the wall, the usual grin plastered to his face.

"Feeling pretty now?" he teased.

"Please," I scoffed. "I'm always pretty." I looked down the long hall in search for Thursday. "The cat didn't leave, did he?"

"You mean that cat?" Marko said, pointing in the opposite direction. Thursday lounged on a window sill, clawing at the wooden beams that boarded up the glass.

I turned. "Oh, right." I approached him and scratched his ears "Hey baby." I said and leaned in to kiss his furry head.

"Cat Lady." I heard Marko mumble, and I stuck my tongue out at him. "We're not uh, taking that thing with us are we?"

I raised a brow. "That's the whole reason I ended up here in the first place."

He wrinkled his nose a bit. "I don't think that'll work."

"And why not?" I inquired. "He's just a cat."

"First off, David's not a cat person. There's a snowball's chance in hell he'd actually consider it. Secondly we can't take it back on our bikes. It'd be a huge hassle."

My face fell as I realized he was right. I look at my feet, as I searched for some sort of solution. Would Sam take him in, maybe? What if I- Wait… Sam! Shit, I forgot about Sam!

Marko sensed my sudden distress. "What is it?"

I looked up. "Last night, I wasn't here alone." I confessed.

"Uh, yeah, that cop who shot you, I remember."

I waved him off. "No, no, a was with a boy. Michael's little brother Sam."

Marko shifted and crossed his arms. "Why was he here with you?" he said darkly. I saw his jaw set tight. Was he jealous?

"He was helping me out."

"Yeah, he did a great job too." Marko snorted. "I mean really, great friend you've got."

"Shut up, you don't know what happened." I snapped. "Look, I have to go and let him know I'm alright."

"Why can't you just have Michael play messenger-boy and tell him instead of you?"

"I don't want him to know I nearly got Sam killed. Besides, I want to see if he'll take care of Thursday for me." I shuffled close to him and stared up pleadingly. "Please? Help a

cripple out, here."

He stared back, unblinkingly as I continued to pout. Finally, he caved. "Fine. I'll take you." he grumbled. "But on one condition."

I nodded. "I'm listening."

"Tonight, we want to officially welcome you into the family." He said, a sly grin began to spread. "It's simple really. All you have to do is drink some wine, and you're in. Promise me you'll drink it."

"You'll take me to see Sam?"

"Yes."

"I'll drink it." I grinned and wrapped my good arm around his neck, pulling him into a hug. "Let's go then."

Marko scooped up the cat and walked me outside. It was dark out, of course, save for the Santa Carla rooftops which were flooded with lights. It took a while to get to Sam's house, since I had to stop a few times to rest. Well I had been shot after all. We stood outside the gate and looked at the house. Several windows were lit up, though I couldn't see anyone moving around inside.

"Stay here and hold the cat." I commanded, and opened the gate. I was only a few feet from the porch when the front door suddenly opened and from it emerged Sam's mother.

Her kindly face lit up at the sight of me. "Oh, Rosie! What a surprise. How are you?"

I smiled. "I'm great Mrs. Emerson. Is Sam at home right now?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry dear, Sam's not here right now. In fact, I think he went out looking for you. You could try looking for him at that comic book store he spends so much time in."

Edgar and Alan's comic store? Fabulous. "Thank you ma'am. I'll do just that. Good bye!"

I ran back to Marko, who was hanging back stealthily and out of sight. "Not home, huh?" he said, holding the cat in his arms and stroking it's fur. He looked like a Bond villain.

"Yeah, he's probably in town. I think I know where, though."

"I thought you said I'd have to take you to is house." he sighed irritably.

"No." I corrected him. "I said we'd have to find Sam. That was the deal. Now move your ass, we've got some ground to cover."

Heading downtown took less time than expected, though it was really wearing me out. We received a few odd glances from some old folks for reasons I suspect had something to do with us holding the cat. But of course, we ignored them. We began to near the store when Marko suddenly stopped short and announced that he would be staying outside with Thursday. I didn't question it.

I shuffled a bit closer and spotted Sam right off. He was facing the Frog's, his hand stuffed in his pockets. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but the Frog's expressions were deadpan. Well actually, that wasn't new. I couldn't tell what they were thinking.

Edgar's eyes flicked up and caught me staring. Sam and Alan followed his gaze and they both turned. Sam's face lit up. "Evie!" he gasped and he scrambled towards me. "Where the hell did you go? I though you died or something!" I tried to answer but the Frogs drew in closer as well and my throat closed up. Sam had my trust, but did I have theirs too?

"Evie? What the hell happened to your hair?" Alan asked, his head tilted a bit in confusion.

"Better question, what happened to your arm?" Edgar cut in.

"You know what? Too many questions from all of you. Get out of the line." I said, hoping my little joke would throw them off. I was wrong.

"Evie, you owe me this." Sam said. "And I think if you told them too, they might be able to help you."

"Are you plagued by vampires?" Edgar asked abruptly.

I glared at him. "No." Idiot.

"Then we can still help." he finished

I sighed. "I don't have time to explain everything, so Sam will have to fill you in, okay?" They agreed. "First off, I'm really sorry about last night. The intruder ended up catching me and he kind of… shot… me." I murmured the last few words, hoping I wouldn't alarm anyone.

All three appeared shocked. "What?" Sam hissed "Are you serious?"

'"Yes Sam I'm-" I sighed, interrupting myself. "Look, I'm still alive, okay? The point is, I really need a favor."

"Go on." Sam said.

"Alright good news is, I found my cat!" I smiled brightly. "The bad news is, I can't take him with me." The smile faded. "And I want you to take care of him for me."

Sam bit his lip. "Nanook hates cats. I don't think I can do that. I'm really sorry Evie."

I ran a hand through my hair. "Damn it…" I growled. "I forgot you had a dog."

Edgar and Alan exchanged glances. "We don't have a dog." Alan said.

I raised a brow. "…Are you saying what I think you are?"

"We'll take the cat in." Edgar offered.

I gasped in delight. "Oh my god, thank you so much!" My excitement overwhelmed me and I launched myself at the Frogs, briefly planting a kiss on both. "You don't know what this means to me!"

The brothers, both surprised by my little ambush glanced away, trying to appear casual. I snorted. Virgins.

"Stay right here, I'll go get him." I darted out to Marko who stood exactly where I left him. "Cat please!" I grinned and held my arm out. "C'mon hand him over."

To my amazement he seemed almost reluctant to give up Thursday. Seems that they'd bonded during my short absence. I balanced him with my good arm and walked him back to the Frogs.

"This," I grunted, letting Edgar pick him up "is Thursday. He'll eat anything. Really, just look at him. He's a fatty."

I realized I could no longer waste anymore time, and Marko was waiting for me. I said several flustered 'thank you's' and 'goodbyes' and departed immediately.

I broke into a run and caught up to Marko. "Are you done now?" he said. "David is waiting."

We finally arrived back at the asylum a few moments later. Marko and I climbed on top of his motorcycle and sped off. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a chorus of "Evie!" Dinah seemed to apparate from nowhere and crush my torso with a steely hug.

"Where did you go!" she cried into my shirt, "I thought you left me too!"

Guilt sat in my stomach like lead. I felt so awful for worrying her so much. "I'm so sorry!" I apologized and returned the hug. "I would never hurt you like that. Ever." I looked up to find the boys staring uncomfortably at our tearful reunion. "What?" I snapped "Never heard of love before?"

Dwayne snorted and messed with my hair. "Ugh. Welcome back Ee-vee."

After a brief moment to settle in, David called Dinah and I out. Begrudgingly, we plodded over, growing suspicious of the fox-like smiles plastered to the Boy's faces. My eyes narrowed. "What now?" I glanced over at Star. She stood in a corner hugging her shawl tighter, and tighter, her already pale face slipping into an impossible shade of white.

Then David stepped forward wielding a dark wine bottle. The glow of the fire was caught in his white-blonde hair, and glinted off his dangerous ice blue eyes as he extended his arm to offer me the bottle. "Evie, you're one of us, right?"

Something about David's voice set off an alarm in my head. There was an underlying threat, a hidden secret that only David knew of. My fingers twitched. I swallowed. "You have to ask?"

He smirked. "I like you Evie. We all do. But I've already told you that." He raised the bottle a bit higher. "Just think of it as… initiation. Join the dark side Evie, we have cookies."

Star appeared beside me, looking wholly anxious and frightened. "You don't have to do this." she rasped, uncharacteristically. "You shouldn't. Please."

Marko suddenly coughed, and I glared at him. I had to drink it, or he'd never get off my case. Never. Ignoring Star and hating myself entirely, I took the bottle from the menacing blonde and took a swig. The liquid was oddly sweet, but it had an underlying rusty and metallic taste, like copper. I coughed, and the cave was suddenly filled with cheers. I didn't fully appreciate their excitement, not bothering to find it as such a big deal.

I stood there, deadpan and statue still until their rapture died down and the stood staring directly at me, puzzled by my indifference. I cleared my throat. "Yes, well, this was super and all, but I just got shot yesterday and I need to lie down. I'm sure you understand."

I turned and started to shuffle back to bed when David spoke, announcing how close sunrise was upon us. The Boys proceeded to shuffle into their dark, dank side of the cave,

leaving Star and the kids with me to our own beds. We climbed in and drifted off to sleep, awaiting the next night with anticipation.

A/N If I tell you I love you, will you review for me?