All right guys, next chapter. Sorry it's a little short, but since I'm sick it's the best I can do. Hope you like it!
And on to the story...
~*~
Alexia looked at Vitaliy in stunned silence. Her hazel eyes met his liquid black ones. "I have no idea," he said, answering her unasked question.
Students had started filing into the room and taking their seats. Alexia slouched down in her seat and propped her blue Etnies on the desk. "So what are we supposed to do?"
"I want to go after her, but I have no idea where she went and it's obvious that she wants to be alone. I'm going to wait until she tries to talk. I can't think of anything else to do. She just needs some time," he said sadly. "I never should have changed her."
"Aw, did the stupid leech make a big mistake by turning his girlfriend? Does she hate you now?" Someone said behind them.
Alexia jumped as a hand grabbed the back of her chair and ruined her precarious balance. She toppled over with a shriek. The back of her head smacked the linoleum loudly. She stared at the white paneled ceiling, dazed. She had to close her eyes because the fluorescent lights were now far too bright. "What is going on here?" Mrs. Ingle had just come into the room as Jack had pushed Alexia down.
Jack backed up and started yammering that it was all a mistake and he hadn't meant to push Alexia down, that he had hit the back of the chair and since she was leaning back that it was really her fault. Alexia had sat up and was rubbing the back of her head gingerly. She laughed when Mrs. Ingle followed Jack to the principal's office. Justice was very amusing sometimes. She sat back next to Vitaliy and turned to speak to him, but he had his head on the desk and obviously didn't want to talk. She went back to wondering what she could do to help her best friend.
~*~
Nicole awoke some hours later and still didn't know what to do. She glanced at the clock; one forty-five. No one would be home for a couple hours yet, but she couldn't sit by herself any longer. She brought herself to Vitaliy and Gabriel's, hoping that Gabriel would be home. His silver truck was parked in the driveway, but that didn't mean much. She let herself in with the key that Vitaliy had recently given her. The living room was dark and she didn't bother to dig in her pocket for her lighter to light one of the many candles. The boys preferred candles to lights most of the time and she had no idea where the light switch was. She wandered to the black leather couch and stared in the general direction of the ceiling. What can I do? She thought desperately. Something out of the corner of her eye reflected the faint light that bled through the heavy curtains. She rolled onto her side to stare at it. Even in the dim light she knew what it was. A silver picture frame with a picture of her and Alexia at the beach that summer. They were standing in the surf, laughing as waves broke over top of them. It had been taken when they had gone with Kiree on a day that the boys had said they both needed to work. It had been a great day. Her life had made sense then.
Gabriel interrupted her reverie by walking into the room. "I thought that was you. What brings you here so early?"
Nicole chose not to answer. She couldn't find the words. Gabriel perched on the arm of the couch. "What's wrong Nicole?"
She responded by curling into a ball. "Okay, now you're acting like Alexia. Something is obviously bugging you and you want to talk about it or you wouldn't be here. You probably would have gone to the creek if you didn't want to talk. You know I'm right. Spill it kiddo."
"Damn you," Nicole said, lifting her head long enough to glare at him.
"Damn me?" Gabriel almost sounded surprised. "All I'm trying to do is help a friend and she's damning me for it?"
She mumbled "exactly," in reply. What is it? Please tell me, his pleading voice invaded her mind. "Get the hell out of my mind!" Nicole snapped.
He looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, I just want to help."
"Yeah, that's what they all say. Actually, I've heard that today from Alexia. But she can't fucking help because she has absolutely no idea what I'm going through! This is all a game to her. She didn't loose her humanity. It's so hard! I wake up every morning and look at my little sisters and have to stop myself from thinking that they could be breakfast. My parents think that I'm stressed from auditions and now rehearsals. How would they react if they knew that I'll never age? That I won't die unless someone kills me or I kill myself? In a few years, it will be obvious that I still look the same. What am I supposed to Gabriel? I'm so confused. I can't go to V because he feels guilty enough as it is. Can you really help me?" She looked up at him. She knew that her now black eyes contrasted sharply to her pale features. She had gotten into the habit of making them appear grey most of the time, but now seemed like a good time to drop the illusion.
Gabriel sighed. "I'm not exactly sure what you want me to say Nicole. There isn't going to be some miracle solution to this. It is hard; I'm not going to lie to you. Eventually you will have to find a way to distance yourself from your family. Vitaliy and I left at the same time. Our parents were cruel and just assumed that we had run away. In a way, we had. I've never looked back, but I know that you will."
"I don't know what I want you to say either, but that wasn't it," she half-laughed. It kept the tears from falling. She didn't want to cry again.
"All I can tell you is to keep your chin up and try and go on as normally as possible. Don't try to deal with everything at once. It will be easier to deal with one problem at a time. I think you should talk to Vitaliy tonight. He's really worried about you sweetie. He feels like he did something wrong when he changed you that day. Did he?"
"I'm still trying to figure that out. Is it all right if I go up to his room to wait until he comes back?"
Gabriel smiled, "Go ahead. I'm sure he'd like that."
Nicole rose to leave. She stopped to hug Gabriel. "Thanks,"
"I'm not sure what I did, but you're welcome."
It was Nicole's turn to smile. "Just for understanding." She went up to Vitaliy's room, pulled a book from the shelf, and curled onto his bed to read until he came home from school.
~*~
Vitaliy whipped around to face Jack. "What is your problem?"
"What do you mean?" Jack feigned innocence.
"That crap with Alexia! What the hell was that?"
"Oh, so you're protecting her now instead of your whore of a girlfriend? After all, what did you do to make her run out of class like that?"
"Alexia is my friend and I'm going to protect her. Apparently you don't believe in that," he took a step closer to Jack. "And don't call Nicole a whore. You of all people should know that she isn't. She did turn you down last year, didn't she?"
"And what are you going to do to stop me?" Jack apparently ignored the second part of that comment. "There are too many people around for you to feed off of me," Jack replied.
"Are you too good for an old-fashioned fight?"
Jack dropped into a lower stance and raised his fists. "Bring it on, leech."
Vitaliy regarded Jack for a moment. "It's your funeral," he said, approaching Jack.
He grabbed Jack's right arm and twisted it behind his back. Jack twisted away. "Nice try," he sneered.
Vitaliy ducked to avoid the fist that was coming at his face. He threw a punch at Jack's stomach and was rewarded with an ooof! A predatory smile crept across his face. They each threw several more punches at each other. Jack had made one attempt to kick Vitaliy, but Vitaliy avoided it easily. Jack didn't have a chance on a warm day in hell. "Had enough yet?" Vitaliy asked.
Jack replied by catching Vitaliy off balance and pushing him to the ground. Vitaliy rolled to avoid another punch. If there weren't so many people around, this fight would have been a piece of cake. Either that or her would have brought Jack to some remote place and left him there. "You know I'm right," Jack said.
They had both gotten to their feet and were waiting for the right time to make a move. "Nicole is not a whore," Vitaliy hissed. He unchecked a bit of his power on another low blow to Jack's abdomen.
Jack doubled over, holding his stomach. To make matters worse, the punch had landed just right so that he lost his lunch. Vitaliy took advantage of the opportunity to turn and start walking back towards the school. Halfway to the doors, Jack caught him and threw him forward. His forehead slammed into the edge of the sidewalk. Vitaliy was disoriented for a minute. Thank God for dark clothing, he thought as he wiped a black sleeve across the injury to wipe away the blood. It was already healed. "Just a flesh wound," he mocked Jack as he again faced his opponent.
"Oooh, the vampire thinks that he's all big and bad just because he heals quickly," Jack replied.
"No, I'm just better than you and that's all that matters." Vitaliy lunged at Jack from his crouched position and landed on top of him. Jack tried to struggle, but Vitaliy was too strong for him to move.
~*~
Alexia came out of the school just in time to see Jack shove Vitaliy into the curb. Her breath caught in the back of her throat until she remembered that it wouldn't hurt him near as much as a human. She ran to where Vitaliy now had Jack pinned to the ground. "Stop it, both of you!" She yelled. "What is going on?"
"He was being an ass as usual. I'm correcting the matter," Vitaliy said nonchalantly.
"Let him up," she told Vitaliy.
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Vitaliy stood and allowed Jack to stand. The blond boy brushed his clothes off while watching Vitaliy warily. "Aw, your other girlfriend tells you to stop and you listen. Just like a little puppy. If she told you to roll over and die, would you?"
Alexia stepped in between the two. She had knives on her, like always, but she didn't want to have to pull one on school grounds. Especially not on a hunter. Not only would Jack be able to out maneuver her, but Kiree would kill her when she got home. She felt Vitaliy relieve the blade at the small of her back from its sheath. She hoped that he had the good sense to conceal it in his sleeve for the time being. "You know as well as I do that you really don't want to push this fight right now. If you really want to fight, fine. But it won't be here. Go home Jack," she said. Her voice was quiet, but she knew that no one would question her tone.
Jack opened his mouth as if to say something, but shook his head and walked off. "We'll finish this later," he called over his shoulder when he reached his car.
Alexia turned to face Vitaliy. "Can I have my knife back please?"
Vitaliy was about to hand it to her when he saw the principal walking over. "Hey Mr. Cole, what's up?"
"What was that all about Mr. Kiku?" Mr. Cole had his arms crossed over his chest and looked like he wasn't too happy.
"Nothing. Jack and I had a little argument is all. Nothing to worry about," Vitaliy replied. Alexia saw that he had his right arm behind his back. The knife was slid just under the sleeve.
"Just see that it doesn't get out of hand," Mr. Cole advised.
Vitaliy nodded. "I won't, sir."
"Good. Have a nice afternoon. And Alexia? Tell your Aunt that I said hello."
"I will," she answered cheerfully. "You have a good day."
They watched Mr. Cole return to the school. Both breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone. Vitaliy waited until they were seated in Alexia's car to return the blade. She took it and slid it home. "Want me to drop you at the house?" She asked as she pulled out of the small parking lot.
"Yeah. You're not staying?"
"Nah, I've got a paper to write. Gabriel will probably come over later, so I'll see him then," she smiled.
"Okay, sounds like a plan."
"Definitely."
~*~
End of Part II...
I don't know when I'll get the next chapter out since all my finals are next week and I doubt that I'll have time to write. Wish me luck on my finals so that I can get them over with and get more time to write!
(And you know you wanna clickie the little blue button...)
