chapter 14: home

I was the quick one for once.

"Stop!" I shouted at him. "She's a friend! Part of the pack I told you about!" I told him hastily. William froze, tense all over.

He took a step back and to the side. She really was there! It had been five whole months since I saw her beautiful face, her glowing skin, her golden eyes! I sprung forward.

"Is this another dream?!" I cried. She laughed. My arms clung around her waist.

"No, I'm real." But she sounded distracted. I pulled back. Anya and William were eyeing eachother. After a moment, Anya looked at me.

"I have much to tell you, dolcetto." She began slowly. I nodded but didn't pay much attention to her somber tone. I was too excited as I let her in. "I like it. It's cozy." She smiled, gazing around my apartment.

"Thanks." I grinned. She ran her hands along the marble counters in the kitchen. Then she looked behind me.

"I see you've made a new friend." She noted. I nodded, ignoring the look they were both giving eachother.

"This is William. William, Anya." I introduced them.

"So, I supposed I can tell you both?" She asked, looking at me now. "You've told him everything?"

"Not everything but I'm sure he can keep up." I grinned at him. He failed miserably at smiling back. I scowled at him for a moment then turned my attention back to Anya. She nodded.

"Alright. Well, I know you told us you wanted to continue your human life but I'm afraid we can't let you do this anymore."

I frowned, so did William but I'm pretty sure he was confused by her words. She continued;

"Dante is back from gathering clans. Those clans will be coming after us while he comes after you." She informed me in a low voice.

"But doesn't he know I'm not with you anymore?"

"Yes." She nodded. "He's known for awhile. He contemplated on coming to get you months ago but he decided he'd rather take out Zero's clan and turn you at the same time. Like killing two birds with one stone." She shook her head. "I know you were trying to prevent this from happening but your efforts were in vain. I'm sorry, Jamie."

I shut my eyes, taking in a deep breath.

"When do you want me back?" I asked.

"Now." She mumbled.

I don't know why I agreed right away, when I fought so hard to leave them but I knew if Dante showed up here, William wouldn't stand much of a chance. I turned to him with him in mind.

"Come with us?" I asked. He stared for a long time. "William, please."

He nodded slowly.

"A little while longer." He finally agreed. I turned to Anya.

"Let's go home." She sighed. I nodded. Home...

We went outside and there it was, the Scion XD. That's when I got confused.

"Where's Jacob and Shane?"

She shrugged. "I haven't seen either of them in months."

Months? They disappeared too? My friends, along with Kale? My heart, which seemed to have gone numb with the passing months, suddenly throbbed. I was hoping to see them too but they were gone. She started the engine and we sped off.

"What about..." My voice trailed off.

She glanced over her shoulder at me as I was sitting in the passenger seat. She shook her head.

"His clan, even Jared, is still around. But Zero himself, no one has seen him since..." Her voice trailed off now.

I bit my lip. Where could he have gone? Did he really, honestly, just disappear?

"So, what are you? A shapeshifter?" William's voice interrupted my thoughts. I had already told him that, hadn't I? She seemed to glare back at him.

"That would be it." She answered tightly. "Are you tame?"

"Tame?" He laughed.

"Anya!" I gasped. She glanced at me, shrugging.

"What?" She murmured, innocently.

"Be nice." I scolded. She rolled her eyes as he answered.

"Actually, I am. In the sense that I have the ability to not lust after human blood. If I wasn't, Jamie here, would be dead." He responded in a matter-of-fact tone. I looked back at him. Anya glared in front of her. "But then again, I could ask the same about you, shapeshifter. Are you tame?"

"William!" I gasped at him now.

"Only thanks to my other half." A small smile spread across her face.

"How many in your pack?" He asked, curious as usual. She glanced at me. I smiled at her.

"14 in total, including Shane." She answered hesitantly.

"Who's Shane?"

"He's a werewolf." I answered.

"A true werewolf?" He asked. I nodded. He became quiet.

"Which clan do you belong to?" Anya asked him.

"He doesn't belong to one. He's stray." I answered absent mindedly as I stared out my window.

"What about Dante and Zero, how many in their clans?" William continued to ask.

"Dante now has 16 I do believe."

"They wear the hoods, right?"

She nodded at him then continued;

"Zero has 20 members."

"Including Jacob?" I asked.

"Yes. And Jared too."

"How many clans did Dante manage to get?" I was being curious now. She didn't answer for a long time.

"Five." She finally let out. "Two of which have ten each, the other three have six."

"54 against 34. In Dante's favor." William spoke suddenly. Anya glanced back at him.

"Not quite. Chief Maverick, of all people, felt the need to join us. That is also 20 more. So it's actually 54 to 54."

I wasn't liking the way they were talking about this like it was a game.

"Where are we going this time, Anya?" I changed the subject. She smiled.

"I said home, didn't I?"

We were going back to their house. Back to the house that I never thought I would see again.

"It may feel different. It might be overwhelming for the stray back there." She said.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"We haven't had vampires in our house since you left..."

We finally got to the house. I could already tell the difference. I wasn't sure. It might have seemed more crowded because unlike all the other times I've been here, pretty much all the shapeshifters were around. When I first was here they had almost all left. Well, I guess they didn't leave because of me. Maybe it was because of the vampires. I mean just by the way Anya and William had interacted, they obviously didn't get along. And that's William and Anya, they usually got along with others pretty damn well!

"Don't worry, the basement is still yours." She told me as we walked into the front door.

"Uhg, vampire..." Someone groaned from the kitchen. There was murmuring.

"Human too..." Someone sighed. There was laughter.

"That's not any human, that's our human." A vaguely familiar voice chuckled. Then Jason was coming quickly down the hallway.

"Dolcetto! It's been awhile!" He grinned, pulling me into his arms.

I almost started crying right there. My heart was aching once again but the hollowness I felt was finally filling up again.

"Jamie!" Two voices sang out in unison. I spun around.

"Shane! Jacob!" I cried, flying into both of there arms at the same time.

"Where have you two been?" Jason asked behind us as if he searched for a very long time trying to find them.

They both shrugged beneath me. Jason heavily rolled his eyes at them.

"I wasn't expecting to see you two!" I couldn't contain my excitement.

"It's nice to have you back." Shane smiled.

Then I realized they weren't as excited as I thought they might be. I stared up at both of them.

"So, you weren't here all this time?" I asked them. Jake shrugged. I was glaring at them suspiciously now.

"Where were you?" I continued. They glanced at eachother and I think I understood. "You two never listen!" I sighed.

"You didn't actually believe we were really going to leave you, especially with Dante after you?!" Jake defended him and Shane. I rolled my eyes at him. But then I grabbed them both again.

"So if something bad were going to happen to me--"

"We would have been right there." Shane nodded.

I smiled now, not as angry as I thought I would be. They were looking out for me. All these months that I felt alone, they were actually there.

"I was wondering why there was a different scent everytime I came over." William said thoughtfully. I looked at him now, then at Jake and Shane.

"You came inside?" I asked. They both nodded.

"Only when you were asleep. Zero was--" Jake cut himself off.

"Zero?! What about him?!" I asked wide eyed, pulling away from them. Shane glared at Jacob. "Was he with you?"

They didn't say anything.

"Jacob, was he with you?" I directed my gaze only at him. He sighed.

"Every night." He told me reluctantly.

"Where is he?" I gasped.

"I don't know. He left before we got here."

My heart was aching once again. He wasn't coming back. I've known that from the beginning but it still hurt.

"I'm not sure how long he'll be able to keep it up." Jake shrugged. "There were a few times where he came close to waking you up."

"You should have let him--" I muttered.

"He stopped himself." Jacob interrupted me. I took in a deep breath now.

"I'm just glad I'm back. It was way too lonely without any of you." They smiled at me. William gazed at me curiously. "I didn't mean it like that." I apologized to him as he looked at me.

"I know, Jamie."

"Are you hungry, dolcetto? We can make you something." Jason asked beside Anya now. I shook my head.

"No, I'm fine. I already ate."

We were heading into the living room now as others were going back to what they were doing before we showed up. I sat down on the couch. Shane and Jake took a seat on either side of me. William leaned against the wall while Jason and Anya sat across from us.

"Did you tell her about Dante?" Shane asked Anya. She nodded.

"Do we know where we're taking her when he shows up?" Jake asked now.

"I'm not going anywhere." I spoke before anyone else could. They all sighed.

"Stubborn as ever." Shane muttered.

"I just got back. I'm not leaving again."

"You will when Dante shows up." Jake looked at me sternly.

"Before Dante shows up." Shane corrected him.

William was watching us carefully, his eyebrow raised. I looked at him, shaking my head.

"And these would be my best friends." I told him, then glared at the vampire and werewolf at my sides. They both smiled at me.

"Best friend?" Jacob grinned. I continued to glare. I never should have said anything.

"Forget I said anything. Your head doesn't need to get any bigger." I teased, messing up his hair. Shane laughed beside me. William finally smiled for the first time since we got here.

We heard the front door open. Jason and Anya headed down the hall as we all listened.

"Maverick wants to speak with you. He's in the valley, wouldn't come near the house for some reason." A deep voice informed them.

We watched Jason move quickly down the hall, then reappeared with five others following him. They moved past him as he turned to us in the doorway.

"I'll tell you about it. Stay here." He ordered, looking at Jake and Shane but somehow, I knew he was mostly talking to me.

My curiousity was going to get me killed. Then he left. I instinctively looked at Jake. His eyes widened. Shane's hand came around and was instantly covering my mouth.

"That's not very nice, Jamie. You know he would." He tsked in my ear.

A moment passed before I gave up, pulling away from Shane.

"Fine." I complained. Then I looked at William, he seemed a little confused as both Shane and Jacob looked at him too. They both tensed. I sighed.

"Don't worry. I don't think he would."

"Don't think I would what?" William was definitely confused.

"Take her to the valley," Shane explained. "You see, Jacob over here, gives her whatever she wants." He glared almost playfully at Jake. "So when she wants to go somewhere where no one will take her, because it's too dangerous, she always goes to him. And of course, he takes her."

William was looking at Jake curiously now.

"So, I take it you're in love with her too?" Jacob suddenly spit out. I let out a groan.

"Too?" He raised his eyebrow.

"I'll explain later." I rolled my eyes. He shrugged.

"How can you not love Jamie?" He answered. I felt panic rise in me for a second. "But I don't love her that way. She's almost like a sister to me." He looked at me, almost anxiously, as if he hurt my feelings.

I smiled widely at him, feeling complete relief wash over me. Finally, an actual friend.

"Who are you anyways?" Shane asked.

"William. And you?"

"Shane and this is Jake." Shane responded.

"What a curious friendship you two have. I've never seen such a close bond between a vampire and werewolf." William spoke fascinated.

They both suddenly burst out laughing.

"Bond?" Jacob laughed.

"Friendship?" Shane laughed harder.

"Am I wrong?" William raised his eyebrow again.

They weren't laughing anymore. But neither of them said anything.

"No, I don't think you are, Will." I answered quietly after gazing at them for a moment.

He was right. I hadn't noticed it before, but it seemed that suddenly Shane and Jacob were the best of friends.

"Wow..." I let myself breath. "This is unexpected."

"What are you talking about?" Jake frowned.

"Well you two are obviously alot friendlier then before." Then I smiled at them. "Awwe, Jacob and Shane!" They both muttered something under their breath. William chuckled.

We sat there for a couple hours. William never moved from leaning against the wall. I wanted so badly to stay awake and keep talking to Jake and Shane, afraid that I would wake up in my apartment. But my eyes eventually grew almost way too heavy.

"Let's get you to bed." Shane sighed, pulling me off the couch.

"No." I mumbled, more exhausted then I realized as we stood. Shane put his arm around me and led me down into my room. William and Jake followed. He set me down on the bed.

"Will you be OK down here alone?" Jacob asked quietly as Shane pulled away from me. I nodded, then frowned and his words processed in my head.

"No." I could only whisper.

I had pretty much been alone for five months, I just couldn't go for another night. I looked up. Both of them were debating, who would stay? I let out a frustrated sigh.

"William..." I muttered, rolling over into the bed. Silence filled the room but I felt the bed move slightly beside me.

"Sweet dreams." Both Jake and Shane said in unison.

Then they started murmuring at eachother as the door shut. I smiled. They hated having such a close bond but they knew they couldn't deny it. As much as I was excited to have them back, I was glad that William was with me right now instead of one of them. I felt like I could sleep without being worried that someone was staring at me intensely.

"Jamie?" His voice came out quiet beside me.

"Huh?" I answered.

"Will you tell me about this whole 'love you too' thing now?"

I sighed but turned to him.

"I'm in love with Zero. He was pretty much the first vampire I ever became close with. But Shane and Jake are somehow in love with me. They know how Zero feels and they know how they both feel about me too. I want them to be friends with me, you know, to treat me like you do and feel how you do. But it's hard for them."

He was thinking about this deeply for a long time.

"I was finding the way both of them looked at you very interesting." He laughed. "Those poor men..."

"Yeah." I murmured.

"Sorry, I guess that doesn't help." He looked at me anxiously once again. The only thing that irritated me about William was he seemedd to be absolutely terrified to hurt my feelings.

"Not really." I teased. "I just wish there was something I could do to make them not feel that way."

He shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. I doubt there's anything you'd be able to do anyways." The curiousity that was always lit in his eyes was suddenly burning brighter. "Now sleep, you look terrible."

I laughed.

"Well thanks." I said sarcastically.

"I mean, not terrible just tired."

I turned my back to him.

"You're starting to sound like Shane." I giggled, remembering when Shane begged me to sleep so Zero didn't tear him apart when he brought me to him. Zero...Where could he be?

I drifted into a deep sleep, hearing William's voice but not being able to make out the words. Then everything was silent. I had the usual dream. Nothing was different, except the end. Instead of everything going black before our hands met, his hand grabbed me quickly...

He latched onto my hand firmly, it made my heart flutter. For the first time, my heart was light instead of heavy and pained. He pulled me against him. His eyes looking wild all of a sudden, panicked even.

"Don't do it. Wait for me, Jamie." He breathed quickly and in a low voice, holding me tighter against him.

I couldn't look up now. Of course his words confused me. What was he talking about?

Nothing else could happed. I woke up with a gasp. I was shivering, staring up at the way too familiar ceiling.

"Who's Kale?" William asked beside me. His voice startled me. My whole body jumped. "Sorry." He reached over, patting my arm with his icey hand. "You OK?"

I nodded. He waited before asking again.

"So, who is he?"

"Oh. Well, he's..." I wasn't sure how to explain that. I sat up. I looked at him. His eyes were curious as always. "How do you know that name?"

He smiled sheepishly.

"You were talking in your sleep. Mostly his name." He frowned. "I thought you loved Zero...?"

"Can I trust you, William?" My question took him by surprise. His eyebrows came together.

"Of course you can!" He seemed offended.

"I'm just making sure." I said slowly. I hesitated before continuing. "Zero and Kale..." I stopped. I couldn't tell him. That wouldn't be right. I shut my eyes, biting my lip.

"...Are brothers?" He tried to finish. I smiled slightly, then frowned.

"It's not my secret to tell." I shook my head. He sighed. I opened my eyes.

"Oh, alright." He pouted. I laughed. That was a first.

"Don't be immature, William." I teased. He stuck his tounge out playfully.

"What are you, five?" I continued to laugh. He laughed now too.

~~~~~~

The next couple days I had the same dream with the new ending. Even though it was just a dream, those words were constantly in my head.

Don't do it. Wait for me, Jamie.

The fact that I was finally able to touch him and feel him in my dream made me happy, but the way he panicked and those words only confused me. I was back for a whole week now but I still missed Kale painfully.

~~~~~~

I was in the nice warm shower when there was a very loud banging on the door. I jumped.

"Jamie! Get out of there right now!"

Confused, my heart pounding almost as loud as the banging on the door, I turned the water off. I pulled the towel around me just as the window in the bathroom shattered. I screamed. Now they weren't pounding on the door to get my attention, they were trying to break the door down which only took a fraction of a second. Dante stood before me.

"Sweet Jamie. I found you." Dante smiled. Suddenly I was staring at a wall of backs. Dante chuckled. "It seems you've made more friends since we were with eachother last..."

"We won't let you touch her." Jake hissed.

"I just want to talk to the girl." Dante spoke innocently.

"We won't let you do that either." Shane growled now.

A slim arm wrapped around my waist. I gasped.

"Anabelle."

The wall of my friends spun around.

"Drop her!" Anya snapped.

Of course she didn't listen. I fought her but she was so much stronger then she appeared. She was quick too, out the window in seconds. Growling echoed behind me. I somehow knew Anya, Jason and the others were in their forms now. Shane was in his. William and Jacob were shouting behind us. Anabelle was moving faster. As she ran, she passed me into another pair of arms and disappeared.

"Let me go, Dante!" I squirmed in his arms.

"You are going to be turned, damn it!" He growled at me.

"Why?!" I continued to twist in his arms.

"Because my clan will be stronger then Zero's! Because with you at my side, other clans will join me permenantly!"

My eyes widened. "You're insane!"

"Because of you, Zero's clan and Jason's pack have united. Maverick even joined after awhile. Look at you! You don't even realize the power you have! And how amazing you'll be when you become one of us!" He told me excitedly. His hood was up, so I couldn't exactly see his face.

"Quit fighting!" He snapped at me.

"NO!" I shouted. He looked down at me then his mouth snapped open in shock. I had no idea what caused him to react like that.

"He tried?" He breathed.

"What?" I hissed.

"Zero tried to turn you?"

He had been staring at my neck. The scar. Oh. I glared at him, not saying anything. He smiled. I hated his smile.

"This time, no one will stop it."

I winced. All I could think about was the pain. The pain was only worth it if Kale was the one to turn me.

"No! Don't touch me! Put me down!"

"Listen!" He hissed. It was obvious, after so many months, he had lost most of his patience. "I will come after you forever! We will end this. The only way I'll let this end, is if you're turned! Zero will never do it. You can finish this, Jamie."

I had stopped squirming. For some reason, Kale's wound popped into my mind. The pain in his eyes. I'm sure Dante would do it again.

"Will you at least promise me one thing?" I asked.

"Will you let me turn you?"

I hesitated then nodded slowly.

"If you stay true to your word."

He nodded now. "I am a vampire of my word."

I shut my eyes. "Don't hurt my friends. Don't hurt Zero, ever again." I demanded angrily, opening my eyes. He was frowning. I glared at him.

"Fine." He growled between his teeth.

He ran faster. I wasn't sure if I could believe him but I had to. All I wanted form the very beginnig was to put an end to all of this. He stopped very suddenly.

"I have to do it now. We're out of time." He informed me briskly, setting me on my feet. I tensed as he reached for me. "No need to be afraid. The pain doesn't last long."

I shut my eyes, waiting, expectant.

Don't do it. Wait for me, Jamie.

His voice was suddenly in my head, repeating over and over and over. That was just a dream. Those words couldn't really apply to anything when I was conscious. It couldn't--

"Damn it! Don't do it! Wait for me, Jamie!" His voice growled furiously.

My eyes snapped open. Dante grabbed me. I gasped. His arms were tight but he was ripped away from me. He had been holding me so tightly that I fell forward, landing hard on the ground. I let out a groan. After a long moment I realized I couldn't hear anything.

I stood, re-tightening the towel around me. Oh, that's just great. I was in the middle of the forest, in a towel, cold, my hair was still wet and freezing against my back. I shivered, looking in all directions.

There was absolutely no one around. No sounds. Nothing. Out of all the friends I had made, none of them were here. I didn't even know where I was. It was way too dark. I looked around frantically.

"Jamie!" Finally! I spun around.

As badly as I wanted it to be Kale, it was Shane and I was estatic.

"Shane!" I gasped, throwing my arms around him. I instantly stopped shivering. My goosebumps disappeared.

"Let's get you out of here." He pulled me into his arms.

"Zero and Dante are out there--" I began quickly.

"I know. Jake and William went after them." He was running now. "If you're wondering why Jacob didn't argue with me, we figured you'd be cold. Jake and William would just make it worse." He grinned, smugly.

I shook my head at him. I was actually very glad for his warmth. Where we were going, I wasn't sure. But eventually we ended up on Mavericks land.

"They're helping Jason and the others. Until this is over, you and the few vampires are allowed here."

I was glad to hear that. The tents were still up, a large fire already blazing. He set me down.

"I didn't realize the female was so quick." He muttered suddenly. I sat down, staring into the fire.

"She's strong too." I added.

"Are you OK, Jamie?" He asked, sitting down next to me.

I looked down, for one reason or another. I guess there was no point in the shower earlier. The front of my body was dirty.

"I just wish all of this was over. I'm tired of running." I breathed. He put his arm around me.

"But you're worth every second--"

"Don't you want your life back?" I interrupted him. He laughed bitterly.

"You mean never talking to anyone? Being ignored, misunderstood? No way! Because of you, the pack finally accepts me. I finally belong to Jason's pack. I'm best friends with a human and a vampire..." His arm around me tensed. He had been looking at the fire, now he gazed at me. His nose crinkled. "Don't tell him I said that..." He pleaded. I grinned at him.

"I won't." I promised. He sighed now, then continued;

"You didn't take away my life, you just changed it. You made it better. It's Dante that's making our lives difficult, not you."

"He's making it difficult because of me, Shane."

"No." He said firmly. "Because he wants what he can't have."

"Shane--" I began, irritated.

"Jamie Luna Lamberg!" That familiar voice interrupted me.

My heart thudded, fluttering, dancing around in my chest. We both turned to the slightly angry voice. His tone normally would have bothered me but at the moment, all I cared about was that he was here. Shane's arm dropped from my shoulder as we stood.

His eyes, bright blue like ice, burned into me. He was exactly as I had remembered him. He stormed over to me angrily. Shane took a few steps back, giving us space. Even though I half expected him to step between me and Zero, with the angry expression Zero had on his face.

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to throw myself at him but I was frozen in place...