Sorry this has taken so long, well longer than usual anyways. I hope, hope it is nearly finished. But I can't be sure, coz when I hav an idea it just ends up in the story whether I like it or not.

Anyways I still don't own NightWorld...

Thankyous and lollypops to:

Galahad Cat- What would I do without you? Thanx again 4 seeing yet another mistake and for staying tuned. :) :)

6 is scared if 7- Well here's chapter 9, it took me awhile (whacks self on the head). Thanks for still readin!!

Monique- (sighs) I know, I know. but remember this is fanfiction and here I'm allowed to b as stupid as I want!!(evil laugh) Thanz anywayz

Me-You gotta read NightWorld!!! It's the best series. Thanx 4 reviewin!!

Katysays22- You rock!! That was a really nice review, and I keep re-readin it coz it makes me happy!!!! (ok, I will stop being crazy now) :)

JasmineIII- yes I think you should get ur own account. Even if you don't write your own stories, u'll find its easier to access ur fav stories by just loggin in. Thanx 4 readin!

Raven- Oh no!!! Orlando Bloom is getting married?? :( :( (crys hysterically) to who?? Sorry but I forget the name. On the bright side, Drew Fuller isn't married yet...(grins) Thanx 4 readin! :)

Emba- Yup, gotta admit, I loved writin the action scenes, coz I can just visualise the violence (twisted smile) Glad you liked my story!

Thankyou all, you guys inspire me! (Ok, sounds corny, but oh well) :) :) :) (love the smilies!)

Chapter 9

Poppy's room was enormous. As Lizzie stepped in, she literally felt like she had gone back to the sixties, the time of the hippies. With brightly strung posters of rainbows with sayings like 'don't worry, be happy' and rainbow-dyed cloth on the furniture, it was almost too cheerful.

"What's with Poppy's apartment?" she asked hiding a look of disgust as she spotted a poster of a hippie at Woodstock who was obviously high.

She heard James sigh, "It's not just Poppy's place, it's mine too, sadly" he shrugged his shoulders when he saw the skeptical look on Lizzie's face. "We've been redecorating for ages, this week is Hippie week, yay" he said with so much sarcasm that she couldn't help laughing.

"Jamie, is that you? I thought you were going to get my purse that I left at the dance?"

Poppy walked in wearing pajamas with hearts imprinted all over it, and slippers with rabbit heads on it. Her flaming red hair was messy and she was rubbing her eyes. She must have been asleep, she thought feeling culpable.

"Hey...Elizabeth? What are you doing here?"

Lizzie was relieved that Poppy didn't sound particularly angry, a little annoyed but happy. That was what she liked about the red-haired vampire. She was always optimistic, friendly and outgoing. When she had first come to live at headquarters, Poppy was one of the first to greet and welcome her whole-heartily.

"Um...Lizzie needs to talk to you" James explained, then darted to the door "I'm going to get your purse now, okay?" he said and ran out not waiting for a reply. James was so sweet; he always seemed to do everything Poppy told him to and they always got on so well with each other. She had noticed that sometimes they even finished each other's sentences.

"What's wrong Lizzie, come on, spill" she said flopping on a couch, patting the space next to her.

She walked over and sat down. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure about telling Poppy, she was a really good listener and gave good advice, but Lizzie didn't like recounting her memory of the worst day of her life. Looking up, she saw concern and worry in Poppy's eyes.

Reluctantly, she explained everything that had happened during the week. The dream, Josie, Chris and her memory. Poppy proved to be a very patient listener, nodding and patting her shoulder sympathetically.

When she told her about the sparks she felt with Chris, Poppy gasped, excitedly in a strange way. "Really? That's fantastic" she exclaimed, grabbing her hands and shaking them.

Now Lizzie was really puzzled. "What do you mean?"

The excitement from Poppy's face faded a little, replaced by a perplexed expression.

"You don't know?"

Annoyance filled her mind. How would she know? What was Poppy talking about? She felt frustrated that Poppy had said that as if she should know. She understood perfectly when she heard what Poppy said next.

"You and Chris are soulmates".

Plyton.

He was home at last, but a feeling of regret kept nagging him in his mind. Feelings of losing Lizzie, who he could not stop thinking about. Honestly, he didn't want to be back home, Circle Daybreak had done him such a big favor, and it was really disrespectful just running away and neglecting the vows that he took. But mostly, Lizzie was the reason why it didn't feel right being away.

Chris was certain that he wanted to be with her, but he knew he couldn't. Even here, miles and miles away, he could still picture her. Her light hair, the structure of her face, her glittering aqua eyes and the look on her face when he told her that it was his father. He shut his eyes briefly, willing to forget about it.

The gang had accompanied him back to his house. Opening the door, he glanced around the familiar room, which he had been in ever since he was born. As he made his way upstairs, he saw someone sprinting towards him.

Annabel. How he missed her. Wrapping his arms strongly around his sister, he murmured, "It's so good to see you sis"

He had a muffled giggling sound and then "Chris, I can't breathe!"

Amused, he released his hold, though keeping his hands clamped to her shoulder. "How are you Annie?" he asked, using her nickname. His eyes focused on her. From the time he'd been gone, she looked weaker, covered up with the big smile splashed across her face.

"Great" she drawled sarcastically. "A guy sexually harasses me at a party, my brother bashes him up, a gun gets shoved against my head and then I find my brother has killed him and gone off and ditched me" she said, folding her arms together and narrowing her eyes.

Chris let out his breath exasperatedly. It was unbelievable that her sister was angry with him for something he did to protect her. Although, the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced he did act too callously that night.

Annabel must have seen the expression on his face, because the next moment, she seemed to forget what she had said and threw her arms around him.

"I know you did it for me" she whispered "but don't you ever leave me again"

Baffled, he couldn't reply. This was one of those heartfelt moments that he liked sharing with his younger sibling. They had always got on well, now that he had been away from her; he realized that sometimes he was too overprotective of his sister.

She needed space to grow up, to experience things for herself. Since their parents let them do whatever they pleased, spoiling them rotten, Chris had felt it was his duty to keep Annabel safe. Thinking of that he thought of his father, who was one of the most ruthless vampires in the Night World. Everyone hated him, even his own fellow vampires, but nobody could doubt that he was one of the most powerful lamias.

Droning idling about her schoolwork, friends and what happened on TV, he studied Annabel once more. There beside her temple was a bruise. Realizing it was the mark the gun had made on her head, he felt a wave of fury. Annabel was a harmless and kind girl, who even defended human slaves, when she heard brutal comments made about them.

Lizzie and her would be good friends. The thought came so abruptly that he was surprised. No, don't think about Lizzie, she doesn't want you. Pushing the feelings of lament and heartbrokenness out, he summoned the thought that made him slightly more cheerful.

He was back at Plyton with his gang and Annabel, who he would never desert again.

Instead of the "What?" she was expecting herself to say she ended up saying, "I should have known"

Poppy peered at her cautiously "Don't be ashamed of it, lots of others have soulmates too"

"Who?" she asked.

"Me and James" she answered with a smile on her face. The obvious things just kept coming didn't they? She felt as if she had been staring at the facts all along, but was just too stupid to realize it. Finding herself rolling her eyes, she stopped. She knew she must have looked sheepish, because Poppy started laughing.

Lizzie joined in, because it was such a weird situation. After about 5 minutes, they stopped, finally realizing James was home and was giving them a very befuddled look.

"Don't worry James, we're not crazy" Poppy said, leaning her head to the side.

"Sure..." he muttered before walking into a room and closing the door hastily.

The made-vampire stuck out her tongue out in an immature way, and then turned back to Lizzie. "You still want to be with him, don't you?"

Did she? After all the pain he had caused her? She knew the answer already, but she wanted to be sure. Figuring that she would be more emotionally unstable without Chris she answered, "Yes, I want to"

Poppy clapped her hands together. "Phew, for a moment there, you got me scared. Lizzie you have to understand he is your soulmate. Your other half. The one other person in the world that is perfect in every way for you. The one who completes you..."

"Ok, ok I get it" she said cutting her friend off. If she wasn't convinced if she still wanted to be with Chris, she was now. No need to hear the corniest speech in the world. That wasn't the real reason why she had interrupted. No, it was because what Poppy had said was true, all of it; she could feel it even now. And it scared her.

She felt Poppy probing her, knowing that her friend knew what she was feeling. Did she want to be Chris's other half forever? Why was the thought so terrible? It wasn't really. You idiot! It's because you're afraid of commitment. This of course was a big commitment too.

They ended up watching DVDs in James's state-of-the-art entertainment room. The room was very futuristic; everything seemed to be in metallic colors. "James told Thierry he needed a room like this, especially for his massive CD collection" Poppy explained.

Staying up all night, they watched Poppy's whole romatic movies collection. Which wasn't very helpful to her, as she kept putting herself in the lead female character's position. She especially liked watching 'A Walk to Remember', although her and Poppy both burst into tears at the ending. Life was much more complicated than a movie.

But sometimes, she wished relationships were simple.

He was walking with her along the beach.

The light breeze ruffled and swirled her hair, which was even lighter in the sunlight. The sand was like shimmering crystals at her feet. Her bluish-green eyes glittered as she looked at him, making his heart beat a little faster.

"Chris, I..." she said softly, bending her head down as if troubled. His heart swelled with pining and protectiveness as he took her in his arms. He wanted to keep her safe.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"Quit hugging me!"

Chris stared outright confused as Lizzie's face faded and was transformed into Blaine?

He opened his eyes and it was indeed his best friend. Mortified, he let go and jumped out of his bed, feeling disgusted. What a horrible end to his dream. "What are you doing here?" he asked with more anger and humiliation than he would have preferred, seeping through.

"I'm taking you to Izzie's house okay?, and calm down with your fantasies" Blaine answered, ducking as Chris threw an annoyed punch at him. Today was Monday, so of course there was a gang meeting. How could he have forgotten?

"Get out!" he yelled as he opened his closet, looking through the mess to find a pair of jeans and t-shirt. Blaine smirked and walked out, slamming the door. Chris was not a morning person and his best friend knew all too well. Blaine would always purposely provoke him when he was grumpy, just to see how mad he would get.

He got ready quickly, but Blaine still wore an impatient expression on his face, probably just to infuriate him.

The car ride to Izzy's house was full of talk as Blaine filled him in on what parties he had been to. Funny how they had continued their lives as usual after he left. Did his going to Daybreak have any impact on Blaine and the others?

The summer holidays had started.

It took a while for Lizzie to remember what she was doing in Poppy's living room the next day. She had continued watching the movies until 2am and had fallen asleep while 'Titanic' had been on.

She groaned. It was the holidays, but she still had so much to do today. Firstly, make peace with Josie, if that was possible. Josie was stubborn and would never admit that she was wrong, so this would be very difficult, she hoped that Josie wouldn't be small-minded and let a guy get between them their nearly lifelong friendship. Even if the guy was Chris.

That brought her to the other thing she needed to do. Talk to Chris about what had happened. This made her more nervous than talking to Josie. She really didn't know what to expect. Would she overreact again? Could it work between us? And then their was the soulmate principle thrown in as well.

Hearing footsteps, she got off the couch and stretched. Poppy walked in carrying a breakfast tray. "Thought you would be hungry, eat it and then go kiss-and-makeup," she said placing the tray in front of her and walking off.

Why did Poppy sound so reassured that everything would work out? Maybe I'm just paranoid, she thought. Breathing in the smell of toast, bacon and eggs on her plate, she suddenly found she was very hungry. She knew that Poppy had cooked it especially for her, since she and James didn't need to eat. Her thoughts disappeared as she ate.

Izzie's house was just as it always was. Huge and historical looking.

The exterior was all painted white. To Chris it resembled a traditional Roman mansion. Inside the house was s different story. Nearly everything marble and beautiful tapestry as well. Leather couches and rare and original art masterpieces hung on the walls.

Her parents were both made-vampires who had spend all their life earning a an income which consisted with a lot of zeros on the end and finally settling and retiring at Plyton, where they had adopted Izzie, who was lamia but both her parents had been killed by vampire hunters. It either didn't bother Izzie or she didn't show it, because she loved being an adopted child.

Chris had to admit, if he got to live here and got everything he asked for and also live with two laid-back 18-year-old made vampires, who acted as your guardian and your friend, he wouldn't be complaining either.

The human-slave led them to Izzie's room, making Chris feel a pang of pity for the young girl. She was wearing a uniform, which had to be uncomfortable in the sweltering heat. He put himself in her position and realized how bad the slaves were treated, they had no rights and for once he apprehended why Circle Daybreak tried so hard to make all species have equal rights. Silently, he promised himself he would be more considerate and kind to humans. Funny how he saw them as people now instead of vermin.

Thankfully, Izzie's room was fully air-conditioned. He noticed that Izzie had painted the room once again, his friend seemed to really like changing the color of her walls or maybe she just enjoyed the smell of the fumes of paint.

This time her room was a violent shade of purple, it went well with her yellow bedspread, but he assumed that the wall color would change again soon. Since her room was huge, Chris and Blaine had to walk through a connecting hallway to Izzie's extended living room, which was used specially for gang meetings.

As they walked in, he saw all the other gang member already there, sprawled on either the floor or sofas, talking and pigging out on junk food as usual. He couldn't help smiling; the scene was so familiar to him. The gang was like his second family. The people here were ones who he could always rely on and have plenty of fun with.

Everyone looked up at him and Ashton spoke "It's just not the same without you Chris, again, good to have you back"

Then all at once everyone started explaining why it was good to have him back. Although, he suppressed it, he was filled with warmth. It was good to know that people liked to have him around; it made leaving Circle Daybreak and Lizzie easier to accept. The constant regretful feeling still resided.

He hoped it would disappear as time went by.

This is it girl. Take a deep breath, you can do it.

Lizzie raised her fist and knocked.

The door opened and she had a succinct glance of Josie's face, before the door slammed shut again. She groaned, everything was not going to be all right. Angry with herself and also with Josie she banged both fists on the door. She just didn't want to put up with Josie's crap anymore.

"Open up Josie! That is my room too! Just because you can't get over something, doesn't mean you get to be a bitch," she yelled. Usually she was always tolerant and lenient, but she had hit her breaking point. It wasn't her fault that Chris was her soulmate and that Josie couldn't get the guy she wanted for the first time in her life.

She was surprised as the door flew open. A disgruntled, no, furious Josie stood there, her face red with anger. "What did you call me, slut?" she spat. Her answer made Lizzie clamp her teeth together, she could not remember a time when she was this mad.

But she swallowed her pride and took another deep breath. "I'm sorry that Chris couldn't be your boyfriend" That came out right and she truly did mean it. Lizzie watched as Josie's expression changed. She must have been anticipating a full-on catfight, she thought. Instead of looking disappointed, Josie burst into tears.

That was certainly unexpected. It was an oddly moment as she took Josie and held her best friend as she cried. In time, she knew that they would forgive and forget about what happened. And it wasn't as if Josie had much trouble getting guys.

Understanding how Josie felt, she wondered if her best friend could also meet her soulmate one day. She hoped so, but then again not everyone's life has a happy ending.

I am going to finish this story I promise!!!! While I do it plz review, I will be eternally grateful!!(ok I am in a very, very happy mood today...) :) :) :)