A few things I learned about the boys were the different types of personalities they had and even more so how they balanced each other out.

You see, David, is a leader. And he can do what needs to be done. He's typically a quick thinker. He can make the decisions that no one else can.

Dwayne is a warrior. He is the muscle, the one that everyone's afraid of when it comes to gang fights. He's a tall guy and you'd have to be blind to ignore his body. He's built and he knows how to use what he has.

Marko is a schemer. He can articulate and carry out a plan. He know how things are going to play out and he knows what he needs to do to make things go his way. He smart about his moves and knows what he wants.

The same could be said for Paul. He knows what he wants as well. He, as you would find, is a skilled talker. He can talk his way in and out of things. He can be very useful in dire situations. He knows how to manipulate people just the right way.

So in saying this, and stating that Paul is a good talker, meaning he's good with words and people, is typically common knowledge. One point of talking I can confirm him being very bad at is volume control. I know children are told there are times to use an inside voice, like when someone is sleeping. Most would understand that as common knowledge. But to some -Paul- apparently not.

The bags I get under my eyes are sure to confirm that statement.

"How are we going to explain what happened?" Paul, as can be told by the tone of panic and loud volume.

"Well first I'm sure she didn't even know it was us dingbat," Marko, the reason.

"So what's the plan then Marko," Dwayne, the action.

"Well I think logically we should wait for her first,"

"Yeah? And then what? Have her freak out like last time? Dead or alive that throat chopping shit hurts," Dead or alive?

Jesus Christ. What the fuck am I into?

"She won't freak out because we'll be reasonable about this. We know she likes us, and when she starts remembering, do you really think she'll want to leave? We'll just tell her the truth. Perhaps not all at once but parts at a time," Marko, perfect example of someone who is asking to get their ass kicked for avoiding telling me the whole truth.

"Yeah well do think she's going to take the news she'll have to feed on blood pretty soon for the rest of forever? Yeah, I don't think so," What the fuck? Blood? And with it in mind, I could almost taste it. I could almost taste hers.

Before I was thrown into the ocean, I remember vividly, leaning over Caitlyn's freightened body. I could smell her fear; I could hear her heart pounding and the blood rushing in her veins.

I remember leaning over her, an overwhelming scent took over the air, metallic fruits and sweets. Hers smelled no different. I was wondering what exactly it was I was smelling but I could tell you I was so close. So close.

Right before I got thrown into the ocean, I realized how close I was to her throat. My nose barely grazed her skin but I knew if I'd gotten any closer I would have lost my self-control. The smell of sweet goodness had overtaken my senses. I was smelling... her blood.

And like that the reality train hit me at full speed. I was getting a headache from the new information and the mess of what was now occurring.

I slipped out of the bed I supposed I was on. It was comfortable and I was dying to go back to sleep on it, as if I hadn't just remembered anything. There were covers and blankets which I'd been using. The moment my feet hit the floor. I know something wasn't quite right. My hands felt my stomach and the things I found scared me.

Firstly, I couldn't feel the bandages under my clothes. There was nothing to protect the wound against infection. Despite the accident lasting two weeks ago, it wasn't the same. I need the protection.

Secondly, the silk under my hands wasn't too familiar. It was soft and long and I felt as though I was fully covered. From what I could feel I was in a long dress, silky material, maybe some lace trim. Loose on the arms, goes to my elbows, and cuts down into a v plunge, ending with lace right above my belly button.

Someone had change me into a nightgown. Someone had removed me of all clothes. Hell, maybe even washed me. Did I have underwear on? I sure as hell didn't have a bra on. My hands ran down my sides... Hell yeah I had underwear on. That's a win in my book, the question is, are they the same pair I had on yesterday?

Answer? No. These were soft and silky too.. like the gown. Both were undeniably very comfortable and fitting.

Listening back in, the voices had stopped. They had to have known I was awake.

"David," I called out weakly

"Dwayne,"

"Marko,"

"Paul,"

My voice was cracked and quiet from the events before it.

Sounds of slow and steady footsteps filled the tunnel. A light shone in front of them.

"You called doll?"

"Yeah... do you think we could-"

"We can do whatever it'll take to make this easier on you,"

I nodded silently before sparing them a glance, "I'd like to change... and some water please."

"Anything you'd like princess," and they left me in silence.

In the darkness, at the end of my bed, I found my bag. I pulled out a pair of long, black, soft bell bottom pants, and an oversized shirt from a visit to Vegas months ago. It had the neckhole cutout which made it more of a one shoulder top. It was black and had stark white lettering on it that read "Stolen from Mabel's Whore House Las Vegas, Nevada."

Next, I pulled out some sock and a pair of old beat up low cut converse. They had threads cut and pulled everywhere. The black was faded from the sun and the rubber was starting to peel from the sides and bottoms. They were given to me by Nikki, when I first met him. He saw me walking out the street without shoes at all. He called me over and asked me to wait there. I was cautious but made the right decision, as he came back with the shoes and friendship. I was lucky that time. He told me the shoes were lucky too, they were his when he was maybe 12 or 13. He said they were just rotting in his closet but better to be of use to someone else rather than just sit. I was grateful and he was overjoyed when they fit. Just like our friendship, it fit, until the heroin took over his life. When he wants to get over that, we can pick up being friends... speaking of friends, I guess there are some of my own I should deal with.

Are we friends? What are we? Individually? As a collective? There are quite a few answers I more than deserve

With a puff of anxiousness, I rubbed my wrists as to relieve the invisible pressure. I hobbled my way through the tunnel and back to a more familiar setting.

-x-

Our talk didn't feel like it lasted very long but by the time we were done sorting things out it was almost sunrise. I was exhausted and all the things I found out today rolled around my head in a jumbled mess of what I knew to be the truth.

They led me to the back to a different hall this time, one I hadn't seen before. It was where a high ceiling was or used to be. All that was left were the high arches and piles of rocks. It looked like the rocks had covered the entrance but the closer we got the more one started to appear.

It was half covered. It was also small enough to where you'd have to turn sideways to slip through the passage.

Dwayne led first with a torch, it seemed to be his job every night. Our torch bearer.

David had removed his leather gloves before I'd met them in the main cave. He held my hand gently, but his hands were still quite rough compared to my own.

Marko, who was right behind me, whispered directions and explained what was coming next in the hall. Sometimes watching for sharp rock was necessary. He explained they wanted this hall itself to look like it didn't exist. It was for meetings. Special occasions and the likes... in my own head it meant special occupants.

Paul, who swayed at the back of the group, hardly said a word. His seriousness was something I'd never really seen but it filled me with anxiousness. This talk, wherever it was heading, was serious enough to change his demeanor, almost his whole character.

The hall eventually opened more and led to a bigger room. Not quite as big as the main cave area but bigger than my own bed-room area had been. The rocks let off a cool to the touch feel. I was glad I actually but on pants and t shirt. Although, a jacket or a borrows shaw from Star wouldn't have hurt.

It was dark but lit from a combination of old miners lamps and the hole in the ceiling which provided moonlight to much of the room. In fact, it seemed perfectly place, perfectly enough to be shining light on the one person already waiting for our arrival. Max.

Why was Max here? Was he in trouble? Was I in trouble?

The only time I remember any sort of relation between my boss and the biker group were the times he warned me away from them. How he told me they were trouble and how I should steer clear of them. To stay calm if they ever came into the shop.

But how does any of this correlate? How does- my questions died before they hit my lips.

"I know you have questions but first I've been advised that we should start with the first set events in order and after that we'll move to a question and answer period. Does that sound fair to you?" David smug smirk crossed his face before slowly dispersing back to the serious one he previously held.

A small nod from me, as I was invited to sit in a chair, began our story time.

I guess it all made sense. In some sort of twisted way, I knew they were right. Hell I was proof of the truth.

Signing back into the pillow, I raised my hand above my face. I moved it, examining it. How could such a little thing change me?

My skin was it's typical pale but with a nicer, less glossy sheen to it.

My nails which had a good length to them before had grown dramatically. Instead of the normal rounded, they seemed to have become sharper in a short time.

Everything felt the same really. But why do I not feel different? It's such a big change to be taking in. I just figured maybe when I really started living my life it'd actually feel, I don't know.. different? Maybe this is just the beginning... Maybe it takes a little time?

"Don't worry Doll, it won't be long," David's smooth voice called quietly.

I could see him in the pitch black plain as day. That was another small change. Seeing in the darkness no longer an issue. Readjusting to sunlight was though. My eyes felt heavy and almost stung in daylight. Like I'd been very sleep deprived.

David came in slowly. His trench coat, leather jacket, and leather gloves were under his arm. Which left him in an unfamiliar black shirt, his black leather pants, and the black biker boots.

"It's hard to imagine you in anything else, you know," I whispered as he slowly took a seat on the side across from me.

"I know, blue doesn't really seem like my color,"

"Neither does a beard," he laughed a little before the silence settled again.

"I need to shave again soon, don't I? Too bad mirrors don't work too well," I nodded in agreement.

"How will I ever keep up my image for you boys," I sighed dramatically.

"The same way we were always meant to," he sighed as he stretch onto the bed, discarding his jacket, gloves and boots to the floor beside the bed, "we help each other."

I can't help myself but imagine how we could have been.

It would have been about 1432, that's what David had said anyway.

I tried to imagine myself with black hair. It's true. Once upon a time as David had put it earlier, in a much different time. I was a countess and my father, Max, was an earl. Max was my father. Is. He is my father. Maybe not biologically in this lifetime but he is nonetheless.

I was a countess, a young one. My hair was black and I was eighteen at the time I met David. I wasn't married or engaged at the time which was unheard of at the time. Everyone was betrothed or married by fifteen. And here I was at eighteen and still unmarried and not even close to being engaged.

For whatever reason, my father, Earl River, had refused any marriage proposal offered to me. At the time I'd never asked why, but Max told me it was because he didn't think any other family had a good enough offer. Their sons weren't worthy of me and their presents and offers of gold weren't enough either.

We lived in a castle. A small one, yes, but a castle nonetheless. I could remember the few people who worked in the castle. There was my maid, and my lovely nurse named Ivette. And the lovely women who worked the kitchens. Then there were the knights of the lands. Most were men who lived in our plot of land. Some circulated on the King's orders. Which was how David said we met.

Max has some old paintings of us. David and I. Max and myself. David told me they don't do me justice though.

Long silky black hair that was always braided into elaborate updos but hidden under the white headdress all women of nobility wore and adorned with a simple silver and amethyst circlet.

Simple red and gold dresses were the most common colors I had. A show of wealth, as the Sumptuary Laws stated were necessary. It felt unnecessary to show off but laws were laws back then.

The more David talked, the more came back to me. I began to remember things.

I was running, I think, the first time I met him. There was some kind of chaos going on in the gardens where my father was. And I was on my way when four knights burst around a corner, in a full on battle. Servants going into the kitchens and around the stables were scared into running for safety, dropping things left and right. Scared for their lives.

The swordsman wore various types of clothes but what stood out most was the blue and silver decorated poncho. The silver crosses meant they were servants of the king's personal guard, the musketeers.

If not for those they probably would have been executed for causing havoc in the public. Not that they were my farther's rules, but the king's, in order to keep things running smoothly.

Screaming and the musketeers and the men they were fighting kept coming towards me. Frozen in my spot momentarily, I'd come to learn that was a rather big mistake. I was grabbed and pulled like a human shield in front of one of the offending criminals.

He ran with me as if to assure his immunity, holding a woman of high status captive. I closed my eyes tight and put my heels to the ground, afraid of what was next to come.

Silly enough, I tripped. Over a runaway chicken. My fall brought the criminal down to and led to his capture by one of the other knights. I, however, was helped up gently by a pair of stunning ice blue eyes.

They were attached to a person of course, how silly of me not to mention that. He was blonde, not in an overwhelming sense but blonde like the golden sun overhead. And his eyes, bluer than the icy ocean in the nearby town. His face was ruggedly handsome. The gold mane sweeped over his face a bit, where golden brown eyebrows shaped slight concern, the ice orbs seemed to relax with each passing second. His face came down to an angular jaw that complimented his cheekbones, the light scruff that was present on his cheeks and jaw, and his lips were as the top one was a bit thinner than the bottom.

"You're alright, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Stupid first words, I know.

"Stunned into silence by my dashing good looks or did the fall really throw you into a shock?" And I knew myself to be blushing at his words but why wouldn't I be? The sun seemed to give him a halo from my view.

"Perhaps it's a bit of both Ser.."

"David, Ser David Sutherland, House of the Shining Ilses my lady," he bowed his head lightly as he helped me to my full height.

"Lasy Calista Rivers, Countess of Worcester,"

"Lady Rivers you say? Your father being Lord Rivers?" He asked an eyebrow raised and a slight mischievous smirk pulled at his lips.

"Yes, that would be my father," A frown began to grace my face, what would my father have to do with anything yet? Would this man try to use me for my status, money, to get close to my father? He's already the highest status one could be without being born into it, he gets unlimited funds from the king himself, but what use is of getting close to my father?

"I hope that means I will see you often then, it'd be a shame to spend months here only to never see you again," he watched my face as I carefully took in his words.

"Perhaps you will Ser Sutherland," I paused, attempting a tone of indifference, "our home isn't too big that you don't see everyone at least once a week."

David's smile grew in confidence, "Then I shall make it my missions to see you once a day my lady."

And he was right in his confidence. He found a way to see me everyday. In the courtyard, the gardens, the kitchens late at night, and during my studies. I saw his golden blonde hair everywhere I turned. His ice blue eyes were burned in my brain.

"Is there anywhere in the castle that you are not? Is no where safe?"

It'd taken him weeks to break down my walls and fronts. It wasn't that I wasn't interested, it was the law and all the silly strings that came along with being a high born. I knew I shouldn't have liked him and I gave him every opportunity to change his mind. I tried glaring, snide remarks, and even sharp wit to wear him away but nothing stopped him. He would wink despite my glares, toy with me, and left me without comment as he overcame most of rudeness. I couldn't have prepared myself for my situation.

"Your words spit fire at me Lady Calista but I know your heart sings a different tune. You desire me. My glances, my voice calling yours, my touch. What can I say my lady except, my heart is yours."

Things had escalated between David and I in a short amount of time. It started friendly conversation to secret meetings and to promises and proclamations of love. Jesus. Looking back, we were basically fucking Romeo and Juliet.

"No daughter of mine will be with anyone less than her,"

"But father he is just as good as we are,"

"Calista, I don't care. We will not be breaking the laws. You will be married to a noble man when the time is right, it just won't be Ser David,"

"You're right about me being married. But it will be to Ser David. We will be together even if we have to leave,"

My father paused in disbelief, "No such thing will happen. Ser David will be send back to serve the king-"

"But father, pl-"

"No. And you will be punished for your ungratefulness."

He seemed to rant for hours on end about status and pride. But in the end, I was made to work like the peasant ladies in the kitchen. I never understood how lucky I was to be high born until I worked with those women. Their jobs were hard and lives even harder. The worst part was, I didn't see David hardly ever. He stayed away from me, didn't spare me a smile but I could tell from the soulless look in his eyes that he wasn't happy about this either.

I'd been sent out to the fields to pick up fruits for dinners from local farmers. I was dressed in peasant clothes and my face was dirty from the conditions I'd been forced to live in. No access to my old things or even an audience with my father.