Chapter Eight: Not The Same

WARNING: This is in fact, a slash story, which means gayness saaaaaan. There will be a turn for 'M' rated chapters in the future. You've been warned.

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"We should just order pizza." Benny groaned. "I'm too tired and hungry to go to some fancy vegan restaurant."

"Tired? We were just in a car for the past four hours!" Ethan rolled his eyes, but yawned all the same. He knew the feeling. They'd had to get rooms keys, which was a hassle in itself, due to the front desk employee having an allergic reaction to some peanut butter cookies. Then, to make it worse, their rooms -one for the boys, and one for grandma- were on the third floor, and the elevator had blown a fuse. So, after climbing up three flights, they'd finally gotten to their respective rooms...and found a couple apparently on their honey moon. So, here they were again, trying to get keys and rooms on the bottom floor.

All this after driving for nine hours. Needless to say, neither Ethan nor Benny were excited to get up and jump back in the car, or to climb another set of stairs for that matter.

"Pizza it is." Grandma agreed, handing them a single key. "We'll go in the morning, and just so you know, after tonight, we're going to be staying at a friend of mine's."

"Aw, gramma, I don't want to stay at some old lady's house!" Benny whined, as Ethan began to get up and grab their suitcases. "She probably has fifty cats like the last place you took me."

"She owns an Inn, Benjamin, and you'll be pleased to know she doesn't have cats, she has horses, which she said you would have a chance to ride." Grandma scolded and grabbed her single small rolling suitcase she'd packed. "Come on, boys. Our rooms are on the second floor." She glared at the front desk as they passed by, at the stupid desk worker who'd made a big deal out of his own mistake of giving them the wrong keys.

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"Dude! I so had you there!" Benny exclaimed, disbelieving as the screen announced Ethan the winner. Yawning, he continued to protest. "It must be something with...the wiring."

"The wiring?" Ethan asked, amused. "Maybe your just loosing your touch. I've never beaten you at this game on the fifth level."

"Maybe you're stealing my touch." Benny smiled, then rubbed his eyes. "Man, I'm seriously tired...my eyes are burning." He yawned. "What the hell?" He asked, getting up from the floor and flopping to the bed. "I got my full nine hours yesterday."

"And you slept for like two hours on the way over here." Ethan added as he switched the Xbox back to the satellite. "Are you getting sick?"

"I don't feel sick." Was the lazy reply. "Just tired. You tired?"

"Not really." Ethan got up from the floor also, stretching. "I think I'm gonna go get something from the vending machines."

"Want me to come with?"

"Nah, thats alright. I'll be right back anyway, they're just down the hall." The Seer finished switching the screen from the Xbox to satellite, and set the TV to a random channel, and turned off the light as he exited the room. "Want anything?"

"A bottle of pop would be awesome." Benny yawned again. "Vending is a funny word. Makes me thinks of downloading music." Ethan smiled.

"Yeah, it does. Go to sleep, Ben, I'll be right back." With that, he left the room, key card in pocket and money in hand. Walking through the halls? He found himself becoming more and more awake as the seconds ticked by. This was the same feeling he got every night, a feeling of restlessness that both energized and annoyed him to no end. It made the blood race in his veins, and made him want to jump buildings. It made him feel like he could just drop, do 500 push-ups, and then jump back up and start flying. After the dreams he'd gotten yesterday and earlier today, he wondered to himself if he really could fly.

"No." Ethan muttered to himself, watching the vending machine drop the bottles to the bottom. "Vampires fly...werewolves don't fly."

Did he know...really? Could he fly, if he wanted to?

Was he really a werewolf? The idea seemed absurd. Ethan Morgan...a werewolf? It almost seemed laughable.

Ethan turned and looked out the window, to the bright moon and thought about that first night Benny'd found him in the woods. He still couldn't remember what had happened, and in all honesty, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. The possibilities scared him. He'd thought he'd seen werewolves before...he'd been a werewolf before, for like a day when Benny'd accidentally backfired a spell on him. But he'd been different then. From what he'd heard, he'd turned into a snarling, hairy, and less -than-attractive beast. he didn't remember a thing...did that mean that that's what he'd turn into now?

But the blonde girl, Katee, she'd been a werewolf, she's said so herself, and she hadn't turned into anything like that. She was only slightly different from a real wolf...well, different, but with a lot of the same characteristics. She'd been able to stand and move on her hind legs almost as well as on all fours, and she had fingers on the front paws instead of just toes. Her back paws were normal, if not a little elongated, and she was long and slim. Even in that form, anyone could tell just by looking at her and her sleek fur and face that she was female. The wolf skin hadn't marred her feminism.

Ethan looked at himself in the window, seeing pretty clearly in the reflection that he wasn't werewolf material.

Sure, Katee hadn't looked like much of a monstrous beast while in her human form either, but he didn't know about the male werewolves. Did they have to look a certain way? Ethan, of average height, average build, and not at all menacing features, would've made a better puppy than a wolf. There was nothing fierce about him.

The seer-turned-werewolf sighed and headed back to the room.

Who were they? And where did they come from? The two blondes and the raven haired woman...they'd just ran out of nowhere. How did they know where to find him? And why did they even care? They'd risked their lives for him.

'Why did I have to be saved anyway?' Ethan thought as he entered the hotel room, met with the soft sound of Benny's intake and outlet of breath. 'Who was that after me? Another werewolf, judging by the looks of it...wait, is that what I'm supposed to look like?' Ethan scowled as he sat down on the bed, still wide awake. He wasn't sure if he wanted to look like that.

'Why was he even after me?' Ethan asked himself, biting into a pop-art he'd bought. 'I didn't do anything to anyone! At least, I don't think I did...did I? Was it Benny?' Heglanced over at his best friend, appearing to be having a dream as he rolled over in his sleep, tangling the sheets.

'Not that that's a bad thing.' Ethan backtracked. 'Pretty much everything Benny does, he does with good intentions. Even when things turn out bad, I know he never means for it to turn out that way.'

What if he wasn't even a werewolf?

'What if I'm just fooling myself?' Ethan thought. 'What if all this is a trick from the stupid vampire council, or from..Jesse? What if I'm only imagining everything that's happening?'

'But what about all the evidence Senna and Cody collected?' Ethan sighed as he realized these questions may never be answered. 'It doesn't change my curiosity, though. I'm not going crazy, I'm not.' Ethan closed his eyes, and then opened them wide again as he remembered Jason in a car.

"I'm not going crazy!" He exclaimed, and jumped as Benny shot up in his bed.

"What?" The spellmaster asked to the dark room, rubbing violently at his eyes. "Ethan?"

"Sorry, Benny." Ethan apologized, blushing. "Uh...just got mad at something on the show." Quickly making up a lie and glancing nervously at the TV screen, he realized it was some sort of CSI show. In response, Benny only rolled his sleepy eyes and switched on the bedside lamp. "Sorry I woke you."

"It's okay." Benny replied, taking the unopened bottle of mountain dew from the nightstand and taking a sip. "I was having a weird dream anyway." He looked over at Ethan. "You okay, E?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Ethan managed a smile, slipping under the covers and switching the life back off. He didn't mention his thoughts about how the idea that he was crazy...or the fact that he couldn't have been crazy, since he had been found bleeding in the woods, and he'd just seen Jason the day before.

They were real, and so was the memories.

"E?" Benny asked, waving a hand in frn of his best friend.

"Yeah?"

"You sure your okay? You zoned out for a minute...you sure your not tired?"

"As sure as I could be." Ethan replied just as Benny launched himself from his bed to Ethan's own, wrapping his arms around Ethan's slim waist and bringing him down with him.

"I can't sleep if your not gonna sleep." Benny said, yawning and pulled his best friend closer in their awkward position. "So sleep."

"I'm not tired!" Ethan whined and fought weakly to get out of Benny's arms. In all honesty, the embrace wasn't all that bad.

"Well, what do you want to do, then?"

"I don't know...you don't have to stay up with me, I can just watch TV or something." Benny sighed and then sat up slightly in the bed.

"I wonder if they have a pool here?" He asked to no one in particular, then looked over at Ethan, with a gleam in his eyes. "Wanna go exploring? When we drove in, this place looks really cool."

"You want us to go out exploring the town?" Ethan asked, disbelieving, and trying not to feel disappointed as the other pulled away completely, heading towards the bathroom.

"Only if we can't find a pool." He shrugged. "Is that a no?"

"No..." Ethan pulled his suitcase onto the bed, searching for swim shorts. "Okay, let's go."

"I'll be out in a minute!" Benny shut the bathroom door and Ethan was left in silence, which he sighed into.

He tried not to think about how he wanted Benny to hug him again. 'I mean..its perfectly fine.' He told himself. 'Best friends hug each other all the time. But this time was different.' This time, there was something like tension wherever his skin met Benny's, and it was uncomfortable, simply because he hadn't felt anything like it before. It wasn't altogether unpleasant, and that made sense since it was Benny. There was no one in the world he was more comfortable with.

'I hope there's a pool.' He thought glumly. 'I don't want to wander the streets with him...especially since I'm being freakin' stalked by monsters galore.' He thought back to the monster that has originally attacked him, and wondered why, and if it was still after him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that everyone around him might be in danger.

'I'm putting Benny in danger.' This thought brought a sort of sick feeling to his stomach, and right then and there he knew he was going to be on edge...either until he knew for a fact that Benny was safe. He hoped so, but had no way of knowing if it was true or not...and that frightened him to no end.

"Ready?" Benny's voice made Ethan jump. "Dude, you aren't even dressed yet!"

"Sorry." Ethan apologized half-heartedly, and all but ran into the bathroom, undressing and re-dressing as quickly as he was able into his swimwear. "Let's go!" He grabbed a towel from the rack, his pop from the nightstand, and together they headed out to go find somewhere to swim.

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"God!" Tasha felt herself doubling over, facing the grass of the forest floor. "Why do we have all these fights in the trees?" She complained, kicking aside a creature she found was made of earth as it disintegrated. "Annoying bastards!" She allowed herself a minutes rest, leaning back against a tree.

"Well, they don't have the vase yet." Came Jason's voice. "That's one good thing."

"That's the only good thing, Jace." She managed through deep breaths. She groaned as her heartbeat pounded in her temples. "We don't have it either. I'm not sure we can get it."

"What do you mean?" The blonde vampire asked, sitting opposite her.

"Well, the old woman has to have some sorts of magical boundaries. From what we know of her, she's smart. I don't even know if we should try to get it out of the house." She shrugged. "She might have a spell to capture anyone who tries. She could find us."

"Okay." Jason sighed, then looked over at his friend with a look not to far from sad. "You know we have to take him, right? Ethan? We have to let him know about us, more than we already have."

"We have to meet him." Tasha agreed, after a moment of silence.

"Since the first night, the only time I've actually seen him is the day I drove him home." Jason grimaced. "He looked really worn...and I know you've been really trying to get those memories through, and I know it's taking a lot out of you, but Ethan doesn't seem to be all to convinced. I think he's still pretty unsure about everything."

"You've got to give the kid credit, though." The other muttered. "He hasn't totally freaked out yet...but, yeah. We have to meet him, soon. We have to make him understand, make him see that we're not the ones he needs to worry about. Sylvan's still out there, and so is Jesse and the rest of them."

"Think we can handle them for a couple more weeks?" Jason chuckled. "For the first time in a long time, I feel my energy waning. I'm not too sure about Katee, but I KNOW you're feeling it."

"Yeah, whereas they seem to be only getting stronger. It amazes me how much evil there is in the world."

"There's good too."

"Not enough of it." The woman sighed. "By the way, I think we probably should hold off on Ethan for a while...well, at least on his family and friends. They can't know, not all of them anyway."

"Big trouble there." Jason agreed. "With all that's happened, and especially with that Tyson guy, I'm not sure they'll ask before they shoot. Plus, I want Ethan's life to remain...as normal as possible, even with the upcoming...events. Katee says Benny's birthday is coming up soon, and I want him to at least have that. At least that before we drag him into all of this."

"Who says he'll even cooperate?" Tasha asked, though a sad look did cross her exotic features. "He's a smart kid with a good heart, sure, but maybe that'll get in the way. He'll want to protect them."

"We can't tell what he'll do. All we can do is hope."

Tasha sighed, getting up from the cold ground, finding the rough tree bark against her back to be oddly comforting. "Well, hope sure isn't going to just hand the artifacts over. Come on, we have to find the compass before they do." Standing up also and allowing Tasha to climb on his back, Jason set flight.

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That same night, Benny and Ethan did find a pool, and swam for a good two hours before becoming even slightly tired. After getting out and drying off, Benny, of course, still wanted to explore the streets. Luckily, after some convincing by Ethan's part, Benny agreed to wait until the next day.

So, now, they found themselves back in their room, eating popcorn they bought out of a vending machine, and watching some scary movie.

"It's always the stupid blonde cheerleader and her jock boyfriend." Ethan murmured. "Not that there's anything wrong With blonde cheerleader, but...it's true." He flinched as the sound of chainsaws and screaming filled the room.

"What about Stephanie?" Benny asked, trying not to look affected by the movie.

"I take that back."

"...Okay...now, I'm freaked out."

Later, when the movie was over, the boys found themselves unable to sleep in their respective beds. The shadows that crept across the floor and creaking from the pipes above and below did nothing to settle their nerves. Eventually, Benny found himself jumping up in his bed because he thought he felt the blankets move.

"E?" Benny asked, muted panic in his voice. "I don't like my bed."

"Me either." Ethan replied immediately, lifting the blankets away from the sheets and allowing Benny to jump in with him. "This is the last time we watch a scary movie while we're at a hotel."

"That's what we said last time." Benny yawned, settling in beside his friend. "This is a little better." He admitted, snuggling into the overtly fluffy mattress and pillows.

"It's like three in the morning, B." Ethan managed a small laugh. "Let's try and sleep." Scooting closer and closer during the night, gradually ending up lying flush against each other, the pair had no trouble sleeping through the night.

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AN: And, Scene! Lol okay, so I know I haven't updated in a while, but this story is reaching its point of interest. Plus, I've been setting up for future stories, because I have a hell of a lot of ideas that need to be written down, or else I can sleep at night. This chapter also isn't very long, sorry, and the beginning of the next chapter is going to be hell to write because I feel like it'll be a little dull without much action, but from there on, things should heat up!

Also, I have some other Bethan stories up if you wanna check me out! Okay, I've spoken enough.

Reviews are love. The next chapter will for sure be longer.