"ROSE!!"

Rose, who had been leaning back in her computer chair, promptly lost balance and fell over at the sound of her father's bellow. She climbed off the floor, brushed herself off, and headed out, shaking her head. No one could bellow like her father could. She could hear him even all the way out to the training ground.

The eighteen-year-old headed down the steps, skipping every other stair as she headed to the reclining room where she pinpointed her mother's and father's voices. She was forming fully into womanhood, taking after her mother's voluptuousness and her father's elegantly detailed musculature. Her hair had grown down to mid-back and swung with shiny thickness as she quickly jumped down the stairs. She turned round the corner and headed into the room.

"Yes?" she inquired. Lara turned to look at her.

"Rose, you need to stay in the house for a few hours."

Rose groaned, demanding, "Why?"

"Someone's coming that I want you to meet."

Rose sighed deeply, knowing what this meant. Every time Lara told Rose she couldn't leave, it meant Lara wanted her to meet a potential boyfriend/fiancé/whatever. It wasn't so much that it bothered her, really. Lara knew Rose's tastes relatively well. It was more that Rose just really wasn't ready to look for a relationship. So, she nodded to accept her mother's command, went back up to her room, and promptly opened her window and escaped. After she had slipped out the window, she focused her energies and shoved her wings out of her back and flapped them a moment lazily, getting movement back into them. The wings hadn't begun to grow until she had reached puberty, and if she concentrated, she could shape them in and out of her back.

She dropped to the ground, using her wings to slow her drop, then molded them back into her back before escaping down to the town below. She could have taken one of her mother's cars, but knew it'd be too noisy, so a quick jump into the Spectral Realm and five minutes of real time, and she was in town.

For a while the crossbreed just wandered through the city, window-shopping. It was a habit she had picked up from her friends at school. Or, at least, that's whom she blamed. She certainly didn't get it from home.

While she walked through some of the closer portions of the streets, her sharp hearing picked up footsteps coming up behind her. They walked heavy, and she could pick out three pairs. All were male. She turned and looked over to see three teenagers, recent graduates from her school. These three had always given her troubles. Though she wasn't interested in relationships, she had a tendency to flirt. Most people realized she was a typical teenager and that a lot of outgoing females did that. These three didn't have those brains, however.

"Well, well, well," one of them crooned. "And what would you be doing out here on a weekday?"

"Shopping," she responded easily. These boys didn't particularly worry her. After all, even the most well trained football player was no match for her strength. She watched in detachment, hiding amusement as they began to circle her much like sharks. They had absolutely no idea what they were dealing with.

"Shouldn't you be heading to college?"

"I'm going out of the country for it," she responded with a shrug. "Now get out of my way."

The tallest, a male roughly twenty-one with dirty-blonde hair stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

"I don't think so."

"I believe the lady wishes to be left alone," another voice intersected. All four turned to look down the street to see a man walking toward them calmly. He looked perhaps in his late twenties, very pale skin, golden eyes, and extremely long white hair. The boys standing around her straightened up, sensing the intrusion.

"This is none of your concern," was the sharp retort. The man's golden eyes narrowed. In a smooth move, the golden-eyed man lashed forward, slamming a fist into the boy's face. The boy flew back and slammed into the wall. Even a normal human would have heard the snap as his back broke. Hostile feelings suddenly radiated through the area and the two other boys moved forward to attack the man. One grabbed a nearby piece of wood and lashed out at the golden-eyed male. The male merely blocked a few of the strikes, then caught the wood and snapped it in half. He backhanded the youth and sent him sprawling across the street. Wasting no time, he turned to the final boy and red energy collected about his hand. He jammed his hand into the kid's chest and through it. The youth gagged a moment in dying reflex, then the golden-eyed man let the body drop off with a disgusted snort. Rose stared wide-eyed at him. Even with her streak of sadistic cold-heartedness, she had never acted this heartless. Not sparing her a glance, the man strode calmly away from the scene. Sufficiently freaked out, Rose quickly shifted back into the Spectral Realm and headed home. She shifted back out and unfurled her wings once she got back to the mansion's grounds. She quickly did a running take-off, then settled into her window and molded her wings back into her back again. She shook her head, trying to shake off the experience.

She sat down at her computer and turned it on, intending to start up a game and play it for a while, when there was a knock at the door.

"Rose?" It was Raziel's voice and she turned toward it as he opened the door.

"Come down," he continued. "Someone's here to see you."

She sighed. "Another of Mum's potential suitors?"

He chuckled softly and responded, "No. Actually you've met him before."

"I have?" She blinked at him a long moment, confused. Raziel sighed, annoyed.

"Uncle Kain's come to visit."

"Uncle Kain?" Rose repeated again. Raziel shook his head in aggravation and turned away. She quickly stood and followed him. Kain hadn't been to visit since she was eight years old. She watched as Raziel easily vaulted over the railing to land on the first floor. Deciding not to bother with the stairs, she followed him. Lara stood watching the two and shook her head slightly.

"You are going to break the floor, you know."

"Bah." He pulled her against him and gave her a quick kiss. "You don't care."

Rose followed behind her parents as they walked into the reclining room. She looked around carefully as she stepped in, and saw only one person in the room. To her surprise, it was the same man who had stepped into the situation with the three boys. Rose blinked a moment, then muttered to her mother, "I thought that this wasn't another set up attempt." She did have to admit, he was cute. At least her mother was getting a little bit of Rose's taste down.

The man laughed openly, and Rose's heart nearly stopped. There was only one man who could pull off that sadistic, maniacal laugh. He turned golden eyes on her and she recognized the coldness in there. The two studied one another for a long moment.

"You . . . aren't as tall as I remember," Rose finally stated. He raised an eyebrow.

"And you are as tactful as a stone as ever."

Rose sighed deeply. "I forgot how much you loved mocking people, Uncle Kain."

"How could you?" he responded with a chuckle. "It's one of my most endearing qualities."

"I'll bet," she muttered.

Shortly after, Raziel and Kain fell into a conversation about what was currently happening on Nosgoth. Lara, seeing them getting started, quickly excused herself and wordlessly advised Rose to do the same. She took her mother's hint and got out of there before she was trapped. She quickly headed back up to her room, sat down at her computer, and opened up one of her games. She kept herself entertained for a while, then heard a voice outside her window say, "Well? That's it? No hello, no 'Happy to see you, Uncle'?" Rose turned to see Kain outside her window hanging upside down, his long white hair dangling below him.

"I do remember how much you like such pleasantries," she shot back. He smirked.

"Yes, but I expect as much from you. Or have you forgotten how you used to jump on me whenever I walked in the door and hug me?"

Rose blinked at him, eyes wide. "I did what?! To you of all people?"

He nodded sagely. "Of course."

"And you didn't kill me?"

Kain chuckled darkly. "I tried a few times. It came to a head when I wasn't expecting your resilience, and by the time I was aware of its full capabilities, I couldn't bring myself to kill you."

"Aw, how sweet," she muttered sarcastically. "Dad's told me quite a few of your stories. If I got in your way, you'd kill me. Let's face it."

Kain's face went serious and he flipped into her room, landing easily. He walked toward her and leaned down so his eyes were on level with her.

"Do you really think I would have put up with you as a child if I was going to kill you at maturity? That seems to be the one thing people underestimate about me. I do not kill those close to me or who do not betray me."

Rose nearly shot back with a comment about her father, but sensed they were in a very delicate territory. She decided it was probably wise not to make any comment of the sort.

Near them, Rose's phone began to ring. She broke the eye lock with the master vampire and picked it up, placing it to her ear.

"Hello?" She smiled at the voice, recognizing it. "Yeah, hi Jer. Uh, no, I'm not up to anything important. Sure, I'll have to sneak out of the house as usual." She grinned at Kain's narrowed eyes. "Ah, I'll be over in about . . ." she looked at the clock. "Ten to twenty minutes or so. You too. See you in a few."

She hung up the phone, then turned to Kain who had moved away and was staring out the window. When he didn't say anything, she grabbed a coat, though she didn't need it, and ran out the door. She paused, stuck her head back in, and said, "See you later, Uncle Kain. And I am glad you're back for a visit." Then she was gone. He heard the front door slam after a moment more. He calmly teleported down to the recreation room where Raziel was.

"May I inquire who this 'Jer' is?"

"Hm?" He looked up at Kain. "Oh, Jeremy." Raziel made a disgusted snort.

"Jeremy is Rose's boyfriend," Lara explained, coming into the room. She nodded to Raziel. "You can see how much the Soul Reaver likes him."

"What is it about him that you find so distasteful, dare I ask?" Kain inquired.

"He's American," Raziel stated as if that explained it all.