His smile warmed lightly, at the odd apology from the other. He found it a bit cute, the other was forward, yet still could not fully come out and say such things like that. He nodded, letting it slide, "it is alright.." He looked through the trees, taking in the scene around him, as well as letting his shadow mingle with the ones around them. So far, the two of them were alone, that was good. No interruptions as they made their way along. He then looked down as they reached the gravel. His eyes travelled up it, moving towards the large castle within the distance. So this was the mysterious castle he was here to look into. He focused himself a bit more now. He was curious about something however, the other had said he would need to speak to another. "So you do not oversee this place on your own?" he asked, glancing at him. That would mean he would need to get along with more than one person to make such a business trip go smoothly. That would not be a problem, but he was wondering who this person was, and what kind of person this person would be.

A hint of annoyance passed across Bell's face when Usagi asked him about not being in charge himself over this place. If Bell had been the only one in charge, things would have been much better, at least in his opinion. There wouldn't be crazy humans slinking around all the time, or human females just walking in and shooting at people. "Tch." That had was running through his hair again as they walked up the drive way. "It's..Well..It's a safe haven of sorts. Decisions can't just be made without the consent of the others, since such a decision would also affect their life here. It's only fair. Annoying as all hell but fair." It seemed like almost everything annoyed Bell. Well humans and everything that was out of the vampire's control annoyed him.

They were almost at the top of the driveway now, that human's car coming into plain view, but Bell had turned somewhat to look at Usagi and sweep his arm out towards the castle. "I bid you welcome to the Castel Nosferatu." Bell rather liked that name, it was a good name for this castle. There was the beginnings of a smile on his lips as he turned back towards the castle. Bell stopped in his tracks. Those lips immediately turned down into a frown, and a scowl placed itself on his face. Both hands were out of his pockets now, and clenched into tight, angry fists at his sides. Why was that human's car still here? Hadn't he told her to get out? Bell seriously doubted that Rose had killed the woman, Rose was too nice for such a thing. Bell was growling, he was so angry his body nearly trembled with the emotion.


Red nodded and put the bike down gently where Gwen indicated it should go, then he followed her into the house. He inhaled deeply, sniffing a bit, as if to familiarize himself with the scent of this place. He followed her easily to the kitchen, and watched as she pulled the meat out, licking his lips a bit. It didn't surprise him when she started to cook it. Humans were fond of doing that, and though he preferred his meat bloody and raw, he could eat it all cooked up too. When she asked him what it was like to live in a castle, Red shrugged. "Is big, lotsa room. Very comfortable." A lot of room for a big pack, but Red didn't have a big pack, there were so many empty rooms in that castle. Yup, the vargulf was definitely a man of few words.

He nodded, watching the other as he spoke. He had a heart as well it seemed. When the other introduced the castle, Usagi smiled and looked up fully at the large building before him. It was indeed quite the place. He paused for a moment then, as he noted the change in the man beside him. He glanced at him, before following his eyes to the car that was parked there. Seemed he was not happy about it being here. Who did it belong to? Possibly one of the visitors he had spoke of earlier. Whoever it was, it seemed far less than welcome here by Bell. "Perhaps if it suits you and this...other party of yours, you might leave this intruder to me" he offered. He could deal with it simply enough, drag the unwanted being into the darkness and shadows.

He was told the shadows were cold, like it was being swallowed by ice, making one's stomach turn. As the darkness wrapped around someone, a dominating feeling of fear surfaced that one could not overcome. Darkness and shadows were something most feared, being swallowed up and alone, never able to escape. Most were surprised to see how Usagi could maintain control, how he did not fear the darkness. Few had bothered to actually ask him about it, but that was fine with him. He reached a hand up, brushing a few strands of his hair behind an ear. Within the darkness, and the mention of taking care of an intruder, his eyes shifted a bit. The red within them intinsifying for a moment, before slipping back to their brownish color.

The slabs of meat were rather thick. She'd grabbed two pieces. Hers was definitely going to be the smaller one. While waiting for the food to cook, the young woman leaned against the counter so she could speak more easily with her guest. "Does your friend live there too? The one who asked you to see me home?" It had been more of an order then a request, even Gwen had realized that. She wasn't quite that naive. Even so, she edged around the situation carefully, for fear of perhaps offending this strange man that she wanted to befriend.

She needed at least one friend, in that country far from home.

Bell was seething, when Usagi spoke, he growled softly and shook his head. "I'll handle it." He grit his teeth hard and started towards the castle's front entrance. He pushed the large doors open with an angry shove, the doors opened as wide as their hinges let them. Though it was a little surprising the hinges hadn't broken under Bell's force, he had been somewhat holding back. Though once he and Usagi were inside, he closed those doors with a loud slam that echoed through the entire castle. The bell sound of his movements seemed to mimic his mood, his movements had a very angry tinkle to them now.

He wondered if Rose was still in the kitchen. Probably still cleaning up Red's mess, well that was fine, since now he would have to clean up her mess. There was no doubt in his mind that she was the reason why the human girl was not gone yet. "This way." He could barely contain the anger in his voice as he motioned down the hallway toward the kitchen. Bell was moving at a brisk pace now, striding down that hallway rather quickly, though not nearly as fast as he could have. He shoved the kitchen door open hard, his eyes searching for Rose, to pin her with a very angry glare. "Where is she? I know she's here, that car is still out front. So help me when I find her, Rose." Bell cast a glance around the room, one of his eyes twitching in more annoyance at the sight of Nate.

His hands clenched even tighter, the nails biting into his palms and drawing blood. "Talk to this guy, while I go on a little hunt." There was a glint of something in Bell's eyes. Excitement? Maybe delight at the thought of killing the human girl that lurked somewhere in his castle. He turned on his heels to make his way back out of the kitchen, unless someone decided to stop him. He did seem rather blood thirsty.


This girl seemed to enjoy asking questions. Red didn't mind, he wouldn't tell her anything that could get him or Bell into trouble. He moved a bit closer to the stove, sniffing at the air a bit. The cooking food did smell rather good, and it was making him hungry. He licked his lips, but didn't dare get to close. The stove was dangerous, it admitted heat like a fire, without being a fire, Red knew that. He'd burned his hand on one once. His head tilted to the side slightly as he looked at the meat and then her. "Yes. Is good friend, is Red's best friend." There was something there, admiration, and unquestionable loyalty, a love that went deeper than the typical bonds of friend or lover. Bell was the alpha, and Bell kept Red safe. Had saved Red's life once. Their friendship was a special one, purely platonic but deeper and special than any normal friendship. A slight smile had touched his lips also when he spoke of Bell.

When Katerina reached the bottom of the stairs she thought for a moment. Surely the wash was on the lower level of the mansion. She wondered then, if supernatural beings even did laundry. Well of course they did. They dirtied their clothes with stains, too. She imagined a vampire dripping BBQ sauce on his shirt. Probably not those kinds of stains though, she reminded herself.

She decided to go in the opposite direction of the kitchen, past a large door that lead to a library, another that lead to some kind of study, and other random doors here and there. She'd turned a few too many times, and hoped she could find her way back out of the maze of halls, when she finally found a very large room with a washer and dyer. They looked clean, and in great shape. Katerina would take a guess to say that that was thanks to Rose.

A few minutes later, Katerina stepped back, pleased. Her clothes were in the wash, and all she needed to do now was find Rose to find out how to earn her keep around here. She wondered briefly about the purple-haired vampire and his, pet. She felt guilty, washing his blood from her clothes. But she frowned. It wasn't her fault. She wouldn't think into it any more. She sighed and exited the laundry room, closing the door behind her.

The young woman twisted to the side and flipped the meat from one side to the other. It wouldn't be too long now before it was done. It really hadn't taken all that long, because she hadn't fussed around with the food too much. Gwen turned back to Red with a small smile of her own. "So, I guess he's nicer then he seems at first."

The brunette shifted from one foot to the other nervously. Her smile slipped. "I don't really have any friends. Not around here. Most people in the village are kind of nervous around strangers, for some reason." There were rumors about mysterious disappearances. No, not just rumors. Posters were tucked discreetly in shops, proclaiming the names of those who had disappeared. They weren't obvious, not at first. But once you looked, you could find them in most places. It was no wonder, really, that people were wary of anyone new, or strange, who appeared randomly in their neck of the woods. Especially with all the superstitions they had.

Rose gave the man a small smile as he introduced himself. "It's alright, Nate. No need to apologize." He seemed to be thinking of something as he stared into space, so Rose let him be. Slowly, the sound of ringing bells was growing louder and louder. "Ah, shit." Rose cursed, realizing just what she had done. The human was still here, and so was Nate. Bell would not be happy upon his return. The slam of the double doors was heard, and the sound of agitated footsteps made their way down the hallway and into the kitchen. It was Bell, seething with rage, and behind him stood a man with red hair.

"Err - welcome home!" Rose greeted Bell nervously, surprised by his return. His eyes were filled with anger, and his fists were clenched hard enough to draw blood from his palms. The vampire mentioned finding the human girl, not knowing that Rose had offered her a place to stay. This was not good. She averted her eyes from his intense gaze and stared at the wall. "Sorry..." Rose mumbled an apology under her breath, knowing full well that his displeasure was caused by her actions. She had taken into account the consequences of keeping both the human girl and Nate in the castle, but she had ignored them. Before she knew it, he was off to find Katerina and Rose was left with the stranger.

With a sigh, Rose turned towards the newcomer. "And you are?"

Usagi followed Bell. The sounds and indications of anger from the other was indeed growing. He followed him without a word, inside of the large castle before them. He remained silent, watching the man as he made his way to the kitchen, to where a woman was. The exchange between them was brief and to the point, before Bell was storming off once more. He thought about stopping him, but this would do little for the reason he was there. Instead, he turned his attention to the female within the room. He once more lowered his upper torso, into a bow of respect to the female. "A pleasure to meet you miss, my name is Usagi Ryouichi" he said, "I am here on behalf of Orion and it's head Levyathan. We seek to build connections, bridges if you will between various groups of life."

His eyes moved up to the female once more, "in order to create a trust and to show no ill will to you or any of the beings here, I have been personally asked to see this through, and to be of assistance wherever the heads of this place see fit." He was explaining things once more, as he had explained before, "if you see fit that working with us is something undesired, I will leave, and no one here or this place will be bothered." He gave her a light but warm and kind smile. It was her choice at this point it seemed, the man had made his choice that he would have rather had Usagi leave. Then again, that was when he was annoyed and angered, Usagi wondered what the other thought now. Would he still prefer if he left? Or would he be alright with him staying? He pushed the thoughts away, focusing on the female before him now. If she had questions, he would answer.

No one stopped him, so Bell exited the kitchen in a flurry of anger and began roaming the halls. Looking for the unwelcome guest that was still within the walls of his home, his sanctuary away from humans, not to mention, she had shot Red, he still hadn't quite gotten over that yet. He was growling as he went. Turning down hallways and throwing open doors into rooms, those eyes of his intense and narrowed into a glare as he looked around. He would sniff at the air every now and then, to pick up her scent and follow it some, but her scent wound around the castle in the oddest patterns. As if she had been wandering around and not sure of where she was going. That was probably true, one could get lost in the hallways if they didn't know where they were going.


Red only smiled, a smile like the one someone smiled when they knew something you didn't. He smiled that smile when she said Bell must be nicer than he seemed at first. "Is a good...man. Good friend. Strangers annoy him." Well, it was more or less the truth. Strangers, especially humans annoyed Bell, but Red couldn't say that exactly. When she mentioned the village, Red waved a hand dismissively. "Villagers super...superstitious." It took him a moment to get that word out, it wasn't a word he spoke often and it was rather big. He shrugged. "Gwen is good people. Villagers should be more friendly to her." He spoke the words slowly. The more he spoke, the easier it was to tell that he either didn't speak very often at all, or English just might not be his first language.

Katerina tried to retrace her foot steps back through the halls. She'd turned here, no there... Seriously, this place needed a map. Katerina entered a hall that Bell had previously been in. They were missing each other, and Katerina was only mucking up his tracing by accidentally ensuring that her scent was everywhere. It wasn't her fault she'd never been here before and that she was lost.

When she finally found her way to the main entrance again, she smiled. Well, she thought, I'll never find my clothes, but at least they're in the wash... She turned and headed back up the stairs again, wanting to bring her notebook back down to make notes in throughout her stay.

Rose nodded her head as the one who called himself Usagi bowed. He seemed pleasant enough, though Rose didn't know why he was here. "Pleasure to meet you too, Usagi, I'm Rose. Seeing as we're already standing in the kitchen, would you like something to drink?" He looked like the model businessman, and he wanted the deal that he offered to be sealed. She'd never even heard of the company that he mentioned, and wondered about the "connections" that he was speaking of.

Rose eyed the male carefully, going over his words in her mind. He seemed to know about the occupants of Castel Nosferatu, and her eyes narrowed as he explained. "What...do you plan on doing here?" Rose had no clue what Usagi wanted, and whether his offer was helpful or detrimental towards the lives of those in the castle. She thought about Bell, and wondered what he had thought of this guy. He most likely wasn't very willing to cooperate with the man from Orion, but Rose wanted to see what this was all about before just rejecting the offer.

"Wait a second..." Rose looked around. Now that she thought of it, Red hadn't returned with Bell and Usagi. "Uh," Her eyes met with those of the businessman, snapping her back into the moment. "Nevermind, I was just distracted for a moment."

Gwen did her best not to laugh, and ended up giggling instead. With a shake of her head, she moved to check the beef again, and stirred the vegetables. "You're only saying that because I'm giving you some food." When they had been in the alleyway, she was sure Red had thought of her as anything but 'good people'.

It made her decision to invite him for supper all the stranger. Him, someone who had marched her to her home on someone's orders, and yet Gwen welcomed him with open arms. The young woman blamed her loneliness. She spoke as she started to set the table. "Maybe they have a good reason to be so superstitious. There have been a lot of disappearances going on. Every shop around here has posters of the ones who went missing." The metal forks and knives clinked on glass as she set them down across the plates. "Instead of blaming one of their own, they're blaming supernatural beings that don't even exist. If they did exist, well ... I'd hope they weren't the ones responsible for taking people away from their families."

She laughed at her silly ideas as she finished. "But they don't exist, and the food is done now." Gwen put meat and veggies on the plates, putting a larger share on Red's plate then her own and handing it to him once she was done.

Usagi shook his head at the offer, "thank you." He was not surprised by her uncertainty, nor could he blame her. "I do not plan on causing any trouble...I am here to be of assistance at this point, so whatever you desire, I will take care of" he says, "we are trying to find places like this, if that helps." He kept his gaze on hers, so that she did not think he was avoiding her gaze. "We are involved with various supernatural beings on many levels, one of which is to take care of and maintain safe places where they are able to live in peace...without harm coming to them, or to others" perhaps that woule help to explain things a bit better, "it would be bad if such places were to disappear, or be harmed. We seek to give our assistance...protection if need be, so you may think of this as a trial baisis, to see what we are able to offer."

He paused for a moment, then continued, " if you approve, we can work on something more...if not, as I said, I will leave, and you will not be bothered again." He stood there, letting her take in the information that she was now given. He was curious on what had distracted her, perhaps the other who had been in the ally? "He was seeing to a female getting home safely...to keep her out of more trouble" he said, hoping his hunch was correct. If not, he would play it off, if he was, that would give a bit of insight into this woman. He stood there, silent fully now. He would let her ask any more questions she had, as well as make her own desicion about what was happening now.

At one point, Bell was literally walking in circles. Just where exactly had she gone and what was she doing? Probably snooping around all their stuff, it was bad enough she was getting her human scent all over everything. Her scent really was on everything. It made it darn near impossible to track her. Eventually he found his way to where the laundry stuff was, and he frowned. The machine was going, and no one was in the room, but it smelled strongly of her. Was she washing her clothes in his laundry room? Bell hadn't unclenched his fists once since leaving the kitchen, he was just digging his nails in to his palm deeper now.

The gall of this human woman. How dare she traipse around here like she owned the place, and wash her clothes in their laundry machines. Bell let out a noise of anger and frustration and turned on his heels, if he found her now, things would probably go very badly for the human. He moved through the castle, trying to sort out and follow the most recent of her scents. That was hard to do. If Red were here, the vargulf could have followed her scent easier than Bell. Oh they still would've gotten turned around here and there, but Red could sort the scent out better than the vampire could. He could tell which was freshest and which wasn't. Usually. But Red wasn't here, and Bell was missing his pet, that only seemed to aggravate him further. He increased his speed, moving through the large building faster now, to try and search through every room more quickly.

Red gave a soft chuckle at Gwen's response to him calling her good people. Well she was partly right, the best way to befriend a dog sometimes was by giving it food. But also, Red saw that she hadn't meant to be so bothersome to them earlier, maybe. He had just been trying to protect Bell really. He listened intently to her speak of the town and supernatural beings. He had shifted a bit on his feet once, but it seemed clear that she didn't believe in such things. At least it seemed like she didn't, admitting that such things didn't exist. Red gave a slight shrug. As long as he didn't say anything to make her think otherwise, everything would be fine. Soon she was putting the food on the plate, and handing him one.

Red sniffed at the contents on his plate, it smelled really good. He wasn't a big fan of potatoes or other vegetables but he'd eat them anyway. Sometimes they tasted good, and these smelled like they might. He sat down at the table, putting his plate in front of him. He picked up the fork, for a moment he eyed it with apparent distrust, as if it might eat his food before he could. That was silly though, forks didn't do things like that. He did move a bit slowly with that fork though, as if to make sure he didn't spill his food off of it. He used the fork like someone who had very seldom eaten with utensils. His awkwardness with the fork caused him to eat slow, but the food was very delicious.

Nate just watched. He watched through Bell's sudden (and angry) return, through the arrival of a new face, and all throughout the conversation he was sharing with his polite host.

And he continued to watch, eyeing the new man up and down as him and the woman talked. He went back to ignoring the flies, the little devils crawling over his bruising face and neck.

He ignored their conversation, opting instead to focus his hearing on the distant jingle of angry bells. He was not a happy vampire. Not in the slightest.

He sniffed, rubbing his nose before he began to move, heading towards the door. He stopped, though, before he reached it, feet just shy of the new stranger's shadow. He lowered his eyes, watching it before he skirted it, stepping to the side and stepping away. Never once breaking the shadow edge.

A sinking feeling in his gut told him that breaking the threshold would be a grave mistake.

He made his way to the door, eyeing down the hall. He might as well explain to bell-boy that the nice lady had told the other that she was allowed to stay. If he found him first that was.

He stepped into the hallway and began to lazily walk away. The gathering of flies followed, forming a buzzing halo as he moved to find Bell.

"Keeping us safe?" Rose couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. She'd never heard of humans protecting supernatural beings before. There were plenty of stories of humans trying to destroy supernatural beings, but keeping them away from danger? It was unheard of. Then again, the man in front of her didn't smell quite human, but he didn't seem like a supernatural being either. She thought about the offer. It wouldn't hurt to try it out...

She kept her gaze on Usagi's eyes. Perhaps he was telling the truth, and his company really did want to be of assistance. He mentioned supernatural places disappearing, and how it would be bad. "It would be pretty bad for us...although, maybe it wouldn't be so bad...the humans would finally get what they wanted, wouldn't they...?" Rose thought, before deciding to accept his offer. "Alright...a trial of what you have to offer, huh?" Rose gave him a smile. "Wouldn't want to pass it up."

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Nate got up and left the kitchen. He seemed to act a bit weird as he came closer to Usagi's shadow, but Rose ignored his odd behavior. The businessman mentioned that Red had seen a female home, which made Rose a lot less anxious than before. Red might be a raw-meat devouring vargulf that could barely speak English, but he was a good guy. The girl he was escorting would be safe, and he would be home soon.

"So." Rose swatted at a fly that had left Nate as she spoke to Usagi. "What kind of protection are you talking about?"

Gwen settled down on the other end of the table, or started to at least. She couldn't help but notice how strangely Red was handling his fork, like he wasn't used to it. The young woman didn't even think to wonder why that might be. Instead she, plate, chair and all, to settle down beside her guest. "Are you having trouble with that?" Gwen nodded at the fork and bit down on wanting to ask about how Red like the food. She had to assume he did, or was too polite to say he didn't.

Usagi watched the female as she seemed to mull things over. She seemed to get the first impression as most did with him, that he was still human. Finally however, she spoke up about agreeing to their basic terms. That was good, Levyathan would be happy about it. He glanced at the man who passed him, seeming to avoid his shadow. As he moved arounded, the white parts of the eyes would widen a bit, and for merely a moment, a white grin would spread across the black, before it was gone. He was wise to avoid Usagi's shadow. Due to his abilities in darkness now, Usagi's shadow was more...alive.

It was able to move and react upon its own will, though it kept close to him and was bound by his orders most of the time. One might think of it similar to that children's story...but his shadow was not of a nicer variety. If his shadow were to escape, it would most likely have darker intents. Pushing the thought away, he moved back to the female as she asked a question. "With protection, there are a variety of different forms you could decide from" he said, "from a reflection shield...that would keep humans from seeing the town, all they would see is forest. To more darker means such as creatures who would physcially deal with unwanted pests."

There were various forms of protection and such that Orion could offer. "It depends more on what you are comfortable with, and how far you are willing to go in the end" he said. "Protection is not all we can offer however" he explained, shifting the subject a bit to a lighter subject, "our connections span across the globe, if need be, we could easily obtain: food, medicine, clothing, shelter...whatever is needed." Basically, they would be able to help the town flourish and grow, if one took full advantage of things. It was as he said however, up to the leaders and what they felt comfortable with, or how far they were willing to go in the end. He sat his bag down, folding his coat onto the top of it.

"As for me, I am second in command to the organization itself" he fixed his cuffs, "so whatever your needs are, I can personally see to it that they are taken care of." He smiled to her, "as to what I have to offer besides my status and connection..." He stepped closer to her, lifting his hand, dark whisps of shadow began to curl up from his hand. They took shape, forming and curling into the form of a black rose. "I am a master of shadows if you will....I am fully capable of handling myself, and protecting those around me" he took her hand gently, placing the beautiful dark rose within. Leaning down, he gently then kissed her hand. "Whatever it is you desire, do not hesitate to ask" he smiled warmly and sincerely, "I will fufill every one to the best of my ability."

Katerina had gone into her room, grabbing her notebook and pencil. She left her glasses, since she really only needed them on the computer, and headed to her door. She flattened out a wrinkle on her tank top, and nearly tripped over an untied boot, but exited the room anyway. She closed her door and turned around to see the purple-haired vampire in the hall.

She raised an eyebrow. What was he looking for like that? Didn't he live here? "Are you lost?" she said. "I got lost, too. This place is so big. I'm really grateful that Rose is letting me stay. I'm going to have to make a map though probably." She was frowning down at her notebook, wondering how small her map would have to be in the little thing, not seeming to notice the vampire at all anymore. She was mumbling something about scaling it down, or using two sides of the book, nothing important.

Bell had found his way upstairs and was in the process of checking all the rooms when a door ahead of him opened and that human stepped out. He growled darkly at her. What the hell was she doing in one of their bedrooms? These rooms were not for humans! Then she was asking him if he had gotten lost! Those eyes widened a bit, Rose said she could stay. He was going to have a very serious talking to with Rose once he dealt with this human girl. "I told you to leave." He snarled the words, and stalked forward quickly, reaching out to take the notebook with one hand and toss it down the hallway.

"Humans aren't welcome here." Bell was moving to try and trap her body between his and the wall. His palms and fingernails a little bloody from having his fists clenched so tightly, but those small marks on his palms were closing fast now that his hands were unclenched. He licked his lips as he gripped her shoulders tightly, and brought his face close to her's. "This is your own fault, for not leaving. Rose can't protect you from me." His lips drew back, revealing those sharp fangs of his. How could Rose do this? This was their safe place away from humans, Bell felt rather betrayed.


Red was enjoying the food, even though he was slowly working it to his mouth with that stupid fork. When Gwen came closer and asked him if he needed help, he shook his head and put the fork down. "Is stupid thing. Hands much better." He promptly began to pick the food up with his fingers and put into his mouth that way. Red didn't seem embarrassed by this sudden, uncivilized way of eating, in fact, he seemed more comfortable eating like this. "Is good food." Even the vegetables were good. Bell might've been surprised to see Red eat vegetables, considering the vampire only ever saw him eat meat.

The vargulf had started eating faster too. Essentially, wolfing down his food, in a manner of speaking. Bell was probably missing him, and honestly Red was missing the vampire. Red didn't like being so far from the vampire, if something were to happen, Red wouldn't be able to protect Bell and something was almost always happening because of Bell's explosive temper.

The man was so matter of fact about his dislike of forks. It made her smile, nearly as much as his compliment on her cooking did. "Well, I'm glad you like it." Gwen glanced down at her own food and picked up a piece experimentally. She supposed eating without utensils was alright when your food was already cut up into easy to manage chunks.

"I suppose you'll have to go back soon, before your friend gets too worried." Gwen put her hands on the table. She tapped her fingers against the wood nervously. "Do you think it would be, maybe, alright, if I stopped by the castle sometimes, to visit? You an come here again too, of course, if you want." Gwen sounded too hopeful and wishful even to her own ears. But she was so lonely ... and so far Red had been the only person to show her any kind of friendliness since her arrival in the Romanian village.

"Interesting..." Rose thought about the protection that was being offered and the connections that could be made. A shield from the humans would be a good idea, allowing the supernatural beings to live in peace. Speaking of humans, Rose remembered Katerina, and started to regret allowing her to stay at the castle. She'd been selfish and forgotten that not all supernatural creatures got along as well with humans as she did.

She watched curiously as dark strands of what seemed to be his shadow formed into a beautiful, albeit dark, rose. An appropriate choice. As he moved closer, the intoxicating scent of his blood became overwhelming. Her breathing became shallow, and was tempted to give in to the need for blood, but snapped out of it before it completely took her over. "This is bad, I haven't had blood in a while..." She thought to herself while she regained her former posture quickly, and gave him a gentle smile, hoping that he hadn't noticed. Rose then examined the flower, twirling it around in her fingers. "I see. But I should probably run this decision by Bell first." Learning from her mistake of letting the human stay, Rose decided to see what the purple-haired vampire had to say before angering him further. The sound of bells was tinkling from upstairs, and the noise seemed to be very close to the scent of Katerina. "I hope he doesn't do anything rash...come with me, Usagi."

Rose ran out of the kitchen, up the stairs to the room where Katerina had decided to stay. Bell and the human were standing in the hallway, and the vampire looked like he was about to suck all of the blood out of her. "Bell!" She shouted at the vampire, and made her way into the commotion so that Bell was no longer holding her shoulders in a death grip, and so that there was distance between the two of them. "There's something more important right now that I think you need to take care of."

Katerina's olive green eyes widened when the vampire came at her like that. Was he still angry? Boy he sure could hold a grudge... Then he took her notebook and chunked it down the hall. "Hey!" she protested, though still holding her pencil. He was such a bully. Katerina hadn't even met bullies back in her school days this bully...y.

Before she could try and say anything to smooth the situation over, which she probably couldn't have anyway through her own annoyance, the vampire was gripping her shoulders and she was backed against the wall. He bared his fangs at her, and not for the first time. But Katerina just frowned a stubborn frown. He didn't scare her. Bullies just needed to know they weren't in charge, that's all.

When Rose's voice broke through the silence, Katerina held back the urge to smile. Rose did in fact save her this time. She really needed to do something awesome for that woman. Katerina didn't know how she could ever live with Bell. The woman deserved a medal, at the absolute very least.

Bell wasn't holding on to her any more and Katerina held up her pencil in defense. It was probably a silly looking thing to do, but that would hurt right? Vampires and wood, was that a myth? Well, Katerina did want to find out after all. 'Course, she'd rather just ask, but this would work, too, if he came at her again.

He was inches from that lovely throat, when Rose interrupted him. Coming between him and his prey, he snarled at the female vampire. Baring his fangs at her, as if challenging her. What right did she have to allow a human to stay here without consent from everyone, mostly that meant consent from Bell. The vampire glanced at Usagi. "Tch, I brought him to you didn't I? You think I'd have done that if I didn't approve? Now, move I'll deal with you later." Those hands had clenched into tight fists again, those nails cutting into his palms once more. Then the vampire lunged, moving to get around Rose and get at Katerina. That human was as good as dead if he got his hands on her again.


Red was already nearly finished with his food, though it did amuse him a bit when she picked up her own food with her fingers. Silly humans. Maybe she was doing it to make him feel more comfortable? Or maybe she didn't like forks as much as she had seemed to? The reasons didn't matter to Red, it was silly. Then she was talking about visiting the castle, Bell wouldn't like that at all. She was human, the vampire would attack her immediately. Red shook his head. "No. No strangers allowed." He spoke the words slowly, he couldn't say 'humans' so he opted for 'strangers' instead. It was possible for Red to visit her though, he knew where her house was, and he could stop by while out hunting. "I come again....visit." He nodded slightly, and finished his food.