Third part of the re-write! Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Shit shit shit shit. There is no car here to pick me up. And unless it is just running 45 minutes late, I don't think there will be one, either. I really should have expected this. I really should have. Well, actually, despite my wildest imaginings of what Boris would do to me when I arrived, surprisingly none of them had included being stranded at the airport. Being stabbed to death while I slept, of yes, but not this. How is this going to get rid of me? Death would be a much more permanent solution. Here, I can always find some other way to get to the mansion. I have money. And my luggage was sent ahead a week ago. I'm all set.

A hand gently tapped my shoulder, and I jumped, spinning around to come face to face with Rei. I smiled tightly, my heart pounding. "Yes?" I asked. "Why are you still here?"

He looked really tired, which was understandable, seeing as it was almost quarter to twelve, American time. But his smile was much more real than mine was. "There was a problem locating my luggage," he said. "I was just wondering why you were still here. Are you waiting for a ride?"

I shrugged. "Well I was, but I seem to have been abandoned." I laughed, and it sounded fake even to my ears. "My family, they're all such practical jokers, you know." Yeah, right. Ha ha.

Rei frowned. "Your family?"

"Yeah. My," I almost choked on the word, "my uncle. He was going to pick me up, but, well, he's getting old. It's just him in the house. His memory is not what it used to be. Very sad." Oh god, Boris, my uncle? How did I come up with this crap?

Rei seemed to buy it, though, because he nodded, and asked, "So what are you going to do now? How are you going to get home?"

"Well, I was thinking of calling a taxi. That would work. I guess," I said. I had never taken a taxi before. Not that I had ever needed to, and with all today's horror stories, who knows what could happen! I could be kidnapped as soon as I stepped into the foul yellow things. Rei waved a hand in front of my face, and my eyes snapped back to his. "What?" I asked.

He looked slightly annoyed now. "I said, there are still some cabs waiting outside. I'll come with you. My friend's picking me up in a few minutes."

I shrugged. "Do what you want," I said, and started towards the exit. It was freezing outside. The sweatshirt I was wearing didn't do much to block out the cold, and I quickly looked around, spotting a car near us. I turned to Rei. "Well, there's my ride!" I said, the false cheeriness somewhat dimmed by my chattering teeth. "It was nice to meet you Rei! Have a good life." I turned and walked away, hearing his mumbled goodbye behind me as I went.

The taxi was an ugly sight. It was bright yellow, but the paint was peeling off all over, and rust was visible all around the door and the wheels. When I got inside, I realized the driver was just as unpleasant.

He turned to me as I slid into the seat, shutting the door behind me. "Hey cutie!" he winked. "Where ya headin tonight?"

I shuddered in disgust. He was old and fat and balding, and when he smiled, his teeth were as yellow as the car he sat in. "just… just going home," I stammered.

He leered at me, running his eyes over my body. "Oh? And where might that be? Where can I, take you?"

"Umm…" I was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. No, very, extremely uncomfortable. I wasn't actually going to tell this walrus where I lived, was I?

He had twisted around fully in his seat by now and was leaning closer. I pressed back as hard as I could in my seat. But before he could say anything else, a car came towards us, the headlights washing over the dark interior of the car, illuminating it for a split second. When they had faded, I noticed the driver had a frown on his face. "You look sort of familiar," he said.

I froze. Crap. Not again.

"Have I seen you somewhere before?" he asked.

Trying to be discreet, I pulled the hood of my shirt down further over my face. "No," I said firmly. "You haven't."

He peered closer. "Are you sure? Because, you look almost exactly like that guy, Voltaire Hiwatari's grandson."

I laughed, and it was high pitched, and very, very, false. "Yeah, what a strange coincidence!" I said nervously. "You know, I get that a lot. From people. That I look- well anyways, I've decided not to take a cab. I'll walk. Run. Running is good for you. You should run! Bye!" my fingers were already fumbling for the handle, and then the door was open and I was dashing out, scanning the empty road desperately for Rei. By some miracle he was still there waiting, but there was a car pulling up beside him, and he was grinning at the person driving it. "Rei!" I called, running towards him. "Wait, damn you!"

He paused, about to open the door, head snapping up to look at me. "Luke?" he asked, obviously confused. "What's wrong? I thought you were taking a taxi home!"

"I forgot to give you a goodnight kiss," I said sarcastically, glancing quickly over my shoulder to make sure the taxi guy wasn't following.

Rei gaped at me. "W-what?" he stammered. "But… the taxi! You were gone!"

I glared at him. "Well, now I'm back," I said. "And I'm not getting back into that evil thing! What am I going to do? How will I get home? The driver, he wanted, he was going to… the rust, the baldness, the oozing fat-" I knew I was rambling, but I couldn't stop.

Rei reached out a hand and griped my shoulder, shaking me slightly. "Wait, Luke. Calm down. What happened?"

I took a deep breath. "The driver there was lights and he saw-" I paused. He saw who I really was, and was about 2 seconds away from kidnapping and/or having his wicked disgusting way with me. "And he saw how stunningly good looking I am, and decided to feel me up in the back seat."

Rei stared. "He did not. Did he?"

I shrugged. "More or less. But what am I going to do now?"

"You could try again," he suggested. "I'm sure not all of them will be like that."

I shook my head. "No way. You're not getting me in another one as long as I live. Besides, they're all gone. Look." It was true. All the few cabs that had been waiting had disappeared, except, of course, the pervert guy's.

"You could go inside and phone for one," Rei protested weakly, but it was no use.

"No," I said. We lapsed into silence. I was shivering, and I wrapped my arms around my chest, dancing lightly from foot to foot trying to keep warm. Rei was no better off. I could see him looking longingly towards the car, and the what I assumed would be warm interior. Finally I couldn't stand it any longer. "Whatever," I muttered. "I'll walk, I guess." Even though the mansion was all the way on the other side of the city. "See you."

I turned, but Rei grabbed my arm. "No, wait," he said. "You can't. It's too dangerous."

"Well what do you propose I do then?" I asked angrily. "Sleep here?"

"No." he looked down at the ground. "I guess," He said slowly, "if you wanted, you come with me. You could, you know, stay the night, and I could drive you home in the morning."

I said the first thing that came to mind. "You want to kidnap me! It's been you all along!"

His head snapped up. "I do not want to kidnap you!" he said indignantly. "Why would I? I just don't want you wandering around at night! For someone who's afraid of being kidnapped as much as you are, you certainly are heading down the right path!"

"Well thanks, but no thanks," I said, pulling out of his grip. "I'll take my chances here."

"Don't be stupid," Rei snapped. "Come on. Please."

"You don't even know me!" I said. "What do you care?"

"I'd feel guilty," he said. "And I'd never know what happened to you. Please? This way you can set my mind at ease. Plus, you're out of options."

"No," I said, taking a step back. "No way. You could be a murderer."

Rei was scowling at me, and he also shivering rather violently. "Fine!" he said, his patience gone. "I don't know why I bothered in the first place! Sorry for trying to help you while I freeze my ass off for nothing! I-" but he broke off, staring at something over my shoulder. Then he smirked and moved in close to me to whisper in my ear, "hey, Luke, don't look now, but your lover boy is coming. And I think I know what he wants…"

I spun around, and sure enough, good old fat pervy guy was making his way towards us. I yelped and turned, pushing Rei towards his friend's car. He was laughing, but I took no notice, opening the door and shoving him inside, following quickly. To the guy in the front seat I said, "Quick! What are you waiting for? Move it!"

He laughed. "Finally! I've been waiting for hours!"

He pulled out onto the main road, and I leaned back into the seat, closing my eyes in relief. "That was close," I said. Rei snorted, and I realized he was still laughing silently. I hit him on the arm. "Shut up," I snapped. "It's not funny."

"Oh, I'd, have to… have to disagree on th-that," said Rei, gasping for breath as he tried to calm down.

The guy driving was smirking. "Oh, stop teasing him, Rei-Rei. It's not very nice. See how he blushes?"

"I'm not blushing!" I said hotly, glaring at him as Rei started to laugh all over again. "And you keep your comments to yourself."

The guy ignored me. "So who is he, anyways?" he asked Rei. "Is he a customer? You know I don't like it when you bring them back to my house, Rei. I thought we talked about this."

That sure shut Rei up quickly. He had suddenly gone ridged beside me. "He's not a customer!" he said in a tight voice. "I met him on the plane here. He needed a place to stay."

The guy just grinned. "Oh, and you offered! How sweet."

Rei shrugged. "Sorry, Tal. I guess I should have asked you first. It's just for one night, though. I didn't think you'd mind."

"Don't worry about it," he said cheerfully. "I could see how disastrous the situation was. Of course I don't mind!"

Rei grinned. "I would be worried if you did!"

I could see the guy glancing curiously at me in the mirror, and just to make sure, I pulled my hood down even further. "So what's your name?" he asked suddenly.

"Luke," I mumbled.

"Oh, sorry," said Rei. "Luke, this is my friend Tala Ivanov. Tala, this Luke Hiwatari."

"Luke Hiwatari," said Tala thoughtfully, and for a moment I was afraid he would make the connection, but he just smiled, and said, "So where are you from, Mr. Hiwatari?"

"Umm, well Russia originally, but I have been living in Japan for about 4 years," I said, a bit throw off by the Mr. Hiwatari. I hated when people called me that. Not only did it make me feel old, but it reminded me of my grandfather.

"Wow! That's soo cool! I came from Russia myself!" said Tala, conversationally. "I moved here quite a long time ago, though. Well, it wasn't really my choice. My parents decided to come here when I was four. Did you know Rei is from China?" when I shook my head, he grinned. "Well I guess not, seeing as you just met him and all. He lived there for a while, before he moved to Japan. That's where I met him. I was on an exchange there, and I stayed with his family. It was amazing! I've only been back once since then. I like to travel, though. I love meeting new people!"

I nodded. "That's… good?"

"Rei travels a lot more than me, though. He's been to visit me tons of times!" Tala said, and then asked Rei, "So how long are you staying this time?"

"I don't know yet," said Rei. "A while, I think."

Tala beamed. "Great!" he said. "This will be so much fun! Did you know that my neighbour was just telling me the other day that I should…"

I tuned him out, and stared out the window into the darkness. We had turned off the highway, and onto a street lined with houses. Not for the first time I wonder what the hell I'd gotten myself into. Voltaire would kill me when he found out. And Boris would be sure to tell him. Once he got over the shock of seeing me alive, of course. If I made it out of this alive.

I glanced sideways to where Rei was sitting, chatting happily with Tala. Sure, he seems nice. And acts nice. But did he really offer me a place to stay out of the goodness of his heart? What if he plans to murder me in my sleep? Or what if he really knows who I am, and is just pretending to be nice so he can kidnap me?

"Mr. Hiwatari? We're here."

I glanced up quickly. "What?"

"I said we're here," Tala repeated, opening his door. Rei had already gotten out of the car, and was opening the back to get out his bags.

Slowly I opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. The car was parked in front of a fairly large house which I supposed was Tala's, as he was currently walking up the steps to it, lugging one of Rei's suitcases with him. Rei was about to follow him, but he turned to me first and said, "Are you coming?"

I shook my head. "No, actually, I don't think I will after all. You know, I think this is really near to where my… uncle lives. So I can just walk." I actually had to idea where I was, and Rei seemed to know this.

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, Luke," he said, and turned and walked towards the house.

With a sigh I followed him.

It was nice and bright and warm when I stepped inside, closing the door behind me, shutting out the cold. Tala and Rei were no where in sight, but I could hear voices down the hall, so I walked towards them. I turned a corner and into the kitchen, where I found both of them already busy. Tala was putting on water for tea, and Rei was rummaging around in the fridge. Now that we were out of the darkness, I could actually see my host clearly. Tala was small, about the same height as me, with bright, sparkly, light blue eyes, and bright red hair that fell just above his shoulders with long bangs that fell into his eyes.

He turned to me with a big grin on his face. "Welcome to my house!" he said. "Feel free to make yourself at home! There is a room just down the hall, last door on the right, if you want to put your stuff in it."

As I had only brought one small bag with me on the plane, and the rest had been sent directly to the mansion already, I hardly felt it was necessary. "Umm, thanks," I said, uncomfortably.

Tala suddenly took a step forwards, smiling, and I automatically back up. "You're so pretty!" he purred. "I couldn't really see you properly in the car. I love you hair! It that your natural colour?" his fingers were playing with the ends of my hair.

Eyes wide, I took another step back. "Umm, sort of," I muttered. "I dye the front blue."

Tala didn't seem to notice my obvious attempts to get away, because he followed me, until I was pressed up against the wall. "Nice," he murmured, placing a hand on my chest. "And red eyes. Very unusual."

Frantically, I looked over to where Rei was taking some crackers down off a shelf. Why wasn't he helping me? "Well, umm… yeah. Very unusual," I said, pressing back hard into the wall. "Look—"

But Tala was speaking again, his hand idly stroking the fabric of my shirt. "You know, me and Rei are going to stay up talking… and stuff, for a while," he said, his voice oddly husky. "You're welcome to join us… if you want."

But at this Rei finally looked over at us, frowning. "Leave him alone, Tala," he said sharply. "I'm sure that Luke is tired. He probably just wants to go to bed."

Immediately Tala moved away from me and bounced over to Rei, grin back in place. "Of course not, Rei-Rei!" he said. "I just didn't want to exclude our guest, that's all! But if Mr. Hiwatari is tired, then of course he can go to sleep!"

Rei looked at me. "Luke?"

I glanced nervously at Tala, but he just smiled at me and turned to reach up into one of the cupboards, grabbing some mugs. "Umm… well, I think I will just go to sleep. Been a long day and all," I said, backing up towards the door. "Thanks for letting me stay," I said to Tala.

"No problem!" he chirped. "You're welcome here anytime!"

"Yeah…" I grinned weakly. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Last door on the right, Luke," said Rei.

I could tell he wanted me out of there for some reason, but really didn't mind being rushed off to bed. Tension was thick in the room, and what with the looks Tala kept throwing me out of the corners of his eyes, I was more than ready to leave. "Well… goodnight," I said, uncomfortably.

"Goodnight," said Rei quietly. "Don't stay up too late."

I looked at the clock above the stove. 12:35am. I frowned at him. "I could be telling you the same thing."

"Goodnight Mr. Hiwatari!" said Tala cheerfully. "Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite! I hear they have mighty big teeth!"

Seriously starting to think this guy was out of him mind, I nodded weakly and left the room.

I hope the room has a lock on the door.