Disclaimer: all characters except for Tom/sam/stan and Chester belong to L.J Smith

The bone-jarring thud of bass thickened the air, rattling empty beer cans and shot glasses littering the many surfaces of the living room. People's voices strained to be heard over the pounding heavy metal track that burst free of the speakers lining the far wall. Their efforts were in vain; the bellowing voices could not be distinguished from the cacophony by human ears. Jez's vampiric hearing though, had no trouble at all discerning the many conversations whirling about the room, and that some were obviously meant to be held in private. Jez raised an amused eyebrow at a scantily clad girl berating her boyfriend for not keeping a stock of condoms with him at all times, most importantly at that moment. Near the door a scruffy looking deadbeat was pleading with a wiry werewolf named Chester, who was known for his dealings with vermin for his own profit. The junkie was pitifully explaining the merits of his " homegrown crop." So far this had been her only form of amusement, besides the mediocre music, just watching the different lives play out, almost like a soap opera. Jez frowned slightly as a massive wall of red blocked her line of site of the junkie and the werewolf. She was just about to reward whoever it was to get the hell out of her way before she realized that it her drink, or rather the guy with her drink. She supposed his name was Sam, or was it Stan? Oh well, no point in wasting valuable energy trying to remember, she could always blame it on the noise if she got his name wrong. Sam/Stan handed her a drink, then settled himself next to her on the couch, trying to inconspicuously snake his arm around her. He murmured, er… shouted something near her ear, causing her to snap her head round to regard him incredulously.

"What?!" She yelled at the college freshman she had only known for about half an hour.

 He shifted his eyes and bit his lip and tried again. " YOU'RE A REALLY SPECIAL GIRL.YOU'RE NOT LIKE ALL THE OTHERS." He hollered, mistaking her exclamation of disbelief for confusion.

" Yeah, I heard that. And I think so did everyone else in a one mile radius." She shouted back, and then raised her glass of spiked punch to her lips. He scooted closer after seeing that he'd lost her attention, and said a bit more subdued because he was nearer to her ear; " So you wanna go some place quieter?" He gazed at her hopefully.

Jez considered him for a moment through narrowed lids. I guess this is the best I could hope for. This isn't exactly a high-class party. Besides, I'm not looking for intelligent conversation; I'm shopping for some nice, juicy red meat. He'll make a fine meal.

"Sure" She replied simply. After seeing that his expression had not changed from that of a puppy begging for table scraps, she rolled her eyes, then nodded her assent and exaggeratedly mouthed " yes."

Stan/Sam 's expression exploded into a " cat that ate the canary" grin, and quickly bounded up from the couch, barely able to contain his excitement.

" Let's go this way… no, uhh, how 'bout that way." He fumbled, twisting this way and that.

" How about out to the gazebo?" Jez suggested, already feeling her jaw begin to ache.

" Right… Right, perfect." He began to walk towards the kitchen, and then stopped dead.

" Which way is the gazebo?" He inquired, confused.

Jez sighed impatiently. "Probably out the door, that way." She said, pointing in the other direction. Stan/Sam turned around and strode in front of her. On the way they passed an excessively inebriated freshman that was carefully, though not successfully picking his way through the multitudes of people.

He caught sight of them, and giving Sam/Stan crooked grin cheered; " Go Tom! You old bastard!" He then unfortunately had been too distracted to notice the expensive vase in his path, nor the table it was sitting on, and all three tumbled down in confusion.

Tom (the guy formerly known as Stan/Sam) just continued to grin. He failed to notice the knowing look the werewolf Chester gave Jez as they passed him, and sauntered out the door.

 The night sighed contentedly. Voluptuous leaves wavered in a leisurely dance in the breeze, too satiated to whip around capriciously as was their custom in the garish light of day. Jez sighed as well, agreeing with the night. She too had fed well, as her preternaturally radiant skin and swollen vermillion lips were proof of. She let out a delighted giggle and turned her fine-boned face to the sky, spreading her arms out in abandonment. The mosaic of stars winked back at her, promising to never reveal what they alone were witness to under the cloak of night. Jez frowned suddenly, her blood-enticed rapture interrupted by the intrusive racket produced by humans in the nearby house. Angry shouts and crashes rent the tranquility of the night as the pulsating beats of the music continued on like the steady heartbeat of a massive beast. Or perhaps they were the drums of war? Yes, Jez decided. That would explain the shouts, they're war cries of the two opposing sides, and the crashes are their weapons contending with each other for  the prize of life. She closed her eyes , lost again in her mind. And that one voice, raising above all the others, that's the general's. Yes, and Morgead is the general. He's yelling at someone, arguing with them about…me? Wait a minute. Jez's eyes snapped open, her high quickly dissipating. She stared fixedly at the house as she began to march toward it, leaving the inert body of Tom behind her in the gazebo. She had taken too much, true; but hopefully they'll put it down as alcohol poisoning.

Jez neared the porch, and sure enough she could see Morgead's incensed form pacing around a smaller, wiry one. The wiry figure she noticed to be the werewolf, Chester, who was crouching in a bestial stance, blood flowing freely from his nose. Morgead stalked, catlike in front of Chester, his body taught with nervous energy.

" I just asked you a simple question. I didn't mean to order you, or to make you feel you were inferior, just tell me where Jez is." Morgead clarified slowly, desperately trying to keep his in temper in check, clenching his fists with the effort.

Chester snarled in response 'Even if I knew, why should I share information with a vampire? They sure as hell don't share anything with us, just treat us like trash, like you did when you oh so un-politely demanded that I tell you where your little whore is." That last remark earned him a bone-crushing blow to the jaw, causing him to fly across the length of the deck, conveniently close to Jez. He groaned, spitting blood and gingerly felt his jaw while propping himself up on one elbow. Morgead crossed the distance in a matter of seconds and jerked Chester up by his shirt.

Morgead hissed in his face, clearly losing his cool, "Now listen to me, I know that you have close ties to vermin trash, particularly their gangs. I really don't think that losing your temper with any vampire that asks you a question, just because you have this insane little idea that they're trying to pull rank, is not going to put you in a favorable light with the Council, or any of the Night World authorities, should you be questioned about your affiliations with vermin." He dropped the 'wolf unceremoniously to the ground, too involved in what he was doing to notice Jez standing off to his side.

Jez leaned her elbows on the porch railing, a foot from where Morgead was standing.

"I thought you said you were working on anger management." Jez said mockingly.

Morgead whirled around, surprise evident on his face. " How long have you been there?" He asked, surprise changing to irritation.

"Long enough to see that you've screwed everything up again. You just decided to use a somewhat innocent werewolf as a punching bag to vent your frustration out on? Now, I'm not objecting to the abuse of werewolves in general, but you could've been a little more coolheaded about it, don't you think? What kind of role model are you for the rest of us? Or leader of the gang for that matter? You wouldn't be very reliable if every time we get into a tight situation, you decide that they only way to solve it is to start bashing the nearest living thing." Jez strode up to Morgead with her hands on her hips, and smirk on her still, swollen lips.

Morgead turned nonchalant. " Like you'd be any better? You're even more hot-headed than me." He retorted, returning her smirk. "And for your information, he was the one who started it. I just asked him where you were, and he explodes, ranting on about vampires thinking they're better than werewolves, and thinking they can order them about, and all that crap. When I grabbed him to try to get him back to the subject, he took a swing at me." He explained, getting quite heated himself.

" Well, that's nice and all, but I thought I made it clear that I don't need a big brother baby-sitting me. As you can see, I'm doing fine on my own." She replied, motioning with a wave of her arm.

" Yes, I see that." He answered, taking in her luminous skin, raw, swollen lips, and unnaturally bright eyes. His gaze grew solemn, a most disconcerting thing for Jez to see on Morgead's face "But that's not why I came here. I came to tell you that-hey!" He exclaimed, as he caught sight of the beaten figure of Chester laboriously pulling itself away. He started towards it, but Jez got there before him. She snatched the back of his shirt with a snakelike movement, and then jerked him backwards, causing him to become unbalanced, and plummet back to the ground. Jez twisted his arms above his head and sat on his chest, so that in his injured condition, he couldn't attempt an escape.

" Go on" She urged, gazing up at Morgead.

He sighed, his shoulders drooping. " Raven's gone." He stated simply.

" Gone, as in missing?" She question, a frown creasing her brow. " Are you sure she didn't just take off for a few days?"

Jez's chest tightened with worry as Morgead watched her through pitying eyes, knowing  that her suggestion was futile, this was Raven they were talking about. She wouldn't take off, let alone without telling the gang. "Thistle went to the you the youth shelter, Raven's room was trashed, and some traces of vampiric blood. There was clearly a struggle." He finished grimly.

Jez looked down at the barely conscious 'wolf beneath her. "And you think he can give us some answers?"

" I hope so," was his reply.

A.N Thanks you guys for reviewing! Even the criticism was appreciated. I agree that Jez was acting out of character, but that was because I didn't explain things, 'cause I knew things, I just didn't think to tell u ppl , cause I thought you already knew ( like Jez's motives). So it just made sense in my mind, but not on paper. Does that make any sense?