Roses Are Red

Summary: Hi. I'm Faith Isabella de Silva. Interesting name, not? Yeah, well, I'm not your average girl. My mom's the most powerful shifter around, and my dad (who my friends allllwaaays drool over-eew!) is pretty high up there on the mediator totem pole. So, what did I get from them? OK, a) I'm a shifter. And b) Thanks to being a mediator/shifter hybrid, I'm a "special" kind of shifter. I mediate vampires.

Disclaimer: What you recognize is either from The Mediator or Boys that Bite.

Chapter Three: Bargain

My eyes widened as I stared at Magnus.

"W-what?" I stuttered.

He grinned that vampire grin. "You heard me right. I can help you get back at Slade for biting Giselle McTavish."

"You are a stalker," I muttered under my breath.

"No," He lifted my chin, "I just... I'm intrigued by you."

He's a vampire, Faith. Control yourself.

"Is Slade the friend you need help with?" I asked.

"No," Magnus laughed, "Never would I associate with that creature."

I arched an eyebrow. "You are of the same blood-sucker status with him," I pointed out.

"As intriguing as you are," Magnus remarked, "You are the most annoying little thing I've ever met."

"Little?" I snarled. I am quite tall, thank you! Then again, I'm nothing next to Magnus...

"Yes," Magnus said simply.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm guessing that you're a stong believer in catching flies with vinegar?"

"If it's working."

"Well," I smirked, "Good. 'Cause so am I."

000

"You struck a bargain with a vampire?" Nick asked, eyes wide.

I looked at my nails. Why were my fingers shaking? It couldn't have been because of Magnus.

It couldn't.

"Yeah," I tried to make myself sound confident. "I'll help him with his friend, he helps us with Slade."

Nick arched an eyebrow, a talent he shares with me. "Us?"

"Yes, us," I snapped, glaring at him. "Don't you want to get back at him for what he did to your sweetie pie?"

Now it was his turn to glare. "Giselle is not my sweetie pie. She's a vampire."

Right.

Suddenly, a suspicious look came into his eyes. "You seem... different. Who is this vamp anyway?"

I put on my innocent face. "His name's Magnus."

"Oh," Nick shook his head, "A guy vamp. That explains a lot."

I punched him in the shoulder. "We're immune to their pheremones, remember?"

"So," Nick groaned, rubbing his shoulder-I practice kick-boxing with Mom-, "How does this Magnus dude know about Giselle anyway?"

"I don't know. He just... does."

"Great."

"Look," I sighed, "I'll take care of his friend on my own if you want me to."

"I'd like that." Nick gave me the brother look. "Just... keep yourself in check, Faith."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know what I mean."

I didn't.

Really.

000

"Why can't we talk about this?" Ben pleaded as I raced down the street.

"Because we're over," I snapped, glancing at the scrap of paper in my hand. Magnus's house should be coming up...

"I really don't think you should follow me here," I continued, not looking back at Ben. That look in his eyes. Desperate hope, want for forgiveness...

It hurt too much.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Ben yelled.

"As many times as it takes," I hissed in an icy voice, "For me to get the image of you making out with Lauren out of my mind."

"Uh... am I interrupting anything?"

I whirled around to see Magnus standing on the doorstep of what was evidently his house.

"Dang it," I muttered under my breath, before looking up and saying, "No, nothing."

I could feel my face heating up. Great, my "client" had to find me in a fight with my ex. Man, I sound like a lawyer with relationship problems.

"Faith-" Ben began.

I shut my eyes. "Just leave, Ben."

After a moment, I heard his footsteps fading away.

"What was that about?" Magnus asked as we walked down the street. I was silent.

"He hurt you, didn't he?"

"In a sense."

"A Slater?"

I stared at him. "How do you know so much about me?"

Magnus rolled those beautiful eyes. "Things spread in the world of the undead. How could we not know about the ghost who was resurrected?"

A smile played upon my lips. "My dad."

"Yes. Your father."

"I guess," I looked at the pavement, "I guess my mom really loved him."

"Love is a powerful thing," Magnus agreed.

I looked at his perfectly sculpted face. Surely...

"Magnus?" I asked hesitantly. Vampires are touchy about the subject of their old lives. "Have you ever been in love?"

There was silence for a moment. "Yes. With a woman in my time called Rowena. Lady Rowena." (a/n: I stole this name from Ivanhoe.)

"Whoa," I spluttered, "You're from that far back?"

""Yes," He smiled, "I was actually a knight of the round table."

My eyes bugged out. "What! You knew Lancelot?"

Magnus rolled his eyes. "The big idiot. Never at a fight. Always making out with Gwenivere behind the king's back."

"Oh. I thought that was a myth."

He glared at me.

"OK, guess not."

"So," I said, "Who was Lady Rowena?"

Magnus smiled. "She was one of Queen Gwenivere's ladies in waiting. The only one who knew about the affair."

"So, you fell for her?" I asked in a tight voice. Why did this bother me?
"Yes. She was beautiful. Golden locks, dark brown eyes, palest of skin. I was-I was going to ask for her hand in marriage, but the night before... it happened."

"You were bitten?" My tone was soft.

"Yes. By Lady Josephine."

I looked him up and down. Oh. No wonder that the vamp chick had bitten him instead of Lancelot.

"She was one of the queen's other ladies in waiting. Always thought she was a bit odd."

I laughed. "Guess you were right."

At that precise moment, I tripped. "Ah!" I yelped, hoping that the cement wasn't all that hard.

But then... I wasn't falling. Magnus had caught me.

"Vampire's reflexes," He remarked, pulling me up. For the first time that night, I looked at his appearance. He was wearing jeans-a delight when he was walking in front of me- a black t-shirt, and a brown leather jacket. Hey, what a coincidence! I'm wearing the black leather jacket Mom gave me.

OK, a bit off topic. Magnus looked hot, OK?

Dang teenage girl hormones.

I hoped that my hair wasn't frizzy. It's a lot longer than my mom's, down to my waist (a/n: heehee, same length as mine!), in natural waves. But it always frizzes at the top, even though it is apparently very silky.

Why am I acting this way!
"Where does your friend live?" I asked, "So to speak.

"Not far from here," Magnus said, "She's very solitary, though."

"She?"

He gave me a look. "Yes, she. Charity."

Interesting name for a vampiress.

At that moment, I realized that we were in front of a very dark house. Solid gray, one story, no lights shining from the porch. And there were shades covering the windows.

Magnus knocked on the door. "Charity?" He asked, "It's Magnus."

A Goth sounding voice answered. "Do you have her with you?"

Magnus rolled is eyes. "Yes."

"Is she holding any stakes?"

"No."

"Frisk her."

My jaw dropped. Magnus looked apalled.

"Charity-"

"Do it."

He glared at me as if it was my fault.

"What?" I snapped, "It's not as if I'm inviting you to frisk me!"

Although-

Stupid perverted mind.

"I am not frisking her," Magnus declared, "Charity, I'm not from your time period."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The Voice From The House and I said at the same time.

"It means," Magnus groaned, "That I will not jump to frisk a lady. Not even Faith."

He abruptly realized that he had implied that I was good looking, and glared at me.

"Don't worry," I assured him, "I wouldn't flatter myself."

"Fine," Charity suddenly purred in delight. "I won't make Magnus frisk a girl he's actually attracted to. That would take all the fun out of it."

Just as Magnus and I both opened our mouths to argue that Magnus was anything but attracted to me, a girl came to the door. She was... pretty. In a weird way.

Her hair was died blood red, and her eyes were... yellow. Strange, but could have been color contacts.

She was short and slight, and her red hair hung lank, but something told me that she could pick up guys like that. Maybe the confidence. Maybe the bad-girl thing.

Maybe the pheremones.

Her clothes were all black, and she was very pale (duh) and had tons of eyeliner on, accompanied with black lip stick.

Yeah. Charity was pretty solitary looking.

"So." She stared at me. "You're the one."

"Uh, pretty much," I smiled weakly.

Charity then proceeded to lead us in without a word to Magnus. Though she did give him the eye.

Dang. Even vampiresses love him.

Charity's house is very dimly lit, only with candles. There's a bit of furniture, but no TV. Everything, even the walls, is black.

We sit down on the floor. Charity looks at me with her yellow eyes and says one thing:

"I didn't used to be this way."

That one statement made me want to help her.

"Really?" I blurted out like an idiot.

Magnus shot me The Look. Strange, I seem to be getting it often.

"Yeah," Charity murmured, "Then Slade bit me and-"

"So that's how you know him," I interrupted, glaring at Magnus. He, for the millionth time, rolled his eyes.

"I want to leave this world," Charity said, staring into my eyes, "I want to get rid of this awful hunger."

I gave her a small smile.

"I'll do anything, Charity."

000

Hope you liked. I have a poll. Who's your fave character so far?

a) Faith

b) Nick

c) Giselle

d) Ben

e) Magnus