A/N: This isn't my favourite chapter ever, but it's a necessary one. I'll try and post the next one by tomorrow, anyway, thank you for the positive reviews again! I'm really glad you guys are liking it so far. Things are probably going to start picking up some pace after this chapter.

P.S Everything stated here should be taken as unoffensive. No fraternities were harmed in the making of this, or the next chapter.

Credits: This is written purely for fun, rights to all things Bloodlines related go to Richelle Mead. I have no affiliation with the author whatsoever.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Bark All You Want But Biting Won't Bode Well

That afternoon, Adrian and I had decided to stop by Shaggy's Seafood Shack again, in hopes to find Mark Hastings. I had this strong belief that Mark Hastings was the one who's voice had been cropped out of those tapes. After speaking to Kylie, the ex girlfriend again, I found out that she, Mark and Lee had all been in the same school and he'd held on to an one-sided love for her ever since. This provided Mark with a motive, a strong one. According to the tape, Mark had been threatening his so called best friend, too. He was possibly our guy.

I also wanted to know where Mark had been the night when Adrian and I were attacked. Mark hardly looked strong enough to take down a fly, he was lanky and didn't look like much. But I had learnt not to underestimate people's abilities. Perhaps he had martial arts skills nobody knew about. But there was always the possibility that Mark had a strong friend who was helping him for some reason. The second tape that Adrian had yielded wouldn't work because it had some kind of encryption on it that wouldn't allow us to access it. I'd decided I would be able to get it encoded but it would take some time and work.

I was sitting in my hotel room later and trying to gather more information on Mark. The guy wasn't as squeaky clean as I'd imagined. He had a knack for violence, he was once sent to Juvy because he beat up a kid from his neighborhood. He hadn't been lying about the comic convention though, he was part of several online gaming communities and was even president of some Star Trek role playing club. I frowned at my computer screen.

When I'd met Mark, I certainly hadn't pictured him to be our killer. Firstly, because despite having motive, he seemed too petty and sluggish to have carried out such a volatile murder. Still, it wasn't completely far-fetched. Apparently, he also had a history of rage issues and had visited an anger management facility when he was only fifteen years old. I was deep in thought when the sound of my phone ringing interrupted me again.

I was half expecting it to be Clarence Donohue with bad news. So I was taken aback when it turned out to be Jill Mastrano.

I picked up instantly, "Hey, Sydney. How's the case going? I spoke to Adrian this morning and he sounded really upset. Is everything okay? I was a little worried."

I rolled my eyes, I was aware of why Adrian was so morose, but it had nothing to do with the actual case. I restrained from giving too much away, "We had an…incident the night before, that's all. Things got quite rough. But not to worry, because I think we found a lead. I'll update you as promised when things start to stir."

Jill took a few seconds to register this before speaking again. "Alright, thank you. I totally appreciate you doing this for me, Sydney. And uh… I'm glad that things are starting to look up for my brother."

I was so relieved that Jill didn't question me further on the night's dismal incident or about Adrian's melancholy mood that I didn't understand what she was saying at first. I smiled slightly at her words, still secretly a little upset that Adrian hadn't mentioned her to me. After Jill had left me that morning, I had done my research just to make sure she wasn't lying. It turned out that his father really had remarried and Jill's record was spotless.
"It's no problem. I understand." I replied.

"And uh, Jill? A word of advice? More of a request, really. Stay away from Keith Darnell. Don't pick up any of his calls and make sure he can't track you down. I'll spare you the details, suffice to say he is bad news."

Jill's voice was strained,
"Well, are you sure? I mean, he's your partner. I thought he was trust-worthy."

Goosebumps etched at my skin.
"Jill, please tell me you didn't speak to him again."

Her response was timid, which was quite a contrast from Jill's usual chirpy behavior.
"He called me last night. He wanted to know if I was okay and if you were doing your job right. I told him that you'd been great, obviously. He told me that I should keep calling you to make sure things are going smoothly. He said that your superiors might interfere if things don't go well; and that I should warn you."

What on earth was Keith up to? Why would he need a teenage girl to do his bidding?
Did he have more spies on me?
Was he using Jill simply to make me feel uncomfortable?
Because if that was his aim, it was working.

Keith usually was the kind of guy who barked a lot but didn't dare bite. Now I wondered if I had been mistaken. "Please don't pick up any more of his calls, Jill."

"But he sounded worried about you!"

"Please, Jill. Just trust me on this and do as I say. Okay? He's a bad man, he has the ability to hurt you." After a little more chastising, I think Jill finally obliged.
"Alright. I get it. I'll talk to you later. Bye, Sydney!"
I already had enough to worry about, Keith Darnell adding himself to the swirling vortex of horror was just making things worse than they already were. I sighed, laying back in my computer chair and staring at the ceiling.

There was only one thing to do with dogs that barked, cut off their teeth.

xxxxx

"You have to let me handle Mark," Adrian's voice was hoarse.
"Most certainly not. Look, I understand you're pissed. I am too, but we have to handle this rationally. We can't let things become messy. You know what he is capable of." I rebuked.

It was late afternoon and Adrian and I had just reached the Seafood Shack. There was no mention of our little almost-kiss or the quarrel afterwards and I was grateful. I think we were both a little distracted by the cruelty and repulsion to digest anything else for the moment. I felt the queasiness kick in as soon as we set foot in the restaurant.

Adrian had guaranteed that Mark was usually on shift at this time, so naturally, it was disappointing when we found out he wasn't available. "Nope," The guy who was working Mark's shift shook his head. "He's been MIA since yesterday. He mentioned a family emergency and took the rest of the day off. Sorry."

Adrian smashed his fist on the table so hard that the bartender inched away. "That little rascal!"
"Relax," I tried to sound as comforting as I possibly could, despite being mad at him. I put a hand on top of his and peeled his arm off the counter.

The bartender regarded both of us quizzically, his eyes darting from Adrian to me simultaneously. He had blonde hair and sun-kissed skin, the guy looked more like a surfer than a bartender. He had a very good body, too, and I almost found him hot. It was funny how I seemed to be noticing every guy in the tri-state area except for my boyfriend Brayden. I pulled Adrian away from the counter and offered the cute bartender a half-hearted smile. "I'm sorry," I said, "He's got temper issues." Adrian got the message and sobered down a little after that. But just to show his agitation over my comment, he flashed me a quick scowl.

He sat down and ordered a drink for himself, I ordered myself a coffee too, since I knew Adrian would take a few minutes to come to terms with his anger or whatever turmoil he was now feeling.

"If it helps, I think Mark's going to this Frat party tonight. I could give you the deets."

I turned my head to my left and saw a girl with a brown pixie haircut sitting a chair away from us. She was sipping a martini. I frowned. I still thought it was a little early in the day to be drinking for anyone who wasn't going by the name Adrian Ivashkov. Also, I couldn't help but feel like I'd seen her before.

"That would be fantastic," Adrian cut in, facing her and raising a glass to convey his appreciation. "Thanks."

The girl smiled, I noticed her eyes were green (not as green as Adrian's of course.)
"No problemo. I think Marky's just messed up, I mean, considering what happened to his friend. Who wouldn't be, right? I would've checked myself into rehab if I were him." I smiled at her uneasily, still trying to place her somewhere. I was absolutely positive I'd seen this girl before.

The cute bartender nodded in approval. "I think he's just been through a lot."

If only you knew.

I almost felt like spitting out that Mark was a creep and most likely a killer, but I stayed quiet. Thankfully, Adrian did too. He smiled widely, his bad mood dissipated promptly. I would never be able to grip his ability to refashion his moods like that.

"Yeah, we just wanna be there for Good Ol' Marky, you know? Help him out during this terrible, terrible period of his life." I couldn't tell if he was being diplomatic or sarcastic, either way the discontent in his voice was still quite audible. Apparently, I was the only one to catch that. The girl nodded, "It's just horrible. No wonder Mark wanted to go visit his old friend's house. I think he's trying to connect with Lee on a spiritual level. It's sweet, really."

Something in my brain clicked. What did she just say?

"Wait a second, Mark went to Lee's house? When?"

The girl and the bartender exchanged a dismal look. "In the evening, the day-before yesterday, after his shift was over. It was the last time we saw him."

The bartender nodded again, "Yeah, he looked distraught."

Anger, apprehension and disgust all pulsed through me at once. I strived to keep up the calm, careless semblance. "I see." The words came out between gritted teeth."I'm Lilah by the way, and this is Foster." She smiled politely.

That's when I recognized her. She was Kylie's friend. We'd met extremely briefly at the nightclub when we'd gone to interrogate her about Lee.

"Hey. Aren't you Kylie's friend?" I questioned. Lilah grinned and shook her head yes. "Yup. Are you guys her friends or something?" I had to assume Lilah didn't recall our brisk acquaintance.

"Something like that." I nodded promptly. Adrian pinched me and I turned to him, fixing him with a steely glare. "What are you doing?" I whispered.
"Ask her about the frat party, I want to find Mark and screw his happiness."

I'd almost forgotten about that. Before I could pose the question, however, Lilah spoke up.
"I don't want to pry or anything. But are the two of you…involved?"

I thought about this. "Well, yes of course. We're here together, aren't we? I guess it depends on the form of involvance that you are referring to, though."

Lilah's blank face regarded me, but thankfully, Adrian saved me much embarrassment.
That's when it dawned on me that perhaps she meant involved as in together. Someday, I was going to learn to be better at this. "No, we aren't. Sorry about that, Sydney has social issues."

I didn't appreciate the jab, but I guess it was probably revenge for when I'd told Foster that Adrian possessed 'temper issues'. I didn't bother chastising him for it."Oh, I see." Was Lilah's only response.

Foster grabbed a wet towel and started to wipe the counter. "You're in luck. Lilah's totally repulsed by any PDAs. I think her church would dissaprove or something, if you two were together she'd probably be spewing holy water all over you guys." Adrian and I exchanged an uncomfortable glance.

"You make me sound like such a creep, Foster!" She groaned, and her cheeks turned bright red. "It's a form of abstinence, actually. It's just something my group doesn't approve of. But he's totally exaggerating about the PDA thing. To each their own."

Adrian regarded Lilah in a new light. "Are you asexual or something?" That earned him a slap on the arm from me and a laugh from Foster.
And I was the socially challenged one. "I thought so too, when I first met her." He muttered.

Lilah looked away, clearly flustered. Some unspoken communication occurred between her and Foster. Adrian flinched, accepting his mistake.
"Sorry, uh. You were telling us about this frat party?"

Apparently, Lilah possessed the same infrequent quality of turning on a dime like Adrian. Her face brightened up in an instant, you wouldn't have been able to tell she had been so distressed only a few seconds ago.

"Oh, yes! Hold on a second…" She began to sift through her purse and pulled out a colorful pamphlet and handed it to me. "Here you go, it's kind of an 'Open To All' thing. So I assume you don't have to be invited. Have fun, and good luck on finding Mark!"

After that, we thanked Lilah and Foster for their assistance and made our way towards Latte. Adrian was already getting feverish over our recent discovery.
"A party with free booze and we get to catch a killer!" He said chirpily, grinning all the way to the parking lot.

"Why do I have to keep going to these ridiculous social events?" I mumbled to myself.
Frat parties were by far the worst, they were just an amateurish excuse that immature boys had for getting girls to undress and get drunk so they could take advantage. A few days ago, I wouldn't have been caught dead at such a place. And now here I was, trudging off to just that. Adrian shoved the pamphlet in my hands, "Look at it. This is like paradise."

I did look at it. In colorful glitter cursive were the words
"Rad Party at Delta Kappa Beta! Free for all!" On the side of it was a cartoon beer glass and a penguin wearing a party hat. "What do you say, Sage?" Adrian remarked.

"I think it's the gateway to hell, and I don't want to keep looking directly at it."

I handed it back to Adrian as we finally located Latte. Adrian laughed, "You can be hilarious sometimes. You know that?"
I didn't bother responding, I was suddenly distracted by the sight that beheld me.

I couldn't help but notice the spectacular Z8 Roadster that was parked next to my car.
It was a rusted silver metallic and looked like heaven to me. Adrian noticed too, and whistled. "Hot wheels,"

I had plenty more to say about that particular BMW than that. It was a typical confluence of classic design and mordern engineering. I knew every detail there was to know about the car. The Z8 was made up of an aluminum space frame and housed a powerful 400-horsepower 4.9 liter V-8, which made it clear this car was made more for driving and not simply posing (though it sure looked good, even standing still!).

"You look like you're in love, Sage. Is that what it takes to get you to feel something?"

The taunt brought me back to my world of despair.
I groaned, "The car's a classic, Adrian. It was a sensation when it first arrived in 1999.
I'm just admiring a good thing. That's all."

When I was able to peel my eyes off the masterpiece car, we got into Latte and I began to drive, thankful for the details provided on the pamphlet. Adrian had grown very quiet on our way to the frat house, he kept staring out the window, in a world of his own.
I didn't dare speak, I was still upset about the taunt.

I sighed as I stared out the window and drove on, playing back everything that had happened in the past few days. I'd never imagined how drastically my life had changed over just a week, and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. Something about Adrian had reeled me in since the first time we'd spoken, and I still wasn't quite sure what it was. I mean sure, he was good-looking, charming, funny…But I also knew my limits very well. There was clearly a boundary line that I had crossed and if Keith, who was ever on my tail, found out, I could lose my job and a lot more to go with.

I could already see my father glaring at me with that harsh look of utter disappointment. I could picture the angry eyes of Donna Stanton who I'd finally gotten to praise me, I could imagine Zoe, my little sister, deciding that I wasn't her role model anymore.

The dismal thoughts took a turn when I glanced at Adrian, though. I wouldn't take it back, I realized. Even if I had the chance to go back in time and not go ahead with this case, I wouldn't have done it. I liked having him in my life. He was a unique person. Every sky was his own kind of blue. He was different than the other people I'd meant, confident, pure. He was staring at the window, the sunlight reflecting in his green eyes and making them dazzle like tiny emeralds. His mouth twisted in a sudden frown and he screamed, "Sydney! Taxi!"

It took me a second to realize what was happening and I swerved as quickly as I could, taking a sharp turn towards the right and dodging the incoming Taxi that I almost banged into.

Okay, Adrian is starting to muddle my thoughts and its borderline dangerous now.

Adrian sighed in relief and stared at me, "What was up with that?"
I kept my eyes on the road this time, "Sorry,"
"You were staring at me."
"I wasn't doing any such thing."

"Sage, I think it's time you stop lying to yourself."

A/N: A quick review would be oh, so appreciated! I really like hearing your thoughts on the story and what you'd like to see happen. You can always drop in ideas if you have any. My PM box is always open. :)

I LOVE YOU ALL.

xxx