Vendetta had watched everything in silence, mildly amused as the two fought over her. Most girls would be squealing and having panic attacks during that time, but she wasn't like most girls. After Ray-Roy had passed out, she and her father had taken him back to the Sanctuary where he was rushed off to the Infirmary to get taken care of by Doctor Nye.

Now they stood outside the Infirmary doors because they had nothing else to do. Vendetta looked at Dusk. "You saved him. Why?"

Dusk shrugged. "I owed him for pulling that creep off you. I was about to do the same but he showed up before I could."

Vendetta nodded but other than that she didn't move. Another moment of silence went by.

"How do you know him?" she eventually said.

Dusk explained what had happened to Caelan and what the vampire had done and how he was banished. When he had finished, Vendetta was silent for a moment.

"He killed your best friend."

"And was banished from vampire society because of it."

"I would have liked to kill him."

"Agreed. But the code prevents us from doing such acts."

They lapsed into silence once again. After a moment Vendetta wrapped her arms around him. She felt him tense up immediately, like he expected her to stick a knife in him; which wasn't an entirely unlikely situation. But then he relaxed and returned the favor. Then a thought occurred to Vendetta.

"Someone was in my room while I was gone," Vendetta said. "Do you know of anyone who broke in?"

Dusk suddenly seemed uncomfortable. "Well, about that. See, when you were gone I knew that something else was going on so I went up to your room to see if there were any clues about why you did what you did so-

"You were the one who went in my room?!" Vendetta leaped away from her father and glared.

"Hey, I thought you were dead so I had every right to go in your room." Dusk retorted.

"No you didn't! That is my room!"

"And it's my house!"

"You know how I am about others going on my room! You should have known better then to go in there!"

"Once again, I. Thought. You. Were. Dead."

"That is no excuse!"

Before either could continue their argument Sanguine came running around the corner. "I was in the bathroom when I heard Ray-Roy got hurt. What happened?"

"He was bitten by a vampire," Dusk said.

Sanguine swore then glared at Vendetta. "You bit him? What'd he do this time?"

"It wasn't me," Vendetta said.

Sanguine frowned. "Then who was it?"

"Another vampire named Caelan," Vendetta said. "He was kissing me but Ray-Roy got mad and pulled him off and the two got into a fight. Ray-Roy fell off the roof and nearly was killed by Caelan but Dusk kicked Caelan in face and stopped him."

Sanguine stared Dusk. "Seriously? Ya saved him?"

Dusk shrugged. "He got Caelan off Vendetta so I owed him that."

Sanguine switched his gaze to Vendetta. "And you didn't stop him from helpin'?"

Vendetta shrugged as well. "Ray-Roy stopped him from kissing me so I owed him that as well."

Sanguine shook his head. "You two are complicated, ya know that?"

"Yes," both said.

Dr. Nye walked out of the Infirmary and came over. It pulled down its surgical mask, revealing its scab where its nose used to be and its punctured lips.

"Your son will be fine Mr. Sanguine," it said in its high voice. "He is just waking up and will be able to leave in a couple hours."

Sanguine sighed in relief. "Good. Can he have visitors?"

"Yes. But only one at a time."

"Great," Sanguine went to go in but Nye stopped him. Sanguine glared. "Hey, let me through."

"Your son asked for someone specifically."

Sanguine frowned. "Who?"

Nye gestured at Vendetta. Vendetta raised an eyebrow. She walked into the Infirmary, finding Ray-Roy easily by listening for his heart murmur.

Vendetta walked into the room, finding Ray-Roy lying on a hospital bed. His neck had a large bandage on one side, covering Caelan's bite mark and Vendetta knew his ribs would be covered in a similar way. Ray-Roy seemed to be in great spirits however, and grinned when he saw Vendetta standing in the door way. "Hey Pretty Lady!" he said cheerfully. "Glad ya came."

"Why am I here?" Vendetta asked.

Ray-Roy shrugged. "Just wanted to see ya."

"Well, I'm here."

"Yes ya are," Ray-Roy winced as he sat up, the blankets falling away to reveal, just like she guessed, bandages wrapping all the way around his midsection. "How'd I look?"

"The fact that I can't hear any blood dripping from an open wound and I can't see any red on those bandages is a good sign."

"That is true Pretty Lady."

A moment of silence went by, something Vendetta was not accustomed to with the Texan. Ray-Roy seemed… thoughtful for once and Vendetta subconsciously began to get paranoid.

"So, about what happened," Ray-Roy began.

Vendetta waited.

"I'm sorry if I messed up your vampire boyfriend. Don't know what happened. I guess the sight of ya kissin' him just set me off."

"It's fine," Vendetta said. "I was about to do the same thing to him."

Ray-Roy stared. "Wait, what? You mean, you were gonna beat up your boyfriend?"

"He wasn't my boyfriend. He apparently had formed an attachment to me and was going to follow me everywhere. I couldn't have that. Then he grabbed me and kissed me. That's when you came in."

Ray-Roy nodded; glad that he hadn't just attacked her boyfriend. "So, you're single?"

Vendetta's eyes narrowed. "Don't be getting any ideas."

Ray-Roy smirked. "Of course not, just wonderin'."

Vendetta of course knew that wasn't true. But she was okay with that.

"Hey Pretty Lady," Ray-Roy said after another moment. I've been wonderin'-

"I'm not going to marry you."

"I wasn't gonna ask, well maybe later, but I was wonderin', do you think of me at anything higher than an acquaintance?"

"Yes."

Ray-Roy stared. "You do?"

"Yes."

"How do you see me then?"

"As my punching bag."

"Say what?"

"You're my punching bag. You're the only one who I can beat up and break down and you always come back for more. You're like one of those 'bop-em' balloons."

"What about Dusk?"

"It isn't as fun when they hit back."

"You're one complicated lady."

Vendetta couldn't argue with that. She straightened up. "I had better leave. I can hear your father gripping out in the hallway and any moment now Dusk is going to snap and kill him."

"Ya better send him in then."

Vendetta nodded then left the room.

By the way, the reason chapter thirty looked weird momentarily is because the documents on here are acting odd and I can't create a new one without it going wonky like that one did. Hopefully that will be fixed soon. By the way, the next chapter will be the last one of this story.

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