At the Manor

Amu shook her head.

"You don't have to," She said quickly, though she thought it would be nice. She was unable to surpress a yawn.

"Which room are you sleeping in tonight?" he asked her quickly, he was staying with her regardless, he just wanted to know where. He chuckled slightly as she yawned and smiled at her.

"It doesn't matter, mine I guess?" Amu asked, glancing up at him quickly, trying to hold back another yawn. Her muscles were sore and stiff from sitting still so much of the day.

"I don't think you'll make it that far" He told her quickly. Nonetheless he walked towards the door and opened it, even though she was welcome to stay there

He was right; she wouldn't. Now that the thought of sleep had entered her mind it wouldn't leave, and her eyes began to close even as she stood there. She hated sleeping at night, for that meant she was awake during the day and she had to be cooped up inside. But since she hadn't slept that whole day, she was tired.

She didn't move, her eyes closing as she stood there.

Skylar chuckled and shut the door. He walked back to her and scoped her up in his arms and gently set her on the bed. HE walked around it and got in the other side, we wasn't tired but he told her he would stay with her as she slept so he laid there

Amu was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was worn out both physically and emotionally, and sleep just sounded so....nice.

However, her sweet dreams soon turned to nightmares. Her peaceful face looked pained as she continued to dream.

Skylar watched as he face looked pain and he jumped out of his bad and ran next door to Shellie's room. He burst in loudly waking Shellie up and startling Jason. "Amu is having nightmares, I need you to stop them" Shellie groaned inwardly but got out of her bed nonetheless. She walked to Skylar's room and looked at Amu. She changed her mind so the nightmares wouldn't come through, however now Shellie would see them in return. She sighed and walked back to her room and attempted to sleep again, this time with nightmares she had plagued herself with.

Amu slept peacefully now.

She had been dreaming about Marcus hurting Tina, then reliving the night she had left her home. She figured it was brought on by explaining it all again to someone new. But whatever it was, she didn't have them anymore. Shellie did.

Shellie watched the nightmares, a pained expression on her face. She had already lived these once in Amu's memories, but these seemd more paiful for a reason. She wanted to hurt Marcus, to protect Tina as sh watched him hurt her. All these emotions lead to Shellie sudden inability to wake herself up to end them.

Several hours later Shellie manged to wake herself. She looked up to see Jason's worried face, he saw that she still seemed tired and then he looked furious "Why do you do this to yourself?" he asked, he was sitting in a chair across next to the bed. She sat up to answer him, she shut her eyes to think and then looked at him again.

"Because as head of the Manor I have to protect them" she told him bluntly.

"That is no reason to bring pain to yourself! A nightmare never hurt anyone!" he was now standing up

"Exactly! Nightmare's never hurt anyone! Why is it such a huge deal that I make someone sleep better?!"

"Because watching your pained expression and not being able to do anything about it hurts me!"

"Why do you always have to protect me? I've lived for a century and I haven't managed to kill myself yet! I've went through more in the first week of being a vampire than you did until you met me!" tears about her earliest vampiric memories filled her eyes

"You almost were killed and that brought a hell of a lot of pain to you! Isn't that enough?!"

"Apparently not! Your the reason I still am alive and I thank you for that and I love the fact that you make sure I'm safe when I have other priorities than my own safety but you must understand that when I can do something to help somebody out I will, even if it does harm me in the end!" She watched as her words seemed to bring pain to him, she knew that her near death at the hands of his first 'friend' was enough for him to want to leave for good. She also knew that he wouldn't because it pained them both too much. She knew he needed a moment to think but wouldn't leave her unless she told him to "Go think" she told him kindly "Just don't go too far, I don't want to worry about your safety if the sun rises before you are back" he nodded and jumped out her window swiftly, leaving her to sit on her bed and watch him as he ran away from the Manor.

Lacey quickly tied her long hair back, and got into bed. She yawned and closed her eyes but did not dift off to sleep. She opened her eyes, and tossed in the bed. She wanted, needed, sleep. And sleep would not come. She st up in her bed. She looked around the dark room. She wondered about her old coven, She knew they, or rather most of them, wanted her dead.

She lloked around again, as if they were hiding in the shadows.

Amu woke up hours later to the sound of yelling.

She tried to block out their conversation, feeling as though she were eavesdropping, but couldn't. She winced as she listened, their words clear as a bell. She listened as Jason left before slowly getting out of Skylar's bed, being careful not to wake him. She opened the door quietly, stepping out into the hallway and closing the door quietly behind her. She walked down toward's Shellie's room, unsure of what she was planning to say or do.

"Sorry for waking you." Shellie mumbled as she sensed Amu coming. She sat on her bed, still watching where Jason as disappeared into the trees "I'll try to keep it down next time" A tear threatened to fall from her eyes and she blinked to keep it back but that failed her, it slowly fell down her cheek and landed on her bed. "I'm an idiot" she mumbled to herself "I take on too much"

"You do take on too much," Amu agreed, sitting next to her. "Why did you do that anyways?" She asked quietly. "I can handle my own nightmares."

"I was half asleep and didn't really think it through. Skylar asked for my help so I helped" Shellie told her, her voice low. "Either way I would have known your nightmares so it wouldn't have mattered" She sighed lightly, not taking her eyes off her window.

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Jason ran until he knew he was no longer in Shellie's reach. He ran faster and further until he came across Lorelai. He stopped in his tracks, the two just watching each other for signs of threat.

Amu frowned, and looked at the window where Shellie was.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," She said quietly. It was still dark out, so she figured she must not have been sleeping as long as she thought she was.

"No, you haven't" Shellie told her, referring to her amount of sleep "A few more hours till sunrise" another tear fell as she realized her was gone from her mental reach.

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"Nice to see you again my friend" Lorelai said.

"I'm not your friend" he spat

"We'll then I hope you don't mind I take my frustrations out on you since you aren't my friend" Jason prepared to run back to the Manor or fight if he had to

"I'm sorry....this is probably my fault," Amu mumbled. She listened and could faintly hear Jason's voice, and blinked, wondering who he was talking to. His voice was fuzzy and she couldn't tell what he was saying.

"Not your fault, just my own" Shellie told her. She listened to what Amu could hear closely.

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Lorelai lunged at Jason, who in turn jumped into a tree. "Jeez, it's a good thing I met Shellie" he mumbled. He jumped back to the ground, running to where he hoped Shellie could hear his thoughts. Lorelai was on his trail.

Amu could hear his footsteps as he ran closer to the Manor.

"Someone is following him," She said simply, and already had an idea of who it might be.

Jason finally reached Shellie's mental reaches. Lorelai also entered them.

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Shellie gasped and stood up "Not again" she muttered angrily. She made her way to her window and hopped out of it quickly. "She will regret the day she decided to blackmail me"

"Hey, Shellie!" Amu called. She quickly followed her, landing on the ground and standing up.

"What?" Shellie asked, her eyes scanning the trees quickly. She was decided what to do next

"You're not going alone," Amu said simply, standing next to her and following her gaze.