I won't try and justify the long gap between updates. Let's just say that my family is going down the drain.

Disclaimer: Don't own SWAC.

Sonny.

xXx

The water beneath around my feet was the only thing I really felt at the moment. My body was completely full, almost to the point that I felt slushy. I grimaced at the weird feeling of another life within me, the warmness of it making my body heat rise the slightest bit. I breathed deeply, for once enjoying the totally fresh air. No salty smell luring me in. No human obliviously taunting me.

The lake was black in the darkness. My mind immediately responded to the atmosphere- the crisp air, the soft breeze, the cool water- and I thought about my life, and the people in it. I thought about Chad, I thought about Cindy, and I thought about Lucy.

But who I thought about most was Collin.

Honest to goodness, I missed the man. It was, dare I say it with Chad around, lonely without another person like me to converse with. The person I knew could be anywhere in the world right now, and I desperately wished I knew where. The friend I found in him had gone and taken a part of me with him.

That feeling once again coursed through me. The feeling of being lost. The feeling where, at the very second when your realize you're alone or the parent you were walking with disappeared. The jolt of realization and that crippling sensation of fear. Yes, the fear. It seemed to be this constant thing, always nagging on me in the back of my brain. The whole situation had me weakened, and I knew I was practically nothing compared to the people who had me fearful. The people who wanted to kill me.

I missed that feeling I got when I would just walk up to Collin and ask him a question, the answer which was unknown to me at the time suddenly appearing as if he'd known all along I as going to ask that one specific question. And, when I remembered his unique quality of diving into someone's mind, I realized he probably did.

I would turn to Chad for all of my questions. I regret telling him that I would let him come with me. I was incredibly repulsed by the idea, knowing Chad would, of course, be hurt. Or worse, killed in a way in which I'd never known anyone to be killed before.

It wasn't just fear that had me now, it was now a jolt of both sadness and desperation, and my body immediately responded in a way I'd never experienced before I met the blue eyed, blonde wolf. That same wolf that I undeniably, stupidly fell in love with.

Then my thoughts flashed to those who wanted him dead. I didn't know anything about these Malexia people, yet they sounded horrid to my ears, despicable. It was disgusting what I've heard- the only things Chad or Collin allowed me to know. I felt like a child, an outsider, when really I was a vampire who was rejected to know anything about the people who supposedly rule my kind.

From my knowledge of the group, me going to Rome was probably not the best idea I've ever had. In fact, it wasn't even that of an idea, it was something I knew had to be done. And anyone would rather face a problem sooner than later, not wanting it hanging over their heads like a hat, right?

I certainly hope so. Because, if not, my suspicions would be proven when I would eventually face them. Those ideas that haunted my thoughts, my whole being, to the point of nausea and I seriously considered that I would be overwhelmed again and fall into a strange slumber.

I had known it. I had known it all along. That's why, of course, I didn't want Chad with me. That's why I'd wanted to go completely alone. That's why, when I first came to this crazy place, I vowed to stay away from everyone. I didn't think that anyone- especially my blood enemy- would want me to exchange those vows with him.

I would never marry Chad. I would never change Lucy. I would never again see Collin.

Because tomorrow night, I was going to die.

xXx

"Wow, this is so great." Lucy squealed. I wanted to smile again and tell her I was of course psyched too, but she's been going on for so long that I kind of wanted to hurt her. "Do celebrities always get these surprise vacations, Chad?"

"Of course," He said with a gorgeous smile. "If you're as famous as me, anyways."

"Riiiiight," I rolled my eyes.

"I know, it's a good thing I brought a clever disguise." He motioned to his sunglasses and his hat, which he took off, not noticing my sarcasm. "But now I have to have everyone see my gorgeous hair."

Lucy rolled her eyes at that, finally realizing he was getting a little more egotistical with every question she asked.

"This plane is fantastic," She gushed once again, taking out her iPhone and snapping a picture of everything from the fancy cupholders to the window-shielder to the seats themselves. I sat down in my single chair, the soft leather of a first class seat cushioning my tired body. I sunk into the smooth material and sighed, for just one second at ease as I thought about Lucy's happiness and Chad's playful sarcasm. We looked like regular people- something I desperately wished I actually was.

"Sonny," Lucy interrupted my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I hummed absentmindedly as I ran my fingers over the material once again.

"Aren't you excited? You seem…bored, or something." She said, her brow knitting together as if she couldn't believe I would be bored coming onto a plane so luxurious.

"Oh, of course I'm excited-," To go die. "To go to Rome," The home of the murderers. "To meet Roman people," The Malexia. I rolled my eyes so Lucy couldn't see. "Honestly, Luce, I. Am. Thrilled."

A loud squeal of delight reverberated through the plane and into my ear. "Me, too! I wanna meet hot new Roman guys."

"Sonny doesn't." Chad said, giving me a serious look.

Lucy laughed, thinking Chad was kidding as she looked out the window in her own seat. I stared at Chad as he stared at me, both of us knowing that he knew I was being sarcastic with Lucy. He also knew I didn't want to meet any new hot roman guys, because there would be plenty. And they would be hot for one reason and one reason only: They wanted to hunt people like Lucy. My eyes widened in realization.

"Luce," I said quickly. She looked over at my tone. "I don't want you anywhere near any hot roman guys, okay?" I tried to get the point across as clearly as possible.

"Why?" she asked, confused at my serious tone.

"Because," I sighed. I thought about leaving it at that, but a brilliant idea came to my mind. "What would Collin think?'

She blinked. "What do you mean what would Collin think?"

I gave her a fake smirk and a raising of my eyebrows which she took as real.

"Oh gosh," She giggled embarrassedly and hid her face a little. "What if he thinks I'm cheating on him? You're right, Sonny, thanks."

I smiled for real this time and leaned back on my chair, sighing. "You're welcome, Luce."

She looked out the window, and that's when I felt a hand on my thigh, and the heat I felt from it warmed my body. I looked at Chad but he wasn't looking back, just at the back of the chair in front of him and his teeth chewing his bottom lip. I put my hand atop his and rubbed it gently for a second before he pulled away, looking out the window. When I saw his shoulder lift and drop again, I knew he was finally realizing it. As was I.

As the plane lifted into the air, that same feeling- the jolt of realization, fear, anxiety, sadness- it crippled through me once again and I leaned back, preparing my self both mentally and physically for what was coming.

xXx

CHAD.

xXx

I looked out the window and watched as the blandness of California passed beneath us, speeding behind me and into my own memories. I knew, somewhere deep in my gut that I was never going to see it again. I knew I was doing, and I knew what Sonny was doing.

She was so sure that she was going to be fine on the outside, but in the inside I couldn't help but think she knew of what was to come. She knew that each second we flew on this plane we were getting closer and closer to our death. I wanted to reach out and touch her again, assuring myself that she was really there, but I kept my hands firmly at my lap.

The one question zipped through me a thousand times, did Sonny think and or know that she would die if she faced the Malexia?

My head swarmed with plenty of thoughts, ideas, worries, and I was finally broken out of my trance when a little light appeared on the screen of my silver cell phone. My heart jumped and for a second I thought I was about to throw it up, as I reached for it. I tried to seem as nonchalant as possible as I turned away from Sonny and Lucy, carefully so that they couldn't see the phone or the expression on my face. Only one person knew the number to this phone and one person only.

Collin.

An unfamiliar number flashed on the screen, and I opened the message with one small click of the keyboard. The words echoed in my mind.

Please, please, please tell me you idiots aren't on a plane right now.

My eyes widened as many emotions roared within me as I flipped open the phone and typed in a message as quickly as possible, the phone struggling to keep up mith my speedy fingers.

Sorry to disappoint you. What do you know?

I waited impatiently for a response. It came seconds after I sent the last one.

Everything. You dumbass.

I read it over slowly, wondering how much of everything Collin knew. Did he really know…everything? What does that mean? The phone lit up again.

I've got the fortune teller with me.

Don't let your guard down.

Ever.

I read the sentences carefully, over and over until the whole conversation melted into my brain. I closed the phone and slipped it into my pocket.

The fortune teller…

Cindy.

Realization hit me the same time as the fear. They know what's going to happen. Everything.

And if we can't let our guard down ever…

Then they knew that we were coming.

And now, they were coming for us.