I do not own Blood and Chocolate, Twilight, or a car.

I do own my characters though, and that's (almost) enough for me. I'm not sure if "Pass it On" is classic rock or not, but it seemed appropriate.

"Pass it On" by Bob Marley

Layla:

I sat down at the table with Jonas by my side. Tommy and Katrina immediately stopped talking at my our joining them. I put on my best polite smile, however, the familiar pit in my stomach began to make its presence known. If I was still weird in front of them. Not quite as weird as it had been when the Gideons were stalking me, but it was still too similar to be comfortable.

For Jonas's sake, I tried to look relaxed.

"Mark invited you to dinner, I heard," Katrina said overly friendly, probably also for Jonas's sake. I gave a tight lipped smile and nodded. "So, do you like your human medium or rare?" It's a joke, I get it, but Jonas reacted as though I were horrified.

"Katrina!" Jonas snapped.

Tommy giggled and Jonas rolled his eyes.

"Big step," Tommy said. "We've never had a human at the house before. You know, on purpose. Just the occasional CHP questioning about all the bones of Jonas's ex-girlfriends that washed ashore next to the highway." Jonas glared.

"Are you two done?" he asked. Tommy looked at Katrina.

"I'm spent. How about you?" he asked her.

"I might have one more in me," she admitted.

"Well, save it for another time. You don't need to freak her out anymore than she already is," Jonas said.

"I'm fine," I said. Big lie. But I had to play the part as the confident girlfriend. "So, should I bring over anything? Some chew toys, my own silver bullets...?" Tommy and Katrina put on placid looks of annoyance, however, Jonas looked amused so I figured all was well.

"By the way, you sister smells like crap," Jonas suddenly said, surprisingly. I stared at him horrified.

"Why do you keep on saying that?" I asked him. That joke was funny at first, but it was starting to get old.

"We smelt her this morning. It's true," Tommy said.

"Very," Katrina agreed. "Are you sure she hasn't turned into some serial killer who enjoys rolling around in half rotting corpses? Because that's a pretty accurate description to how she smells." I looked at the table top and sighed loudly.

"Well, what does it mean? Her smelling bad?" I asked tiredly. The werewolves exchanged glances.

"It means that the air around her is starting to smell," Jonas said.

"Which means..."

"You're starting to smell," Tommy said tactlessly. I looked at Jonas. He didn't exactly disagree.

"Okaaay... Then what should I do?"

"You should not smell the way you do before you come to the house," Katrina said. She shrugged apologetically. "I mean, this is a big dinner. All eyes are going to be on you because you're the only human who's ever known our secret without being ki-... OW!" The table jumped and Katrina hissed as she rubbed her shin.

Tommy narrowed his eyes at Katrina and nodded in my direction.

"Well, you didn't have to kick me!" Katrina snapped.

"Okay. I'll shower, glob on some deodorant, put on some body spray, and... I don't know, put in hairspray or something," I said. Each werewolf grimaced at once. "What? Is that a bit much?"

They all nodded.

"Maybe you should just spray some odor killing spray stuff. Like Oust or Febreeze or something?" Katrina suggested. I looked at Jonas again to see if he would jump to my rescue.

"How do I have to dress?" I asked him.

"Dressy casual," he said.

"Define casual," I said my voice high with hope.

"No jeans," he said. I cursed inwardly. I hated not wearing jeans. Jonas laughed. The bell rang, thank God. I never understood conversations about scents and I certainly knew nothing of werewolf protocol. Jonas sighed heavily and stood.

"Come on. Let's get this school day over with," he said leading the way to my next class.

Paulette:

My day was ruined. So I was out of there by lunch time, I only had on more class and it was not worth entertaining the school that I needed to take Home Economics when it clearly wasn't for the units. Senior year was the most boring of them all. The only class I really needed was English and as long as I could manage a C I didn't care.

So I went home early walking into my house I did a quick check into my father's office to make sure he wasn't awake. I sighed with relief. He was asleep. Then I turned around and screamed. Two orange globes burned brightly in the dark hallway. It took a moment those globes were Ben's supernatural eyes. I caught my breath.

"Geez, wake up your dad, why don't you?" Ben whispered. "You should be at school."

"Yeah. And you should be somewhere, anywhere else," I snarled at him. He shook his head.

"No, I mean, you really should be at school," he said. All of the sudden he snatched my wrist and pulled me along. He dragged me forcefully down the hallway to my room, opened the door, and pushed me inside.

"Hey!"

"Stay there," Ben ordered. He made an "I'm watching you gesture" pointing to his eyes with two fingers and then at me. I narrowed my eyes. He shut the door behind him. My stubbornness set in. Did I want to sit here? No! I wasn't going to let a vampire go tromping around my house as much as he wanted while he grounded me to my room.

So I left my room to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich downstairs. I stepped down the staircase avoiding the creaky step and started for the refrigerator. I grabbed the wheat bread and some cheese, not wanting anything too fancy.

There was a loud thump from the other end of the house. I paid it no mind. There were some rowdy kids next door who sometimes kicked the soccer ball on the side of the house. I'd forgotten to remind myself that those kids were probably in school where I really should be.

I slammed the refrigerator door, immediately greeted with the long lean dark figure leaning up on the side of the door. I gasped. It was taller, bald man with dark skin and sunglasses on a day where there was no sun. His leather jacket went down to the back of his legs. Then he smiled a tight lipped smile.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," he said bowing lightly. I backed away setting the things for my sandwich aside.

"Um... Hi..." I said. He advanced toward me, forcing me to back peddle.

"What's a young lady like yourself doing all by her lonesome?" he asked, his accent was thick and melodic. It sounded like some sort of African with the slightest tint of American.

"This is my house. I'm all by my lonesome a lot in here," I said eyeing the utensil drawer. If I could just grab a knife I could handle myself okay. Probably not, but I like to think that. Layla said that my only way I could ever murder someone was if I talked them to death.

"That is a shame," the man said. He took off his glasses. I could see his beautiful face better this way. He was super model with golden eyes. His head shaved, his jawline perfected by some historic sculpting artist. He was broad chested and wonderful looking.

And that's what warned me to stay away.

I took one more step back. In a warp of wind, he was right behind me and I stepped into him. He placed his large hands on my shoulders, not squeezing painfully, but possessively. I could feel and hear him shifting beside him though I couldn't make myself move out of fear. He spun me around so I could see his ancient eyes. I swallowed hard.

"He was right. You are an unquenchable thirst," he said. Sudden anger washed over me. Was this one of Ben's clients? Was he selling me out to be actually eaten alive? My blood boiled so fast that I could hardly process that this stranger was tilting my head sideways craning to fit into the curve of my neck.

"Tav! Stop it!" cried Ben the same exact time as my rage set in to its breaking point.

I felt time slow down around me. The room elongated slowly and when Tav had been about to clamp down at me at super human speed he slowed to actual human speed. He'd slowed enough to pull my knee to his groin before he could bite down on me.

Pain exploded into my knee. I'd forgotten that vampires were super sturdy. I couldn't smash his bits with my knee any more than I could bite on Ben's hand without chipping a tooth last night. However, the speed at which I did this, too fast for a vampire to expect from a human. My surprise attack had done nothing more than surprise him, but it that had been enough from hesitating from biting me long enough for Ben to intervene.

Ben yanked me backward stepping in front of me and baring his teeth, growling primitively at the vampire. I collapsed onto the floor backward grabbing my knee and howling like a sissy. Suddenly the man shook his head as though awoken from a trance. Ben stopped growling.

"You okay, Tav?" he asked him.

"Yes. I was caught off guard. That is all," this Tav guy said backing away. "I am truly sorry." Ben turned around and glared at me.

"And you! I told you to stay in your room!"

"You're not the boss of me!" I retorted, and it wasn't until I said it I realized how immature it sounded. Ben shook his head at me and turned around.

"Tav, I'm sorry. She ditched school and she's not exactly easy to control," Ben apologized for me. My mouth fell open. How was I being blamed for this?

"He's the one that attacked me!"

"You weren't supposed to be here! I thought it was safe to bring one of my business men by without your scent distracting them," Ben snapped. Business men? I looked at Tav. "Remember when I told you I am not the distributor. Tav is. There's no vampires in Danwell, he's going to ship your blood to buyers," Ben said. Tav bowed again, this time full of respect.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Paulette. I have heard much about you," he said. My brow was stuck in its confused position. I glanced at Ben again. He gave me a disappointed shake of the head, then looked away. "You have quite the reaction time. I have never seen a human move that way."

"I've never moved that way," I said. I rubbed my knee that was probably turning black and blue underneath the pant leg. "You've got giblets of steel. I'll give you that." Tav looked shocked for a moment and then tried to smile politely.

"Alright, you freak of nature. How did you do that?" Ben asked me.

"I'm the freak of nature?" I scoffed.

"She has a point," Tav consented. Ben gave him a glance.

"Humans should not move that fast," Ben said. He stood in front of me, legs sprawled. "Do it again."

"You want me to knee you in the groin?" I asked, looking down at his forbidden zone and then back at his face, in disbelief.

"I have giblets of steel as well, if that makes you feel better," Ben said getting impatient.

"I'm not so worried about your stones as I am for my knee," I admitted. The pain in leg was insufferable. It was going to need some ice tonight. Ben rolled his eyes, shifting his stance restlessly. He laid out his hands palms up.

"Rest your hands palms down on mine. Try not to let me slap your hands," he said. I smiled with sudden nostalgia.

"Oh! The slap game. I used to play this game with-..." I stopped myself short before I could say my sister's name. There was no need to bring up things I was trying to forget. I placed my hands over his. They were surprisingly cold, like he'd just come in from shoveling snow. He jerked his hands in warning.

Then slapped them.

"Ah!" I hissed. It felt like someone had blindfolded me and then slammed down two sledgehammers over my hands without warning. "You jackass!"

"You were moving too fast!" I argued shaking out my hands that were ringing in pain. "I'm going to be covered in bruises," I complained.

"The blood," Tav said. "You said it would enhance abilities."

"Temporarily, yeah," Ben said.

"Perhaps it can enhance her abilities as well. Temporarily of course. It seems she cannot control when to use them," he nodded at me. Ben rolled his eyes.

"Great. Now she's super girl," he grumbled. I was about to comment that when I noticed Tav's nose wrinkle suddenly. I cocked my head to the side. This action was becoming familiar to me. I had to ask.

"Tav, if I ask you something will you answer me honestly?" I asked. He smiled a predator's smile.

"Of course," he said with a hint of flirtation. Ben frowned a warning at Tav that made his expression become indifferent again.

"Do I smell bad to you?" I asked. Ben suddenly looked confused.

"What?"

Tav seemed impressed by the question.

"This house has an interesting mixture of smells," he said. Ben was suddenly interested. "The first smell I recognize is you. You smell absolutely delectable. Like a well in a desert, like homemade bread to a starving man, like..." Ben rolled his eyes.

"Enough with the similes! Stop hitting on her!" Ben said frustrated as he balled his fists at his side. I smiled at Tav.

"I liked the similes," I said defiantly. Tav raised a brow interested, but mostly annoyed.

"Thank you. As I was saying, your smell overpowers everything when you are present. Vampires have a wonderful sense of smell which is why I cannot contain expressing affection toward you," he said smoothly. I restrained a delighted shiver.

Woo...Did he know how to talk to a girl or what?

"The only reason he's doing that is because you smell yummy and vampires like to seduce their human food," Ben said. Delight was replaced by terror as I shot a look at Tav. He shrugged apologetically.

"That is when you are present. When you leave, the scent that overpowers the place is a terrible mangy mold of a smell. Like a damp unwashed animal," Tav said cringing. "The smell lingers on you."

"How come you didn't tell me I wreaked?" I asked Ben.

"Benjamin is an oddity," Tav explained.

"You can say that again." I couldn't help but add that little aside. Ben seemed to have been expecting that. In fact he probably would have been surprised if I hadn't said anything.

"He has no sense of smell or taste. He is immune to your temptation. That is why he is in such great position to take your blood. Once your blood hit the air I know there would be no stopping myself. I could barely contain myself with no open wounds before," Tav said. "That was probably why Ben thought it would be best that you and I never met."

"Yeah, you big dope," Ben added to me. I stuck out my tongue childishly. Tav's polite smile faded as though he were holding back the urge to roll his eyes at us.

"I would rather not cross paths with you again, for your blood's sake. Otherwise it was a pleasure to meet you," Tav said. He held out his hand to be shaken. I started to take it when Ben slapped my hand away and glared a warning at Tav.

Tav lifted his hands defensively to show he meant no harm and took a step back.

Ben handed Tav a small vial wish sloshing red liquid inside. It took a moment, but with widened eyes I realized what it was.

"Air tight seal. Don't crack it unless you want the smell to drive you nuts. I wouldn't suggest getting into the stuff. It might be addictive. There's enough for about twenty hits for samples to generate some buzz about the blood," Ben said in some drug dealer language I could hardly keep up with.

"That's my blood!" I cried horrified.

"Yes," Ben said matter of factly.

"When did you get that?"

"When you were asleep, don't overreact. No harm, no foul," Ben said coaxing me like I was getting hysterical over nothing. I made it a point to yell at him later. Right now, Tav was getting ready to go. He reached for his sunglasses to hide his brilliant golden eyes and pulled his hood over his head.

"Will do," Tav confirmed shaking the blood in the vial experimentally, like someone fidgeting with a cigarette. He turned to me. "By the way, the horrible smell I mentioned. It is strongest in your living sister's room." He smiled again to me and let himself out. I watched him through the window as he crossed the street to a black Mercedes parked in front of a neighbor's house with super speed. Ben stood beside me with sigh.

"That was interesting," he said.

"You know I've been smelling like one thing or another all day long. Either I'm super tasty, or I smell like decomposing meat," I said. Ben shrugged. "Now my sister's room smells like a dirty animal shelter."

"I wouldn't know," he said softly.

"And you!" I said staring daggers at him. Ben gave me a martyred look.

"What about me?" Ben asked. I opened my mouth to release my wrath upon him until I realized something. Tav had walked out in the broad daylight.

"Vampires can walk in the sun?"

"As long as we're covered up. The sun does some damage, but its not like a spontaneous combustion. It's kind of like walking barefoot on hot concrete, only you feel the burning pain all over you at once. You just kind of hurry to get in the shade before it gets too painful," Ben said. "It's just easier to go out at night. That is unless the stupidest, most tempting human to have ever walked the earth is there distracting you."

I glared at him.

"Screw you," I muttered under my breath.

"I have excellent hearing, you know," he acknowledged the insult.

"Really? How good?" I asked with a wicked grin.

"Better than a dog's," he boasted.

"Oh in that case..." I leaned right up to his ear. "SCREW YOU!" Ben winced and hissed painfully. He plugged his finger in his ear to stop the ringing. His eyes went momentarily wide. Then all of the sudden he disappeared in a whirlwind blur. I smiled to myself. Good riddance.

"Paulette Anne Reigh! Why aren't you in school?" my father said from the kitchen entrance making me jump about a mile high in the air. And that is the story about the first time any of the Reigh sisters got caught ditching.