Part Twenty-two:

"Be nice,"Daviel growled into my ear. Since when am I ever mean? Pfft. Jestin ran up to me and suddenly I was being choked to death with a bear hug. "Ivy! I didn't know if they killed you or what,"Jestin said, sounding more happy than ever. I was actually shocked. I didn't think she had missed me this much! "And SOMEONE,"Jestin glared at Daviel,"was being too STUBORN to go get you. I had to get Tyra to convince him to do it, for Christ's sake!"

I glanced over at Daviel, finally able to see him in the porch light. He looked more annoyed than ever. I was sure it wouldn't take much convincing to get him to kill Jestin and me right now. "Speaking of Tyra,"Daviel said dully,"Tell her I'll make it in three days." Jestin brightened conciderably and said,"All right! It's great to see you again, Ivy." Then Jestin was off into the house again. I turned and looked at Daviel. "What's that about,"I asked curiously.

"I'm sure Jes will tell you soon enough,"He replied, shoving me towards the house. Great, I'm a kidnapee once again. Before we entered, Daviel suddenly said in a deep, low voice,"And don't think I forgot the fact that you ran away in the first place." I was about to reply, but Daviel shoved me into the house and Jestin was back again. "She said she'd be here then,"Jestin stated to Daviel. Before I could ask what THAT was about, Jestin had ahold of my arm and I was being dragged up the familiar stairs.

Not two seconds later, Jestin had dragged me into her room and slammed the door shut. "You can't believe how great it is to have you here,"Jestin said happily,"I hate it when I'm alone..." I noticed this trail off, but didn't say anything...yet. I glanced around this room, feeling as if the pressure of actually being in a house instead of a run down hut was proding my eyes. "So...,"Jestin said, walking in a small circle before plopping onto her bed.

"So what,"I asked dully, sitting down next to her out of habit. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the upcoming headache. It was one of those headaches that aren't actually in your head, yet, but you can tell your about to get it. Like it was tapping on your head lightly, but you know that if you don't get rid of it soon, it'll start to become more demanding. Suddenly, I heard a sound that seemed as if something was about to punch me. From reflex, I backed up and grabbed Jestin's wrist.

"Woah,"Jestin said in shock,"I was only going to look at that cut on your neck, Ivy!" I let go of Jestin's wrist and shrugged,"Oh." After a moment of awkward silence, Jestin decided to break the ice. "What did they do to you, there,"Jestin asked. Oh, what an icebreaker. "Well, I was taught how to fight a little bit,"I said slowly,"And I was going to be turned into a werewolf, but Daviel came in time to prevent THAT from happening." I don't know if I'm happy about that or not.

"How'd they get you in the first place,"Jestin asked curiously. I remembered how Daviel's eyes had swam in blood red. It sent a cold chill down my spine. "What's this 'three days' thing you and Daviel were talking about,"I intercepted. I needed a way to change the subject, anyways. It seemed to have worked because Jestin's face suddenly brightened as if I had bought her a puppy or something. I thought about how easy it would be to break down that happiness. I could just insult her or say something about Josepher.

Completely easy.

Yet, I have a heart. So I just waited for Jestin to tell me what all this mess was about. "Well,"Jestin said in excitement,"You remember how I said once that I wanted to go to a real party soon because I haven't been to one in forever?" OH, perfect. JUST great. I'm already in Hell, so why NOT dig me down to the next level!? "Yes,"I said timidly. I've fallen from werewolf hell to vampire...damn, I can't even come up with a NAME for this hell!! They'll be two different doors to this hell...Daviel and Jestin.

Door number one: Daviel. Ladies, here you have a tall, dark, and...I'll admit...handsome whore who loves nothing more than to tortue you. What comes with this package is the continuing NAGGING and whining because...now, kick me if I'm wrong...life doesn't go his way. Or death. I don't know. Are vampires actually alive or dead? Pfft, who cares? ANYWAYS, on to door number two.

Door number two: Jestin. Fella's, if you like a weak, mentally damaged girl, you've come to the right place. With an emotional wall made of paper, you have your completely needy and almost child-like whatever she is. What comes with this package is the non-stop need to be loved and cherished. She can follow you everywhere and give you a great headache! Come, take her away. We'll start the auction at two cents because--trust me--she needs 'em.

"Tyra said she'd help me get Daviel to go fetch you if we'd throw a party,"Jestin said happily,"So I told her she'd have to convince Daviel to do that, too. Well, she did. So now we're having a party here in three days!" And the truth is told. Anybody conjure two cents yet? I only sighed and laid back on the bed. "Aren't you excited,"Jestin asked curiously. I shrugged,"I don't know." I DO know. No, I'm not excited. Three days...it's like a Death Sentence already. One that you KNOW when its going to happen.

A wait. A long, torturing wait.

"But it means that we get to go shopping,"Jestin said. Suddenly, her head was over mine so that she was in view. "Shopping for a dress to wear,"Jestin continued,"Don't you like shopping for pretty things?" I'm going to kick her. I'm going to do it right now. Just give her a good one in the head. Karate chop her in the back. Ka cha. Down goes Jes the less. "AND you'll get to meet Tyra,"Jestin said in excitement,"She's such a nice person. You two should love each other! Then we could all hang out and stuff!"

I sat up on my elbows. "One question,"I said suddenly,"Is she a vampire?" Jestin glanced around before saying,"Of course, she is." Then I laid back down. "Then I won't love her,"I stated dully. Just like I don't love you. Or Logan. I just plain ole loath Daviel. Even more than I despise Ruth. I suddenly felt pregidous. Isn't that what I am? Especially if I just don't like them because they aren't human. Well, they're monsters. Call me pregidous all you want because you wouldn't like vampires if they kidnapped YOU.

Unless you get off on that.

I suddenly noticed that Jestin wasn't talking anymore. Just like that, I sat up on my elbows again and looked at Jestin. She was looking at her hands as if she had just gotten in trouble. "What's up with you,"I asked, suddenly feeling guilty. I wouldn't let that show, though. "You think we're all monsters, don't you,"Jestin asked sadly. I raised a brow and said,"Well...yaa-no." Just the beginning of the word 'Yah' had made Jestin's face fall. So it was a relief to see her brighten at the 'no'.

"Not all of you,"I continued,"Mainly just a couple of people..." Jestin suddenly stated,"Like Daviel!" I pointed a finger at her in correction,"Exactly." But then Jestin had a weird look on her face. It made me suspicious. It was as if she had just...I don't know...it was the look Ruth got whenever she found something out about another popular kid in school. As if it were so obvious, but no one had noticed until now. That kind of look exactly and I didn't like it.

"What,"I asked suspiciously. Jestin shrugged,"Nothing. We'll go shop for a dress tomorrow." And just like that, our conversation had ended. Only, I sat there, thinking about what could possibly have been going through her mind. I said vampires weren't monsters except for Daviel. What else can you get from that? WHY WAS SHE LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT?! This is going to kill me until Jestin tells me what's going on with that look.

The dress shopping sucked. I hate shopping. There are three types of shoppers.

1. Woman Shopper

2. Man Shopper

3. Independant Shopper

I happen to fall into the style of number two. Yes, I know, I'm a woman. Actually, that is very sexist. Let me switch this around just abit!

1. Wanna Shopper

2. Forced Shopper

3. Do it To it Shopper

I'm just making this up as I go. Now, Jestin falls under number one. That would be the shopper who does it exactly. They shop. All kinds of shopping. Window shopping and actual buying shopping. With Jestin, it was like this. We said we'd go shop for a dress. Soon enough, we're looking at magazines, Celtic Jewelry, glowing Jelly Beans for crying out loud. It takes us five hours to find the dress for Jestin, seeing as her mind is as focused as a bee focused on finding the bottom of a black person's foot.

Just to make it simple: she wasn't focused what-so-ever. Luckily, I was there. Shopper number two. This is a person who gets ahold of what they want before they go shopping. Then, when its time to shop, they look for that certain object, get it, and go. That's that. If they can't find it, they go. If a person pulls out a gun in the middle of the mall, they say "Hold on a minute", buy their object, wish the gunman a good day, and they go. They are focused. Determined. Not into looking. Time is too precious to waste.

Then there is shopper number three. Those are the people that just do what they feel like doing. If they go to the mall one day and feel the need to look, they look. If they don't, they don't. Free-minded. They do what they do. If the gunman bothers them, even if they had an object in mind, the person just thinks "ah, who needs it anyways." They don't have a specific way of shopping. If only I were that kind of person, then I wouldn't mind Jestin's number one shopper way.

Eventually, I ditched Jestin. It wasn't as if I was planning on running off or anything. I went and found a nice, formal dress shop and dragged Jestin to it. It was my spot, anyways, seeing as they had plenty of gothic clothing. FINALLY, Jestin found her perfect, dumb dress and I found my stupid dress which I loath the very thought of dress and dress accessory and anything that has to do with me and a dress and public. A lot of ands? DEAL WITH IT. I'm sick and tired AND sick of all this mess.

I have a stupid party to get ready for. A girl--whom I don't like to think about for some reason--to meet. And I have to act very formal and very sweet so that Daviel will be happy. We all want him happy. Pfft.

I just want to go home.