"I don't know why you go and visit him," Sam sighed as he waited at the bottom of the stairs. "I think you've done more than enough."
"He's not a thrall, which means that I can still reach him. I mean, the elections are tomorrow. None of the candidates have died under mysterious circumstances, they've debated, they've met with the people. There aren't shifters or vampires trying to intimidate them, we're getting what we wanted a representation, now is the time me to reach him." Santana says as she slips on a jacket, it was late fall. "Plus, I think Charlie needs to learn to use her words instead of resorting to violence when she's annoyed."
Sam tilted his head, "You're not leaving Charlie because she needs to learn to use her words, I mean now that she's speaking openly—who knows how long that will last. You're totally bailing, because Quinn's coming home today."
Santana smirked at Sam, "I have no idea what you're talking about. And if that's true, which it probably isn't, I'm certain that Charlie and Quinn have quite a bit to talk about."
Sam rolled his eyes, "Well, I think it's a terrible idea. Who cares what he thinks, if he wants to remain bitter as the world marches on without him, then he can be a revolutionary of one. It's not your job to try and make him better."
"It is, Quinn said as much. If he becomes dangerous again, I have to put the bullet in his head. Since I don't want that, and whining to Charlie about it seems doesn't seem like it will work in my favor, so—" Santana's about to shrug when the manor doors slam open.
"Hello little duck," Brittany says leaning in and draping herself along Santana's back. "Have you changed your mind?"
"Brittany." Quinn's exasperated voice comes from the doorway. "I was certain, that I insisted that you stop playing your mind games with Santana."
"I'm certain that you said something and I didn't agree to anything," Brittany retorts playfully nipping at Santana's ear. "You smell lovely as always."
Santana immediately tries to shrug Brittany off. "Yeah, no. Still don't want to be a vampire, still don't want to be snacked on by other vampires. Also, not a duck."
Brittany pouts, puffing out her cheeks before grinning, "I don't think that's completely true."
Santana freezes and turns to look at Brittany who smiles at her. "I don't know what you mean, and I'm going to be late."
"I mean, that you want to be snacked on by some vampires," she flicks her gaze towards Quinn who scowls at her.
"Enough Brittany, Mike has been called back from Asia, he'll be here shortly. You can have your fun with him, and leave Santana alone. The last thing you want is to upset Charlie."
"Oh, you're not going to be upset?" Brittany teases.
Quinn scowl deepens as she studies Brittany. "Of what Charlie does to you? Perish the—" Quinn turns as Charlie appears from the shadows and hugs her tightly. "Is this a—thank god you're back to do all the things that you don't want to do hug? Or I killed someone and don't want you to be mad hug?"
Santana frowns, not waiting to hear the reply as she slips past Quinn. As fun and as interesting as this was, she was going to be late. "I'll be back this afternoon, I'm also going to wish my dad luck," she throws in, but is promptly ignored by both twins.
"How about I go with you little duck," Brittany offers, only to stop when Charlie glares at her.
"Yeah—you guys have vampire shit to talk about. I'll pass," Santana says excusing herself and grabbing Sam.
"I'd rather be doing vampire stuff," Sam mutters, glaring at Santana when she elbows him.
Santana shakes her head, "Really? You'd rather be doing vampire stuff?" She mutters at him angrily as they bound down the steps. She turns back to the manor once more, but of course Charlie and Quinn were being all lovey-dovey with one another.
Sam blinks and looks up from the ground for a moment, "Yes. I thought I was clear that I thought that Artie was a threat."
"He's in a wheelchair. Hunter broke his back, he's bitter and angry," Santana rolls her eyes. He worried way too much.
~O~
"I can't believe that you're happy about this—they're giving us scraps, and people like your father are just happy to lick it up."
Santana rolled her eyes, "No one makes my father do anything that he doesn't want to do. And if this is just a big scam, then he'll be the first one to walk out. To tell the people that nothing's changed. But all this talk about our race versus their race—it's just stupid. I was wrong. Not all vampires are mustache twirling villains, some are just jackasses. Most of the time they're just assholes, but guess what Artie, being an asshole is not something that vampires have cornered the market on. There are shifter assholes, there are human assholes. It's like the one constant that every race, every animal has. There are simply assholes."
"You're not understanding. The last generation had it right. They were right, when they burned those shifters at the stake. They stood up to the demons in our society. Humanity first. We need to ensure the survival of our species. There is no working together with the other races Santana. They live in luxury while our people suffer."
"Humanity first? Will you be the one on the front lines fighting back the black court? This could be a symbiotic relationship, it should be a symbiotic relationship. The vampires need humanity, shifters are just as human as we are. They protect us, and in return we let the vampires feed on us, and we've elevated the shifters. They keep the demons at bay. Everyone is concerned about this rogue black court vampire running around. They're supposed to be in the south." Santana spits angrily glancing up when she spots Nancy Abrams, shuffling towards them with a tray.
"I didn't have much but I do have some cake."
Santana glanced at the dark cake and frowned, chocolate was a rarity, well not in the manor. Charlie had a sweet tooth like no one she'd ever met before, but she knew that outside of the manor walls it was an expensive luxury that most people couldn't afford to have. "Chocolate?"
"Every year since he was little, I've taken all my savings for the year and I buy him as much chocolate and carob as I can afford and I mix it together for his birthday cake. We weren't expecting anyone this year." Nancy said in a cheerful tone.
Santana nods before pausing and looking at Artie. "It's your birthday?" She questions before tilting her head to the front door, hearing the sharp knock, and what sounded to be arguing outside, or at the very least Sam's voice. She glances at the cake and slowly sinks into her seat as Nancy gets up to head towards the door.
"You're—"
Santana gets up immediately heads to the door, where she spots Sam tugging on Charlie's arm as she flashes Nancy a smile and points inside. Great, she'd decided to go mute again. "Charlie what are you doing here?"
Sam shoots Santana a look, "She tagged along—how did you not notice?"
Santana blinks and glances at Sam's shadow, no wonder the conversation had been stilted in the car. "I mean what's she doing here?"
Sam rolled his eyes, "Cake," his voice filled with annoyance.
Santana groaned and looked at Charlie, "This isn't the time. Artie's on some Humanity first, kick," Santana whispers at Charlie.
"Come in," Nancy says immediately. "This might be what he needs to see."
Santana flicked her eyes at Nancy, and tried to reach out to stop Charlie who slipped past them and headed towards the cake. "This is a terrible idea."
"I've been listening to you, and I've also been taking him to see a therapist, she agreed to take us on a pro-bono basis. I think this might be the push in the right direction to get my Artie back." Nancy admits. "Dr. Pillsbury has been a godsend."
Santana frowned and immediately headed to sit beside Charlie, she hadn't had much interaction with him and given Charlie's—violent streak, she would need to referee between the two of them. "Charlie. I will make sure Blaine makes you a hundred cakes if you leave," she mutters to the vampire low enough so that only Charlie can hear her. She's rewarded from a look from Charlie and sighs.
"So, when did you two start fucking?" Artie asks rudely.
Charlie looks up at him and narrows her eyes slightly at him, it wasn't one of anger but more confusion.
"You made her into a pet—"
"Squire, I got an upgrade," Santana mutters under her breath, feeling uneasy as Charlie stared at Artie with an unblinking look.
"Charlie—" Sam begins taking a step towards the vampire before stopping and turning to look at the cake, his own eyes narrowing. "That cake—"
"Has chocolate in it Sam, you can't eat it," Santana groaned this was humiliating, she said as she watched as Nancy picked up the cake knife and moved to cut into the cake.
It's like everything's in slow motion as Sam shouts something, but all she can rememberis suddenly being enveloped in dark twisted coldness, and the odd sensation like she's fallingbefore she feels a sharp pain in her head. Everything going quiet, as she slips into unconsciousness.
