DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING BUT MY OWN OC'S.

Chapter Five: Secrets

"I think he likes you," Rudolph said. I snorted.

"That was liking us?" Molly demanded.

"I'd hate to see what he's like when he hates us," I commented dryly.

"I know he seems like a real monster because he's so stern with us," Rudolph tried to defend him. "You don't know what it's like to be so tormented."

"Wanna bet?" I challenged. Rudolph stopped short, looking at us.

"Who dares torment my friends?" he asked.

"There's these boys at school, the McAshtons," Tony answered.

"The ones you got in a fight with?" Rudolph clarified. Tony nodded.

"And thier older brother," Molly added.

"He used the fact that Dad's working for his grandfather to blackmail me into a date with him, though I know his type all too well to be deceived into thinking it will stop at merely a date," I revealed. Molly's jaw dropped as she spun on me.

"He didn't!" she said, completely horrified. I shrugged, though you could see the glint of anger in my eyes.

"I'd love nothing more than to tear his head off his shoulders, but I can't afford for Bob to lose his job for it," I replied. "He's got me in a corner and I know it will only be a matter of time before he uses the same thing against you."

Then I looked at Rudolph, only to take an involuntary step back. His usually kind face was filled with fury.

"Ru, don't go off and do something incredibly stupid," I warned. He continued to look at us with evil glints in his eyes.

"Get over here," he commanded. I stayed where I was.

"Whatever you're planning, I'll have no part in it," I said, planting my feet. Molly agreed, planting her own. In a few seconds, I found myself screeching with fright and latching onto Rudolph as he had grabbed us both and shot into the air. Tony was holding one hand, Molly and I being wrapped in his other arm against him. I swallowed hard.

"You aren't very good at taking no for an answer, are you?" I asked weakly. He just growled.

"I will not tolerate these... unspeakable actions," he replied, his tone dripping with venom. "Whether you help me or not, I will have a few words with them all."

I stayed silent the rest of the trip to the McAshton's home. Molly and I waited on the balcony while Tony and Rudolph scared the younger twins. Then, Rudolph took us to the elder brother's room. While he left Tony on the balcony, he forcefully pulled Molly and I into the room after him. He was quite a bit taller than Tony, almost as tall as Molly, making you wonder just how old he really was.

"Now, just stand here and be yourself," he stated, his tone cold, still riddled with anger. I had the sneaking suspicion that he, like I, would love nothing more than to kill this kid.

Without a single word of warning, Rudolph jerked the covers off of the eldest brother, waking him to Molly and I standing at the foot of his bed. Rudolph was hidden somewhere in the room.

"Who-" he began, only to cut off as he recognized us. He got a rather devilish smirk. "Well, well, well... Look who dropped in to see me..."

I barely held back a snort.

"Couldn't wait for our date?" he said with a victorious look on his face, moving forward to touch my breast. I slapped his hand away, a snarl tearing from my throat. He frowned at me, mockingly. "Now, now... Wouldn't want Daddy dearest to lose his job, would we?"

I growled, my eyes darkening with rage. He reached for me again, but Rudolph suddenly appeared out of nowhere, slamming him down on his bed, Ru's hand at his throat, his eyes glowing red with his fury. McAshton went chalk-white and looked up at Rudolph in unparallelled terror.

"I am the rather fiendish friend of Molly and Chrystal Thompson," he snarled at him. "If you do not show them the respect they deserve, I will not hesitate to hunt you down... You will not threaten their father's job ever again, am I understood?"

McAshton was too frightened to answer.

"I'll be watching," he warned, then used a flash of lightening to disguise our vamp-speed exit. By the end of the flash, we were gone, back into the air with Tony in tow. I sighed heavily, burying my head in his neck again.

"Just how old are you?" I asked softly.

"I've just been 14 for 300 years," he answered calmly. I took that into account and sighed again.

"You don't act it very often," I stated, then scrambled away from him once we landed. I didn't look back as I went to my room. I changed into my night clothes and pulled back my covers. I turned around to turn out the light and jumped. Rudolph was standing in the doorway.

"May I come in?" he asked. Slowly, I nodded, recovering. I shut the door behind him and finished getting ready for bed. "Why do you despise me so much?"

I froze, turning to him.

"Ru, I don't despise you," I said finally.

"Then why is it that nothing I do is good in your eyes?" he demanded, trying to keep his voice down. I sat down on my bed hard. This seemed to be genuinely bothering him...

"Ru..." I said softly, then pulled him to the balcony with me, out of my room. "Ru... it's not that I don't appreciate what you've done for us and the joy you've brought my siblings... I just worry about the consequences. Ru, I'm no fool. I've seen more evil than you can possibly imagine..."

At his questioning look, I walked back into my bathroom and then back out to the balcony with a damp washcloth.

"Run that down my back and see for yourself," I stated, turning my back to him. Very, very hesitantly, he obeyed. It only took a partial swipe for him to see what I'd spoken about. His hand rapidly wiped away the rest of the powder and make-up I used to cover it all up. He said nothing, but the trembling of his hand as he lightly traced one of my scars told me all I needed to know. I turned around, taking the washcloth from him, then brushed it over my face, down my neck, down my arms, over my stomach... I left no bare skin untouched, baring all of my scars to him. They were deep, some fresher than others. I let him see them all. My stomach had three large gashes in it, leading up to the area of my chest, though they were covered up the rest of the way with my shirt. I had a moon-shaped scar around my left eye and an X-shaped scar on my right cheek. My arms were lined with all kinds of cuts and scars. My back showed the scars from every whipping, beating, or knife-fight I'd ever been in. My neck had one thin line where someone had tried to slit my throat.

"Only you, Molly, and my adoptive father back in America have ever seen these scars," I revealed. "I will have them as long as I live. It's a harsh truth that I will never be able to escape."

He seemed to be having trouble absorbing all of this.

"Ru, I appreciate every moment you spend with us, more than I ever dare show," I continued. "Every time I allow the weaknesses of my emotions to show, I gain another scar for my growing collection. Some are on the surface... but ten-times that many lay beneathe, deep within my own soul. The damage is irrepairable."

I shook my head.

"I don't expect you to fully understand, few do, but I hope you understand that I don't harbor any ill feelings for you nor your family at all," I finished. "I just prefer the idea of being safe versus being sorry."

I then took a big risk and kissed his cheek softly, then I vanished back into my room before the stunned vampire could recover. I knew I'd given my new friend much to think about.