Chapter 9

Fight Night

He was right. I was only on the second floor and it was completely littered with empty plastic cups, beer bottles and various passed out students. Being careful to step over the unconscious bodies, I went farther down the hall. In all honesty, I didn't even know what I was looking for at that point. I mean, I know what the scent is now. I guess I still don't know just how many were causing it. There was no real way of telling. Any one of these drunkees could be a leech or just covered in their smell. But I guess something will tip me off. My body jerked at the feeling of a warm hand wrapping itself around my wrist. Of course, it wasn't just any hand. Seriously, he would have to stop touching me if he wasn't going to leave his girlfriend because this was really starting to make me jumpy. He spun me around.

"You shouldn't be up here by yourself," he stated.

"I'm not. You're here along with all of these lively folks at my feet. I'm perfectly fine."

He leaned close to me and tilted his head so that his nose brushed against my neck. My chest started heaving uncontrollably. I shifted awkwardly. I think I even felt a few beads of sweat pop up on the back of my neck. His sharp intake and exhale ruffled my hair and he pulled back. I was staring at him with unconsciously anxious eyes and an open mouth. His face was stone as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You've been around one of them, haven't you?"

"Y-yeah" – I cleared my throat and tried to get rid of the huge lump that was suffocating me. – "I ran into one. No big deal."

He turned around with his hand still on my wrist and started leading me downstairs. I just didn't have it in me to fight back when his skin was burning mine in such an oddly comfortable way. And, you know, I'm pretty sure that he smiled. In fact, I'm really sure that I saw a smile. But why wouldn't he? He just discovered another effect that he has on me. GAH! He could possibly make me do anything that he wanted…yay! The cool air ripped me away from my thoughts and I was amazingly grateful for that. I didn't want to concentrate on this freaky imprinting mind control.

"You can let go of me now. I'm not some dog on a leash."

Okay, maybe not the best choice of words, but he did as I asked without looking at me. I crossed my arms as we started walking side by side on the sidewalk along the edge of the house. I don't think that you could imagine the insane tension and awkwardness. I was dying to ask him tons of questions, but I just couldn't get past my more stubborn side for some reason.

"So…do you know anyone here?" I asked. We had just reached the grass and the blades felt nice and cold between my toes. We both kept looking straight ahead.

"I think Erin might come by later if she isn't already here. I don't know what it is with her. It's just like she has some radar in her brain that picks up every hot spot in the local area. It's crazy."

I sighed without really meaning to. Erin wasn't exactly my favorite topic, but hey, whatever makes him happy.

I shuffled my feet. "So you're going to be on the lookout for her tonight?"

"Well, knowing Erin, I doubt that finding her will be that hard of a thing to do."

"Yeah, I bet." One of the positives of Keith being blind is that he couldn't see me roll my eyes just then.

"What about Dominic? How is he holding up?" he asked.

"He's probably passed out somewhere or throwing up."

"And you're okay with that?" He sounded surprised.

"I can't do anything to stop him. I mean physically I could, but he's pissed enough at me as it is."

"So he saw you with Jared?"

"We all know that he did. He was jealous enough already. And it doesn't exactly help that I can't explain this whole wolf thing."

My nostrils flared suddenly as a delectable smell hit me. Yelling was coming from a few yards ahead of us. With the way that that crowd was moving around and bunching up, it couldn't be anything other than a fight. I ignored the sound of Keith calling my name and silently walked closer. At that moment, the human portion of my brain shut itself off. The wolf was out now.

I needed it. Everything in me was screaming that I had to have it…whatever it was. Who was I kidding? I didn't want to admit it, but I knew exactly what it was. Someone in that fight was bleeding and the scent coming off of all of it plus the adrenaline and testosterone made it simply irresistible. Before I could stop myself, I was running. Surely the humans couldn't see me and I wouldn't kill them. I just needed a taste. All I needed to do was separate the fight and then get the bleeder away from the crowd. Before I could comprehend what was going on, I crashed into a tan brick wall. Well, I guess the wall really crashed into me.

Strong arms constricted around me and the cold burning was back. My feet were lifted off of the ground and my face was buried in Keith's neck. No! Why wouldn't he let me have it? I struggled and screamed.

"LET ME GO DAMNIT! PLEASE!"

He kept walking farther and farther away from my temptation. I wanted it so bad to the point that I was begging and crying for freedom. My arms were useless with the way that he had them glued to my sides, and thrashing my legs around wasn't helping me either. My only option…was my teeth. I bit his shoulder meaning only to shock him into dropping me, but instead ended up drawing blood. He cringed and gasped involuntarily. That sound was enough to snap me halfway back to reality, but not enough to make me stop at that very moment. The wound was deep but the blood was flowing slowly and tasted incredible! My mind and my mouth wanted me to keep going, but something in the rest of my body just wouldn't let me. I went through what felt like a quick seizure as something flashed in my mind and nearly blinded me from the real world. I couldn't process the image but it's like it was telling my body what to do and I had no choice but to do what it said. I licked the drops of blood that I could reach and then the wound that I had caused. I slid my tongue across it one last time and pulled back to see it actually healing.

Keith's head turned in my direction as he struggled to look at it. I started hyperventilating. What did I just do? He stopped back near the pool and close to where we had started our walk. The chlorine helped to clear my head.

"I-I'm so-"

He shushed me gently, just barely loosening his grip.

"It's okay. You didn't know what you were doing, relax," he whispered, causing me to do just that almost instantly. He sat down on one of the pool chairs and sat me on his lap. I looked at the simple scar that used to be the deep gash that I had made with my teeth. I pressed my hand to it and bit my lip, ashamed. I'm supposed to be his soulmate, but I just hurt him. With the way I had just freaked out, I could've drained him right then and there. I shuddered at the thought and on came the wheezing waterworks. He held me tighter and put his chin on the top of my head.

"I'm so sorry." I breathed.

"Like I said, it's fine. Kel has done way worse and he definitely never cleaned up afterwards like you just did."

"What is wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you. You're still new."

"Bull shit. I'm just as bad as him." And by him, of course, we both knew that I was referring to Jared.

"You're nothing like him. This was your first real time having to deal with something like that."

"I could've killed someone…. I could've killed you."

His lips pulled back in a smile against my hair. "I hope you don't think that I honestly would've gone down that easily."

He pushed me up with his chest so that I could see him. I smiled.

"I don't know. I was pretty rough just now. I don't think that you could handle that."

"Oh really now?"

I sat farther up and crossed my arms. "No I don't."

He laughed before his face suddenly went blank. He was focusing on something and whatever that something was it had his full attention.

"Aw shit," he murmured.

"What?"

"Stand up."

I slid off of his lap. "What is it?"

"Erin's here. I don't know how long she's been here, but apparently long enough to throw a couple back."

He looked around for a second and finally turned in the direction that he had just dragged me away from.

"So, I'm guessing that that's a bad thing?"

"It's a really bad thing. Can you seriously not hear her?"

I stared at my feet and crossed my arms. "I think you forget the fact that even though I've been in your head, I've never met her. I wouldn't recognize her voice either way."

Besides, I have enough things on my mind without having to worry about his alcoholic girlfriend. I was still reeling from the taste of his blood that was still lingering in my mouth.

"You up for an intervention tonight? I might need backup."

I stared at him. His body was turned toward me just enough that I could understand him. To be honest, I didn't really expect him to invite me. He had been so cold in the past few days that this entire night had felt like a dream, at least some of the parts that he was involved in anyway. The rest was a nightmare. Nervously, I looked back down and tried to listen for any signs of the fight. It seemed like the atmosphere was back to normal, but for this party that could mean anything.

"Do you think it's over?" I asked finally.

"What?"

"You know, the fight that was going on before."

"I seriously doubt that you're going to freak out like that twice in one night."

Yeah, well he wasn't in my head when it all happened. I couldn't help but to stare at his scar. I don't have this insane control over myself like they all seem to have. And they're guys. Aren't I supposed to be the sensible one?

"I wouldn't bet on that."

"Look, if anything happens, I've got you. And by the conversations going on over there, I don't think that those guys are even still here. The bar is just around the corner."

"Fine, okay."

And there we were yet again walking side by side in the grass. I wrapped my arms tighter around myself as we got closer to where the fight had been. I ran my tongue over my lips trying to get rid of the last bits of evidence. All the while, the irritating feeling of being watched crept over me as Keith and I kept going. Were we really that different that these people were sincerely intrigued by us? It was awkward to think of how nature intended for us to use this discovery. We are born hunters who disguise themselves as protectors. If it weren't for Keith, I probably would've killed a number of those guys, not just the one who was bleeding.

The mixed scents were faint but got stronger with each step that we took. And with every said step, my breaths grew shorter, quicker and louder. And of course, Keith was aware of all of this the entire way. Apparently bourbon was a big drink at this party. The plastic cups were all full of it.

"Keith! Baby! Hi!"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind of who Erin was now. Call me biased but she looked prettier in his mind. She was a short brunette with big brown eyes, a bit of acne and short, messy hair. The bikini that she was wearing honestly made me feel sorry for her. She looked unhealthily skinny as her ribs showed clearly through her pale skin and her hipbones looked like they were about to pop through. She ran over and jumped on Keith, kissing him sloppily on the mouth. That definitely made one of the top ten images that I never needed to see in a lifetime. I stepped back feeling nauseous, depressed, pissed off, and awkward all at the same time. Keith grunted and set her back on the ground. She turned to me and scowled.

Okay, either this chick was bipolar or she just really didn't like me.

"Who's this, Keith?" she asked, folding her arms and shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She was making it harder and harder for me to keep myself from killing her. If it weren't for the fact that it would hurt Keith and I would most likely never be able to forgive myself, her scrawny little face would be all over this place by now. I crossed my arms right back at her.

"You know, you could just ask me. I am standing right here…beside your boyfriend."

"I've noticed. Care to explain?"

"Care to explain why I have to explain to a stranger why I'm taking an innocent walk with a friend?"

"I believe that you do when that stranger is your friend's girlfriend."

"Well I'm thinking that that stranger isn't too much of a girlfriend if I'm the one here with her boyfriend while she's off getting wasted."

She started bouncing on her heels and I smiled sweetly. It fascinated me that during all of this, she didn't spill a single drop of whatever strong drink was in her cup.

"Okay, are you trying to start something with me tonight, bitch?" she asked me. I glanced up at Keith and he was looking around at everything but the two girls standing a foot in front of him. Oh, so he picks now to play the innocent blind boy.

I kept my smile and scratched my nose. "Trust me babe, you have no idea of just how much of a bitch I can be. But go ahead. Hit me. It would truly make my night."

Keith picked then to step in and hold his girlfriend back. For someone so small, she had a lot of fight in her and that's saying a lot considering that I'm barely over five feet myself. Her brittle nails were centimeters from my face and I just stared at her with a cocked eyebrow. My guess would be that this isn't the first time that she's gotten into a fight at a party. About a third of her nails looked like they had come fresh from a nail salon whereas the rest were broken, misshapen, and a bit red. Jeez, was this what I looked like when the whole blood accident had happened? I bet these people are really starting to see Keith as a bodyguard or something. He's basically done nothing but hold screaming girls. Of course, considering our fits, he's probably the only guy (not counting the rest of the pack) who could really do the job properly.

Keith was glaring at me, but all I could do was smile. There was no question as to who would win the fight. He knew just as well as I did that if we did get into it then one of us would end up dead. And if she bled, then our not-so-little secret would most likely get out.

"Why don't you go find Damon or...somebody?"

I shrugged and ran my nail along the top of his chest and down his arm just to piss her off a bit more. To my surprise, he shivered and that really added to it.

"JUST WAIT 'TILL HE LETS ME GO, SLUT! THIS ISN'T OVER!"

Ha, she'll probably forget all about this within the next ten minutes. Either way, she won't remember by morning. Oh gosh, I'm a bad cousin. I really did lose track of all of them. Surely they're old enough to not get laid, hammered, or high…right? I was feeling better and better about leaving Josh at home by the second. I started scanning the area. Okay, let's see. Brice and Kel were talking to a pair of giggling twins. There was definitely a post-it note in my brain to check back on that later. Damon was off playing basketball with some guys on the basketball court near the pool and tennis court. It was really starting to dawn on me that this place was freakishly massive. But why shouldn't it be, it's run by nothing but vampires who've had centuries to make money. Lucky bastards.

There was nothing outside to hold my attention, so of course, I went to where I knew I shouldn't be. I went back into the mansion. Without even meaning to, I found myself on the second floor yet again. It was still just as cluttered, but something about it just made me stay. My curiosity was getting the best of me and there was no way that I could leave without figuring out what I was supposed to know. To my surprise, Lance was sitting at the bottom of a staircase leaning back and thinking. Tiredly, I plopped down beside him.

"Hey. How goes the hunt?" he asked playfully.

"I'll tell you if I find out."

"That boyfriend of yours, was he wearing black shorts?"

I cocked my head to the side. I don't like where this is going. "Yeah…"

"Is he kind of tall with-"

"What are you trying to tell me Lance?"

"Don't lose it…but I think he just went into that room with some girl...and she smelled like a vamp."

I growled and had the door open in the blink of an eye. I didn't have to turn on a light and I didn't have to ask who it was or who he was with. Well, I didn't know the name of who she was but the bloodsucker's scent clouded the room. I grabbed my boyfriend by the neck off of the leech that he was on top of and threw him on the floor. I found his shorts and threw them at him.

"What the hell?"

Oh yeah, that should definitely be the first thing that comes out of his mouth when I catch him in bed with someone else. I mean really, I leave him alone for barely an hour and suddenly he's having what damn well better be a drunken one night stand.

"Get out of here, Dominic," I murmured through gritted teeth. Sure, I was beyond pissed at him but this whore that was still on the bed definitely didn't make my mood any better. He scrambled across the room and found the light switch. He stared between the girl who had just found her bikini top and his current girlfriend. I was the one that he glared at. Just by looking at the way he was standing, I can definitely say that he was way past his limit. I wasn't sure if he could he even find the knob.

"Chanelle," he burped, "this has nothing to do with you."

I rolled my eyes and shoved him out the door. Their scent hit me as I slammed it behind him. He smelled like her! There was no way that his keys were on him so hopefully someone out there could take care of him. Or at least that was what the compassionate part of my brain was thinking, but every other part of me was hoping that he falls down those stairs on his way out. I turned back to the vampire who had just tried to sleep with my boyfriend. She was your cliché blonde hair blue-eyed girl with flawless skin and Hollywood's definition of a perfect shape. Now, in all honesty, I choose not to hate people, but just standing here looking at her made me want to change my mind about that. She stood up on the bed and bounced slightly.

"So dog…I guess you're pretty mad but you shouldn't be. I didn't sleep with that boy out of pleasure. I just needed a little drink for the day and I would say that he was a pretty good pick."

She had the voice of a hyperactive thirteen year old and the personality to match. She smiled at me playfully and hopped onto the floor. My lips pulled back over my teeth flauntingly displaying my fangs.

"You drank from my boyfriend?" I asked. She giggled and took a step closer to me.

She shrugged. "I did and he wasn't too bad in the sack either."

That was it. My self-control was almost completely gone. The last bit that I had was for keeping myself from changing. It took me less than a second to clear the small amount of space between us. I held her by her throat against the wall above the headrest and she let out a quick squeak the second that her head hit. It was clear that she had only been surprised though, not hurt, not yet at least. A fight was what she was hoping for tonight and I considered that as I punched her repeatedly in that perfect little jaw of hers. She caught my hand sometime around the seventh hit and shoved me leaving me to bounce once before falling to the floor near the bedposts. She stood above me.

"You should know that with all of the noise you're making, we're going to have company soon."

She was right. I could actually smell the hormones racing downstairs and people would start to wonder about the fight that they weren't seeing. Her foot collided with my side just above the damage that had just healed from when I had dealt with her 'brother' earlier. My jaw snapped together loudly and I yanked her down by her foot. She caught herself and jumped back up. She grabbed me and slammed me into the wall. The sound was just as loud and I was too pissed to pay attention to any pain that I should have been feeling. The door flew open and it was filled with nothing but guys.

I grabbed her by her shoulders while she was still staring at the door and forced her to the floor to let my frustration out on her jaw yet again…and her nose…and her eyes. The crowd behind us was screaming at the chick fight of the century which completely drowned out the sound of the people who had just walked into the room. The leech was trying to claw at my face by the time that I was picked up for what felt like the millionth time that night. Sadly, I didn't have to turn around to know that it wasn't Keith. It was Damon. The blonde and I were still trying to get at each other, but she was being held back by the southern vamp that I had run into earlier. He winked at me and I struggled even harder.

Damon tightened his grip and I calmed down enough to realize what it was that I was looking at. Across from us was one…three…six vampires including Jared. The crowd was silent as the tension filled the area. I shot them a deadly glare from my position in the bear hug that I was prisoner to and they scattered leaving the vampires and werewolves to talk freely.

"Put me down," I said. My poor waist had already taken a beating today and this was not helping it. Jared stepped up and Damon ignored me.

"What's your business here?" Damon asked, tightening his grip again when I tried to wiggle to the floor. UGH!

"Survival…is that so wrong?"

I rolled my eyes at Jared's comment and looked around. Where the hell is Keith? Was taking care of his drunk girlfriend really more important than this? As this angry thought progressed into a full out rant in my brain, I scanned my eyes over the leeches. There was a black-haired girl and boy, but it was the boy that held my attention. He sat on the bed looking everything but interested. There was just something about the way that he sat and messed with his long hair that seemed familiar. I tried my hardest to put a name with this perfect face. His eyes were a beautiful light brown and he was wearing nothing but a pair of red shorts.

His black hair stretched nearly halfway down his back. We shared the same skin tone and that made him seem even more familiar. And then it hit me. Tears stung the back of my eyes but there was no way that I was going to let them fall.

"Koda?" I whispered. His head turned in my direction at the sound of his name and he stared without blinking a single time.

"C?"

I nodded to the point that I thought that I was going to knock my own head right off of my shoulders. Everyone was staring at us. I guess they had still been talking. Oh well. They didn't matter to me right now. I pried at Damon's fingers until he finally dropped me, and ran over to my best friend. I crashed into him harder than I would have if I was still human, but he was strong enough now to handle it. The bed on the other hand squealed in protest. Don't get me wrong, I was insanely happy to see him, but that happiness changed unbelievably quick as his stench eventually started to choke me and the chill of his skin started to burn me. I pulled my arms away from him and slid to the opposite bedpost. He understood and looked down.

"You changed him?" I growled at Jared. And in true Jared fashion, he simply smiled at me.

"I'm sure you'll understand how easy it was for poor Christina here to get a tad bit carried away."

I glanced at the black-haired girl that he had gestured to and her green eyes went everywhere but anywhere near me.

"I doubt that anyone in your pack knows that better than you," he whispered. My eyes shot back to him. It's like they were purposely trying to get me to go against my 'hate is a strong word' policy. There was no way that he knew about what I had done to Keith earlier. I suddenly felt conscious of the redness of my lips. But how could Jared possibly know? He had been nowhere near us. Thinking about that reminded me of our time in the pool when I had first gotten here tonight. He wasn't wearing the towel anymore and the holes that had been there were nothing more than scratches. At that point, walking away was all that I could do to keep myself from starting a war in that rather large room. People watched me as I passed and whispered but why should that matter to me? They were probably just hoping that I get into another fight tonight. I was hopping down the stairs and with a breeze, I was blocked.

"What happened to you, Koda? You just disappeared last summer," I asked, pushing past him and leading him outside. The smell of the house in itself was starting to give me a headache and I was in serious need of air. I watched my best friend. He was taller than I remember and definitely more muscular.

"My mom got a new job and we had to pack up and go."

"You couldn't have called?"

He sighed and started kicking up grass. "I was going to, but some stuff happened before then. Do you remember the Sampson Blow-Out Bash on the last day of school last year?"

"Of course I do. We went together but you-"

"You left before I did. You were always the good girl at those parties, the designated driver," he whispered with a shy smile.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I was talking to this girl. We danced and then we ended up in one of the rooms upstairs…and now…here we are."

I pulled him down beside me on an empty bench away from the bar. "How are you handling the, you know?" I let the question hang there.

"The cravings?"

I nodded. He smiled sadly and ran his hands through his hair. His braces were gone.

"I was a monster for the first couple of months." – He let his head hang. –"I killed people, C. You know the routine. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, but Christina helped me. She took full responsibility for me and kept tabs on me until I got used to everything."

He brought his head back up and his eyes nearly broke my heart. They were just so sad! I think I actually shed a tear or two.

"You hate me now, don't you?" he asked when I didn't say anything. How could I possibly hate him? I almost killed a few times tonight myself and if it weren't for Keith I just might have.

"No. It's just a lot to take in."

"So what about you?"

He had perked up a bit and I was thankful for it.

"Oh, you know, I just found out that wolf runs in my family and that it hit my generation."

He laughed at my tone but stopped when he realized that I was being serious. "Oh…I was wondering what that smell was."

"So you're not surprised?"

He smiled playfully. "I'm a vampire. Are you seriously asking me that question? Besides, I saw you wailing on 'Selle. It was pretty obvious that either you've been working out a hella lot since I left, or you're not human anymore."

"Good point. Wait, 'Selle?"

"Oh, sorry, her name's Giselle. You know, the blonde chick that you beat the shit out of?"

Yep, he still loved himself a good girl fight. Sadly, I didn't have the chance to fully appreciate that fact. My ears twitched and I sighed. Keith and his girlfriend were in the pool and she was still loud and drunk.

"Someone I should know about it?" he asked. Great, I had been caught staring yet again. I leaned forward and smiled at Koda.

"It's complicated."

"Well, I've literally got all the time in the world, so I think I can handle a story." He grinned, but I still wasn't used to the whole vampire thing.

"His name is Keith."

"And what's so special about him?"

"I'm kind of in love with him against my will."

His confusion made me laugh. "Can we take a walk? This is going to take a while and it makes me a bit restless."

"Sure. There's definitely enough space around here. I can take you to my favorite spot."

He grabbed my hand and yanked me up. My best friend was back.