The Stewarts (rebooted- accepting new characters)

Maddy didn't notice the twins come in until Regina had grabbed her. Thoughts began swirling around her head as the eldest Stewart girl began screaming at the youngest. Regina was mad at her? Maddy did something wrong this time even though she's done the same thing a bunch of times before? Those eye patches were underwear?! But they were smaller than her own underwear. And which part was the front? All these questions were starting to make her dizzy and the shaking didn't help at all.


By the time Regina let go of Maddy, the ten year old's eyes were wide open. Her small frame was trembling. Doing what her sister said, Maddy hurriedly scooped up all the underwear on the floor and shoved it back into its drawer, slamming it shut. She then stood to face Regina, trying to look her best like she wasn't scared but her body was still shaking terribly. Her eyes were tearing up slightly and she began to stutter. "I-I'm l-l-leaving because I w-want to. Not because I-I'm s-scared or anything. B-because I'm n-n-not." She then ran out of the room and into her own.


Maddy grabbed the blanket off her beg and wrapped herself in it. She then crawled underneath the bed frame like a caterpillar and stayed down there, still shaken up, both figuratively and literally, from what had just happened. Regina was mad. Regina was yelling. Regina was scary. Maddy didn't like this Regina. This wasn't the real one. No. The real Regina was super nice to her. This one was mean. Maddy decided to stay underneath her bed until one of the other siblings came home. She was too scared to move anywhere else.
 
Getting a passport would not be terribly difficult for Rikarah, and in fact might be a good idea for her own personal use as well as for any internship of this man's. She never knew when it might be that she would have to leave town suddenly, and if she were able to leave the country as well, she could be that much more certain of her own safety and freedom. The question was, why was it that Lucas required her to have a passport and be able to travel suddenly? Why was it that this research was so important to him that she could ask him no question, that he required such devotion and secrecy from her?


Rikarah cannot bear the mystery of it to remain unresolved, and though she nods in response to Lucas's demands, verbally agreeing, she has no intention of remaining apathetic to his reasonings. Instead she continues to sort through the possibilities in her own mind as she exits his office, still thinking through them to herself as she walks with slow steps through the building and out towards her car. Lucas says he does not yet trust her...well, she certainly does not trust him and never will, but she will certainly try to make him trust her.


**


Regina hears Maddy stammering, but her eyes are closed, and she doesn't see the fear in her face or watch her run from the room. She is only glad that Maddy does in fact leave without arguing or crying, like Juliette undoubtedly would have in her shoes. She remains curled up on her bed, wanting to get up to lock the door, but knowing that a sudden movement might make her dizzy, or even nauseous. If they knew what was good for them, her sisters, they would just stay away.


Regina curses again, gritting her teeth, when she hears voices coming faintly from near the front of the house, recognizing it as Jeremy's. He was calling out to everyone a cheery, very Jeremy greeting, announcing his arrival home. Her brother and his desperate dorkiness was just one more thing she didn't want to acknowledge as existing in her world at the moment, and she had no doubt that he would go looking for her when she didn't immediately make her presence known.


And sure enough, there he was, within ten minutes, knocking on her door. He would never dare just come in after the first few times he walked straight in on her and Riley together.


"I'm dead, f off," she called out to him without opening her eyes, but Jeremy didn't take this for the clear sign that it was for him to stay away.


"It's Jeremy...are you decent in there?"


"No, I'm stark naked and screwing with the entire football team," she shot back, but Jeremy for once did not start stammering and taking her seriously and making a quick exit,. Instead he gave a nervous laugh and inched the door open, putting a single eye to the crack, before giving a sigh of relief and pushing it open all the way.


"Very funny, Regina. So why is it that Maddy's hiding in her room...what did you two do to her this time?"


"You mean what the f*** did she do to MY shit," Regina growled, opening her eyes and staring up at him fiercely as she gave a quick gesture around the room where her underwear remained scattered. "She's the nosiest little brat sometimes, what the hell does she want with my g-strings?"


Jeremy turned scarlet as he not only took in the sight of her underwear on the floor but also thought about his youngest sister touching them, and he almost missed it when Regina, starting to sit up, sucked in her breath, swaying slightly as though having vertigo. But he did catch it, and made a noise in his throat of concern and surprise, drawing closer.


"Regina? Are you okay?"


"No, because there's a dickhead in my room who keeps talking at me and just can't seem to know when to get away from me," she snapped back, but Jeremy was still looking at her, frowning.


"You were curled up on the bed with your eyes closed...that's not like you. Are you sick?"


"F*** you, Jeremy," she said with a lifted chin and direct eye contact, her posture and expression very much aggressive, even as her heart begin to quicken in its beats.


For a moment Jeremy just looked back at her. He finally gave one of his trademark nervous laughs, but his voice, tone, and expression were very serious when he said, "Hope you're not pregnant or something like that!"


"Don't be ridiculous," Regina spat, even as her stomach cramped, and she wet her lips unconsciously. Because the truth was, this made two people flirting with the thought, even in jest. "Like you'd even know about anything to do with the big bad scary S-E-X."


"Better hope not," was his only reply, and he was still watching, very, very closely, before giving in to flash a quick smile. "Well then! If you're..."


He never finished the sentence, instead leaving their room hastily. Regina waited until she was sure he was gone before curling up again. Last thing she needed was him hovering around, even if she was inexplicably sick.


Still, his implication bothered her...because as ridiculous as it seemed, hadn't the baby possibility crossed her own mind?
 
Riley is no fool. Okay he might not be the brightest person out there, and he is far from knowledgeable and is just getting by in school as is, but still, when it comes to his Regina... no one knows her better. Something's up with his love and it's eating away at the back of his mind. Ignoring this nagging feeling he watches as she grips his arm to get off the bike and wordlessly escorts her inside. As she goes to collect blood a part of him asks if perhaps she were just hungry, but he knows this isn't it, but he has no idea what could be wrong. She had seemed fine earlier, had someone messed with her? No that still didn't explain her getting sick. Regina just didn't get sick.


Still Riley couldn't help but to hope that the blood would get rid of the problem. And for a moment he believes it as she teases him once more about his schoolwork. As she kisses him he pulls her closer, his fingers running through her hair as the kiss deepens. Her hands begin to explore and Riley starts to put his worry in the back of his mind as something goes wrong. Regina pulls away as if in pain, running into the bathroom, even from where he stood he could hear her losing her stomach. He can no longer be quiet. “Baby” he says softly, approaching her from behind and pulling her hair away from her face. His hand reaches for her shoulder only for her to shrug him off with a simple I'm going to lay down.


His mouth opens to say something, but Riley feels as if it is hopeless for the moment, so he says nothing, letting her go while he heads to the laundry room to get himself some blood. As he's drinking his heated blood he hears familiar yelling. Sighing he puts his glass in the sink and beads upstairs. His timing couldn't be more perfect for as he gets into earshot he hears Jeremy speak. Surely he said more words, but all Riley can hear is pregnant.


It begins to click, Regina starting to act oddly, the vomiting, she's pregnant. Regina Stewart is carrying his child. Riley allows a moment for this to sink in. He feels happy, excited even. He knows that kids are handfuls, hell he has kid siblings. Even the responsibility doesn't scare him. But Regina... how does she feel? Keeping his face neutral Riley steps into their bedroom and closed the door. Moving towards the bed he softly calls for her “Gina..” he sits carefully on the bed, his arm reaching to rub her back gently.
 
Regina tenses up as Riley's hand lands on her back, and she doesn't look up at him, keeping her face turned where he can't easily see. Normally his presence, his touch, would be enough to ease any stress she happened to be feeling; normally, stress was a rare feeling anyway, as there wasn't very much that could shake her up. She had steeled herself against feeling very strong emotion since their parents' deaths, and most of the time it worked very well for her.


But this...this was different. If what Jeremy had just said was true...then what the hell would that mean for them? What would it mean to HER?


Regina has no interest at all in babies. Sure, maybe some day, when she and Riley are older and apart from their family, if they could ever manage to get to that point anyway. It was tradition within their bloodline for immediate family to stay together for considerably longer than the average family did, if only because it was more protective and practical for them in this way. Generally it was when they began to marry off among them that they split up.


Did this mean, that if this were true, and she was really pregnant, that she and Riley would have to leave the others now, go off and raise this kid alone? Contrary to what the rest of their siblings would have predicted, this was a thought that didn't sit well with Regina. As much as her siblings irritated her, and as loudly as she might proclaim that she didn't need any of them, and as much as she might shut them out from herself and Riley and provoke them into being angry with her, when it came down to it, though she would never say it aloud to them, she did feel that she needed them on some level. She wasn't ready to be on her own yet...if she really did sincerely consider it, she and Riley were not ready to make it apart from them. As much as she hated it, Jeremy was right. They were reckless, and though this was because they enjoyed it, on on their own they might get themselves into trouble they couldn't get out of.


And after their parents' death...it was one thing to shut herself off from them emotionally. But to lose her siblings too, even if it were something as simple as moving out...she didn't want that, not right now.


So maybe all of that wouldn't happen. Maybe she wasn't even pregnant. And abortions existed, right? Still, all of these thoughts and possibilities ran rapidly through her head even at Riley's brief touch, and she did not relax beneath his hand. There was a strange tightness in her chest and throat, and it took her several moments to realize that those were the first warning signs of tears. This was enough to anger her into sitting up and turning to face him, shrugging off his hand meanwhile, because that was the last straw. Regina Stewart did not cry, not anymore, and if this damn baby or whatever it was, was close to causing that, she hated it, no two ways about it.


"I'm NOT pregnant," she said to Riley, as if daring him to contradict her. "And if I am I'm getting rid of it if I have to throw myself down the stairs to do it."


"Don't you dare, Regina Stewart," Jeremy's voice piped up, startlingly loud, from the hallway, and he opened the door again, standing as imposingly as he could manage with his less than impressive height, arms crossed over his chest as he glowered down at her. "The last thing we need is you ending up in the hospital and our whole house investigated because you end up breaking a leg or ribs or something instead of giving yourself a, a stairway abortion. Don't you know what it would be like if you end up in a hospital?! The whole lot of you don't have the control I have! I'm around blood all day, every day, and YOU, you would go in there, the second you saw another patient having blood drawn or saw someone who was a car crash victim, you'd be all over them, and the security cameras would catch it all! Do you think we need that, Regina?"


She didn't know whether he had simply heard her raised voice while passing by, through the thin walls of the house, or if he had been standing outside the door listening all along, but whatever it was Jeremy had been doing, it enraged Regina. Standing up fast, and pushing through the brief and persistent vertigo this gave her to do so, she half strode, half stumbled towards him, further infuriated by what seemed to her the inexplicable failure of her own body, and gave a hard shove against Riley's chest. Normally this would cause him to stagger back, at the very least, but today he just blinked, looking at her. What the HELL was up with her being so damn helpless in comparison to usual?!


"You little sneak, you're worse than Juliette and Maddy combined! What, are you so pathetic in your own life you can't resist listening in on mine? Are you jealous, you want me to be pregnant with YOUR kid instead? Make a move, BIG BROTHER, be a man, or would you rather go down the hall to Juli? She'd receive you with open arms, so you better take what you can get?"


"Do you even understand what you've gotten us into if you're pregnant, Regina?" Jeremy's own voice rose, and he actually shook a finger in her face, causing Regina to snap her teeth as though to bite him, though he managed to pull his hand back in time. "We can't afford a baby! We can't afford the kids we have, let alone a baby, and how the hell would we pay for all the things it needs, how would we pay for doctor's visits, what do you even know about having kids? You can't take care of your own self without me looking over your shoulder making sure you aren't doing something to put us all in danger! I told you both a thousand times, this is what happens when you're reckless, this is what happens when you do whatever you want without a thought for the consequences-"


"Just because YOU never have fun, just because no girl in her right mind would ever want YOU-"


Jeremy ignored this bait, just raising his voice to talk over her even more loudly. "We have Juliette's and Maddy's social worker coming in a few days, if they see you're pregnant they're going to ask about it, and what the hell are we supposed to tell them, that it's your BROTHER'S? They're going to want to know how the hell we can support another child, how YOU with your minimum wage job can, and who the father is, where the father is, what am I supposed to do, say that you're off screwing random guys or that you got sexually assaulted or something, how the hell does that make me look as a guardian of two young girls that I can't control their sister?!"


"That's what it's all about to you, Jeremy, control, control, control! You can't control me, you can't run my life or tell me what to do, and so that makes anything that happens to ME somehow YOUR f*cking tragedy! I'm the one that could have a f*cking parasite inside me and somehow it's still all about YOU!" she yelled back, her pale face beginning to tinge pink rather than the darker red it normally would with anger, due to her current lack of blood from the earlier vomiting. "If I want to I could have ten babies! I could be the next damn Octo-Mom, and what the hell could you do about it? I could stand outside the house screaming "Get your oldest Stewart girl, ten cents a go!" and what could you do about THAT? Maybe I will, who the hell knows, if you really wanted you could learn a lesson or two-"


"Don't even say something like that, Juliette or Maddy could hear you and you know how Maddy copies you, you KNOW how Juliette is about boys and-"


"Yeah, well maybe I could add her name on there then, she'd probably appreciate the help-" Regina started, but this was going too far for Jeremy to continue to take. Grabbing Regina roughly by one shoulder, his other hand seizing her face, locking in around her right cheek and jaw and squeezing painfully, he shook her back and forth with some force, his eyes bright with his own rage, his voice rising into a shout.


"You shut up!!! SHUT UP!!!"


Regina was too shocked by this to react at first. By the time shock gave way to anger once more, and she was preparing to strike back, Jeremy had released her almost as abruptly as he had taken hold of her, staring first at his hands, then at her, as though unable to believe himself. He was not one to react with even mild violence towards his siblings, even Regina; his repressed anger had thus far only truly been released when killing.


"Regina...I'm sorry-" he started, and this was when Regina, who had made a move to punch him, instead staggered and nearly fell, lightheaded, faint, her temples throbbing with increasing pressure and rhythm. Jeremy moved to catch her upper arms awkwardly, and noticed then the heat of her skin, remembered too how hot her face been where he had grabbed her. Releasing her as soon as he was reasonably sure she was standing again, he backed away, looking up at Riley with growing concern, his anger forgotten.


"Regina, go lay down..." he started.


"F off, don't touch me!" she snarled, embarrassed now as much as angry, and Jeremy backed off, hands up, as his eyes darted between the twins. He was trying then to remember how their mother had been during her pregnancies with them, how she had been affected. Was this normal?
 
The bus was just over half full when Tegan stepped onto it, her messenger bag bumping rhythmically against the side of her thigh. She checked the time on her phone and swore under her breath, the bus was running late, which would mean that Evan would be irritated when she got home. It was bad enough that she didn't have the things for his dinner for the night, but being late would just make it that much worse.


Screwing her earbuds in, she sat back in her seat and tried not to think about it too much, despite the fact that it was right in the front of her mind. When it arrived at her stop, she clambered off and half-jogged to her building and up the three flights of stairs it took to get to her apartment. Breathing heavily, and misty with sweat, she unlocked the door and walked in.


“Evan?”


Her brother emerged from his bedroom, hand next to his ear, fingers twitching, “Tegan, where were you? It's 5:17, you're supposed to be here at 4:42.”


Tegan let out a small breath and nodded, “I know, I'm sorry. The bus was late.”


Blue eyes that mirrored her own looked her in the face, “And now dinner's going to be late too. It's Monday, we have pasta with red and white sauce on Monday, it's supposed to be ready by 5:34.”


She didn't say anything, “We're just going to have to have red sauce with our pasta tonight, is that okay?” He had gone quiet, fingers still moving next to his ear as he scoped out the room, lips parted. “I'll tell you what, if you can eat just the red sauce tonight, I'll take you to work with me tomorrow and you can hang out with Joey above the bar.”


“I like Joey.”


“I know you do.” Tegan put a pot of water on to boil, “How was your day with Dr. Knowles?”


“It was good. We've been working on my social skills and he tested me with the face chart.”


She felt her lips twitching upward into a small smile, “You'll have to show me how good you've gotten at them after dinner.”


Dinner went by uneventfully, save for a little bit of whining on Evan's part for the lack of alfredo sauce mixed in with the marinara.


“There'll be white sauce next Monday.”


“Is that a promise? That sounds like a promise, Tegan, and you can't break those.”


“Yes, it's a promise, Evan.” She cleaned up after dinner and went to her bag to get out her english book before letting out a small curse, she'd left it in her locker on campus. She'd have to go back for it, there was no way she'd be able to get everything done tomorrow, but there was also no chance of leaving Evan by himself in the evenings. He'd have to come with.


“Hey, Evan?” When there was no answer, she let out a breath, “Evan? Want to go on a trip?”


He looked away from the television, not changing his position on the floor, “What kind of trip?”


Tegan smiled weakly, “I need to go back to my school to get a book. Wouldn't it be fun to see where I go to school?”


Evan regarded her carefully, “I'm not a kid, Tegan, you don't have to make it an adventure.” He let out a sigh and stood up, “But yes, let's go.”


Her shoulders relaxed almost immediately, “Put your coat and shoes on, I'll get my bag. We have to hurry though, the bus will be here soon.”


She was able to get him dressed and they were at the bus stop just as it pulled up in front of the bench. It took a little coaxing to get her brother onto the bus, but he eventually caved and climbed on with her, his eyes fixated out the window, fingers still twitching next to his ear. He would occasionally make a small noise in the back of his throat.


“Now listen, Evan, we're not going to be there long, okay? So you need to just stick close and don't wander off.” Tegan led him off of the bus and went to the main building where the lockers were, Evan behind her.


“Tegan.”


“What is it, Evan?”


“I have to go to the bathroom.”


'Sh*t.' She thought, suppressing a groan. “Okay, you're going to have to go by yourself. The bathroom is just down the hall to the left. That's heart-right, okay? You'll see the signs with the little man on it.”


“Okay. Wait here for me.”


“I will, don't worry.”
 
(As of now, Gabriel Ryker is no longer playing Zane Stewart and I will be controlling his character.)


Rikarah is still thoughtful as she walks down the hallway, her steps slower, not showing the usual quiet confidence she expresses through her movements and posture as she continues to think over her exchange and agreement with Lucas. It is possible that she has made a mistake, in so rashly agreeing to such an arrangement with a man such as Lucas, but her pride would not allow her to back down now even if she knew this to be the case. She replays his words to her in her mind, reexamining all possibilities and significance to them, and is so caught up in this line of thought that she nearly brushes right back past Tegan in the hallway before she recognizes the other girl as passing by. Stopping, shaking thoughts of Lucas back out of the foreground of her thought, she smiles at Tegan, backing up slightly to allow her space.


"Sorry, I suppose I am a little distracted today. Are you on your way to class? I was just leaving myself."


**


For some reason, the small Rikarah girl whom he shares one of his classes with had not seemed overly impressed or interested in speaking with him, even when he had put their professor in his place with his admittedly long-winded logic, and had in fact left the classroom without giving him so much as a nod of acknowledgement afterward. Zane was somewhat disappointed by this, but also resigned. In eighteen years he had yet to find someone who was not put off or intimidated by him in some way, if he was open about his intelligence or his interest in them. He supposed this was due to their discomfort of what they could not understand or were unfamiliar with, just as they would be if they also knew of his rather unique nutritional needs and the habits this required for him to maintain them. It was a fact of life that Zane had become accustomed to, and though he always held some hope that he would one day meet someone who would enjoy him as he was, as of now, it seemed only his family could even begin to understand.


And even they, he knew, had significant limits. After all, none of the rest of them were of such superior IQ and insight as himself.


There was a space of two hours between his last class and his next to last, and Zane knew that this time would be spent not doing procrastinated homework, hanging out with friends, or meeting new ones, as most other students would choose to do, but rather in studying or in researching considerably ahead of when it was required or necessary. It might not be what others his age were doing, but it was what Zane himself felt comfortable with. For as long as he could remember he had felt that he did not quite fit, even within his own family, and though he loved them all, would kill to protect them or even simply to feed them if necessary, he did not feel quite as though he were one of them.


He had kept himself separate from them and generally from humans as a whole, knowing that Jeremy's advice to do so was based upon genuine concern for them and the loss of control they might experience if tempted, but also because it seemed to Zane more natural to do so than to try to blend, as he clearly could not. And so as his free time between classes stretched out before him, without any others claiming him, Zane eventually left the library for the restroom, more for a change of scenery than because he needed use of the facilities.


The restroom he chose was one of the ones which received less student traffic than most of the others, and in fact there was only one other person inside at the urinal. As Zane allowed the door to shut behind him, his stomach growled unexpectedly, and he swallowed, keeping his eyes averted. He had not eaten this morning, nor the evening before, and it was necessary, even vital that he feed when he arrived at home.


No sooner than that, of course. Zane was not one to enjoy killing even for the necessity of the blood, and he did not like to think of himself as like the twins, wild, undisciplined, and impulsive. But as he lined up at the other urinal near the young man, he was certain he could hear the man's heartbeat, smell his blood, and even as he attempted to back away, the scent was overpowering.


"I do not believe I have had the distinct pleasure of making your acquaintance," he said finally, "My name is Zane Stewart."


He stepped closer, closer, blinking rapidly...and then, almost as though his hands were not quite within his own control, they shot out, seizing the young man's shoulders and pulling him in close to him. As he pulled the man close to him, opening his mouth wide to sink his teeth into the curve of his neck, Zane is partially disgusted and dismayed with himself, but mostly, he is excited.


This one has a particularly distinct flavor.
 
*Satisfied with Rikarah as his first intern of the semester, sitting at his desk typing in her information to start the process, there is still room in his budget for 2 more interns. Question is who won't be a complete waste of space and make him look like a damn fool, his research is a bit of a stretch as it is and the threats of pulling his funding has been mentioned before classes start, lucky for him he has tenure so he will keep his job no matter what. Still Rikarah is an impressive prospect if she can resist the urge to choke him she should work out.*


*I have nothing to do so this is short*
 
Tegan jumped slightly at the sound of the other voice and she turned, smiling when she saw Rikarah, “It's so fine.” She held her book to her chest with one arm and batted a lock of hair out of her face, “And no, I'm actually coming back. I uh, I forgot my book and I really needed it tonight.” There was a moment of quiet between them and she shook her head, “So what do you think of our history class? I really feel like I'm going to regret enrolling in this class, or at least with this professor.”


---


At the entrance of the new man, Evan immediately felt his shoulders straighten. This was someone he didn't know, and with the brightness of the lights and the new place...


He didn't like this place, and he didn't like this man and how close he was and he didn't like that he was speaking to him at all. When he started to get closer, Evan flushed the urinal and was able to put himself away and zip up. He watched the man's face carefully, trying to match his face with any of the ones on the chart that Dr. Knowles quizzed him on, “Hey... you can't – I don't like when people are near me. You should get away.”


And then hands were gripping at his shoulders, and he wanted to tell the man that he didn't like being touched and pushed hard at the man, crying out. Then there were teeth on his neck and Evan kicked out, his hands hitting and punching at whatever he could reach. With all of his thrashing, he was able to get loose and stumbled briefly before running out of the bathroom, he needed to find Tegan. She would know what to do, she always knew what to do if he could just find her.


The bathroom was to his heart right, so he would have to turn not-heart-right and then he was running, his feet pounding on the floor, sneakers squeaking loudly under the lights that made his skin itch.


“Tegan!”


He almost ran headlong into the girl talking to her but veered quickly to the side and skidded to a stop. There was another expression that he couldn't match from the chart, but Tegan's eyes were wide, mouth hanging open before her jaw clenched shut and she reached toward him.


“Evan let me see.”


He flinched away, “Stop it, no! I don't like that, Tegan, you know I don't like it.”


Tegan's eyes narrowed and her cheeks reddened, “How am I going to see what's wrong if you won't let me touch you?”


Evan shook his head, shoulders inching toward his ears, “That's what I'm trying to tell you! A man tried to bite me in the bathroom.”


Her eyebrows narrowed, he recognized that face from the chart, it was confusion. “Someone tried to bite you?”


“Yes, Tegan, he bit me. You need to listen. Listening is important and you're not listening to me.”


“I'm listening, I promise.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a tissue, “Now hold still so I can clean your neck off and see if we have to take you to the doctor.”


Evan tried to hold still while his sister dabbed at his neck where the man had bitten him and finally looked at the girl she had been talking to and lowered his eyes when he met hers. “I'm Evan."
 
"I think he is a typical male of the arrogant mold," Rikarah says dryly in response to Tegan's question, easily falling into step with her as they continue together down the hallway. "I suppose I must be crazy, because I do not like the man at all...but believe it or not, I have arranged to have an internship with him. It is paid, so I suppose that is the majority of the attraction, as most will not pay around here. It may involve travel as well, which could be interesting. The only difficulty with the arrangement is that if the man were to irritate me too badly, I may end up stabbing him to death."


She laughs lightly, giving Tegan an easy smile, but although the girl could not have possibly guessed as much from her tone and expression, her words are entirely serious.


**


When the young man began to speak, Zane attempted to push forward with his intended action, gripping him more tightly against him, but the man was no passive recipient to his intended attack. He is screaming and hitting out at him, making considerable noise, and it is difficult to get a good grip on him, difficult to even continue to keep his neck within reach of his mouth. His noise is beginning to concern Zane as well, as they are out in the public area of the bathroom rather than a stall. Anyone could come in at any time, and what would happen if they saw the two of them? What if someone heard the man screaming and came in to look?


The man's screaming is also disturbing to Zane because he is beginning to associate it with the man being frightened or in pain. It is easier for Zane to continue to feed if he can distract himself from this knowledge, but the man is not allowing for this to occur. When the man manages to work himself lose, Zane lets him go without trying to take hold of him again, even as his mouth waters, and the very small amount of the man's blood seems to have spread over all his taste buds so that nothing else can quite register.


He still needs to feed.


It would be possible for him to control himself for long enough to go home and take a blood bag, as Jeremy would no doubt advise, but first he will have to pass any given number of people with fresh, warm, and readily available blood, and this very well may not be control Zane has.


**


When the young man almost runs into them both, Rikarah blinks, taking a step back, and notices immediately that something is "off" about him and his communication in the same moment that she sees that he and Tegan clearly know each other, and know each other well. She watches with a slight frown, brow furrowing, as Tegan speaks with him, then begins to examine a wound on his neck. From their interaction Rikarah would guess them to be related, likely siblings, and though she cannot be certain, she thinks that the man meets criteria for what she has read about Asperger's Disorder, or perhaps autism. From such a brief exchange she cannot be sure.


The man declares that he has been bitten, and sure enough, the evidence is there on his neck to see. Staring at the marks on his neck, Rikarah thinks back to her conversation with Lucas, to the work she has agreed to do with him. Research on creatures of legends...vampires? Is it vampires that Lucas is particularly interested in...and does he have very good reason, perhaps within this very school, to do so?


She smiles at Simon but does not extend a hand to him, instead giving him a polite nod of her head as she introduces herself. "Hello, Simon. My name is Rikarah. I am very sorry such an unfortunate thing happened to you, that looks like a frightening thing to have happened to you. Did you say that you were attacked in a bathroom? Is it that bathroom just around the corner from here?"


She waited for a confirmation of this from Simon, then, turning to Tegan, briefly touched her arm, speaking to her as well. "This is very strange, Tegan...terrible. I'm sorry, I have somewhere I need to be, but tomorrow, will you let me know that he is all right?"


As she walks away, turning around the corner to the bathroom Simon has indicated, she passes it just as Zane Stewart steps outside of it. Eyes widening slightly, Rikarah's heart begins to quicken in its beats as well. Zane Stewart...of course, she has no definitive proof, not yet, that he is the one who bit Simon. But he is certainly odd from what she has encountered of him, and for him to be in the bathroom at the same time...


She turns her face away so he will not notice her as he passes, and then waits until he is a considerable distance away from her, before beginning to follow, careful to keep herself from appearing to be doing so conspicuously. If she cannot be sure as of now, she will make sure that she is soon, hopefully by the end of this afternoon.


She does not have to wait long for this opportunity. The taste of Simon's blood has awakened Zane's blood lust, and he is struggling, his hands actually shaking with his effort to keep himself from simply grabbing the first person he sees, slamming them against the wall, and biting them over and over, unable to control himself. And the moment that he is first given reasonable chance, this is exactly what he does.


Rikarah follows Zane with some puzzlement as he disappears into a second men's restroom, and though she cannot of course follow him inside, at least as of the moment, she remains outside it, trying to think of a way that she can do so. She does not yet know if he is alone inside there and simply trying to collect himself, if there is another person inside who might also be the victim of an attack, or if he is simply using the facilities like a normal person- but that would be odd, as he has just emerged from another bathroom. Her eyes scour the hallway as she waits outside it, and then comes to rest on a janitor's closet just across from her. An idea forming, she looks casually about herself, then enters it, finding and taking a yellow triangular sign declaring that the bathroom is being cleaned. Placing it outside the bathroom, she then slips inside it. If others are inside, and safe, she can always play it off that she wasn't looking and walked inside accidentally.


But there is no need for any such acting on her part, for when Rikarah slips inside the bathroom, what she views is the sight of Zane, pressing a smaller, presumably freshman boy against the door of the bathroom stall, his teeth clinched firmly into his throat, his body crushing the other boy's so he cannot move or push back. Zane's eyes are closed, terrible slurping noises emerging from his lips and tongue, and the other boy's eyes are open wide, slowly fading as the life is sucked out from him.


Zane does not appear to hear her, nor does he open his eyes. He is focused on his feed, all other aspects of his surroundings unimportant to him in the moment, and Rikarah takes advantage of this. She does not have to think; this is an action she has committed enough for it to become nearly second nature, a decision made in an instant. She steps forward, dark eyes slitted, and with one swift motion the switchblade always concealed within the left pocket of her baggy pants is out and in her hand, its blade out and ready. Several quick steps and she jams it to its hilt directly into Zane's spine.


She watches as his body jerks, then goes rigid, knowing she has severed nerves, and she twists it as much as it is able before retracting it. His grip on the boy is considerably loosened, and he is now slumped into him for support rather than actually holding him. It is a simple matter for Rikarah to reach up, take him by the shoulder, and draw the switchblade across his throat while careful to keep him still facing the other boy, so as not to get his blood on herself.


The only disappointment to her as she walks to the sink, carefully washing her blade and returning it to its rightful place in her pocket, and then slips out of the bathroom, looking to make sure no one is observing her exit, is that the other boy had been dead as well when she left. Oh well, she couldn't win them all. And this will certainly give her new inspiration for her internship.


What she is curious about, as she walks with light, casual strides towards her dorm, is whether the other Stewarts are like him as well, whether Riley of her classes and Regina of her workplace are also apt to such activities. If so...well, it certainly wouldn't make her cry to have reason to "punish" Regina Stewart as well.
 
At the feel of a hand on her arm, Tegan turned her head to look at Rikarah. She offered up a weak smile at her apology and managed a brief nod, “Yeah, of course. I'll see you in the morning.” She paused for a moment, allowing herself to swallow, realizing just then how dry her mouth was. “Get home safe, okay?”


Once the other woman was gone, Tegan turned back to Evan, “Let's get home.” she checked the time and let out a small breath. “We're going to have to walk, the bus doesn't get here for another hour and I just want us to get home.”


Evan prodded gingerly at the broken skin on his neck and said nothing in response. She had no idea how long ago he'd withdrawn. She'd been so caught up in her head, in making sure that there wasn't anything seriously damaged in his neck and the cold stab of fear in her gut when she'd seen how white his face had been.


Carefully, Tegan twitched at the sleeve of his shirt and led him down the hall toward the exit. She was torn between just talking aimlessly at him, knowing that he wouldn't answer, and maintaining the silence. It was never awkward with Evan, he had always been quiet, even as an infant. If Tegan concentrated hard, she remembered all of the times that he never cried, the way his eyes would stay fixed at some specific point in the room. There was almost something uniform about it.


But sometimes...


Jesus, sometimes she just wanted company that would actually respond to her when she spoke.


They were halfway back to the apartment before Tegan said anything. Taking in a slow breath, she said it, what she'd been thinking since she had seen the blood oozing from her brother's neck. “I love you, Evan.”


His response was flat, and came out sounding more like a rehearsed reply than something that held any meaning. “Yeah, I love you too, Tegan.”


She felt the corners of her mouth shift upward, and she reached over, brushing a stray lock of hair out of his face while making sure not to actually touch him. Sometimes, she wished that Evan was different, that he was normal and didn't need taking care of.


But right then, as they made their way home, it was more than enough.
 
“You could call me that” Kelly notes, bemused before flipping through some of her charts and appointments. Given that she was half-an-hour late, she should probably take care of her appointments, but she knew from the schedule that Jeremy was leaving early. Glancing between Simon and Jeremy she is hesitant at first, somewhat aware of Simon’s feelings. Kelly finally decided that her best friend deserved someone just as much as she did.


“Well, sorry to leave you two alone so soon…but I got some patients that are probably waiting for me” she explains. She looks at Jeremy, “And since you’rrree leaving so soon” she goes up and embraces him lightly; she was always antsy about physical contact with him. Then she is off on her rounds, re-supplying the food stock for those who just gave blood before checking on a few of the patients. Then Kelly guided a few of her own into the back and set- them up with a kind smile. After she was through the stack that had piled up in her absence, she went to look for her best friend.
 
*Lucas was in the library doing more research, it's only been about 2 hours since he started but his eyes were heavy from reading so much small text most of it needed to be translated from Romanian. He stood up from the table and made his way to the rest room, making his way to the one that usually only the staff uses, exhausted he doesn't notice the sign on the door and when he enters the rest room his eyes barely open only see the sinks, leaning over them and letting the cold water run over his hands before he splashes some in his face, only then as the cold water begins to wake him does he look up at the mirror and in the reflection behind him he sees the two bodies, Lucas shows no reaction or emotion to the sight of the bodies, filling his hands full of water once more and splashes his face again. He takes his time drying his hands and face, then finally walking over and kneeling by the bodies, he notices the kids neck and leans in and examines the wound, it's a wound he's seen many times, it's what happens when one of his kind can't control themselves, idiot he thinks to himself looking at the body of Zane, he knows it's him cause he's the annoying student that thought he was so smart in his class..smarter then Lucas..Guess he was wrong cause there is no way Lucas would let his bloodlust get to him and make him feed on a human in public. Using the tip of his pen he lifts Zane's lip and examines his mouth and sure enough there was blood. But this kid doesn't seem to have a weapon so how did Zane die? Lucas examines him and eventually comes across the stab wound in his back, who ever did this knew how to put him down without a chance of him reacting, hardly a professional but still a damn good job.* You should have watched your back, you dumb kid! *Pulling his phone out his pocket and dials the police. Lucas wishes this was like the movies, he could call someone that would come clean up this mess. But now he has to wait for the damn police and answer stupid questions.* Oh joy.
 
Riley had both expected and hoped that his touch would calm Regina. But instead of leaning into it or relaxing, he felt the tension in her body as she actually tensed up. His hand pulled away, Riley now unsure at how to proceed. He watched as she sat up and faced him, trying to read her face which showed some anger and a mix of other emotions. She stated flat out her lack of condition, and truthfully her words after hurt him. Not like he would let her know that. Before he could respond with something reassuring Jeremy piped in, walking in as if he had a right to.


Surely their brother was acting an idiot, making demands over what she could do with her body, as always complaining that their secret would be found out. Sure Riley knew it was important not to let others know but Jeremy was overly paranoid. And he was out of line for listening in the first place, let alone demanding his own opinion. He wanted to tell Jeremy off, but knew better than to act now. So instead he watched, painfully, as his love stumbled across the room to shove him, obviously just as angered at his words.


The fight ensued and Riley tried to tune it out while Regina threw insults and Jeremy flipped out over how careless she was and about control. Apparentally whoring their sister out was the extent Jeremy would let Regina's words go, and it took Riley a moment to realize he had put his hands on her. But by the time it sunk in that he was grabbing her and shaking her Riley's body had already moved on it's own and he was already making way towards his brother.


Jeremy had let go quickly but still that did nothing for Riley. His hand clenched and as Jeremy put up his hands in defeat Riley threw a right hook directed at his face. The typically cool and collected Riley let the anger show in his face as he gripped his brother by the shoulders. “You don't ever touch her.” he spoke through a tight jaw. “If you even so much as think about putting your filthy hands on her again, brother or not, I will kill you” dead serious with emphasis on the will Riley was quite sure his message got across as he shoved his brother away, a part of him hoping his brother would retaliate so that he could beat the shit out of him. Usually Riley had no problem with his eldest brother, but in the moment he wanted to beat him inches from his death.
 
When Riley's fist came towards his face, Jeremy was thrown off guard and had only just started to turn his face away instinctively before the blow landed, striking his upper cheekbone hard enough that it stung and throbbed, and he knew it would bruise later. The anger he felt so often flared up within his chest, and automatically Jeremy's fists clinched, and he turned towards Riley with aggression to his posture, every instinct of his body primed to strike him back, to slam him into a wall and to start hitting him over and over as he had so often wanted to and refrained from doing, as he had so badly wanted to do to Regina just moments before.


This fragile balance between violence and control was often battling within him, provoked with more frequency and intensity than he could ever admit, and for a moment he started towards Riley, one step, and prepared himself to swing. But then his eyes shifted just slightly enough to see Regina leaning back against the wall, her eyes half closed, even as she lifted her chin and clinched her fists in defiance against her own feelings of sickness. She looked as small and weak in appearance as he could remember seeing her in some time, perhaps ever, and looking at her was enough to make some feelings of guilt and shame again temper his rage.


Even now it was true that he was jealous, jealous that he would never have someone always there to defend him, no matter what he'd done, like Regina had. And she had deserved to be hit and more, very much so. Still, she was his sister, his little sister, no matter how much he wanted to kill her or how often she drove him to the point of becoming close to capable of doing so. That had to count for something, as much as he sometimes resented it.


"I'm sorry," he repeated tightly, this directed to Riley now as much as to Regina, and he deliberately moved his eyes from Riley to Regina, where she was still leaned against the wall, and repeated, "Regina, go lie down. You're not well, anyone can see that."


"Get out of our f***ing room, Jeremy," she said flatly, refusing to do as he had asked now, even though she knew very well that she needed to, that the moment he was gone she would have to do so. But Jeremy was insistent, not daring to move towards her, but repeating himself.


"Regina, if you're really pregnant, and it's already making you feel this ill, then you need to-"


Before the could finish his sentence, the front doorbell rang, causing him to jump, his head snapping up with immediate anxiety. Unexpected visitors were not welcome in the Stewart home, and this was certainly bad timing.


Jeremy’s eyes shifted accusingly to the twins, wondering if they had invited someone and then forgotten to mention it, but when Regina looked as blank as he himself must, he turned, walking away without a word. He knocked on Maddy’s and Juliette’s door as he passed, calling out to them, “If you invited a visitor, we need to talk about this later!” to them before continuing down the hallway and towards the front door.


When he checked the peephole before opening it, Jeremy was horrified to see that there was not a child or teenager standing outside the door, as he had expected, or even a zealous salesperson, but rather two police officers in full uniform. The anger flooded through him all over again at this realization, and he realized as he gripped the doorknob that he was nearly trying unconsciously to break it off in his hand. Clearly, he was sure, the twins had done something AGAIN to draw negative attention to the family. If the police had shown up at the door, someone was missing or dead, and no doubt they would have to move all over again.


Forget his apology to the twins, the second he managed to satisfy these cops, then he was going to certainly lay his hands on Regina again, and on Jeremy too.


Taking a moment to take in a deep breath, throw back his shoulders, and paste on an insincere smile, Jeremy opened the door, speaking with as much politeness and brightness of tone as he could muster. “Hello sirs…can I help you?”


“Hello, my name is Officer Robert Ross, and this is Officer Eric Oliver,” one of the men, a stocky brunette with a mustache, said with a brief nod of his head, not returning Jeremy’s smile. “Is this the home of Zane Joseph Stewart?”


“Yes it is,” Jeremy nodded pleasantly, even as the anger he was feeling towards the twins immediately took a U-Turn to be directed at Zane instead. It was rare for Zane to get them in trouble, but when he did…when he got into a state, Zane could be worse than either one of the twins.


“May I ask you what the trouble is? I do hope he hasn’t been getting himself into mischief, haha!” he said with awkward discomfort, giving another insincere smile. “Zane can be a bit hard to handle sometimes…if you wanted to talk with him, he’s not home yet, though. He’s probably still studying or in class, he goes to the university, see. Zane’s a straight A student, he’s really-“


“May I ask your name, sir?” the other officer, Officer Oliver, asked, and Jeremy backpedaled, now wondering if Zane had been arrested, or made a confession of some sort. What the hell was going on?


“Uh, Jeremy Stewart. I’m Zane’s brother, and the owner of this home. I’m was his guardian as well, but he’s eighteen now, so…you see, since our parents died-“


“Is this your brother’s ID?” the officer interrupted with as much politeness as a person could while interrupting, and Jeremy’s heart sank as he held up Zane’s fake, though very well-crafted, driver’s license.


He must have left it somewhere, he figured, and they had realized it was a fake ID. Zane was going to get in trouble over something as stupid as a fake ID?


“Well, yes, that does look like his, it’s certainly his name and picture!” he laughed, deciding to pretend that he didn’t know it to be fake would work in their best interest. “I have to tell you, though, officers, I’m a little concerned that Zane must have done something quite alarming to have you show up at the door like this!”


The officers exchanged a glance that Jeremy could not quite read, and when they turned back towards him their expressions were solemn. Almost in one gesture they placed their hands behind their back before Officer Ross spoke up.


“Mr. Stewart, I regret to inform you that your brother Zane and another young man were found dead in a men’s bathroom at the university this afternoon. It appears to have been murder by stabbing in the case of your brother. I’m very sorry for your loss.”


This was the last thing that Jeremy had expected to hear, and his expectant half smile froze, then slowly chipped away entirely as this began to sink in to him. Zane…dead? Zane, murdered? At the university, of all places? It made no sense. It made absolutely no sense, and Jeremy could not process it.


“Are you…are you sure?” he stuttered, blinking rapidly. “But…why? How would…”


“I’m sure this is a shock for you, but what we were hoping is that you could help us gain some insight to that,” one of the officers said, still watching Jeremy’s face closely. “If you know of anyone who may have had a grudge against your brother, anyone who might have been bothering him or that he might have mentioned as having any problems with…”


“No…no, of course not,” Jeremy shook his head, and he was genuine in this response. It was the twins and Juliette who seemed to provoke or complain more often about others, not Zane, Zane who had always seemed just a little apart from other people in general. Why would somebody kill ZANE out of all possible members of their family…why ZANE rather than a more obvious and provocative target?


“If we could come inside, ask a few questions…” the other cop was stating, and this was the phrase that immediately upped Jeremy’s guard. He was fairly sure that police were not allowed to lie about the death of family members, and they did have Zane’s ID, so it was almost 100% positive then that he was dead. But there was the smallest of chances it was a trap…and even if it wasn’t, then inviting them into his home now, or ever, when it wasn’t absolutely necessary, was nothing Jeremy would ever allow to happen.


“I…I’m sorry…but can this wait…now is not a good time,” he stammered, shaking his head. “I have three other sisters and a brother…I have to…well, they don’t know yet, and…I think this would come best from me. The youngest is only ten, and…can you please, give us some time and space to process this…we will cooperate fully, of course, but…can you please just give us some time? I can’t imagine that any of us would know anything that would help…”


“You would be surprised how helpful even a small amount of information can be, Mr. Stewart,” Officer Oliver said, but he did nod after a look passed between him and his partner, and they backed a step away. “Yes, we do understand. We can meet again perhaps tomorrow. Again, we are sorry for your loss.”


Jeremy waited, watching out the peephole until he was absolutely sure that the officers were in their car and driving away, then let out a whoosh of air, his legs suddenly weak. He scrubbed a hand over his face, feeling the heat rushing to his cheeks, and took in several more breaths, trying to push away any emotion and feeling it fail. It was another several minutes before he went to knock on the door of the younger girls and of the twins out in the hallway, calling that they had to have a family meeting, immediately.


“F*** off,” was Regina’s unsurprising response to this, and he knocked again, his voice considerably more gentle than it normally would be with her giving such a response, even somewhat shaky.


“Regina, this is very important. We all need to-“


“I’m not going to a damn family meeting, I’ll puke in your lap if you even try to make me!” she shot back, and Jeremy tried again to reason with her.


“Regina, this is about…Regina, please just come-“


“No f***ing way,” she ground out, and this was when Jeremy finally lost some of his control and almost screamed back at her.


“REGINA, ZANE IS DEAD, ZANE IS MURDERED, SO GET THE HELL OUT OF YOUR ROOM NOW, RIGHT NOW!!!”


From within the twins’ room there was silence, and then Regina opened the door, her generally pale face stricken, even more bloodless than usual as she stared at him, shock splayed across her eyes.


“You’re lying,” she accused, but there was no venom in her tone, only more of a question. “No he is not.”


“Yes,” Jeremy said hoarsely, aware that his other sisters must have heard, but no longer able to care. “Yes he is, Regina.”


She continued to stare at him, and then an odd shiver ran across her face, continued down the rest of her body, before her face closed itself off again. Without another word, Regina pushed past him down the hallway. Blinking, Jeremy watched her for a moment, then, forgetting his words to Riley, put out a hand to grab hold of her wrist.


“Regina, where are you going?”


“To f***ing find and f***ing kill whatever the f*** killed Zane,” she spat, barely turning her head towards him. “So let the f*** go of me.”


“Regina…no. We need to talk about this. We need-“


“We need to go KILL SOMETHING!” she nearly screamed back, and when she tried to pull free, Jeremy reached for her other arm, keeping her from going. He could tell from the way she wrenched herself around that she was hurting herself, but he didn’t let her go. Forget Riley and how he would likely hit him again, if Regina went out in this state and started doing whatever she intended, she would no doubt draw greater trouble on them.


“You can’t, Regina, not like this, not without a plan…”


“DON’T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO! Just because you don’t have the balls, you won’t defend your own brother, you won’t-“


“You’ll get us all killed too, Regina! You remember what happened when that time…when Zane- with Mom and Dad-“


“DON’T YOU TALK ABOUT MOM AND DAD!” She tried to kick him in a particularly painful region, but Jeremy was able to block himself.


“And you’re sick! You can’t even get away from me right now and I’m barely holding you, Regina. You have a fever, and if there’s a baby, what about-“


“I DON’T CARE ABOUT A DAMN BABY, I’M GOING TO KILL WHAT KILLED MY BROTHER! YOU LET GO OF ME RIGHT THE F*** NOW OR I’LL KILL YOU TOO! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME OR I’LL TEAR YOUR THROAT OPEN!”


But even with her fighting him Jeremy could see that she was considerably weaker than usual, and this concerned him almost as much as any of the rest of it as he easily transferred her to Riley’s hands, hoping that Riley would not let her go just to hit him again. For a moment he thought that Regina would try to fight Riley too…but when she instead seemed to fold in on herself in face and body, becoming small the moment it was Riley’s hands on her, and then broke into tears, Jeremy could only stare, feeling his own heart crack. It was the first time since their parents’ death he had ever seen such a reaction from her, and even then, he was sure it had not been as intense.


He didn’t know how to handle it, what to do or say or even how he himself should deal, and so he just said with his head down, his eyes averted away, “We…we need to talk about this. As a family.”


What was left of it, at any rate…


(um so I realized...we have two Simons in one rp...no idea how this escaped me. Would one of you mind changing your guy's name? Also...sorry mods/anyone else by the sheer amount of swearing from Regina, if it's an issue. This particular scene will probably be the worst with that)
 
hen Jeremy had knocked on their bedroom door, Maddy was a bit confused. A guest? She didn't invite anyone over. And it didn't look like Juliette did. If she had, she probably would've told Maddy to go somewhere else. Who could it be? Thinking it might be Leo here to apologize or something, Maddy crawled out from under the bed. Still wrapped in her blanket, she walked to the top of the steps and looked down.


At first she couldn't see anyone but found that if she crouched down low, she could somewhat see who was at the door. It wasn't Leo. For some reason there were two police officers at the door. She couldn't hear what they were saying and was nowhere good enough at reading lips to even try to guess. One officer gave Jeremy something like a card and after some more talking Jeremy closed the door and they left.


When Jeremy started heading up the stairs, Maddy ran back to her room. There was a serious look on his face and she knew that you didn't mess with Jeremy when he makes that face. What did those police officers tell him? Maddy peeked out as he went knocking on the twins' door. There was a lot of yelling and then he said something that nearly made Maddy's eyes pop out of her head.


Zane was dead. Murdered. Like their parents.


Maddy fell onto the floor. What? Her mind was in a blur. Staring at the same spot on the floor, she seemed to have missed Regina's reaction to the situation. Maybe if she had seen it, she wouldn't be crying now. She'd probably have tried to mimic her big sister and began yelling or swearing or wishing to find his killer as well. But she didn't, and now the tears were forming but she tried her best to hold them back to seem stronger. Trying and failing. Blanket still wrapped around herself, she stood up and shuffled over to Jeremy. Tugging on his shirt, she looked up at him with tearful eyes.


"I-It's not true, right? Zane's too smart to be k-k-killed. Y-you're just playing a trick on Regina, right? It's April 1st and I just don't know, right?" Not able to control it anymore, Maddy dropped down to the floor again and began crying loudly. She had already lost her parents. And now she lost a big brother too?
 
(Regina's still there, she didn't storm off lol)


And now Maddy is joining the fray...Maddy has heard, Maddy too is upset, and surely by now Juliette has heard and will shortly be joining the chaos of their grief as well. Jeremy is still struggling against his own feelings, working hard to shove them down and apart from himself in the face of his sisters', and it is so difficult, almost impossible for him to manage.


Swallowing several times, he squats down on the ground beside Maddy, where she is taking up most of the hallway with her body, swaddled in her blanket. Jeremy runs his hand awkwardly over her head, back and forth, trying to soothe her, before he finally just gathers her up and holds her against his side in a sideways embrace, his throat dry. He can feel her crying, her body shaking under his arm, and when he looks up to where the twins are still standing, he sees that Regina is still crying as well, huddled in Riley's embrace. All of this is enough to make him feel his own helplessness of the situation, his own complete ineptitude to handle what has happened that much more powerfully. There is nothing he can do or say to make this okay.


"Maddy...Maddy, I'm sorry," he said to her softly, stroking her head. "No, I'm not lying to Regina, I wouldn't do that. It's like...it's like what happened before, when he couldn't...what he did before..."


It was something they never referenced among them, not since it had happened. The time that Zane's loss of control had been so extreme that their parents had been forced to go out to cover it up, to try to mend the mistake he, in one of his rare but brutal blood lust rages, had made, to finish off the witnesses of what had happened in his lack of control. That earlier loss of control of Zane's, their parents' attempt to fix it for him, had been what lead to his parents' murder. Even they had not been able to cover for Zane...and so they had been lost. After the first day or two of Regina's shrieked accusations towards him, it had been a taboo subject even for the twins to bring up in anger, but now...here it was, dredged up all over again and as raw as ever for them all.


"We need to decide what we're going to do," Jeremy said finally, though his sisters were still upset, though he himself was finding it difficult to talk. "The police will be talking to us, the police will be around more wanting to know about him and our family and why someone might have killed him...and we have to find out who did it as well, and why. Because chances are...we need to kill them. Not just for revenge...in case they want to kill us too."
 
*The police held up Lucas for hours asking him questions, most he didn't know the answers to and some he wouldn't dare answer cause chances are they would lock him up in a rubber room. Once free to go about his way he goes back to his office and sits there in the dark, thinking about what all of this means. Of course he knew he wasn't the only of his kind out there, humans would call them vampires but that's just fantasy, Lucas is more of the evolutionary event that changed certain people and there were born like this, rather or not it's an inherited trait or not has yet to be proven, after all he's the only member of his family like this. But it's highly possible that entire generations of blood relatives however rare could have this trait. Zane Stewart? Perhaps he should investigate the family of this boy, especially if word gets out about the teeth marks in that kid's neck, it could cause a panic, people will think there is a cult out there trying to eat people and drink their blood, that could make life for someone like him trying to keep a low profile difficult.


It's decided Lucas grabs his keys and his coat, locking his office and leaves the college, driving to the address on Zane's class registration, stopping down the street when he sees the police cars in front of the house not wanting to deal with them again, he decides to wait till they leave before pulling in front of the house*
 
"They won't kill us!" Regina nearly spits out at Jeremy, and as he looks up at her from where he is still sitting with Maddy on the floor, he sees that her hands have moved to cover Riley's from where she is still huddled back against his arms, that anger is warring with the pain in her expression as she moves her hands violently for emphasis, forcing Riley's to move as well. "They won't TOUCH us, we'll scatter them into pieces before they even breathe on us! /I/ will. I swear, whoever did this, I will take him and bite him until his blood is nearly gone, and then I'll take every bone of his body and smash them until-"


"Regina...Regina, don't...not in front of Maddy," Jeremy tried to interrupt her, with a glance down at his sister and then back at the open doorway, where he knew Juliette must be hearing too, if she was inside it. But Regina was in no mood to listen to anything that anyone had to say, and she screamed back at him, tears gone now with this new and much easier focus for her to rage against.


"SHE NEEDS TO HEAR IT! She should be saying the same things! YOU SHOULD BE! Why the hell aren't you already out there, why aren't you already looking for the person that F***ING KILLED OUR BROTHER! Don't you even care?"


"Don't even ask me that, Gina," Jeremy barely managed to say, and he saw Regina's mouth open, saw her start to pull away from Riley...but then they heard the doorbell. Once, then again.


Someone was outside. Someone was at the door.


Jeremy froze, seeing Regina still too, and he gently pulled away from Maddy, gesturing for the others to stay back as his heart began to thud. The police wouldn't be back so soon, would they? Then...who, exactly?


It was silly, but he had a dreadful feeling that whoever it was was the person who had killed Zane, back to finish off the rest of them. Apparently Regina had the same thought, because she too, despite her continued pallor and the uneven, slightly swaying balance of her steps, started after him.


"Regina, go to your room," Jeremy started, knowing even as he said it that giving her a direct order would doubtless result in her doing the opposite, and when she ignored this, he tried to appeal to Riley. "Riley...can you make her..."


"Shut up," was her only response, and she continued to follow him doggedly, though at a slower pace, leaning against the wall beside the doorway as Jeremy peeked through the keyhole. Not recognizing the man outside, he motioned to Regina.


"Is that...who is that?"


Regina looked, and when she also didn't know, simply opened the door, snarling out at him before Jeremy could stop her.


"Who the hell are you and what do you want."


This was hardly the way Jeremy had wanted this to go, and he gripped her shoulders, pulling her back a little more forcefully than he normally would have with someone else watching, then held them, knowing even as she tried to shrug him off with intent irritability that she had used up most of her energy earlier, was having to concentrate just to walk and move at the moment, and would not be able to do so. Looking up at the stranger, he gave a nervous chuckle as Regina continued to nearly scorch them both with her glare.


"I think you gave my sister a scare, sir! Um, we aren't donating to any charities now and we're not interested in any products, so why don't you be on your way?"
 
*Lucas walked up to the door, after he was sure the police left, he had no clue what to say to these people, it's not that he actually cares about the kid dying, he's more interested finding out if there is any chance of exposure to him..Screw it he'll just wing it, he thinks to himself. He presses the doorbell twice, he turned and faced out towards the street and waits for someone to answer, preparing himself to put on his best pretend that he cared face. When the door finally opens (whoever opens it) He smiles and introduces himself.* Hello, I'm Lucas Luna, Zane's Professor, I also am the one that found his body, I want to say how much I'm deeply sorry for your lost, I didn't get to spend much time with Zane and learn what kind of person he was and I was hoping someone here could tell me. *He looks away pretending to be upset* It's all so tragic and I'm so confused by how any of this could have happened. Please if its not a bad time can I please come in and talk for a bit? *In his mind he's smiling, he's laying on the touchy feely so thick they have to fall for it. He's never considered himself a devious person but this is pretty much up there.*
 
The last thing Regina wants in that moment is her brother touching her. The only time she ever wants Jeremy touching her is when she herself controls it, and this is generally when she is teasing him and enjoying his discomfort. She wants nothing more than to rip herself from his grasp and to stalk up to this guy- this supposed teacher of Zane's- and demand he leave them, using physical force if she has to. But she knows if she pulls away, she is still feeling ill enough and unsteady on her feet that she might end up falling to the floor, and that would be an embarrassment she doesn't want to endure in front of this complete stranger, not to mention Jeremy.


The last thing she wants or needs right now is to hear from some well-meaning do-gooder who really just wants to rubberneck their grief rather than to actually do anything to help them.


If this guy was Zane's teacher, maybe he was Riley's too. Maybe Riley would know how to get rid of him.


"If you don't know our brother, how the hell do you know where he lives, what are you, some kind of stalker?" she says bluntly, not bothering to ease the harshness of her tone. "We just found out five minutes ago, you think we want to pretend to comfort a guy we never met who doesn't even move him? Get the hell out of here."


But Jeremy has caught the part of what Lucas said, about being the one to find Zane's body...and this rings alarm bells in his head, both of curiosity, of what Lucas might have observed, and also of potential threat to them. If Lucas knew something, it was best to know what, right away, before it could get any worse, or others found out. They could always dispose of him if necessary.


"Nonsense...you mustn't listen to my sister, she's been very upset, of course, she doesn't know what she's saying," he contradicted Regina, raising her furious hissing retort.


"I know exactly what the f*** I'm saying, I'm saying he should get the hell out of here!"


"Please, do come in, " Jeremy ignored her, dragging her back with him, "a friend of Zane's is a friend of ours."
 
(Pfft, a ten year old girl should be talking about mutilation? xD )


Jeremy hugging her didn't make the tears stop, in fact, Maddy cried even more as the situation sunk even further in her mind. However, eventually she did manage to calm down. Or at least enough to hear everything Regina was saying and making note of it as she tried to wipe the tears from her face with her blanket. Jeremy was now yelling at Regina for saying this stuff in front of her. "I-it's okay. I . . . I already know that kind of stuff, Jeremy. So I-I'm not scared. I watched Scooby Doo and I don't get scared. I'm a big girl now."


Zane was gone now. A very bad person hurt him . . . and now . . . now he was never coming back. Maddy nearly cried again but remembered what Regina had said. She should be saying that stuff too. Okay. She could do this! But one thing bothered her . . . "Jeremy, what's @#$%ing mean?"


Most likely, like every other time she asked about a word her older sisters used, Jeremy would refuse to tell her and leave her a bit frustrated. How come they got to know and she didn't. Unless . . . maybe Jeremy didn't know either. That made perfect sense! Her sisters were always saying how Jeremy had a pole up his butt. Maybe that pole went all the way up to his brain and that made him stupid or something. Poor Jeremy.


When Maddy heard a sound at the door, her face lit up. Maybe it was Zane! And the police people were wrong! Maddy followed Jeremy to the front door in excitement but her face fell when it opened to reveal another stranger man. This wasn't Zane. This was . . . Who was this? The man introduced himself as Zane's teacher, the one who found his body. That must mean he was super smart, right? Maddy didn't like strangers. They were . . . strange . . . But if Maddy was to react to Zane's death like Regina said she should, then she would have to ask the man.


Blanket still wrapped around her, she peeked at Lucas from behind Jeremy. "H-h-hello. M-my name is M-M-Maddy. Do you know what @#$%ing means, Mr Teacher Man?"





~~~~~





Upon hearing the news through the open bedroom door, the first thing Juliette did was slam that very door. She didn't want to hear any of it. No. No, this was a lie. This had to be a lie! That nerd couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. If any of them were going to die first, it would've been the twins and their carefree feeding habits. Or maybe even Maddy from starvation or something.


But it was still too soon for another one to be dying. It was the incident with their parents all over again . . . Come to think of it, wasn't that all Zane's fault for being messy? Wasn't he the reason they were living on the brink of poverty with the government breathing down their necks? Good riddance then. Juliette was glad he died. He was just making things harder for them and his encyclopedia brain made him so damn boring.


Still, despite her attempts to rationalize and celebrate his death, Juliette was still crying. She didn't want this. She never wanted this. She just . . . She just . . . She kicked the wall as hard as she could and threw everything on the desk onto the floor. She was going to find them. She was going to find the one who did this and rip them to shreds.


Then another thought crossed her mind. Were they going to to have to move again? Were they going to start over again? But . . . but Juliette had finally managed to worm her way into the popular clique. She couldn't become the new kid again. Not to mention that this was going to take a huge financial toll on them which meant . . . no money for a new hair straightener! @#$%! She really wanted to kill who did this now.


But there was no time for another tantrum with sound of someone at the door. Holding in her anger for now, she went downstairs where everyone else was to see who this visitor was. It was Zane's teacher. What the hell was he doing here? With the professor saying that he had found Zane's body and came to offer his condolences, Juliette just blew it. They just found out that their brother was murdered! Couldn't they get goddamn hours to let this sink in before random people who didn't even know the dead well enough came by with their "I'm sorry for you loss"?!


Hearing Jeremy invite the man inside, Juliette rushed over to the eldest Stewart yelling within clear earshot of everyone there. "Why the hell did you let him in?! We just found out Zane died not even an hour ago and already people are lining up for the funeral! He shouldn't even be here! Even if he found Zane, this has nothing to do with him! For all we know, he could've been the killer and you're just going to let him in for snacks?!"
 
I'm sorry I didn't mean to intrude but as I said Zane was one of my students, his information is in the university's computer system, as his professor I have access to such things, I can tell this is a bad time and I'm starting to regret coming here when your family is dealing with such a blow, again I'm deeply sorry for your lost, if there is anything I or the university can do for your family feel free to ask. *Reaching into his pocket and pulls out his card* My office and private cell number are on this. *He starts to turn around to leave but he has to try and see if they'll show their hand.* Although I am confused why when I found Zane, there was blood in his mouth...Lots of blood and the young man that was dead next to him had teeth marks all over his neck?
 
Jeremy had not paid much attention to Maddy and her questions back in the hallway, having been considerably preoccupied with attempting to contain the raging Regina. But his attention was definitely diverted in her direction when she entered the living room behind the others, staring in Professor Luna's direction solemnly as she asked her "innocent" question.


Even under ordinary circumstances Jeremy would have been horrified. But now, with this stranger, Zane's TEACHER, at the door, he nearly screamed. As it was his eyes bulged, and he choked, barely able to form the words.


"Maddy! Maddy...we don't...say that...or ask questions...it...it's not..."


"Why the hell not, if she can hear about our brother getting murdered, she sure as hell can hear us talking about it!" Regina shot back. She finally managed to wrench herself from Jeremy's hands, taking advantage of his loosened grip when he turned towards Maddy, but she swayed, having to catch herself against the back of the couch and to hold onto it tightly to keep her balance. She gripped until her knuckles whitened, her mouth pressing into a thin line as nausea churned in her stomach, but still she managed to say her piece as Juliette entered the fray, voicing her own grievances.


"For once in her life, Juli's f***ing right. You're an idiot, Jeremy. Get him out of our house before Riley or I escort him out for you."


"Regina-" Jeremy started, torn between his desire to find out more from Lucas, his instinct to try to be a good house guest, the new thought Juliette had brought up about the man possibly being Zane's killer in disguise, something he hadn't thought about for himself, and his embarrassment over his sisters, his need to smooth them over and pacify them however necessary to prevent further humiliation. Regina didn't give him much time to make up his own mind.


"GET HIM OUT OF THE HOUSE!"


"I'm...I'm terribly sorry...my sisters, they're still upset..." Jeremy spread his hands lamely, letting his words trail off before picking up feebly. "Uh, I think it's probably best you go..."


He reached for the card, cringing visibly and not meeting his oldest sister's slitted blue eyes as he started to lead the man towards the door, still apologizing under his breath. But the man's last sentence caught his attention, and he stopped short, sucking his his breath. If this man had seen that...then what else did he know? Why was he here...was this a threat?


"You...sir, you were probably in shock, and mistaken," he tried, though his tone wasn't as convincing as he wanted. "I'm sure that wasn't...how it was."
 
*Lucas walking away* Shock? maybe, perhaps that's why I didn't mention it to the police when they questioned me, but I'm sure the medical examiner will verify my findings, at least to me and only me he will, since we're old college buddies. But we'll just go with your answer..Shock yes it must have been shock and not my medical degree, ah yes you probably didn't know that about me, that I used to be an ER surgeon before I became a history professor. Well you good people have a nice day. *He starts walking down the path back to the street.*
 
...Medical degree? This guy at their house, who had seen Zane, Zane and Zane's victim, was not only a teacher, but also a doctor? Someone with authority, someone who could bring them and their lives crashing down around them?


This was not good. This was definitely not good....it would probably be within their best interest, in fact, to leave immediately, before this teacher guy could get it in his head to report them. Was that why he was there now, to threaten them and give them a heads up that he was reporting them? To blackmail them?


They should move again, as soon as possible. Now, even. Just pack and go, forget if police would look for them or if they had no place lined up to live. But Jeremy knew how that would go over if he tried to move without first avenging Zane. The twins would refuse, Juliette would have a fit, and he himself wasn't all that eager to do so either. And anyway, what if Juliette was right- what if this Lucas Luna was the one who had killed Zane?


As he watches Lucas go, he is barely aware of hearing Regina swear in a mantra that was almost passionless in its recitation, the words running together into a muttered slur as she gripped the back of the couch, her arms shaking and strained. Turning back to the others, he clears his throat. "Uh....we should...think about what to..."


He doesn't bother to finish the sentence. Jeremy knows perfectly well that whatever he says at this point, it's never going to be met with anything but screaming and insults.
 
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