A/N: I'd like to think that was like a cliff hanger, but I'm not too good on the suspense and stuff like that.

He shook his and left. I sat down on the little bench that was against the wall.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"It isn't your fault, Lona. You didn't know what would happen." I sighed. "I'll get him back later. You're a good kisser."
"Oh, thanks. So are you. Sweet but fierce." Lona said. I blushed. That's what I said about Pete. He learned from me or I learned from him.
"Let's go." We walked back to the park to get everyone else so we could find the hotel that was our rendezvous point for us. There were tons of them so we got put into one. I drove there. We met Resa there. It turns out she was going to be roomed with us. She said she will sleep in Val and Lona's room. Pam and Mick had their room and Pete and I had ours. I dragged Pete straight to our room and locked the door when we got in. He sat in a chair knowing I was about to go off on him. This time he was wrong, though. I straddled his lap and kissed him really fiercely. I cut my tongue on his teeth but I really didn't care right then.
"What are you doing? You just kissed Lona. Do you think I'm hot for you right now or something because I'm not." He said.
"She got me alone, she made me promise before hand, she used peer pressure because she is going to die, and I didn't want to upset her." I said ticking off fingers. "It was her idea, Pete. You know I love you."
"Why do I always barge in on you kissing someone else?" He asked trying to push me off his lap. I clamped my legs tighter against his. I wouldn't budge.
"Because you don't let me be alone with you. If you took me off like she did or like I did to Luke then we would be having those moments not them with me. Oh, and it also proves your more loyal than I am." I kissed him again. And again. And again. And again.
"That doesn't sound real promising."
"Then I promise to you that I will not kiss anyone else as intimately as I do you. That means I can give a quick kiss like I would to my mom." I added when I saw his look.
"I'll hold you up to that promise." He said. He picked me up and put me on the bed. He laid down next to me. He kissed along my jaw line from my ear to my chin to my lips. He ran a hand down my leg and he hooked my leg around his legs. I pulled him closer. We stayed cuddled together like that for a long time. Maybe an hour, I didn't know because I fell asleep. He did before me. He looked peaceful in his sleep. When I woke up he was right where I left him. He was watching me again.
"That's so creepy."
"You look good." That was his excuse. He kissed me. When he did, he invaded my mouth with his tongue. I usually did that to him not him to me.
"You always say I look good." I yawned.
"Then you look great."
"Lovely."
"Oh, nice one. You look lovely."
"Jerk."
"You look like jerky? You might taste good..." He looked me up and down and nibbled on my ear.
"Right." I said. "Just don't eat me."
"I might." He said. Something I forgot was coming back to me. It was on the tip of my tongue. It had something to do with eating and me...
"Gloria!" I yelled out sitting up in bed.
"Um, what?" Pete asked.
"I totally forgot Gloria, my best friend." I got out of bed and ran to the door. I yanked it open and ran down the hall to Val's room. I knocked really loudly. Val opened the door.
"Gloria. We forgot Gloria!" I said in her face. Her expression changed from annoyance to shock.
"Gloria? Where is she? We have to find her." Val said excitedly. "She will be fighting, right?" We walked downstairs so we could check with the clerk where she was staying. He said room 267. They have a lot of rooms. We took the elevator to the third floor and sprinted down the hall to her room. I knocked loudly on her door. She opened it and I pounced on her.
"Gloria!"
"Nicki! Val! I haven't seen you guys." She hugged me and Val.
"I can't believe it. Where have you been?" Val asked.
"In hiding in Canada. I had to go to the mountains because my hunger for humans has been getting to me." She said. I took a closer look at her. She had grown 5 inches.
"Your grown up! Oh it's been too long." I said. "You are sleeping with us." I grabbed her hand.
"But my things!"
"Magic. Val could you...?" I asked. Val nodded. She would make them appear in my room and go tell the clerk that the room was empty. We took our time getting to the elevator and going back to our room. The boys would sleep together. Pam, Gloria, and I will sleep together. We told the boys. Gloria just met Pete and Mick. But she was friends with Pam and Lona. Pam freaked out and Lona was ecstatic. Pam was crying. Once we all settled down we discussed battle plans. I would be carrying two handguns, two throwing knives and magic things. They said no to my baseball bat. I was sad. They were discussing there weapons when something hit me.
"I know what we can do to James!"
"What?" Pam asked. Lona was smiling already.
"Gloria can eat him." I said triumphantly.
"I'm sorry, Gloria, but that's just disgusting." Val said.
"It's okay." Gloria was used to that.
"No! How is Gloria's hunger ever going to go away? She needs to eat a human or at least kill one. One human we all don't want around: James. I'm sorry if you still have hope for him Val but he has to die sometime." I said seriously.
"How dare you shove it off on me like that! I have no hope for him. I don't care anymore. Kill him if you want to." Val stood up and left. I put my face in my hands. Pete put an arm around me but I shrugged it off.

Later at night when I was sleeping, I felt my subconscious being pulled into a dream connection. I was in my bedroom back home and Val was there. Usually I didn't add a background, it was white, but I think this made her more comfortable.
"Hey." I said inviting her to speak first.
"Hey I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. It still a hard topic to talk about. I wish he never changed. He was the best person ever. But I'm sorry."
"It's all right."
"I just had to say that before what will happen tomorrow. Good night."
"Night." I said. She cut it but I felt myself being pulled into another dream connection. It was Pete's.

"There. I pulled you away from everyone else." He said.
"Yes you did." I looked around. His background was his home in Florida.
"Now what do you want to do?" He asked coming toward me.
"I don't know." I smiled at him. He picked me up and put me over his shoulder.
"Hey!" I said in surprise. He slapped my butt. Then we got to his bedroom down the hall and he flopped me on the bed. He kissed me but left the room. I looked around. I hadn't been in his room before. There was a 36 inch flat screen TV in here. Movie! He came back in with popcorn and a bottle of something. Wine? But we are underage. I told him this.
"It's not happening in real life." He said. I smiled again.
"Here are the rules. We will be watching a romantic comedy. Laugh as loud as you want. Drink as much as you want. Eat as much as you want. And that's it." He said laying down with me. He kissed me. I slithered my tongue into his mouth to make the kiss deeper.
"Okay." I said a bit confused as to why he was doing this. He handed me a glass of wine and turned on the movie. The movie was two hours long. Let me tell you it was a long night.
At the end of the movie, we just sat there, awkwardly.
"I hope you are careful." He said.
"I'm always careful, but for you, I'll be extra." I said. I wanted to get this over with. I thought he'd say more but he didn't. He kissed me and I kissed back.
"Good night, Nicki." He said.
"See you tomorrow." I left the dream connection.

Everyone had to wake up early and get a good breakfast so we would be prepared for whatever came at us. I wore my favorite shirt and shorts. My hair was up in a bun so that it wouldn't get in the way. I put on two shoulder gun holsters for my handguns. I was wearing contacts instead of glasses. In my belt there were two secret pockets so I could get my throwing knives easily but still have them unnoticed. I had the basic magic implements that any witch or wizard would use: staff and a mind full of spells (Resa's concept). Lona and Gloria would be sticking with me the whole time so I could watch them. Pam and Mick were together and Val and Pete went by themselves. I was worried about Val but they she said she could handle herself and I trusted her. We walked to a place where we were supposed to gather. The fight was to take place in the city streets. Unbelievable but so true. We would fit in almost five streets. There were a lot of us. It seemed time was going really slowly. When a horn blew we ran into battle. Well I was in the back so I walked into battle with Lona on my right and Gloria on my left. Pete was up in front and Val disappeared. There was a ton of noise from the gun fire and the people yelling battle cries and things like that. Then we got into the battle ourselves. I was throwing spells this way and that way. Time was quicker now. Lona always knew the time so anytime I asked she would tell me it. 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. Half of our numbers were dead or wounded. Three quarters of theirs were dead or wounded. But I was still going. I wasn't done. I ignored what it would cost me afterward. I would lose the feeling of being not guilty. Then what I was waiting for happened.

A gunshot went off to the right of me. I immediately thought of Lona. It was Resa instead. She shot a guy who was going to shoot Lona.
"Resa! Thank you!" I said. My words were drowned out by another gunshot. I looked at Lona. Her hands were on her stomach and she was really pale. I ran over to her. Blood was flowing through her fingers from her stomach. I caught her before she could fall down. I laid her down, her head on my lap.
"Ssshh. Lona dear. We love you. Pam, Mick, Pete, Resa, Gloria, Val, and I love you."
"I l-love you, t-t-t-o-o." She let out her final breath. I got up and put a spell on her. It would save her body until I needed it for a funeral. I looked around. The person who shot her was looking at me. I gave him my worst face ever and he ran. I ran after him. I should have been tired but I had a reason to fight this guy. He killed my friend. I caught up to him and jumped on him. He fell to the ground with me on him. I knocked his gun out of his hand. I started banging his head on the ground, magic forgotten. I heard a sickening crack and squish but I kept going. Bang. Bang. Bang. Someone behind me started talking.
"That's right, Nicki. Let your hate fill you up." It was James. I stopped. I wouldn't follow him. I turned around. It was really James. He was wearing a traveling cloak and had a staff in one hand. I sent a silent spell at him. He countered it and it sent me sprawling backwards. I got up. I had to kill him.
"I will never let hatred fill me up. I'm not like you, James. Your pathetic and weak. I'm stronger." I said in a very dark voice.

"You already let your feelings go, I'm afraid." He motioned to the guy on the ground. I sent three spells at him. The first two he deflected but the third hit him. He went flying back this time. We started sending spells to each other. Gloria was sneaking behind a building so she could attack him from behind. I really wanted to distract him so he wouldn't know she was there. I put a lot of effort into my power. I knew I was winning a bit. Most of my spells hit while his didn't. Then it turned around. I felt really tired and I could just barely get out of the way of his spells. One hit me and tossed me into a metal poll. I sat on my butt hard. I couldn't beat him.
But you have to.
I can't move.
Yes you can. One more attack.
No just sleep.
This battle was going on inside me while he was walking up to me.
"Well, this is how it ends. Nicki can't fight anymore. Poor girl. What will happen to your sister. I think I might go after her and keep her as a pet. Just like the government is my pet. One spell and they trust me. Another spell and they do whatever I want."
"Like.. I said. Pathetic." I gasped. I think I broke a rib.
"But look who's pathetic now. Can't even face our opponent eye to eye." He meant I couldn't stand.
"You're done."
"Oh really? Who's going to kill me." He laughed loudly. I waited until he stopped.
"Gloria." I said. She came running out from behind a building. She was really fast.
"Who-?" Was all James had time to say. Gloria bit his neck and snapped it. Oh geez, I thought, gross. That was all she needed to do to become a werewolf. She helped me up and hugged me. I couldn't cry just yet. I had to find Val and the others. I fixed my rib with a spell that made me scream my head off and made Gloria cover her ears. We started jogging through the streets, jumping over bodies, and looking all around. We found Resa first. She was okay. She came with us. Next we found Pam and Mick. Pam was okay but Mick had a broken leg. I fixed it. They said they saw Pete two blocks down. We went that way. Instead of Pete, we found Val. I hugged her so hard I thought I might crack my rib again. We split up. In fifteen minutes we said we would meet back at our hotel.

I was running everywhere even though I was tired. I had a new reason: I had to find Pete. I knew I was going to find him. It just seemed right. I checked the hospitals and Creature camps. He wasn't anywhere. Twenty minutes later I went back to the hotel with the worst spirits and a feeling of dread. What if he was dead? What would I do? I didn't speak to anyone. I just went straight to get a shower then to bed. I looked down at my hands. Red: my favorite color. I thought I was going to throw up but I just got so annoyed at the thought of having to throw up again that it went away. I laid down in bed. I started crying. I sobbed and sobbed. I eventually fell asleep.