v.

I woke up around late afternoon if the sun's position in the sky was correct. I drug myself out of the bed, took a moment to freak out about what I did the night before, pulled on my clothes, and left with my bike, following the trail I had last night. I thought about leaving the boys a note of sorts, but I didn't care to, so I didn't. The fifteen-minute drive to my house was filled with me simply questioning what the hell I had done the night before. It was out of character for me! I was losing my mind! I didn't know these four boys at all, and yet I let one kiss my neck, let the other see me almost naked and make out with me, and the other two had seen my underwear and me with my walls down. What was I doing?

I wanted to scream. I wanted to shout at someone or something because something inside me was changing when I was around them, and I didn't like change. They made me feel pretty and like I finally had real friends, and I was scared. Why was I feeling like this?

When I got home, I took a quick shower, dressed up again in an outfit similar to the one from last night but still different. I wore a short black skirt again, but I had on a forest green tight tank top that exposed a small amount of skin above my high-waisted skirt. I didn't wear shoes, but I had on black socks that reached mid-thigh. My hair was sitting high like it normally did, the curls tickling the bare skin of my back.

Then, I left my home with one thought on my mind: a dog. I wanted a dog, and I had been too caught up in other stuff to even think about getting one. I wanted an older one. Maybe I would stop by the pound and then go to the pet shop on the board walk. Both were open around now.

By the time I had walked over to the pound – I didn't have anywhere to put a dog on my bike – the sun was setting. The pound was a large building, and I could hear dogs barking from where I was outside. I stepped into the building cautiously, and I was immediately greeted by a boy behind a counter who looked like he would rather be anywhere else than there. "What can I do for you?"

I smiled a bit, trying to be polite. "I was wondering if you had any dogs? I'm interested in taking one home."

The boy nodded and pulled himself away from his desk. He motioned for me to follow him, and I matched his steps, stepping into a large area filled with cages on the walls. It was filled with dogs of all kinds and ages, and though I found the puppies cute, I was drawn to one dog in particular. He was obviously decently old, and he was curled in the back of his cage, watching me from his small area. I bent next to the cage and whistled for him, watching as he stood on sturdy legs and walked toward me. The tag said he was an eight-year-old Dobermann with all his shots.

I hesitantly reached into the cage and let him sniff my hand. He sniffed it slowly before pushing his face into the palm of my hand like a cat. I giggled and pet him lightly. "How much is he?"

The boy looked over. "That guy? One hundred."

I grinned and pulled out the money. The dog was watching me, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. The boy handed me over a form I had to fill out, and soon, I was out of the building, the dog I had named Rain walked beside me easily. The sun was gone by this point, but I felt a bit safer with Rain beside me. He was standing tall and looking around happily. His long leash was tied around my waist so he could walk a bit away, but he still stayed near me.

I led him to the boardwalk, and he seemed to be even more excited with all the people around. He panted loudly and jumped around a bit as I pulled him into the pet shop near the middle of everything. I moved through the aisles, looking at all the things I could possibly get him. I already knew I was going to spoil the dog. He deserved it, after all, and I had a decent amount of money left over as I didn't have to pay much for the house. It was old, and nobody wanted it in the first place.

I was trying to find a better collar for him when I heard a familiar voice. "What're you doing here?"

I turned a bit to see Dwayne standing beside me, an eyebrow raised as he smiled at me. "I think that's probably one of the dumbest things you've asked me," I stated, grabbing a blue collar off the shelf and dumping it in my basket.

Dwayne shrugged and followed me as I walked through the aisle. I grabbed a few things like treats and such, placing them all in my basket. I turned a bit to see Rain staring at Dwayne, his stance showing that he was on edge. "It seems that Rain doesn't like you too much," I stated, watching as Dwayne's eyes flitted to the dog and then back to me.

"Dogs don't like us very much," he replied, shrugging his shoulders again.

"I see." I looked through the dog beds, knowing he would need a decently large one. "And why would that be?"

"They detect danger pretty well."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat," I teased, raising my eyebrows.

Dwayne smirked. "If you see it that way."

He really didn't say much. I hummed and picked up a dog bed, handing it over to him. "Well, Mr. Threatening, if you're going to be walking with me, you need to help me carry stuff."

Dwayne chuckled. "Yes, ma'am." It was quiet for a few moments, and he spoke again. "So, why'd you get a dog anyway?"

I looked at Rain who was still staring at Dwayne. "Makes me feel a bit safer."

"We'll keep you safe, princess."

I rolled my eyes. "You literally just said you're dangerous. Don't go try to flip your story."

"Well, we are dangerous. We're just not dangerous to you."

I sighed and grabbed a large bag of food, also handing it to him as he was obviously stronger than me. "That sounds cliché. I don't like clichés." I led Dwayne to the counter so I could pay for everything.

Dwayne chuckled and shook his head. "Somehow, princess, I really don't believe that."

I faked a gasp and placed my hand over my heart. "Clichés are just so predictable."

"You like predictable, though."

"Oh, how do you know me so well?"

Dwayne grinned and set down the food and bed on the counter. The lady quickly scanned everything and read off my total. I handed over the money, and then we were out of the story. Dwayne was on the side Rain wasn't on, and I felt him leading me toward where the boys were last night.

Soon, Marko and Paul were in my view, and almost immediately, I had Paul dragging me away from Dwayne, pulling me into a hug. I heard Rain growl lowly, and I turned and shushed him quickly. "They're fine, boy," I stated, patting his head as Paul let go of me.

"When'd you get a dog," Marko questioned, sending a glare to Rain.

I placed my hands on his hips and glared at him. "This afternoon. Do you have a problem with him?"

"I just don't like dogs that much."

I rolled my eyes. "And I don't like you that much, but you don't see me complaining."

Marko gasped loudly, and I watched him place his hand against his forehead and fall against Paul who caught him easily. Dwayne and David laughed easy laughs, and I grinned brightly. "I'm hurt, Angel!"

I laughed loudly and shook my head.

David spoke up next from where he was sitting. "What are your plans tonight, sweetheart?"

I turned to David. "I planned on going home. No point in opening up shop this late, and I haven't gotten any orders over the phone, so I was just gonna set up his area." I scratched behind Rain's ear, listening to him pant from happiness. "You guys can come if you want, though I'm sure you have better things to do. My house isn't as cool as yours."

"I wanna go," Paul yelled, springing to life and rolling his eyes as Marko – who was still leaning against him – whined.

I grinned and shrugged my shoulders. "I'm walking, though. I only live about a five-minute walk from here."

"We can leave our bikes," David stated, smiling as I nodded happily. "But we need to stop by a store first so you can meet someone."

I nodded, and David walked over and wrapped his arm around my waist. Dwayne stood beside him, obviously not wanting to get near Rain. Marko and Paul were behind us, poking fun and hitting each other. I was surprised they were able to make the short walk without killing each other. Paul skipped ahead of us and stepped into what looked like a video shop first. We followed in suit, and I looked around at the multiple TVs playing different things. David tightened his grip a bit on me as we approached the man sitting at the counter who was glaring at the boys. Marko had disappeared, messing with different TVs while Paul was going through the racks of cassettes.

"David, what did I say about showing up in my shop?"

David rolled his eyes and pushed me forward just a bit. "This is Evangeline. Evangeline, this is basically our adopted dad, Max."

I looked at David for a second before gingerly holding out my hand for him to shake. He dropped his shoulders as he shook my hand, a fake smile on his face. "Nice to meet you, Evangeline. How do you know my boys?"

I winced as I heard a shelf fall over followed by a round of cursing by Paul who called Marko over to help him fix the mess. "They seemed to have found a certain interest in me, and I can't find it in myself to stay away from them if I'm being honest."

Max nodded at that, his eyes flitting to David, a look in his eyes that said he was asking a question I didn't know. David nodded, and Max turned back to me. "Well, I hope you find yourself a spot in our small family. I know the boys can be annoying to say the least." A sharp 'hey' from Marko made him pause, but he continued after a few seconds. "But you seem like a wonderful girl. I'd like to get to know you more at some point, but I really don't want them in my shop longer than they have to be."

"Of course. It was nice meeting you, Max." Max smiled, and David pulled me out of the shop. Dwayne seemed to let out a breath of relief, and I heard Paul and Marko bumbling after us.

I turned to David who was already looking at me. "Now, to my house?"

David nodded, and I grinned a bit, moving out of his grip but taking his hand as I lead them through the crowd. My house was only a short distance away, and it was easy to navigate through the crowd when it seemed like everybody moved out of the boys' way.

My house wasn't the best house around, but it got the job done. I didn't particularly like it, but I took every step possible to make it more and more like a home. It truly never was one, though. It was just a place I could go at the end of the day. It was a rickety old wooden building that I had taken off the hands of an old man. It was almost completely paid off, and it was down a road that was hidden by trees. My mother used to joke about how I was the old witch in the woods. I just laughed it off.

Marko and Paul seemed to enjoy the woods surrounding my house, though, as they took off playing hide and seek happily. As we stepped into the open patch of woods that led to my house, I watched as Paul tackled Marko to the floor, both laughing loudly. I smiled at them and fiddled with the keys to my door. I opened the door slowly and stepped inside, flicking on the lights. "You guys can come inside! Dwayne, please set down the dog's stuff in my bedroom. It's the door down the hall, second on the left," I called out as I dropped my stuff on the kitchen counter and filled a watering can with water after I had unhooked Rain from his leash so he could explore. I moved easily through my house, watering all the plants by the window. I turned to see Paul already laid across one of my couches, fiddling with my radio, while Marko was flipping through one of my sketchbooks. David seemed to be taking in the small area, and Dwayne was still in my bedroom.

I hummed and walked toward my bedroom, curious to see what Dwayne was doing. As I stepped inside, I saw him staring at my wall of art. The area above my bed was covered in paintings and sketches of different people I saw on the boardwalk. Whenever someone stopped long enough, and I was having a slow day, I would draw them and tack it up above my bed. My favorite one, however, was the large canvas that hung in the middle of everything. It was of me as a vampire, something I had done for art class two years ago. We had to draw ourselves as mythical creatures to test our creative abilities, and I had chosen to draw a portrait of myself, my finger on my lip with an elongated nail dragging down my lip so fangs covered in blood were shown. My eyes were a soft gold that pulled everything together.

"You do that," Dwayne questioned, pointing to it.

I nodded, a small smile on my face. "Yeah, I did it for art class. It was at the time where I was obsessed with the idea of vampires."

Dwayne nodded. "Marko said you believed in them. Why?"

I shrugged. "There's no reason for me not to believe. If people can believe in angels and God, why can't I believe in the supernatural? I mean, imagine being immortal and almost unstoppable."

"Wouldn't you miss the daytime, though?"

I laughed. "I would miss garlic more than I missed the daytime. The dark wouldn't scare me if I knew I could defend myself."

"What about killing people?"

I shrugged my shoulders again. "Why couldn't I just kill the bad guys? We've got plenty of those in the world."

Dwayne looked over. "You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?"

"I just told you that I used to be obsessed with them. Of course, I've thought about it."

Dwayne smiled a toothy grin and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me out of my bedroom. "I think we should have a discussion."