Author's Note: Hopefully nothing was out of character. I hate that. Please enjoy and please love!

CHAPTER TEN:

Everybody had a family. It was a fact, a scientific fact that could be proved by logic and data. It was quite simple. There was a mother and a father that provided the base. There were the children that sat upon the base, depending on it entirely for a good part of their lives, and even after they grew up to lead their own careers and homes. Cousins, aunts, and uncles branched off from each side, if they had any. The grandparents, if they were alive, would be placed under the base because parents always depend in some way on the people who gave birth to them.

Dave knew that many families were tight-knit and took care of each other. Some were happy families, others torn. He knew his family wasn't torn. It would always remain intact and strong, no matter how much he wished it wouldn't. His bloodlines were steel beams that refused to bend or break. Families that were broken apart left each other at frayed strands. His relatives would never leave, never die, and would forever follow him throughout his entire life. If he ever survived this encounter with his family, he would carry it the experience in his mind for a long time. Becky would too. Balthazar and Veronica wouldn't look at him as the guy with mean relatives; they'd see someone who had gotten through the inevitable Morganian blood that seemed to touch every one of the Stutlers.

Mom used to be a part of the base. She was the best mother, thus resulting in her having the most rotten luck. Gwen Stutler had not lived to see her son reach sixteen. She died a few months before his birthday. Dave remembered how he felt when the doctor delivered the news. It was like a hard slap in the face. She lived when his troll of a father tried to kill her with Morganian magic. Yet she couldn't survive a simple car crash? It didn't seem fair. Her death caused her part of the base to collapse. His father, the other half of the base, took over, stretching his controlling line across to make sure his children would depend on him.

Rachael was never the kind of girl to go on her own. She could talk tough and wander into troubling streets, but would never truly go off on an adventure she knew she couldn't handle. She did depend on their father, as well as their uncle. She was a strange sister. Rachael acted like every other girl, except for the fact she only wanted to go to "private school" and get a "foreign education" at the time. Ha; that was a laugh. Rachael only wanted to hide with her father frequently and practice magic. And she never bothered to tell him even a shred of it. Not a surprise. Rachael kept a ton of secrets to herself.

Uncle Cyril was one branch. He was a twisted type of branch that was sharp and sick. He liked being sadistic. Dave remembered one time, when they were watching the news, it showed blood on a street because of some hit-and-run thing. Cyril had licked his lips and decided to leave the room for a while. His Uncle wasn't even the sort of person to look after kids. He only babysat for his own gain.

Aunt Alexa was the only really nice relative. She offered him sweet things before dinner, something Mom would've never done. She let him stay up a little to watch television. She was just as kind towards Rachael. She loved her husband as well. But she kept secrets herself. She was Aunt Alexandria, a female Cruor. The pale, blond woman who smiled a lot now looked like a chalk-white vampire to Dave.

His father was never his father. Dave refused to even think that. He was a monster.

Dave himself was a bad part of the family. He had a terrible run-in with Balthazar Blake and Arcana Cabana. He was picked on and bullied. No one wanted his company and thought him a nerd.

Except for Levy. She'd smiled shyly at the entire class when the teacher introduced her. Dave didn't bother to smile back like the rest of the class. She was grinning at mean students, gossipers, and children who never wanted to be his companion. He had no interest in the new kid. But when she passed by his desk, she lightly touched his shoulder.

At the end of class, she came up to his seat as he collected his books. "Hi," she had said. "I'm Levy."

"I know," he'd said. "Ms. Lee introduced you, remember?"

"Right," Levy had replied, blushing a little.

"Are you going to apologize for what you did earlier? You touched my shoulder." Dave himself had been flushing on the inside. He had actually kicked himself mentally at the time. Why had he been ruining his chance at someone who probably wanted to be his friend?

"But I'm not sorry at all," Levy had answered. She'd smiled at him, revealing all of her white, sparkly teeth.

They became friends after that encounter. They sat together at lunch, talked while opening their lockers, and Dave even got up the courage to invite her to his house. People still gave him trouble about being nerdy, but they didn't really touch him anymore. No one wanted to bother him when he was friends with Levy. Dave guessed the bullies really wanted to ask her out, and being nice to her friends would get them to their goal good.

Dave recalled asking her about that. "Don't you like any of them?"

"No way," Levy had said. "They're all jocks with brains the size of tadpoles." They both exchanged grins at the time because they were studying tadpoles.

Dave didn't like Levy romantically. He thought she was cool and fun, even if she was a little shy sometimes. He always kept Becky in his head. He never knew what happened to her and missed her. When he was all alone, Dave would sometimes think about where she was and what she was doing. He knew he blew his chance with her. He would remember his therapy then, and decide to forget about it.

Therapy was another thing that brought Levy and him together. While they were friends, he never told anyone about his trips to the therapist. He felt bad about it and when he had to go. His dad always took him. One time, Levy had been at his house and they were doing homework. His father had come in and said it was time to go. Levy curiously asked him where he had to leave to.

"Nowhere," he'd mumbled.

"You can tell me. Are you heading to a club?" She had giggled nervously.

"No," he'd snapped. "Mind your own business."

But then her face was an expression of pain and Dave had to tell her. He secretly confided in her about therapy. But he never revealed why he had to go, saying that it was just a troubling event that was the cause.

Her eyes had grown wide. "I'm so sorry," she'd said. "Wow."

"I know," he had answered sadly.

They told each other their deepest secrets after that; who they liked, who they hated, and the most embarrassing things that had ever occurred. Dave never told her about Arcana Cabana but he did mention that water spilled on his pants when he was younger, and his classmates saw it.

She was very sympathetic when he said that. Over time, Dave began to realize that he did in fact find Levy very cute. She had blond hair and bubbled with enthusiasm, even if she was a tad shy. It made her adorable. She looked mysterious and petite under the moon. Dave decided he liked her when she wore yellow. She always looked the best in that color. Maybe Levy knew that, and that was why she usually wore her yellow dress.

Then came the summer trip. His dad and Rachael had gone off to train somewhere, but Dave never really knew that. They were pretending to be at a college meeting. Dave and Levy always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. Mom agreed eventually. Dave never knew Levy's parents, if truth be told. She said she lived with her aunt and she said it was okay.

To the Grand Canyon they went. Aunt Alexa tagged along. Dave and Levy loved the summer they went to Flagstaff, a place near the Grand Canyon. They got to the rocky area itself soon after. Dave didn't remember most of their conversations because there was only one that truly was burned into his mind. There was going to be a summer dance somewhere. The summer was coming to an end and lots of people wanted to celebrate. Mom and Aunt Alexa wanted to go. Dave refused to go to the party. He just wasn't a social butterfly. His aunt and mother decided he could stay at the vacation house.

Dave went to the Grand Canyon again since it'd be the last time. He remembered seeing the sky and the space below. Levy tapped him on the shoulder and asked him why he wasn't going to the dance.

"I'm not much of a party guy," he had answered, shrugging.

"I think I'd like to go. But I really need a date," Levy had said. She had sighed. "I don't have one."

"You're cute. I'm sure lots of guys around here want to take you."

"I don't want to go with them."

"Why not?" Dave had been oblivious at the time.

She blushed and said, "Because I wanna go with you!"

Dave felt himself step back. "What?"

"I really want you to come with me," Levy had told him. "I've always…really liked you, Dave."

She had never been on a date before. Of course it would be difficult for her to confess. It had been equally difficult to turn her down.

"I'm sorry, Levy. I don't…think I can go with you."

"Why not? Don't you like me like that?"

He remembered Becky, and how she was blond and cute and so sweet. How she complimented him when he drew King Kong on the bus window. Dave was fifteen at the time. He had struggled with his words. He knew it was stupid to tell her no. Becky was never coming back in his life. He'd never see his first crush ever again. It would be stupid to say no to a pretty girl who actually wanted to go to a dance with him. Levy was admitting her crush on him, and he had tried to turn her down.

He couldn't get Becky out of his mind when he said, "I'm really sorry, but I don't like you that way. I just want to be friends. Sorry." He just couldn't. Dave refused to picture himself with anyone besides Becky. He saw the crushed look on Levy's face. He ran away from her swiftly and caught a ride back to the vacation house. He kept checking behind his shoulder to see if she was still there. Levy was. Her back was turned and she was staring at the space below, as if she wanted to jump.

He stayed at the vacation house for a long time. Levy came back and avoided his eyes. In some way, they had been girlfriend and boyfriend. They liked each other and wanted to protect one another. But they were never really a couple.

He and Levy finished high school without speaking with each other. Then Mom died. Rachael helped him find a suitable college, and then she was gone. Dave went to NYU and left behind his life. He met Becky, Balthazar, and of course he knew the rest.

And after all that trouble, Modessa Kay came to him and gave him the journal.

Dave didn't want anything to do with his family or Levy. So why was he sort of happy to see the blond girl standing in front of him?

"What are you doing here?" he snapped. He was pleased to see her, but would never let her know.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?"

Levy flinched. "I let Cyril take you here. I'm sorry. But I owed Rachael, and she's listening to your uncle, so in some sense, I had to listen to him-"

"Slow down. What do you mean, you owe Rachael? What did she do for you?" Dave asked.

She looked down. Blond strands fell in front of her eyes. "After we graduated from high school, my aunt and I had to leave. Morganians, both Cruor and not, came to us. They wanted us to help find Morgana. My aunt didn't want that for me. She thought I'd have a normal life, despite liking…the things humans had to offer."

Blood. She would always want blood, wouldn't she? She'd kill a human for it. But why didn't Dave feel any disgust? Why was he happy to see her, yet upset she'd let Cyril take him?

"So anyways, my aunt and I moved somewhere close to Stanford. I came home from the college and saw that she had been killed. Morganians, I knew. I erased memories of everyone who knew me. Cruors have some extra mental abilities, you know. I fled home."

"What happened after? Did Rachael or Cyril recruit you?"

"No," she replied sharply. "I lived on the streets and in clubs. I was a mess. My hair stank and I was dirty, filthy. I was no better than the drunk men and women in the night places."

He couldn't imagine the young-looking Levy, who was always cute, as being some sort of homeless child. He couldn't even picture her as dirty.

Levy continued. "Your sister tracked me down. She helped me get back on my feet and took me to feed. I ended up here. Since she saved me, I owed her a lot. And Cyril had orders for me."

"One of them being to kidnap me?"

"Um…yes."

"Go away now," Dave said scathingly. "I don't know why you're rubbing your pity past on me." He felt horrible for saying such things. But he wanted her to leave. Just by looking at her brought back unpleasant memories and the fun ones as well. And he knew he would start liking her again. He couldn't let that happen; he loved Becky.

"Dave, I don't want to leave you. I came to help," she whimpered.

"Uh-huh, help," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Well, I don't know how you can help me by standing there."

"Dave, please let me-"

"No," he snapped. "Now go."

"I missed you," she said suddenly.

Dave blinked. He stared at the floor and managed to keep his voice low and steady. He didn't know why he was saying this, but he felt glad when the words escaped his mouth.

"I…missed you too, Levy."

"Your uncle went to your university," she breathed suddenly, her eyes growing wide.

"What?" Dave shot up from the bed.

"Yes, he did!" Levy said. "I heard him talking about something with your sister."

"What did he say?" Dave demanded.

"H-He sent the Merlinians a letter and plans to eliminate one of them."

"He wants to kill my friends?"

Levy winced. "One of them," she corrected. "And I don't think he means kill. I think he'll do something to throw them off. I don't know."

"How are you helping me?" Dave yelled. "Is this your sort of assistance, telling me how he's going to hurt the people I care about?"

"You care about your family," she whispered.

"No, I don't! Open your eyes, will you, Levy? Since when did I ever care about them, besides my mother?"

He didn't wait for an answer. He searched the drawers for something to wear. He found a suitable jacket and pulled it on hurriedly

"Where are you going?"

"To help them! You said NYU, right?"

"I did, but Dave, you can't possibly leave!" Levy cried.

"Who's here to stop me?" Dave walked right up to her and looked her in the eye.

"Dave…"

"Are you going to stop me?" Dave asked angrily. "Because if you are, Levy, I'm sorry if you get hurt."

She threw up her hands. "Whoa! Hold on, Dave. I'm not fighting you, and you aren't fighting me."

"So? You're gonna get out of my way?"

"I meant that there's a barrier stopping you from leaving," Levy said flatly.

Dave stopped short. "I think I can find a way…around it, maybe."

"You can't, without the assistance of someone with mental abilities."

He remembered what Levy said about the Cruors, them having skills. "You've got them, right?"

"Right," she confirmed.

"Are you going to help me?" Dave hissed through his teeth.

Something glittered in her eyes. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

He felt the corners of his mouth lifting. For the first time since the Grand Canyon episode, he smiled at her.

Becky sighed as they walked down the hall. "We aren't getting anywhere," she whispered. "Modessa, couldn't you…?"

"I'm sorry, Becky, but no. I can't fight something I don't see."

"We haven't found him yet," she mumbled. She decided not to speak about Balthazar anymore because Veronica twitched.

Becky felt like they had been wandering the halls of the university for hours. They only had so many halls in this place. She also felt a small prick of anxiety. If they didn't find Balthazar… She had never lost Dave before. When he transferred schools, she missed him, but not in the way she missed him now. They were only classmates back then and nothing more. She wanted to see him now. She wanted to know he was safe and sound. The ache in her stomach and mind was almost physically painful. Veronica had lost Balthazar before once, when she had become trapped in the Grimhold. How did she deal with it now? Her shoulders were squared and she seemed quite stoic for someone like her. She had to be tearing up on the inside.

Becky actually felt like crying, but she refused to do so in front of perfect strangers. Modessa Kay didn't bother her a lot, but she didn't know the woman. Rue was definitely someone she didn't want to cry in front of. Modesty, she had no idea about.

"Something's wrong," Rue said. She paused.

Everyone stopped as well.

"What do you mean, Rue?" Modesty asked.

"I mean that I feel like something isn't right," her friend replied. "Doesn't that bin seem familiar to you?"

She was pointing to the garbage bin next to a door. Becky felt a spark of agitation. Why was she putting the search off to halt just for a garbage bin?

"Are you for real, Rue?" Modesty asked. She sounded mad as well.

"Look at the sign on the door. It says Mr. Lonnie. I could've sworn we walked right past that same door and that same bin."

So what? There were a lot of doors here. Becky didn't know what she thought about Rue.

"Oh, goodness," Modessa murmured. "Let us keep walking. We have no time for games."

Rue looked like she was going to protest, but decided not to. As they continued to walk, Becky watched the door. They went up the staircase and exited through the hundredth floor.

They almost finished going through this hall too when Rue shouted, "Look! Look at that and tell me I'm nuts!" She gestured to another door. There was the same sign again and it read Mr. Lonnie. And next to the door was the same bin with the recycling sign.

"You see!" Rue said, her voice smug with victory. "I knew it was the same door!"

"So are you saying…that we've been wandering the same hall the entire time?" Veronica gasped.

"It appears so," Modessa murmured.

Loud footsteps came from the stairs. Soon enough, everyone was armed with plasma bolts. Except for Becky. She wrapped her arms around herself and hoped no one would get hurt.

"Becky!"

Her mouth formed an O of surprise as she saw who approached them. It was Dave. Even without the bright light, she'd know it was him.

He penetrated the crowd of Merlinians and hugged her ferociously. She thought she would die from the lack of air, but embraced it. She happily hugged him back.

"Dave," she whispered, "I missed you. Where have you been?"

"I've been held captive by my idiotic, blood-sucking uncle, but that's not the point," Dave said giddily. "I missed you a lot. I'm so glad you're okay. I can't believe I'm actually seeing you."

"Me either," Becky said. Then she kissed him passionately on the lips. It felt like months since they had kissed, although it was only a few… Oh what did she care? He was with her now.

Rue made an annoying sound with her teeth. "Can you guys stop making out already? We need to find Balthazar."

She released Dave immediately.

"Balthazar's gone?" he asked, horror-struck.

"Yes," Becky whispered to him.

"It was my uncle," Dave said. "Levy told me my uncle planned something."

"Levy spoke to you?" Becky asked, enraged. "After she hit you with-"

"I know what she did," he said quietly. "She helped me escape as well. That's why I am here right now. She even told me where Uncle would be."

"Why did she do that? Is Levy here now?"

"No," he said, even more quietly. "We struck a deal after she helped me get out. That would be the only time she helped me, and in return, in the future, I'd have to give her something in return."

"What?" Becky asked, her heart plummeting.

"I don't know. But she wants something in return later on; maybe she's confident she'll get killed by my uncle, and I'll need to stop that from happening."

"Sounds simple enough."

"So what's going on now?" Dave asked.

"We just learned that Balthazar is missing and we've been trying to find him throughout the halls," explained Veronica.

"Veronica! Oh, I'm sorry… And I missed you too." He hugged her, but with less passion.

"So what else?" Dave prompted.

"We've been wandering the same hall for quite some time," Modessa murmured. "It's a trick created by your Cyril, I'm sure."

"Modessa? Aren't you…"

"Yes, it's me. My daughter Modesty and her friend Rue have been keeping an eye on your uncle for a while. We came here to NYU and attempted to help Becky and Veronica."

"Why are the lights out?" Dave asked, his face pale.

"Balthazar shot them when we heard Modesty enter. He thought it was an enemy," Veronica said, tense. "After we met these young ladies, we learned that he had disappeared. But we don't know if it was by his own choice or your uncle's doing."

"It's Uncle," Dave said confidently "I'm positive."

Becky held his hand tightly. "We'll find Balthazar. I promise that."

Dave looked at her with warm brown eyes. Then he grabbed her face and kissed her.

She hungrily kissed him back. She hadn't had him in such a long time.

"Stop that," Rue snapped. "Concentrate on finding Balthazar, okay?"

Becky felt an urge to slap her, but didn't. "I love you," she whispered to Dave after they stopped their kissing.

"Me too. But we must find Balthazar. For us. And Veronica." He snuck a look at her.

"I hope he's all right," Becky whispered.

"He will be. If he isn't, Uncle Cyril will be in terrible shape when I see him." He spoke with such confidence. Becky shivered. She never heard a violent Dave before, especially one being so willing to hurt his uncle. But that was how he felt now. If they didn't find him…

No, they would. She had to believe they would.

"Before we continue…" Becky grabbed his face in the same manner and kissed him.

Rue groaned.

Thank you all for those reviews! I am always so grateful!

-TracedScars