Midnight Forest (full version)

I sat there on the bus looking out the rainy window at the deserted streets. Every one seems to go quiet every time we come through this place, and I think I'm the only one that really knows why.  There was a gang that went around and killed everyone they could that was innocent to see how much they could push each other, and see who would fall back first. Most of the people did die, and somehow so did the gangs, yet I can still see everyone.  They are ghosts or restless spirits, call them what you will.1

      I was thinking how the bus never stops around here right when it did.  Everyone turned and looked at the front of the bus, including me. A guy about 18 or so walked onto the bus.  He had auburn colored hair.  He was sort of tall, about my height, I think. His eyes, they were a crystal blue color. He looked down the bus at the back where I was sitting. There weren't many seats left on the bus. Looking at me, he noticed there was no one sitting by me. Oh great, was all I thought. I prefer sitting alone on buses. I'm just that paranoid.  He sat beside me. Everyone was looking at him, even the little kids.  The bus moved on.2

      “My name is Aubrey,” he said looking straight ahead.  He was wearing a black trench coat like mine, cool.3

      “I'm Damia.” I said.4

      “That's not your real name,” he looked at me,” is it?5

      I looked at him somewhat confused, “It's Amber, how did you know? ...And I prefer Damia.”6

      He grinned somewhat; well not necessarily grinned it was more like a twitch of his lips. “I have my ways.” He looked back to the front of the bus.7

We were past the old district and a girl came on the bus, she's always on and is annoying as hell. “Hi Damia!” she said all happy like.8

      I cringed, “Go away, I don't like you, I despise you, keep away from me.  Keep your pink frilly assed shirts and pants away from me.” was my response.  She did that preppy scoff and sat down behind Aubrey and me.9

      “Hi! Who are you!? You are cute! ” Aubrey had a look like he just smelled something really nasty. I couldn't blame him.10

      I said, “He's a German exchange student and doesn’t know much English.  And he's really skittish, don't do any quick movements, he might kill you.”  She shut up and Aubrey was smiling. The first time he smiled and he looked even better.  Who, me? Like someone?...no........... 11

“Thank you, ” Aubrey whispered.  I just grinned and nodded.  The prep behind us found someone else to bother, so he was safe to talk.12

      I asked, “What classes do you have? ”13

      “I don't know for sure yet, but I think it is Geometry, Chemistry and Advanced English, and I don't know my fourth block. ”  Hmmm....all my classes, yay.........14

      We just sat there for the rest of the ride. I had brought out my CD player to drown out the prep and offered an earpiece.  He took it and sat there quietly.  I looked around the bus and saw people still looking warily at him.  I couldn't blame them, he had an odd presence around him. A little while later we arrived at the school. I told him where the office was at and went to my class. I sat in the far back corner while the teacher was getting everyone's attention. “Class, I have some exciting news today!” I snickered, “We have a new student, his name is.... oh, dear, what was your name again?"15

      “Aubrey” he stated, looking at everyone in the room. I grinned.  He had a deep voice, I just noticed.  It was smooth, and somewhat... comforting, I think, I don’t really know… But I liked it.  There 's almost always no one sitting beside me, so he sat there.  The teacher looked back and forth between us nervously. I grinned slightly, Aubrey was doing the same.16

      We went through the class and Aubrey already found it boring.  Mrs. Petty kept forgetting what her schedule was and had to keep going to her desk, that’s how it is every day.17

      The bell rang and everyone ran to the door, Aubrey and I just walked out. “What’s your next class?” I asked.18

      “Chemistry with Mr. Crawford.”19

      “That’s my next class too. Follow me.”  I started walking and looked back, he’s descent, he wasn’t looking at my ass.20

      We walked into Mr. Crawford’s class and walked towards the very back.   My best friend, Neko came into the room.  “Hey, Neko. Oh, this,” I pointed at Aubrey, “Is Aubrey.”  Neko looked at him and had the came expression I had when I first looked at him.21

      Aubrey said, “Hi..... Neko.....”22

      Her response was a “Hi...” and she looked him over some more.  She looked at me and said, “Where do you find these people?”23

      I grinned, “I don’t know, where do you find your ‘friends?’” Her “friends” I was talking about were ghosts that visit her house whenever they want, it gets annoying sometimes. And a couple of guy friends that are fun. Though they don’t come around any more, the people don’t at least.24

      She shrugged, “They find me...” We grinned, and Aubrey was just standing there.  I showed him where I usually sat and he sat beside me. Neko sat in front of us.  25

      Mr. Crawford came bouncing over to us and said, “He’s new, isn’t he. Yeeahhh. What’s his name?” He grinned, goofily.26

      "My name's Aubrey...."  Aubrey looked at me unsure, probably wondering if Mr. Crawford was sane or not, I was leaning towards the latter one...27

      "That's a neat name isn't it Amber?" I just nodded. He skipped off, literally skipped off.... Short, fat teachers aren't supposed to be hyper like he is.... Aubrey had a more worried expression. I couldn't blame him.28

      Aubrey looked at Neko. "Neko..." He paused." That's not your real name either, is it?"29

      Neko looked back at him," No, it isn't... it's Jessica, how.. did you know?..."30

      He grinned just as he had when I had asked the same question, "I have my ways."31

      We went through the rest of the day.  Aubrey survived with some of my help.  In third block he met Justin, who didn't know what to think of Aubrey.  Fourth block, was band for me.  I had guessed he wasn't in band, you kind of know if you’re in band or not…  He hadn’t ended up on my bus either, which surprised me, because I would think that he got off in the Old District...  32

      The bus doesn't go into the Old District to get to my house.  I get to walk through it... yay......  I make sure to have my CD player so I can't hear the ghosts, and I have a book so as not to pay attention to them.  But it does get rather annoying when they go through the pages of my book to get my attention...  33

      I got off the bus and watched the spirits come towards me. I’m surprised they’re not bored of me yet.  When the bus was out of view, I went over to the nearest dumpster and got out my sword and wrist sheaths. I put my jacket in their place. You never know what you’ll encounter here...  I strapped everything on and turned up the volume on my CD player and started walking.34

Chapter break, possibly ^^ ……. >.>’…..- -35

      After about 15 minutes or so, I came to the old park area.  It had trees everywhere. They were a golden brown because it was Autumn now. I turned off my CD player.  This place, I hate the most, because you can’t see if anything is going to attack you or not.  Also, there were no spirits here.  I have yet to find out why.36

      Right them, the vampire I hated the second most came out from behind a tree......  Oh, did I mention it gets dark really early here?...... Yay..........note my lack of enthusiasm....37

      “Jenricho, go away.”  I had stopped walking.38

      “But why, my little one? Have I done some--,” he started but I cut him short.39

      “Don’t fuck with me, you know why I hate you, and you have some nerve showing up right now...”40

      “Haha, but my little one--”41

      “Stop calling me that, I’m almost as tall as you are.  And I sure as hell am not yours. What was with trying to kill me last week??”42

      “Young one, I was just playing with you.” He grinned showing his fangs.43

      “Playing hell! You almost took off my head!!” I threw a wrist knife at him, just because I wanted to.  I knew it probably wouldn’t hit him either, he could dodge it easily...44

      “Why are you wasting you knives, you might need them. You thought it your self that you would not hit me.”45

      “Stay out of my head!” I drew out my sword and held it out in front of me, ready to attack, if needed. This sword has a full silver blade, rather expensive, compared to regular swords, but when you have friends like mine, you get them for free…..well money wise it’s free….46

      I heard a tree branch creak above me. I looked up just as Aubrey landed gracefully beside me. He slowly pulled his sword out of its back sheath, with a sharp, loud, shing sound.  He looked at me, and I looked into his eyes.  He didn’t look like the Aubrey I somewhat knew, he looked wild, or.... Well, I can’t really explain it; he just didn’t look like himself.  47

      He said, in a different voice. I think it was deeper, “We--I thought you might like help.” He smiled, still it didn’t seem like Aubrey. Why did he say “we” at first, I sensed no one around other than him. 48

      I just nodded.  I heard Jenricho laugh, “You two think you can take me?”49

      Aubrey and I looked at each other, he might not seem like himself, but I feel I can still trust him to back me up for this fight.... We nodded at the same time and looked back to Jenricho.50

      He charged at us, still grinning.  Aubrey started moving to the right. I moved towards the left. Jenricho was going for me, ignoring Aubrey. Rule one while fighting, “Don’t ignore any of your opponents.” I swung out with my sword and it hit something.  He paused holding his arm. “You little Bitch.” And Aubrey came up behind him, his sword raised to stab into Jenricho’s back.51

      The next thing I knew, was Jenricho was behind me. He was holding my arm, tight enough to tell me not to move, or he would break something. Ah, it was going to be bruised tomorrow…  He placed his sword’s tip digging into my back, not piercing skin yet, I don’t think.  He stopped and whispered into my ear, ”I knew you couldn’t take me.”  I looked at Aubrey, who grinned and held his sword up in front of him and split it into two swords.  Jenricho pressed the tip of his sword deeper into my back, yeah it pierced. I gasped, thinking he was probably going to kill me. Aubrey just grinned wider and disappeared out of my sight.  The next thing I heard was Jenricho gasped and the sword fell.  I felt a warm spray of blood on the back of my neck. 52

      I heard behind me. “But you never said anything about me.” He laughed softly, enjoyably.  I saw Jenricho’s body fall to my left and his head fall to my right.  I turned to look at Aubrey, ignoring the blood on me. He was grinning, then suddenly his expression went blank then to pain, and he fell into a crouching position, putting his hands on top of his head screaming a mix of a scream and a growl. 53

      I crouched down beside him and put my hands on his shoulders. He fell forward, catching himself with his hands and sat there gasping.  I whispered, “Aubrey?” he didn’t answer.  I asked again louder, “Aubrey…?”54

      “Damia?” he kind of piteously gasped.55

      I answered, “Yes, Aubrey… I’m here…” Sitting there confused trying to help someone you have no idea what is wrong with is hard…. I didn’t know what to do.  I helped him sit down, in the blood and everything else. Still holding his shoulders, I sat too and looked into his eyes.  He was himself again.  I sighed a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Aubrey…? Are you ok?” He just nodded.  "What just happened to you just then...?” he shook his head and stood up.  He stumbled and I automatically caught him.  He looked at me with a confused expression.56

      “You’re worried about me? Why….? You hardly know me, and…” He trailed off. “That happens to me when ever he wants to come out.”57

      “You probably saved my life, and you’re a friend. I see some weird shit sometimes and that I can just add to my list. …Who is this ‘He’?”58

      He still looked a little confused… I wonder if anyone ever trusted him before… “I don’t know who he is, he just shows up sometimes…”59

      “Do you think he is a demon?”60

      “I don’t know, he might be.  But he might be another personality or something…”61

      “If he was a demon, then I could try to get him out of you, if you want…”62

      “No. He’s a part of me.  He knows more techniques in battles, killing, and winning. He’s just better than me in all that…”63

      “Ok, then…” I didn’t know what to say.  Aubrey just stood there. I guess he was thinking… “Do you need somewhere to recuperate?  My house is just a little farther.” I had to break the silence.64

      He nodded, “Yes, please.”65

      I nodded too, “Ok, can you walk easily?”66

      He nodded again.67

      I started walking towards my house again.  He followed.68

Possibly another break of chapters. Wooo! ….. ^^…..>.>’……- -69

      A few minutes later, we arrived at my house.  It’s not too big, but not too small, either. It’s manageable.  We walked in, and my father was sitting in the chair, I guess he was worried.  I usually get home at around the same time every day. Heh, I guess he noticed I was a little late…...70

      He looked over at us,” What happened?”71

      I answered,” It was Jenricho again…72

      “Are you ok?”  He came over to look at me.73

      “Yeah, I only have a small hole in my back, probably just a small cut.  He probably would have killed me if Aubrey wasn’t following me.”74

      Only then did he notice Aubrey.75

      Aubrey looked at him, “Hello, sir.”76

      My dad looked him over, “Hello… Aubrey was it?” Aubrey nodded. “Thank you, very much for helping Amber.”77

      He nodded again,” We-I was just having a little fun.”  He looked behind my father at our collection of weapons and had a very slight smile on his face.  I grinned at that too.78

      My dad smiled a tiny bit and said, “So Aubrey, what dysfunctional problem do you have to have become a friend of Amber’s?”79

      Aubrey’s answer, in a flat voice, was, “I guess, schizophrenia and I live in the Old District.”80

      “Ah, not too bad, then…” He was still grinning.81

      I saw Aubrey close his eyes tightly and reopen them, and look at me.  So I broke in.  “I think we should rest for a bit… At least I wouldn’t mind resting.” I looked at Aubrey, who nodded.  “Ok… so… where do you want to sleep? In the living room, on the couch; that's where the poltergeist is at, or my room? My mother visits me there sometimes…”  He just shrugged. Ah, just as indecisive as me. “The poltergeist gets rather annoying after a while, so my room?” I looked at my dad, “Don’t worry,  Dad, he’ll stay on the floor or something…”82

      As we walked past Dad, he said. “ Is Jenricho dead, er. Staying dead?”83

      I nodded, “Unless he can get his head back on, then yeah. Aubrey took off his head.” Dad looked over at Aubrey, who had a slight smile playing on his face. I guess he did enjoy his killing.84

      We went into my room, which has black walls, black floor and the ceiling is a night scene of the sky. Well, it’s more like a space scene. It had a full moon directly above where I sleep and a Saturn type thing diagonally down from it.  I had demon, dragon, and wizard pictures and posters all over. Blue Christmas lights lined my walls, they weren’t turned on though.  The only light on in my room, was my lava lamp, which was clear with black.85

      I almost sat on my bead when I remembered I still had dried blood on me.  “ Crap… Get comfy, I’m going to take a shower real quick. Do you want to take one after me?” Aubrey nodded.  I wonder why Dad didn’t say anything about the blood, there must not be as much as I think there is… Oh, well. I gathered my clothes and a towel, heading off towards the bathroom.86

      For a minute, I just stood in front of the mirror, inspecting the blood and the cut. There was only a blood stain all on the back of my shirt, and it was in my hair. The contrast of dark red with light brown-ish blond hair was different.  It was all Jenricho’s blood. My back was a little sore, just because the was a cut on it. It’s about as long as my pinky finger, and not too deep. It will heal in a couple days. My arm was a little sore too, where Jenricho was holding it. The bruise will heal in probably just a day. Oh, I heal abnormally fast, for some unknown reason.87

I sighed and stepped into the hot water of the shower. It’s hard to get blood out of your hair. I started scrubbing at my skin, trying to get the grimy feeling of blood off of me. Then I just stood there, letting the water spray into my face.88

      I got out of the shower and went back into the room, drying out my hair with my towel. Aubrey was lying on the floor using his arms for pillows.  I gave him an extra towel and he went to take his shower.  I clicked on the T.V. and sat there idly watching some anime.  After a few minutes, Aubrey came out drying his hair with the towel.  He had no shirt on, all I’m going to say is he’s got a nice body.  “My shirt has too many blood stains on it, do you have an extra one I can have?”89

      I nodded but was thinking, you don’t need a shirt. “I’ll get one of my dad’s.”90

      I went out and got him a shirt and came back in.  He was sitting on the end of my bed watching the TV.  Man, he’s got a  nice body.  It was what I consider perfect, nice amount of muscle, and no fat.  Yum. I gave him the shirt. I was half tempted to tell him I couldn’t find one, but didn’t.91

      There was a rustling sound below my window. Aubrey had a knife in his hand, which I have no idea where it came from.  Another rustling and then, “Ow! Shit.” And I laughed.92

      “Don’t worry, Aubrey, it’s only Jak.  He’s a friend, a very not graceful were leopard.  Aubrey nodded and laughed as Jak perched on the windowsill like a bird, then fell out of my window backwards.  I was laughing too.93

      Jak said, “Um, Damia, who is with you, in your, room, with his shirt off??”94

      “Don’t worry. He’s a friend, his name is Aubrey.  His shirt is off because we just got done taking showers.”95

      “That doesn’t help much.  Why were you two taking a shower together?”96

      “Ye Gods! We weren’t taking a shower together!  We fought Jenricho and got blood all over us, so we took separate showers.  Now come up here.”97

      More rustling and he was balanced on my window sill again.  I grabbed his shirt and pulled him in.  Again, he fell, but this time inside.  Aubrey just shook his head, laughing lightly.  Jak got up and looked himself over. “Dang, I just bought this shirt. Oh, well, I’ll wear it when I shift or something…" He paused and looked over at Aubrey, "  Who are you again, I was busy falling out of a 2nd story window…" noticing the knife, "… And put that knife away, it’s making me nervous, it looks like silver….”98

      “My name is Aubrey.”99

      Jak looked like he was thinking hard, “…Are you the Aubrey… from Michigan?” Aubrey sat there for a moment thinking too.100

      “Yes, I think I might be. Have you been were for about 5 years?”  Jak nodded. “So you hadn’t died.” Jak looked down and shook his head.101

I just stood there.  I wonder when they will notice me and tell me what they are talking about…102

      As if reading my mind, Aubrey started, "There was a fight, I got curious and joined in.  My demon thing took over from there.  I remember seeing him get hit in the back from the leader of the leopard clan, I thought it was deep enough that he lost enough blood and died.  He was an innocent bystander.  Later on in the fight I killed Marcus, who was the leopard leader.”103

      Jak nodded, “I found myself in a hospital a few days later, then turned furry later on the next month.  Everything is rather painful when you aren’t expecting it. I’m lucky that there was a resident were hospital thing…”104

      I nodded. I was tired and wanted to go to bed.  “I don’t know about you two, but I’m tired and I’m going to bed…. If you, Jak, want to stay the night too, then here is an extra pillow.”  I threw a pillow at both Jak and Aubrey.  I laid down and heard Aubrey and Jak idly chatting.  Then I remembered it was Saturday. Yay. Also that Fall Break was for two weeks. Bigger yay… Then I drifted off to sleep.105

Yet another one, I think. Another Chapter break… ^^….>.>’…- -106

      I had that dream again.  We were in a clearing, the ocean to one side, and a forest to the other.  John, Jen, and I were there. My two best friends, and the only two people I had ever fully trusted.  John and Jen were twins, their full names were Jonathan and Jennifer.  We met at a vampire bar. Somehow, we were hunting the same vampire.  We killed him together and shared the bounty.  A few more vamps were killed by us, and we became good friends, each of us trusting each other.107

      We were all standing back to back watching all sides.  I saw movement out of the corner of my eyes and motioned John and Jen to keep their eyes on the trees.  When they looked, Damian ran out as fast as he could, which was fast, and grabbed Jen by the throat. Damian was over a thousand years old. Jen dropped her swords and grabbed at his hands trying to get them off of her throat.108

      John yelled, “Let her Go!” and ran at Damian with his sword up, ready to try to cut him in half.  Damian barely twitched his wrist and Jen went limp.  He had broken her neck and thrown her to the side, like a rag doll.  John started the sweep down with his sword but Damian moved over a step.  It didn’t cut him in half, but it did take off his arm.  Damian grabbed at John’s neck too, but John knew he was going to and struck out with his sword. He hadn’t moved to avoid being choked. His sword stabbed into Damian’s side. Damian broke his neck.  I screamed in rage and the pain of losing your two friends. It all was happening too quickly, I saw every movement from everyone, but it seemed like I was just too slow to do anything to help. 109

      Damian started walking towards me, he pulled the sword out of his side and threw it on the ground.  I went for my gun, damn, it had fallen out of it’s holster.  I drew my sword and pretended to swing at his head.  He went to block it and I changed direction and stabbed it into his stomach.  He just stood the for a moment, stunned.  Then he grinned and grabbed the sword by the hilt, also grabbing my hands, and pushed it in the rest of the way.  He smiled, showing his fangs, he could smell me being scared.  Then he pulled the sword out and threw it on the ground. I started backing up and running backwards. He came towards me, quicker then I was running. I had turned around, running as fast as I could away from him.  I had no more weapons, I knew I should have brought more. I was somewhat depending on John and Jen.  He reached slowly towards me and grabbed  my neck. I couldn’t go any farther, so I stopped, I’d break my own neck if I hadn’t. He turned me towards him, holding the back of my neck, so I couldn’t run away. He smiled showing his fangs.  I screamed.110

      I woke up still screaming, crying, and in a cold sweat.  I felt at my neck, the scars were still barely there.  I still meant to get him for that night.111

      Aubrey was sitting on the end of  my bed, watching me.  “You had a bad dream.”  I just looked at him with the no-shit look.112

      “Thank you Captain Obvious, I hadn't noticed.”113

      He grinned very slightly, “Who is John and Jen?”114

      “The only two people I ever trusted.  When Jen was killed, John knew he was going to die.  Even if he killed Damian, he was probably going to ask me to kill him or commit suicide.  I wouldn’t be able to kill him if it had come to that…. They were twins, they were so very close.”  I felt a couple of tears roll down my cheeks.115

      Aubrey came up and sat beside me.  And to my surprise he wiped off one of my tears.  I never really though he would be one of the sensitive types. I assumed he was one of those that had blocked out most feelings.116

      I looked up at him, somewhat confused, it probably showed too.  Aubrey grinned down at me.  John and Jen were the only two people I ever truly trusted, except Neko.  I had loved John, never have I let my self love again.  I guess I automatically think now that if I let my self love anyone they are going to die or something…117

      I looked down at my sheets then over to Jak.  He was curled up, sleeping, how cute.  I looked back at Aubrey. He was looking at Jak, I think, or in that direction.  It looked like he was thinking about something.  He sighed, “He told me his name.” He looked at me.118

      That confused me, “Who?”119

      “My demon, he is interested in you.  You are the only one who showed any other emotion other than hate or fear to us…  His name is Malachi.  He told me when you were sleeping.” He looked back over to Jak.120

      I nodded.  What am I supposed to say to something like that? Yay! I’m special, a demon likes me?  “Malachi…that's an unusual name... Why did you tell me?”121

      He looked at me again, "I don’t know. I guess because you were awake, he reminded me that his name was Malachi, so I told you.”122

      I nodded again "How do you talk to him..... ?"123

      He shrugged, "He talks to me though my mind, it's like you're just a thought. You can come out and be yourself if you want, or you can step back and let the other thought come into play... which is him."124

      I nodded, didn't know what to say. I wonder if I could talk to Malachi directly…. A test for another day.125

      Aubrey got up and went over to his spot on the floor, laid down, and stared up at my ceiling.  That’s one reason I got my ceiling painted as a night sky.  So when you are just thinking, you can actually look at something other than plain whiteness.  I lay back down and stared at my ceiling, too.  I started counting all the rigs around Saturn.  I got to 12 and fell asleep.  There is a total of 20…126

Ooooh, yay another one ^^…>.>’…- -127

      I woke up and the first thing I see is Jak’s face.  I made a mixture of words and squeaks and hit him, “Don’t do that, you little freak.”  He giggled and curled up beside me.  Aubrey laughed slightly.  I petted Jak’s head and sat up.  Aubrey had found my polishing rags for my swords and was polishing his swords and knives.  He had two swords that he can make into one and seven or eight daggers and throwing knives around him.  I wonder where he kept them all… I looked at my clock, it was 9:13.  I had good enough sleep….128

      Aubrey kept looking at his weapons, but said, “What is your friend…?  I felt something about her, Neko was her taken name.” 129

      I blinked for a second, “She’s a leopard. We are teaching each other how to hide our....er.. our, I guess auras. So when we fight, we can't be so easily detected.”130

      “Now that you say that, I feel the same thing in you.”131

      I looked at him.  I probably looked confused, I felt it.  Because I’m just human. “What do you feel in us?”132

      He thought for a moment. “You know how you feel a lycanthrope?” I nodded.  “Well, it’s the same principle.  You just feel a little different then them.”133

      I nodded, “Ah…” I looked a Jak.  He had fallen asleep again.  He was curled up against the back of my legs.  It didn’t bother me anymore, I know he’s just a touchy-feely person, he feels comforted when he's curled up by someone.  He doesn’t have his own pard, which is just a group of leopards.  I guess I’m the closest one to it, other than Neko.  If you think about it, that’s a scary thought…134

      I finally got out of bed and wandered about my room.  I fed my fish and wandered back to near my bed and looked at Jak.  He was looking at me all cute like.  I groaned, “Gah! What?”  He just grinned.  “What? Do you want some food or something? .....You can talk you know, you’re not all cat…”  He was laughing now, I heard Aubrey behind me laugh lightly.135

      Jak finally calmed down, “Do you have any food I could fix up or something?”136

      “Yes, I always do. I keep it stocked for when I have unexpected visitors, but mainly you.  You’re always eating.” I was grinning. “Follow me, I’ll get what you want.”  I looked at Aubrey “Do you want anything, too?”137

      He nodded, “Yes please.”138

      I started off into the kitchen and the boys followed.  I got out some food and made Jak cook it.  He’s a really good cook.139

      I finished eating first.  So I pulled out my miniature notebook thing out of my cargo pant’s pocket and started writing.  That’s what I do on my little spare time.  Either write or read.140

      Aubrey looked at me and asked, “What are you writing?”141

      I stopped for a moment, “Oh, just a story I’ve been doing for a little while.”  He nodded.142

      “What’s it about?” Jak asked.143

      Again, I stopped. “Nothing much… Just something that is close to my real life, but has a little fiction in it.  It’s going somewhere slowly, I think.  But I’m just writing what ever pops up into my mind…”144

      “'K.”  He went back to eating.145

      I forgot what I was going to write, so I closed my booklet.  Then I remembered something.  “Neko is coming over today.”  146

Aubrey just nodded and Jak got all exited, “Yay! I like Neko.  It’s nice having another leopard around.”147

      I smiled lightly and stood up then sighed.  Oh, yeah, I need to jog… “You guys can stay here, or go with me, what ever, but I need to do my jogging.  I’ll be right back, I need to change first.”  I went off to my bedroom and changed into decent jogging clothes.  I came out and found Jak stretching with the back of the couch.  “Are you going to come with me? 148

      He nodded.  I looked over at Aubrey.  “What about you?”149

      He looked over at me, “Do you have any weights or something?”150

      I grinned, “Yeah, we have a workout, slash, training room over there; the second door on the right.” I pointed towards a doorway.151

      “Thanks.”  he headed towards the doorway.152

      “Ok, Jak, lets go.” I got a water bottle and went to the door, Jak following.  There are no ghosts around my house except my mother and the poltergeist, or maybe one or two wandering ghosts.  We jogged for about two miles out, chatting a little of the time.  We didn’t meet anyone… or anything on the way.153

      On our way back to the house, with about a mile left, Neko pulled up beside me and Jak.  “Do you want a ride the rest of the way?”  Jak smiled very happily.  If he had a tail, it would be wagging wildly.  I grinned at that though.154

      “Sure. Jak, get in.” Neko’s car is nice. It was a hummer.  It had compartments everywhere inside of it.  Most of them hidden.  You can hide a bunch of useful spare weapons and things.  Jak opened the back door and got in, I took the passenger seat.  Neko looked over at me, “Have a nice night?”155

      I looked over at her. “Not really…  First there was Jenricho-“156

“Jenricho? The vampire?”  I nodded. “Did he break anything?”157

I grinned a little, “No, Aubrey had killed him.  He’s at home, bye the way.  I think he’s still in the workout room.”  We pulled into the driveway and Neko stopped and just looked at me.158

      “Yeah, tell me the story of it when we get inside… I wish I was there” She grinned. Then looked over at Jak.  “And where were you while they were fighting Jenricho?”159

      Jak grinned, “I was getting stuck into a tree.  I found Aubrey with his shirt off, on Damia’s bed. He was stripping for her.”  He giggled then ran as far away as he could get from me in the hummer.  Neko cocked her eyebrow up, questioningly. 160

      “Shut up, Jak. You know he wasn’t.” I just shook my head at Neko. “No, he needed another shirt. His other one had too many blood stains on it to wear.”161

      She nodded her head with a look of mock misbelieving. “Ah, yeah. Ok...”162

      Aubrey walked out of the house. “Hi, Neko.... I thought we had felt you guys.”163

      “Hey, Aubrey.” Neko looked him over, he wasn’t wearing a shirt again. Jak wandered past Aubrey into the house, Neko following, Then me. Aubrey closed the door behind us.164

      Neko turned around and looked at me and Aubrey. “Ok. Now you two are going to tell me what happened with Jenricho.” She grinned, “But first, Aubrey put on a shirt. You’re distracting … Damia.”165

I just shook my head. Aubrey grinned and went to fetch his shirt out of the work out room.166

      I started telling what had happened starting from when Jenricho stepped out from behind the tree. Aubrey came back in and added some details, and then told her about Malachi. Jak was frolicking around the house somewhere. With him you never know what he’s up to.167

We got finished and Neko nodded. I grinned, “So, what have you been doing as of late?”168

      Neko grinned, “I’ve just been lying around. Then I came over here and found all this out.”169

      Aubrey stood up. “Damia, if you don’t mind, our fingers have been itching since I saw them. Can I play with your toys?” He looked over to our weapon collection on the wall.170

      I laughed. “Go ahead, just don’t break anything.”171

      He looked at me, with mock surprise, “Now, why would I ever do a thing like that? I might borrow one someday.” We all grinned.172

      Then Jak came out of nowhere and pounced Neko. “Ack!” I got up and left them wrestling on the floor like kittens.173

      I went over and sat on the couch. Aubrey was inspecting the wall, and testing a few of the weapons. Neko and Jak were still play wrestling. “Hey! Watch the TV!” Neko blinked and caught the TV before it fell. Jak had run into it. I grinned at their innocent expressions. “You two go frolic in another room, preferably somewhere where nothing will get broken.” Jak and Neko grinned and ran off into the room with Aubrey. There is a lot of floor space. 174

      Aubrey looked over at me, holding a nice katana. He flipped it to where he was holding the hilt and grinned. “Damia, do you want to play?” I’m guessing it was Malachi, Aubrey isn’t usually that happy looking.175

I raised an eyebrow. “Malachi?”176

He smiled and nodded, “How did you guess.”177

      “Well, your voice goes down, just a tiny bit, and you keep smiling and grinning, Aubrey’s just not that smiley.”178

Neko and Jak were on the floor looking at Aubrey, or Malachi, or how ever you want to put it. Jak started giggling for no apparent reason.179

Malachi blinked and looked down at Jak, “What, my furry little friend, is so funny?” Neko was grinning too.180

      I just shook my head, “Don’t worry, just ignore them.” I grinned. “Their antics are only known to them selves.” I looked back at Malachi. "Sure, we can play, as long as there isn’t any or very little blood shed, I don’t want to clean up.” We both grinned.181

He grabbed another katana off the wall, and flipped it to me. It was a perfect toss, I caught it easily by the hilt. The katana he flipped me was one of my favorites, yay. It has black leather all around it.182

      “Follow me, we have practice mats in the room past the workout room.” I started off, Malachi following behind me.183

      I went to the edge of the room and set down the sheath, then went and stood in the center of the room. Aubrey/Malachi followed suit. I nodded, and he bowed smiling. I took my normal fighting stance, and watched Malachi do the same. We both smiled at each other. Malachi ran at me, his sword sweeping down. I blocked we stood there a second holding the swords in an ‘X’ between us, then we pushed apart. He ran at me again and I blocked his attacks again. “You, my female friend, are a decent fighter.”184

      We broke apart again and started circling each other. “Why thank you, you are quite good at fighting as well.” He ran at me again, sweeping at my side. I went to block it, then saw him brace himself to swing another direction, and changed to block the swing upwards.185

He skipped backwards, “Shall we take it up a notch?”186

      “What do you mean…. What are you planning.” I watched him wander around me.187

      He grinned and appeared beside me. “I just want to make it a little more fun.”188

      I automatically raised my sword up to defend my side. His sword landed on mine. I slid my sword out from under his and swung at his side, then twirled around with the sword at his neck. I smiled and he grinned. “One for you, my dear. I’m just toying with you.”189

      “What, Malachi,” I blocked another one of his attacks, “exactly are you?”190

      “I, my friend,” He blocked one of my attacks, “am something that baffles your mind.”191

      “Yeah you do…” He disappeared and reappeared behind me, I stabbed back with the sword, I think it hit cloth..192

      “Two for you.” He came around and appeared in front of me with his sword at my neck. “And one for me.”193

      We broke apart, and started circling each other again. “What are you?”194

      “Hmm, I am…..something” He grinned and struck at me, I blocked. He appeared again behind me his sword resting on my back. “Two for me.”195

      “What is this something that you are?” Oh no, I started it.196

      He grinned, “I am a something that you know not of.” We started circling each other again.197

      Gah, word games, gotta hate them. “Well, you should inform me on the something that I know of not..”198

      “And I shall when I mean to.” I ran at him and struck down, he blocked with our swords above out heads. I kicked him, not very hard, just enough to kick him back onto the floor. I stood over him on his sword with mine at his neck. He grinned. “You are quite well, my friend, but I can still beat you.” He hit my sword aside with his other hand and pushed me over. I landed on the floor. He rolled over and sat on me. He took my sword and made an "X" by my neck with his sword, as if to cut off my head.199

      “Yeah, you’re good, now do you mind getting off of me, I can’t breath”200

      He grinned, “You can breath, or you wouldn’t be talking.”201

I coughed, “Yeah, but your weight is blocking my air flow. So if you don’t mind. Get off of me.” He kept grinning.202

      Jak came in the room and just shook his head. “I still say he’s been stripping for you when we weren’t looking.”203

      We all laughed. Malachi stood up and offered a hand down to me. I took it and got up. “Well, that was fun. But I still want to know what you are.”204

      “Don’t we all.” He got his scabbard and put it back on the katana and tossed me mine. “We will have to play again some time.”205

I sheathed my katana and started out the room. Jak followed me, then Malachi. I put my katana back on it’s spot on the wall, Malachi did the same. “If you aren’t going to tell me what you are, then at least give Aubrey back.”206

      He smiled then closed his eyes and blew out his breath. He reopened his eyes, blinking.207

      “Aubrey?” I wonder why it wasn’t as hard to do that as last time.208

He nodded, “Yeah, I’m back.” 209

      “Well that was interesting. How come that didn’t look like it hurt like hell, and when we were fighting Jenricho, it did.”210

“Because I forced my way back into my self last time, he didn’t want to leave.”211

      “Why…?”212

      “I didn’t know what he was going to do, he gets really devious at times.”213

      “Ah. So you just didn’t trust him.”214

      He nodded, “I just didn’t know if he would try to test you or something.”215

      I looked at him. “Test me…. Test me how?”216

      He sighed. “Probably try to fight you, probably just so see how far he could push you before you gave out.”217

      “I don’t give out, I fight until I can’t any more or the thing I am fighting dies or gives up. Or if I die.”218

      He just looked at me. “Exactly what I mean.”219

      I raised my eyebrows. “Well that’s different. I guess thank you then.”220

      “You don’t have to thank me again, I took your thanks when I killed Jenricho.”221

      I nodded. There was a crash in the other room. Automatically I yelled, “Jak! What did you break this time.”222

      Jak came in glaring at me, “How come you automatically suspect me?” I just looked at him. He looked down. “I broke the lamp…..”223

      Neko came in trying to hold back laughter. “I’ll clean it up.” And turned around an went back into the room. Jak ran after her. If I didn’t know them as leopards, I would suspect them of being lovers. Lovers that share happy pills…224

Another one, maybe? I guess so ^^... >.>'..... - -225

      I looked back at Aubrey then the phone rang. I sighed and went over and picked it up, “Hello?”226

      It was a man’s voice that answered, “Damia? Hi… I have someone who wants to talk to you.”227

      I thought a moment and couldn’t figure out who it was, “Who are you?”228

      “Master said nothing about telling my name.” I think he was grinning.229

      “Well then, who is your master?” He chuckled as he moved the phone away from his self. I guess he was handing it to some one else.230

      A different male’s voice answered this time, it was smoother, like a vampire’s. “Damia, ma petit, my little young one, how are you faring?”231

      I though a moment, trying to figure out who it was. Then it hit me, he is a foe that I have been trying to track down for months now. And he just randomly calls me for no apparent reason, yet. “Damian…” was all        I managed to get out, with quite a bit of distaste.232

      “Oh, are we still a bit mad about that little incident with your twin friends?”233

      I silently counted down from ten, trying to calm my self down, so I didn’t just start yelling at him and saying something stupid. That you don’t want to do with a vampire, they take everything so literal. “What do you want, Damian….”234

      I could hear him smiling through his voice. “Are you alone, by yourself?”235

      Behind me and to my right was Aubrey. Neko and Jak were behind me on my left. I lied. “Yes, I am…”236

      “How I dislike telephones, you can’t tell if some one is lying or not. But I still can tell you were lying on that one, you took too long to think about it. To think about if you were going to tell the truth or not.”237

      “Well aren’t we smart…”it was more of a statement than a question, again I lied with, “Just so you know, they are all human, and know nothing about you. Now, what do you want” The truth is I have two lycanthropes and one ….. I don’t really know what to call him. But with lycanthropes,  They hear really well, so they are probably listening to Damian too. I don’t know about Aubrey.238

      “Oh, can I not just call you to see how you are doing?” I stood there for a moment silently. Then I just hung up on him.239

Aubrey raised an eyebrow. “What did he want?”240

      I guess he wasn’t able to hear him, “’Dunno, I hung up on him.” I started walking away and the phone rang again. I thought for two rings if I was going to let him go or answer him. I picked it up and put it to my ear, saying nothing, for I knew it was more than likely Damian.241

      “Don’t hang up on me again, ma petite. Would you rather me call you or come visit you?”242

      “If you come here, I will kill you.”243

      “Now, now, no need to get violent. I actually called you for a rather decent reason. I have been waiting, because I knew you would probably say something of a disagreement, but there is this problem I have… And I,” He sighed deeply, like he didn’t want to finish. “…. I need your help.”244

      I shook my head, “With what, though I’m more than likely not going to agree, it is you we are talking about….. Oh, where are you by the way?”245

He sighed again, “No games on killing me right now, Damia. I do need your assistance on something.”246

      “It went from forcing out a help, to just plain assistance… Hmmm… What do you want, and I’m not going to ask again.”247

      “Ma petite, this is rather hard for me, please, be patient.”248

      “Patience is a new word to me, now hurry up, I still need a shower from fighting Au-A friend.”249

      “Who is there with you? You usually are not this worn out from fighting someone.”250

      That hit me as unusual. “And how would you know this? The last time I heard of you was right after you killed John and Jen….. Who have you had here watching me for your plans”251

      “The last vampire you killed. Now, I need your assistance on a hunt. No, don’t interrupt. A hunt on a certain human, though he is a bounty hunter.”252

      “Oh, a big bad master vampire can’t handle a wittle bounty hunter? Who is the bounty hunter?”253

      “The latest name we have on him is Rick”254

      I held back a laugh, and held no humor in my voice when I talked again. The reason is, that particular bounty hunter, he supplies me with my weapons. His real name is Garret. His other ID, his under cover name, or what ever name is Rick Garing. “I think I have heard of him…”255

      “I thought you might have. Will you help me hunt him?”256

      I gave him my favorite answer, “No.”257

      He sounded shocked, yay. “What? Please, I need your help.”258

      “What happened to all your vampires and lycanthropes?”259

      He avoided the question, “Please I need your help.”260

      “No, Damian, what happened to your vampires and lycanthropes?”261

      He sighed. “That is why I am calling you… He came into ….Where we rest during the day and, as you would say, torched most of my people. He killed most of my wolves too.”262

      I had just gotten an excellent idea, “Let me think about it. I‘ll call you back when I make up my mind, give me a number.”263

      “No…..I shall call you back tomorrow night, around eleven o’clock.”264

      With that I just hung up on him again. Then I turned to Aubrey, Neko, and Jak. “I finally get to kill him.”265

      Jak looked at me, “What are you planning this time? Remember what happened to you last time you went to do something with Garret.”266

      I looked down at a scar that was on my left arm where I had gotten shot. “Oh well, it healed. I want to kill him though, and I got the perfect idea. And I know to trust Garret so he won’t kill me. Now Damian, I don’t know about. That bastard already bit me once. Ok, my plan is to call Garret in just a minute, and tell him what I am telling you. I am going to agree with Damian, to help hunt Garret, all the while helping Garret hunt Damian, hopefully killing Damian.”267

      Aubrey grinned slightly, “Can we help?” I’m guessing he meant Malachi and himself.268

      I shrugged, “Sure, do what you want.”269

      Jak cut in, “Can we do what we want too?” I nodded, “Ok, I’mma staying here then.” I just shook my head.270

      Neko smiled, “I’d come along, but Jak needs someone to take care of him.”271

      “You two just don’t get in trouble then. Unless you go to wall-mart and terrorize innocent by standers. Ok, now time to call Garret.” I don’t know his number by memory, though I’m glad I don’t. I usually only memorize people’s numbers if I have to call them a lot. Him, you don’t want to have to call a lot. I went into my room again and got my jacket off the end of my bed. In the front inside pocket was his number. I went back over to the phone and dialed it up.272

      “Garret?” I asked.273

      His deep voice answered back, “Yeah, this is Rick.”274

      He knew it was me, and by saying he was Rick, he was probably telling me that he was busy with….. Well, I would rather not guess. “Rick. Then, are you too busy, because I have a chance for you to play with a master vampire.”275

      That got his attention, “Oh, really. And who is this… person?”276

      I guess he was with normal people, or so to say. “Do you remember Damian?”277

      He was happy I think, “Heh, ok, I’ll have to talk to you later about that. Lets just say, I’m busy helping someone……..”278

      Ok, so he probably had someone on the table or floor with a butter knife to their knuckles. “Ok… later then.”279

      He hung up with out saying a good bye of some sort, but that’s usual for him. He doesn’t say good bye unless he’s pretty sure he won’t be seeing you again, as in you dieing or something along those lines.280

      “Ok, he’s going to call back once he’s done doing what ever he is doing.”281

      “And what might he be doing?” Aubrey asked.282

      I just shook my head, “I don’t want to know.” Jak and Neko curled up on the couch and started watching TV. Aubrey saw my puzzle that I have started on a card table and gave me a questioning look. I nodded and he started working on it. I sighed and sat down with Jak and Neko.283

Ta Daaa!!! another one ^^...>.>'...- -284

      A couple hours later, Jak stated that there was someone coming up the driveway. Out of habit I grabbed my gun and held it behind me waiting near the door. A jeep of some sort, I think pulled up. In the moon light, it looked like a male figure. He walked up to the door, “It’s me.” 285

      That surprised me. Garret knows me too well, he knows better than coming here with out stating who he is. I put my gun in the back of my pants, and let him in. “I was expecting a call, not a confrontation.” He came in and looked directly at Aubrey. He stood there a moment. Then I caught on. “Oh… Garret, this is Aubrey. Aubrey, Garret.” They nodded to each other in acknowledgement. They’ll get along well.286

      “Aubrey… That name is unfamiliar to me. When did you come to town?”287

Aubrey kept looking at the puzzle, “About a week ago. I have heard only that you are a bounty hunter from Damia, what do you hunt?”288

      Garret nodded, “I hunt anything, that is or was human at one time…. What do you do?”289

      Again he just kept looking at the puzzle, putting in a piece here and there “We don't do much anything, unless asked to and only then if we want to. We-I do things at random….”290

      “Who is the other part of the ‘we’?”291

      Aubrey looked over at me. I guess he wanted my o.k. on telling him about Malachi. I shrugged and nodded. He simply said, “Malachi.”292

      Garret raised an eyebrow, “That’s an unusual name. Who is he?”293

      Aubrey grinned, “I don’t know…” He had a look cross through his eyes, too quick for me to figure out what it was. It might have been Malachi talking to him. Then he looked at me as if asking if he can have Garret meet him.294

      I thought a moment then reluctantly said, “Go ahead Aubrey, bring Malachi out, but don't let him do anything stupid. Garret will kill both of you.”295

      “Oh, can I kill them now?” anxiously, Garret asked. I just looked at him, he was smiling.296

      Aubrey closed his eyes for just a second or so, and looked back to Garret and me, with that odd look in his eyes. Malachi’s look. Garret raised his eyes brows, he noticed something was different but he couldn’t tell what, I don’t think. “Damia, what did he just do?”297

      Malachi stood up and started walking over to us. He smiled and looked Garret over. In his deeper voice, he noted, “I am Malachi, Aubrey’s other half. Or is it that Aubrey is my other half? Who knows, I just know I get to kill people.”298

      “Behave Malachi. I don’t want anyone killed on my property today. So you two just play nice.” I feel like a naughty child’s mother, telling it to behave all the time…..299

      Malachi smiled again, looking at me. “Oh, my dear, would I do such a thing?” I just looked at him. He looked back a Garret, who was trying to see what Malachi was. “Can I see those two nice big knives you have?”300

      Garret and I both looked at him with our eyebrows raised. Garret said, “Few notice those two blades…” He reached into his jacket on the inside of the both sleeves and pulled out two 8 inch blades. Rolling them through his fingers, he handed them to Malachi, hilt first. “Damia, I’m going to put my coat in your room, if you don’t mind.” I shook my head. He undid his coat, which was a black leather duster and slid it off his arms. Exposing two shoulder holsters, one on either side, and a back sheath for a short sword. Off he headed to my room. I swear, I think my room is the storage room for all “friends” that come over. 301

      Malachi was twirling the blades on his fingers, the sharp tip on his fingers. I just shook my head. And looked over a Jak and Neko, they were just silently watching everything, the TV and us. They both waved at Garret as he passed by them. He just kind of grunted a hi type thing….302

“I want to play with him, can I?” Malachi asked me as we walked over to the chairs and couch. 303

      I sat down on the couch beside Jak and Neko. Jak curled around me in my lap and Neko curled up on both of us. “No, you can’t. Not right now at least, I need to talk to him about Damian.”304

      He pouted and Garret came back into the room. “So, what is this you wanted to talk to me about Damian, you said something about killing or playing with?" he thought a moment. ".....Is this the Damian that killed your John and Jen you told me about?”305

      I nodded. “Yeah… Ok… He had called me earlier today, right before I called you. He needs my help on something, why on earth he would ask me, I don’t know…. But still… He said he needs me to help him hunt someone.” I grinned. “He said that the latest name they have on him is Rick, and that he’s a bounty hunter.” Garret was grinning too. “He said that you stormed them during the day and torched a bunch of his vampires and killed a bunch of his wolves." He was smiling now, "He doesn’t know that I know you. So, I have a plan that I go with him, and pretend to try and hunt you. All the while telling you where he is, so you can either immobilize him and have at him, or kill him; what ever you want, as long as he is dead afterwards.”306

      Garret was still grinning, “Sounds fun. I could put a tracker on you, and more than likely, you’ll be where he is…or you should be, just in case he tries something, I can kill him with out any trouble…..”307

      I nodded. I started messing with Jak’s hair absentmindedly. “Yeah, that sounds fun. Oh, Aubrey wants to come too. Which means Malachi is coming….….” I looked over at Malachi. “And you Malachi, I don’t trust you to do what ever, I want Aubrey, not you with us, ok?” 308

      He pouted and wined, “But Damia, why not? Aubrey isn’t as good as I am at fighting if any fighting is necessary.”309

      “Well then, only come out when it’s needed, not for just random-ness. Bring Aubrey out again real quick.” He sighed and did as I asked and thought a moment, then opened and reopened his eyes. He had his Aubrey eyes back. “Ok, Aubrey, I want you to help, but I don’t trust Malachi to keep you and Garret hidden, if you two stick together… If Malachi tries to come out, force him back in, if you can…..”310

      He nodded, “I’ll try my best…” 311

      I looked at Garret, “And you can’t kill him if Malachi does come out and try to mess everything up. Just knock him out or something…. But don’t kill him.” Garret nodded. “And I do feel sorry for you, Aubrey, if you ever have to get knocked out by Garret… He doesn’t play well with others….” I grinned slightly and sighed. I started messing with Jak’s hair again.312

Maybe another one here..., it might be too soon though...313