Déjà vu.
By: Tricia Fleming aka Dizzy
PART/CHAPTER: Part 2 chapter 1-?                

DISCLAIMER: Ok, for all those people who love to
complain. Anita Blake and company are created by

Laurell K. Hamilton, There are like, 3 characters I
created.

SPOILERS: I'm one of the slow readers; I've only read
Circus of the Damned and Guilty Pleasures, in that
order, so any mentions come from those two.

DISTRIBUTION: I don't care if the Pope read it
(though it might not be proper for him), it's up for
anyone to read or use or whatnot.

RATING: R. There is swearing and sexual situations,
though I'll try and not make it sound like a cheesy
romance.

FEEDBACK: Go right ahead and tell me what you think.
Anything and everything is welcomed.

NOTE: I'm writing this one in first person because I'm
too lazy to write everyone's thoughts.

I am Anita Blake, also known as the Executioner, a
vampire slayer by law and tough as nails, and I am
getting nerves because of a simple date.  "I can't
believe I said yes to going out on a date with
Jean-Claude." I muttered to myself as I drove home
from a night of raising the dead. When I reached my
apartment parking lot, I finally stopped talking to
myself. Getting out of the jeep, I went upstairs to my
apartment and went inside. Putting the Browning in its
second home, I laid down on the bed. Reaching under my
pillow where I keep the journal that Skid gave me; I
flipped to a new page. "Tonight is defiantly going in
here." I said to myself. Writing all that happened,
this is what it read:

`I've officially lost it, someone go get me a jacket
that lets me hug myself and stick me in a padded room.
I've agreed to go out on a date, with Jean-Claude.
Here's what the conversation sounded like. I walked
into his lair (as I call it) and there he was, sitting
in his typical lace shirt, looking for all-the world
like lace was a masculine thing, and very good in it
too. 

He smiled lightly at seeing me. "Hello ma petite" was
his greeting.

"Don't call me that, I just came here because you
asked to speak with me." I replied.

"So sorry to bother you ma petite but I felt the need
of your company." He answered.

I turned to go right then. "Wait, I'm sorry." He said,
I didn't believe the apology, but I stayed to hear
what he wanted to say. "I'm sorry, seriously, I needed
to ask you something." He continued.

"And that would be?" I asked him.

"I know that you are still upset about the marks and I
know your avoiding me, but I would like it if we could
go out on what you call a date." He answered.

"No."  I replied. "Remember, I'm dating Richard." His
face clouded a bit.

"Yes I remember, I just wanted to go out with you as
an apology, for what I helped put you through."

"No." was still my answer, but I did see his point of
view. 

"I promise not to try anything, and you can choose the
place." I had to give him a point for being
persistent. Part of it gave me pause. I could choose
and the mood I was in the first thing I thought of was
revenge.

"Fine." I answered, the answer startling both of us.
"I'll come by on Friday when I've got my night off,
and I'll pick you up, we'll go to the place I choose."
I finished.

He nodded, a smile returning to his face. "Thank you
ma petite I'm sure we'll enjoy this date." At that I
just raised my eyebrows.

"Is that all?" I asked.

"Yes, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." He
answered. I turned, left and got into my Jeep and
drove back to my apartment, and now I'm sitting here
writing in my journal about writing in my journal. Oh
man, Skid was right, these things start making you go
screwy. `

After writing in my journal, I got off of my bed and
took a shower. After towelling myself off, I got into
some clothes and went to bed.  Turning on my music, I
drifted off into sleep.


I'm dreaming, that much I can tell from my
surroundings. I'm wearing black pants, and after a few
moments, I realized that they were leather. My shirt
is crimson, and I'm wearing little makeup. I can feel
my gun under my jacket, and my knives, in their arm
sheaths as well as my cross. Then I realize that
Jean-Claude is in the passenger seat, looking at me.
Looking over at him quickly, I saw that he was wearing
one of his many lace shirts, with black trousers. The
usual urge to reach over and see if that lace was as
soft as it looked gripped me. Like usual, I ignored
it.

"Where are we going ma petite?" Jean-Claude asked me.

I smiled at him, mischief in the smile. "You'll see,
and don't call me that." The dream jumped. We walked
into Jean-Claude's office, where I met Richard for the
first time.

Jean-Claude looked royally pissed. "I'm sorry, I had
no idea that was going to happen." I apologized to
him.

He looked at me. "It was created by a demented
Irishman, they know the truth and they still play
that?" he stormed.

"I already told you, I didn't know."

He seemed to get a grip of himself. "Right." He looked
at me. I shifted under his gaze.

"You promised." I reminded him. 

He smiled. "I'm not doing anything ma petite." I still
felt uncomfortable. I looked around the room. Oddly
enough, I found an old time record player, and I mean,
OLD. It was a classic gramophone or whatever you call
it.
"When'd you get that?" I asked him.

He looked at it. "It's new, I managed to get my hands
on it." He walked over to it and wound it up. Slow
music started to play. He walked over to me. "May I
have this dance ma petite?" I looked at him.
Irresistible to most, to me, just annoying.

"No." I answered.

"It's just a dance." He told me.

"Nothing is ever just with you." I responded. He
laughed lightly.

"So you've told me. Please?" he asked again.
Remarkably, I found myself dancing with him. The lace
had no feel to it; I wasn't paying attention to that.
I found myself looking into his eyes. The next moment,
we were kissing and I was the one who made the move to
it. It seemed to have startled him, but not much
because he moved his hands to caress my back. That
will send goose bumps up anyone's back. So in revenge
for that, I ran my hand along his chest. No reaction
from him, damn the man for not being human. Time
seemed to speed up, we were no longer dancing but it
was just as graceful. Moving together in union. It was
tough but gentle, dangerous but safe, and full of pain
and pleasure. Everything or nothing took on a new
aspect of meaning.


I sat up straight in bed. And for the life of me
couldn't figure out why I was shaking. I knew I had
had a nightmare of some sort but I couldn't remember
it. "Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN
IT!!!" I yelled. After taking a few deep breaths, I
quit shaking. There was no way in hell I was going
back to sleep, so I got out of bed and made coffee. As
the instant coffee maker was going, I changed into
some clean cloths, jeans and a baggy sweatshirt with a
t-shirt underneath. The t-shirt was another gift from
Skid. On it was a picture of tarot cards and symbols.
She said it'd help calm my nerves and clear my head,
she was right. I must've fallen asleep in my chair
because the next thing I remember was a knock at the
door. Getting up, I walked over to it. Opening the
door, I saw the person I was about to call.

"Hi Anita, I could tell you need a hand with
something." Skid said as she walked in.

She may look like an average 17-year old girl; in
reality she was anything BUT average. Part vampire,
part demon, all trouble, and a great friend.

"You bet I could use a hand. I had one of those
nightmares, which you can't remember in the morning.
And it's making me a bit edgy." I agreed.

"But you're wearing the shirt I gave you so you're not
feeling that way." She made it a statement and not a
question. I nodded my head yes. 

"I was wondering if you could help me with it." I
asked her. She smiled lightly.

"I wish I could. But I can only help if it's a
persistent thing. And I can't cure it, but find the
cause for it." She explained. She used to have
nightmares like these all of the time, now she only
has them once in a while. It was her power, heritage
and closeness to other vampires that had caused them
for her. "It could be nerves, or your own intuition."
she started.

"Or someone going into my mind, or worst yet, it could
be all of the above." I finished for her. She nodded
her head yes.

"Sorry but I don't know. And I can't help if it's just
a random nightmare." I smiled.

"It's ok, at least you're here talking to me, and it
helps clear my head." She brightened up a bit. She
always feels bad if she can't help.

"I'd ask you to go shopping but I know you loathe it,
so how about some scheming instead?" she asked.

"Scheming, against who, and why?" I pretty much
already had an idea who, and why. "Well, against Duggy
of course! And because I owe him it, he got me on the
last prank but the war is far from over." She smiled
mischievously. I laughed.
Duggy and she had been in this prank war since she
moved here.  Duggy, or Duggan has liked her since he
saw her, one problem; he's her friend and she doesn't
want to destroy the friendship.

"What's so funny?" she asked me.

"Just the facts that you've been here for around 3
months and you have a job, around 3 guys wanting to
date you, and a prank war going on." She blushed.

"It's not my fault." I quit laughing but I was still
smiling.

"I know, I just find it funny. And you know me; I've
got one twisted sense of humour." Skid snorted.

"Now there's an understatement."

The door to my apartment opened and Edward walked
right in.
 
"Hi Death." Skid greeted him.

"Hi Trouble. "He greeted back. He was one of the 3
mentioned earlier. I just sat there.

I laughed lightly. "What do you want?" I asked him.

"She automatically thinks I'm up to something." Edward
said to Skid. She laughed.

"Well, you break into her house, you have a tendency
to only come over when you need something from her, so
yeah, I can't blame her." She responded. As far as I
know, Skid's the only person who can make fun of
Edward without getting a dirty look.

Edward looked at me. "I need to know something." I
rolled my eyes.

"And what is it that you want to know?" I asked him.
He didn't speak for a couple of seconds.

"I need to know what Richard is." I choked on my
coffee.

"What? I mean why do you need to know what, you know
Richard is a human school teacher." I reminded him.

"Well, there are people who say he isn't and I've been
paid to find out what he IS." Edward explained.

"Human, there are you happy?" Skid told him. He looked
at her.

"Funny Skid, but I need to know the truth." I caught
his attention.

"Maybe he's a werewolf, or maybe he's a zombie, or a
Goth or a freak. Why does it matter?" He looked at me.


"I thought you'd be this way, you always are."

"I kind of like it, it's always so much fun to watch
you get mad because you can't get the answers you
want." Skid said, throwing a pillow at him from the
couch. He caught it and threw it back. He looked at
me.

"There is also a rumour going around that Jean-Claude
talked you into a date." I choked again.

"And where did you hear that?" I asked him.

"I have my sources." He responded elusively.

"Damn you Edward, if you have these all smart
conniving sources then get them to answer your
questions." Edward nodded, smiling.

"You got anything to add to this?" he asked Skid.

"Only the fact that you look good in those pants." She
teased.

"I'll be back for answers Anita." He said as he walked
out.

"Skid, you love to tease that man don't you?" I asked
her. She grinned and nodded.

"And if he ever found out that half of it wasn't
teasing, I'd probably kill myself." She answered.

"So, you have to choose between Edward and Duggy and
Stephen." I stated.

"What is it with you and I, we both got the choice of
human or vampire and we just can't choose but I also
got a werewolf to choose from?" Skid stated. She knew
of Richards's real nature but she wouldn't tell.

"So, what do you think I should do to get revenge on
Duggy?" she asked.

I must've looked surprised because she asked "What?"

"I seriously thought that you'd have asked me about
whether the date with Jean-Claude was real or rumour."
I answered.

"Well your reaction to him asking it answered my
question, you are." She replied. I nodded.

She blushed. "Well it was that and the fact that
Jean-Claude asked me to bring this over for you to
wear on the date." She grinned and handed me a gift.

"And this is?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Damned if I know." I opened it. Making a face, I held
up the gift.

"He wants me to wear this?" I asked. In my hands was a
pair of black leather pants. She nodded.

"Yup. Go try them on, he said it'd fit perfectly, but
I want to make sure."

"You're evil you know that?" I asked her.

"Not evil, mean, there's a difference." She answered.
Shaking my head, I went into the bathroom and tried
them on. Perfect fit, just as promised. Walking
outside to show them off, Skid whistled.

"Nice." I laughed.

"Now what should I wear with it?" I asked her. She
eyed me.

"Show me your shirts and I'll help you choose." She
instructed.

Going to my closet, I grabbed out a handful of shirts
to wear with it. She looked at them and chose 3 out of
the pile. One was a deep blue, one was silver and the
third was crimson. Holding them up to me, the crimson
went best. I had an odd sense of Déjà vu. She nodded.

"Now, do you have a pair of black boots or heels?" She
asked me. I shook my head.

"Only my black Nikes." She pursed her mouth in
thought.

"Well I guess we will be going shopping then." I
grumbled.

"Go get changed again, I'll get my bike parked." I
looked at her with a smile.

"Oh all right, we'll take my bike." She gave in. I
loved riding on that Harley of hers. The
mother-of-pearl always got wows of astonishment from
kids, and even from some adults.

Skid laughed. "I swear you love that thing almost as
much as I do." I nodded.

"Hell yeah." She rolled her eyes with another laugh.

As we hit the mall, I actually didn't mind being in
there this time. I hated the crowds, loud people, the
always ready to help clerks and all that, but Skid's
shirt was working the best it ever has. Skid brought
me to a shoe store. We were not going to buy anything
until we were sure it was the right one. We kept that
promise for the whole 5 minutes it took to find our
shoe size. When we left there, I had 3 new boots, all
of them comfortable, but classy as well. Skid bought a
pair of rawhide boots that went up to her mid thigh,
but still bent flexibly without being to loose. I
envied her those boots; my legs would never have been
long enough for them.

She seemed to have read my thoughts. "Oh come on, I
may have better legs, but you're the one with the
better chest." She said, I tried to hide my blush.

"Thanks. Come on, I want to see you in a dress." I
said, grabbing her arm and propelling her into a gown
store.

"Oh no, I do not do dresses, I can handle the
occasional skirt but not a dress." She protested. 

I just looked at her and said. "Please?" and she gave
in.

"Oh fine, all right, I'll try a dress on, but I don't
have to buy one, ok?" she demanded, I agreed. I looked
along the gown isles until I found Skid's size.

"Hey Skid, I found the perfect one for you." She
looked at me as I held out a dress. She eyed it.

"Can't kill me to try it on." She shrugged and brought
it to a dressing room. She stepped outside of the
change room and I nearly choked again. She looked
stunning in it.

I whistled. She blushed. "You like?" she asked
sheepishly. I nodded.

"Turn around, I want to see how it moves." I told her.


"Can I go change now, it may look elegant and all, but
it is not what I'm used to."

She said and started back before I could say anything.
 She made it half way to the dressing room when a low
whistle came from the entrance to the store.

"You surprise me Skid, I'd never thought I'd see you
in a dress." A man walked forward, she turned around
and I could tell she was not happy.

"And I never thought I'd see you alive again." The man
laughed.

"Still mad at me are you?" he moved closer, she
stepped as far back as the dress allowed.

"Whoever you are, leave her alone." I interfered. The
man turned and looked at me.

"I have every right to see her, she is." Skid had
moved faster then I thought the dress would allow, and
she hit him, hard, in the face with a right, sending
him tumbling back.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the ladies
change rooms.

"I'm so sorry about that, he's from my old hometown."
She explained quickly, as she changed.

It had to have been the fastest anyone has ever
changed without ripping something. She poked her head
outside of the change room and started to laugh. I
looked outside and saw why. It seems that he was
getting in trouble for
trying to enter the female change rooms.

We quickly took our good luck and ran for it. It
looked like he was going to give chase but the man who
was talking to him was bigger, and looked stronger. We
made it to the
parking lot and almost to Skid's Harley when we ran
full tilt into Richard and Stephen.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Richard asked, smiling at
Skid and I.  I had to smile back.

"No fire, just Skid getting harassed by some man, who
claims to know her. And she obviously knows him." I
said, looking at her.

She was edgy, and kept looking over her shoulder
towards the mall. "I'll explain everything to you guys
tonight, right now I just want to get home and away
from him and this mall." She said.

I agreed, getting on the bike. Before we took off,
Skid told Richard and Stephen to meet them at
Jean-Claude's tonight, and to get Jean-Claude there.
They agreed and we took off. We went straight to my
house. She was quiet the entire time we drove and when
we were putting away my new boots. I finally lost my
patience.

"Who was he?" I asked her.

She looked at me, and I saw that her eyes were
haunted. "You'll find out tonight, no need for me to
tell the story twice." I nodded.

Walking into my room, I nearly screamed. There on my
bed was a note, obviously from Edward saying:

I know you love Sigmund, and if you want him back in
one piece, you'll give me the information I want.

I checked the entire apartment, Skid just looked
extremely confused. I was swearing to make a pirate
blush.

"I'm going to kill him, that thieving conniving,
scheming little bastard!" I yelled.

Skid just raised her eyebrows. "I know you're yelling
at
Edward, now I'm curious as to why." She made me sit
down.

I caught a grip on my temper. "Edward (insert
colourful profanity here) has stolen Sigmund and is
blackmailing me to give him information."

Skid looked as if she didn't know whether to laugh or
yell. She ended up doing the former. First it was a
small smile, which turned into a giggle, then
laughter. I had to laugh with her, if anything just to
relax.

"This is turning out to be an interesting day." She
said, collecting herself. I nodded in agreement.

"We'd better get some rest, I'll see you in a few
hours at Jean-Claude's." She said and walked out.

I took her advice and flopped down on the bed. It was
already late in the day and Bert was going to kill me
for missing work. I fell asleep without music or
Sigmund.


I woke up feeling relaxed. I had fallen asleep in the
t-shirt.

"Man, this thing is good." I mumbled as I got
up.

I called into the office and left a message for Bert
that I'd be a bit late, but not to worry, Larry could
handle it as long as he didn't try to over do it,
again. Bert wasn't going to like the fact that I was
going to be late the day before my day off, but hell,
who cares? I showered and got dressed. I walked down
to my jeep. 

"Oh goodie, I've accepted a date with Jean-Claude, was
trying to avoid having him near Richard because I know
he'd say something and now I'm off to go meet both of
them and more people." I talked to myself.

"Interesting conversation, may I join in it?" Edward
asked, walking out of the shadows, typical grin on his
face.

I wanted to shoot him. "I want Sigmund back you
sadistic, twisted bastard." I said to him, smiling.

He shook his head. "I saw what happened at the mall
and I heard that she told you all to meet, so I
thought that I could save myself a trip and ride with
you." I nodded, not really surprised.

Why should I be, he has been following me around for
so long I get surprised when he isn't there. "Get in,
you can explain to the others why you're here." He got
in.

We drove in silence. When we reached there, I saw
Richard's car, but not Skid's Harley. "Maybe she got a
ride with someone else." Edward suggested, as curious
to it as I was.

We walked in; unaided and found the others were
waiting. Everyone except Skid that is. We all looked
surprised.

Edward spoke first. "Her house!" I caught on at that
moment. If he knew to find her at the mall, he could
just as easily find her house.

Everyone scattered to his or her car. Edward was
driving mine so we reached there first, amazingly in
one piece and without a cop noticing us. Just as we
feared, her door was unlocked and slightly open. We
entered as the others pulled up. Guns at the ready, we
searched the first rooms. Nothing. Then I remembered
that Skid spent a lot of her time outside. Walking
quickly, we went outside. On the fence was part of a
ripped shirt. She had gone into the forest. We went
after what little trail there was. At one point we
found a bit of blood, which really raised our hopes,
not. Moving faster, we went after the now very visible
trail. 

I saw it first. Two bodies, covered in blood, one
obviously dead, the other, you couldn't tell. Running
forward, I was glad to see that Skid wasn't the dead
one. She was lying in the strange mans blood, sobbing.
When she realized that it was me, she grabbed onto my
arm and let out a low moan. Edward flipped the dead
body over. It was the man who'd assaulted Skid in the
mall. His throat was torn out, and his stomach
stabbed. Stephen picked Skid up and started to carry
her towards her house. Edward and I looked at the
body. Whoever it was, it wasn't going to come back to
life, vampire, demon or whatever; we cut its heart out
right there. When that was done, we dug a hole deep
enough to stuff it in, buried it and left it for the
ghouls.

Skid had stopped crying. It had been an hour since we
found her, and she had complete control of herself,
answering questions and explaining things. Yet I knew
she wasn't right at all. She still had a haunted look
in her eyes, and she seemed somehow broken.

Finally, Jean-Claude asked the real question. "What
did he do to you?" Skid looked at him.

"What do you think he did?" she asked him. It didn't
take a rocket scientist to figure it out. He'd raped
her.

"How did you know him?" I asked, trying to get her
mind off of the one detail.

"In my old hometown, there was a group, or gang,
called the soul riders. They were a type of cult. He
was one of the leaders. I met him one day because I'd
been dared to spy on them, me being the childish
person I am, took the dare. I leaned on the roof
window lightly to look inside. As I watched what they
were doing, I didn't hear the footsteps behind me. I
was pulled to my feet and thrown threw the window. As
I hit the floor, I rolled, missed being landed on and
cut his arm open. After an hour of getting the shit
kicked out of me, he finally asked me questions. Being
stubborn earned me a very large bump on the back of my
head. After being forced to explain my actions and
myself to them, he just looked at me for a little bit.
He started laughing and told me to come back again
tomorrow, after I cleaned my cuts. I only did so
because he had someone literally drag me out of my
house and back over there. I was told I was joining
them, since I already knew too much it was either that
or death. I chose the former.  After a few months, I
began to like the people I was around. They had odd
talents just as I did. I also found myself liking him
for more than a friend. Obviously he felt the same
because he kept trying to seduce me. I turned him down
every time. One night, he'd been drinking a bit too
much, and he tried to seduce me again, as usual, I
rejected him. He got real mad and said that if he
couldn't have me with my permission, he'd take me
without it. For a few minutes he tried, then I broke
the bottle he'd been drinking from to fend him off. He
didn't notice the wounds I gave him, he just kept
coming, and so I stabbed him in the throat with it. He
fell to the ground right there. I ran home, got all
the stuff I needed and left as quickly as I could, and
found myself here. " Skid finished explaining.

"He finally got what he wanted today and I killed him
for it." She said after a pause. The knuckles on her
hand were white from her grabbing the seat arms so
hard. We all looked around. Duggan was being extremely
quiet, and looked shaken. He was still a new vampire,
and young at that so events like this bothered him.

"But if you stabbed him in the throat, he'd have
died."
Duggan finally said.

"One thing that I saw while I was spying that first
day, was several people change shape rapidly." Skid
said in way of explanation. I gasped.

"Are you saying that that was your encounter with the
Shers?" I asked. She nodded.

"But I thought you said that you lost a friend and
that they had been breeding." I asked quickly. She
nodded again.

"He, Kane was his name, was the friend I thought I
lost, and they'd been breeding, that was what I'd saw
and that was why the couldn't let me go." I looked at
her suddenly.

"He didn't breed with you did he?" I asked, suddenly
horrified. We'd had encounter with a breeder before,
not very clean death for the carrier. Skid shook her
head.

"He wanted a purely physical thing, I was too useful
to them for them to kill.  I'm perfectly fine, just
mortified and embarrassed." She explained.

No one said anything for a little bit. Edward, rather
oddly, acted first.

"Ok, no time to sit here and think. We already ripped
out his heart so he won't be coming back, but we've
got to erase all trail leading back here, fix the door
up and get you to somewhere safe. If he could find you
then the others might as well." He said to Skid.

"Get your stuff packed while we destroy the trail,
you'll move in with me and split the rent." I ordered
her.

She was moving instantly. The rest of us went to work
on the trail, finding the body easily. We made false
trails and destroyed the real one. When we got back,
Skid was ready. She had a suitcase and a backpack.

"The furniture came with the house and I always ate
out." She explained quickly to her lack of luggage.
Duggan looked at her for a moment, frowning in
thought. We moved quickly. Driving over to my
apartment.

With this many people inside, the place looked small.
It was, but it was still, being reminded of the fact
sucks. 

Skid placed her bags in a corner and began to make
food for the humans and lycanthrope(s). It was hot
dogs. She grinned sheepishly at us.

"It's the only thing I know on how to make."  She
shrugged.

"That's more than what I can do." Duggy said,
laughing.

"It's not as if you have to cook anymore." Skid
pointed out.

He nodded his agreement. Those of us who had to eat
did so. Jean-Claude was looking around the place. Then
he looked right at me and smiled lightly. I looked
away, right at Richard. I smiled to him and he smiled
back. At least he doesn't know about our date, he
might take it the wrong way. I thought to myself. I
saw Duggan frowning again, looking at Skid. She was
acting a little strange, even for what just happened
to her. I managed to pull Skid into the bedroom with
Duggan behind us.

"What else happened?" he asked her, looking her right
in the eyes. She didn't break that stare.

"When I ran into the forest he followed, as I told
you. But when he attacked me again I found myself
stronger than him, able to kill him swiftly. The sight
of his blood thrilled me and I found myself close to."
she gagged and sat down. She breathed in deep. "I
found myself close to drinking his blood." She forced
the last part out.

I was shocked. I knew that she was part vampire and
all but fuck, I never thought she'd start acting like
it. Duggan had engulfed her in a huge hug. She pushed
him away.

"I'm fine, now that you know, can we go outside, I
want to finish my hot dog." He nodded.

When we walked out, Duggan walked over to Jean-Claude
and quietly told him what she'd just told us.
Jean-Claude studied her for a little bit. She looked
right back at him. Damn that girl's stare could be
unnerving.

"I think you should tell the others." He said finally,
no room for argument in his voice.

She nodded lightly. And she told us. Stephen and
Richard looked shocked, and Edward just looked like
stone. When Skid finished talking, she sounded and
looked hollow. Our beepers went off.

"Ah hell, what can happen now?" I said, grabbing my
phone. "What do you want Dolph, what happened now?" I
demanded into the phone.

"Come to the station to see for yourself, and get Skid
on your way there, she hasn't answered her beeper."
Dolph's voice answered.

"She's at my house and I'll do that." I hung up the
phone. Skid was ready to go.

The station looked deserted. "This looks so
promising." Skid murmured.

"So nice and cherry." I agreed.

Edward and Jean-Claude had been in my car with Skid
and I, cramped ride. Richard had driven Stephen and
Duggan. Skid looked at the place.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that they were
planning a surprise party." I looked at her.

"Maybe they are."

She shrugged. "Well, we'll never find out standing
here." She walked in.

The rest of us followed after. The entire place was
empty and there was only one light source, Dolph's
office. He at there, waiting.

"Well it's about time." Was our greeting.

"Well hello to you Mr. Happy." Skid said, grabbing a
chair.

He grunted. "You sound as if you're in a bad mood."
Was her next remark.

"Quit the comments would you Shelly?" he asked her and
she was quiet. She hated it when people called her
that. Her full name was Shelly Kristine Iris Denelton,
so you can see why she shortened it to Skid.

Dolph continued. "The reason why I asked you 2 here,
is because I want you 2 to find some information for
me." Skid laughed lightly. "What,
are we spies all of a sudden?" he ignored her. "I just
need you to find out some information on all of the
local "groups" that are in this city." He explained.
"And how would I do that?" I prompted. "By working
yourselves into one of the groups anyway you know
how." He finished. Skid just looked off into space.
"You can use any informant you need to do it, like the
Master Vampire of the City, or your friends right
here, who are you by the way?" he asked, looking at
them. "I recognize you from somewhere." He said,
pointing to Edward. Edward laughed and shook his head.
"I'm sorry but you must be mistaken. I'm must have one
of those faces. My name's Teddy." He greeted. "We were
having a party, I threw it for Anita randomly." Skid
interjected. "These are friends." Dolph bought it and
nodded. "Whatever, just find a way to do it." He said.
"Yes sir. See you after w get the info." Skid said,
getting up and walking out. I was right behind her and
the others close behind me. "Teddy?" Skid asked,
laughter in her voice. "I never pictured you as a
teddy bear." She said, teasing Edward. "Don't, do not
start, Shelly, or I'll start digging on you." He
warned. Skid stopped smiling. "Right." She said. "Just
like Eddie and kid." She said as she got in the car.
Richard just gave me a quizzical look. I shrugged.
I dropped Skid and Edward at my place and drove over
Jean-Claude over to the Circus. Richard had driven
everyone to their house and was going to bed. At the
Circus, I finally got to talk with Jean-Claude. "So,
what are we going to do about Skid?" I asked him. He
shrugged lightly, probably enjoying the fact that I
had to keep my eyes off of him or I'd do something I'd
regret later. "I never thought that she'd have this
happen to her, and yet she still has yet to tell us
the entire story about herself." Jean-Claude answered.
I looked at him sharply, and regretted it. I had
looked right into his eyes and it was enough to set my
pulse to racing. "Quit it." I told him. He didn't say
anything. "I haven't done a thing. Go home, get some
rest and we can talk more of this on our date
tomorrow." He said to me. I nodded and left. When I
got back to the apartment, Edward was sitting at the
table, on it rather, and Skid was sitting on the
couch, laughing. "Hi Anita." She greeted. I knew
something was up right then. "What are you 2
planning?" was what I said. "Nothing, Edward was just
telling me about a few interesting events." She
answered, laughter in her voice. I turned to Edward
then. "What have you been telling her?" He smiled
lightly. "Only a few things, like what happened at
some of the freak parties." I sighed. "Oh great,
corrupt the poor girl." I said, sitting down. "Well,
it's been an interesting night ladies, but I'll let
you rest now." Edward said, winking to Skid, which
sent her into another fit of giggles. "Oh calm down
would you, what do you like in that man?" I demanded,
annoyed at her attitude. "I don't know, it could be
his attitude, looks all of the above or something else
entirely." She shrugged. "Go to sleep." I ordered her.
She smiled at me. "Guess what I got back for you." She
told me. " You didn't get." I trailed off as she held
up Sigmund from behind her back. "Yes I did." She
handed him back to me. "It took me all of 3 seconds of
asking to get it back," she said. "So how much did it
cost you?" I asked her. 'A date with Edward, and I was
the one to suggest it as payment." She said, starting
to laugh again. "You should have seen his face, he
tried to not show what he was thinking but he went
pale, then red and then back to normal. Then he
suggested the freak parties and I asked him to
explain." She explained it all to me. I figured out
why she was laughing and I found myself laughing too.
"Good night." Skid said, yawning. "And thanks for
everything." She aid as she curled up on the couch.
"You're welcome, you've helped me a lot and now I get
to help you." I said to her, but she'd already fallen
asleep. I fell asleep quickly as well.

I woke up with the same feeling as the night before. I
was shaking and I had no idea as to what I had
dreamed. Skid came in, a frown on her face. "Relax
would you? You're as nervous as a chiwawa." She told
me. I took a deep breath. "Sorry, I had the same dream
as yesterday." I explained. She nodded. "One more
night with it and I can try and help you." She
informed me. I got out of bed. Looking at my clock, I
saw that I had gotten a good amount of 10 hours of
sleep. I looked sharply at Skid. "What did you do to
make me sleep that long?" "We were exhausted, I did
nothing, our bodies made us sleep that long, I just
woke up 5 minutes ago." She answered. I nodded. "Oh,
ok then." "It's lunch time but I don't think you have
much of an appetite." She added. I nodded. "Yeah,
you're right." She smiled at me. "Not much of a
morning person are you?" I shrugged. "Not when I just
wake up." "Right. Well, when you feel in the mood to
be an active person, let me know, maybe we can go out
for a late lunch." She suggested. When I thought of
it, the idea of food didn't sound that bad. I told her
that. "Well then, you go shower and then we can go."
She grinned.  I nodded and did what she said. When we
arrived at the restaurant, both of us were
hungry. We ordered a big meal. "I guess not eating in
over 15 hours adds to the appetite." I suggested in
between chewing. She nodded and said nothing. "You
nervous about your date?" I asked her. She shrugged
again. "You nervous about yours?" she replied. I
nearly choked. "I forgot about it." "I figured you
did. When you get back from it, you owe me the
details." She ordered me. "Only if you tell me yours."
I replied, smiling.  She nodded. "Deal, my dates on
Monday though, so you'll have a good little while to
wait for the details." "You know something, Edward's
been changing and it scares me." I told her. "I know,
remember, I met him before he went for me. I would
much prefer it if he was as he used to be." She
agreed. "Well, maybe you can convince him to go back
to normal." I suggested. She laughed. "That's like
saying maybe I could tell the moon to sing the Hokey
Pokey." I laughed. "How very true." We ate in silence
for a while. When we finished, we split the cost and
drove back to my place.
"I'm going to have to sell my place and get a new
house, probably closer to the Circus." Skid said at my
place. "Yeah, my place is a little small for both of
us, and you would probably be safer with them near
by." I agreed. "I wasn't thinking of safety. I was
thinking more that this way, I wouldn't have to walk
so far to get there." I must've looked confused. "If
you didn't see, my bike was trashed, he completely
destroyed it." "Damn, that bike was great, why'd he do
something like that?" real smart one on my behalf, you
could just tell I was completely with it this morning.
"For the obvious reasons, so I couldn't use it to get
away." Skid explained anyway.  Couldn't tell we were
not morning people from our faces, we were half asleep
again when the doorbell rang.
Skid jumped a bit and spilt her coffee on herself.
Nervous, who us? "Who's there?" I called. "It's
Richard." Came his muffled voice. "Oh joy, time to
face the music." Skid said lightly. I glared at her
and she didn't care. Bully for her. "Can it Skid, I'm
in no mood for it." I growled. "Oh, nerves are
strung." She teased. "Bitch." Was my reply. "Who you
talking to?" Richard asked. "Skid, she stayed over." I
answered. "Ok, can I come in?" I opened the door.
"Hi." He greeted, holding out a single rose for me. I
smiled at him, even though the gesture reminded me a
lot about Jean-Claude's persistence. "Hi, come on in."
I moved back so he could come in. He entered and
handed me the rose. I looked at it a smelled it.
"Thank you Richard, this is very nice. Can I ask
what's for?" Paranoid, who me? He looked a little
confused. "I thought you were mad at me yesterday,
avoiding me and not talking to me and stuff." He said.
"No, I wasn't mad at you, I was just preoccupied and
all." He nodded his head. "Right, I forgot about what
happened." He said quietly. "Richard, I can hear you
even if you whisper, so just start talking normal
would you?" Skid said, smiling lightly. She loved
bothering Richard, for that matter, she loved
bothering everyone. I walked into the kitchen and
placed the flower into a small vase with water. "Do
you want to talk about something?" I asked him,
sitting down. He also sat down. His eyes shot quickly
to Skid. "I get the hint, I'm gone." She said,
throwing up her hands in mock surrender and leaving. I
just knew that she was listening in on us, but I
didn't mention it.  He looked right at me. God was it
unnerving to have someone stare right at you. "I was
wondering if you would like to accompany me to dinner
and dancing tonight." He asked bluntly. "I can't I
have business tonight." I replied. Dumb move. "I know
tonight is your night off; I talked to Bert to make
sure, why can't you go?" He replied flatly. "As I told
you, I have business tonight, I didn't say it was
animating now did I?" I could hear the little voice in
my head go IDIOT!  But now that I listen to it, I've
figured out that it sounds more like Skid laughing at
me. Hot damn, Skid get out of my head! I yelled
silently at her.  "Then what business do you have?" he
asked. I was saved by, of all people, Skid. She came
walking out of the other room, looking scared and
startled. Looking right at me.  "I need to talk with
Jean-Claude, and soon." She said, placing a hand to
her head. "What happened?" Richard asked quickly, our
earlier discussion forgotten. "Well you know about my
odd lineage, it seems that it may be growing
stronger." She replied. He looked a little lost. "What
I mean by that is that for some odd reason, I'm
turning more psychic or more powerful in the undead
area." He still looked lost. "I think I'm turning into
a vampire slowly." She stated bluntly, no more
shenanigans for her, it was about time too. He looked
a little shocked. "Well then I guess you'll have to
speak with Jean-Claude as soon as sun sets." Richard
said quickly. "I can't, Anita has business to attend
to." she started. Richard looked sharply at me. "And
she needs the car, so I'd have to walk there, and it
isn't the closest walking distance." She finished.
Man, she caught on real fast and improvised even
faster. "What is this business that Anita has tonight
anyway?" he asked. I tensed a little. "Oh, well she's
got to find a way to work herself and I into the
undead or freak groups like Dolph wants us too." She
explained. Richard nodded. "Oh. I could drive you to
Jean-Claude's, then you could talk with him." He
offered. Shit, I thought. He has to go and be a boy
scout. "I can't trust myself to do that. Anita has the
gun and all, so at least she could protect herself,
you have nothing." Richard almost argued that point,
but luckily for us, he doesn't know that Skid knows
what he truly is. He nodded his head. "Ok, I'll be
going now. See you ladies tomorrow." He got up and
left with that. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I
was holding. "Damn, you're GOOD." I told her. "So
everyone has been saying since I got here." She
replied. "What are you going to do?" she asked me.
"About what?" "On your date tonight, I want to know
what to be prepared for when you get back, remember,
you promised all of the details." She reminded me. I
groaned. "Damn it Skid, lay off of it will you!" I
ordered her, throwing a pillow. It made a nice thud of
impact, on the couch. She'd moved. Damn it, she wasn't
lying when she said she was becoming more powerful. I
didn't even see her move. I guess she realized this
too, because she looked scared. She sat down heavily.
"Oh man. this is just TOO weird." She thought out
loud. I nodded in agreement. "Are you ok?" I asked
finally.
She shrugged. "As well as can be expected I guess."
She replied. "You know, I can forgo this date tonight
and you can speak with Jean-Claude; I think it's more
important." I offered. "Hell no, I'm not going to be
the reason you chicken out of this date, you're going
through with it, I'll be fine, I can always see him
tomorrow." She said, standing up. "Now you start
getting ready, I want to see what type of makeup you
should wear." She changed the subject. I agreed just
to avoid an argument. We walked into the bathroom
where I keep my little amount of makeup.
After the gruelling amount of time it took Skid and I
to find a makeup style that suited me, and helped keep
me from looking ghastly, I was ready to kill. It had
taken us an hour and some to find the right amount.
But I do have to hand it to Skid she did great with
what we had. My small amount of makeup, and the little
bit of stuff she had for me, and she managed to suit
my makeup preferences and still make me look good.
Skid looked at the clock. "Well, we have your makeup
down, your outfit ready and 5 hours to wait, what do
you want to do?" she asked, smiling. I frowned in
thought. "I have no idea, you?" I asked. She shrugged.
"We could always go track down Edward and bother him."
She suggested. I shook my head. "You might be able to
get away with that, I'd get killed for it. Edward
hasn't changed that much." I declined. She laughed.
"Right, well I thought it'd be fun." She smiled. "So
what do we do now?" she asked again. I grinned
suddenly. "Well, we could pick out your stuff for your
date Monday." I started. She made a face. "Right.
Another trip to the mall?" she tempted. I sighed.
"Please don't make me go back there, I really hate
that place." I complained. In the end Ii gave in. She
dragged my whining butt all the way to the mall, and I
actually enjoyed it. She had an odd way of doing
things, which kept me on my toes, and pissed just
about every store clerk we met off.
Laughing, we entered my apartment again.  She dropped
the bags on the floor and fell onto the couch,
laughing. It took both of us a few minutes to catch
our breath. "That was a classic Skid, I think we now
have a story to bet all of Edward's freak party
stories." I said, smiling. She nodded. "Well I
remembered one of the gang mentioning it on an
e-mail." I shuddered; I hated computers. Old
fashioned, who me? No way. "Still, I cannot believe
you did that. You went into the dressing room, spent a
few minutes in there, and said loudly, "there's no
toilet paper in here!" The entire place looked at your
dressing room. I don't think I've ever seen a person
thrown out of a store because of that reason before."
I said, laughing again. She laughed as well. "What can
I say, I'm not your typical shopper." She checked her
watch. "Guess what?" she asked me. "What?" I asked
back. "You now have an hour before your date with
Jean-Claude, go get ready." Ii stared a hole into her
skull. "We spent 4 hours in a mall?" I asked
incredulous. She nodded, grinning. "Yup, now go get
ready." I did that.
"Well I'll be, we did good." Skid said when I stepped
out of the bathroom, makeup and outfit on and ready. I
didn't blush, point for me. "Thank you, how much time
left?" I asked. She checked the clock. "45 minutes and
counting. It takes you 25 to get there, not including
traffic." she started. "Or stopping, or minding speed
limits, and if you have a motorcycle that can slip
past vehicles." I interrupted her. She laughed
lightly. "Ok, how long to get you there then?" she
asked. "Well, all matters included, about 40 minutes."
She tossed me my keys. "Then get going." I grabbed the
keys and went to the door. "Will you be alright here
alone?" I asked before leaving. "That's like asking if
Edward was trigger happy, of course I'll be alright."
She replied. I smiled and left. For all the things
that have happened to her recently, she hasn't lost
her humour, and that's a good thing.
I really have no patience when dealing with
Jean-Claude, this I realized when I sat waiting for
him to appear. I was sitting in his office where
Stephen brought me to wait. I was standing, pacing.
The door opened and in came Jean-Claude, in all his
lacey wonderfulness. I caught myself before I could
check him out. Black trousers, tight, wee covering
normal black shoes, and a lacey shirt covered his
chest. You'd expect a man to look ridiculous in lace
but Jean-Claude could make it a very masculine thing,
and boy did he! He was smiling at me. "Impatient ma
petit?" he asked. "Don't call me that, and the sooner
we go, the sooner I can get this over with." I snapped
at him. He held up his hands in mock defence. "Calm
down ma petit, where is it we're going?" he asked,
sitting down. I smiled evilly. "You'll see." He
laughed lightly; it was like silk on my spine. "Being
the mysterious one are you?" he asked. I nodded. "Now
get up so we can go." I ordered him. He did as Ii told
him to. We walked to my car. "I see you're wearing the
outfit I asked you too." He said I nodded. "Yeah, Skid
delivered it to me, and helped me pick out the rest of
the outfit." I said, indicating the shirt, boots and
makeup. Big mistake. His eyes worked their way over me
slowly. I could feel myself turning on. "Quit it, you
promised." I snapped at him. He looked at my face, a
small smile on his oh so kissable lips. "I'm just
checking out what you told me to look at." He said. I
ignored him, and got into my car, unlocking the door
for him. He got in without a word. I started the car
and drove without saying anything, just thinking. Big
mistake, my thoughts drifted to what I had planned for
the evening. A smile appeared on my lips at the
thought. "What are you thinking ma petit?" Jean-Claude
asked, seeing my smile. I looked over at him, sitting
in my passenger seat. I was struck with an almost
overpowering sense of déjà vu. I didn't answer his
question. "Where are we going ma petit?" he asked me.
I smiled at him, mischief in the smile. "You'll see,
and don't call me that." I replied. He just kept
looking at me. I looked at the road, concentrating on
it, but damn if his staring at me didn't mess up my
concentration! He just sat there, watching me. We
finally arrived at the place I had chosen for our
date. An old movie house, playing a mystery movie
today. Every Friday, this place showed a movie that it
would not publish the name of the movie. It was called
the Friday mystery movie. Jean-Claude smiled a funny
smile when he saw the billboard flashing: Friday's
Mystery Movie!!! "A movie ma petit how, quaint." He
said, still smiling. Quaint? That wasn't the word I
was thinking of, but never mind that.
I was so dead!!! It was not funny. The big mystery
movie of Friday night, had to be Dracula. I was SO
dead!!! Jean-Claude wasn't mad, he was beyond mad; he
was writhing with pissed off. The entire drive bad to
his office was quiet, and tense. His face was like a
statue. But his eyes were livid. I, needless to say,
would have enjoyed it, if Jean-Claude were not so
annoyed at me. It wasn't MY fault; I didn't know
they'd be playing that movie!
We walked into Jean-Claude's office, the one where I
met Richard for the first time. Jean-Claude was
royally pissed.  "I'm sorry, I had no idea that was
going to happen." I apologized to him. He looked at
me. "It was created by a demented Irishman, they know
the truth and they still play that?" he stormed. "I
already told you, I didn't know." He seemed to get a
grip of himself. "Right." He looked at me. I shifted
under his gaze. "You promised." I reminded him.  He
smiled. "I'm not doing anything ma petite." I felt
déjà vu again but I took my mind off of that, and his
gaze by looking around the room. Oddly enough, I found
an old time record player, and I mean, OLD. It was a
classic gramophone or whatever you call it. "When'd
you get that?" I asked him. He looked at it. "It's
new, I managed to get my hands on it." He walked over
to it and wound it up. Slow music started to play. He
walked over to me. "May I have this dance ma petite?"
I looked at him. Irresistible to most, to me, just
annoying. "No." I answered. "It's just a dance." He
told me. "Nothing is ever just with you." I responded.
He laughed lightly. "So you've told me. Please?" he
asked again. Remarkably, I found myself dancing with
him. The lace had no feel to it, I wasn't thinking
about that. I was looking into his eyes, big mistake.
He didn't use the vampire's seductive gaze; he didn't
have to. All thoughts were thrown to the wind. I stood
on my toes; I really hate being short, and kissed him.
The action startled him for all of 0.2 milliseconds.
He started to caress my back, which automatically sent
goose bumps up my back. As an act of revenge, I tried
to run my hands over his chest, hoping for the same
result. Nothing from him, damn the man for not being
human, or alive for that matter. We were still dancing
to the music. But I guess neither of us was really
paying attention to where we were going because we
bumped into the bed. So we just stood, kissing. No
more dancing. And damn was he nice to kiss! He was
still caressing my back. I was NOT thinking!! Instinct
and want had taken my brain and logic and gave it a
kick in the butt. I don't know who started to undress
who first but soon enough the cloths were on the
floor. Hell, I don't think we even stopped kissing. He
started to dance again, pulling me with him. Not
wanting to stop kissing him, I followed along. He
danced us over to the side of the bed, then picked me
up, still kissing me, and placed me on it. He came
into it next. No need to tell you that we weren't
dancing anymore. He, before entering me, stopped
kissing me and just smiled. I made the final move. It
seemed to me that the entire night depended on me
making the first move.
I did not want to wake up. I was nice and warm and
felt really good just lying here. I also didn't
remember last night just yet. Then it hit me, and I
sat up so fast I got burnt by the covers. I looked
beside me, and there he was, in all his nude glory.
Jean-Claude was still asleep, smiling. I really wanted
to smack that smile off of his face, but I also felt
the urge to kiss it. How the hell did this happen? I
asked myself, lying back down. The movement woke
Jean-Claude up, who saw me and his smile grew. "Well,
ma petit, it seems that things have changed." He said.
I ignored him and got out of the bed. I could feel his
eyes on me. I went searching through my pile of
cloths. Where the hell was it when I had needed it? I
asked myself, finding my cross. Then I realized that I
had to have been the one to take it off, and I did
start all of this, with a frigging kiss!!!! That meant
I couldn't be mad at Jean-Claude, and I really wanted
to be mad at him right now. I stuffed the cross back
into my pants pocket, and was about to grab my cloths
and put them on, when I felt Jean-Claude standing
behind me. I turned around, and kneeling as I was,
went face to face with his manhood. I stood up very
quickly. "Damn it Jean-Claude." I started, but he cut
me off by kissing me. "No." I said, putting and on his
chest and stepping back. "I don't know why I even
started this a few hours ago, but it won't happen
again." I said, and tried to sound like I meant it.
But I really wanted to climb back into that bed and
get warm.  I was standing here naked, and I was
starting to get cold. Unfortunately, my body also
started to react to the cold. Jean-Claude also noticed
this, and smiled at the fact. "Cold ma petit?" he
asked, already knowing the answer. He stepped forward
again, and pressed me against him, my hand still on
his chest. We started kissing again; I couldn't help
it. Where as my body was reacting to being cold, his
was reacting to me being naked. That wasn't a bad
thing either.
When I woke up again, I remembered everything. I was
stuck between screaming and crying. Instead I just lay
there, pressed against Jean-Claude, who was already
awake. Actually, he was the reason I had woken up. "Ma
petit, are you awake?" he asked. I nodded against his
chest. "I'm sorry to disturb you but it is almost
dawn, and I need to retreat to my rest. I didn't think
you would like to wake up alone." He explained. He was
right about that. I didn't trust myself to speak, so I
just got out of the bed and grabbed my cloths. A lot
of curses were right on the tip of my tongue, all of
them useless to me, I couldn't have worded them if I
had tried. I got dressed, as did he. When I finished
getting everything on, I turned and faced him. After a
few deep breaths, I spoke. "I don't know how this
actually got started," he smiled at that and raised an
eyebrow. "But this was not supposed to happen. I am
dating Richard, this date with you was just supposed
to be you apologizing. It turned out to be more than
that, but if Richard were to find that out, I don't
know who he'd hurt more, you or me." Jean-Claude
tilted his head to the side a bit, contemplating what
I had said. He stepped forward before I could react,
and grabbed me to him. "If you can keep yourself
controlled when you're around me, then he'll never
know." I nodded, not trusting my voice again. He let
me go and I walked quickly out and to my car.
There being no traffic made my ride home quick. When
I got in, Skid took one look at me and started
laughing.  I just stood there, confused. "Ah man,
it's," she looked at the clock. "5:30 am, you're just
home from a date with Jean-Claude and a few buttons
are missing from your shirt. I do wonder what you
did." She said, and started laughing again. I went
very red. "Forget what we agreed on earlier, I don't
want to know the details now." She said. "No way, I
still want to hear the details from your date with
Edward." I snapped back. "Well, just tell me the
details before and after it, no need for during." She
agreed. Ii did that, stopping a few times while she
laughed. When I finished, she got a hold of herself.
"So, I guess your views of each other have changed
some. You now can't go back to the, I will never fall
for you routine; you've already slept with him, twice.
And you don't want Richard to find out, so avoiding
Jean-Claude as much as possible would be your only
choice." She said. I nodded. "But you can't do that."
She finished. I looked at her confused. "Why the hell
not?" I asked. "Because, you need his help getting us
into the loop, remember Dolph told us to do that?" I
groaned. "Ooh shit, why did I have to go and let
myself do that?" I asked, hitting my head. "Calm down,
it isn't that bad, really. We just need top think
rationally." Skid said, grabbing my hand. I yelped in
pain and surprise. Her grip was strong. She let go
quickly. "I'm so sorry Anita, I didn't mean to I." She
trailed off. I patted her arm. "It's ok, you didn't
know that'd happen." I tried to soothe her. "This is
awful, my whole life was thrown into a shit pile after
Kane attacked me, and now you life has been thrown
into the shit pile as well." She said, close to tears.
 I was almost tempted to laugh. "I don't think it's
that bad, a very confusing turn of events, but not
that bad. Relax Skid, we'll figure it out." I said,
the laughter almost evident in my voice. She actually
started to giggle. "You're right, I'm being
melodramatic." She said, taking a deep breath. Then
she broke out laughing again. "What now?" I asked. She
pointed. I looked where she indicated and noticed why
she was laughing. I felt like swearing. "Damn it,
don't you ever ask to be invited in?" I demanded.
Edward was grinning at me. "What is the confusing turn
of events, and what happened to your shirt?" he asked,
walking up to us. I didn't blush, bully for me.
"Skid's abilities are growing stronger and I got into
a fight with a zombie." I improvised. "You're lying."
He stated, sitting next to Skid, throwing an arm
around her. She grabbed his wrist and proved him part
wrong. He didn't yelp in pain, point for him. He just
looked at skid, and amused smile playing across his
face. " Seriously Anita, what happened?" he asked.
"Like she told you. And what do you want Edward?" Skid
demanded herself. Her threat was belied by the
laughter in her voice. He looked at her. "What makes
you think I want something?" he asked, sounding hurt.
"I thought we covered this before. You only come here
when you want something." She replied. Edward gave a
tired sigh. "The trust people have nowadays." He
started. Skid punched him in the arm. "I mean it
Death." She said. "Well sorry Trouble, but it doesn't
include you." He replied, starting to sound angry, I
think she hit him harder than she meant to. I
intervened there. "Both of you, calm down, Ii do not
need you guys getting into a fist fight at this time
in the morning." They both nodded like little kids who
have just been yelled at for trying to sneak a cookie.
"I just came to check if you've decided to tell me
what Richard is or not." Edward said, finally. "I've
already told you, he's human. Now if you don't believe
me, ask him yourself." I said, sounding as tired as I
was. "Sorry Ned, time for you to leave." Skid said.
"Ned?" He asked. She shrugged." Well, if I call you
Eddie, you call me kid if I call you Teddy, you call
me Shelly. I call you Ned, you have nothing to call me
back." He smiled again. "Actually, I'll call you
doll." She threw a pillow at him and it hit him smack
in the face. Neither of us had seen her grab it. It
startled all 3 of us. "Shit." Skid said sounding
scared again. He tossed it back, trying to act normal.
"Nice throw."  Skid smiled. "Yeah, I'm the next Joe
DiMaggio." She agreed. He laughed. "Hell, then can I
have your autograph?" "Go." She said, pointing to the
door. He winked at her and said. "See you Monday," as
he left.

Skid rolled her eyes. "What am I going to do with
him?" she asked. "Wait, I don't think I should take
your advice, seeing on how your date went." She said,
grinning. "Skid!! Please drop it!" I yelled at her.
"Sorry." She said, still smiling. I walked into my
room, and finishing off a good temper tantrum, slammed
the door. I lay down on my bed and wrote the evenings
events down, in detail.  "Good night Anita." Skid's
voice said through my door. "Good night Skid." I
replied. We both fell asleep.
Knock, knock, knock. "Mfhgtnhrfd." "Anita, wake up."
Skid's voice said. I could feel her smiling at me. I
got up. "What do you want Skid?" I demanded. She
opened the door and slipped in.

To be continued at my leisure, sorry, but I'm working
on it!

Tracia's Diary