Abandoned Blood

I'd like to thank all of those who have written to in support of this project and invite those who haven't to do so. I welcome all manner of critique and suggestions. I live to write for my audience and as such encourage a free exchange of ideas as to what you'd like to see as the story progresses. I've got plenty more in store for all of you, so keep the letters coming.

Now time for the legal stuff. Though inspired by true events, all events and characters within are borne of my own imagination. Any resemblance to any real person or event, either dead, living, past or present, unless granted permission (these people will be thanked at the end of the chapter) are entirely coincidental. As I keep saying throughout, I'll leave it to you to decide which parts are real and which parts are not.

Please enjoy the Eighth Chapter of "Abandoned Blood"!

Chapter 8

Nadia hasn't said a word since the waiter took our order. She didn't look me in the eye--hell she didn't look up at all. She just stared into the dark oblivion of her lap. It didn't matter what I said, she refused to do anything else. I guess vampires could sense each other out. Or maybe she heard his thick accent and knew who was sitting just three tables over. What I wanted to know was why the fuck my ex-girlfriend sitting with him, mirroring my vampire.

"Nadia, please say something," I begged for the umpteenth time. I shook her arm, but she refused to lift her gaze. It hurt to see her struck blind, deaf and dumb like this. Risking a glance over my shoulder, I tried again. "Nadia, I'm your Watcher. Let me help you." Father Darien was in as grand of mood as the last time I saw him. I don't know what it was about the guy, but he just made me sick. I guess the way people--other than me for some reason--act around him pushes a button that just makes me want to punch the shit out of him. I shook her arm harder, making her small bracelet jingle on the table. "Nadia, please. Look at me."

"My, my, my, what a happy accident," the Father said. I spun around to find him standing about four inches behind my chair. I retrained myself from making a scene. My jaw hurt from how hard I was gritting my teeth; I'm sure Nadia lost the blood flow to her hand by now. "How have my ladies been?" God damn it, I wanted so bad to smack that smile right off his face.

"I'd be doing a lot better if you weren't around," I said bluntly, trying in vain to wake Nadia from her trance. "And why the fuck is Tiffany with you?"

Father Darien spun around and looked at her. When he faced me again, he wore a confused expression.

"She invited me," he said innocently.

"Like hell she did," I shot back. His face began to morph into some twisted, satisfied smile. I felt him touching my aura and it gave me the creeps. "She doesn't know you and... and would you stop doing that!"

"Doing what?"

"That aura thing. Knock it off." He took a grand bow, arms open and everything, as if to say "As you wish". I felt him let go. As happy as that made me I was still plenty pissed about the fact he was even here. The vampire pulled out a chair, I think just to crawl under my skin even more, then Nadia made a sound. A chill went up my back. Whatever he was doing to her mentally, she was liking it. "What are you doing to my vampire?"

"Nothing she doesn't like," he answered quickly. His little charmer facade slipped to reveal his true, predatory nature. The bastard was reveling in this. "Isn't that right, my sweet little Nadia?" I smacked his hand down when he moved to touch her cheek. The Father flashed me one of his playboy smiles, putting his gentleman exterior back on.

"Don't touch her. She doesn't belong to you." Nadia made another noise of sexual satisfaction and grabbed a fistful of tablecloth. "And whatever it is you're doing to her, stop. Leave us alone so we can have one decent, normal meal."

Father Darien blinked, and sat back with his hand over his non-beating black heart. "Now, my dear Charlene, I know you are not insulting my cooking, are you?" I felt his fingers on my aura again. He was probing both verbally and mentally. Nadia stirred again. I shuddered to think about what he was doing to her right now, even as he assaulted me. Just how powerful is this guy?

"The cooking? No. The company? Yes." I said with a bit of effort. He knew I didn't stand a chance against him if he was to exert himself. I hated feeling vulnerable like this, and he knew that. That's why he's playing with me like this. I thought if I played nice and got him talking he would comply. "I'm asking you politely, Father Darien, please let Nadia go and tell me why you're here with Tiffany."

He smiled wide enough to show me a slip of his fangs. The last time I saw a vampire do that I was nearly raped. "As you wish, you are her Watcher after all." Immediately the air between us cleared. Nadia hunched forward over the table, nearly knocking over her glass of water. "However, you have me at a loss, my dear." I furrowed my brow in anger at his false concern. "You claim to be her Watcher, but she holds no sway over you. Why is that?"

"She does too, dick face!" Nadia flipped her hand over and grabbed my wrist. The threat in her eye did little to change my tone. I don't care how high of regard she holds this asshole, he isn't going to talk to me like that. "I don't know where you get off telling me shit like that, but I've been dealing with this crap for days now and still haven't gotten a simple straight answer about much of anything. Perhaps you can enlighten me."

I glanced over to his table when I saw Tiffany move. She was fidgeting in her seat, probably just as uncomfortable with this guy as I am. Father Darien looked over to Nadia and said, "Harold was right, Nadia, you need to do a better job of leashing your Watchers before letting them roam free." My blood was boiling at that fucking grin on his face. She went from subdued to freaked out of her mind before he finished that sentence. "I thought I taught you better than that. I know it would destroy you to lose yet another one." He stroked her cheek a couple of times before I slapped him away again. "Perhaps I should take you back into my fold for a while longer."

Nadia's eyes bulged. "No!" I shouted for her. "I don't know what the fuck it is you're getting at, but you better leave her alone. Can't you see how fucked up she is already?" I was getting some weird looks from the other guests, but I didn't care. And apparently, neither did the vampires.

The Father gave a me curious once over. Four heartbeats passed before he answered. "Have you so little of an opinion of your own vampire? She refuses me and my care. She fights me at every waking opportunity as of late. It's curious though, that the only time she relents and becomes as you see her now is because of you, Charlene. Why is that?"

I sat back, eyes wide. "How the fuck should I know? You're the expert here, you tell me."

He chuckled at the attitude I was throwing at him. "Oh, you've got a murderous rage in you, my dear, and I like it. You don't gain dominance over your vampire by playing nice. You don't succumb to the sexual high like every other Watcher she's had. I've taught Nadia a lot about the life she was forced to live, but one thing that can't be taught is how to train and deal with your Watcher; it's something you learn along the way. I've seen countless Watchers fall by the wayside and become the scum that offers themselves to any passing renegade bottom-feeder, but not you. No. You were bitten by an experienced vampire and yet the idea of anything becoming of it never crossed your mind.

You survived losing more than half of your body's supply of blood. Impressive. You're arguably the strongest Watcher I've seen in my lifetime and that is what makes her weak. That's the weird paradox between vampire and Watcher, especially when no balance exists between the two. Your strength is her weakness."

I tried to follow what he was saying. It was a lot to take in and not all of it was making sense. I'd calmed down a bit, but was still confused. A hundred questions ran through my head and like the typical dumbass I've been lately, the one that came out was: "What do you mean by balance?"

"You're not very bright are you?" Affronted, I opened my mouth to say something until Nadia covered my mouth and shook her head. His grinned widened at that. "But that's not why you're the envy of the coven, Nadia."

"Wait. What?"

"Nadia has been my pet project for a long time and she's just now starting to understand her true place our world."

He almost sounded like a proud papa. "All that's missing is an equally powerful Watcher to balance out her own, which she still has yet to appreciate fully."

"What the devil does that mean? I watched her punch through a guys aura and then rip his throat out. What do you mean she doesn't appreciate her power? I'm tired of listening to all of you talking this bullshit--"

"Mind your tongue!" the Father snapped. I jumped at the sound of his voice. "I never said she didn't appreciate it. I said she doesn't FULLY appreciate it." His gaze relaxed from anger to judgement--I'm not sure which I'd rather have. "Though we are talking about everything you need to know, you, little Watcher, are NOT listening. You've been gifted with talents I've never seen before in yet you still don't understand your role in any of this. You think it's just blood that a vampire needs from their Watcher?" I nodded, trying to keep myself on an even keel. My face was pale and my hands were shaking. "It takes more than that to keep us from going insane. Do you know what it is, Charlene? Companionship. Friendship, acceptance. Love. A Watcher needs to fully understand the life of their vampire in order to appreciate their own. Even Tiffany over there knows as much, and she lacks more than half of your abilities."

I looked back to Tiffany. I focused in on her and the way her hands were fidgeting with her napkin. She wasn't only scared, she was sick. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face had grown pale and by the odor coming off of her, she hadn't bathed since I last saw her on the stairs in the Daniels-Freeman building. I tried to read her aura, but came up empty. She was either very shallow, or very freaked, and my bet was on the latter. "What did you do to her?"

"Me? Nothing. I found her like this. I went to the university to check on you and Nadia and found your little friend huddled in a corner behind that old building crying her eyes out. When she mentioned your names I took her in." He turned back to me, his eyes dripping with disdain. "I might ask you the same question: What did you do to her?"

Affronted, I said, "I didn't do anything to her."

"And therein lies the problem," he retorted. "Let me guess. You got upset at her for also hearing Nadia's voice in her head, so you decided to turn her a cold shoulder. You didn't bother to ask her of her woes, but insisted that she understand yours." I was at a loss for words. There was only one way he would know anything about that. "And when she tried to come to you for help you pushed her away just as quickly. You both should consider her lucky that I found her before a renegade, otherwise she might not be walking around in daylight."

I didn't much care for the joke or his insight and told him as much. "Well, Father, you seem to know a lot about me. Maybe you could tell me why I'm afraid to walk around in the daylight and why my vision has changed."

A genuine look of confusion flashed over his face. Nadia, too, also looked at me with that face, the first sign that she was still on planet earth with me. "No, I can't explain that." He reclined back, making the chair squeak and took his hands off Nadia. I quickly pulled my chair up between them before he realized what happened. "That's never happened before either. I'm sorry Charlene, but I can't help you with that one."

Did he just apologize to me?

The whole atmosphere around him started to change. He lost that over confident veneer. Though still confused by all of what he was telling me, I couldn't stop my satisfied smile. I made this seemingly omnipotent master vampire speechless. It was short-lived, however, when I heard a voice that didn't come from our table.

"Charlie?" Tiffany said, coming out of her trance. "Is that really you?"

"No, it's just some dolled-up hooker who looks like me," I shot back. I don't know why I was unleashing my pent-up anger at her; I guess she was the closest target. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I don't know." She looked around the place as if inspecting it for the first time. Tiffany got up and started to slowly make her way towards us. Her face was ashen, even more so than I thought, and it looked like she hadn't eaten for days. "I told him that I was hungry, then the next thing I know I hear your voice." My brow furrowed at Father Darien and what he could have done to her. We may not be dating anymore, but she was still my friend. "Charlie, I'm sorry, please don't be mad at me. I didn't mean to say those things about Nadia. I'm sorry."

My mood at her changed instantly, but face hardened. Why the fuck was she crying and apologizing? Both vampires started reacting to the heavy emotion in the room. Both pairs of eyes started swelling and their auras started to expand. Shit. "Tiffany, sit down," I commanded as directly and calmly as I could. Anything too sudden could set them off. "Tiffany, stop moving and sit down in the chair next to you. Stop crying and wipe your eyes." She gave me a weirded out look, so I came up with something to explain it. "The food should be out here any minute."

"How very noble of you to defend her, Charlene," the Father said through that sinister grin. "You already know the warning signs and acted accordingly. I'm impressed yet again." He turned his attention to Nadia, who was cowering behind me and said, "You picked yourself a good one this time, my little Nadia."

Again I felt him fingering my aura. He may as well been fingering my pussy by this point--it would have had the same effect. I had to consciously fight to keep my heartbeat in check and my fingers off my body. My scars tingled, but only enough to tease me. Tiffany was struggling too, and losing. "Stop it. Both of you," I struggled to say. "We're in a neutral public place, not in your damn club. Let go of us."

"And if I don't?"

"I won't let Nadia come any where near you again." He bellowed out a laugh. As insulting as it was intended, it did distract him from making me and Tiffany into his little sex puppets. I'm afraid he may have already done that to her anyway.

"Strong, determined AND audacious, if not a little stupid, I see why she loves you. You are a gem, my sweet little morsel."

"Who? Tiffany or Nadia?"

"Does it matter?" To me it does. "My, my, young Charlene Candice Coventry, I don't think you'll ever cease to amaze and amuse me. Or yourself. Selfish delusions will not only get you killed, but abandoned as well. And to those scum and renegades, there is nothing more sweet than abandoned blood. I'm sure Nadia has told you as much."

No, not really, but I didn't need to tell him that. "She might have mentioned it." The aroma of my breakfast arriving drew my attention towards the kitchen. The waiter noticed how we were arranged and told the other staff to adjust the kitchen.

I guess he thought we were a bunch of friends wanting to eat together. The scary part: in a twisted way he was right.

"Ah, perfect timing as usual Philip." Father Darien rose up in a show etiquette and manners. The display earned him a a thank you smile from the man. I readjusted my chair as he presented us with our meals. "Would you please inform the chef that I will be eating with these three lovely ladies and to bring that one's food out as quickly as possible?" He nodded over to Tiffany, at whom he waved to come join us. The Father kept his tone polite, but I knew it wasn't a request.

"Of course, sir." Philip took a step back and asked, "Would the ladies be requiring anything else?"

"How about some butter and syrup?" I asked not taking my eyes off the master vampire. Philip just took a small bow and headed for the kitchen. Father Darien kept his eyes on me.

I prepared my coffee how I like it, especially when I was this worn out.

Despite the fact that I wanted to puke, I took a sip. Then another.

Tiffany sat down opposite of me. She refused to meet my eye. Nadia didn't even look up when she passed her. With my food finally in front of me, my blood pressure finally started going down. I'm sure the vampires could smell it. After Philip brought me what I asked for, Father Darien said, "You have questions.

Ask."

Nadia said that to me once. I didn't get all that much out of her. "Okay," I said around a mouthful of pancake, "How come I'm feeling nauseous around food all the time now?" I figured I'd milk him for all her was worth; I wouldn't get the chance very often if I had my way.

"Your body is changing. Your entire perspective of the world is shifting; the senses adjust to fit this change." I listened while I chewed, nodding in time with his words. "You are not becoming a vampire, no, but you are not the same person as you were last week. As far as specifics go, I can't help you much I'm afraid. Everybody reacts to these changes differently."

Fair enough. "A couple of days ago, I puked my guts up at a scent that usually makes me so hungry I can't stand it. Once I was done I had this weird need to just run. It was like my brain was rationalizing me running out of my house in my underwear and into a not-so-nice part of town. Why?"

He turned his attention to Nadia. The man was almost angered by that. "Let me ask you this. Did you hear Nadia's voice at all?

Or think about her in any way, shape or form?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

His expression hardened. Staring down my vampire he asked, "And when you arrived, Nadia was nowhere to be found?"

"I woke up on a discarded couch," I recalled. "I walked around a little bit. It wasn't until Harold showed up that Nadia appeared. Why?"

Father Darien made a tisking noise. "Nadia, you of all people should know better than to do that to your Watcher." He turned his attention back to me and said, "Nadia called out to you, and she wasn't there when you answered. That's a big no-no."

I didn't like his little chiding, so I decided to defend her the only way I could. By blaming me. "I passed out on a couch somewhere. From my house to that spot is nearly fifteen miles. I've never ran that far before.

Don't blame her for that."

"Don't cut yourself short, Charlene. Your body is changing; Nadia has seen to that. That distance should be nothing for you."

"Okay, now I'm confused." I stared at him for a moment to see if he'd volunteer anything. Of course he didn't. "You said that I'm changing, but not into a vampire. What am I becoming exactly?"

I had the group's attention with that. I think they were just as curious as me to find out. "I'm not sure what you're becoming.

I've told you once already, I've never seen anything like you. Your skin is similar to ours in sensitivity. You can see in nearly pitch dark with that azure haze that clouds your vision. Nadia told me that you read the auras of not one, but three prostitutes that night. You can expand your aura to fend off the advances of a vampire, myself included, before giving in. I'm not sure if you did all of this out of either gross necessity, or instinct, but you managed to do it in a week's time. That simply does. Not. Happen."

I'd stopped eating before he finished. I turned to Nadia who gave a little nod. I was happy she was alive that much, but I'd still like to know why neglected to tell me any of this.

I made to say something when Philip arrived with Tiffany's food. She looked at it much like I looked at mine. I gestured for her to take a bite--she can thank me later. I chose my next question over a sip of this awesome coffee. "Why did you bring Tiffany here, and not say, any of the other hundreds of restaurants in this town?"

"I've been a patron here for decades," he answered proudly. "The chef and I went to culinary school together. Plus I'm one of the owners." That makes sense. He seems to know everyone in this town, why not own everything in this town as well? "I brought your little Tiffany with me because she asked me to.

She needed food and a proper gentleman never ignores a request from a lady.

Especially one of such beauty." I sincerely hoped that last part wasn't to make me jealous.

Tiffany purred after taking her first bite. I smiled at that, but the fact that Nadia hasn't said one word this whole time was like someone tap dancing on my last nerve with spiked heels. "Father Darien, what is it that you have over Nadia to keep her silent like this?" I knew his concern was fake, but it made me feel a little better that he at least pretended. "I know you said that she only acts like this when I'm around, but is there anyway you can get her to talk?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't force her to talk." But you could force her into a stupor, I thought dryly. "The two of you need to find that balance we talked about earlier."

"And how do we do that?" My sarcasm was coming back. I didn't like it if only because the Father did. "Is there some sort of ceremony or ritual?"

Father Darien chuckled. "Not exactly. And the fact that you're asking tells me all I need to know."

"About...?" I drawled.

"Forgive me if I seem a bit hesitant to answer that." He took a breath as though he was going to give me another one of his speeches. Even Tiffany stopped to listen. "It's not my place to say anything on the matter. At least not to you. That's up to Nadia."

Goddamnit! "Is there some sort of enigma code that I need to crack to understand you people?" Nadia darted her eyes at me. Siding with him again, huh? I silently chided, even though I'm sure she heard it. "You're her master vampire, you control almost her every thought. It's not your place? My ass."

"I told you once already to watch that little mouth of yours, Watcher." He meant that in the most condescending way possible, but I wasn't hearing it. All of this cryptic talk was pissing me off. "The reason why I will not say anything is because it won't mean anything coming from me. However, coming from your vampire it will mean the world to you. Do you understand now, Charlene?" I nodded. "No you don't, otherwise why would you continue to think that I have all the answers? I may have been around for over two hundred years, so I know a lot, yes, but not everything.

Don't fool yourself into believing so."

I threw my hands up. "Why is it that every time I ask for information, all I get in return is just enough to piss me off?" I let out a little laugh and shook my head. Tiffany was stuffing her face. Not a bad idea. Pancakes make everything better.

I forced all of the rage and anger out of me. A weird sensation came over me as I began to relax. It felt like all of the emotions were coating my aura, similar to what Nadia did when I was attacked. My body started warming to it. I felt Father Darien reach out with his and touch it. He recoiled his hand quickly as if it burned him. I smiled around the food I was chewing.

"Tiffany," Father Darien boomed out, making everyone jumped. I guess he didn't like it as much as I did. This guy cares for us as much as Harold did. "Meet me by the door whenever you're ready to go. I'll take you home." He looked at me and said, "Don't worry about the bill. Just leave Philip a nice tip and I'll take care of the rest."

"That's very kind of you, Father Darien. Thank you." I was too elated by the fact that he was leaving to say anything else. I looked over to Nadia and saw her relief all over her face. Tiffany looked about the same.

The master vampire left after giving us another one of his famous grand gestures. I don't know what happened to that guy, but he was certainly fucked up.

I watched him go, heading towards the manager's office. As soon as the door closed I ducked under the table and looked for some sort of listening device. I let out a nervous breath when I found nothing under the table or any of the chairs.

I got a few more curious looks from the other tables when I crawled under each table searching for what wasn't there. I've never been so relieved to find nothing.

"Charlie, what the hell were you doing?" Tiffany asked me when I sat back down.

"Making sure we were alone," I replied. Nadia's face relaxed a bit further.

"Does that really matter? I'm sure he's got a way of finding out anything he wants to know. I mean, he told me things about me that I hadn't thought about in years." She went back to her eggs.

I let out a little chuckle. I've never known her to think much about anything that didn't revolve around her getting laid. Wait... thought about? Shit. Don't I feel like the fucking dumbass. He doesn't need a device to listen in on us. He'll just tune into our thoughts later. Oh well. Too late to stress about it now. I looked at the two women again and thought this was as good a time as ever. They were going to talk to me. Especially Nadia.

Even with Father Darien gone Nadia still refused to look at me. I really wish she'd quit doing that; beating herself up for reasons beyond my reach wasn't helping our relationship any. I swallowed the massive chunk of syrupy goodness and asked her, "Mind telling me what that little talk was all about?"

The subdued vampire slowly lifted her eyes. When was she crying? "The truth," she answered bluntly. Her breathing came and went through trembling lips.

I shook my head. "No, it wasn't. What exactly are you afraid of, Nadia?" She looked away and at the door Father Darien just entered. "I mean, I don't think he'll hurt you for telling me things I need to know, will he?" She shook her head. "Do you think he wants the best for you?" She nodded, still refusing to look at me. "Then what's the problem?"

The vampire held back another sob. "When he found me, I was lower than the scum that I killed in my basement." I nodded my head, she's told me that already, but Tiffany looked at her like she'd just seen a ghost. That wasn't far off. "He made me do things... things that went against everything I knew was right. He used my new instincts to create... this." She finished by motioning with her hands down her body. "Father Darien took me in from the streets and molded me into the very monsters I feared when I out there. I hate him. I love him, but I hate him. Because I owe him my life my good senses tell me to defend him against anything, much like they do with you, Charlene, and it's those same instincts that tell me to get away from him." She took a breath to keep her emotions in check. "I want to get away from him but I can't. I need his protection to keep me alive. I know what happens to vampires that don't have a master looking out for them. I've lived it, and I'm not going back to that life."

I dropped my fork, suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore. And apparently, neither was Tiffany. "Let me get this straight, Nadia. Father Darien took you in and then brainwashed you into becoming something you hate?" I saw the fire ignite behind those swelling eyes. My heart broke. "Nadia did you not hear yourself just now? You are the vampire equivalent of Stockholm and battered woman syndrome."

She didn't like that. The vampire's predatory instincts overtook her subdued facade. Tiffany squealed when Nadia pounced on me. We fell back, rolling over the chair. I held my ground knowing that if I moved I was dead, Watcher or not. Then I saw the pain flash over her face. She didn't want to do this; I could see the battle waging in her head as she fought off her natural instincts. I crossed the line by telling her what she needed to hear.

Her breath was hot on my skin, causing my scars to start tingling. Shit. I had minutes before her aura over took mine and reason gave way to sexual desire. I could feeling building in my pussy even before she jumped me. I averted my gaze to the other people in the room, hoping they would either go back to their meals or just leave already. If I lost this, they wouldn't want to see what happens.

Fighting off the instincts in my own head, I gave Nadia instructions with as firm of voice as possible.

"Nadia... get up and sit down in your chair. You don't want to... do this. I'm your Watcher, Nadia. I'm here for you, but not like this. ...You hear me?

We'll discuss everything later, but you... you have to gain control of yourself."

I felt her aura dissipating from mine. The muscles between my legs relaxed a bit. The vampire backed off and sat back in her seat.

I lurched myself up. I noticed that Tiffany had a hand between her clenched thighs and the other had a death grip on one of her boobs. My eyes went wide at how easily she fell prey to the sexual tension the pheromones pulled on us. I hoped I wasn't like that my first time. Placing my chair back where it belonged, I asked Tiffany if everything was alright.

She let out a breathy, "Yeah." My ex blinked a few times to regain her bearings. "What the hell was that?"

"An overreaction to a simple question," I said staring at Nadia. "They have a habit of doing that, don't they." Nadia nodded. She sat back in her chair like a beaten child. Her eyes were still vamped out, but I knew she wasn't going to act on it again. I made a face at the throbbing in my lower back. I looked at the food, then to the two women around me. "You two done? I know I am." We had to get out of here, this was too much for all of us. Both nodded, Tiffany more so than Nadia.

As we left the dining area, Nadia made a quick detour to the manager's office. I tried to protest, but she slammed the door in my face. I heard her voice in my head again. "Wait for me outside. I won't be long."

Tiffany and I sat on the bench outside while Nadia spoke with Father Darien. At least, I hope they were just talking. We've been waiting out here for nearly ten minutes now. I tried to break the ice with my ex with the usual small talk stuff, but she didn't want to answer anything beyond those one word answers that have been pissing me off lately.

"Damn it Tiff, say something," I said for the fifth time. My skin was warming up and my eyes started to hurt. I needed some sort of a distraction from the elements and she was the closest thing I had. "How did Father Darien ever stumble into you?" She looked at me like I'd lost my mind or something. "And no, I don't believe one word he said about it. That guy is a creatine; I've spoken with him before and he creeped me out then too."

Tiffany just threw up her hands and looked away. "That's just like you, Charlie." She let out an exasperated sigh. "Can't you see what you've been turned into by all this shit? Ever since you met that little skank you've been a complete bitch to me and all of our friends. You haven't called me, or anybody else for that matter. You've practically disappeared from school--"

"Stop right there!" I shouted. Blood rushed into my face, adrenaline surged through my body. "You don't have the slightest idea of what you're talking about. I was attacked and raped. Twice. Nadia saved my life and took me in when no one else gave two shits about me. I haven't hear word one from you, Travis, or Henry, either. A phone works in two directions, Tiffany. Why didn't YOU call ME?" Tiffany started crying at that point.

Good, cause I wasn't having any of her shit. Not today. I would have started crying too had I not been so pissed off. After another second of this, I took a breath and said, "I'll ask again, how is it that Father Darien found you on campus?"

"I don't know," she said after a shaky breath. "I just remember hearing Nadia's voice in my head, telling me to leave you alone, then you ran down the stairs, then I was alone. I made my way outside, curled up in a little ball, and tried to disappear." She wiped her eyes and looked at me. "It hurt the way you went to her, Charlie. I saw the way you two looked at each other." Tiffany looked up, trying to decide what words to use. "Father Darien, as you call him, brought me back to his house and let me stay there. I told him about the fight I had with my parents the after we all went to the Were-House. He helped me, Charlie. More than you or Travis could have."

Adrenaline surged through me. My anger shifted to dire concern. "Tiffany, what did he do to you in there? Tell me everything."

"Well, at first, he just let me sleep," she started, sobering up. "I really don't remember much else besides this weird need to masterbate all the time. That's the most I remember about it all--being really, really horny. I was afraid to ask him about it." I knew exactly what she was talking about. Inwardly, I was smiling in understanding and shaking my head.

"Then there was the heat. It must have been like a hundred degrees in that house night and day. He thought it was amusing that I walked around in my underwear all the time, but never said anything. He treated me like a lady. He told me some things that were exactly what I needed to hear, so I just stuck with him, and then we decided to come here to get me something to eat."

Something about that last part wasn't adding up; my inward smile fell. "He never once made a pass at you? Or tried to bite you?"

She shook her head. "No, though he did call me his little morsel a few times. Since he's a vampire, I just assumed it was a pet name he gave to us humans." Tiffany smiled as if him calling her that was a joke.

"Tiffany this is serious," I said, grabbing her shoulders. "You've checked yourself over completely? No bite marks anywhere?" She nodded and kept smiling as though she was proud of herself. Something in my gut clicked. This just wasn't right. He just told me about how much vampires savor the taste of abandoned blood, and, by all accounts, that's how he found her. Then the night I was attacked by Harold flashed through my mind. Where his teeth stopped against my neck wasn't on top of my scars. He was going to leave his own mark, hidden by my hair. "Tiffany, lift your hair."

"What?"

"Hold your hair over you head and let me look at the back of your neck." After mumbling an okay she did as I asked. My heart sank when I saw a pair of puncture marks atop one another just off center. Right next to the vertebrae. She couldn't have missed my disgruntled sigh. If everything that bastard just said was true, then she'd become one of those low-life buffets on the streets begging to be bitten. I almost started crying, and probably would have if my lungs worked.

"What?" I put my face into my hands. "Charlie, what is it?" I stood up and started pacing. "Charlie, you're scaring me."

"He bit you," I said softly, barely above a whisper.

"What?"

"I said, he bit you," I repeated. Her face went even more pale than mine. She had no idea how fucked up her life was about to become. And there was nothing I could do to help her. Hurt and confusion melted onto her face. "That's why you don't remember much, except what he wants you to remember." A light went off in my head, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. "Tiffany, listen to me very carefully. If you ever start feeling... off about any situation. Any room you walk into, any person you talk to, I mean absolutely anything, get out of there." I didn't have the heart to tell her anything more, it was too broken.

She started tearing up again. "What are you talking about , Charlie." I shook my head and apologized. "What do you mean you're sorry? Charlie!"

"... I... I don't know what to say, Tiff," a tear escaped. I crouched down and held her hands. "I'm sorry. I should have listened to you." This wasn't fair. She didn't deserve this. This wasn't fair. This wasn't fucking fair! "Tiffany, I want you to call me as soon as you get home. Okay?"

"Why?"

"I just need to know that you got home safely." I was biting back my frustration, trying desperately to not unleash it on her. "This is serious, Tiff. Please?"

I heard the door crack open. Nadia walked out of the restaurant and grabbed my arm.

"We need to leave." I tried to shake her off of me, but failed. "Now! I need to get you out of here before--"

The door opened again. The devil himself emerged from the shadow. "YOU SON OF A BITCH BASTARD!!" Nadia's arms were on my middle, pulling me away. A wicked grin spread on his face. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER!"

My answer came to me in my head. "Nothing she didn't like." That was the same thing he said about what he was doing to Nadia not twenty minutes ago.

"YOU FUCKING PRICK! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"Charlene, stop it please," Nadia pleaded as she dragged me away. Betrayal ripped at my soul. "The best way to help her right now is to leave."

"FUCK YOU!"

"Get in the car, Charlene." I didn't care if she was vamping out on me, I was going to kill this mother fucker. "I'm begging you. Don't make this harder than it has to be."

I blanched. My stomach turned over. "I can't trust any of you." I said it just loud enough to hear.

"You are one us, Charlene," the Father said to me.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Nadia shouted, tears threatened to escape her eyes.. "LET ME TAKE HER HOME!"

I felt her aura expanding. I accepted it like a security blanket. My mind went numb. I forgot how to think. In less than a week everything I knew was turned on it's head. One of my best friends was going to become something less than human. Something that even renegades consider beneath them. I started flailing my arms when someone tried to push me into the car.

"Charlene please, stop." That sweet voice seemed so far away. I think my hand found her face. "Charlene, please, I need you. Stop!"

I couldn't think. All I wanted to do, other than kill the Father, was curl up on my own bed, with my family around me and pretend this was all just a bad nightmare. I just kept repeating, "I want to go home, Nadia... Take me home..."

"Get in the car, Charlene. I'll take you home."

"Oh my god, Charlie!" My mother screamed when we came through the door. Nadia was carrying me as if I was some lame and frightened child. There was actually some truth to that. "Who are you?"

"Get her a glass of water," Nadia said as she mad her way to the couch. "My name is Nadia. I'm a friend of Charlene's."

"What happened to her?"

Nadia spoke up quickly, as if lying to humans was second-nature. "She fainted. Can you please get her a glass of water?" Well, not exactly lying, but close enough.

My vampire set me down on that heavenly softness. I rolled over, away from everyone. I didn't want to talk anymore--I had enough of it. I didn't want to be a part of this anymore. I tried to accept it. I tried to understand it all, but all the lies and twisted truths had run their course. I was done.

I felt Nadia sit down next to me. Mom was doing something in the kitchen. I couldn't stand to look at either one of them, and for two different reasons. I was mad as hell at Nadia, and I was too ashamed of myself to face my mother. I swatted the hand that came to my shoulder, but it didn't move. I could tell who it was by the temperature of the skin. "Go away Nadia," I all but cried.

"Charlene?" she mumbled. I felt a tear fall onto my cheek. Why was she crying. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have said something about this. But he wouldn't let me. I wanted to so bad, please believe me."

"Nadia! Shut up! I'm done listening to this crap. You've used me in more ways than I thought possible. You're all full of shit. I'm sick of it." I swore I wasn't going to cry. I wasn't. "Leave me alone."

Nadia sniffled, but didn't move away. "I can't." I rolled over, her face inches from mine and filled with more emotions than I've seen on her all week. "I can't, Charlene. I promised I'd never leave you." Another tear landed on my face. "Don't send me away."

I sat up when I felt something off about the room. "Mom!" I stammered. I don't think my voice was as shocked as her face. "How long have you been standing there?"

I noticed the cup started shaking. "Long enough," she mumbled. "Is there something you want to tell me?" she asked, coming towards us. Nadia sat back and looked away. She offered me the glass of water and suddenly became the astute woman I knew her to be. "A friend, huh?"

She gave the vampire a good once over and said, "Must be a pretty close friend."

Shit. There was no way I could explain any of this to my mother. "You could say that. She let me borrow some of her clothes when mine got..." I thought of a good word to describe it. "Dirty."

"And why haven't I met her yet?"

I took a sip of my water. "We just met this past week, mom. I planned on bringing her by sometime soon to meet everyone, but she insisted that it be today." God, now I'm the one whose lying.

Mom raised an eyebrow. Why can''t I do that? "Sounds more like the two of you are dating. I saw the way she was holding you just now."

"Yeah it does, but it's not like that." I swung my legs over the edge of the couch but didn't dare stand up. That's why Nadia carried me in here in the first place. I tried to run away, but only got about two steps before my vision started getting dark and I fell over. I looked over at her, but she was cowering away as if my mom was Father Darien. "She helped me out some at school and became friends. There's not much else to say." I hated lying to her, but that's the only way I knew to get out of telling her the truth.

She looked between us both several times. I could hear the clock in the dining room tick, even without my new ears. Any idiot could smell the tension between us. I kept an honest-to-god look on my face as best as I could. "That still doesn't explain why she had to carry you into the house, Charlie." I gulped. "Why don't you tell me what happened."

Damn it.

"Well, Nadia and I went to Carlton's for some lunch," I started, glancing at the sullen vampire, "And I guess I ate too much. She drove me home when I told her that I didn't feel so good. I got out of the car and nearly passed out." Mom kept an blank expression the whole time, as usual, rendering me incapable of anticipating her response. Sometimes I think that she was trained to be an interrogator by the CIA or something. "I'm still not feeling all that great, so I wasn't about to tell her no. I thought it was a nice gesture."

"You look like you're feeling much better."

Not really, I thought. When I didn't say anything she added, "I'll be outside in my garden if you need anything. You father will be home at six." She looked over to Nadia. "And I expect you to stay for dinner tonight." The vampire just nodded.

"Where's Sven and Syliva?" I asked when I realized just how quiet the house really was.

"They're out on the road for the next couple of weeks." I couldn't help but notice the pride in her voice. She was the one who taught him how to sing. She walked towards the back door, pausing only to take one more look at us. Her mouth curled up a little, but her eyes told me the truth. She didn't believe me.

Nadia sat down next to me. I didn't look at her. She tried to reach out to me, both physically and mentally. I jerked away at both. "Don't touch me," I snapped. "And leave my aura the hell alone."

"Why?"

"Because I said no. Or does that word not matter to you people?" I felt my pulse speed up. Nadia did too; good, then she'll know that I'm genuinely pissed off.

"Of course it does." She didn't answer that with any degree of confidence. "But it's our nature to be predators. It's not that it doesn't mean anything... that's why most of us go insane." She was crying again, and the vulnerability in her voice made me want to believe it. "Our very nature battles with our conscience and usually wins."

"I thought you enjoyed holding power--"

"You think I enjoy this!"

she shot back standing up. "You think I want to keep attacking people to stay alive? I hate it. It tears me apart every time I feed, even on you. I don't want this life. If I could take it out of me I would, but I can't." Tears were streaming down her beautiful face. It was like a knife twisting inside of my heart to look at her. Damn it, I'm not going to start crying. "I hate living like this. Father Darien knows that and he plays on it. And there's not a gaddamn thing I can do about it." She collapsed onto the floor. I had to fight my instinct to help her up or hold her. She needed to get this out. This was rage, not a pity party. "I can't go back there, Charlene. Please don't send me away. He'll find me and take me back. I can't go back... I can't...."

Despite the fact I was mad as hell at her, it tore me up to see her like this. Even through all the tears and pain I could see she still had more to get out. What she said to me before we got in the car came rushing back to me. "Why do you need me?" She looked at me with a questioning expression. "It's a simple question, Nadia. It requires only a simple answer. Why do you need me?"

"After everything you've seen so far, you still have to ask me that?" Her voice was disbelieving at best.

I shook my head. "No. I don't NEED to ask it. What I do need is to hear you answer it in as few words as possible. Spare me the usual crap and give it to me straight, for once."

She let out s lightly hysterical giggle. "Look at me, Charlene. I'm losing my mind at just the thought of you throwing me out. We vampires rely on our Watchers for stability, in every sense of the word. You are my lifeline to normalcy." She sniffled again and wiped her nose. "Watchers are our willing companions in all of this."

"Willing? I seem to remember you attacking me first... twice actually. You call that willing?" She shook her head vigorously. A painful memory flashed over her face. "Fath... that son of a bitch said something about you not having any sway over me, or something."

"And you said he was lying."

"And you said he wasn't, so I'm curious about your first attack on me. At the pool game." Her eyes turned down in guilt. I knew something was off about what she said before. "You told me that you just expanded your aura to coat mine. But every other time you've done that it had the exact opposite effect. Why and how did it happen like that?"

"It was Father Darien," she said to the floor. A sheepish smile came to her lips. "I knew from the start that there was something different about you. I told him that I've been following you around, trying to get close to you. I used his influence better my own. I didn't intend to give you a near-orgasm right there, that was his doing. What I smiled at was your resilience and willingness to fight me off. It came naturally to you. I made the decision to make you my Watcher then." She looked up at me and paused. I didn't know what to believe anymore--that sounded way too convenient. Then again, after what I went through earlier today, that version seemed much more plausible.

"I'm sorry Charlene, there is only one way I knew how to do that. That's why I bit you at the club that night." Again, convenient but plausible. "Father Darien told me dress the part, so I put on my best gown and followed you there. I don't know how much of our 'moment' you remember, but I'm sure you didn't feel the sexual rush until it became sexual." Thinking back on it, she was right, she used her aura to tease me, not rape me like Father Dick-face did.

The memory made my pussy moisten a bit. My scars were tingling in time to the tightening of my inner muscles. I squirmed to keep myself under control. I'm sure Nadia could sense it.

"Okay... um... why did you need his approval?" Please scars, not now.

"He's the de facto leader of the coven," she answered ad if it were common knowledge among humans. "He's the master vampire of this area. I don't necessarily need his blessing, but it's socially unacceptable to take a Watcher without it."

That was a new one. "Socially unacceptable?" She nodded. "To who?"

"The coven. You met a good number of them at his place." Guess that explains the name. I gulped at the thought of asking my next question.

"And what he did to Tiffany is 'socially acceptable'?"

"I don't know what he did to her," she said with remorse in her voice. "But from what I saw, both yes and no. Yes because he still needs to feed. No because he has a fairly extensive support network for that, so he needlessly turned an innocent into a blood whore. But no one will say anything because of his status of master vampire."

I thought of several things to say, and they all turned into something that I was afraid to ask. After everything she's shown me about her loyalties, I didn't know how she would answer."Would you give me to him if he asked you?"

I gulped at her determined expression. "What makes you think he hasn't already?" I blinked in shock. "I've given myself to him twice to prevent that from happening." I think my heart stopped. Se rose to her feet with her body stiff. It was like she was holding back from hitting something--hitting me--out of frustration. "That's how much you mean to me, Charlene. I will stop at nothing to keep you safe. I won't let you end up like the squaller feast I used to feed on."

My mood changed instantly. "Why didn't you tell me all this before? I wouldn't have--"

"I told you I'd explain everything," Nadia interrupted. "I just couldn't do it in front of Father Darien or anyone in the coven. That's another thing that's frowned upon. I'm actually not supposed to take you into the coven's house until we have established a balance."

"What does that mean anyway?"

Again, a painful memory flashed over her face. "We call it a balance, but rather it's an eternal bond that isn't supposed to be broken. It takes a lot of strength and trust of both Watcher and vampire to successfully orchestrate that bond. The painful paradox about it is I will live much longer than you will."

"Okay," I said hesitantly, "What's involved?"

"I will have nearly drain you of your blood and... and replace it with my own." I sat back, thinking of what it felt like when that happened the first time. "While I'm recovering, you'll have to... keep me alive with the usual feedings. Without it, my body will wither since I'll be too weak to hunt."

"And you've done this before?"

She nodded.

"Once. It was one the few people I've ever trusted that much. I found out from some of the others about the risks, but kept those from her. She insisted. It took me two weeks to give in. We had everything planned out. My brother would be on stand-by with that cast iron skillet in case I lost control. The event itself happened as smoothly as I could have hoped. It was what happened afterward that frightens me. Her body began resisting the blood. The extra enzymes were being attacked by her defense systems. I felt it myself when I fed on her. It was awful. My body attacked back and won, but she was losing. I watched her body kill itself in a slow death for three years."

I think I understood the whole "going insane" bit now. I know I would after half the shit she's told me. The idea of standing up and giving her a sympathy came ad went. "Who was it?"

"My mother." A new wave of pain and regret washed over her. "After she died, my brothers and sister kicked me out of the house. They said that I was a plague. I agreed. No matter how I looked at it, it was because of me that my father left and my family fell apart. I left that night without saying a word. I never saw my brothers again. I found my sister once, selling her body for a meal to eat. After that I moved out here where no one knew me and I didn't know them."

I put my hand up to stop her. "Tell me some other time." I promised myself, twice in fact, that I wouldn't start crying. I knew that if she started telling me that part of the story I would break that promise. "I see why you wouldn't want a balance with me after that. Is that what Harold and Darien referring to with their 'keep her on a leash' comments?"

She just looked at me. It was a look that made my skin crawl. In the seconds it took for her to answer I thought about telling her not to. "Yes. If you are bound to me then only my touch can ignite your scars. The pheromones will still affect you, yes, but I can teach you how to stifle it."

I blinked. "You said we were bound."

"I don't know why I said that." That's freaking great. "I am bound to you by virtue of my mark.

You claimed to be my Watcher in front of Father Darien and more than half the coven. I am bound to you, but you are not bound me except by your word. Those in the coven won't touch you; it's one of the rules of tradition--and they know I'll kill whoever tries--but renegades don't care about the rules. They don't care about my death threats, especially if they're starving. They'll risk it."

"So until we go through with establishing a balance, I'm fair game to every cretin out there," I said, stifling my own hysterical giggle. "But to go through with find that balance, we both risk dying, me more slowly than you." She gestured as if to say, "basically".

"That's just fucking peachy. What happened with all your other Watchers?"

She fell to her knees right in front of me. "I never formed that balance. I was going to with Marianna, but she left when one of the other coven members beckoned her away. I learned the hard way that those closest to you can also be your worst enemies."

Nadia reached out and grabbed me hand. She knew I could use a little bit of comfort too it seemed. "Do you understand why I need you, Charlene?" I nodded and told her yes. "I've seen what happens to unbound Watchers, and what happens to those Watchers who hasten into it. It's a hard decision for me to come to. I won't force you into a balance with me, and I won't let anyone touch you. Father Darien most of all. I swear on my soul that you will not become some vampire plaything. You are my Watcher, Charlene. I need you."

I almost thought she was going to end that speech with three little words. At least, that's what it felt like. After everything that's happened today I still had plenty to be upset about. I still don't know why she waited this long to tell me all of this, but I wasn't going to push the issue. I guess she needed it to come at the right time. But now that I knew this stuff, what was I going to do with it? She placed a high value on the friendship--if you can call it that--for no other reason that I accepted her for who and what she is. And in return for that she's protected me at least twice now.

I scarcely noticed her inching towards me. I felt her arms wrap around my neck and pull towards her. Our lips met in the softest touch I've ever felt. My hands grabbed her cheeks. Our mouths danced in a beautiful ballet. One of her hands brushed against my scar, setting my groin ablaze. I gasped, arching my neck back. Nadia's wet tongue traveled up and down the length of my throat.

Without warning she grabbed my hair and forced my head to the side, exposing her mark. Her other hand started rubbing my tits. I so hoped she was going to bite me. My pussy was absolutely drench right now. Her teeth passed over the scars several times. "Don't tease me," I breathed. I sucked in the air when those marvelous twin pearls pierced my skin. Nadia dipped her rubbing hand under my skirt and panties.

With her teeth and fingers inside of me, I didn't know how much I could take before I passed out. I didn't care that we were in the living room, I just wanted to enjoy this. Her lips attached themselves to my skin. Her talented tongue dipped into the open wounds as her probing fingers tickled my G-spot. Her thumb rolled over my exposed clit in tiny circles. I was gonna cum before too long. Nadia moaned against my neck, almost pushing me over the edge. She started grinding her crotch against my knee. I could feel her wetness through the denim.

My pussy erupted in a tidal wave of girl juice. Her palm and my panties caught most of it, the rest dripped onto my skirt. Nadia reared her head back when I felt her pussy erupt in a similar fashion. She was quick to finish tonguing my bleeding neck to keep blood off my mom's sofa. Whatever stains I left behind were going to be enough fun to explain. Her hand slipped out of my borrowed panties, pulling some of the sticky juices with it. I let out a little giggle at the noise it made.

Even after the scar tissue healed over, Nadia continued to nuzzle against my neck. She licked her fingers clean then wrapped her arms around me. I held her there, she wasn't leaving. I think I owed her that much for all she's done for me so far. A pang of guilt hit me. She was ready to kill herself to keep me safe and I was two seconds away from throwing her out. I could see why she was so torn; I needed to start treating her with the same respect she showed me. Why not start right here, right now? I smiled when I heard her cooing beneath my touch. Fortunately for us, mom was still outside; I could hear her cussing at her plants. And just as unfortunate, the moment I closed my eyes to relax, the fucking phone started to ring.

The End? Not even close. Stay tuned!!