I do not own Blood and Chocolate, nor do I own Twilight. I DO own my characters however. Back from San Francisco. It was great. It sucks to be home, but I'm happy to be writing again.

"The Battle of Evermore" by Led Zepplin

"The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom, And walked the night alone.

Oh, dance in the dark of night, Sing to the morning light.
The dark Lord rides in force tonight, And time will tell us all.

Oh, throw down your plow and hoe, Rest not to lock your homes.

Side by side we wait the might of the darkest of them all."

Jonas:

Layla stepped inside her house looking one way and then the other. Of course everyone was asleep. I couldn't hear anyone moving around inside. She was a bit paranoid though. A human couldn't really have any concept of werewolf senses so I let her be cautious. She came back outside assuring me the coast was clear.

I shrugged my duffle bag onto my shoulder and double checked my pockets to make sure it was there. I'd become extremely overprotective over my recent purchase, paranoid it was going to fall out and some human would hawk it at the nearest pawn shop. My phone vibrated again in my pocket, I ignored it knowing who it was and what they wanted.

As soon as I stepped into the house the smell hit me. Luckily I was prepared for it. My stomach jolted once, but I swallowed to soothe it. Somewhere in town my ears picked up an explosion. I snapped my head in that direction.

"What's wrong?" Layla asked.

I blinked. It wasn't enough to make me want to leave Layla.

"I don't know. Don't worry about it," I said stepping into her house. She shut the door behind me and led the way up the stairs. I'd changed into my pajamas at home to save room in my duffle bag for tomorrow's clothes.

I followed her up to her room. The dark maroon patterns were covered with books, school papers, and dirty clothes as usual. And as usual, she'd forgotten how messy her room was and hurriedly started to pick up her things.

"Sorry about the mess," she whispered.

"What did you think of the pack?" I blurted. Layla looked over her shoulder and then shrugged.

"I'm not sure. We were pretty rushed given the circumstances. They were... nice," Layla said distractedly. She then smiled over her shoulder. "Your dad was very nice." She'd given the bare minimum of an answer, which worried me. But I smiled weakly and fumbled with the object in my pocket. Layla looked at the floor, she'd cleared a space for me to sleep on the floor.

"I'm going to get some blankets," she said. She paused to get some pajamas from her drawer and then hopped over a mountain of dirty laundry toward her bedroom door. I sighed resisting the urge to follow her. I have super senses, and inhuman speed. I can let her get three feet away from me.

My phone rang again. I rolled my eyes and groaned knowing I was never going to get any peace.

"What?" I answered the phone.

"You haven't done it yet?" my father's voice said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the velvet ring box. I flipped open the box and let the sapphire glisten in the light.

"No," I said.

"I would think you would be eager to do this. You love her don't you?" my father asked.

"Of course. I still don't know why you want me to propose to her so bad," I whispered looking over my shoulder to make sure Layla didn't somehow burst through the door without my knowing.

He was quiet. My suspicion piqued.

"Why are you so bent on this? You wanted nothing to do with Layla up until a few months ago," I questioned.

"Get her family's permission and do it," he ordered.

"Why?" I snapped. The only reason I could get away with snapping with my own Alpha was because he was related. When it came to Layla, he and I snapped at one another a lot.

"Because I said so!" he said in his Alpha tone. That tone never had the same effect on me.

"Dad," I said. He sighed.

"Well... I suppose you know this already after running into the council. They know that she knows of our existence. The only way they're letting her survive with that knowledge is with the assurance she will be mated to you and join our pack," he said. My eyes went wide.

"What did you tell them?!" I almost yelled.

"I told them you were already mated," he repeated. "That was the only way they would let her live."

"And what if I don't? What if I just... pretended to be mated to her? Dad, neither of us are out of high school. How am I going to get her parent's permission to marry her? What if Layla doesn't want to get married now?" I asked speaking too fast for my own brain to process.

"I saw the way she looks at you. She's just as pathetically in love as you are," he said.

"I know she loves me," I said. That fact still never ceased to amaze me after what we'd been through. "But I don't know if she wants to get married."

"Tell her the truth."

"I'm not going to tell her she has to get married to me or die. It's creepy enough that I'm freakishly, uncontrollably protective of her. Besides, you know the law. If her family doesn't approve then there is no marriage," I said.

"Well, technically you only need one member of the family to approve," he said. I thought on that. I couldn't tell either parent that I wanted to marry their eighteen year old daughter. No doubt if Layla's older sister were still alive she would approve. Unfortunately, that was impossible. That only left one person.

I was screwed.

"I hate laws," I grumbled.

"Do it, Jonas. Do it quickly before the council figures out that this is a lie and they decide to take care of her," he said. I felt my eyes narrow as they usually did when I felt like Layla was being threatened. I hung up without saying goodbye.

I heard soft footsteps coming down the hallway. I quickly stuffed the ring back into my pocket. Layla came in fresh pajamas with an armful of blankets. She let them drop on the floor. I took them and started to make my own bed. I shook my head thinking about the situation we were in now. Layla seemed to sense my uneasiness. She sat down with me on my makeshift bed.

"Jonas. You're worried about nothing," she said smiling.

"Poor naive human," my primal side said privately. I smiled back at her.

"I am not worried about nothing," he said.

"But you said a human assassin was nothing to worry about," Layla pointed out.

"Yes. Listen, Layla..." I started. I wanted to tell her everything. How lucky she is that she's still alive. How lucky I was that she was still alive and hadn't gone into a ballistic killing rage. I couldn't find the words. Instead, I pulled her into a kiss and hoped it would distract her.

It worked. She pulled away smiling.

"I love you."

"I love you, too," she said grinning. She gave me another kiss on the cheek and stood up. "Good night."

"Night," I responded as she climbed into bed. I turned over in my little bundle of blankets on the floor and tried to sleep, but with the horrific smell, Layla in danger, and a ring pressing against my uncomfortably in my pocket, it wouldn't be easy.

Ben:

That human, Paulette.

That stupid, selfish, human. Hogging all the narration, the blood, the fun, and she never listens! If I'd told her not to jump off a cliff, I bet she'd do it just to spite me.

When I left, I was pissed. No, I was more than pissed. I needed to feed before I tore out that stupid girl's throat. I took off into the night, stuffing the vial of Paulette's blood into my trench coat's pocket. I ran to the meadow knowing I could find plenty a meal there. But the second I got there, the deep instinctual warning worsened.

This is no place for a vampire, it warned me. In the distance I saw my future home when I was rich. The Carter House. What was it about this place that made me want to run in the other direction as fast as my vampiric speed could take me?

It was hard enough trying to ignore the ominous feeling. I turned and went into town. In an instant I'd run to the nearest club called Evermore. It was a girly club with pink lights and pop music. A drunk girl stumbled out of it, giggling madly. She wore a sparkly halter top, black mini skirt, and platform heels. It was disgustingly reminiscent of disco.

I shivered and suppressed a gag at the thought. Like my buddies back in the day always said, disco girls are good for one night, but you want to marry a rocker chick. But beggars can't be choosers, and the hungry can't be picky.

"Excuse me, miss," I said getting her attention. She staggered against the wall to stand straight.

"Whoa..." she groaned at the sight of me. "You're hot," she slurred. I politely gave a pleased, tight-lipped smile to keep my fangs hidden. Scared prey isn't nearly as fun. I made my way towards her, she hardly thought to keep back.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"Marissa," she replied.

"That's very pretty," I said sparkling undeniably wonderful eyes at her. Sometimes I felt bad. This seducing thing was way too easy. As conceded as it sounds, I, like every other vampire, am incredibly good looking. It was a hard thing to resist, most of the time. When I'm not hungry, I still have girls fawning over me like the girls in The Beatles' "Hard Day's Night" video.

Marissa, who I was only paying half attention to, moved toward me. That was the way I liked to do it, have them come to me. The less I participate the more innocent that made me.

"Your eyes are orange," she said in awe. I nodded.

"Yes, they are," I patronized as she inched closer. She hesitated. Hesitated? Why would she hesitate? Then my sensitive ears picked up a sound.

"Drunk women are hardly good sport," came another voice. A man appeared right beside me scaring the living daylights out of me and Marissa both. I jumped away immediately on the defensive. I tried to warn Marissa to get away, but she was already running into the club. Normally this would be a bad thing, you never run from a vampire because most are itching for a good chase.

But he didn't even pay her a final glance. His eyes locked on me.

"I spoke to Tavarus. You must be Ben," he said to me. I felt my eyes go wide.

"And what exactly did Tav say about this Ben that you speak of?" I demanded.

"Young fool," the vampire said. He was beginning to growl. "You have it."

"I don't have anything," I said backing away.

"No. You have everything," he corrected and advanced another step.

"Exactly who the hell are you?" I asked.

"I am a dissatisfied customer," he said. He was an older vampire, obviously stronger and more experienced than me. This dark haired vampire probably had decades on my years of undead life. I ran down the street. Before I could react he was directly in front of me. I smashed into his sturdy form, hearing bits of my own bone break.

He stood there unphased.

"Who are you?" I asked him. The vampire smiled at me like I was prey. That patronizing gleam in his eye like I had when I was stalking a human. This vampire's dark hair was mussed, strands sticking out of its once perfected hair style. He wore a nice suit, however his dress shirt was missing the top buttons, and his tie had somehow disappeared. The jacket had lost its buttons too, and two dark bruises had formed under his chocolate cherry colored eyes.

"I am Adam," he said. He extended a pale hand palm up. "Now give it to me." His eyes fell to my pocket. I reached in and clutched Paulette's blood.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"This is worth a couple million dollars. You got the money, you can have it," I said with my returning confidence. He frowned. I stood up and turned my head, cracking my neck to heal the few fragments of bone that shattered upon our impact. It's good to be indestructible because even when you are destroyed, you're self healing. In most cases anyway.

"Very well then," Adam said biting his lip in agitation until they bled. I grimaced at the thick red liquid falling over his chin. Boy, this guy was cracked out. He started to take out a check book. I snorted and laughed.

"Uh, I hate to kill your buzz, but I only take cash. You're going to have to wait until there's a bank open that will give you that much money at once," I said. His growl deepened. He leapt at me, grabbing my arm and flinging me into the nearest building. Brick shattered in a cloud of red dust. I hit the icy sidewalk, just in time to hear the warning of boots crunching on the ground. I looked up, seeing Adam come at me again. I moved out of the way too quickly. I slipped on the ground and barely caught myself on the nearest light pole.

Adam missed and ran into the building, just below the Ben-shaped hole I'd been flung into. He shook out his hair and glared at me.

"Listen, pal. If you can't afford the expensive habits, that's not my problem," I said shrugging apologetically.

"I can afford them just fine," Adam retorted picking himself off the ground. "Give me the source."

"What source?" I asked dumbly.

"The source of the blood, you fool! GIVE IT TO ME!" He roared, vibrating the ground I stood on. I didn't flinch.

"You can wait in line for your blood like everyone else."

"GIVE IT TO ME!" he charged again. I dodged just barely. I spun around into the street where he caught me by the foot and flung me into the nearest car. The car alarm went off. An explosion of pitched noise pierced through my ears. He went down much harder than me, rolling in agony. His senses were stronger than mine.

I started to make my escape when Adam leapt up to his feet and came down on top of the car with two fists, killing the alarm and absolutely totalling the car at the same time. I tried to make my escape. Once again he blocked my path. I came to a dead stop. I looked down at myself. My scrapes were healing, torn skin was growing and reattaching itself to my limbs. My clothes were torn to shreds. I pulled out a jagged piece of glass that was stuck in my arm.

"Stop making so much damn noise! Some human with a camera phone's going to come waltzing by," I said trying to exploit the secrecy (most) vampires were extremely protective of. He smirked and shook his head.

"I traveled here, against my own instincts, into the forbidden zone. I, a powerful vampire, had to work up the courage to step across the invisible barrier. I am not leaving empty handed," he said almost laughing to match his maniac smile.

I clenched the vial of Paulette's blood in my fist. I had not wanted to do this. Adam attacked again. This time he pinned my, knocking me on my stomach and sitting on my back. His cold hands were on either side of my head and pulled meaning to separate my head from my body.

He was going to kill me.

I closed my fist harder around the vial. The glass cracked. Though I couldn't smell it, I knew the smell had hit the air. Adam froze in realization. I slipped out from under him with impossible speed, even by vampire standards.

"Fetch!" I shouted and threw the vial as hard as I could. The small glass cylinder was nothing more than a twinkle in the sky sailing over the mountains. Vampires have wonderful throwing arms. I'm not sure how far it went, but it definitely left the city. In a flash, Adam had disappeared after it. I caught my breath with a sigh. Though I had little need for air it was a comforting habit. That was four million dollars down the drain. My phone rang.

This surprised me. I couldn't believe my cell phone had survived that battle. I barely survived that battle. I reminded myself to stick with this particular phone brand as I answered it.

"Hello?"

"I believe its safe to say that the blood is addictive," Tav's voice said immediately. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Yeah, ya think?" I snorted. I started to walk home, too shaken up to run.

"I take it you've run into her," Tav said. I paused.

"Her? Her as in a female?" I asked.

"You have encountered another?" Tav asked.

"Yeah. Some guy named Adam," I said.

"Well the addict that nearly decapitated me was a woman. Black hair, blue eyes?"

"Oh great. There's more of them," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "And what are you doing telling them where the girl is? They're going to be swarming the place in a matter of days. The bad vibe this place gives isn't going to keep anyone away for too long."

"I will tell you something, Benjamin. I was tortured. You have your head in a vice and we will see how talkative you become," Tav said. I was surprised. Tav normally didn't do sarcasm. "I am afraid it will not be long until Paulette is eaten." I stopped where I stood. That's right. If vampires were crossing into Danwell, it wouldn't be long until they sniffed her out.

"Benjamin?"

"Tav, they can't kill her," I blurted. There was a pause.

"It might be best to get rid of her," Tav said.

"I will not be responsible for any more deaths!" I barked into the phone.

"I know this is a personal matter, but there is no hope for our little business anymore. We should take our profits and move on," he said.

"No. I mean, think about it. We can still make a twitchin' profit," I said pacing and hoping that greed would persuade Tav.

"I wish you wouldn't use your disco jargon-"

"It is NOT disco."

"And it is not me who needs convincing. My head is clear. Yours is not," Tav finished. I couldn't think of anything to say (which was a rare occurrence). He was right. I was dead wrong. We'd tried the drug scene and failed. Paulette's blood was much too effective to make a recreational drug. Her blood was downright poisonous.

"She-" I couldn't think. I wasn't even sure what I was saying. "She doesn't deserve that kind of death."

"Then give her a more proper one. I must leave Benjamin, before more of them find me. I will meet you in California," he said. The call ended. I held my cell phone in my hand. I watched Tav's call blink and then returned to the screen. I clapped the phone shut.

I ran my hand through my hair.

"What have I done?" I murmured to no one.

When I wrote about Layla and Jonas kissing it took everything in me to not write, "Is that an engagement ring in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" :-D