“Calm down.” William handed Bryce another blanket, trying not to stare at the naked boy.

 

“What’s this place?” Bryce looked around and tried to move, but the vampire gently stopped him.

 

“Somewhere safe.” William addressed him a little reassuring smile. “I need you to stay still, I have to clean the wounds.”

 

“Did you see that guy, back in the park?” Bryce whispered, his eyes showing desperation and fear.

 

“What guy?” William frowned, worried the werewolf could lose control again and turn back into his wolf form.

 

“There was a guy, just a few minutes before you found me, he…he tried to trap me and I…I attacked him. I think-” Bryce took a deep breath, closing his eyes again. “I think I killed him.”

 

William felt his heart clench at how broken Bryce’s voice sounded, and sat on the bed next to the boy. His hand reached Bryce’s cheek and the werewolf immediately opened his eyes.

 

“It’s okay.” William whispered, trying to reassure him. “I promise I’ll look into it.” He made eye-contact with Bryce and paused for a couple of seconds. “But now I need you to let me help you.”

 

“If I’m a-- a werewolf and I bit that guy, is he…” Bryce hesitated, but let William come closer to him.

 

“If this was your first full moon, you’re too young to turn him into a werewolf.” The vampire saw him relax at that. “You need to live ten full moons before you can turn people.”

 

“So he might be okay?” Bryce sounded hopeful, and William let his lips curve into a little smile.

 

“It could all be in your head.” William saw the boy frown and his smile widened. “It’s common for newly turned werewolves to have hallucinations, especially if they’re out of control.”

 

“Oh.” Bryce looked down at the sheet covering him and his cheeks suddenly turned pinker. “I’m-- oh God, I feel ridiculous right now.”

 

William took the antiseptic from the first aid kit and smirked. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn to transfigure clothes too.”

 

“How d’you know all this stuff?” Bryce hissed as William started to clean the wounds on his arm.

 

“It’s kind of my job.” The vampire smiled, glad Bryce had calmed down. “Me and my friends are hunters.” The werewolf’s eyebrows shot up and William grinned. “We hunt bad guys.”

 

“What d’you mean with bad guys?”

 

“Uh, evil creatures.” William explained as he continued to clean the wounds. “Mainly werewolves and vampires.”

 

“Wait, do not-evil vampires exist?” Bryce frown deepened, and his free hand fisted the sheet.

 

“Uh…me?” William offered a soft smile at Bryce’s shock.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t--” The werewolf blushed and looked away, visibly mortified. “I mean, it was--”

 

“Hey, it’s okay.” William gestured Bryce he had to clean the scratches on the other arm and the boy turned, careful to keep the sheet over himself. “Do you remember when it happened? The bite, I mean.”

 

“A couple of weeks ago.” Bryce swallowed around the knot in his throat and looked at his free hand. “There was this big dog, a wolf, in my garden and it attacked me.” He hesitated for a few seconds, then his hand fisted the sheet tighter. “Everything was fine, but last week… it turned messy and I kind of lost control.”

 

“It was the full moon.” William nodded slowly, continuing his job. “During full moons werewolves are still conscious of what’s going on and they can control their actions, but they can’t control their transformation.”

 

“I ran from home.” Bryce admitted, biting again on his lower lip. “I ran and I didn’t stop. Until last night.”

 

“Where d’you come from?” William looked up at him while he put the antiseptic on the last wound.

 

“Dallas.” Bryce raised his gaze and made eye-contact with William. “Quite a run.”

 

“Wow.” William looked baffled by that and Bryce smiled. “Now, that’s good, a smile.”

 

Bryce’s cheeks turned pinker once again, and William gestured him he was done with the arms and needed to medicate the wound on his back. Bryce secured the sheet around his waist and lied down on his stomach, trying to hide his embarrassment.

 

“I’ll show you where you can take a shower and then I’ll get you some clothes.” William started to gently wipe the blood and dust from the wound. “You and Mike should have the same size of clothes, I’m sure he doesn’t mind.”

 

“Would--” Bryce hesitated, and William saw his shoulders tense. “Would it be a problem if I, you know, if I wanted to--”

 

“Keep your wolf form?” William asked, his tone wary.

 

“Yeah. Well, at least for a while.” Bryce threw a glance over his shoulder. “I kind of feel safer that way.”

 

“Don’t worry, it’s okay.” The vampire smiled, catching Bryce’s eye for a second. “It’s a normal reaction. Actually, your wounds would heal much faster.”

 

“Is there something you don’t know?” Bryce asked with a soft laughter.

 

“Actually, yes.” William admitted with a grin. “Why d’you keep growling at Gabe?” Bryce raised an eyebrow and William’s grin widened. “The guy that was with me in the park.”

 

“Your boyfriend?”

 

“Yeah.” William confirmed as he gestured Bryce he could sit up.

 

“He kind of wanted to shoot me. I don’t exactly like him, right now.” Bryce admitted with a little smile. “But he was trying to protect you.”

 

“He’s a good guy.” William nodded slowly, and made eye-contact with the werewolf. “C’mon, let’s get you a shower and then you can choose if you want to keep human or wolf form.”

 

Bryce nodded and stood slowly from the bed, following William out of the room with the sheet secured around his waist.

 

~~

 

 

“When are we gonna see the werewolf?” Brendon whined, looking up from his Nintendo DS. Sisky had disappeared with Alex half an hour before and Ryan was sitting at the table, reading something, while Gabe just watched Brendon’s game, sitting next to him.

 

“The werewolf has a name.” William raised an eyebrow, leaning against the doorframe.

 

“And the name is?” Gabe smirked halfway between curious and amused.

 

“Guys, this is Bryce.” William moved aside and a wolf with a soft-looking blond fur walked hesitantly in the library. “Bryce, these are some of the guys.” He gestured towards them. “The smart and cute one there at the table is Ryan.” Ryan arched an eyebrow and waved briefly at the wolf, a soft smirk on his lips. “That one on the couch is Brendon. He seems a bit of an idiot, but he’s got a damn fine ass.”

 

“Hey! I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you.” Brendon pouted at those words, then a grin stretched his lips as he looked at Bryce. “The part about my ass is true, though.”

 

Bryce sat next to William’s leg and turned to look at Brendon.

 

“And that’s Gabe, you two already met.” William felt Bryce tense and his hand immediately found its way to the werewolf’s head, scratching reassuringly behind his ears. “Hey, it’s okay, he’s not gonna hurt you.”

 

“Uh, Bill.” Tom stopped dead in his tracks behind the vampire. “Why are you petting a werewolf?”

 

Bryce turned and looked at Tom for a couple of seconds, then turned back to William.

 

“He’s Bryce.” Brendon replied, standing from the couch. “He’s staying with us for a while.”

 

“About that, why is he a wolf, right now?” Gabe asked without approaching, knowing Bryce didn’t trust him yet.

 

“He needs to get familiar with the environment.” William looked as Tom walked past them, joining Ryan at the table. “I guess it’s common with newly turned werewolves. Cassie said they had wolf!Haley around for a while after she got bitten.”

 

“They feel safer, they can defend themselves better as wolves.” Ryan added, nodding slowly.

 

“And they get cuddles.” Brendon winked at Bryce, causing William to roll his eyes.

 

“How are we gonna communicate?” Tom asked with a frown, visibly confused. “Last time I checked wolves didn’t speak.”

 

“We established one bark for yes and two for no.” William explained, glancing at Bryce with a smile.

 

“Oh. My. God.” Maja squealed from behind William, then quickly reached him and Bryce. “He’s so damn cute.” She added, lowering herself until she was face to face with the wolf. “Nice to meet you, cutie, I’m Maja.”

 

Bryce barked once and raised a paw, then rested it on Maja’s upturned palm.

 

“He’s Bryce.” William grinned as Maja scratched Bryce’s head. “And I’m pretty sure he likes you a lot.”

 

“I’m so envying you right now.” Gabe rolled his eyes, clearly ironic. Bryce turned to look at him and barked twice, then growled.

 

“I guess one means ‘I love you’ and two means ‘fuck off’, then?” Gabe looked directly at the wolf, challenge filling his voice.

 

Bryce barked once and growled again, and William sighed.

 

“Gabe, don’t push it, just give him time.” William glared at his boyfriend, then turned towards the wolf. “And you, stop threatening him, he’s not gonna hurt you.” William turned and looked at Gabe first, then at Bryce again. “Are you two gonna behave?”

 

Bryce barked once and Gabe nodded with a little shrug, then walked closer.

 

“Peace, buddy?” The vampire looked at Bryce, who hesitated a few seconds, then barked again, looking away. “It’s a start.” Gabe sighed, gaining a smile from William and Maja.

 

“C’mon, I’m gonna show you your room, we’ll meet the others later.” William headed towards the stairs and Bryce followed him under Gabe’s worried glance.

 

“Jealous of a wolf?” Maja teased him, grinning.

 

Gabe laughed at that, shaking his head. “First, he’s still partly human, not completely a wolf; and second, I don’t have any reason to be, I trust Bill.” He addressed a little smirk at Maja and walked back in the library. Brendon followed Bryce and William, and Ryan went back to his book.

 

“And the spirit?” Tom asked, looking at the witch.

 

“Keeps playing hide and seek. So I’m gonna cheat.” Maja shrugged, gaining a perplexed looks from both Gabe and Tom.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryan looked up again, confused.

 

“Well, spirits can choose whether to be seen or not. So I’m gonna use a little trick I learned a while ago.” She smiled at the curious glances the others addressed her. “There’s a ritual that forces spirits to show themselves, whether they want it or not. They won’t be able to hide anymore.”

 

“I don’t think that’s so clever.” Gabe raised an eyebrow, and Maja turned to look at him. “This house id old, d’you have any idea how many spirits there could be in here?”

 

“Well, we could wait for the spirit to kill someone.” Tom retorted looking at Gabe, clearly sarcastic.

 

“Don’t you think that if he was that angry, we’d already have a corpse?” The vampire frowned, trying not to sound too bitter.

 

“If he’s sticking around there must be a good reason.” Maja admitted with a little shrug. “Something happened. Something that really pissed him off.”

 

“Like someone who moved in?” Ryan moved his worried gaze from Tom to Gabe and back.

 

“Maybe.” Maja nodded, looking at them as well.

 

“Great.” Tom shook his head, then sat at the table in front of Ryan.

 

Gabe didn’t say a word and just stood next to the couch with his gaze fixed on the floor, thinking. Maja addressed him a curious glance and Gabe hesitated for a couple of seconds.

 

“I need to talk to Bill.” Before anyone could say anything, he rushed towards the door. “Shit.” 

 

~~

 

“How long is he gonna stay with us?” Brendon walking beside William as soon as they left Bryce in his room.

 

“I don’t know, but he needs a place to stay and someone to help him through this.” William looked worried as he talked. “We need to call Zack at the department.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Bryce says he attacked a guy back in the park.” William explained, glancing at Brendon. “If there really was an aggression, the police would probably know it by now.”

 

“I’ll call him right away.” Brendon nodded, his tone serious and concerned. “He looks nice, though.”

 

“He is.” William showed a little smile at that. “He’s just scared he might have hurt someone.”

 

“Where is he from?” Brendon frowned, realizing he didn’t even know if Bryce was from around Chicago or not.

 

“Dallas.” William grinned at the surprise on the other vampire’s face. “I know, I was kind of shocked too.”

 

“Bill.” Gabe reached them and they both stopped, turning to look at him. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

 

“Sure.” William raised an eyebrow, worried by the serious look in Gabe’s eyes.

 

“I’ll go make that phone call.” Brendon nodded and walked to his room, leaving them behind.

 

“What is it?” William asked as Gabe took his hand and dragged him towards their room. As soon as they were inside, Gabe closed the door and gently pushed William against it. “Gabe?”

 

“I love you.” Gabe looked at him in the eye, his voice low and determined. “Nothing can change that. Not now, not ever. I love you.”

 

“I love you too, Gabe, you know that.” William brought his hands to the sides of his boyfriend’s neck.

 

“I’ve done many horrible things in the past.” Gabe never broke eye-contact, and William felt something in his stomach clench. He knew about Gabe’s reputation, about the vampire he was before. Not in details, but he knew he’d done terrible things. “I just want you to remember I’m not that person anymore.”

 

“I know you’re not.” William stroked Gabe’s cheek softly, trying to understand what was going on. “Gabe, you’re scaring me.”

 

“I might know who the spirit is.” Gabe admitted, and looked away from William’s surprised gaze. “I think I killed him a long time ago.” William tensed slightly at those words. “I didn’t recognize this house before, Pete and Patrick made a lot of changes since then, it was rebuilt, but now I know it was here.”

 

“You told Maja?” William asked, trying to lock their gazes together again.

 

“Not yet.” Gabe looked up, surprised to see William wasn’t freaking out. “I needed to tell you first.”

 

“We have to tell her and then we have to find the bones and burn them, so we can put the spirit to rest.” William’s thumb kept stroking Gabe’s cheek.

 

“You’re not kicking me in the butt?” Gabe seemed baffled by William’s calm tone.

 

“No.” William smiled softly, with an edge of hurt in his gaze. “But it’s not easy either.”

 

“I love you.” Gabe whispered again, leaning forwards so that his lips touched the other vampire’s ones.

 

“I know.” William closed his eyes and fought the knot in his throat as Mikey’s familiar voice spoke in his head, ‘Ask yourself if you’re ready to share your bed and your blood with a murderer’. “I love you too.” And William hoped that that was going to be enough to be ready.

 

~~

 

 

“Everyone’s ready with the salt?” Maja looked around and saw the hunters nod. They had waited for Mike and Cassie to go out, so she wouldn’t be in danger, and now Maja’s ritual was ready.

 

“Where’s Bryce?” Brendon asked, looking around with a frown.

 

“I told him to stay in his room, it’s safer.” William checked his shotgun and the rock salt bullets.

 

“Okay, remember the plan.” Maja looked around again and moved only when she was sure everyone was ready. They had to trap the spirit in a circle of salt to make sure he couldn’t hurt anyone.

 

Sisky put something on the ground in the middle of the room and drew a weird symbol around it with red sand. When he went back to his place Maja nodded and started to read something in Latin from a little old book.

 

Several seconds later she stopped, and something, someone, began to appear next to Gabe. Both Billie Joe and Haley turned and got ready to shoot it, but the spirit raised his hands in defeat as soon as he became visible.

 

“It’s not me.” The ghost immediately said, looking around to make sure no one was going to shoot him. “I’m David, I’m a friendly spirit and that fucking salt stings like hell.”

 

“The salt stings?” Joe arched an eyebrow, actually lowering his gun.

 

“Dude, you’re a ghost.” Tré frowned, shaking his head. “You don’t feel things.”

 

“Yeah, well, whatever, it’s not that simple.” David shrugged carelessly. “It’s not nice to shoot a pretty boy, anyway.”

 

“This one doesn’t really seem angry.” William admitted, grinning despite himself.

 

“This one has a name, you moron.” David glared, offended by William’s tone. “And I don’t like the word ‘ghost’ either.”

 

“Uh, sorry.” William smirked, lowering his gun. “You know where your angry friend is?”

 

“What? Worried he might kill your boyfriend?” David grinned at the surprise on the hunters’ faces. “Pierre’s not one for violence anymore, he’s very zen about his after-life now. He’s a very talkative person when you get him in the right mood.”

 

“It’s him, then?” Gabe finally spoke, looking directly at David.

 

“Yep. And oh, he’s so so pissed you showed up here and decided to stay.” David explained, his tone light and relaxed. “He’s still a bit annoyed by the fact that you…uh, killed him? And you didn’t even get him off first.” Gabe glared at him at that. “Oh, you didn’t tell them how you killed him?” David seemed sincerely surprised, and if William hadn’t been so confused, he would have seen the edge of regret in his eyes. Everyone turned to look at Gabe, the silence tense and thick in the room.

 

“I don’t even want to know.” Joe shook his head, not looking at Gabe.

 

“I think I should shut up now.” David winced at the angry look in Gabe’s eyes.

 

“Yeah, you should.” Gabe almost growled, avoiding William’s gaze.

 

“It’d be a perfect moment to disappear, but I guess I won’t be able to do it so I’m just gonna walk away and whistle my way out of the room before he shoots me.” David started to actually whistle as he walked towards the wall, but when he reached it, his face collided with the cold wallpaper. “What the fuck?”

 

“Whoops. Side effect of the ritual.” Maja addressed him a little smirk.

 

“After-life sucks.” David pouted and walked towards the door without looking back. “Pierre’s in the library, anyway.”

 

~

 

“Relax, I’m not going to attack any of you.” A voice said as soon as Maja, William, Gabe and Billie Joe entered the library not three minutes later. The others were outside, ready to come in if something went wrong.

 

“Then why did you cause those accidents in the past few days?” Maja looked at the boy as soon as she spotted him near the window.

 

“I said I’m not gonna attack anyone, but I’m still pissed.” Pierre arched an eyebrow, addressing Gabe an eloquent look.

 

“We’d be…uh, glad to put you to rest.” Billie Joe offered, a bit surprised the ghost was so calm.

 

“I have my reasons to stay here.” Pierre glared at him, then moved his gaze towards Gabe. “And yeah, I actually thought about killing you, but you hurt enough people already, and William shouldn’t be one of them.”

 

“How long have you been watching us?” William asked with a frown, a little creeped out by the whole thing.

 

“Long enough to know that you’d be destroyed if you lost him.” Pierre’s tone was flat, but William could tell it wasn’t easy for him to say those things. “I’m not saying that you won’t lose him, but I’m not going to be the one who takes him away.” Pierre added with a soft unhappy chuckle.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gabe almost growled, furious.

 

“I’m just one of the many, and you know that.” Pierre took a few steps towards the vampire. “And sooner or later he’ll get tired of ignoring how many people you killed and he’ll want to find someone better.”

 

“Shut up.” William narrowed his eyes and lifted his gun. “Shut the fuck up.”

 

“Mikey warned you, didn’t he?” Pierre glared back, determined not to let the thing go. “He told you to be ready to face all this.”

 

“Leave Mikey out of this.” William whispered, anger and guilt clenching at his stomach.

 

“I won’t hurt anyone, but you can’t send me back to Hell or whatever.” Pierre looked at Maja and raised an eyebrow. “Unless I tell you where I’m buried.”

 

“We can find out without your help.” Billie Joe put his gun away and shrugged.

 

“Yeah, well, good luck with that.” Pierre grinned as he walked towards the door. “You’re lucky me and David are the only ones in here.”

 

“So what now? We’ll have him around like that?” William asked, confused and angry.

 

“We don’t have much choice, until we find the grave.” Maja sighed, wishing she had thought twice before doing the damn ritual.

 

~

 

“At least now we know when they’re in the room.” Gabe sighed as the door closed after him.

 

“How?” William asked without turning to look at him.

 

“Well, we can see them.” Gabe frowned a bit, not sure he’d understood William’s question.

 

“How did you kill him?” William looked at him this time, and Gabe saw the hurt look in his eyes.

 

“I…” Gabe hesitated, knowing that he had to tell William the truth. “He had a debt to pay and I ‘convinced’ him to pay for it with sex, and after I was done, I…I drank his blood, ‘til the last drop.”

 

William felt his heart ache and sink low in his chest. “You’re not that person anymore.” It wasn’t a question, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

 

“I’m not.” Gabe confirmed, taking a step towards William.

 

“It’s just that sometimes it’s harder than I thought.” The younger vampire took a step back, not looking at him in the eye.

 

“Bill, look at me.” Gabe tried, not sure if William was asking him to wait or to go away. When the boy didn’t reply he felt a wave of fear and anger rise in his chest. “Fuck, what d’you expect me to say? ‘Sorry sweetie, I was a fucking son of a bitch and I had this little thing for murders and rapes’?” Gabe paused just a second, realizing he’d raised his voice. “It’s not that easy, you know? You have no fucking clue, you never even killed a man.” William looked up at those words and Gabe immediately regretted letting his rage take control over him. He knew one of the few things that really got William furious was being called immature, subtly or not. He knew it, and from the look in William’s eyes, he’d just made the biggest mistake he could have done. “Bill, I didn’t --”

 

“Fuck you.” William whispered, not believing his own ears. “Get the fuck out.”

 

“Bill --” Gabe tried to take another step towards him, but the other vampire shook his head.

 

“Get the fuck out.” William repeated, then looked away to hide the tears.

 

~~

 

A/N: You wanted drama? Here, all yours. *grins* And it’s just the beginning.

 

 

 

JM