Hounds in the Night

Raine likes to sleep. Really, she does. So why is she tossing and turning when she could be taking a really nice nap? She sighs, frustrated and turns again. Getting tired of her unrest she kicks her blankets off and stands up. She walks into the kitchen with her shirt hitched up past her belly button, scratching at her stomach. She pauses in the doorway when she sees Patrick, but shrugs and steps in anyway.

Pulling a glass down from the cabinet she fills it with water and takes a long drag. When the glass is empty she rinses it and sets it on the edge of the sink. In the apartment Riley, River and her keep she would have just stuck it back in the cabinet. Patrick is a little anal about cleanliness and he would have probably been compelled to pull all of the glasses out and wash them if she did it in front of him. She rubs her eyes tiredly, turns and heads back up to bed. When her eyes finally fall shut she's immersed in memories.

"Once," William says, "I climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty." William had exchanged his dandy clothes for skinny jeans and a v-neck t-shirt. He looked all of twenty years old.

He was beautiful. Raine laid next to him in the grass. She could feel the soft material of the blanket beneath them both. His fingers were wrapped loosely around her wrists, but she knew he could break it before she could stop him. It was Fourth of July, and they were waiting for the start of the fireworks display.

She could feel the warmth his skin was giving off; stolen body heat from an unsuspecting victim. He hadn't wanted to take her blood that night because he wanted her lucid. His hand crawled up her arm, over her neck, and he shifted to his side to follow it's path with his eyes. His fingers brushed over her cheek, across her lips before coming to tangle in the hair behind her ear.

"Once," Raine says, "My parents and I watched the fourth of july celebration together in Washington DC."

"It's going to start any second," William mouths at her neck, teeth just grazing. Raine shivers a little. "I can smell the sulfer in the air."

He kisses her pulse and lies flat, his hand finding hers. Their fingers intertwine, and when the first BOOM sounds they both gasp up at the sky. Some nights its easy to forget he's a monster.

Later he pressed her to a tree and says, "Stay here. I'll be right back."

He's leaving to feed again. It takes a lot of control to be near so many humans with out feeding. He starts away before turning and pausing. "Don't run," he says, "I'd hate to have to chase you."

Raine has the distinct feeling he would love to chase her. It's her who wouldn't like the ending. The crowd swallows him. She stays pressed against the tree for what feels like ever, watching the ebb and flow of the crowd of people. When the crowd shifts again she see her.

Riley was in a grade higher than her but she always let Raine sit with her at lunch. She'd even taken up for the girl a few times when kids had tried to shove her in a locker. They'd been friends before this whole mess had happened. Before the night had come alive and swallowed her whole. It had been almost a year since that night.

Raine takes a step forward. Then another. One more, and Riley is reaching for her. Her fingers brush Riley's hand. And William is suddenly, terrifyingly behind her. His grip hurts. He hisses, yanking her back against his chest. Riley growls out, "Vampire!" They're airbourne before Raine can inhale her next breath.

When Raine rises for the second time the sun is high in the sky, maybe five in the afternoon. She dresses quickly and goes to William. She's a fool and she knows it. There's a tall guy standing outside the gates. She steps around him and he reaches out and touches her shoulder.

"Witch," he says, "Tell your master I want to see him."

"Demon," she snarls back, shrugging his hand away, "The only master I answer to are the God and the Goddess."

The demon frowns, his face darkening, "You are pushing my nerves little witch."

"Yeah yeah," Raine mutters, stepping securely behind the wards of William's home, "See ya."

He growls low in his throat as she pushes the front door open and steps inside. She winds her way through the dark first floor into the living room. The room is sealed off from the outside by layers and layers of curtains over the large windows. William is sitting on the throne he has placed in one corner of the room.

"There's a demon on your doorstep," she says helpfully as she shuffles closer. William shrugs, one leg hanging over the arm of his chair.

"I know, I'm ignoring him and hoping he'll go away."

"Huh," Raine says, "It's a wonder you've lived this long."

"Yeah yeah," William waves a hand, as if to push her words away. Raine stalks over to him slowly, his eyes following her every step.

"Hi," she says, as he shifts so he's sitting up straight. Her knees are brushing his and she breathes deeply before climbing up to straddle his lap. She's going to hell anyway, she might as well enjoy her life.

"Hi," he says, reaching around to cup her ass and pull her forward, more securely on his lap. When he kisses her she's ready.

Later she shifts into patrol mode and draws a straw to hunt with Pete. He's his ever pissed off self because she smells like William, and it's really beginning to get old. They're walking down a deserted street toward the cemetary. Pete is muttering under his breath, and she may not have super sonic hearing like he does, but she gets the gist anyway.

"Pete, seriously?" Raine finally snaps, stopping on the sidewalk. "Okay, I get it. Beckett killed you, ruined your life, and you hate him. But get the hell over it. You've got a new life and a purpose that doesn't involve hitting on high school girls."

"It's not that simple," Pete growls at her. She rolls her eyes, because it never is that easy. Nothing is that easy.

"Life isn't simple," she says, "Nothing is. Not life, or death, or the fucking afterlife. But you chose to be damned or to damn others. And you chose not to live the life you have."

"Maybe I'm just bad at living," Pete says with a hunch to his shoulders. He turns and starts walking again. Raine stays silent, but she thinks, "Aren't we all."