I was dead silent in the janitor's closet, not moving an inch or making a sound as students hustled past me, my presence undetectable. I could smell him before he even got around the corner. It made my stomach turn, hate boiling in the pit of my stomach as I thought about Sam laying dead in the sand. One….Two…

"Morning." I hissed with mock cheer, whirling out from my hiding spot and grabbing the collar of the boy's shirt, slamming him against the lockers so hard they dented.

"What th-Kitty?"

"Miss me?" I challenged, Eli looking beyond fearful. Not good enough. I wanted him terrified.

"What the Hell are you-"

"Don't you dare," I growled, shoving him deeper into the metal, my face inches away from his. I could smell his anxiety. "I'm going to say this ONCE. ONE time, Eli, and if you're stupid enough to ignore the message, you'll die alongside the rest of your friends, clear?"

Eli nodded, wide-eyed.

"Good. I need your help." I shoved off of him, taking a few steps back so he could readjust himself.

"Anything you want." He breezed quickly, staring at me.

"You're going to switch sides."

"Switch sides? What are you-"

"Don't!" I yelled again, shoving him once more. "I know exactly what you are."

Eli's face went pale white, his jaw clenching as he balled his hands into fists.

"What am I then?"

"You mean besides a murderer?"

"I've never killed anybody-"

"Sam?" I challenged, whirling on him. Again, Eli fell silent, his pathetic state only making me more and more sick to my stomach. My chest fell slightly at the sound of his name in the air. Eli ran a hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I didn't kill your brother, Kitty."

"I know. I saw who did. I watched."

"You didn't," Eli shot, his eyes wide and fearful. I nodded, backing away slightly and leaning against the lockers across from him exhaustedly. "I-..Kitty, you have….God dammit!" He yelled, whirling and shoving his fist all the way through the locker, the skin splitting slightly at his wrist.

I squeezed my eyes shut immediately, pulling my shirt off from underneath my hoodie and ripping off a small sliver, grabbing him and wrapping it around the wound. Eli watched me silently, shaking his head in disgust with himself.

"You should kill me." He whispered.

"Probably," I agreed softly, stunned at my own response. "But I need you."

"Whatever you want, you can have it."

"See I'm not so sure about that," I stated, dropping his arm and putting my hands on my hips. Eli gave me a confused look. "There's a lot of questions I have that you need to answer as clearly and honestly as possible alright?"

"Of course."

"What is this?" I asked, turning my back to him and pulling down my hood, revealing the splash of freckles splayed out on the back of my neck. Eli fell into a dream like haze, brushing his fingers over the patch, and as he did I shuddered involuntarily, heat shooting down my spine before I jerked myself away, eying him warily.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" He asked blankly, staring up at him.

"What the Hell did you do to me?"

"I didn't do anything."

"Really? Because this mark thing wasn't here two months ago, alright? Everything started when you decided to go ape-shit."

"Everything started when you shifted, Kitty."

"I didn't SHIFT, I HAD A NUCLEAR MELTDOWN."

"Which is why you went from Bombshell to Bombshell200."

"This isn't funny."

"Who said I was kidding?"

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Me?" I seethed, staring him down. Eli started avoiding my eyes, his face flushing bright red as he played with his fingers.

"Nothing you want to hear about."

"There's a lot of shit no one wants to hear. It doesn't make it unnecessary."

"It's called Branding," He caved, sliding down the lockers and pulling his knees up to his chest. I stared down at him, guilt washing over me as I slowly sat across from him, folding my legs Indian style. "I'd take it back if I could, Kitty. I swear I would."

"What'd you do?" I whispered.

"I chose you," he laughed lightly, shaking his head. "Without even thinking twice about it, I decided you were mine."

"What the Hell are you-"

"For someone so smart? You're really, really stupid." Eli scoffed, holding his own hand in between his knees. I shook my head slowly, avoiding his eyes.

"Now's not the time to get romantic." I growled.

"This is so far beyond romance!" Eli laughed manically, shaking his head. "You think I don't understand what your werewolf feels for you? I have it worse. Beyond worse, Kitty, you can't even imagin-"

"Embry Call loves me more than anybody else on this planet."

"Which is what you think, isn't it?"

"Quit speaking about things. You've got no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't I? You think I spend any less time thinking about you than Embry does?"

"How can you say that?" I fired, crawling to my knees and pushing at him. "How the Hell could you say that after all the times you've helped that…that LEECH attack us?"

"I'D NEVER HURT YOU WILLINGLY!" He defended. "HAS IT EVER CROSSED YOUR MIND THAT I'VE NEVER HARMED YOU EVEN IN THAT FORM?"

"What do you mean even in that form?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

Eli's eyes flickered to the southern hall as a teacher's footsteps began to fill it. He grabbed my arm, hauling me to my feet and pushing me out the door silently, the sun washing over my skin as we walked out into the open air. I jerked away from him the second we were outside, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared at him.

"We don't change like your little friends do." Eli growled, putting emphasis on the word friends.

"You never remember anything." I murmured, remembering Edward's little speech. Eli shook his head.

"No, not really. Only if we focus hard enough, and I am, Kitty I've been trying so har-"

"Why do you work with him?" I asked, all hate gone from my tone. I sounded pathetic, I sounded weak. Eli winced as if I'd slapped him.

"Sit down," he ordered, taking a seat at one of the marble benches. I allowed him to grab my hand and pull me down next him, my eyes locked on his face. "I wasn't the only one who followed you into the woods that night," he started, rubbing his thumb up and down over mine. "The vampire was there, too. Lucky for me it was my first full moon. He'd asked what I was doing there, like I expected."

"And you told him?"

"Course I told him. I thought he was sent there to help me or something. You've got no idea, Kitty, it was the most painful thing that'd ever happened to me."

"What's it feel like?"

"Like was being hit by a bus over and over again. Everything kept breaking and re-breaking and snapping out of place and it was-"

"Exactly what I felt that night too…" I murmured, Eli pulling his gaze up to mine.

"Our bodies needed to re-structure themselves. Like your shape-shifter friends, our human bodies would've snapped underneath all the physical demands of being what we are."

"We?" I asked, somewhat horrified.

"Don't worry, if you were a Child I would've smelled it on you. No one really knows what you are to be honest, the vampire just calls you Hybrid."

"Oh." I murmured, an awkward rush of relief coming over me.

"Anyway, he could smell the both of us. The bond, I mean. There was no lying to hi-"

"Bond?"

"Jeez, kid. Do you ever let anybody finish a sentence?"

I laughed quietly at his words, stunned by how much he sounded like Embry. Eli laughed lightly too, running his free hand through his hair and keeping the other wrapped around my own. I wondered why I hadn't pulled away.

"Sorry." I muttered.

"Don't be. I should be apologizing for what I'd gotten you into," he sighed. "I made your situation ten times worse, if anything."

"How?"

"Branding is…it's like a life commitment. Like a claim. A decision to keep whoever for life."

"And I have no say in it?" I asked, starting to get angry.

"You already did have a say in it," he laughed, looking at me again. "I'm surprised you haven't caught on yet, kid. How in the Hell do you think we became such good friends within the span of one week?"

"I thought we jus-"

"Just what? Had a lot of great things in common? Not at all, Kitty. Besides, it's not always voluntary."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was changing…you were the only one I was thinking about. The only one. All I kept hearing was your screaming and your smile and the way you threw your head back when you laughed and…your lips…"

"Stop." I ordered immediately, my eyes flickering up to his. Eli tore his gaze away immediately, grabbing on tighter to my fingers when I tried to pull them away.

"You said you wanted answers. I'm giving them. All our attention is focused onto that one person, and in that instant we claim them. It's an accident, a mistake of nature, but we can't help it. We do it anyway because in that time of horror the only thing that could possibly make us feel better is them."

I closed my eyes and sighed, leaning my forehead against his neck.

"I'm sorry," I murmured quietly, Eli resting his head on top of mine. What the Hell was I doing? "It's my fault you even got dragged into this."

"As if," he scoffed lightly, laughing. "You're the only reason I haven't bothered to slit my own throat yet." I frowned at his words.

"Don't say that."

"I might as well, the leech is probably gonna do it when he's through with you."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded, lifting my head again to stare at him.

"You know exactly what he wants, Kitty." Eli murmured staring at me.

"Then what do you have to do with it?"

"We made a deal in the beginning. The night I changed. He told me if I helped him track you down, he'd be able to keep you safe. Said he could reverse all of your changes and that you'd never have to be bothered with any of it again."

"And you agreed."

"Of course I agreed. I don't want anything more than to get you away from those things."

"Those things are my family."

"Those things are dangerous."

"Sam was one of them." I shot icily, staring at him. Eli squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, turning to face me in his seat.

"I shouldn't have said that," he murmured quietly. "And I would take every single second of it back if it meant we could have him again. I'd kill to switch sides, I would."

"Why don't you then?" I whined quietly, staring up at him. Eli bit the inside of his lip, sighing.

"Because now he's got new leverage."

"What do you-…..Elissa."

Eli nodded, sniffing slightly as his cheeks turned red. His dark brown eyes flickered to mine in a moment of desperation.

"He'll kill her if I make the wrong move, not that it matters much anyway. She loves him. Adores the damn leech like he's a God or something."

"She's made her choice, Eli. You can still make yours."

"And what if he hurts her?"

"If he wanted to, he would've done it by now. He knows he needs her, I've seen the way it took nearly four of us to even incapacitate you. Children are almost twice as strong as vampires and werewolves combined. She's useful to him."

"And to me, Kitty. That's my sister."

"You're not the only one who's losing a sibling here, Eli."

It was silent again. I'd brought up the prohibited once again, an icy chill shooting down my spine as I did so. "Eli I'm….I shouldn't have…"

"You deserve to hate me," he shrugged lightly, staring down at my hands. "As long as it means you won't go anywhere."

"I need you on my side," I whispered. "I need your help."

"Kitty I told you I don't know how to-"

"That doesn't necessarily mean as a Child."

Eli looked up at me again, his eyes smoldering.

"I miss my best friend." I whispered.

Eli pressed his forehead against mine, closing his eyes. It was like I'd been missing something, like some irreplaceable piece of my world had been set back into place when he was around. The heaviness of my heart from losing Sam lightened slightly at the realization that I still had Eli, that his dark brown eyes looked exactly like my brother's, that I wasn't alone outside of the wolf world after all. That I still had a living, breathing friend.

"What do you need me to do?" Eli whispered, looking up at me. I sighed in relief, closing my other hand around the both of ours instinctively.

"You have to tell me what he's planning. He's been coming out of nowhere, we barely get a chance to recover before he shows up again."

"That was the idea," Eli laughed darkly. "He was hoping that if he was random enough with his attacks, he'd be able to put you guys in such a frenzy that you wouldn't be able to think straight. Even your mind-reader was having trouble with him, and I'm almost positive the only reason he's keeping us around lately is because your fortune teller can't see around Children."

"Where is he?"

Eli snapped his eyes up to mine.

"Why?"

"I need to know."

"So you can do what?"

"So I can hunt the son of a bitch down, Eli. I need to know where he's going next."

"You're not doing this by yourself."

"That's the only right way for it to be done."

"You're wrong."

"You can either tell me so that I'm 100% sure, or you can let me wander around aimlessly in an attempt to find him. Your choice."

Eli sighed at my stubborn behavior, pulling his forehead away from mine and running his hand through his hair again.

"I'll tell you on one condition."

"Fine."

"This is a TEAM effort alright?"

"What do you-"

"It means that you don't do anything on your own."

"Already made that freaking promise…" I muttered darkly, thinking of Embry. Eli's eyes flashed slightly, his eyebrows knitting together in annoyance.

"And another thing."

"Yes, Master?" I asked sarcastically.

"Embry stays out of it, okay? This is for me and you. Our thing. Ours."

"I can't just tell someone they aren't allowed to fight for their family."

"Fine. Then do me another favor."

"What could you possibly want?"

"You."

I stared at him, trying to figure out if he was serious or not.

"Eli…I can't-"

"I miss my best friend too, Kitty."

I watched him, the pleading tone of his voice too out of character to be a lie. So that was it then. We were best friends, ones that had an unnatural and inappropriate likeness for each other. Did it mean that I liked him around just as much as I did Embry? No. That was easy to answer. No one was able to occupy my mind more than Embry did, unless you counted Sam. But a life without Eli? I didn't want to think about it, didn't even want to imagine what it would've been like if I hadn't whooped his ass on the track that day back when my life was somewhat normal. It wasn't hard to tell that the way Eli felt about me was different than the way I felt about him, but who was I to tell him not to dream? Telling him no now could possibly mean that I'd never find Vladimir, that I'd never slaughter him the way he deserved. Sighing lightly, I tried to find the old Arbor Uley, the one that all the kids at my other high school bowed down to without second guessing themselves. The one that used people to her full advantage.

"Fine," I murmured, squeezing my eyes shut. I gripped my hand around his own slightly tighter than usual. I flickered my eyes back up to his, my chest thumping rapidly. "Tell me where he is."