: A/N: I've officially had . . . the worste day ever. Omfg you don't even, couldn't even begin to imagine.

ONE the pizza place was closed the MINUTE I drove up.

TWO Sonic OF ALL PLACES was closed.

Dude. Everything. Was. Closed. I. About. Went. Maniac. In. My. Vehicle. Like. Woah. Irrisponsibly.

I had to go to WAL-MART. TT Wal-Mart does not have delicious ready-to-eat Cheesy Fries. NOPE NO CHEESY FRIES FOR LEX. NOOOPE. Had to get FROZEN PIZZA. Frozen Pizza. Disgusting. Shameful. Grotesque.

Listening to From First To Last. 3 :

Dead To The World

Chapter nine:

The place smelled like a zoo. Literally. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I quickly edged my way through the huge crowd of people at exactly 6:32 P.M.. It'd taken me pracically 4 damned hours to find the place! No wonder, too. It was in the middle of nowhere. I had to stop and ask bikers, who looked suspiciously dangerous. Or at least their smell was. With their big bar-handle mustaches that reminded me of Ted. I hated bar-handle mustaches.

"Oh God, it smells strange." I said, using the map I'd bought at Berny's Quik -N- Go to even find the damned place. Yes, I came. Was it smart to take an invitation from a person who you've never met before? Nope. Did Zowie Excel do it though? Of course. In fact I'd asked myself, "Why not?" Did Zowie Excel bring Mace? Yep. Would it help with all of the bikers staring at her across the parking lot, as I quickly ran into the stadium? Nope.

"Good one Zowie, good one." I walked what seemed to be called, "The Pin". It was huge, to put in a short. For lack of a better word, it was dirty. And smelly, and it had chained fencing for the high walls, barracing the underground cell. Bleaches were piled high to stare down into the monstrosity.

There were too many people and . . . surprisingly no animals? Literally, I'd seen no animals what-so-ever. Where were they all? And I thought I was late? Well, by two minutes but still. I slipped against a brick wall quietly weaving through the crowd, as I pressed my back against the bricks, looking down at my cell phone for any new messages.

I was wearing for this particular event a pair of hip-hugging Aeropostle dark blue-jeans, all worn on the thighs, with holes which showed off my tanned knees. How clever? Tanned knees. Anyways, I had on an old Jaguar's Bar T-Shirt Tommy'd given me for Christmas last year. It was black and long, coming to the middle of my hips, where it stretched not too-tight but alittle too-noticeable on my breasts. With Jaguar eyes on my collar bones, which on the back had white cursive writing reading "Jaguar Nights" which was the nick-name for it.

My hair was straightened and let down as it swung around my bottom, I parted it in half to hand on either side of my chest limply swinging as I tapped my old American Eagle flip-flops against the dirty ground. Looking down at my toes which were done in French-tips. I sighed as I waved the map around my face, wearing the only makeup I really ever wore, thick black eyeliner and some mascara to bring out my darker hazel eyes. I scooted my black-rimmed glasses on the tip of my nose as I looked down at my cell-phone. No messages, of course.

"Zowie?" I looked up from my flip-phone at the site of Lance standing in front of me, clothed in strangely strangely similiar as me. Loose blue jeans, that looked like they'd been ripped on accident, a long and loose 'Jaguar Nights' T-shirt, only his was white, the sleeves ripped off to show his defined, pale, and musclar arms. His hair wasn't spiked tonight, but messily thrown around his head, his large white smile still large and freakishly white.

"Lance?" I asked, matching his enthusiastic surprise with my honest enthusiastic surprise, because now I wasn't alone in this smelly, sweaty pit! Yay!

"What're you doing here?" He asked, with a quark of his brow. "This didn't seem like your kind of gig." I shrugged, honestly it wasn't.

"It's not actually, I'm here for . . . a new friend." He did the eyebrow lift thing, sighing as he leaned against the brick wall with me.

"New friend, eh? Don't make me jealous. What's her name?"

"Don't flatter me. And it's a him, Alexander? A man who'd bought one of my paintings online, gentleman really." I said with honest curiousness. I was actually a little excited to meet the man, not as scared as I was when I first got here.

Checklist of bravery:

Mace. Check.

Lance. Man. Check.

Cell-phone. Check.

Killer flip-flops in which I can hit those ugly Biker Men if they get too brave. Check.

Things were looking up. I looked up at Lance because he was being so quiet.

"You alright?" I asked while he stared ominously down at me like I'd turn green any second. "Something wrong?"

"How do you know Alexander?" I smiled, good.

"You know him? What's he like?" I asked curoiusly.

"Asher." He said down to me. The thought stopped my heart as I recalled the glorious name that'd been haunting me for the past two weeks. Asher, he'd said his name was.

"How do you know him, again?"

"He bought one of my paintings online." I said quietly, my eyes darting to each of my fingers as I looked down at them, trying to keep my thoughts from drifting.

"And yes, I know Asher. In fact he came here with the Pard." I looked at him, thankful he tore me from my happily drifting mind.

"Pard?" I asked, laughing under my breath as I looked up at him questioningly. He nodded down at me, as his body stiffened. I tried to read his face as he turned away.

"Hey? Where you going!" I asked, as my fright level turned up a notch. Great, now I only had three excuses to be brave.

"I need to find Asher." He yelled over his shoulder through the gruffing sounds of the crowd.

"Let me come!" I squeeled behind him. "Don't leeeave me! I don't know who these people are!" I yelled as he dissapeared into the crowd. "Well fuck!" I grumbled unhappily as I tried to follow him through the swarm of people. I followed him all the way down what seemed like a long bricked alleyway, turning at the last minute he dissapeared into the only corner. I whimpered, turning back around to look down the long alley way to watch all the people at the end. "Damnit!" I squeeled, rearing around the corner to smash face first into a hard back, as I rubbed my nose.

"You're such an ass! I told you-" The person turned what looked like a smiling/snorting face down to look at me where I sat pouting on the ground. My eyes darted to Lance as he stood with his fists clenched at his sides, glaring at the person who held his hand down for me. I looked down at the hand for a moment before taking it, lifting up from the dirty floor as I brushed my bottom free of the brown dirt.

"Hello." The man said softly as I looked up at him through my glasses.

"Hi." I said with a sudden sneeze as I turned away quickly, taking off my glasses to rub under my eyes. "Sorry, all this dirt." I said with a sniffle, as I looked back up at the man smiling down at me. He was dressed in a very tight black shirt, nearly ripping at his chest and arms, black dress pants, and strangely no shoes. Strange man. I found his face moments later as my heart stopped beating.

" . . .Asher?" I asked quietly, swearing to God right then and there that that was Asher. His smile lightened a touch, then came back full force.

"Under My Skin is what I'm usually known by." He said with a light chuckle, as I inspected his dimpled chin and sharp warm eyes. Eyes that matched his long curled hair.

"A-Alexander?" I asked uncertainly, as my heart dropped. God, good, I can breath.

"Yes, my name is Alexander." He said, the chuckle still warm in the air. I smiled, sighing heavily.

"I thought you were someone else, I'm sorry." I said, laughing also. His smile faultered for a moment and something passed over his face I couldn't exactly place, but I'd seen it.

"It was wonderful you could make it. I'm only sorry for the terrible smell." He said, trying to hold back the laugh that I saw through his eyes and cheeks. I used the fan to give two sharp fans to my face.

"I'm sorry for the heat actually." I said amusingly, holding out my hand.

"It's good to meet you, well, kind of Mr. Alexander." I said through a half nervous smile. He looked at my hand for a moment, as he took it gengerly, I gasped inwardly as heat ran through our touching fingertips. He lifted those full pouted lips to my knuckles as he brushed them over my trembling hand. It made me flash back, seeing the rain and the wind, and . . . Asher as I was in his arms. Yes, I could even feel it.

I snapped back when Alexander suddenly let my hand go, a bewildered look on his face as he turned away.

"Well Lance, the fights are about to start, why don't you take Zowie to the bleachers?" He asked walking away. I looked at his rippling back strangely as he turned another bricked alleyway.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked, looking at up him approaching with a cocked eyebrow. He shooked his head with a sigh.

"It's going to be a long night." He said with a cough covering fist, his eyebrows raising and dropping.

"Uh-oh. Why doesn't that sound like a good notion?" He shrugged.

"I suppose it could be, but it's very unlikely it'll turn out that way."

"How so?"

"How so nothing. Your nose is red." He said smiling down at me as I crossed arms with him. I rubbed my nose with a roll of my eyes.

"Oh God, is it really?" He nodded with laughter that ran through my skin and cooled my body like a fresh breeze on a hot summer afternoon. I smiled, welcoming it.

"Brother, I am so happy you came!" Asher Alexander smiled face to face with his older Brother's frown that seemed carved in his lips.

"I've only come to this disgusting tournament that you call 'fun' to tape you back together when you get ripped apart. Again." Asher said passing Alexander in the changing room to throw a black duffle bag to the red chipped bench, as he turned back around to face his younger Brother.

"Have you still not forgiven me Brother?" Alexander asked, walking cautiously closer to his Brother's larger frame. Asher's appearance and clothes the same as himself, only the black shirt much looser, his pants much more loose also. His long black hair falling around him in long ebony waves.

The silence filled the dressing room hotly, again aloneness. Alexander bent at his Brother's legs, head bowing.

"She is here." He said quietly. "If it's any constelation."

"I can smell her." He didn't wait a second to reply.

"She is a sensitive. I can feel it, I caught a memory where I was in your arms, but it wasn't mine. Rain, wind, I looked up at you through a woman's eyes Ash." Alexander said, face raising to look up at his Brother.

"Get off of your knees Alex." As he heard these words, Alexander knew his Brother had forgiven him. He never used Alexander's nickname. Hardly even that. He tried to come closer in an attempt for a hug but Asher side-stepped him.

"No. You betrayed me, I knew what I was doing." Now a little more angry Alexander sputtered,

"When? Huh? When? When were you going to find her, much less court her? Ash, I speak to you as Flesh and Blood," He touched Asher's chest, then his own, raising his fingers to brushed the manly jaw, then to his own heart.

"Flesh of my flesh," he lifted his palm to show the silver cross that they had burned in either of their palms. "Blood of my Blood." He said, warmth flowing through his voice like rich enticing honey. As he grabbed his Brother's hand in an attempt to come as one with him, again Ash sidestepped him turning his back on his Brother. Alexander stood staring at his Brother's large back.

"You're exiling me because I wish what is best for you. You leave me in the dark, the place I fear the most. The place you fear the most also. Why hurt both of us, for the good intentions for you."

"We've gone through this."

"This is different, Asher no one is going to hurt us this time. No one." He laid a hand on his Brother's back as Asher flew forward against the wall, bracing himself on his hands as he breathed heavily staring up and over at his younger Brother, breathing heavily with frightened eyes turned from light hazel, with orange streaks.

"Don't touch me!" He said, eyes burning through his younger Brother's. It hurt Alexander so ubstructingly to see his Brother raged inside out with memories of past times. The memories clouding Asher's mind as they went down the Blood Line to his younger Brother. Alexander closed his eyes as the memories formed a frown on his mouth. He shook his head over and over as he ran over to his Brother, cradling his head on his chest.

"Brother those times are over! No one can harm us ever again! No one will ever abuse us!" The memories suddenly shut away from Alexander's mind as Asher cut him off, keeping all the memories and pictures to himself. Alexander could still smell the stink of rotten flesh, cum and blood on the tip of his tongue, even when the memories were ages ago.

"Stop this Asher, stop this. Stop tormenting yourself, please please, just stop it." Tears choked his throat tightly as he held his eyes closed, rocking his older Brother over and over until they both calmed.

"Asher please, please stop. I beg you. Please." He whimpered as his arms dropped from around his Brother's head to fall around his trimmed waist, hugging him tightly as he pleaded with Asher. He was choking with sobs as his older Brother sat staring down at him, petting his head as he forced the memories away. The pictures ceised, the smell of flesh was gone from his nostrils. The kind of scent that shouldn't exist for humans, the smell of flesh ripped apart by the joints. It smelled like old slaughtered hamburger, no one should ever have that image, not even the smell on their memories forever. He wouldn't even lend them to his worste enemies, that was too much for one person. The only reason he hadn't gone insane and shut down completely from their Pard, was because both of the shared the torment.

What would he have done without his Alexander? He would've gone insane. He would've left their Pard. Their family that they never had. They were equals in everyway, you couldn't seperate the two permanently without doing damage. It was impossible. One of them would die, one of them being the weakest. Asher would have been the weakest. Unlike his younger Brother he couldn't turn away from the memories, channel them to his benefit. No, instead he locked them away. Where they came at the worste moments to foul and shrivel him completely inside and out. Body, mind, and most of all spirit. That part of his life was gone, shrunked away in chains and filth. One that he couldn't leave behind like his Brother. He just couldn't.

A cough across the room brought Asher's attentions towards Steffano, one of their Jaguars. Alexander remained shakingly wrapped around his Brother's body as Asher patted his younger Brother's head, calming the huge feline like he were already in Cat form.

"Calm Brother, this is not the time nor place." He said quietly, leaning down to kiss the top of his Brother's head, where he lay his cheek against it. He closed his eyes, not ready to cause his Brother pain right at the moment.

"Change Alexander." He said quietly, still resting against his head, as Alexander stopped rocking.

"I order you Asher Alexander Blacksheer the Third to change, show the power of your Pard." Alexander's head lifted slowly to look up at his older Brother as his eyes bled orange and light honey suckle, his lips folding back as he snarled a K-Nine smile. Asher looked down at his younger Brother sadly.

"What a terrible fate we've become, my Brother." He lifted his scarred palm to wrap around his younger Brother's transforming scarred hand.

"Wow, this place is packed! Want some?" I offered Lance a handful of my popcorn as he took a small bit. He popped all of them into his mouth as he munched on them, turning back around to open his mouth making a strange sound; I looked into his mouth with disgust.

"And here I thought you were a British gentleman." He closed his mouth with a big smile, popping another piece from my little bag into his mouth.

"Naw, I think you thought me out all wrong." I nodded, mumbling.

"Think I did too." I said, turning back to the stadium as I giggled under my breath. The stadium was packed high up and tall, thankfully we'd gotten the bench on the very bottom, first hand view of all the action. I protested, and ended up being carried. He made up by buying me some popcorn, it sounded good for me. I watched as two large black Cats, no Jaguars were released into the pit below.

"It's strange," I said, literally entraced by the animal's heavy muscle under that black shinny fur.

"What is?" Lance didn't seem nearly as interested as I was. In fact no one did, everyone was quiet. And I expected redneck shouting? Nope.

"I never saw any animals the entire time being brought." I shrugged as I was answered with hot silence.

"They must've been here already." I mumbled, thinking of how badly that must have sucked. I wouldn't wanna stay here any longer than absolutely necessary.

"So . . . where's Alexander?" Lance glanced down at me, then back at the stadium, his eyes darting somewhere else I couldn't see over a buzzed head.

"I don't know." He said emotionlessly.

"You don't like him do you?" I said through chumps of popcorn, looking at the large animals as they paced one another in the matching dead silence. I was completely awed.

"Why do you think that?" I shrugged.

"You really don't seem like you care for him too much." I waited a moment before he answered.

"No, I like him. He's a good man, and a good leader. But, he's mischevious." I had to look at him for this one.

"Mischevious?" I said through a mouthful of popcorn. He glared at the two cats in the pin, and I couldn't understand why got so uptight about Alexander. He seemed pretty decent.

"Very mischevious." He said, lips curling back. "He likes to shake things up. Don't get me wrong he's an honorable person, but he's still a kid somewhere deep in there." I shrugged, listening to the strangely softness in his tone.

"Maybe you just don't know the whole story." I said as a large cat swatted at the other, reeling backwards.

"What do you mean, the whole story?" I oohed, and ahhed at the Jaguars as I answered him through mouthfuls of popcorn.

"People can only give you the pieces of the story they want you to know. You can think you know a person, and turn out to not know a damn thing about them. You shouldn't critize, like I said, you may not have all the pieces to the puzzle."

"Wise words for someone so young." I rolled my eyes over at him.

"You aren't too far behind Bubby Boy."

"Bubby Boy? Oh harsh babe, harsh." He said with a mischevious squint of his eyes and a reach for my disipitating popcorn as I slapped his hand away, giving him squinted sly eyes in return.

"And I am old." I nearly choked.

"You look and seem like a horny teenager in highschool." I coughed loudly, laughing hysterically at my own joke as many heads turned towards us. I looked over at Lance to see a red blush over his pale cheeks, it only made me howl louder and harder.

"By the by, why do you all say you're old? You can't be any older than 22." I said, my attention turning back towards the Cats to keep myself from sticking my tongue out at the oggling people above and beside us. Got a problem? Jesus.

"Twenty three believe it or not. And maybe, you just don't know the whole story behind us." I glared at one of the Cats imagining it to be his head.

"Immature." I mumbled.

"Naive." He mumbled back pleasantly.

"Cliche."

"Little girl."

"Horny teenager." I mumbled back, tilting my head back and fourth to mimick him.

"Fatty." I turned to gape at him as he snatched my bag of popcorn from my greedy fingers as I swatted at him, gaping.

"I can't believe you said that!" I squeeled, as we were shushed from voices ringing all over us. "Well you're a you're a . . . stripper!" I started choking with laughter, covering my eyes as I held in my breath to hopefully cease the barking from both of us. We finally ended us breathing heavily as I leaned against him, my head slanted against his shoulder. Someone started tapping on Lance's shoulder from behind us when he growled.

"We get the point you fat bugger." He said breathlessly, as I slightly turned to puff my cheeks out, desperately trying to hold back my laughter as he looked at me incrediously rolling his eyes. "The nerve." He said, a smile spreading through his lips as he looked at mine for a moment. The smile faded and his head snapped back so suddenly I jumped.

"Jesus." I said, staring at the side of his messy true-blonde hair.

"Sorry." He said without turning back to me. I shrugged with wide eyes as I slid another piece of my popcorn into my mouth. Ookay.

The Cats finally stopped circling eachother as one leaped to the other, slashing its massive clawed paw across the other's face.

"Yes!" Lance said, gripping his knees with his white hands, I glanced at his bobbing legs, then back to the stadium.

"Oh my God." I whispered as one Cat pounced on the other, sending the other on its back. It was so hard to make my eyes moving to catch up with their bouncing and springing. One of the huge black monstrocities had the other pinned to the ground on its back as it raked its claws again and again over its opponents stomach. I dropped the popcorn from my fingertips as I stared ominously, entranced at the blood pouring from its wounds as one man in a black shirt dove in and seperated the two like they were people.

The 'winner' paced back and fourth with rolling black shoulder blades as it watched the two with large orange eyes. The large eyes left the two to run through the crowd, settling on me. I felt the weight of its gaze as it stopped and stared, it lifted its head and let out a gut wrenching cry. Resembling something similiar to a dying woman. It made me close my eyes as Lance hugged me tightly.

"He won!" He said over and over. I patted his knee to cease him as he let me go suddenly, his gaze returning to the feline in the stadium. I looked at him strangely, pushing my glasses back up on my nose.

"Jesus, you have a bet on that one?" He stopped jumping, but didn't look at me. He only nodded, settling down. I shrugged and returned my gaze back to the two that were suddenly gone. "That was fast." I said amazed. Surely one man couldn't get a two hundred pound seriously injured Cat all by himself? And did he just ring the other up? Wow, these guys were good.

He looked back at me and at my popcorn, "You need more popcorn," He said, standing. I shook my head as he ran away.

"No, I'm fine." I said slowly, watching him quickly sprint away. I scratched the top of my head as I laid my hands back onto my knees, looking out through the ring to look at the other side of the crowd. "So many differnet kinds of people." I said to myself quietly, silently observing the different shapes, sizes, clothes, body language of all the excited muttering going on. I actually didn't know this would be so . . . big. It just didn't seem like that big of a deal. Illegal animal fighting? So what? For bets, I mean c'mon, it didn't seem that bad. Getting caught with a bag of weed seemed about the same sentence. Well, then again it would be abuse for the animals, so maybe not. What a strange day I was having.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as the sun that was setting shot rays of dark orange across my arm, making it burn. I touched it uneasily scooting closer to my left as I bumped into a rather large woman, "Oh I'm sorry." I said quietly. I just couldn't stand it anymore, I needed some sunblock. I rose from my seat, wiping away the popcorn that had found its way into my lap and down my shirt. "Damnit." I said quietly, politely excusing myself over and over as I stepped over legs and feet; finally reaching the end as I jogged to the parking lot.

"She left." Asher said to Alexander as he sat on the bench panting, Lance dapping his face with a cloth as the Pard gathered inside the small dressing room.

"She left?" Alexander asked, breathing heavily as he looked at Lance. "What're you doing here? Go back to her!" He said, pointing towards the door. Lance shrugged,

"She's a big girl Alex, she'll be alright. I only left her for a minute."

"Yeah, I noticed you're doing such a great job since you're here, and she's not in her seat. Think about where she is! She doesn't even know!" Alexander hissed as Lance touched one of his wounds across his rib, biting his lip as he looked back up at his older Brother. His eyes lightened as he looked up at him.

"Wait, Brother if you were watching her, why didn't you stop her?" Asher looked down and around the room at all the different faces talking amongst themselves.

"I figured she's a big girl, she can handle herself." Alexander suddenly laughed as the room filled with the joyous sound, closing his eyes in pain as he wracked his body with laughter, leaning back against the chipped red brick wall, still chuckling as he opened his eyes greeted with his staring older Brother. He stood tall, looking down at him with glazed eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked slowly, the smile fading as he watched his Brother's face.

He said one word before they both rose and ran from the room.

"Wolf."

: A/N: -giggles, whiping glasses on shirt- She's so about to get ass raped. -cackles- No not really, but read on.

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