Night and Day

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"Funny, seems to me like games are what you excel at." Ebony replied thinly. She too was aching, but Frost's magic was already corrupting her feelings. Love had been twisted into nothing more than animal desire.

"You wouldn't be a danger if you drank a little each day." Glenda replied. "Take care of yourself, and there is no danger."

Glenda knew Malik was right, but she couldn't risk Katie so close to vampires who would gladly take even one taste of her. "Don't worry about him, he's just cranky because it's past his bedtime." He told Katie with a tired smile of her own. "You should get some rest too, it's been a long night for all of us."

"I'm not being contrary, Gran. But I'm going to class. I feel great. I could run a marathon." Katie said with a smile. She gave her grandmother a kiss on the cheek, her mind filling with thoughts of the day. Almost instantly she forgot the things that Malik had said. It was as if she'd never heard them. 

Julian had heard them and spent the day thinking about them. He was tempted to ask Marie about them when he saw her next but with her growing fascination with the vampire she would probably brush him off.

Marie had basically told her class to do what they wanted all morning. She was in no frame of mind to actually teach them anything at all. How could she, when she doubted anything she remembered was the truth?

No one had seen Ebony since the previous nights classes, since Julian had kissed her. Again. She wasn't sure how much more she could take and had disappeared into town to sit in the small cafe she had come to love, especially for their deliciously decadent donuts. She enjoyed being there. The people were actually nice to her.

"What's wrong?" Julian finally found her a little after lunch and was seated in her chair as she returned from the hall. "You don't seem yourself today. You let grandfather vampire have a bite or something?" He asked his tone almost dark and angry. 

Katie was surprised to find her sister in the bakery and almost groaned out loud. She'd skipped class to come here and was sure their grandmother had sent her because she already knew. "Well...I tried..." She sighed as she sat down opposite Ebony.

"What do you even care?" Marie asked wearily, her eyes twitching the same way Ebony's did when she was irritated.

"I'm not looking for company." Ebony remarked without looking up from the book she was reading. There was a creamy mug of white hot chocolate and a half eaten glazed donut on the table in front of her.

"I don't know." Julian sighed softly, deciding it best not to even look at her. It made his chest hurt to see her look so much like Ebony. "I'll go." He got up from the chair and started to leave, once again wondering why he'd even bothered to make contact with anyone but Frost. 

"Me either." Katie said, reaching across the table to grab what was left of the doughnut and help herself. When she'd taken a bite she grabbed the mug and took a deep drink, feeling like she hadn't eaten in a lifetime.

"Have you ever seen Malik before?" Marie suddenly asked, reaching out and grasping Julian's hand before he could get very far. "I mean before he came to teach here."

Ebony's silver eyes glanced over the top of her book, watching her sister with a troubled expression. "You know, you could order your own." She commented.

"Malik shows up every time something happens with the vampires. Remember there's only three of them left and he's the strongest. Of course I've seen him before. So have you. Remember when he hired us to find Cyrus?"

"You weren't going to eat that." Katie pointed out. "You always leave that last bit." She waved the waitress over and ordered another hot chocolate.

Marie was looking up at Julian like he was telling her she had just lost her mind. The red haired woman was shaking her head, unable to recall this long since past memory her oldest friend spoke of. "What interest would he have had in Cyrus?" She asked, seeming even more upset now.

"No, you always steal the last bit." Ebony corrected. It was a young man who came to take their order, the owner's teenage son. Ebony had spoken to him several times, but he had never done something so mundane as taking a drink order. "Here we go..." She muttered, seeing that same look most boys got when they fist laid eyes on her sister.

Julian shrugged. "He was an unregistered vampire. Maybe he was just trying to keep the peace. That teatime alliance between hunters and their kind only needs  a small push to ruin everything."

Katie didn't even notice what she was doing. Before long they had an entire plate of doughnuts at their disposal.

Marie was shaking her head. Ever since she had began to think that maybe her memories weren't actually real, the flame haired woman had been suffering with a skull splitting headache. "I remember meeting you... My father had dragged me to the guild hall. I had slipped out when they bored me, and you tried to be the big bad wolf when you saw me in the forest outside." Marie smiled even more, finding her headache faded as she recalled this memory. Was it perhaps proof that this was a true memory that had been left untampered?

Ebony didn't touch the confectionery on the table. This was how it had always been; everyone fell over themselves to talk to Katie, or even just to be close to her. She had so much love surrounding her, while her younger sibling had grown up thinking she was the ugly offspring that had never been wanted. Ebony was to the point of physically biting her tongue now as she watched the owner's son making a fool of himself as he spoke to Katie. This tiny little cafe had been her sanctuary since Julian had basically been displaced from her life. Now it was tainted, and she hated feeling this resentment towards her sibling. With a slight wave of her fingers, Ebony had caused Katie's now cold chocolate to tip and spill into her lap. Or at least it would have if the young man talking to her hadn't suddenly pulled Katie to her feet and insisted she come meet his mother and father.

Julian smiled sadly. "Yeah. That was long before Frost and Jack Saunders." His smile faded and he frowned. "What are you getting at?"

It probably didn't help that Katie bumped the table as she passed, spilling the other cup of hot chocolate all over her sister. She didn't even notice.

"I remember something that happened when I was a teenager, so why don't I remember meeting Malik before he came here a few months ago?" Marie asked.

Ebony was used to it by now. It had seemed so much worse when she had thought herself and Katie to be twins. Always thinking her golden haired sibling had gotten all the beauty and the good luck, while she had gotten the bad. But not now. Ebony simply wiped her lap with a napkin and picked up her book when she decided it best to leave.

"Maybe because he's so damn sexy it just blows your mind." Julian chuckled. "Or maybe your mother is worried you'll run off with him and she makes you forget."

Ebony found trouble in the most serene of places. This was no exception. A werewolf tore into the tiny cafe and made a beeline for her. He tore over tables and chairs, roaring her name.

"Run off with a man I just met? Why would I do that?" Marie asked, though she offered Julian a knowing smile.

Ebony wasn't quite quick enough to hide her obvious surprise when she heard her name pass the snarling lips of this werewolf. "Who's asking?" She replied, seeming almost uninterested.

Julian couldn't help but smile. "You're over thinking it, Red. It's probably just that hunter instinct. Or maybe he's not worth remembering." 

"It's time to die, girl." The wolf threw a chair at her, following it to keep her from being able to dodge everything.

"Or maybe she really is worried I'll run off... Look how long you stole me away for." Marie mused, quickly realising that Julian had indeed managed to brighten her mood a little.

"I'm human, I die with every breath I take." Ebony replied, grunting when a chair struck her arm. "Would you care to narrow it down?"

"High school isn't a long time, Red. It's been a while since then anyway." Julian reminded her. "Besides, your thing for vampires was alot more important." 

The wolf landed in front of her and struck her in the face. "There's been an order out to kill you and I want the reward."

And just like that Julian soured her mood. "Like your thing for witches?" She shot back. "Is that why you now have your sights set on my underage daughter?"

Ebony could taste blood, and promptly spat it at the wolf who had struck her. "You can try!" She sneered, backing towards the counter now.

"I am so over that. I realized I was always better off with Frost." Julian said, wishing it were as easy to convince himself of that.

"Witch blood. How disgusting." The wolf said, trying to shake it off his fur before he attacked again. This time he slammed her into the glass cake display, shards flying around them both.

"But you thought you would have a little fun first?" Marie asked rather thinly. "Why are you even still at the school if Frost has such a tight pull on you?"

Ebony's vision swam, leaving her stumbling rather disoriented. She tried to use magic to push the werewolf away, but only ended up shattering more glass displays.

"Because there's something here Frost is interested in." Julian said, surprised he'd been able to get out that much. "Seriously,  Red. I'd have thought you were smarter than that."

The werewolf gave Ebony a toothy grin. "You don't scare me. You ain't as powerful as everybody says." He purred, moving closer for another attack.

"You think a lot of things that aren't true." Marie replied wearily as she turned to leave. "I can't trust my own memories, so why should I trust you to just tell me the truth?"

This confused Ebony. She was just a nobody, her only claim to fame was being the daughter of Jack Saunders. The young woman truthfully didn't think anyone spared her thought. Julian obviously didn't. "People exaggerate." Ebony told the wolf with a disgruntled sneer. "You're not taking me anywhere, dog."

Julian said nothing. He bowed his head. In the end Frost was going to make him do something terrible to his only friend and there was nothing he could about it. 

"You're right." The wolf chuckled. "I'm not going to be taking you..."
"Terry, let's go! We've got her!" A young man shouted from the back.

"Is Frost really your choice, or have you simply given up?" Marie asked as she paused in the doorway.

Ebony felt like everything suddenly moved in slow motion. Her silver gaze shifted to the door where her sister had disappeared only minutes earlier. Once again she had simply been a means to getting close to Katie. The dark haired girl felt like she was willing her legs to carry her to Katie's rescue, but nothing was happening. So much adrenaline was pumping through the young girl's body that she hadn't even noticed the glass that jutted out of her neck from when the wolf had slammed her into the display.

"I am a dog. My choice doesn't matter. It never has." Julian said, staring out the window. It would be night soon. Then she would be lost to him yet again. He wondered where Ebony was and if she even thought about him. 

"See ya, honey." The wolf grinned, able to see what she couldnt. "Or...maybe I wont."

"It never mattered because you never cared." Marie replied softly. "If you now have someone to fight for... shouldn't you at least try? That's what you told me once."

Ebony stumbled after the wolf, finally able to feel the blood that ran down her slender neck. "No... Katie..." She slurred, making one last effort to help her sister, which only ended up setting what remained of the cafe alight.

"Ebony put me in my place. As did you and Frost. I am exactly where she wants me. The game is over, Red. I'm tired of fighting it."Julian admitted. 

"Come on, Terry!" The young man shouted again. 
"Close your eyes." The wolf said softly. "It will be over once you forget to breathe."

"I did nothing of the sort. You dumped me, remember?" Marie replied sadly. "I don't care about Frost, but Ebony is just a girl, how can even she know what she wants from herself, let alone you?" She added, unaware her youngest child was dying as she said those words.

Ebony was still losing blood, and the room was filling with smoke rather quickly. Some guardian she was, she couldn't even protect her sister from a werewolf.

Julian refused to look at Marie. He'd left her because Frost made him. He had no choice in the matter. "I said I would leave her be!" He roared in the sudden silence. "Leave me the hell alone!"

Jack appeared in the center of the room, gathering up his daughter in his arms. The beast would pay for this. He'd been instructed to ensure that Ebony didn't get hurt. He had filed.