Dear "Guest": i don't know if i'll ever finish "Sleeping with the enemy" because i'm focused on this story and thinking about my next story and with everything else in my life.. i don't really have time :( sorry

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i hope you guys like this.. it's a little short sorry. and as always, try to excuse my grammatical errors. thank you

ENJOY!

Chapter 21:

By the time I woke up, all of my memories seemed to blur the more I thought about them. It felt like everything that happened yesterday was a dream; I was forgetting it like a dream too. It all seemed so surreal. Seth can't be gone. I'm so used to him causing chaos that it's weird for me to have peace. I laughed internally. Even in the after life he still haunts me.

I tried to sit up a little and ended up on my elbow. My back ached from lying on the hard, wood floor so I stretched my body out like a cat after its nap and yawned. I sat up all the way and rubbed my eyes, my legs bent at the knees.

There were two pillows and a large blanket that Cashile and I shared on the floor as we slept, but I was the only body. I blearily looked around for him.

Wes came running up to me then, "Aly Cat!" his small-bodied tackle nearly knocking me over.

"Hey… Wes…" I said groggily. Little by little my memories became clearer. I'm home. After we took care of Seth, we came home. Cashile and I slept in the living room, on the floor while the sun was up.

"Careful, Wes, if you wake up a vampire too fast from their beauty sleep, they'll turn into a bat." Shane snickered from the dining table, a plateful of mushy food sitting in front of him.

Wes looked at me wide-eyed and worried, giving me a little shove toward the ground as if saying: go back to bed.

"Ha. Ha." I laughed sarcastically as I got up, stretching once more. Just as I reached the table, Cashile was coming down the stairs. "Hey! You're up." He smiled.

My mom was at the sink, washing dishes from their dinner most likely. The falling sun cast shadows on her face that made her look older than she was. Worry aged humans far more than time did. When both Cashile and I sat down, she turned around to serve us. "Do you need anything?" she asked softly, unsure of what the answer would be.

"Coffee would be lovely." Cashile said with a warm smile, but my mother didn't return one, she simply turned around and busied herself in the cupboards. She felt bad. I know she feels bad because she can't be a good host. We don't have any coffee. We can't afford it. Cashile's family may have been able to afford it once, and after that Viktor probably supplied The Cache, and the vampire compound had a plentiful amount of supplies. Cashile didn't understand that we didn't have such a simple thing to offer him.

"It's fine. We can just have water." I interrupted my mother's search. She gave me a thankful glance and filled up two glasses. Cashile seemed to understand after that and didn't talk about it any more.

"So, mom," Shane started, ending the awkward silence that was hanging in the room. "Do you recognize Cashile?" Shane had a playful smile on his face and Cashile eyed him furiously. Cashile didn't like being recognized—hence the name change.

My mother turned around from the dishes and studied him for a moment. Her face twitched into a smile, something I didn't see from her that often. "My, my how could I have forgotten those eyes." Her smile widened, coming closer. "You grew up to be so handsome. I don't understand, we all thought you were… dead." She whispered the word, cautious of the effects it may have on him.

My mother sat down at the table with us and twisted her dishcloth in her hands as Cashile told her everything.

Then I heard it; Cashile said it as he was explaining the events of his life. His name. Matthew. He didn't pause to see my reaction; he just kept on continuing his story while I nearly choked on my water. No one else seemed to be as excited as I was. I've always been curious about his real name and I knew him well enough that he didn't want to talk about it, so I never asked. He liked everyone calling him Cashile. Using his old name reminded him too much of his old life, his family. And besides, 'Cashile' fit him more; it's unique, like him.

Cashile looked at me with concerned eyes, but laughing at me a bit as well. "Are you okay?" He put a hand on my back. I nodded in response and he continued telling my mother about The Cache and our plan for ending the sectors.

. . .

After my mother finished the dishes she and my father took Wes up to bed. It was their time to sleep now, now that the sun had set. They said their "goodnights" and took Wes up to our old bed upstairs. It was a shame I didn't get to see them more often since our sleeping schedules were different, but Nicole and Shane stayed up with us, which was nice. Werewolves have a higher tolerance for exhaustion so they tend to be able to run on less sleep.

"So, Matthew…" I tested the name and then wrinkled my face. "Nah, I like Cashile better." I kissed him quickly on the cheek. He was about to say something in return but Shane interrupted him.

"Ok. Two things." Shane started. "One: you're my little sister, you don't get to kiss." He pointed at me with his fork. He was eating yet another plate of food. I guess being a werewolf male meant you never got full. Ever. "Two: Cashile's my friend. Do you know how weird it is seeing you kiss him?"

"Grow up." I laughed at Shane, and for a moment it was like nothing was wrong. We were just a regular brother and sister bickering, just like old times. We weren't a werewolf and vampire. We weren't divided by sectors or beliefs. This is how the world should be; not separated by species.

"So where's the human leader's house?" Nicole asked. Nicole was a werewolf mutt so she didn't know the layout of the human compound like we did. She was born and raised in the werewolf compound, but would care less what species you were. All around nice, inside and out like Shane.

"Down the road a ways, inside the city more, by the tall Executive building." Shane said just as he was about to stuff his mouth with more food. "Mmm." He wiped his face off one last time and got up. "We better get going before it gets too late. We don't want them to be cranky."

"Good point." Cashile added.

I walked ahead with Nicole and the boys stayed behind to talk about something, trying to be secretive, but I could still hear.

"Don't you need to take care of—?"

"No." Cashile stopped Shane from continuing. "He's gone. He's not going anywhere. No one will go out there and if someone does, they can do what they please with his body. I don't care."

Shane said nothing in response and we walked in silence.

The night air had always seemed chilly to me as a human, but now the brisk breeze felt refreshing against my skin. For some reason, I liked being cold. I can understand why the vamps keep the compound underground now; it's dark and cool under the earth.

It was a short walk from my house to the leader's house—about ten minutes—but it seemed to be longer because I both anticipated and dreaded this meeting. What is the human leader going to say? Will he agree to peace or will he shut the door on us as soon as he sees vampires and werewolves at his doorstep?

Cashile and Shane had passed us and were leading Nicole and I through the courtyard. The ground here was paved with grey, weather-beaten brick and the buildings were much larger and nicer than most. Being a human representative had its advantages, but it also had its disadvantages: you put yourself at risk with both wolves and vamps.

Slowly Cashile raised his hand and knocked on the leader's door as if he were thinking twice about what he was doing. Silence. He knocked once more with more emphasis. This time I could here several pairs of footsteps rush up stairs before one pair walked cautiously to the door. That was odd, I thought.

The opened slowly. A tall man stood in the doorway. He was wearing loose clothing—pajama's most likely—and his hair was grey around his forehead. His arms were covered in scars. He looked young, but still old enough to lead an entire sector. "Can I help you?" he asked keeping the door only halfway open.

"Yes, actually," Cashile stepped forward. The man at the door, in defense, stepped back and shut the door slightly. "I'm sorry," Cashile put surrendering hands up. "We mean no harm. We just wish to talk."

The man looked over us one more time. "You're… all vampires?" he guessed.

"No," Shane spoke up. "I am an Alpha from the werewolf compound and this is my beta." He gestured to Nicole.

"And you're… together?" the man asked, assuming there was some strange reason we weren't attacking each other, still cowering.

"Yes." Cashile responded. "We wanted to talk with you, actually."

"Why?"

"We want to end the sectors." Shane said gravely. "Live as one."

"But you are not the sector leaders; you cannot speak on behalf of them." the human said quietly, trying not to upset us.

"You'd be surprised how many leaders in the vampire sector support us—" Cashile began.

"And there are wolves that are willing to cooperate." Shane interrupted. I thought of the wolves at the Cache. There was only a handful of them with us and a whole sector against us.

"I'm sorry," the human shook his head and began shutting the door. "I can't do anything without them here. There would be a war worse than the first if I agreed to help you." After that, the human shut the door completely; I could also hear a few locks slide into place.

"Well that went extremely well," I added with a touch of sarcasm.

"You were lying when you said there were wolves willing to cooperate, weren't you?" Cashile asked Shane as we headed back to my house.

"Yeah," Shane sighed.

"Only a select few could care less, but none of the other Alpha's would oblige." Nicole added.

"Well," Cashile said, changing course. "We'll have to change that."

"And what does that mean exactly?" I asked.

"We'll go to the werewolf compound, convince them otherwise. I should let Viktor know we are going. He's very good at persuading people." Cashile said as he grabbed a shiny black device. A blue light illuminated the pale skin on his cheek as he held the thing to his ear.

"Cashile, I don't think—" I began, but Cashile interrupted me.

"Viktor, we need your help. We're headed to the werewolf compound. Yeah. No, we tried talking with him. We need numbers. Yeah, I think so too. Okay. Bye"

"What was that about?" I asked.

Cashile looked at me as he shoved the black thing back into his pocket. "Viktor will meet us at the werewolf compound."

"Great," Shane said, unoptimistic.

"What was with the whole 'we need numbers' thing?" I asked yet again.

"Humans are going to be the hardest to convince—not saying werewolves will be easy. Humans are afraid. If we have a big enough group supporting us, showing them that we mean no harm, convincing them to sign to a treaty will be easy."

"Easier said than done," Shane mumbled as he came to a stop.

"Easier said than done," Cashile confirmed as he looked at the fence before us. Beyond it was the werewolf compound. Signs that said 'Beware' and 'High Voltage' we plastered on the fence as well. "Would you two like to lead the way?" Cashile asked Shane and Nicole. "It is your home."

"My pleasure," Nicole added before getting a running start. As she ran with supernatural speed, she began to morph. Suddenly she fell to all fours and was covered in white fur. Just as she was about to hit the fence, her claws dug into the ground and she propelled herself up and over. The white wolf landed on the other side and looked back at us.

Shane smiled at her. "I guess we're next." He said. As he began to run, he transformed into his much larger black and brown wolf.

Cashile and I followed them as they lead us through enemy territory.

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