5-Back in Scarlatina

The old man took one look at Alan and slammed his hand down on the red button on his desk. He shook his head, a look of pure disgust on his face. Naturally, he hated all Trackers, like most of the residents of Scarlatina.

"Sorry, no Trackers allowed." The old man practically spat his words out.

Arianna pushed her way forward, slamming her hand down on the desk right outside the entrance to the town of Scarlatina.

"He's with me."

"I'm sorry, you're Highness, but it is under the official rules that no Trackers are allowed into the town under any circumstances." The old man was slightly sympathetic.

Alan couldn't help but feel awkward. All this arguing was over him. He didn't even think he was worth it, but Alan, like most people, was scared of Arianna when she got high-tempered.

"It's my town! I can bend the rules!" Her words were like ice, her eyes like a cat hunting down its prey.

"Its okay-" But Alan was cut off by Arianna.

"No, it's not okay." Arianna turned back to face the old man, her face so close to his, they were almost pressed against each other.

"Rules are rules." The old man said.

"And a job is a job." Arianna replied. "Exactly how badly do you want to be looking for a new one?"

Normally, the old man who worked the gates was not scared by the royal family. He was told by Kaly herself to do his job no matter who told him it was wrong. However, on this off occasion, Arianna was starting to scare him and he had nothing better to do.

"Your majesty." The man bowed his head, opening up the black iron gates to Scarlatina.

Arianna pushed herself away from the desk, rolling her eyes at the man.

Everyone was already starting to walk through the gates, leaving Arianna to give her finishing, winning smile at the old man. She was quite good at getting what she wanted, and Alan could see that very well.

"GUYS!" Phoebe was instantly at the side of her older brother, taking her niece from his arms. She must have been watching, waiting for them to show up. "What happened?"

"Long story." Arianna grumbled, walking up beside everyone and clicking her fingers. In an instance they were no longer outside by the gates, but in the comfort of Arianna's lounge back in the Palace.

Everyone collapsed onto some sort of furniture. They were all exhausted, and Alan was still looking awkward. Arianna tried smiling at him, and he did smile back. But it didn't make him any less awkward.

His whole life, Alan was trained up to believe that the people he was sat with now were evil freaks. They were the bad guys, the ones who wanted to kill him. Sure, the last part may have been true, but now they didn't want to. They only attacked when they are attacked first. And, right now, Alan was being treated as a friend.

"Daddy, why did mommy have to stay with the mean lady?" Belle piped up. She was sat on Phoebe's lap, who was sat on the floor, leaning against the wall for support as she tried to get Belle to sleep.

Duncan sighed and opened his arms up. Belle came running towards him without a second thought. The vampire scooped his daughter up into his arms, cuddling her close to him.

"I don't know, Belle." Duncan whispered honestly. "But she'll be back soon." At least Duncan prayed Courtney would be home soon. He was quite scared that she wouldn't be. Maybe Heather had found a way to kill her again? What if he was never going to see her again? What was his last memory of Courtney? All these questions were spinning around in his mind, and it was quite over-powering.

"YOU LEFT COURTNEY ALONE WITH HEATHER?" Phoebe screamed, only now coming to terms with what had happened.

"She said she had unfinished business or something." Gwen told the brunette. "And we had to get out of there."

"Nice friends you are." Phoebe grumbled. She knew she should have gone, she really had wanted to go, but she was stuck babysitting.

Phoebe lifted her head, connecting her eyes with Alan's. She smiled, and, being the friendly person Alan was, he smiled back.

"And I do not believe I have been introduced to your hot friend."

"Don't scare him off, Phoebe." Rebecca told her sister jokingly. Phoebe rolled her eyes at Rebecca, before setting them back on Alan.

"He's mommy's friend." Belle spoke up again. She was now curled up on the sofa, her head resting on Duncan's lap. Her blonde hair was spread out over Duncan's legs, his finger slowly guiding their way through it as if it was a thick forest.

"Soooo." Phoebe smiled brighter. "You're Alan?"

Alan's light brown hair fell ever so slightly into his eyes. Arianna smiled. All she could think about was how cute he looked as the two sat quietly on the floor in the corner.

Most had fallen asleep already, as the time grew later and later in Scarlatina. No one had gone home; they were all waiting for Courtney's arrival. No word had been heard from Courtney, and everyone was worrying. However, it was quite late and everyone needed their rest.

"Thanks." Alan whispered.

"Thanks for what?" Arianna asked.

"For letting me in here." Alan replied. He gave a tiny smile, but it soon faded. "I don't think anyone else would have let me in." Arianna understood.

"No problem." The blonde smiled. "I wasn't, and still am not, going to let you go back to the academy and face up to Heather."

Alan gave him the weakest smile he could. He couldn't even look Arianna in the eyes anymore. Thinking of the academy made him realize just what he was doing. He was sitting in enemy territory. He had to go back.

"I have to go back some time." Alan whispered, fighting back to urge to cry. Going back to the Tracking Academy may have been the last thing he wanted to do, but he had to go. It was the only thing he had left in the world.

"Why?" Arianna asked. She had no idea why Alan would want to go back to the academy, he clearly hated it. "You're a nice guy, Alan...Why are you a Tracker?"

Alan closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. He had only ever told one person why he was a Tracker, and that was Courtney. He knew he could trust Courtney, and he still could since she hadn't told a single soul. But, Arianna was pretty much Queen of the enemies he had been brought up to hunt down.

"Tracking is the only thing I have in my life."

"What do you mean?" The blonde asked. She was slightly confused.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Alan turned his face away. He couldn't bring himself to look at Arianna more than ever.

Arianna rested her hand on Alan's leg. She understood that talking about certain things was hurtful for someone. Arianna always found it difficult to talk about her parents with someone, but she was willing to do it.

"It's okay." Arianna smiled at Alan, who slowly turned back to face the Queen. "I understand what you mean." Arianna closed her own eyes and took in a deep breath. "My mother died when I was four weeks old and my father doesn't know about me...And I don't really want to know about him." Arianna shifted slightly on the floor. "I was brought up in this Palace, waiting for the day Courtney would show up so we could see who was going to become Queen." Alan rested his hand on top of Arianna's, seeing how much it pained her talk about it. "I never had any friends, being a Princess was my whole life."

"I...I-I guess it's the same thing for me...Sort of." Alan sniffled, grasping his fingers around Arianna's hand. "My parents died when I was six, and I was sent to love my grandfather. He was a Tracker at the time and wanted me to follow in his footsteps." Alan took in a shallow breath. "When he died I threw myself into Tracking. It's all I've got."

"I'm sorry." Arianna apologized. She moved her hand so that her tanned fingers were laced together with Alan's muscular ones.

"It's not like it's your fault." Alan told her, squeezing her hand.

"I know, but...I'm still sorry." Arianna was lost for words.

"You're different from the others." Alan told Arianna, staring straight into her dark black eyes. They were shining under the dim candles, in a mysterious way that made Alan curious for more.

Arianna blushed ever so slightly, luckily Alan couldn't see from the lack of room light. But Arianna's teeth lit up as she smiled back at Alan.

"I hope that is a good thing." She replied.

"It is."

"It might have something to do with the fact that I am mostly human." Arianna told Alan. He tilted his head to the side, giving Arianna a strange look.

"Mostly human?"

"Yeah...My dad is apparently a vampire...But I never knew this until a few months ago. I believe I'm human...Only reason you'll be able to tell otherwise is if you look quite carefully at my teeth." Arianna smiled and Alan took a close look. Sure enough, he could see four pointed vampire teeth sticking from four opposite corners of her mouth.

"But...I thought you clicked your fingers earlier and we were suddenly here." That part confused Alan.

"It's an adapted power...It happens to some people if they're in a magical town for too long." Arianna explained, ending with a sigh. "Makes sense, doesn't it? The human leading the freaks..." She let out what seemed to be a small laugh, but she wasn't smiling.

"I don't think anyone here's a freak." Alan replied, squeezing Arianna's hand again. Her cheeks changed to red again, only them remembering they had been holding hands the whole time.

"If only every Tracker was like you." Arianna sighed, shuffling forward a little, so she was closer to Alan on the floor.

"The ideal world..." Alan sighed too. He let Arianna move so she was sat beside him, leaning against the wall. Neither let go of the others hand the entire time, it just felt too right to let go of.

Alan turned his head, looking down at Arianna. He smiled. The blonde looked back up, her own smile on her face. She blinked her eyes, just once, but then instantly looked away. She was trying to hide the biggest blush she had given the whole night, and the fact her once onyx eyes were now as pink as her cheeks.

A/N: AWWWWWWWWWW!

I like Alan and Arianna...=) They're CUTE!

LOL!

So guys, I have two days off from school-Today and tomorrow-Friday I have an exam in the morning, should be home by about 11...But then I am off to the cinema to see Pirates 4 with Aaron! hehe!

So...I am spending my day off watching TV...Currently Life With Derek...LOL! Dunno why...Only thing on, I guess...LOL!

...Now I'm watching an interview with Johnny Depp...HE'S SOOO QUIET! It's weird...He talks so quietly and then it shows a clip of Captin Jack screaming...NOT NORMAL!

LOL!

OH! And then I have the whole of next week off, minus a few hours on Tuesday...LOL! So...I have unofficially finished school :) Which hopefully means I shall have more writing time :) :) LOL!

Thanks to;

Aaron'sInAMineField: ahaha! T'was only a flashback though ;) LOL! Thank you :)

XxXYunocchi-and-TamoraXxX: haha! LOL! Thanks :)

Clarissa: LOL! It's okay ;) aww! Thank you :)

pomtdwt: LOL! She shall never learn...Maybe...LOL! ahaha! Hmm...You are 12...13? I dunno...I'm guessing here...LOL! Thanks :)

XxPurpleChickxX: LOL! I would hate for that to happen...I was lucky enough to be able to stay in school ;) LOL! Thank you :)

CyD12Inklover: Disaster would strike if Celia was alive...LOL! But disaster makes for good Drama...Hmm...LOL! ahaha! Thanks :)

TAHNKS TO YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING :) I LOVE YOU ALL :)

LOL!

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX