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Patrick frowned as he rubbed Pete’s back while his friend cried out his pain. He was having trouble understanding how the younger Wentz could just toss Pete to the side like he had, especially with how close the brothers had always been. Ever since he met Pete he had envied the close bond between him and Andrew since he and his brother, Kevin, had never been close. His chest tightened when another sob racked his friend’s body.

“I don’t get it,” Pete whimpered through his crying as he clung tighter to Patrick. “He knows I would never hurt him. He knows I’m not the one who killed Jason, why, how could he hate me?”

Patrick’s frown deepened. “I don’t know Pete,” he answered, trying to keep his tone soothing. “I can understand hating what you are, but not who you are. He should understand that you’re still his brother, even if you did get turned…”

Pete shook his head. “No, I’m one of the enemies now…” He moved away from Patrick and wiped his eyes. “He’ll never call me a brother again.”

“Maybe this is just an instant shock reaction thing?” Patrick suggested. “Maybe after he has some time to think it through he’ll come around?”

Pete gave Patrick a look that made Patrick’s frown return to his face. “I’m one of them now, I might as well have been the one that murdered Jason.”

Patrick’s opened his mouth, ready to protest the statement, but he was cut off by someone knocking on his front door. “We’ll finish this when I get back.” Patrick got up and went to the door, glancing through the peep hole before he opened the door to reveal their friend, Joe Trohman, standing on the other side. “Hey Joe, thanks for coming.”

“It’s cool,“ Joe said as he nodded and walked into the house, following Patrick to the living room, where Pete was now pacing with his hand over his nose and mouth. “Hey… You okay Pete?”

“I can’t handle the two of you right now,” Pete answered through his hand. “It’s too much.”

“We have to figure something out,” Joe said as he took a few steps back from Pete, not in fear, but in consideration for his friend. “You can’t keep dealing with this.”

“You let me know when you think of something,” Pete grumbled, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Joe sighed and shook his head. “I’m only trying to help Pete…”

“He’s going through a lot right now Joe, on top of the whole being turned problem,” Patrick said as he moved a little closer to Pete. “Do you want me to tell him?” He questioned, watching as his friend flinched at the mention of it. When Pete gave a solemn nod, and moved away from them even further, he looked at Joe. “Let’s go outside, so we don’t have to rehash it for him…”

“I wouldn’t go outside if I were you,” Pete spoke as they began to turn to the door. When they both looked at him, he went on to explain. “There are vampires out there, at least four. Please go to Trick’s bedroom so I don’t have to deal with more at the moment?”

Patrick and Joe both tensed slightly at the fact that there were vampires outside, and the fact that Pete could smell them. “Sure thing Pete,” Patrick replied before he led Joe up to his bedroom.

- - - - -

“So, any idea?” Joe questioned as he tossed a tennis ball back and forth with the final member of their close knit circle, Andy Hurley, who was currently chewing on his lip ring.

Andy caught the ball and tossed it back to Joe before he shook his head. “I can’t think of anything,” he answered as he pushed his hair from his face. “He can only stay with Trick for so long. If Andrew is as much of a threat as he makes himself out to be, then things could go badly if the Wentz’s go there and find their son.”

“I would offer him a place, but I know for a fact my parents would call Pete’s as soon as he showed up and my place and they knew he was missing,” Joe said as he tossed the ball. “How much do we know about vampires anyway?”

“Not enough,” Andy answered, missing the ball as it went past him. The fluorescent ball hit the ground and rolled until the toe of a heeled shoe stepped on it, stopping it from going any further.

Andy and Joe both stared at the woman that had leapt down from her hiding spot in one of the trees near Joe’s yard. She was taller than Andy, but only by an inch or two, and that could have been from the heels she wore, with eyes that practically pierced their souls. In the light of the setting sun, her hair burned like a dark red fire, the tresses falling down to her shoulders.

“What do you need to know about us?” She questioned, her tone soft and curious as she slightly raised a brow at the two humans. “And you can calm your hearts, if I wanted to hurt you, you would be dead by now, I promise you.”

“How are you out when it’s still light out?” Andy questioned, watching her closely even though he knew that as a human he would only have to blink to miss her move.

“Sun light that’s fading doesn’t hurt us,” she answered as she picked up their tennis ball and slowly moved closer, smiling a little when Joe’s eyes widened a little and he quickly took a step back. “I told you that I won’t hurt you. I’m only trying to return your ball.” She looked at Andy. “It’s when it’s coming into the sky, until it starts to fade that the sunlight affects us.”

“Who are you?” Andy questioned after a small silence, since he was obviously the only one brave enough to answer questions at the moment.

“My name is Rayne Mercado,” she answered as she extended her hand from her spot, already figuring out that they would have to come to her. “And you are?”

“Andy,” he replied as he dared to take the few steps to her before he reached his hand out and shook the hand that waited for him. “Andy Hurley.”

“It’s nice to meet you Andy, and who is your friend?” Rayne questioned as she let go of Andy’s hand and turned her eyes on Joe, who was watching the interaction with wary eyes.

“That’s Joe Trohman,” Andy answered.

“It’s nice to meet you, Joe,” she said with a small nod of her head since it was obvious this human wasn’t trusting her yet.

“Yeah…” He managed to get out as he looked at Andy. “We uh, we should go.”

“Wait…” Andy said as he looked back to Rayne. “Why haven’t you hurt us yet?”

“I don’t feed off humans unless they’ve done something to deserve it,” she answered with a shrug. “I have other sources besides humans.”

“How do we know we can trust you?” Joe questioned, his tone skeptical as he eyed her. “How do we know you aren’t just trying to get us to trust you so you can kill us when we aren’t expecting it?”

Rayne nodded as she looked from Andy to Joe. “You have every right to doubt me, but honestly, why play a game when I can have your throat in my teeth in the blink of an eye? It would be a waste of time.”

“She makes a good point Joe,” Andy pointed out as he ran a hand through his hair and then looked to her. “Look, I’m sorry if we seem rude, but all we know right now, besides the sunlight bit, is that vampires feed off humans. Forgive us if we keep a bit guarded at the moment.”

Rayne gave a small nod and smiled at the two. “I can promise you time and time again I’m not hurting you,” she said, still smiling. “But for now, until you trust me, I can only answer your questions as best as I can. So, if I may ask my own question, why do you need to know about my kind? I was passing by when I caught the inquiry.”

“Sorry, but we can’t answer you,” Joe said as he folded his arms over his chest.

“Joe, she might be our only option,” Andy cut in, shaking his head at his friend. “If she’s the only one that can help us, maybe we should find out what we can.” He looked at Rayne. “A friend of ours was bitten recently, but he hasn’t fed yet. He doesn’t want to fully turn, but his hunger is getting worse. We need to figure out something for him, before something goes wrong.”

“Does he not want to fully turn because of family, or because he doesn’t like what he would become?” Rayne questioned, curious about this friend of theirs.

“He doesn’t want to become a vampire,” Andy answered, “he’s lost his family because he was bitten, and now he hates them for what he’s going through.”

Rayne frowned. “I know someone who can help him, he’s human, so it shouldn’t be that hard for your friend to trust him.”

“Someone can help him?” Joe asked, his curiosity showing on his face. “How can they help?”

“He has this blend that fights off the hunger,” she answered, turning her eyes to Joe. “It helps satisfy the hunger, but it keeps him from turning because he’s not feeding. My friend can explain it best himself, but it does work. I’ve seen it work myself. If you want, I could arrange a meeting? Anywhere you like, so you can feel more comfortable.”

“That would be good… Do you have a number?” Andy questioned. “So we can talk it over with our friend and get back to you?”

Rayne smiled. “Of course,” she answered as she took out a card from her pocket. “You can reach me there, anytime day or night. I don’t sleep well, so it’s easy to reach me. That number is to my office, so if you need to leave a message, be discreet about what you say. I never know who I’ll have in my office.”

[Author's Note: Okay, so I know this was supposed to be posted on Monday, been done since Saturday, but you guys have no idea how sick I am. It's pretty bad right now. The only thing I haven't done for it is get better... I don't have the time to list all the things I've done for it. Anywho, now we all know how Rayne met the guys =) I am sorry this took so long to post, but as I said, sick... Reviews are loved, have a good day!]