Next Chapter is here! Enjoy, review. Please tell me what you think! I'm desperate! I just wanna know what you think, then I'll be outta your hair (not really; I'll stop bugging you though) Please enjoy the fruits of my labour!
Disclaimer: I don't own it, so please don't sue me (well, I technically own the coven and Charlie, but… yea, I'll shut up now)
Key:
Ethelwulf or Rickie; they will never talk at the same time so it shouldn't be a bother. Kay? Kay :)
Seth
Charlie
Derek
(you'll understand; now, READ)
As we drove, Rickie and I sat in silence. The two Spellcaster children were STILL arguing, apparently over who got to talk to 'the new girl', who I assumed was me, first. The boy seemed to have a crush, but the girl wanted to intimidate me. Like that would work. The little Necromancer girl and Derek were whispering too quietly for me to hear in the backseat, and the human woman and the adult Spellcaster 'Kit' were discussing something, again too quietly for my ears to hear, up front. Everyone was ignoring us; fine by me.
We finally arrived at tall, old house (it had at least four stories on it; this place was huge) after driving for nearly an hour. My claustrophobia was getting to me and my legs were cramping up. I was first out of the car, breathing in the fresh air and stretching my legs, trying to rid them of the pins and needles running through them. Derek was close behind, followed by Rickie and the Necromancer girl. The human and 'Kit' were still talking lowly and the Spellcaster boy and girl were still arguing, getting increasingly louder.
Stretching my arms up above my head, I popped my shoulders.
"It's good to see you again, Charlie," said a soft, deep voice from behind me. I jumped slightly and turned around mid-stretch and came face to face with a smirking Derek.
"You too," I said, smiling gently. Being around another wolf made me feel at ease in a way that I had forgotten about a long time ago; the vampires might have helped a little, but there's nothing like knowing you aren't alone.
"Let's get inside before we draw attention to ourselves!" shouted 'Kit'. I scowled, growling a little under my breath; out in the open air for all of three minutes, that was NOT going to leave me in a good mood. Derek chuckled quietly at my reaction. Light footsteps came up behind Derek, and the little blonde Necromancer stepped up beside him.
"Wow, I think you have some competition, Derek," she said, giggling slightly. Derek, in turn, scowled as well. The little blonde girl giggled harder at our matching expressions.
"We've never had a vampire before," she said. This caused my scowl to deepen.
"Just because I came from the coven doesn't mean I'm a vampire," I told her. She blushed and looked down, a smell of embarrassment coming of her. Derek bristled at my tone and the Necromancer girl's reaction. Calm him down, Ethel I told her, I don't wanna die just yet. I felt the message go across.
Charlie means no ill will, Seth; cool it she scolded. So his wolf had a name as well… at least I'm not different in that aspect.
Why should I; she insulted my mate he shot back. Derek looked oblivious; couldn't he hear this?
She means no ill will, Seth; you're touchy after being stuck in a car for an hour, so are we. We aren't as used to it as you are; calm down Ethel enforced. I felt Derek's wolf back down a bit.
Fine, Ethelwulf, you win; just warn her not to do it again he said in defeat. Derek visibly relaxed.
She can here you, Seth; we've changed already she said.
Hello?I willed across to Seth, testing. Derek jumped; he must've heard me.
Yes?
Huh… aren't you only fourteen? Came the two voices at once.
Yes, I amI answered Seth. Derek looked at me in confusion, and the Necromancer girl was looking between us like we were mad. Neither could figure out what was going on.
Who're you talking to? Why can I hear you in my head? Asked Derek in confusion.
I'm talking to your wolf; why do you think you've calmed down? I said in response. He looked at me like I was a loony.
"Derek, Chloe, NOW!" shouted 'Kit' from the door to the 'safehouse'. A cold hand touched my shoulder and I jumped. I spun round and came face to face with Rickie. I'd forgotten he was there; vampires move too quietly.
"You move too quietly," I grumbled, and he smirked. He heard me. Picking up our stuff, we followed Derek and the Necromancer girl, 'Chloe', into the safehouse.
"'bout time…" muttered the female Spellcaster. I gave her a glare, to let her know that I had heard her. She levelled my gaze, like she didn't care, small zaps of electric energy dancing between her fingers so subtly that if I didn't have my wolf sight I wouldn't have noticed.
"You don't want to do that, Spellcaster," I warned her, growling at the possible threat. Her eyes widened marginally at my observations; apparently, the only ones here who knew what I was were the adults and Derek. Great. Thanks Nigel. Really helpful.
"Anyway," said Kit, breaking the silence, "how 'bout we get on with introductions?" he suggested, although the subtle undertone in his voice said that no one was going to refuse. Nods all 'round before everyone started to formally introduce themselves.
"Hi, I'm Kit Bae. Sorcerer, lawyer and only connection to the supernatural world for our group. I'm also the leader of this mismatched family," he began. My nose was right, as usual. We went around in a circle. After Kit came the blonde lady.
"I'm Lauren Saunders, Chloe's aunt, a human and a doctor; I take care of all medical issues. I'm second in charge, so you do as Kit and I say," She said sternly; she certainly talked like a doctor. I wasn't going to let her anywhere near me if I was injured; she doesn't like wolves. You can tell by the disdain in her eyes as she looks over me or Derek. Next up; bitchy Spellcaster girl who really pisses me off.
"I'm Tory, and I'm sixteen," said the dark-haired Spellcaster girl, "I'm powerful, so if you cross me I'll take your eyes out; got it?" she threatened. Rickie seemed scared, but I was indifferent. If she attacked me, she'd have multiple people after her. Particularly Nigel; you don't wanna get on Nigel's bad side. Next was the male Spellcaster, who I assumed was 'Simon'.
"I'm Simon, I'm sixteen and a pathetic sorcerer. I'm only useful if you want cool movie effects. Derek, the grumpy one over there, is my adoptive brother," he said, smiling at me and winking. I smelt his infatuation. Stupid sorcerer. Rickie tensed beside me; I understood. I'd confirmed my suspicions from my first change in the four months I'd been a part of the coven. He was my mate. Only problem was, I didn't know what the hell to do about it.
Cool it, RickieI told him. He's just some guy who thinks he can get anyone he wants by winking. Rickie nodded beside me, relaxing back to his normal semi-slouch.
"Derek, sixteen; wolf," said my packmate simply. I nodded, earning a small smile of recognition from him. The Necromancer frowned a little at the attention I received.
"Hi," she said, still bubbly, though. "I'm Chloe Saunders, I'm fifteen and I'm a scary strong Necromancer," she said. She smelled it, too. It scared me a little, the fact that she smelt so strongly of the dead, yet she was still living. I shuddered slightly, causing Rickie to lean ever so slightly into me and Derek to raise an eyebrow.
Later I told both of them. My turn.
"Charlotte McKenzie, at your service," I said, somewhat sarcastically. I earned a smile from Simon, a shadow of a smirk from Derek and a smile from Rickie.
"Unless you call me Charlie, however, I will maul you; regardless of the rules," I warned, eyes narrowing at Tori across the room.
"I'm fourteen and a wolf," I said.
"I'm not the youngest anymore!" exclaimed Chloe happily. I glared at her and she sat down, blushing again. A growl in my head told me that Seth was not happy.
Suck it up, Seth; I'm not hurting herI snapped. Derek jumped, glaring at me. He also looked curious at the same time. I looked pointedly at Rickie, and he saved me by introducing himself.
"I'm Ricardo, but unless you call me Rickie I will get Charlie to maul you for me. I'm a vampire and I'm physically sixteen. That's all you're getting from me," he said. Even I didn't know how old he was. Whenever someone asked how old he was, he'd always say sixteen. Stupid vampire pride.
"Now that we all know each other, let's set up the sleeping arrangements," said Kit enthusiastically. Apparently, no one had been in this safehouse yet. Great.
"We'll be arranging the rooms a little differently this time, since the house is so much bigger and has so many more floors," said Lauren. I had a feeling she had a lot to do with this.
"Yes, Lauren's right; this time we'll have each type of supernatural on a different floor, and you can sleep in any room you like as long as it's on your floor. You can do whatever you want as long as it won't disturb any other floors. Simon, Tori and I have fourth floor so that Tori and Simon can argue without disturbing too many neighbours. Chloe and Lauren have third because there are the least bedrooms there. Derek, Charlie and Rickie have second because it's closest to the kitchen," a round of giggles followed this statement, none from Derek or I, even though Rickie found it funny. What? Kitchen raids are a nightly thing for us!
"Any questions?" asked Kit. A resounding, silent no. "Good; now go unpack. Dinner's in three hours."
Everyone went in a mad dash to the stairs, carrying their suitcases. At the first floor, we split off from everyone else and headed down the hall to stand in front of five sets of doors.
Finally, we've got someone who isn't embarrassed to sleep in a pile said Ethel; she'd been complaining since my first change.
I have to ask first I told her.
Then ask, Charlie she demanded. She was getting touchy.
Cool it, Ethel, I growled, annoyed. She bared her teeth at me.
Ask.
"Derek, do ya wanna sleep in a puppy pile?" I asked, my slight Texan accent from really early in my childhood peeking through due to the slight nervousness I felt. He looked genuinely thoughtful.
Seth is talking to him; he's trying to persuade him to say yes, said Ethel.
"Ok," he said simply after a while, with a small smile.
"Do you wanna join, Rickie?" I asked him hopefully, taking in the sour, sad look on his face. A scent of jealously drifted my way. He smiled at me when I offered, although I don't think it was intentional.
"I won't join your 'puppy pile'," he said, mocking the term. I gently swatted him upside the head.
"But I'll take a bed into the room and sleep on that. That ok?" he asked, suddenly hesitant. I beamed at him.
"You betcha, Ricardo," I mocked him in return. He scowled at me, and I raised my hands in surrender as I danced out of the way of his hand coming to hit me on the head.
"I'll even help you move the bed," I offered. He shrugged.
Soon, all three of us were moving one bed frame and the spare mattress into the room. Rickie's bed was put next to the wall, and the spare mattress, along with Derek's, were moved onto the floor next to it. After that we unpacked our clothes, toiletries etc. and put them into their respective places (clothes in drawers, toiletries in adjoining en suite) and moved some furniture. When the room suited all of our tastes (Rickie's want of familiarity, Derek's perfectionism and my love of symmetrical things) we sat and just talked.
Apparently, Derek and the rest of his pack (excluding the adults) had been locked up in a group home known as Lyle house, named after Samuel Lyle, famous genetic experimentalist and, apparently, an insane sorcerer. They escaped, were captured, escaped again, were captured again, killed some people, were eventually reunited with their respective parental figures and have run around for a few years trying to find people to help them take down the Edison Group. As was evident by the lack of extra people in the group, they hadn't succeeded until recently.
"So…" said Rickie, suddenly awkward. There's was a tense silence, broken by Kit shouting from somewhere below us 'Dinner!' My stomach suddenly realised how long it was since I'd eaten (about five hours) and staged protest.
I was out of the room and down the stairs faster than Derek. By the time everyone else was walking in the door, I had two plates of food piled as high as they could go and was shovelling food as fast as I could. Derek quickly joined me, an equal amount of food on his two plates, smirking. There wasn't enough left to feed everyone, so Lauren and Kit had to cook more. Rickie just sat at the table, not really sure what to do since he couldn't eat anything. Swallowing, I gave him a suggestion.
"Go hunt; you don't have to sit here and be awkward. Just be back in a few hours," I told him, picking him up and dragging him outside. He smiled thankfully, speeding off in a blur. I hurried inside and finished my meal.
"Desert, anyone?" asked Kit, who was clearly stuffed to the brim with dinner and couldn't fit it in even if he'd wanted to. I nodded enthusiastically, still hungry after my piles of food. Half the group looked at me like I'd grown three heads. I cleared my throat dramatically.
"Growing werewolf, right here," I said, pointing at myself. They all looked away, Chloe blushing because she had been caught staring. A large slice of apple pie was placed in front of me, and was eaten very quickly. I could've eaten more, but decided to save that for my midnight snack.
"Thanks, Kit," I said, smiling. "Thanks, Lauren!" Chloe was still eating, so I waited to leave the table.
As soon as Chloe was done, I was upstairs and getting ready for a shower. I grabbed my clothes and an amber coloured towel (we'd arranged them by colour of eyes; Derek had green, Rickie had grey and I had amber) and slipped into the bathroom. The warm water felt sooooo good as it cascaded down my body.
"Aaaaahhhhhh," I sighed, scratching behind my ears and all over my head as I shampooed my hair. I washed my hair like once a month, so I made the most of the scratching. It felt so good.
Washing out the suds, I ended my shower and got ready for bed. I cleaned my teeth, the minty toothpaste burning my eyes with its overbearing smell, and brushed my hair. My PJ's were a grey t-shirt and three-quarter pants made out of soft material that had a silhouette of a wolf howling printed on the bottom of the leg. Thanks, Nigel.
I packed up my stuff and stepped out of the steamy bathroom. Rickie was waiting.
Being a vampire, he didn't really need to shower. He didn't sweat, didn't really smell (except for that trace scent that all vampires had) and never had a problem with greasy hair. But he still showered anyway. Said it reminded him of his human life. He picked up his towel and went into the bathroom, coming out in ten minutes ready for bed as well.
Derek was still downstairs; I could hear him talking to Chloe about something. I couldn't hear what, though.
Eventually, there was a strange little sound that could be identified as a goodnight kiss and two sets of footsteps padded up the stairs. The louder set continued up the second set, whilst the almost inaudible ones came closer, and into the room walked Derek. Finally. Grabbing his stuff, he also completed his nightly ritual. We were all ready for bed and it was only eight thirty. What to do?
"What'd you do on your hunt, Rickie?" asked Derek, curious. I blanched; I'd seen what a vampire does on a hunt. Not pleasant. Even though Rickie was a 'vegetarian', as such, it was still incredibly disturbing to watch. I shuddered.
"Trust me, Derek, you do NOT want to know," I told him, trying to keep down my rather delicious dinner. It worked, thankfully. Soon, I was back to normal.
"Why not?" he asked eventually. Of course; I remembered now. Derek HAS to know everything.
"Because, when you're not a vampire, it's rather disgusting to watch. Even if said vampire is a 'vegetarian' and only feeds on animals," I told him.
No offense, Rickie I added as a, literal, afterthought.
None taken he said back. Good; he should know that I find it rather… off-putting.
A knock on the door interrupted our silence. Kit poked his head around, eyebrows flying up at the sleeping arrangements.
"What's going on here?" he asked sceptically.
"The wolves are making up for all the years they spent alone and sleeping in a puppy pile," said Rickie, still mocking the term. I scowled at him.
"I'm just crashing the party," he continued, smirking. Kit looked doubtful.
"And the point of a puppy pile is… what, exactly?" he asked.
"Comfort, mostly," I said, rather snappishly.
"Knowing that there's a packmate there helps wolves sleep," said Derek, "why do you think I've always had trouble?" he continued. It was a rather brilliant plan, I must admit. Using evidence that Kit knows is true to prove a point.
"I suppose…" he said after a long while. "No shenanigans, though," he said. I blushed a little, and Derek scowled at him.
"Goodnight," said Kit after a long while, shutting the door and moving up the stairs, his footsteps receding.
As soon as I could no longer hear him, I tackled Rickie and slapped his arm.
"Hey!" he yelped quietly as Derek smothered his laughter. I slapped his arm again.
"That's for being an asshole; got it?" I said, a non-menacing growl entering my tone. He could at least tell when I was messing with him, and he smirked.
"Ok, I won't do it again," he surrendered. "Get off!" I rolled of his stomach, which I had been straddling to pin him, and back onto the mattresses on the floor, curling up next to Derek. I instantly felt safe and sleepy, and slipped into the abyss of dreams after minutes of relaxed silence.
I woke up at around three in the morning, hungry. Derek was already missing, and quiet munching sounds could be heard from down below. Getting out of bed, I walked quietly down the stairs and into the kitchen. Derek was standing with a bag of extra-cheesy CCs, munching away, his back to me. I walked up quietly behind him and took a chip out of the bag. He jumped, spinning around; he obviously hadn't heard me come in.
"Don't sneak up on me," he whispered, scowling.
"Sorry for being just as quiet as you are," I shot back, glaring. We just stood like that for a second, until he held the bag out for me.
"CC?" he asked, looking as though nothing happened. I smirked, grabbing a handful of the tasty chips and stuffing them into my mouth. He laughed quietly at that. Finishing off the bag of CCs, we snuck back upstairs and fell back to sleep. It was the best I'd slept since my dad died all those years ago…
Am I doin' ok? I sure hope so… please review and tell me what you think! For those who are new to this fic, I know that the DP characters seem a little OOC (out of character), but I'm trying my hardest. I haven't read the books in a long time…
~PiptheSnake~