Hey, everyone! So the update didn't take a super long time. I actually didn't like this chapter so much when I first wrote it, but now that I've reread it, I think I can make it work.

Anyway, enjoy.

I don't own things.

Alvin stared at his reflection in the hotel bathroom mirror. The fluorescent lights caused his eyes to shine. It also illuminated his entire body, making it much easier to see where his wounds had been. Alvin examined his lit-up body. The majority of the wounds he received the previous night had healed or had mostly healed by now. Moving his face closer to the mirror, he frowned at the sight of a light bruise still evident on his temple. It was hidden almost entirely by his hair, but the only thing that mattered was that it was noticeable to him.

"Alvin!" came a voice from the other side of the door.

Recognizing the voice as Simon's, Alvin sighed and rolled his shoulders, saying, "What?"

"We need to get going," Simon responded.

"Alright!" Alvin called back.

"Also," Simon continued, "no one is going to notice your wounds. Most of them will be covered up by your clothes anyway."

Alvin didn't respond but instead checked his wounds once more before opening the door up. He met Simon's impatient gaze and smirked. Simon rolled his eyes and stepped aside. Alvin walked past him and into the hallway.

After the entire pack gathered together, as one they headed to the diner. They claimed a group of tables next to each other and began enjoying their breakfast.

Everyone in the diner, all actual residents of the town, spoke as if nothing was wrong. Simon mumbled to Alvin that they must not know about last night yet. Alvin smirked and seemed quite proud of himself.

Alvin paid attention to the chattery townspeople. It actually was strange that they were talking this much. They usually whispered around Alvin's pack, but now that didn't seem to be the case. The only conclusion Alvin could come up with was that the people of Shroudsville were either becoming comfortable around his pack or they just didn't care about them at all. Either way, Alvin was fine with it. As long as they didn't suspect his pack or himself for last night's actions, he felt fine.

The door to the diner opened. The little bells attached to the door jingled to alert the entrance of a new person. Alvin raised his gaze from his plate of eggs, toast, and more than plenty of bacon to observe the new person coming into the diner. It was a teenage boy that seemed maybe a year or two younger than Alvin himself. The boy was breathing hard and his eyes were wide as he clutched the doorknob of the diner door. Everyone turned their gazes to the boy.

He gulped air and placed a hand on his chest as he struggled to steady his breathing. Once he caught his breath, he looked at the small silent crowd before him. The boy struggled to push the words out, "T-The mayor's house was broken into last night."

The diner erupted in voices screaming over each other. Many of them were fearful, others were angry, and a few were entirely confused. Some begged the boy to give a further explanation. Alvin and his pack joined in the roused conversation of the diner to avoid suspicion befalling them. They, however, were not unspared from the attention of the diner. The majority of the people turned their attention to Alvin's pack.

Alvin opened his mouth to yell at those accusing his pack with their looks, but he was interrupted by the sound of bells. Alvin looked towards the door. The sight immediately filled him with fury. He ground his teeth and clutched his fists. Callisto looked around before he saw Alvin. His mouth turned into a smug smirk.

Callisto made his way over before grabbing an empty chair at another table. He dragged it over to Alvin's table. Alvin and his pack kept their eyes on him. Alvin saw out of the corners of his eyes two or three of his own pack members rising out of their seats and moving closer to Callisto.

Callisto, a fake smile plastered on his face, asked in a sickly sweet voice, "Alvin, how are you?"

"I didn't break into the mayor's house," Alvin snapped.

Chuckling, Callisto responded, "What made you think I was going to ask you about that?"

Alvin shrugged, "It was just a hunch."

Callisto leaned forward, that fake smile that Alvin hated still causing the ends of Callisto's lips to be pulled upward, "Well, your hunch wasn't wrong."

"What could possibly make you think I would break into the mayor's house?"

"Well," Callisto began, his smile faltering, "you and your little friends have been nothing but a bother ever since you came to Shroudsville. I've caught a few of your friends stealing food. You always start fights. And, the worst of all, you all snoop far too much. We're just a small town trying to enjoy our lives, but you. You and your friends, you all are way too much trouble."

Alvin stayed silent. He thoughts over Callisto's accusations before chuckling. Alvin responded, "Callisto, those things aren't enough to blame a break-in on us."

"They're a start."

Alvin said, "Callisto, me and my friends here were at the diner last night like everyone else. We went straight to the hotel afterwards. We stayed in our rooms for the rest of the night. You can even ask the man at the front desk."

Callisto clicked his tongue, but stayed silent beyond that. He stared at Alvin, eyes narrowed, watching his every movement. By now, Callisto's fake smile had disappeared. Instead, he bore an annoyed expression. But just as quickly as his fake smile left, a true smug smirk overcame his face. His gaze retreated from Alvin's and invaded Alex's.

"Hello, Alex. I'm bjjliAlex. Imercame his face. His gaze retreated from Alvin and invaded Alex' Callisto."

Alvin froze. His shoulders fell. His eyes widened. His breath hitched. Callisto knew, didn't he? He did. He had to. That was on purpose. He doesn't even know Alex. How does he know his name? Callisto knows what Alex can do, doesn't he? He knows.

Alex, slowly raising his gaze to Callisto, nodded.

Callisto smiled plastically, "Alex, I've heard about you."

Alex didn't respond. He just looked puzzled.

Without another word, Callisto stood from his chair. He smiled at all of them, he gaze lastly reaching Alvin, before leaving the diner.

Alvin held tightly into his fork. His expression hadn't changed since Callisto introduced himself to Alex. Alvin was hoping, praying, that his thoughts were wrong. Alvin slowly looked at Simon. Simon, already staring back at Alvin, nodded.

Alvin dropped his fork. He looked out the window and watched Callisto's figure disappearing down the street. A fire unlike any other was in Alvin's eyes. When someone was dangerous to his pack, he just simply got rid of them. But here, in Shroudsville, he couldn't do anything about this threat.

Thinking about that, made Alvin even wonder why he was here. Why had they even stayed in this suspicious town? It certainly wasn't because they wanted to. Well, Alvin didn't want to stay. However, he noticed how his other pack mates enjoyed being in this town. It had been forever since they had spoken to people outside of their pack, even if the people they were speaking to hated them. They also enjoyed having a bed to sleep in at night. Though he and his pack were wolves and could sleep quite comfortably well on the ground, real beds were just felt so much better.

His pack secretly wanting to stay also made Alvin worry, but trying to discover his reason for staying here was what concerned him more at the moment.

"Hey, Alvin, we're leaving."

Alvin looked up at Steven. The rest of his pack was already up on their feet. Alvin was the only one still sitting. He slowly got to his feet. The pack could tell he was out of it just by looking at him.

Steven snapped his fingers in front of Alvin's face, which immediately got Alvin's attention. He said, "Let's go for a walk."

Alvin gave a small nod. He quietly told everyone to go enjoy the town, avoid suspicion, and get as much information as they can, which was essentially what he ordered them to do every day they had been in Shroudsville.

Steven led Alvin out of the diner. Alvin stared down at the ground. Why, he continued to think about, were they still here?

There was a silence full of thought between Steven and Alvin. They both seemed more occupied with their thoughts than each other.

Steven soon glanced over at Alvin. He said, "Alvin, it made me mad too. Callisto knows about what Alex did. But, Alvin, think about it. Callisto has no way to prove it. Alex'll be fine."

Alvin quietly responded, looking down at the ground slowly moving by his feet as he walked forward, "That's not why I'm upset. Well, I mean it was originally, but not so much anymore."

"Then what's wrong?" asked Steven, looking puzzled.

Sighing, Alvin said, "I just don't understand why we're still here. I told everyone we're staying here for a while, but I have no idea why."

"Didn't you say you wanted to know what was up with this town?"

"Yeah," Alvin said, "but I'm not sure that's the reason anymore."

Steven, confused by his answer, waited for Alvin to elaborate.

"I just don't know," Alvin sighed. He ran a hand through his hair, hearing a laughter ringing through the air in front of them.

"I don't know what the reason is," he said. The laughter was louder now.

Alvin looked at Steven, who was still looking at Alvin, and said, "There's like a pull. I don't know how to describe it. I feel it getting stronger each day, but I have no idea what it is. I feel like I want to be here, like I'm supposed to be here. But that's not a real reason, right?"

Steven started to speak, but all Alvin heard was a joyous laughter from somewhere in front of them. Alvin ignored what Steven was saying and looked forward.

Alvin was slapped in the face with the sight of a girl. She was walking with someone Alvin considered not important in this moment. Her arms were crossed over her stomach as she laughed at something. The loose pieces of auburn hair tied in a ponytail atop her head still fell in her face as she laughed. She seemed to feel someone watching her because she slowly looked straight at Alvin, a bright smile overcoming her face, a giggle still escaping her lips. Alvin almost looked away, but then her icy blue gaze met his golden one. Icy blue?

Stabbing pain. Stinging. Burning.

Alvin clutched his heart and fell to his knees, a sharp cry of pain exiting his mouth. He writhed on the dirt, digging his nails into his own chest. He shut his eyes tightly, scrunching up his face as waited for the pain to pass.

Alvin felt people next to him. He could feel Steven, an unimportant person, and the girl.

The girl.

Alvin didn't know what he was doing. His body made some kind of movement that he did not tell it to do. The pain lessened a bit, at least enough for him to open his eyes. Upon opening his eyes, Alvin was met with the icy blue eyes right in front of him. Confused, Alvin looked around. His hand was gripping the front of the girl's shirt, pulling her close to him. The guy who had been with the girl earlier and Steven were both standing a few feet back, eyes wide. Steven looked frightened.

Alvin's eyes slowly traveled back to the girl, who also appeared to be a little scared. He slowly released her shirt and leaned away from her. He muttered quietly, "I'm sorry."

She sat up slowly, she looked as if she had been pulled from a standing position and onto the ground. The girl lightly dusted the dirt off of her legs. She nodded at him, "It's fine."

Alvin nodded and watched the girl. She was looking down at his chest. Alvin, slowly shifting his gaze down to his own chest, saw that he was still holding onto his heart. The pain was still there, but it was not as strong as it was before. He looked back at the girl.

She slowly asked, "May I take a look?"

"Um, yeah. Sure."

Alvin grabbed at his collar and pulled it down so that she could see where the pain was.

The girl scooted closer to him. She slowly placed her cold fingers over his heart. Alvin winced. She frowned, "Does that hurt?"

"Kind of," he muttered. He looked away as she examined the area causing him pain.

After a few minutes of silent examination, Alvin looked back at her. He asked, "So, are you a doctor in training or something?"

She smirked a bit and removed her hands, "Nope."

His eyes widened, "Then why'd you check me out?"

She shrugged, "I thought maybe I could help, but I guess not."

Alvin was in disbelief. He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by someone he had completely forgot was there. They said, "Brittany, stop playing around. We should get going."

Alvin looked towards the owner of the voice. Light brown hair, light brown eyes, light skin. Alvin recognized him as a waiter from the diner. His name was Andrew, right?

The girl, who Andrew called Brittany, looked away from Alvin and to Andrew. She said, "I'm coming."

Steven helped her and Alvin off of the ground, Alvin taking a little more time to stand than Brittany.

Andrew moved closer to them and smirked at Alvin, "You know, you're probably just still in pain from our fight last night."

Eyes widening, Alvin remembered Allison saying that their dad made Alvin get into a fight with the waiter.

Alvin slowly chuckled and shook his head. He said, "Don't worry, you didn't even hurt me. I'm fine."

"But you just collapsed," Andrew countered.

"I do that for fun. Don't you?"

"No, because that's stupid."

"You're stupid."

"Says the guy who thinks collapsing is fun."

"It is, idiot."

Alvin felt a slight nudge on his arm. He looked and saw Steven glaring at him. Steven glanced towards Brittany and then back at Alvin. Alvin looked at Brittany, who was waiting expectantly for their little quarrel to end.

Alvin felt embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his neck and said to her, "Hey, thanks for making sure I was okay."

Brittany smiled at him. The simple expression was so bright to Alvin that he had to glance away. She said, "It was no problem."

"Brittany, we really gotta go."

Brittany looked at Andrew and then back at Alvin. She began, "Well, it was nice to-"

She was yanked away by Andrew, who was way too impatient. He didn't even let her say bye to Alvin. Alvin frowned and watch her being pulled away. Brittany had a frown on her face as well as she continued looking back at them.

Reluctantly, Alvin turned around. He and Steven started walking in the opposite direction. They both stayed quiet for a minute.

Alvin slowly realized something. He looked at Steven, eyebrows knitted together, "My heart doesn't hurt anymore."

Steven looked puzzled before a knowing smile pulled at his lips.

Alvin didn't get the chance to ask why Steven was smiling like that because they both heard someone yelling behind them, "Wait!"

They turned around. Alvin's eyes widened as he watched Brittany running to them as quickly as she could.

Once she reached them, Brittany began walking alongside them, her breathing labored.

"What are you doing?" Alvin asked her.

Brittany simply shrugged and smiled up at Alvin.

Alvin looked at Steven, confused. Steven was smirking.

Alvin turned his attention back to a smiling Brittany.

She nodded at him and laughed a little, "If you didn't catch it, I'm Brittany Miller."

Steven began, "Well, I'm Steven and-"

"I'm Alvin Seville," Alvin interrupted.

Brittany smiled, "Well, it's nice to meet you both. So, are you guys from out of town?"

Steven opened his mouth to speak, but Alvin took control of the conversation, "Yeah, we're from really far away."

"Are you serious?" Brittany asked excitedly.

Alvin nodded, smiling at her excitement.

Brittany looked forward, her smile falling a little, "I've never actually been outside of Shroudsville before. Well, I've gone into the surrounding forest before, but that doesn't count."

Alvin frowned, "You've never left this place? Well, that's no fair. There's a lot of cool places out there."

Brittany gave small nod in response. She gazed forward at the tree limbs reaching towards the sky.

Alvin also stayed silent. He glanced to the side to look at Steven, but Alvin saw that Steven was no longer by his side.

Alvin quickly looked back. He saw Steven walking away from them. Steven, a smirk on his face, was putting his thumbs up at Alvin. He mouthed, "Good luck!"

Alvin panicked and quickly faced forward again.

"What?" he heard Brittany ask him.

"Oh, um, nothing," Alvin stuttered out.

She leaned over to look at Alvin's other side, "Where'd Steven go?"

Alvin met Brittany's curious gaze, "He said he had to go something. Didn't you hear him?"

Brittany shrugged and laughed to herself, "I guess not."

She returned her attention to the gorgeous scenery surrounding them. Alvin watched her out of the corner of his eye.

All these beautiful pieces of nature, but all Alvin wanted to do was look at Brittany.

"You know," Alvin said, "you've been a lot nicer to me than most of the people living in this town."

Brittany smiled, "They're actually really nice, I promise. They just…"

She eyed him for a moment, "They just don't like outsiders."

"Are there any other outsiders here in town right now?" Alvin wanted to know. Maybe they were suspicious of this town too.

She shook her head. "You guys are the first outsiders we've had in a while," said Brittany.

Alvin nodded.

Neither of them talked for a while. It was a comfortable silence. The sun lightly shined down on them, the clouds interrupting its illumination every once in a while. A cold breeze blew through the town, warning the townspeople of the soon coming winter. Alvin noticed that Brittany was very occupied with looking at the coloring leaves on the trees.

Alvin slowly laughed, "You know, it's weird that you're hanging out with me after I sort of grabbed you."

Brittany looked at him, her icy blues eyes completely grabbing his attention. She said, "You looked a little out of it. I doubted you were really doing that on purpose. It's honestly most likely just a side effect of whatever is going on with your heart."

"Yeah. I don't remember wanting to grab you," Alvin responded.

Brittany smiled, "Good. You had this freaky look on your face, though. That was what really scared me."

Alvin laughed, "What look?"

"I don't know! It was scary, though," she laughed.

Alvin shrugged, "I make scary faces sometimes."

Brittany smirked, "Like your face right now?"

Alvin raised an eyebrow, "I'm smiling."

Brittany laughed. Alvin soon joined her.

After their laughter died down, Brittany said something that struck him. She, while gazing up at the coloring leaves, said, "You know, it's really obvious that you and your friends are trying to get information out of the townspeople."

Alvin quickly turned to face her. He stopped walking and stared at her. She walked forward a few steps before noticing that he wasn't walking anymore. Brittany looked back at him, perplexed.

"What?" Alvin quietly asked her.

Brittany walked back towards him, "I know you're trying to find out our town secrets."

Alvin glanced around for only a second before he grabbed her and pulled her behind a building. Alvin pushed her up against the wall roughly.

Brittany's head hit the wall, and she frowned, "Ouch."

Alvin felt bad for accidentally hurting her, and he mumbled a silent sorry to her. But, Alvin was more concerned with discovering what she knew.

Alvin stared deep into Brittany's eyes. She fully returned his stare. Alvin's heart began aching again. He felt the need to clutch it, but he instead held Brittany against the wall harder.

Alvin commanded lowly, "Tell me what's going on in this town."

"Please," he whispered desperately. He looked appalled at himself for begging.

Brittany stayed silent. In a challenging manner, she raised an eyebrow. She said, "There's nothing going on in Shroudsville. The people here are threatened by outsiders, that's all."

Alvin growled quietly. She wasn't answering his question!

Brittany could clearly see his frustration. She tilted her head to one side, which caused her bangs to move away from her face. Her eyes were now more visible, and it caused Alvin's breath to hitch in his throat.

Alvin glared into her eyes as best as he could. She kept her smug gaze right on him, not once faltering.

Alvin clenched his teeth as he slowly looked down.

He released her and took a few steps back. He stared down at the ground. Alvin could hear her laughing quietly. Alvin glanced at her and saw that she was smirking at him.

"That's the second time you grabbed me today."

Alvin looked embarrassed and nodded. Brittany laughed some more to herself.

Alvin felt someone throw their arm around him. He looked to the side and saw Steven, who had just reappeared.

Steven smiled at Brittany, "Look, Brittany, Alvin and I have to go, but we'll be sure to talk later."

Brittany smiled, "It was really nice talking to you both."

Alvin nodded. He was smiling sadly. As strange as their encounter had been, Alvin still wanted to talk to Brittany a little more.

Brittany smiled at him, "We should talk again, Alvin. This was fun."

Alvin agreed quickly, "Yeah, let's talk again."

Brittany smiled at both of them. She said goodbye and disappeared around the corner of the building. Alvin sadly watched her go.

After he was sure Brittany was gone, Steven looked at Alvin. He smirked, "So, how'd it go?"

Alvin rubbed the back of his neck. Puzzled, he responded, "I…don't really know."

Steven chuckled, "You'll know sooner or later."

Alvin raised an eyebrow at Steven, "Don't act stupid, Steven."

Steven chuckled and shook his head. He said, "So, anyway. Is Brittany suspicious?"

Immediately glaring at Steven, Alvin snapped, "She doesn't know anything."

Steven put his hands up in defense, "Whoa! Why are you suddenly so mad?"

Alvin shook his head. He continued to glare at Steven dangerously, "I don't know. Brittany doesn't know anything."

Steven stepped back, "Alvin, I'm not accusing Brittany of anything."

Alvin calmed. He looked down at his hands, confused at his own actions.

Dropping his hands, Steven asked gently, "What do you think of Brittany?"

Alvin looked in the other direction. He quietly said, "Honestly, I'm kind of scared of her."

Steven looked like he was trying not snicker, "Scared of her?"

Alvin didn't notice Steven trying his best not to laugh. He nodded his head, "Yeah. She's not like any other person I've met. She's really unpredictable. I don't know what she'll do, and that kind of freaks me out."

They began walking back to the hotel. Alvin gazed around at all the same things that Brittany was so entertained by earlier.

"How's your heart doing?" asked Steven.

"It's actually feeling a lot better than it has been the past couple of days," Alvin said.

Steven smirked. Alvin rolled his eyes.

Steven chuckled, "You should lay down and rest when we get back to the hotel."

Alvin frowned as he looked at Steven, looking just about ready to protest against the very thought of resting.

Steven smirked at Alvin, "All of these emotions, they must be tiring."

Finally, Brittany's in the story! Now things can really get going!

Tell me what you think!

Also, if you want to give me some ideas, that'd be great. I know where I want this story to go and everything, but I'm struggling with getting from point A to point B, point A being this chapter and point B being the action. PM me if you have anything. This story will continue, but the next chapter or two might be a little dry if I can't come up with anything. Or, and you guys might prefer this, I can get straight to the action. If I do that, there will probably be a slightly awkward jump from ordinary time to action, but eh. I might do that. Just tell me what you want.

Actually, going straight to the action next chapter might be best. You all have been waiting long enough, eh?

Please R&R!