At the Manor

Amu was silent as she listened to him. She just nodded along with what he said, though her mind was racing.

All this had happened to him? It /almost/ explained some of his behavior. Almost.

When he finisehd she looked at him.

"And I know what happened after that," She said, remembering what he himself and Eric had told him about what happened with the Queen. She looked at him with a mixture of distate, disgust, and confusion.

Even after hearing his story, she still didn't understand. But she had long ago given up on trying.

"Just so you know," Amu said, reluctantly coming closer. She even went so far as to sit down next to him by the wall, but was tense and ready to jump up at any moment. "I don't know what happened between you and Tina, or when you became mates, but if you /ever/ leave her again, or hurt her, /I'll/ hurt /you/."

She paused and looked at him, completely serious.

MArcus looked at her. "Fine I'll take her away tonight, and you will never see her again." Marcus said simply.


((x2 F-))

Amu tensed up, her eyes growing wide.

She didn't want that! She had grown protective over her, almost as if she were her little sister, instead of Maiya. That was part of the reason she had grown to hate Marcus so much, that and the fact he had tried to kill her and hurt Tina several times, along with her friends. With these thoughts she unconciously moved farther away from him on the wall.

She knew mates were supposed to be together, but she didn't want him to take Tina away from her. However selfish that may have sounded.

Not wanting to contradict herself, she bit her lip and held her tongue.

Marcus didn't look at her. "I'll take her far away, prehaps back to the mountions were I found her." He said. "And we'll never come back to this town." He went on.

Amu suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Stop," She muttered, letting go. She didn't like touching him. She stared forward, biting her lip nervously.

"I don't---" She paused and sighed. "I don't want Tina to leave."

"And I don't want her to stay." Marcus repiled. "But it is not mine nor your right to chose rather she stays or go." Marcus said looking at her. "


((A bad day for posting.))

Suddenly Amu had a thought. What if Marcus stayed with them at the Manor....?

She shook off the thought, almost laughing at herself. She wanted Tina to stay, but she would die before she stayed within a 100 foot radius of Marcus, willingly that is.

She knew he was right, and she knew what Tina would choose.

Him, of course, and she couldn't blame him. Mates stuck together. Wasn't that what she had been saying this whole time?

But still....she hated the man who sat next to her now. She didn't trust him, and she certainly didn't like the thought of him near Tina.

She tensed up, suddenly angry all over again, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides.

Marcus leaned his head back. "I'm not as bad as you think." He said suddenly.

He yawned but didn't feel like going back to sleep. "You know my story, so tell me yours." He nearly commaned.

"Doubtful," Amu muttered. When he asked about her story she shrugged.

"It's none of your business," She said almost automatically. She knew if she told it she might start crying. She couldn't cry in front of him. She wouldn't.

He just nodded and closed his eyes, and fell back into his painful memories.

All at once everything disappered around him, no Amu, no Empty house, no need to hide from the sun.

He was human again. . . .

Amu was surprised he had given up so easily, but didn't question it.

She, however, didn't fall into her memories. She refused to. She had relived them too many times, some too real for her liking, such as when Maiya showed up. She instead stared straight ahead, biting her lip as she thought about Tina.

Tina. She would never see her again after today, woud she? She sighed, and felt a single tear slip down her pale cheek. She quickly wiped it away and made sure Marcus was still sleeping.

Good, he was. She stood up and walked over to the door, glancing outside. The sun was high in the sky now. There was too much time left for her liking.

About an half hour later Marcus woke up again, bored. He looked at Amu, but said nothing.

Amu had spent that half hour sitting in one position until her legs fell asleep. She heard Marcus stir but didn't look at him. She could feel his eyes on her and when she could take it no longer she turned to him.

"What??" She snapped.

Marcus smriked. "Why are /you/ the way /you/ are?" He asked. "It's only fair."

Amu glared at him when he asked her once more about her past. She knew he was right, but would never admit it.

Instead, she decided to tell him.

"Fine, you really want to know?" She asked. Without waiting for a response she continued.

"I lived in a clan with others of our kind, after I was changed," She said. "My parents /and/ sister were vampires too, changed in the same way I was, but at different times," She said. "We along with many others lived together, and it was fine. My mate----" She cut herself off, feeling a sudden wave of despair wash over her. She shook it off and continued. "My mate, Yuru," She forced herself to say his name, though it hurt. "was there, too," She finished with a small sigh.

"Everything was fine. Me and my sister were best friends. Well, I thought so," She added with a bitter laugh.

"One day Yuru ran up to me with a knife in his back, literally," She said simply. "The elders told me that a mind reader, my sister, Maiya, had told them I killed one of the elders. They believed the filthy liar simply because she was a mind reader."

She paused, then continued.

"I was devastated," She whisperd. "I buried the only man I ever loved, then left. I was on my own for 50 years until I found Blood Manor, which wasn't too long ago."

Then she finally looked at him. Pain, betrayel, anger, and many other things evident in her eyes.

"It wasn't until later that I found out why she did it. Why Maiya betrayed me. When she showed up at Blood Manor again." She frowned and went on, looking forward again.

"She was jealous!" Amu said with a laugh. "Jealousy cost three people their lives, two literally." the third she was speaking of was herself.

"Apparently she loved Yuru. And she felt as though everyone liked me more." Amu laughed again, short and bitterly.

"All of that over jealousy...." She shook her head, trailing off. She had tears in her eyes, but managed to hold them back. She looked at Marcus, suddenly her normal, angry self again.

"Happy?" She snapped.

Marcus listened carefully. "I misjudged you." He said when she was done. But he said nothing else as he closed his eyes again.

Amu frowned.

"I /may/ have misjudged you," She said quietly, but nothing else. "But I still hate you," she added. "Just so you know."

Marcus soon fell asleep in to his dreams of blood covered snow,

He didn't wake up again till half an hour before sun set.

While Marcus was asleep Amu had been pacing back and forth in front of the door.

When she heard him stir she glanced over at him but continued her pacing, surprised she hadn't worn a hole in the floor yet.

She had been thinking about Tina.

Tina. How she would no doubt leave her soon and go with Marcus. She knew it was inevitable, but she couldn't stop thinking about it.

She continued her pacing without saying a word to him.

MAcus stood up and yawned. "Did you get any sleep?" He asked, through he didn't care.

He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and truned it on to see what time it was.

Shellie watched the sun rise slowly, waiting for the precise time to run out the door. Her lack of sleep evident but she no longer cared for it. The sun seemed to move too slowly for her, she was desperate to find out Amu alive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lorelai woke up and walked out of her room, no longer caring Amu was there, her smile was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jacob, Jason, Skylar, Anna, and Brooke had fallen asleep on the couch after hours of watching Shellie.

"With you here? As if," Amu mumbled, continuing her pacing. When Lorelai walked out of her room her head snapped up and she stopped, tensing up again and narrowing her eyes slightly at her.

After all that had happened that day, she could /maybe/ understand some of the reason Marcus was the way he was.

But that didn't mean she forgave him for what he had done, nor that she hated him any less.

"Oh calm yourself, I don't care anymore" Lorelai said. "I'm leaving, chasing Miss Mental Abilities is unfair and although you are a good fight Shellie will have my head on a platter for it. Likewise for Mister Look At My Pretty Flames!" she raised an eyebrow "Probably not so much now that she stole my help from me, she seems to not be so attached to Skylar. Hmmmm...there's a thought" she mumbled to herself, thinking about it

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shellie watched the sun, it seemed as if it was hardly moving. Her temptation to just run out was rising until she felt hands lock around her waist. "You have to calm down, she'll be okay" he told her

"How did you know that was my issue?" she asked, turning to face him

"I know you Shell. I know even though you are angry with someone the second you don't know what is happen you become worried. You have to stop being this way you even have Brooke worried" he told her softly. She set her head on his chest and sighed lightly

"I'm just worried Jason, I can't help it" she told him and sighed and hugged her.

Amu glared at Lorelai.

"What's a thought?" She snapped. "If you're planning anything involing Skylar, I swear----" She didn't continue, but her glare didn't faze.

Lacey sat on her window sill, her legs against the outside wall of the manor. She wacthed as the sun slowly set, she loved the dusk. Almost as much as she loved heights. This was not high enough to be called high to her. She closed her eyes and sighed.

She had not left her room all day, not once. Now her body said it was time to eat something. She had spent her whole day running her fingers through her past the knee long chocolate brown hair. She was tring to free all the knots. It was really useless. It seemed like evertime she got one out three more would apper.

She was almost tempted to jump from the window, instead she steped back inside her room. She heard movment and people talking down stairs. She opened her door carefully and stepped out, not sure what to do. She took the first few steps of the stairs looking around carefilly.

~~
Marcus sat back down, saying nothing.

~~
Tina was still sleeping, peacefully, dreaming of lakes filled with chocolate.