A day passed. Ren tried to act like nothing had happened, but she felt she wasn't doing a very good job at this. With the combination of whatever was going on between her and Audrey, and Layla being upset with her, she didn't know what to do.

The past days, Audrey had obviously been showing interest in her, something Ren had been waiting for months. However, the simple fact that this angered Layla caused hesitation on Ren's part. She realized just how infrequently she and her sister had been together, which, she assumed, was one of the reasons why Layla was being so difficult. Though it pained her to think of it, Ren thought it best to stay neutral on the situation between her and Audrey. Just keep to friendliness.

Quietly, she explained this to Audrey in terms she could accept. "It's not like I don't have any interest. You know it's the opposite. It's just that I need to work out whatever is going on with Layla and me first." Ren said, fighting the urge to cry.

"I understand," Audrey said sadly "it's ok. You need your family more than you need me."

Lowering her head, Ren nodded. She knew she needed Layla, but it just didn't feel like it. The one and only person she thought she needed was Audrey, simple as that. Though she wanted to be bold and say something like that, Ren bit her tongue, forcing back the urge. "In fact, maybe I'll go find her now." Ren said, standing up from her seat.

Audrey looked up to her, want clearly shown in her eyes. Standing rooted to the floor, Ren couldn't tear herself from those eyes. It wasn't just the eyes either. The soft glow radiating from the fire cast a complimenting sheen on her soft red hair, her pale skin seeming to glimmer. Looking to her lap, fists lay clenched, fighting a war. A war between what was best and what was wanted. Not waiting to see the end, Ren turned a heel as her eyes were watering, exiting through the portrait door.

Feeling compelled to turn right around and take back everything she had just said, Ren stalled a moment outside the common room before continuing to where Layla was. Letting her feet do the work, and her mind to drift, Ren traveled to the one place she knew she would find Layla- the Room of Requirement. Out of place, Ren knew it would be too much to barge in on her twin, so she settled herself just outside the door.

Waiting patiently, an hour went by. Ren began to wonder if Layla was in there or not, but she stuck to it. Dinner was about to start, surely she would emerge soon. This wasn't the case. Ren found herself drifting into a light sleep.

"What are you doing here?" a voice asked, waking Ren from her slumber. Ren hadn't even realized she had been asleep until she woke. Looking around, Ren saw Layla standing in the doorway, startled.

"I was- I was looking for you." Ren replied, startled herself.

"Not off with Audrey?" Layla spat back, bitterness filling her voice, crossing her brow.

"No." Ren said, wincing at the harshness involved with the mention of Audrey. "I wanted to find you."

Layla said nothing, not seeming convinced at all.

"Ok," Ren started, standing up and taking a few paces to Layla. "I want to work out whatever's bothering you."

"Pfft. You just don't like me angry with your girl friend!" Layla half shouted back, letting the door slam.

Ren's jaw dropped slightly. The world was paused as she stumbled over the right words. "She- she's not my girlfriend." Ren replied softly, trying to repress the hurt she was feeling. Looking down, she continued. "I just want to help you sort through whatever's on your mind. I know you don't like her, but I want to work this out. I don't like fighting with you. I don't want to fight with you."

"Stop hanging around Audrey so much and maybe we wouldn't have to fight." Layla said, slightly cocky, like she had the upper hand.

"That's like me asking you to stop talking to James, or to stop thinking about Jeff- stop thinking about Mom." Ren spit back, becoming angry with Layla's harshness.

Ren saw the flame of anger in Layla's eyes die down as she looked away. The two stood there silently, awkwardness growing with every second. "I- I can't." Layla said finally, breaking the silence.

"Exactly." Ren replied softly. "I can't stop being with her. I don't understand why you can't see how much I love her."

"I can see how much you feel for her." Layla said, her voice sharp, her anger rising once more.

"So why is it that you're so angry?" Ren asked.

"Because she's stealing you from me."

"How is it she's stealing me from you when you never bother to show yourself in the light of day anyway?"

"You've had opportunities. You just don't take them!"

Feeling that this was only half truthful, and getting frustrated at this point, Ren gritted her teeth trying to think of something to say. Thinking of nothing, she gave up the battle for now. "Fine." she said "I try to set things right and this is what I get!"

Angrily storming off, Ren walked herself to the Great Hall. By the time she made it there, she had cooled down slightly, now feeling more depressed than angry. Sitting down, she served herself meek portions and sat a lone to push the food about her plate. Eyes glazed over, and her head propped up on her fist, she might as well have not been there at all, but she didn't seem to have the energy to go elsewhere. The last few words she and Layla had exchanged were bouncing around in her mind, her head throbbing, her heart racing, eyes watery. She didn't even notice Audrey sit down next to her until she felt her hand on her arm.

"You look out of it." Audrey said, her hand still on Ren's arm.

"I was... thinking..." Ren replied slowly, glancing at Audrey out of the corner of her eye.

"About what?"

"Nothing in particular." Ren sighed.

"How did it go with Layla?" Ren looked gravely to Audrey.

"Horrible."

"I'm sorry." Audrey whispered, her eyes full of sympathy.

"Don't be." Ren replied, fighting the urge to break down. "It's not your fault. I don't know whose fault it is, but it's not yours." Audrey said nothing, looking sadly toward Ren. Ren fell silent, taking a small sip from her flask as she debated what to do. She couldn't stand it. If she were in Audrey's presence in her current state anymore she would start crying. "I'm sorry." she finally said "I'm going..." Without waiting for a reply, Ren pulled herself away from Audrey, trudging out of the hall.

An hour later, Ren lay awake on her bed lost deep in though. She didn't know what to think about anything anymore. The last image of Audrey was stuck in her mind; her soft hazel eyes were practically tearing holes in her. She didn't want to hurt Audrey like she knew she was doing, but she also didn't want things worsening between Layla and herself. She was just so confused about what to do she couldn't even think straight thoughts anymore.

Reaching up to her neck, Ren took off her locket. She held it in the palm of her hand, the cool metal feeling good in her sweaty hands. Opening it, she found herself staring at her mother's picture; she wondered what life would be like now with her mother still alive. Ren found herself growing more sad as she thought of her mother. If she were alive she would be in France. If she were in France, she wouldn't know Audrey. Without Audrey, there was nothing. Sighing, Ren rested her hands on her stomach. A shiver came over her and Ren realized how cold it was. Snow was falling outside. Remembering just a few days ago when she and Audrey had been outside, Ren felt something inside her burst.

Tears were welling up in her eyes as she remembered how warm and safe she had felt when Audrey was holding her. She just wanted acceptance. She needed Audrey and Layla. Just two people, and she would be content. Was that honestly so much to ask for? Sighing and letting the tears roll down her cheeks, Ren pulled a blanket over her. It wasn't Audrey, but she would have to make do.

The last day of break finally came. It was the first day of the new year. The students who had been home would soon return, and school would continue the following day. School- they had so many days off and yet Ren still never got bored enough to do any of her work. Like it or not, she had to finish her school work to turn in the next day.

Deciding it would be a more pleasant work environment, Ren took her things to the Library; she was hoping that maybe for a little while she could forget about Audrey, and forget about Layla. That didn't seem to be the case. Ren had all of her supplies, books, and papers sprawled out about the table, but she just couldn't concentrate. Her quill was loaded, and poised in anticipation of scribbling down various things onto her parchment, but nothing was coming. Enough time had passed that Ren could hardly remember anything, and she was feeling down enough that she had no interest in sparking her memory. It was like her brain was numb.

"Hey Layla." Ren looked up, slightly confused, anticipating the sight of her sister with a friend; she only found a girl standing across from her, looking down at her school work. She stood shorter than Ren by a few inches, her face outlined with copper hair which reached down to her waist. Hazel eyes sparkled down at Ren with excitement. "Wait." The girl's smile vanished. "You're not Layla."

"No." Ren said, slightly amused, letting a faint trace of a smile be seen. "I'm Ren, her twin."

"That would make sense." the girl replied, taking a seat and making herself conformable across the table from Ren. "Layla's told me about you. The name's Ella."

"Ah..." Ren replied, slightly dazed, wondering what Layla had said.

"Don't worry." Ella replied, giggling slightly at Ren's face. "She didn't say anything bad about you. Well, not much anyway."

"Oh." Ren said, fighting with herself to be nice with Ella. Instead, she again grinned, and tried to make it as though she were nonchalant.

"Well, I'll leave you to your homework." Ella said, standing up abruptly. "It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah." Ren sighed, giving Ella a weak good-bye wave. Looking back to her blank parchment, Ren decided the only way she would ever get anything done was to promise herself if she worked diligently she could find Audrey even sooner.

That night at dinner, Ren entered the Great Hall to find a deafening roar present. It was now obvious that all the students were home, much to the displeasure of Ren. She had liked the feel of having the castle to herself, without hundreds of other people to share it with. Sighing, Ren told herself there was just one more term and then they had Easter Break. If she just kept herself occupied, that would come sooner than expected. Ren was broken from her train of thought as another body ran into her.

"Damn. I'm sorry." She muttered, steadying herself, looking shyly to the floor. "You ok?"

"I'm fine." a familiar voice rang back, a hand finding its way to Ren shoulder. "It was my fault for being in such a hurry."

"No, I was being slow and standing in the door." Ren said, weakly smiling at Ella. Ella had a lot of charisma. She was the kind of person you couldn't help but smile with.

"Come sit with me and Layla." Ella said brightly. "You seem a little lost."

"I was just..." Ren felt her cheeks redden as she left her sentence to hang in the air. Truth to be told she was looking for Audrey, but for one reason or another, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh I see." Ella said in a teasing manor. "Seems like you two really are identical."

"I- what?"

"Both of you have kinky fetishes. But it's okay, your secret is safe with me." Ella giggled, leading Ren to where Layla was seated.

"Hey." Layla said dully upon their arrival. The air around Layla was stale and unpleasant, but Ren remained there all throughout dinner. She liked Ella enough that she figured she had nothing to loose learning more about her, and maybe she would have a chance to try and get an apology out of Layla. To Ren's disappointment, this never happened, nor did Audrey ever make an appearance.

Abruptly leaving once she finished her meal, Ren departed from the noisy hall, and found her way back to the Common Room. As she had expected, here too it was once again crowded. Students were crowding around chess matches and card games, and swapping Christmas stories by the hearth.

Feeling her knees get weak as her eyes came in contact with Audrey, Ren felt down as she saw Audrey in a heard of her Seventh Year friends. Putting her head down, Ren quietly trudged past, retreating to her dormitory.

It looked like things were back to normal with the castle for the most part. To Ren, the only thing that wasn't normal was herself. Her grades were on a steady decline, she was arguing with her sister, who also happened to be her best friend, and Audrey, her little center of happiness, was off with her other friends. It wasn't as though Ren wanted to feel greedy like she was, but there are so many punches you can take at once; having Audrey dislocating herself from Ren and attaching herself to other people again was the final blow.

Settling in for bed, Ren was extremely exhausted from lack of sleep the past week, but for one reason or another she couldn't sleep. Her thoughts were bouncing all around to so many different topics she was too distracted.

Finally, at about midnight, she got fed up and left the Fifth Year dormitory, heading for the Common Room. By that time, no one was up and left in the Common Room but herself, so she was free to herself, but still something didn't feel right. Allowing her fangs to grow out, and breaking the spell for her eyes, Ren felt at ease being in her true form. I saddened her that she couldn't be her normal self more often. She didn't like the feel of being tied down and hidden all the time. The past week she had allowed herself to be free more than usual since hardly anyone was there at school. Now that everyone was back though, she had to be cautious and keep to herself. Feeling better for the moment, she sat down next to a window to stare at the sky. Her vampire instincts wanted her to stalk the night, not live as she was. Living in the day was so tiresome, and wore her down. She wanted to be normal for once in her life.

"It's amazing how wonderful the moon looks at this hour." a voice said sadly. Ren turned around in her seat to see Ella standing awkwardly by the hearth.

"How long have you been standing there?" Ren asked, feeling uncomfortable.

"Not long." Ella replied. Holding up a few pieces of parchment she continued. "I came down to fetch my homework, I went upstairs to finish, but I forgot some of it down here."

"Oh." Ren sighed "I thought I was the only one who stayed up this late, aside from Layla of course."

"No." Ella padded across the room in her slippers and bath robe. "I stay up late a lot. I moon gaze."

"You too?" Ren asked, becoming a lot more interested in Ella than she had been originally.

"Yeah. Did Layla not tell you? Or are you two still arguing?"

"We-" Ren began, startled. "She told you we were fighting did she?" Ella nodded, sitting down in a chair next to Ren. Crossing her brow, Ren grew frustrated with her sibling, for reasons she wasn't even sure of.

"Yeah." Ella replied awkwardly "She told me why too. But don't worry; I'm good at keeping secrets." Ren felt her cheeks growing hot as she blushed.

"I see." Ren said, looking out the window once again. Neither of them said anything for a moment. Ren wondered how she could get out of this situation without seeming rude. It wasn't as if she disliked Ella, she just wanted to be a lone.

"Is it just me," Ella spoke softly "or are your eyes red in this light?"

Ren's eyes widened with fear and surprise as she realized she never changed back once she became aware of Ella's presence. She felt stupid for not smelling Ella's blood and knowing she was there before. Now she'd have to lie her way out. "They are red." Ren mumbled.

"So I was right..." Ella trailed off.

"What?" Ren whispered.

"You two are vampires." Ella replied, equally quiet.

"How did you know!" Ren asked fearfully, her hands shaking in her lap.

"Natural instincts."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Layla hasn't told you that either then..."

"Told me what?" Ren inquired, growing even more frustrated with the young girl.

"I'm a werewolf. Well, I'm going to bed." Ella said, completely unfazed. "See you around."

"'Night." Ren muttered, still in shock at Ella's confession. Ren watched as Ella climbed the stairs before turning into bed herself. Though she still didn't feel tired at all, she felt much more content than she had before.