I Can't Believe You Fainted.

[Dante Alexander]

Seasons don't fear the reaper, Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain.
Then the door was open and the wind appeared,
the candles blew then disappeared
The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don't be afraid

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Months Earlier…

The smell of death was suffocating as he opened the front door of the very house he spent many years of his childhood in; he knew the scent well enough to be certain, a mix of rotten meat and bad milk. He would have closed the door behind him sooner, hell; he would have moved an inch quicker if he weren’t completely, utterly, and unquestionably frozen with fear. His nose wrinkled moments before he slammed the door and stuffed the spare key in his coat pocket, it seemed to exhaust his last stable movements on those actions before his legs decided they didn’t want to hold him anymore. Leaning against the door he stared out into the darkness and wished that it would swallow him whole.

Mere seconds felt like years under the crushing weight of what could have happened, thousands of scenarios ran through his mind so quickly he couldn’t grab a good grasp on any of them. Morbid curiosity soon was the better of him as he managed to find the energy to push himself off the wooden door frame. The house was cloaked under an immeasurable sinking stillness, in a home that was always making some kind of sound it was gut wrenching. The small sounds of the young girl that would surely be asleep by now weren’t there, his mother scuffling about -because it was only about ten- certainly wasn’t there. She would have heard him walking through the front door and would ambush him with all her irritating motherliness. Something that he dearly missing at this moment.

Dante entered the kitchen, following wherever that despicable scent would lead him to. He already feared the worst; unfortunately confirmation wouldn’t dull the pain of what he already knew. His toe lightly bumped something on the floor, and he kneeled down and touched his fingers down on an arm. Slowly he travelled up to the neck to check for a pulse but he certainly knew he wasn’t going to find one, not with the skin feeling so cold. Unfamiliarly cold, not in the same way that Marina’s flesh was chilly, this was death. When his fingers touched the base of the neck he made contact with blood, old blood, not old enough to be quiet dry but old enough not to be warm to the touch. It seemed like there was too much to crust over yet.

This didn’t make him hungry, it made him sick. Tracing the large laceration, that was clearly the cause of death, from just under her left ear to the right side of the breastbone. He swore he could hear his own heartbeat, brushing his thumbs over her cheekbones. ‘So much like Marina…’Dante thought, as he tried to choke back tears he couldn’t remember shedding. He threw his arms around her mangled body and the last few years of his life melted away, stripping him down to the little boy he used to be depending on his mother for safety. In the end that was a lie now, if he couldn’t save himself she certainly couldn’t protect him. She was his mother, and guilt washed over him, she was his mother and he was probably the most ungrateful son to her. If he just stayed home than he could have stopped whatever happened…

Marina should have stopped whatever happened, but the dumb broad was never home. He dried his face with the back of his sleeve moments before he buried his face into her hair. It was tied up loosely like it was every day; she was so tiny, so plain and quiet. Why would she always be a victim when she did nothing to pull attention from anybody? The only people that knew her, the only people that would miss her, would be her family; she didn’t have any friends to mention. ”I love you mom,” He whispered, brushing her hair with his fingers, his mind lingering on moments that she would never live to see. She never knew that he was engaged and would never meet Jamie; he knew that she would have liked her. She’d never meet the grandchildren that Elizabeth would undoubtedly give her… she would have been a good grandmother…

Dante sat the woman down on the floor shakily, he didn’t like leaving her where she fell. It took all his strength to not say there. He stood in silence, his mind asking too many questions that he could not answer, before his mind brushed against the thought of his youngest sister. Slowly he approached the staircase, listening intently for any sign that the little girl was still alive. ”Izzy?” He called up the stairwell, silence, he continued up the stairs with his hands gripped on the railing. This wasn’t a game that he wanted to play right now; she had to be okay she was only a six year old girl. ”Elizabeth!” His voice was hoarse, ragged, raw, he didn’t know how long he was in the kitchen for and frankly he didn’t care to check. The grief only deepened when Elizabeth wasn’t in her bedroom, and was quickly confirmed to not be upstairs all together. Dante couldn’t help feeling like he lost the biggest part of his life, the most innocent parts of his life. Someone took them away from him, everything he’s ever had to call his own was unrightfully taken away, and he was going to be damn angry about it. God better help the soul that would do this, because they wouldn’t find mercy with him. ”Mom… and Elizabeth…” He took off his glasses, wiping his tears away from his eyes before they became unmanageable, he had a feeling that if he started he would never stop.

Halfway down the staircase he heard the smallest noise that he couldn’t identify, what he wouldn’t give to be a werewolf at this moment, he froze. It felt like it was way too long before he heard the sound again, coming from under his feet. Realization flickered over his face before he jumped over the railing landing smoothly on the floor. Dante opened the door under the stairs, only now remembering though his turmoil that there was a storm cellar. He dropped down to his knees to pry open the trapdoor, that he had to find first, popping the door open to the musty smell of a damp basement. ”Dante?” The little girl’s voice was the only thing that he needed; a smile crossed his face as a small amount of relief washed over him like a cold splash of water. ”Yeah, it’s me Izzy.” She must have skipped every step on the way out of the cellar because in an instant her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck. He stood up, easily supporting the young one’s weight before he adjusted her a little bit, moving her so he was sitting on his hip. It was a miracle really, most of the time she would have complained that she was too big to be carried around. ”Where’s mommy?” His hand brushed against her cheek, comforting himself that her, still being alive, wasn’t some sick hallucination. ”Don’t worry about it; everything is going to be okay.”

He couldn’t help but feeling a little nervous as he fixed up his clothing again, if you would call it clothing. It was near suffocating. So many layers. Dante pulled the hood over his head, thinking that maybe if there weren’t enough layers he probably wouldn’t trust this in the slightest, hell if he didn’t see it himself in action he wouldn’t have believed that it was possible. Taking a deep breath he made sure the heavy metal face covering, well covered everything, before he stepped out into the sunlight.

Dante wasn’t usually the kind of person that buys information and looks for the seediest people that he could possibly find, but these were desperate times. He didn’t have much to go by but what he found out himself after he looked for as many clues as he could inside the house, the re-account of what happened from Izzy and what the police found themselves, and in the end, well it wasn’t very much. The wayward vampire hadn’t been inside his own home since he dropped his sister off in the middle of the night and he headed for the first place he could think of to figure things out. He took the first bus he could out of California to follow the first trail he could find, and thus started his journey of dead ends and frustrations. And now he was in Texas, a vampire in Texas hiding inside an abandoned building under some sort of cupboard looking for a vampire hunter.

The only reason a blind vampire would be looking for said vampire hunter was because he had a family he had to think about. Elizabeth was effectively orphaned, both her parents meeting rather violent deaths, and since there was a vampire hunter that would sink so low to kill a innocent middle-aged, female human, he didn’t feel all that comforted thinking that he wouldn’t try it on a little girl. She was seven now, he felt bad for missing her birthday while he was gone, but one day when she was grown she would have to understand. That the same man that killed his father was clearly deranged because he killed his mother several years later, so much violence over the passing of one brother. Apparently the bastard had the gall to try and hide out in Texas as well, Dante sighed, and this was beginning to get more and more hopeless.

He checked his watch, 9:56 p.m, he figured that it had to be plenty dark enough to leave now. Dante pushed open the cupboard and stepped out on to the creaking floor of the building - that he was sure was going to collapse at any moment-. Quickly he exited the old house, and was pleasantly welcomed by the cooling Texas air as he scurried out into the open fields that seemed to take up the majority of the land here. The closest town was a good deal amount away and he wasn’t going to make the trip in a single night, but he supposed he had to start somewhere. Dante wasn’t travelling for very long before he managed to lull himself into a false sense of security and calmness.

A couple of hours into his fast paced walk he heard something; he paused and was quickly jerked to the left. Dante stumbled to keep his balance, but his arm was forcefully pulled behind him before he succeeded in that endeavor. Quickly he pushed his weight back and surprised the offender by pulling himself free. He turned around to face the individual before he was dealt a rather hefty smack to the head by a third party, he was now aware that there was more than two people here. Punching one - what was apparently the shoulder- as hard as he could moments before he was kicked swiftly in the gut. Doubled over and gasping for breath he felt teeth sinking into his arm, with his free hand he gripped the back of the neck of the individual chewing on his arm and forcefully pulled them off, while they took enough of his arm to feed a small family. Someone grabbed his arms in an iron hold and while he was fruitlessly kicking anyone else from getting closer, pulled him back enough so he depended fully on the person that was holding him from falling on his backside. That really didn’t stop him from trying to wiggle out of his grip.

”Who are you and where are you from?” The voice came from in front of him, and it was distinctly female, and it didn’t make him any less defensive. These things couldn’t be human, or else he would have heard bones cracking for each hit he landed, and due to the throbbing pains in his arm he had a good idea what creature they were. They must have been thinking the same thing because the female that questioned him stepped over to him and peeled his upper lip back to reveal his teeth. He snapped at the fingers and was graciously rewarded with a slap across the cheek. His face was stinging as he shot her a rather impressive glare. ”I asked you, who are you and where are you from.”Dante didn’t know how she managed to make it sound more demanding, but she did. The young vampire didn’t stop trying to free himself from his silent prison warden, as he answered, rather coldly. ”Dante… He paused for the smallest moment as he considered the implications of his last name, maybe they heard of a Dante Alexander on the news, he didn’t doubt that he was probably to blame for his mother’s murder just because he ran away from California that night. ”Cress.” It wasn’t a lie; it was the name he was born with.

There was a pregnant silence as the female ring leader seemed to toss the information around in her mind before she finally spoke again. ”Very well, ‘Dante Cress’ where are you from?” She certainly sounded like she didn’t believe him. ”California.” The struggling continued. ”So you’re the one that’s been eating our humans.” ”Yep.” He fell on the ground. ”Very well Dante Cress of California, come along and tell me why the fuck you are in Texas.” Something about this woman reminded him of Jamie. That terrified him. ”You taste like shit Dante.”

Honestly, he didn’t know there was a coven around here that terrorized that little town he was planning on going to. He also didn’t know that Talin -the leader of the coven, and incidentally the female vampire that promptly bit and interrogated him in the first place- and himself had a common enemy. Apparently the vampire hunter decided that he was going to attempt to liberate the town from their little vampire problem, this was a major inconvince to Talin’s Coven. A genius group of people really, because here they were a group of about twenty of them -one of the largest Coven’s that Dante has run into- standing in the noon sun in South Western Texas.

Thirty-Seven hours. Dante sighed after he checked his watch again. He’s been sitting in this room for over thirty-seven hours. After that Talin woman asked her questions he was left there, and he was certain that they forgot about him, or at least choose to forget about him. His hand was clutched over the wound on his arm, it was bound to heal over but because he had been neglected any kind of anti-bacterial compounds he was sure it was infected. Infections equaled scarring. It was still sore, and he felt merciful knowing that he at least let his victims pass away shortly after being bit, he could still feel the venom swimming through his blood stream.

The silence was eerie, and he didn’t like it, he felt like he was trapped all over again like when he was a boy under the terrorizing rule of his Step-Father. In normal cases he would have stood up and pried the door open, but considering he was under the watchful eye of a vampire coven he wasn’t going to get out with much ease.

Sitting on that chair was like staring out into monotonous nothing. There was nothing to distract him. There was nothing to keep him away from his own thoughts that only seemed to dig him deeper into the darkness. Not the darkness that clouded his eyesight, the other darkness he was fighting for a long time. The evil, hungry rage that was always ready to swallow him down and never let go, the darkness that wanted the rest of his humanity. He didn’t want to know what would happen if he let himself slip into the forever beckoning spiral that was pulling on the edges of his mind.

But it was becoming so hard to ignore it. So, so difficult, and he was starting to wonder why he was holing himself back. He wished his mother was still here she would have the answers.

Dante pulled his legs up against his chest. This was probably the stupidest thing that he has done, and frankly he’s done some stupid things in his life. Sooner or later he knew that it was going to be over, and that was his only comfort. He removed his sunglasses and set them down on his lap before he rested his forehead against his knees, closing his eyes he hopelessly wished that sleep would come over him. Maybe vampires weren’t meant to walk among the civilized, after all his race were nothing but monsters for years. There were probably still pockets of these horrendous killing machines somewhere, even though he was sure that even they would turn him around at their doorstep. Maybe he was at one of those hideouts now, it was a shame really, he just wanted to know why a vampire hunter killed his mother.

He heard Sam direct the group to the northern road into town, just on side road sixteen from what he understood. The plan was pretty straight forward, most of the people in the group thought that the number that they were bringing into town was a little excessive, however Nichole thought differently. She maintained that a group of vampires dressed from head to toe in some sort of material in broad daylight would cause a bit of a commotion, and there was always safety in numbers. Dante was more partial to go with what that woman said anyway, it wasn’t too often that you would find someone with their wits about them these days. When he was under all those layers he was grateful that they planned so much ahead of time, he was sure that he was baking in there under the heat of the sun.

”Hey I’m Eli Tanner, and this is my cousin Sam, Sam Voss.” Dante looked over in the direction of the voice, after his one hundred and fifty hours of solitary confinement he wasn’t too partial to socialize with any of these ‘people’. He gave the pair an icy cold stare before he took a few more steps away from the main group of the Coven, which was located in a cave; probably the most stereotypical vampire hide out ever. His fingers traced the newly acquired scar on his arm, he could only imagine what it looked like, it was probably horrible, he wondered if he was the only vampire that was going to end up looking like a pin cushion by the time he was dead. ”So, is it true that you’re blind” It was the same voice again, Eli, surprisingly enough it was probably the first time he’s been asked that question while he was there.
Dante sighed, knowing now that a glare wasn’t going to turn this man away. His tone was filled with defeat lined with annoyance. ”Yeah.””So where’s your stick thing?” Not usually the first question people ask when they want to talk to a blind person but it wasn’t one that he had a problem answering. The white cane suffered the same fate as so many before it. ”I broke it two states ago. I’m Dante.”

It was… invigorating to be accepted into a group of your peers, people that you actually had something in common with. Dante was sitting on a cushion between Sam Voss and Talin Cordier -who wasn’t that bad when she wasn’t trying to take a piece of your arm off-. They were all laughing at a rather exaggerated story that Eli was explaining to the group in another fruitless attempt to impress Nichole Hunter. ”Was this before or after the human had a chance to steal a twenty from your wallet? You must be so proud.”He teased with his voice dripping of condensation. The group roared back into another fit of laughter, Eli was well known to be rather… scatterbrained, the poor guy managed to be pick pocketed right off the street Thursday night. Everyone brought it up at every opportunity.

He learned quite a bit about the people in the room in the time he’s been in the Coven. Sam Voss was apparently a big bloke, but frankly he was a genius. He was working on a way to allow the Coven to leave the cave during the daylight hours. Nobody was too keen to try out his latest attempt however. Eli was probably the only person that managed to be a bigger klutz than he was, but he really had a heart of gold even though he was a little easy to pick on… at least he took it with good humour. Sam and Eli were cousins that were in a different coven that had more cult- like customs, the ‘elders’ in their coven would bite one of their members after they produced a child in their human lives, and it would continue through the generations. It ensured that the coven would survive, however they were warring with a hunter group and in a last ditch effort to survive everyone that was old enough was turned. That included Eli and Sam, Dante assumed that the coven didn’t make it, they always became silent when that part of the story came up.

Nichole Hunter was a pretty girl, according to Eli she was ‘damn hot’. Dante thought that she was too fickle for his tastes, but he could handle her in small doses, he was sure her OCD rivaled his in both intensity and insanity. Generally if you didn’t get in her way she was a pleasant girl despite her eccentric tendencies. The only thing that Dante knew was that she grew up in the town at the bottom of the hill, she was obviously bitten one day but she managed to win the heart of one of the coven members. It was just your typical vampire love story that ended with Nichole not having the same feelings as her rescuer. Talin was apparently old as dirt and affectionately known as ‘The Executioner’, she was as sarcastic and condescending as they came. Sure, she was really, really aggressive but she was also out-going and well known to throw some pretty good parties.

Surprisingly enough they were very interested in Jamie. Apparently there weren’t a lot of werewolves around this area; many people in the Coven haven’t even met one before. ”So, how do you know your little Fiancée isn’t an eyesore? I could… check for you.” The false implications in Eli’s voice was lingering, it was obvious that he was trying to bait him again. Dante laughed awkwardly before swatting the other male over the head. ”She’s beautiful to me, and that’s all I care about.”He was pulled back by Sam, and his back smacked against the cave wall. Dante straightened himself out before he pretended to be mortally offended. ”Too bad you couldn’t pick a girl that could see.”Nichole jeered, causing snickers to go around. Apparently vampires had better eyesight than the average werewolf, therefore considering them “blind”. This ritual could go for about thirty minutes before they found another member of the circle to continue the good natured teasing. He didn’t mind really, it was moments like these that returned the smile in his heart.

Dante swallowed down his frustration towards Marina as he walked down Sparrow Street towards his own home, his arms will still wrapped around his baby sister who was remaining awkwardly silent. Izzy hadn’t said a word since she insisted that she brought her favourite teddy bear with her. He reluctantly agreed, envious that a stuffed animal wasn’t going to bring him any comfort like it could for a little girl. The little body was shivering against him, as she cuddled into the animal that she brought along, knowing full well that he wasn’t going to produce any body heat. The little girl was orphaned and he couldn’t help but feeling responsible for both of them, but he wasn’t going to take all the blame.

It was Marina’s fault too.

He unlocked the front door of his house and let Izzy clamber down on to the floor. Brandy greeted him, and at the moment he found it rather irritating, she was being over-excited, and was honestly just being a stupid animal. Dante pushed the dog away before he grabbed his sister’s shoulders. ”Elizabeth, I’ll be back soon okay? I’m going for a walk.” Dante impatiently waited for his baby sister to put together a response for him. It shouldn’t be this difficult to answer a simple question. ”Okay Danny.”He cracked a smile and pulled her into another hug that probably wouldn’t have ended at a half decent time if she didn’t push him away. ”Your brother loves you.”He kissed her forehead. ”Ew.”

He spared no mercy. It felt good, it felt better than good. To kill the man that murdered his mother and his father. He’d never know why the guy did it, and frankly he didn’t care. Dante was aware of the screaming in the background, horrible, toe- curling shrieks, and knew that this was probably going to be the bloodiest night in this town’s history. He could smell the blood in the air; Talin wanted this she wanted to claim the town as their own. It was an interesting thought, an area completely occupied by vampires. Right in the middle of Texas, he still couldn’t get his head around why a vampire would want to live in his toaster oven.

Dante stepped out of the building and into the streets where he could just sense the chaos. It took longer to find the vampire hunter than he expected, the sun had set into the evening and he discarded the suffocating faceguard. He breathed in the air like it was his first breath and figured that he might as well help out his newfound friends. Soon enough he discovered that killing humans without worrying about being caught by the authorities was rather liberating, they dropped like flies. It only took one good punch to the skull and you would hear the satisfying crack under the pressure. It was easy to tell the difference too, if you smacked a vampire they’d just hit you back. He found himself stumbling backwards with his palm pressing against his cheek, feeling his blood seep through his fingers… and oddly enough he could taste it on his tongue.

Completely shocked he couldn’t move. None the less he heard the ‘crack’ followed by the voice of their beloved Executioner. ”Get moving princess.” Her hand pulled his wrist out to the edge of the fray. Dante’s free hand never left his face, the pain almost unbearable and he certainly wasn’t about to feel it to judge the damages. ”Okay let’s look at that.” He was also certainly not going to let go of it so Talin could poke and prod it. Suddenly he regretted taking the faceguard off, humans shouldn’t be allowed to wield weapons. ”Let’s look at it.” She repeated with more force, he winced as he pulled his hand away from his face.

Silence, uncomfortable and shocked silence followed. Dante was sure he was about to rhyme of a string of words one would never say in a church. ”We have to deal with that now” He soon figured out why when he discovered the only thing that kept his mouth in one piece was about a half an inch of skin. The man that was wielding the knife cut through the skin from his cheekbone almost to the corner of his lip. ”I can see the bone.” Talin whispered in a tone of morbid awe and horror. ”I certainly could have been left in ignorance.” It was painful to speak; it was a miracle he got that out before he regrettably fainted.

“I can’t believe you fainted!” Eli teased from beside him, Dante was eternally grateful that his friends decided to give him a lift home. It was months since he was last in Crossroads, it felt weird to be home again. ”I didn’t faint, it’s completely natural to pass out from shock.” There was a moment of awkward silence from everyone in the vehicle. ”You fainted.” Nichole confirmed. Laughter at his expense promptly ensued. Sam was silent almost the entire drive, other than joining in for the rare insult or burst of laughter, Dante figured that he didn’t want to come along, he just didn’t want to be left out.

He thought about the horrendously unprofessional stitches he was sporting on his face, yep, this was going to be the ultimate relationship test with Jamie. To see if she could last four months with him MIA or if she was there for his dashing good looks. He was sort of scared; he didn’t doubt that she would be furious with him. Not even a whole coven of well aged vampires to back him up would make him feel entirely comfortable with their reunion.

”So where’s your house Dante?” Talin questioned. ”Sparrow street, fourth house on your left, but you have to come in on the main road.” ”Yeah I’m on it.” Eli said something that Dante missed, but judging by the jeers that followed Sam was being mocked for staring out the window. It must have been clever. His mind was on the fiancé that might have left him, the dog he treated like shit before he left, the sister he promised that he would return to soon and the other sister that he bitched at before he left California. He was pretty sure his family was going to hate him. Well, hopefully not Elizabeth, she was usually too forgiving.

The car pulled into a laneway and Talin promptly turned off the vehicle, but Dante was already clambering out of the seat. It was all too familiar. The laneway, the sidewalk that lead up to the porch. ”How can you live anywhere that smells like human all the time Dante?” Nichole said with mild distaste, moment ruined.

[Jamie Cooper]

Jamie wouldn't deny her surprise when she went home that night to find a young girl in her house. ... A young, human girl. If she had have been older, the werewolf would have killed her right on the spot, but as it was, the child couldn't have been more than seven at the most. Dante wasn't home, and after calling for him for a short while, the girl told him he'd left and said he would be back soon. She was frightened, the little girl. Jamie felt awkward. For long moments, the two could only stare at each other, until, finally, Jamie inched along the wall in the living room, and sat on the furthest couch from the child, as though she had the plauge.
"So. Who are you?" The question was replied simply. Izzy. Dante's sister. Jamie blinked. The question was shot back. "Jamie. Dante's... girlfriend." And so Jamie first met Dante's youngest sister. That vampire had a lot of explaining to do.

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He was gone. It had been two months. Two months of hell. Two months of going through bullshit, after bullshit, after bullshit. She attended the funeral of his mother. Her intended to-be-mother-in-law. A woman she'd never met, though given by the various crying speaches at the funeral, was a kind, if unsocial person. A woman she would never get to meet. Someone she'd never be able to confide in when her and Dante were married, or share the happy news of when... if... they ever had children. Jamie felt awkward at the funeral. She didn't cry, for she never knew the woman, but she couldn't help but feel this empty sorrow... like she was missing out on something.

Dante hadn't shown up to the funeral, so it was no surprise that the police went after her. For all she had murdered... it was a murder she wasn't involved in that they tried to ding her for. It would have been amusing, if not for the circumstances. For weeks they questioned her. Where was Dante? Where was Dante? She didn't know where the fuck Dante was; they were the police, they were supposed to be telling her the answer to this. After three days, their questions mostly were over with. Of course, she was followed almost everywhere she went, which made it difficult to go out looking for her fiance. It didn't matter, all searches for him were fruitless anyways, only leaving her deeper and deeper in despair.

The news announced that he had killed her, his mother. It made her lip curl in disgust. Dante would never touch his mother. After a month, the story was dropped, and evidence concluded that he'd had no part in her murder. That wasn't the end of the crap, though. She was thankful for Marina. With Dante's mother dead, there were piles and piles of papers to go through, not to mention many arguments with the Police Department and the Children's Aid concerning Izzy, and Dante's house, and Brandy. Children's Aid, not all the surprisingly, didn't really find Marina to be capable of taking care of a young child. They wanted her in the foster system. For a month, it was difficult to sort themselves financially. Their mother had left Dante and Marina with a touch of money, and thankfully Marina had the sense to use it to pay the bills on Dante's house, rather than booze. Jamie's paychecks from then on went towards feeding herself and the six-year-old, and keeping them alive. Suddenly the obligation to be a parent fell upon her, and Marina's partying tendencies didn't help that much. Lastly, she had to battle with... whoever gave Brandy to Dante. Blind Society or some shit. With Dante gone, they wanted to take the dog back. They almost got her back, too, and through some miracle, Jamie managed to jump through just enough loop holes to keep the stupid beast.

After winning so many battles against the government and different societies... now it was Marina. Apparently the death of her mother wasn't about to go and change her partying ways. If anything, it made them worse, and for the next three months, all it was was arguments between the two. Sure, there was the odd time where they would come together and cry for their losses, but otherwise they were like fire and ice. The worst time being when she went to tuck in Izzy one night.

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"Is Dante ever coming back?"
Jamie paused outside the door, her hand just on the handle. Inside the room was a dead silence. Jamie bit back her breath, waiting to hear the response from Marina. Finally, she could her the soft pop as her lips opened, and the air flow between them just before the words rang out.
"Dante's dead, Izzy. He's not coming back."
"But Dante said he'd-" Jamie could hear the stubborness in the child's voice. As well as the fear and sadness.
"Has he come back yet Izzy? No. He's dead."
She could hear the quick, quite intakes of breath from the small child, trying to hold in tears. Her own bottom lip quivered, and she barged into the room. "Marina, shut up and get out." Her voice was a growl as she glared down the older female. There was a pause. "GET OUT!" Her finger pointed sharply to the door. "Out of the house. I don't care where you go tonight. Go see Conner, or one of your other bed buddies. Just get out." By now her voice was a raw snarl, trying to hold back tears of her own. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. Dante wasn't dead, she just knew it.

When Jamie heard the front door close, she went to the bed and sat down, handing Izzy her teddy bear. Hopeless green eyes stared back at her, tears brimming for seconds before they trickled down her round cheeks. "He'll be back." Her voice cracked and she pulled the small child closer to her, gently stroking her blonde hair. "I promise you, he'll be back." She dug her face into the girl's hair, trying to be as still as possible while she cried.

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Jamie's nose tested the air, though it wasn't near as powerful as it could be in her wolf form. "Dante?!" She jumped over a log, taking a few more steps in another fruitless direction. "Dante!!!" Almost every night since his disappearance, she'd done this. She must have been everywhere in Crossroads, crying out for him. Every night she was sorely disappointed. Hours had passed. It was about two hours from dawn. She should get back to the house. Someone should be there when Izzy wakes up. But... she would try one more time. "Dante!?" No response. There never was.

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Her foot touched a single stair up as she bounded up the porch. As she twisted the handle, she was met by the lock, and like every other night, she was met with a surge of hope. Maybe Dante came home. He would have locked the door, it was only hours before daylight after all. Pulling out the spare key, she opened the door and looked around. Her nose told her he hadn't been through the entrance, but she ignored it, playing on the diminishing hope and searching the house. With the final room she checked, Jamie's heart sunk into despair. Looking upon Izzy's sleeping face, she sighed and quietly closed the door. There was still an hour and a half of pointless waiting.

Now that Jamie's hope had been obliterated, she felt the crushing weight of exhaustion. Sleep was a commodity now-a-days. She spent the days working and taking care of Izzy, and the nights searching for Dante. The one or two, maybe three hours of sleep she was granted between then were what she has been running on for the last four months. That and, of course, coffee. How she loved Starbucks. Opening the door, Jamie went out onto the porch and breathed in the fresh night air. She was already half asleep as she collapsed into one of the deck chairs. Situating herself, she pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on them, eyes closed through the whole process. By now it was ritual. She would be woken up in a few hours by Izzy, who would ask for cereal or toast. Or, if she were in a particularly asking mood, eggs and bacon, or pancakes. Something that took a little more effort.

Somewhere near-by, a car's engine rumbled. In a city, that wasn't so peculiar. In Jamie's half-asleep state, she ignored it, grunting and shifting slightly to relieve pressure in her back. Exhaust fumes tickled her nose and she sneezed, opening her eyes only to yawn and watch lazily as a van turned onto the street. Her eyes closed again, uninterested in it. It's engine began to slow, grumbling until it finally stopped. In the lane. Jamie's eye slitted open in curiosity, and as a door opened to eject a woman. It was clear the van was full, and at the sweet scent of vampires, Jamie stood fluidly, a twitch of her lips holding back a loud defensive snarl. Lack of sleep did wonders to her mood. "How can you live anywhere that smells like human all the time, Dante?" Jamie froze. Her blood running cold and her breath catching in her throat.

It was only a moment, though, and suddenly she was caught off guard as her heart slammed into her chest. Anxiety took her. Surely this was a cruel joke? A trick of her mind. She was breathing heavily as he stepped out of the vehicle, her chest rising and falling with self-doubt. It couldn't be... not after all of this time. Her face twisted in pain, and her hand covered her mouth as a tortured noise escaped her and a sob bubbled from her. For a moment, her body was wracked with shivers, and as they stopped, she inhaled a deep breath and blinked away tears. "Dante?" A small laugh escaped her, despite the pain still showing on her face. She couldn't move. He was... what if this was all a trick? He made a single step towards the house, and she was off the porch in an instant.

Her arms closed around him and held him tight. Breaths escaped her in quick bursts. He was here. She was touching him. He came back. "Dante." The relief, the sweet, painful relief was strong in her voice, and she clutched onto him tighter. Her grip would have crushed a human, though she was sure Dante could still pry her arms from him. His shirt touched her face as she dug it into his chest, inhaling his scent. It was him, it was truly him. "I love you." The words were muffled against his chest, but to her they were as loud as a person shouting in her ear. She breathed in deeply again, closing her eyes as she took in his smell, felt his body in her arms, listened to every intake of air into his lungs, the steady beat of his heart. Jamie's eyes opened and she looked up to him, looked up at his marred face, the giant white bandage that covered his cheek.

"Dante, what happened to your face?" As she gained control of her emotions, her usual tone was beginning to creep back to her voice. The question wasn't soft in the least, and her eyes darted accusingly to the vampires in the van behind him. She pulled him away from the vehicle. Just slightly as she inspected them. The female who had spoken had gotten out of the passenger side, and was still on the other side of the van. Another woman sat in the drivers seat. In the back, two males. One more buff than the rest, the other thinner, more lean than buff, much like Dante's build. "Who are they?" While she mostly let go of him by now, one arm remained around Dante's torso. She brushed back her hair with her free hand, inspecting them all closer.

The female who had gotten out already, the first thing that caught her about her appearance was her hair. A raven black, and curly. As the air caught a strand and blew it across her face, Jamie followed it to her piercing eyes, a strange light brown that almost appeared golden. Her nose was wider, though complimented her face well. She most certainly wasn't fat, though her face was rounder than the woman who had sat beside her in the trip. Her lips were full, and bright red, glimmering with gloss in the street lights. The rest of her body was tall and curvy, everything a woman could possibly want. She held a certain pose about her that almost reminded her of a cat.

Beside her, a thin and lean woman. As she, too, stepped from the car, Jamie was allowed to better assess her appearance. Her hair was a light brown, almost a dirty blonde, though Jamie wasn't so sure she'd call it that. It was cut and styled short, almost spikey as the hair splayed downwards. Eyeshadow drew attention to icy blue eyes, and the blush to high cheek bones. Her lips were thin, showing little of her inner feelings. She held herself at attention, and Jamie felt as though she reeked of age, despite her young looks. She held the air such as an alpha, and Jamie could only assume that the people Dante had showed up with were a coven. This was their leader.

In the back were the men. The thinner one with longer, brown hair. He had wide, almost puppy-doggish dark brown eyes, and long eyelashes. His facial structure appeared almost asian -Japanese, to be exact-, though it was clear that he was caucasian. His lower lip was just the slighest bit larger than the top, and laugh lines around the corners of his mouth hinted that he smiled frequently. As he emerged from the car, Jamie found him to be quite short compared to the others. He was maybe an inch or so taller than herself.

Lastly, the thick, larger male. His dark brown hair was cut short, and was messed about his head in a carefree way. He had sharp and distinct male features; wide jaw, strong features, though he held the same nose and lips as the other male. His eyes were a lighter brown. Similar to the one female companion, he was more alert, and crossed his muscled arms as he stepped from the vehicle, observing both her and the neighbourhood. His male companion beside him was grinning, though she could tell by the slight squint in his eyes that there was some anxiety, or perhaps just excitement.

She finished inspecting them as Dante finished his explanation. With a blink, she turned her head to the sky. "It's almost light out. We should get you guys inside." Her voice rang clear her feelings on this. She didn't want people she didn't know inside the house. Much less, vampires she didn't know any where near Izzy. Taking Dante's hand, she lead them to the house and closed the door behind them all before quickly darting around and closing windows. When Marina wasn't around, she tried to keep as many open for Izzy as possible. It didn't look as though the girl was going to get her indoor-sunlight for a long time, though.

[Dante Alexander]

Seasons don't fear the reaper, Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain.
Then the door was open and the wind appeared,
the candles blew then disappeared
The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don't be afraid

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He didn’t have the chance to relay something clever to Nichole, he’d just let her win that one, he was taken by somebody else’s question. ”Dante?” That’s all he needed to hear before her arms were tucked around him as tightly as he figured she could. He strengthened the embrace with his own arms, not bothering to be gentle or careful; it was the bright side of not having relationships with humans. You didn’t have to worry about breaking them. Even in the midst of their reunion he was dreading the conversations they were going to have over the horizon, the ones that he was sure he didn’t want to answer. Pushing those thoughts back he buried his fingers in her hair while her face was pressed into his chest. ”I love you.” The words were muffled, against his chest but you’d need to be deaf to not hear them. He broke out into a light laugh, laughing away his own fears over what could have happened here while he was gone. ”I love you too.”

The fear returned, only if momentarily, as her usual accusatory tone returned back to her voice. "Dante, what happened to your face?" He loosened his grip, so Jamie could easily break out of it if she so desired. Subconsciously he touched the bandage that was hastily plastered on his face, the Coven didn’t have much access to too many medical supplies so this was the best they could do. That and the honestly crappy stitching that was under it. He was thankful that something was done about it though, or else he might have “fainted” again. ”Just a human with a knife, you don’t have to worry about it.” Let me worry about it.

Apparently she was just going to fire question after question tonight. "Who are they?" The tone never left, and it was really weird talking about people like they weren’t even there. Dante decided to answer with as little information as possible, that’s how it worked back in Texas and maybe it was best to keep the policy going on here. If people wanted someone to know about them they would tell them in their own time. ”They’re friends, and members of the Coven that found me.” His explanation wasn’t very long, but if she wanted more details, it really wasn’t in his place to ask. Especially when he was standing right in front of them.

"It's almost light out. We should get you guys inside." It was obvious she didn’t want them around, but he wasn’t about to send his friends outside to fend for themselves in the light, and by the sound of it neither was Jamie. They walked through the front door, like he had done so many times before he had left, and they all collected four feet near the door. None of them seemed keen on being anywhere else but there. Jamie dashed around, probably shutting the windows by the sound of it. He felt Eli shuffle awkwardly beside him, and it became widely accepted that he was the one that was going to have to break the awkwardness. ”Well then, why don’t we go to the living room?” Dante slipped off his shoes and walked over to the couch, his favourite spot really. Not like he was spending too much time in it for the last couple of months.

”This is a… …house.” Eli finally said, breaking the silence. Apparently with nothing else that was better to say, he was probably baiting him… again. Dante smirked and leaned back into the chair a bit more. ”You guys live in a hole in a rock.” Talin cut in apparently offended that her hole in a rock was even compared to this little town house. ”I spent a lot of time perfecting that hole, and anyway, we have the town now.” The last of her sentence was laced with a great deal of pride. It was clear that it was her goal for a long time, but with the humans locking themselves in nice and tight when the sun came down it was difficult to reach that goal. Thanks to Sam’s miniature death suits it was all accomplished.

Soon enough Jamie nestled herself onto his lap, and he had to readjust his sitting position so it was comfortable for the pair of them. Dante wrapped his arms around her waist as he listened to the conversation take full circle. There was never a moment of silence in that room once they started going, he certainly didn’t mind, right now the last thing he needed or wanted was long awkward pauses. Dante brushed his lips against her jaw line, only keeping half an ear on the conversation. ”When will you guys just drop the pick pocketing incident?” Eli whined, relatively loudly so his voice rang above everyone else’s teasing. Nichole chipped in a rather unhelpful response. ”When somebody does something else that’s stupider.” ”I could create a chart of stupid things Dante’s done, but everyone says ‘he’s just the poor blind man.’” Eli pouted. ”I’m just the poor blind man.” ”I don’t know how you managed to chip your tooth like that.” Dante bristled under the comment. Apparently it was possible to take a good piece out of a fang, depending on how you land. Honestly he didn’t know it was possible for them to just keep growing back. ”It grew back.” He defended. ”AFTER you let Talin pull it out.” Well of course he wasn’t about to let Talin going out pulling out his teeth, the woman was crazy. That opinion was already voiced; it only needed to be reminded once.

He had to make a note to get back at Eli later; Talin took advantage of the conversation for her own evil agenda. ”That reminds me, go to the kitchen Dante.” He wasn’t too keen to go to the kitchen, so typically he didn’t budge from his spot on the couch. Honestly he was just opting to pretending to be deaf, maybe then he would have an excuse to not listen to her. ”Do I have to repeat myself constantly?” Dante sighed, he was sure that this woman’s insistence would put his mother’s nagging to shame. He waited a moment before, and then he completely resigned to the woman. Motioning Jamie to move he pulled himself off the couch. Talin grabbed his wrist and half led him half dragged him to the kitchen, which she found easily enough. She lightly pushed him towards a chair while she turned on the sink. Dante sat down on the kitchen chair and patted Brandy, who was trying to sleep under the table apparently.

Dante flinched as she slowly peeled the bandage off his face, feeling raw and rather irritated that it was being exposed to the air again. Her fingers touched the wound lightly, now he was aware of how wet the cut was, and the smell was horrid. ”This isn’t good.” She muttered, bringing a wet cloth to the wound she tried her best to clean it as lightly as she could. ”I’m going to fucking die.” He groaned, causing Talin to laugh with a degree of sadism he was sure. Only a sadist would want to inflict this to another living being. ”This certainly isn’t going to kill you.” Dante hissed when she applied more water to the side of his face. She lightly tapped the other side of his face as some sort of disciplinary action, at least having the sense not to hit the injured side. ”Don’t do that.”

[Jamie Cooper]

She slipped awkwardly into the living-room. Dante's short explanation of them all unnerved her, and it was clear they weren't about to introduce themselves. Had she been a wolf, her ears would have flattened, but she wasn't. A dull throb filled her chest. She was tired, she didn't want this company, she definitely didn't want to share Dante, not after just getting him back. Her spirits visibly lifted, though, when she noted Dante was on the couch. Gently, her fingertips brushed his skin. A warning before she comforted herself into his lap. The others were going on about something or other. Only half of her attention was on them now that she was in his lap. It felt so strange... after so long... For now he'd dodged any explanations, but he could bet his re-grown tooth that he was going to have some explaining to do later on. Irritation and anger were held at bay for now, they would come later, after her pained heart has been soothed, and she got some proper rest.

"Go to the kitchen, Dante." There was silence, and finally Jamie snapped back to the conversation the others were having. Her eyes snapped around to the woman who had said it, and her eyes narrowed, grip tightening around him. If she thought she was going to cow over her fiance after she'd just gotten him back, that was another thing. Amusement twitched at the corners of her lips as she snuggled deeper into his lap, fixing the woman with a look of threatening contempt. She was being childish, she knew, but... "Do I have to repeat myself constantly?" There was another pause, and Jamie's lips gently brushed Dante's cheek bone. If he was going to ignore her, then so was she. Her lips were gently working over to his, when he motioned for her to move off of him.

Jamie's heart sunk and her face flared. A cold glitter took place in her eyes as she gave a noise of discontent and slid off of him, curling, instead, on the other side of the couch. "Don't rush Dante. It's only the first time in four months that I've seen you." She responded bitterly as he left the room. Her glare followed him out. Nose wrinkling in distaste, Jamie fixed the remaining three with a look before standing. A strange noise emitted from the kitchen, and she slipped into the doorway, watching without disturbing either of them. The ease and tenderness that the other vampire took with Dante's wound set a lump in Jamie's throat. A flare of white-hot anger burned in her. She wanted to kill the bitch. How dare she take her Chomper.

A putrid scent churned Jamie's stomach. It smelled of staff infection, and she swallowed heavily. "This isn't good." 'No shit.' Only her thoughts intruded, Jamie otherwise glaring on in silent hurt. Her arms folded as Dante's head turned slightly, and she got a glimpse at what, exactly, was emitting that horrible smell. Horror flitted across her face. And he told her not to worry? "I'm going to fucking die." He complained. The woman smiled with sickening grin. Jamie ground her teeth together. "This certainly isn't going to kill you." Jamie snorted.
"Good." Her voice hid many implications as she slipped from the kitchen.

Posture spoke volumes of a person. Jamie's sharp and hard movements only accented her anger as she took the stairs two at a time to the upper bathroom. There was rubbing alcohol, polysporn, and peroxide up here. Her eyebrow raised, contemplating which one would inflict the most pain. It would have brought a small smile to her face, if she weren't so royally pissed off. She heard a hiss from downstairs, quickly followed with the soft slap of skin-on-skin. "Don't do that." Certainly Dante deserved a slap, but Jamie wasn't yet entirely sure if she enjoyed this other woman handing them out.

The bottles were placed on the counter, and Jamie closed her eyes, breathing deeply. For every ounce of anger she felt, it was only reinforced by double the amount of sadness and pain. Finally... after so long... he comes back, just to taunt her. It was like waving a full ham in front of a dog and then taking it away. No, eating it in front of it, bone and all. He comes back with another woman. She could sense the relationship between them. They weren't just acquaintances. They were friends. He listened to her, came to her every beckon and call. It was like some cruel torment. The lingering feeling of his lips on her jaw felt like a lie. Had his lips touched hers? How many times? Was the hesitation to get up and leave to the kitchen just wondering whether or not she knew? Weighing the consequences of one or the other? 'I love you too.' Even if it were true, for how much longer?

Her breath caught in her chest as a sharp pain flared from her heart. Squinting her eyes against tears, Jamie sunk to the floor, curling up into a small ball. He was almost gone longer than they'd even known each other. Now he brought back this other girl, before she'd even had a chance. She bit her lip hard, holding back sobs. She didn't want the vampires hearing them. She didn't want them to know that she was crying. A tear trickled down her cheek. Her eyes burned. She was falling apart. No, Jamie was being ripped apart, and there was nothing she could do. Maybe it would have been easier if she'd just given up hope and moved on. It'd be easier for the both of them. For a moment, the thought of just leaving and going home flickered across her mind. But, no. She couldn't leave Izzy here like this. Not while Dante was tangled up in that bitch's web, and a bunch of stranger vampires. Her eyes fluttered open, and she pressed her chilled hands to her eyes, trying to calm the burning.

Pushing herself up, Jamie grabbed some more thick bandages and carried them, the rubbing alcohol, and the polysporn back down. The anger covered most of the defeat that reflected deep in her eyes. Turning into the kitchen, she stifled at the sight of that other woman leaned forward, carefully cleaning his face. Her front teeth gritted, and she walked over, clearly bristling. "Here. This'll help kill off the infection." Her tone was stiff, tight, and angry, only just holding at bay the raw pain underneath. Taking a clean cloth, she dumped some of the rubbing alcohol onto it until it was drenched, and then pressed it against Dante's face. Her eyes hardened at his protest, and after a moment or two, she allowed it to rest back against the counter. "Stay still, Dante." The tone had softened slightly, now. Her fingers gripped his chin while she squeezed to polysporn onto her finger and gently dabbed it along the wound. The yellow puss was already beginning to recede, though his cheek had an angry red pulse to it. She was careful to ensure that the polysporn was everywhere, particularly in the places that had begin to seep blood again. As she worked, her touch became progressively softer, kinder. Sorrow dappled her face as she gently replaced the bandage with a fresh one. While her cool fingers pressed around the glued edges, making sure there were no creases, her eyes roamed his face. Dante. Her fingertips brushed his chin before she gave him a soft kiss, and departed with a sigh.

Within the next few minutes, Jamie had hunted down various sheets and blankets. She wasn't sure how warm these vampires liked to be. Not that their bodies would be able to heat the blankets, anyways. Dante did have various self-heating blankets, a few of them from her, once she found out how much he liked to be warm. She wasn't about to go grab those, though. Besides, if they didn't know about them, then it wouldn't really be considered inhospitable. Making her way down the stairs, she heard the others talking. She couldn't hear Dante's voice, though she could hear him breathing, and the subtle tha-thump of his heart, it's beat as familiar to her as her own, she could pick it out amongst the others, or even Izzy upstairs, and Brandy, still sleeping under the table.

Following the distinct sound back to the kitchen, Jamie poked her head in. "Dante?" She was uncertain. Staking the blankets onto the island, she went to him. Now that they were alone, she felt more secure. Tentatively, she nestled into his chest, clinging tightly to him. After a few moments of silence, "I'm not going to apologize." It was so blunt. Silence again. "Who is she?" All of her fears were laid out in the open for him in her voice. She didn't want to be replaced. "I still love you." The tone implied that he didn't reciprocate the feeling, and her voice quivered.

[Dante Alexander]

Dante glared at the woman that smacked him; however he still attempted to remain silent as she continued to clean out the wound. Ignoring the stinging was extremely difficult; biting his tongue could only go so far before he didn’t have a tongue left. He tried to focus his attention on the conversation in the other room, but he was lost to it when the damp rag pressed against his face again. "Here. This’ll help kill off the infection." It was clear that Jamie wasn’t done either. Her tone was an open window, a glimpse into, what he was sure was going to his future head being metaphorically bitten off. Another cloth was pressed against his face -that wasn’t water- if you’re wondering how he knew the difference it was because it hurt like hell. Instantly, reactively, he pulled away sharply bearing his teeth at the offensive object. "Stay still, Dante." He uncurled his lip slightly, once again resigning to another woman wiping his face -most likely in an attempt to murder him while making it look like an accident-. While Jamie continued to clean the injury she eventually became gentler with her scrubbing, and a new bandage was pressed around the knife laceration.

Jamie’s fingers touched his face briefly before her lips touched his lightly. Leaving him there with his own mind, just like those days in the Coven. Sitting with nothing to distract him and left with his thoughts. Dante knew he was floating down the river without a paddle, but she was being impossible. Maybe she wanted him to stew for a bit longer before she actually opened her mouth to whatever was bugging her, which he understood was probably a whole list of things. None of them, he thought, was really a reason to act the way she was; which was with a bitterness strong enough to sour milk in every fridge in Crossroads. He knew better to get angry, two people pissed off with each other wasn’t going to do any good. Of course, anger wasn’t a sensible emotion, and while he was borderline controlled he could feel it seeming into his mind. With no truly good reason to be angry, he just started to make things up to fuel the fire.

"Dante?" His head snapped in the direction of Jamie’s familiar voice. Dante returned to fix his unfocused gaze ahead of him, taking into account the dark figures that stood out ever so slightly against the even darker background. That was the extent of his eyesight it seemed, moving shadows that he would often doubt to actually be present -occasionally it was something- but other times it was just a trick of his deteriorating eyes. "I'm not going to apologize." There was a moment of silence before he broke past the barrier that they were both creating between each other. ”Neither will I.” His words were bitter, almost challenging her to voice one of her many hypocrisies, it was clearly just the Cooper way, the manner in which she was raised, and he still never knew how her mother could be proud of such behaviour. Maybe she worked in the same way he did, because he certainly knew his mother wouldn’t be proud of the things that he did, but she was left in blissful ignorance until the day she died.

Jamie didn’t have to keep him waiting for long before she expressed what was peeving her off. "Who is she?... I still love you." It wasn’t the words that annoyed him so much as the tone, the accusatory tone, and he couldn’t believe that she had the gall to indict he would do such a thing. ”Jealousy is ugly on you.” He stood up, figuring that she would have to common sense to stand on her own feet before he lifted himself off the chair. Dante paused at the kitchen enterence for a moment before he slid the door shut- he was sure that this was probably the first time in a long while the door was shut due to its protests-. His next words barely held back their contained anger, spoken at a near growl. ”I can’t believe you said that.” He sucked in a breath before he turned around to face the only other person that was in the room. Stepping forward he tilted his head to the side, clenching his fist before he habitually fixed his bangs. ”I could say the same to you. Who have you been seeing?” Past pointless fears he felt it wasn’t true, but he wanted to bait her, for a moment he just wanted to beat her at her own game. Maybe there was a little part that would have found satisfaction on listening to her agree with his counter-accusations. ”It’d be really easy.” He taunted.

Dante sighed, not really getting the kind of reaction that he was hoping for, then walked over to the sink and poured himself a glass of water, it was cool going down his throat but it stung the inside of his cheek. It was also not near as satisfying as real nutrition but it was just going to have to do. At least he wasn’t dry anymore. ”I left because I had to; I did it for my mom, and my father. For Elizabeth.” He said, landing on the unmentioned topic. Honestly he didn’t expect her to understand, maybe she could try comparing the deaths of pack-mates but it wasn’t the same. He had lost his parents; no, they were taken away from him, he couldn’t let the bastard take anyone else away either. Dante let go of the glass, hearing the satisfying smash that brought a lingering smirk over his lips, ”I did it for us.” It was strange that he liked breaking things; usually he liked to aim a little higher than dishware. People that brought him the biggest doses of pain, they were all broken. They were nothing. It took no effort really. Darcy, the vampire hunter, they were nothing more than a glass. He touched the pieces that were on the floor. Sure, they could cut him, but in the end they were still nothing.

Dante closed the distance between himself and Jamie, taking her tiny wrist tightly in his hand, ”And I didn’t tell you where I was going, because I didn’t want to.” He was going to be honest, brutally if that’s the way that she wanted to view it. It was something that Dante wanted to do by himself; he knew that Jamie wouldn’t let him if he so much as gave a hint to where he was. He could forgive the man for killing his father, there was purpose behind it, but when he killed his mother it was clear that he was a threat to his family that he didn’t want to risk. He stepped forward and continued to do so until her back lightly hit the door. His fingers brushed against her nose lightly before they traced her lips. ”Talin is just a friend.” Obviously by the tone of his voice he didn’t want to talk about Talin, he really didn’t, if she was so convinced that he was going to leave her for Talin no amount of explaining would reason with her. Instead he released her wrist and moved his hands down to her waist. ”You said you loved me.” He smiled, pressing his lips against hers, only breaking a few short moments later. ”Prove it.” Dante challenged,
with his tone laced in unsuppressed playfulness.

[Jamie Cooper]

The door softly shut, giving them the privacy they needed. The other vampires wouldn't be able to hear them now. Wouldn't be able to hear something Jamie would much rather keep them out of. ”I can't believe you just said that.” His growl enticed something in her. Honestly, Jamie's stubbornness would be the end of her some day. There was the slightest narrowing of her eyes as she leaned back against the island, refusing to show anxiety, no matter how pissed off he was. She'd seen on more than one occasion what he could do when he lost his temper, yet a cockiness ran through her. He wouldn't hurt her. Not unless she were bleeding profusely, and he were hungry. 'I can't believe you left for four months without telling me anything.' The only voicing her thoughts made were the raggedness of her breath, inching towards the same sort of growl he held in his words. ”I could say the same to you. Who have you been seeing. It'd be really easy.” Jamie snorted, her lip curling as she responded snidely.
”Oh, yes, Dante. I've been fucking all of Crossroads while you were gone. I managed to somehow find the time between work, taking care of your baby sister, and looking for you every fucking night.” Each word was clipped, the last part of the sentence particularly accented. If he were closer, she would have shoved him. Her hands curled into fists as she glared at him, tears spiking her eyes.

They hung there, for what felt like hours, but in reality must have only been moments. The air felt heavy with tension. A single comment could have set either of them off. She could hear his heart beat, thumping heavily, slightly faster than normal. It felt as though her own were pounding against her ribcage. Adrenaline sharpened the air around them, dizzying her thoughts and bringing to mind the taste of blood, the drumming excitement of a battle. She tensed, and remained so until Dante sighed. He seemed unsatisfied. Jamie blinked, watching him cautiously as he got himself a drink of water. ”I left because I had to; I did it for my mom, and my father. For Elizabeth.” Something in him had changed. She wanted it to be sadness, but the smell radiating off of him... the air about him swirled headily with something else. Jamie took a step back, away from the island, just slightly closer to the door.
”You could have at least called.” She commented quietly. The anger had fallen to caution.

Time seemed to slow suddenly. A strange feeling of vertigo caught a hold of Jamie, and she gripped onto one of the tall island stools, watching Dante's hand open. The glass was falling, tumbling, turning over itself on its descent to certain demise. She watched it, doing nothing to stop it, though as the sharp noise of the shatter reached her ears, she flinched. He smirked, and she adverted her eyes, suddenly uneasy. ”I did it for us.” Her heart wrenched, and a silence took a hold of them again. Without warning he was moving towards her, and she took a step back. His grip was firm around her wrist, almost painful, though she refused to let out a cry. ”And I didn't tell you where I was going, because I didn't want to.”
”You didn't want us to know you were alive either, then?” She challenged. It was unmet... for now.

He was silent for a few moments, thoughts swarming him and taking him from her for the time. Her heart pounded loudly. She could have sworn he could hear it. When he stepped forward, she paused, holding her ground until it was obvious he wasn't stopping. She hadn't realized how far she had gone until her back thudded against the wall. Or maybe it was the door. She didn't know. Her eyes were fixed on his face, hand and wrist absentmindedly twisting against his hold. The remaining anger in her became heady, her breath quickening just the slightest bit. ”Talin is just a friend.” He told her, his hand trailing from her nose to her lips, grazing ever so lightly. She hadn't even realized she was focused on his lips until she looked up into his distant eyes. ”You said you loved me.” His hands moved down to her waist. Her knees felt weak.

They kissed. She was shivering lightly. When his lips parted the slightest bit, she could smell the infection and blood, but she didn't care. ”Prove it.” A grin fluttered across her lips. The dark Dante was gone, and back was the teasing, joking Dante she knew. A heady chuckle left her as her nose pressed against his. ”You need to see a shrink.” She teased, pressing her lips back against his. Her arms were around him, pulling him closer to her, but he never quite seemed to be close enough. As her tongue slipped into his mouth, she avoided the stitches, though otherwise failed to take precautions to minimize pain for him. Save for the occasional tang of blood, Jamie had completely forgotten about the wound for now. Her hand slipped under his shirt, he was cold, and her hand pressed into him, warming a small spot while her other hand tangled in the hair at the back of his head. She'd missed him... for four months she'd waited for him, and finally she could have him back. ... All of him.

Her lips moved from his, kissing along his jaw bone to his neck. Fingers gently gripped his hair, rotating his head back to give herself better access as her lips moved against his skin, forming a light purplish bruise that was becoming darker as her other hand slipped lower. It gripped the crease of his jeans, working on it as she did his neck, until she finally felt some results. A smirk crossed her lips, and she gently nipped him, her hand stilling as she moved back to his lips. She licked him, smiling as her mouth darted to his ear, gently sucking and nipping it. Her hands held onto his waist, keeping it still as she pressed her own hips against the result of her actions.
”If you think you're getting laid while we have guests, then you're crazier than I thought.” She purred, her hand suddenly slapping his ass playfully. A teasing growl left her as she disentangled herself from him, and went over to the earlier discarded blankets.
”Come out when you're presentable.” She said sweetly, fixing up her hair as she sauntered into the living room.

Her eyes wavered uncertainly as they zeroed in on the four vampires sitting there. She watched them, they watched her. She put the blankets down onto an end table and sat down on the couch she'd earlier shared with Dante. ”I'm Jamie, by the way.” The silence was finally broken by her, and she watched the others. Awkward silence. ”Well... I'd assume you're staying the night, so I got blankets. ... There's a bed room down here that I'll fix up. I'm sure Marina didn't leave it in the best state. There's also the couches down here. Do you guys prefer thicker, or thinner blankets?” She was already moving, getting to work as she gestured to one of them to follow her to the bedroom claimed by Marina. Opening the door was a mild embarrassment. Marina wasn't entirely clean, and Jamie did her best in a quick rush to pick up the discarded clothes and thongs, hide the bottles from Dante, and open a window while tightly sealing the blinds to get rid of the strange smell that floated around. ”It's not the cleanest, but the bed's a queen, so two of you can sleep on it...”

[Dante Alexander]

Seasons don't fear the reaper, Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain.
Then the door was open and the wind appeared,
the candles blew then disappeared
The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don't be afraid

[/font][/size]

---

---

”You need to see a shrink.” Dante shook his head mischievously -denial- before he was brought back in for another kiss. She was like water in the desert; he couldn’t get enough of her. God knows when he’ll be able to have her again before she sunk back into her eternal moodiness. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, desperately attempting to achieve as much body to body contact that he could, as if he weren’t able to keep a hold of her she would simply fade away from him. He didn’t want to break her spine or anything, and he knew what was too much. Sometimes however; he should be more focused on being gentle. Their mouths moved against each other in perfect synchrony that he knew that everything was going to be alright between them; no two people with tempers like them could possibly collide and not create a war if they weren’t perfect for each other. He couldn’t believe that she would doubt him; he had too much going for him here to want to start another romance. Jamie was handful enough.

It didn’t take long for the wound on his cheek to flare up, and disappointedly he had to continue with less vigor to avoid much more risk towards the crapping stitches. More so when he could taste his own blood in his mouth, though limited amounts, it made him slightly nervous. Though only slightly. His figures brushed over her back, committing to memory the curve of it in his mind’s eye, her own fingers pulled his hair back to expose his neck. Letting himself follow the lines of her body he attempted to memorize every one, determined to know what his fiancée looked like, knowing what she looked like in more detail than anyone else. ”No.” He groaned, but otherwise not giving much protest. Dante already had a feeling that he knew exactly how this was going to play out, he’s been down this road with her before. Now he was consciously aware of his own quickened heartbeat, the light smell that was Jamie’s, but other than that there was nothing to keep his mind from wandering.

He only gained momentary relief when she pressed her hips against his. ”If you think you're getting laid while we have guests, then you're crazier than I thought.” Despite that he expected this to happen it was still a bit of shock when she went ahead and said it aloud. Her palm smacked his backside, a growl escaping from her as she darted away. He hated her. ”I never get my hopes up around you sweetheart.” There was a light bitterness to the otherwise sweet toned nickname. Dante sighed and couldn’t help wishing that she loved him just a little more. ”Come out when you're presentable.” The fake sweetness in her voice made his stomach churn, there was just something lethal about it, a touch of hidden menace he was sure of it. There was just something about the situation that just made him want to spend as much time as he could in the kitchen, no doubt it would just be awkward standing out there with Jamie when she was just, moments before, in a horrendous mood.

Dante stepped over to where the sink was, kneeling over to pick up the little shards of glass that were scattered all over the floor. Placing each piece carefully in the palm of his hand he was being wary to any cuts that he might receive from the insignificant little things. Once he had found a great deal of satisfaction from the cup hitting the floor, but that didn’t mean that he could just leave it there now to be picked up by somebody else. Anyway, he knew he had to make up some excuse to why he was taking so long in the kitchen, especially since he hadn’t left the damn thing since Talin insisted on cleaning out the bane of his existence. …No, that wasn’t fair, the cut did nothing to him Jamie was the bane of his existence. He settled on muttering some inarticulate sounds as he made sure that the majority of the large pieces were scooped off the ground and back into the trash can. Dante turned the tap over the sink and splashed cold water over his face, scoopful after scoopful. ”Dante!”

He somehow choked over the last scoopful of water when he was startled by the childish shriek that emitted itself from the kitchen door. His chest heaved as he attempted to grasp at some air, which seemed so far away, always seemed to be that way when one was lacking a sufficient amount of air. Eventually it returned to him, leaving a raw ach in his chest. Izzy launched herself around his neck and pulled him back down to the kitchen floor. “I know you can’t see me, but my hands are on my hips Dante Riley Alexander.” Such big words for a little girl, but he knew where they came from; their mom would say it every time she was particularly frustrated with him. There was silence as he waited for the lecture to continue, but it didn’t. ”You said mommy was fine.” He realized what was going on and pulled his little sister beside him, letting her little warm ball curl up beside up as she shuddered silently, ”She’s not.”

He waited before he spoke, not knowing what to do, but he didn’t think that Jamie would have given the girl too much comfort, it wasn’t like she knew the woman herself. Dante knew that Jamie wasn’t one for ‘religious garbage’ she’s made that perfectly clear. ”She’s in a better place now, in heaven, and she still loves you.” There was a little bit of silence, of consideration before she spoke again. ”And daddy?” Dante paused and swallowed his own pain, she was too young. ”Yes, your father too.” In all honesty he despised the thought of him being in heaven, his mother was an angel, and she had to be to have such a sweet little girl with that monster of a man. He wasn’t about to tell a little girl that he wished that her father was burning in the very depths of hell, she was already scared enough without that little mental image.

”I want to be like you.” She choked out. ”Blind?” He deflected, not really knowing where that train of thought was going to lead her, he was either going to be very flattered, or very horrified. ”No. Like you and Marina, you don’t have to die.” She was growing up too fast; even when he was seven years old he wasn’t worrying about death and mortality. He was occupied with the usual seven year old stuff, playing outside and being chastised for bringing mud in the house. But he was scared of her dying too, did he really have the right to decide if she was allowed to ‘live forever’ like himself, telling her no was just the same as signing her death certificate in his eyes. ”Ask me again when you are eighteen and all grown up.” Simple enough, if she forgot then it wasn’t something that she really wanted. If she made up her mind then, well there was nothing that could stop her from finding someone else to be her sire.

He forced out a smile and stood up to his feet, extending his hand out to lift the little girl off the floor. Time to distract the seven year old girl from her woes, which, he hoped, would be simple enough. ”Now I seem to recall missing your birthday.” She didn’t say anything, but he was sure that he heard an ‘hmpf’. Dante pulled a bowl out of the cupboard and set it down on the counter before he reached over to grab a box of cereal. Pouring out the cereal into the bowl, he pretended to muse about something in his mind, closing the cereal box properly and putting it back on its designated shelf spot. ”Seven is a big number. I guess I have to think of a really good present. “ Dante smiled at her little squeak of joy, as he walked to the refrigerator and found the carton of milk. Setting it down on the table he heard her scramble over and sit down on one of the chairs. Vaguely he wondered if this is what his mother saw in them, a little life that they would do anything to protect? It was humbling. However; the slurping he was hearing was irritating as hell, he placed his hands on his hips imitating her opening actions. ”Miss. Elizabeth Sarah Claire Alexander.” He scolded handing her the spoon that was in his hand, and being completely ignored. ”That’s Izzy to you, punk.” She teased poking him on the chest with the utensil before she started to shovel down the fruity loops, flakes, squares… whatever they were.

Dante stalked out of the kitchen listening for Jamie, wrapping his arms around her stomach and leaning his forehead against her shoulder. ”You’re being mean to me.” He teased with a mock whine. A smile flickered across his lips before it slowly faded to just an expression of contentment. For a moment he let his eyes flutter close, and he realized how tired he was. Truly, he couldn’t sleep in that van; he was never one that was able to sleep in vehicles. ”Oh, there’s a little blonde human in the kitchen. Touch my sister and you will find body parts in anatomically impossible places.” ”Would never dream of it.” ”Good to hear Eli.” He intended on staying awake long enough to make sure that Elizabeth made it out the door, and then the chips would lie where they fell. He briefly thought about asking Jamie where Marina was, but then again he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer to that. Not right now. Dante’s thumb rested on the hem of her jeans, "When I go to bed later, will you come up with me?" His hand had held her chin as he brushed his lips against the side of her face. Eh. Missed.

[Jamie Cooper]

She was thanked by the female she’d shown the room to. The one that wasn’t Talin. It still mildly irritated her that she only knew one of their names. There were still three others. Three other strangers who were in her house, and she didn’t even know their names. In any case, Jamie’s anger had been thwarted down enough to keep it at bay now. Dante would be thankful. Ripping off the dirty sheets, she quickly replaced them, pulling a bra out from under the pillow, and then promptly replacing the pillow cases with a look combining disgust and unease. She’d just went to close the window and re-secure the blinds when a joyful scream hit her ears light a freight train. Jamie winced, but poked her head out with a smile on her lips, meeting the confused gazes of their guests. 

”Sounds like Dante’s sister’s awake.” There was a pause, and her eyes narrowed slightly. ”If any of you touch her, I’ll be sure to use your bones as chew-toys.” 
“So you do use chew toys?” Teased one of the males, the smaller one. A flicker of a smile crossed her lips, and Jamie’s eyes strayed to the kitchen doors. 
”Mmmh…” She gave a suggestive noise of confirmation, her eyes still on the door, though now furrowed with worry. By the tone of Izzy’s voice, she could tell the small girl was crying. Dante sounded uneasy. They were talking about his mother. 
“So, what’s it like being a werewolf?” The same one asked. 
”Hmm?” Jamie’s eyes returned to the vampire, casually walking across the room to lean against the wall by the kitchen doors, eavesdropping. 
“Being a werewolf? What’s it like?” 
”It’s fun. A lot more free than being a vampire, at least.”
“How do you know?” 
She shrugged. ”I’m not restrained by the sun.” Her voice was teasing as she stuck out her tongue. 

There was the clatter of a spoon in a bowl, and Jamie turned her head at the soft sound of footsteps. Arms wrapped around her and she relaxed, visibly sinking into his embrace. Her arse noted that he’d rid himself of her little gift. A grin came to her lips. ”You’re being mean to me.” He whined. Her grin widened, though she said nothing else. Exhaustion was washing over her. Four months of minimal sleep. She had a feeling she’d have the best sleep in a long time today. Of course… she was supposed to have school. Jamie hardly had to even consider it before she’d decided she wasn’t going. There was no way she was going to school. Not now that Dante was back. Maybe she’d just take the rest of the week off. It’s not like the schools taught anything useful anyways. Plus the idea of being in close quarters with reeking humans was unappealing. ”Oh, there’s a small blonde human in the kitchen. Touch my sister and you will find body parts in anatomically impossible places.” 
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Commented the one she’d been speaking with earlier. 
”Good to hear Eli.” So, his name was Eli. Well, two down, two to go. 

She felt Dante’s hand slowly slip down, his thumb pressed against the hem of her jeans. Shifting, she turned her head with his thumb, a small smile on her lips. ”When I go to bed later, will you come up with me?” His tone revealed nothing else, and she wondered with a small spark of excitement, whether or not he were implying something more. His lips touched the side of her face, missing her own lips. With a smile, she turned around, hooking one thumb in his front jean pocket, the other gripping his shirt at the chest. Pressing her lips to his, she smiled again. ”Of course. I’m tired too.” Her voice was a soft purr, and she leaned in to kiss him softly, playfully, deeply. The group behind her fell away to nothing. She could still hear their breaths, the soft sound as they shifted. The sound of feet walking on the floor behind Dante. She didn't care.
”Ew!” A small, high voice exclaimed in disgust. It was quickly followed by a sound akin to someone hacking up mucus. Jamie's lips left his, and she looked behind him to see a little blonde girl with her hand on her hips, looking at them with an expression of severe distaste.

A grin came to Jamie's lips. ”Who are they?” She suddenly perked up, noticing visitors.
”Those would be Dante's friends.” She, herself, looked over her shoulder, eyeing up the two whose names she still didn't know. ”But you don't have time to chit-chat, Izzy! You're going to be late for school.” Her voice chastised teasingly, leaving Dante's embrace to ruffle the girl's hair while sorting out her own.
”Why aren't you going to school, huh?” The girl asked suspiciously, perhaps even slightly snidely. Jamie grinned, picking her up, much to her dismay. Jamie found the girl wasn't quite as fond of physical contact as her brother was. Something Jamie found absolutely adorable, and used to her own advantage at every opportunity she had.
”Because, I've been up all night with Dante, and I'm going to sleep all day. ... And because I said so.” She teased her, poking her on the nose before giving in to her pushing and put her back on the ground. ”Go and get your teeth and hair done. I'll go make your lunch.” As the girl disappeared from Jamie's view, she gently kissed Dante on the cheek before going off into the kitchen, and doing just what she'd said she would.

”All done!.”
”Really? I don't smell any tooth paste on your breath.” She poked her head out of the kitchen, grinning at the girl's dumbfounded expression before she went back upstairs to do her teeth.
Within moments, Jamie was at the door, tucking Izzy's lunch into her back pack and watching Dante give her a hug bye. ”You might want to step into the living room.” She told him, turning the door handle as noisily as possible to make a point. Izzy came to the door, and the two left it, Jamie calling over her shoulder that she would be back in a moment as she rushed the girl to the bus stop. She felt a lot safer, in a world that she knew was filled with sick, twisted folk, sending the girl on the bus. How did she know how twisted these people were? Well, she was one of them, she could fathom worse.

As red lights stopped flashing, the giant yellow vehicle rolled away. Jamie watched the little blonde girl go and sit with the same girl she did every other day, striking up a conversation. She lingered, looking up at the warm sun, greeting the day as cheery as usual. Jamie took in a deep breath, allowing herself to slip into almost a daydreaming state. Dark bags hung under her eyes. She was exhausted. Her body tilted slightly, and suddenly her eyes snapped open and she steadied herself. Turning her head back towards the house, Jamie began the short walk back.

She knocked before entering, a warning for any of those possibly in the light of the door way to move. Slipping back in, she leaned against the door, closing her eyes and trying to keep herself upright. Slipping behind Dante, she wrapped her arms around him, resting her forehead against his shoulder blades. ”Let's go to bed.” She murmured. He could tend to his friends. She was going upstairs. Her hand travelled down his arm, holding his hand as she walked away, until slowly, their hands slid apart and she bounded quietly up the stairs. A small smile came to her lips. She'd rearranged the upstairs to accommodate the futon she'd bought for herself. Since he'd left, she put Izzy in his... their old room. She felt more comfortable there. Even though humans didn't have near as an amazing sense of smell as werewolves, she said she could still smell him. Besides, she wasn't going to make a six-year-old sleep on the couch, or with Marina. That would be just cruel. Plus, she couldn't kick Marina out of her bedroom.

Walking around the comfy chair, she went to the futon and stretched it out into a bed, grabbing extra blankets from the cupboard and spreading them out. Undressing, she clambered into the fleecy sheets and propped herself up on one elbow, waiting for Dante to come up before she could clear her throat, indicating she wasn't in his old room. She didn't want t sleep in that room. It would make her uncomfortable. By now it smelled much too much of Izzy for her to be comfortable snuggling, kissing, romanticizing with her brother in the bed she'd just slept in.

[Dante Alexander]

Seasons don't fear the reaper, Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain.
Then the door was open and the wind appeared,
the candles blew then disappeared
The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don't be afraid

[/font][/size]

---

---

Dante smiled right before she pressed her lips against him again, it felt good to be back home even if he was going to act like one of those teenagers he had always heard people complaining about. ”Of course. I’m tired too.” Her tone was at a purr, with that same voice that she used months ago when he figured it was a habit that a sensible mother wouldn’t allow her daughter get into. From his end of the deal it didn’t sound too bad. The side of his face protested in vain as they kissed, the injury was completely ignored by the young adults. “Ew!” However, some seven year olds certainly couldn’t ignore the horrible crime of kissing. Especially a member of the opposite sex! It was a sound that was pretty close to absolute horror, horror and defined disgust. Living with a couple of teenagers she was certainly going to have to get used to it because he really had no intentions on changing this sort of habitual behaviour.

Then Izzy seemed to steal away his girlfriend so they could go on girlie adventures together, it seemed that the little girl expected Jamie to carry on their morning routine that they had adapted over the four months he was gone. On that note, he was pretty sure that the conversation wasn’t over about that, he didn’t think that it would ever be over really. That would imply that Jamie had the ability to forgive and forget, he was certain that it wasn’t a virtue that she had in her family tree, or frontal lobe of the brain. It probably wasn’t a werewolf thing either. This was going to be something that he would be reminded of until the day he died. Dante turned around and sat down on the good couch, he was half listening to the chatter between Talin and Miss. Hunter. Eli was being surprisingly silent, and since he could hear Sam breathing, he was being surprisingly noisy.

He was rather bored, something he wouldn’t have expected on his first day back home. He was paying limited attention to Izzy who was running to and fro trying to get herself back together for school; he wondered how much she had missed since he was gone. It probably wasn’t a good idea to invite her to say at home for the day, and another part didn’t want her to. The same part that wanted to tell Talin and the coven to go home so he could spend some quality time with his fiancée. However basic politeness stopped him from achieving this short-term goal, he was not going to kick his friend out after they volunteered to drive him all the way to California. And of course there was still work to be done. He headed back to the kitchen, narrowly evading Izzy whom he almost toppled right over.

Dante walked to the sink and gently washed some cold water over the side of his face, the cool water bringing relief to the fantastic stinging sensation that he absolutely despised. No matter how quick that wound healed, Dante knew that it wouldn’t be quick enough to be comfortable. He would probably look back at this in retrospect and think that it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was at this moment. Turning off the sink he walked back into the main room, he was barely able to miss running over the little blonde girl again. It was probably a subtle assassination attempt at this point. “Give your brother a hug.” He insisted, lowering himself to her height. Lizzy made a little groaning noise that clearly expressed a childish 'do I have to?'. "Before you make me fall over." Dante added to subtly milk a little bit of sympathy out of his youngest sister. Thankfully this one was able to be guilted and she gave her big brother a quick hug.

Jamie rattled the door handle as she told him, and by extension probably every other vampire in the house, to stay away from the doorway. ”You might want to step into the living room.” He quickly obeyed and stepped into the living room with the rest of his friends. Nichole was chatting quietly with Talin. Otherwise there wasn't much going on inside. Jamie mentioned that she'd be back shortly and went out with Izzy, probably to walk her to bus stop like he remembered their mother used to do every day. The second she left though, Eli decided that it was prime time to hold his own little meeting. "So, raise of hands. Who thinks thinks Jamie's too good-looking for Dante. Don't be scared. The vote is completely anonymous."

The young man rolled his eyes as he folded his arms over his chest, Dante shouldn't be shocked that this was news that Eli though should be discussed. Everyone else thought it was hilarious, and chimed in with their range of opinions. Sam, surprisingly, was the first to fit his thought in. "I didn't think she'd be so young." Nicole laughed, verbally agreeing with Sam. The squeaking of the couch indicated that she shifted her position around. If he picked up on any of Nichole's personality she was always the first one to get into gossip, second only to Eli apparently. So that meant that Nicole and Eli were sitting exchanging their notes on Dante, Jamie and their resulting relationship. Apparently they couldn't tell if she was a moody bitch, or a saint for putting up with him.

The oldest of the group stood up, "You two are being unbelievably childish." Talin ordered in her most motherly and commanding tone, the two in question shut their mouth quickly, almost at a record time for the male party. Even though Dante couldn't see it, she motioned towards him before she ended the conversation. "Frankly, they are both just babies yet. Give it time." Almost as if one queue, there was a knock on the door and Jamie slinked back into the room. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her forehead against him. Her voice was quiet but he was still able to hear a, "Let's go to bed." Before she walked off. Presumably upstairs.

Nichole stood up, "Let's claim the bed before the boys do." The two women went to Marina's room together, shutting the door behind them lightly. Typical stereotype. Men always have to get stuck on the couch for the sake of 'chivalry', or something like that. To be completely honest, he wasn't sure of the reason. It just seemed to be a tradition older than time. He could hear the girls quietly discussing something, and now he was sure that they weren't really tired, and instead just wanted to talk to each other in peace. Eli and Sam didn't look like they were ready to go down for the day either, so he sat up with them and entertained his guests for a short while. At least until Eli wound a little bit, he always seemed to be full of energy.

Time passed, and he felt that he could finally leave without being rude, Dante walked upstairs to go to bed. A cough coming from behind stopped him from going to his bedroom, he spun around in the direction. He slowly shuffled in that direction until his knee lightly bumped against the mattress. It was interesting, that a vampire can't feel some of the things a mortal could, but he was able to feel how heavy his eyes were as sleep wanted to take over. His hand was met with air as he lightly bounced his fingers off of the material to feel for a body, when the area was clear he rolled over on the makeshift bed. A sigh of contentment left his lips before he turned his head towards Jamie, "So. Why are we sleeping in the hallway?"

He listened to the response, and forced back a yawn as long as possible until he gave in to it. "I guess I'll have to deal with that later." He muttered. He considered going to sleep in his street clothes, these weren't even the same clothes that he left with. Those were long gone, instead he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that was lent to him by Eli and another member of the coven whose name he couldn't really remember. Eli was skinner than he was apparently. He took Jamie's hand and resting his forehead against her shoulder, "They're staying for a couple of days. Talin and Sam have a great plan. We're going to go over it when everyone's rested up. You should be there for it."

[Jamie Cooper]

Watching Dante stumble his way upstairs wasn't exactly as entertaining as she had initially presumed it to be. His motions were fluid and sure, at least up until she cleared her throat for him. The glimmer of a smirk crossed her lips. In her professional opinion, relationships were always better when the lovers in question kept each other on their toes, and literately anything Jamie did within the next three months would be nothing compared to the constant state of anxiety Dante had just relieved her of. She was grateful, but at the same time vengeful, and nothing was ever going to be the same until she got her revenge. Of that, at least, he could be sure. Though he couldn't see it, her wicked grin took a turn for the sweet as he lightly bumped the mattress.

When he turned to her, the light warm breeze of his breath caressed her face. ”So. Why are we sleeping in the hallway?”
”Because it's oh-so romantic.” Jamie answered with a beat hardly coming between their voices. It took her a moment or two to actually answer; attention diverted elsewhere. Her hand had risen to his face and she was gently tracing her fingers along his cheek bone, making a point to avoid the reeking wound as she twisted her hand in his loose hair and pulled herself close to him. The kiss was a tender and short one, her lips searching his, still uncertain if this was real or not. Doubt lashed at her, but she ignored it, separating from him to gently kiss his nose. ”While you were gone, your house came to a horrible infestation.” She confided solemnly. ”And now your room reeks of little humans.” It was obvious she was smiling by the lilt in her voice, and amusement lightened her tone. ”I wasn't going to make Izzy sleep on the couch, with Marina, or with a stranger, so I gave her your bed.”

”I guess I'll have to deal with that later.”
”I was just considering an extension on the house.” She sounded serious, and it was the fact that it was such an impossibility given their situation, that gave away she was just joking.
”They're staying for a couple of days.” Confusion briefly flickered across Jamie's face, but her eyes still didn't open. ”Talin and Sam have a great plan. We're going to go over it when everyone's rested up.” It was so cute how invested Dante was with his friends. Whether or not this was normal behaviour for him she didn't know; this was really the first time she'd ever seen him around “friends”. ”You should be there for it.” Whatever it was these vampires were planning, they could be sure that Jamie was going to be there for it; somethin' goin' down in her neighbourhood, she wanted to know about it.

”Of course.” She murmured sleepily, nestling up against him. ”What is it?” It didn't sound as if her boyfriend were planning on sharing any of his demonic vampir'y plans with her, but she still held out a sliver of hope that he might. Probably was just going to tell her to be patient or some bullshit. Fuck patience, she had been patient for three months.

And finally those three months were wearing on her. Exhaustion and worry caved in on her, and suddenly she was lost in the dark. ”Dante?” He only would have heard it if he were really listening, for it sounded more like an exhale than a word before she finally drifted off to sleep.