I'm Half-Doomed and You're Semi-Sweet

A loud knocking on the door woke her up.

She sat up, clutching the blankets to her body, afraid of the door opening.

“Kira! Pete!” Joe’s voice reverberated through the door. “You awake?”

She calmed down only slightly; no one would find it weird that she and Pete had shared a bed, for the night at least, however, it would still be awkward for Joe to intrude.

“What?” she finally called back, once she came to her senses.

Pete stirred beside her.

“We could use some help!” he impatiently knocked again.

“Give me five minutes!” she groaned back, and he left only after shouting a “Hurry up!”

She quickly picked her clothes off the ground and haphazardly threw them back on, glancing at the clock and realizing how late in the night it was.

She prayed he wouldn’t wake up.

Sure, the first time this had happened was a clear understanding between the two of them, but she wasn’t so sure anymore.

Assuming it hadn’t meant anything the first time, it shouldn’t mean anything this time, she reasoned.

…right?

“So this is how it is?” he asked, waking up just in time to see her hand touch the doorknob. He caught her off guard.

“Joe needs help,” she changed the subject. She wasn’t about to reveal her feelings in case they were on different pages in this relationship.

She exited the room, leaving him to get dressed before joining the others.

He was surprised to find a kind of panic in the main room off the kitchen.

“What happened?” he demanded of Andy.

“Hanna was attacked,” he explained shortly. It was then that Pete noticed her unconscious form on the couch between Brendon and Patrick, who was giving orders to Andy, Joe, and Kira.

“I barely got away,” Brendon was explaining to Patrick. “They caught us off guard. I just needed to get her out of there.”

“Were they Dandies?” Pete inquired before he could help himself. He wanted to know if there was the slightest chance he could still get any type of revenge.

“No. I’ve never seen them before,” Brendon stated, taking Hanna’s hand and squeezing it. He swept her hair off her face with the other hand. “They were like the ones that attacked Joe. There were four of them,” he added, briefly addressing Patrick and Pete again.

“We’ll find them,” Andy nodded at Pete. They immediately stood up.

“I’ll go alone,” Pete stated, surprising everyone else. Patrick, who would have normally disapproved of this, was busy helping Brendon in moving Hanna into one of the bedrooms.

As much as he would never admit he still cared for the well-being of Hanna, he jumped at the chance to fight. All these peaceful months had made him restless and left him holed up in the warehouse.

He stood up before anyone could protest and was out of the room and down the hall in seconds.

He paused, hearing someone following him and panting for breath. He waited for her to catch up.

“Let me come with,” Kira insisted, stopping at his side. He rolled his eyes. She would just be a dead weight at his side, assuming there was need for a fight, when and if he could find Hanna and Joe’s attackers.

“No.”

“I’ve been practicing. Joe and Andy have been teaching me, just like you wanted,” she tried to convince him. “Ask them.” He scoffed.

“You’re not ready. Stay here.”

“No. you can’t do everything alone, you know,” she pointed out stubbornly, crossing her arms. He exhaled impatiently. He didn’t have time for arguing right now.

“Fine,” he growled, giving in and quickening his previous pace as she struggled to match it. “Hurry up.”

“Where are we going?” she panted, trying her best to stay at his side. He briefly paused, realizing he never asked where Hanna was attacked.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.

Kira interrupted his thoughts with a startled gasp. He immediately looked to where her gaze was frozen.

There were four figures up about a block ahead, standing near the streetlight. He automatically began walking in that direction.

“Maybe we should go back,” she added worriedly, grabbing his arm in order to pull him back the way they came. “Pete-”

He paid her no attention, dragging her along to the small group of vampires gathered in the otherwise deserted street.

“Hey!” he called. The four of them turned around, the one that seemed to be the leader stepping forward.

He was dressed in black jeans and a blood-red hoodie with his brown hair falling in his face.

His matching eyes landed on Kira, who was endlessly fidgeting and looking at her shoes. His lips curled into a smirk at her nervousness.

“Kira. So nice to see you again,” he said, stepping closer to the two of them, out of the shadows. The other three followed at a slight distance.

Pete glanced back at her in utter confusion at the unknown vampire’s familiarity.

She finally raised her eyes to meet Alex’s, avoiding the stares of Jack, Rian, and Zack behind him.