Disclaimers: All characters belong to rightful owners.
Story concieved by Lee.


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"Yea. I've heard that Japan is quite lovely." Dante agreed as he nodded slightly. Well, can you imagine? Dante was actually managing to have pleasant conversation with someone without having been paid to do so; it was a bloody miracle. Still, the guy really did seem to be alright and, beside that, he had offered nicotine. "Maybe you'll get to see it yourself, someday."

"You're right, though. Dante _is_ Italian and I _am_ Mexican." He shrugged slightly as he tipped his head on side. It probably was a bit weird, but, considering its source, it was also probably understandable. "It's just a nickname my sister gave me quite a long time ago. I'm not even sure why she chose it."

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"Ah, it was just the usual school day." Sammy shrugged a bit as he let the girl lead him on. After all, what was the point of telling her that he had been in the middle of a nice angst session about all she had been telling him? That never really seemed to have any great results, anyway, and, beyond that, there was still that part of him that just wanted so much to believe in it. Who, in fact, _did_ believe it wholly. "Got into trouble, flirted, annoyed people, had fun. You know how it is."

"How was your day, hon?" He asked as he tipped his head at her. "Anything interesting happen?"

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Lucia frowned a bit at his blatant lie. Instead of just telling the truth, he had side stepped her inquiry, and now figuring out what was wrong would be like pulling teeth. Of course, she had the gentle finesse of that could make the process less painful, but it was still quite irritating to deal with.

"Oh... nothing interesting really... didn't have anyone to counsel today, so my time is yours!" She grinned, nuzzling her face into Sam's arm. Breathing in the scent of him, her grin spread ear-to- ear. "So, if there's anything you want to talk about, shoot! I'm in the counseling kind of mood."

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"Ah, my own personal consellor, huh?" Sam grinned at this as he leaned to nuzzle a bit into Lucia's hair. Still, he had to smile as he drew the now-familiar scent of her shampoo, then even moreso as he realized just how quickly he had grown not only comfortable but _familiar_ with her. Not that he was usually stand-offish by any stretch of the imagination, but, even for him, this had to be a record.

"Well, I don't really know if I have much I need to talk about.." He mused as he tipped his head, in thought. Of course, he was still intent on evading for whatever reason, but he figured that he needed to find something to offer her. "I _am_ a bit worried about Lukie, though..."

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"Well, your paper work seems to be all together, Mr. Hawthorne. We appreciate your quick response in such short notice and your cooperation with us during this difficult situation," the young secretary chirped as she put away his files, making sure to "adjust" her skirt as placed it in the bottom drawer. She smiled as she slauntered over to the desk where Nathan had been waiting for the past two hours. Taking a quick peek at the vice principal's door, she turned back to him, "Well, I know we're about to go on winter break, but honestly, I really can't wait to see a new face around this school. Even if we have to wait. My brother subs too, and I know that there aren't a lot of people want to sub for high schools, ya know? Especially with the length of time we're gonna need you. Carol, the teacher your substituting for, just found out that she has serious complications with her pregnancy and now has to be bedridden until she's ready to give birth. Have to stitch her up and everything if you know what I mean," she blonded replied as handed him the schedule. "But she won't be here for a while, so we're going to be alternating between you and another sub the board recommended. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is don't be a stranger."

"Of course, I won't," Nathan replied as he took the papers from the girl's hand. 'I know you're a student worker,' he thought to himself as he slowly backed out of the room. "I'm going to get going now, but, thank you so much for you help."

As the door closed behind him, Nathan couldn't hold back the chuckle as he leaned his head back against the door frame. Women were strange creatures, sometimes. Fascinating creatures, though. As he walked away from the administrator's office, he hurried down the hall to the exit, all the while staring down the folder in front of him, especially the bold letters and emblem on the cover. 'Psyche High School.'

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"Yay! Party!!" Arvel agreed, throwing his hands up in celebration, and Estelle was quick to add her own consent to that idea.

Jeremy merely rolled his eyes, "Great. But we have to be at drama at five, it's not like we have tons of time."

Arvel shoved Jeremy playfully, "Oh, relax! It'll be fun!" He hop- danced a few steps in the direction of the school's entrance. "Coming?"

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Sophia froze. No, she hadn't known that... "That's terrible," she muttered, voice barely above a whisper. How long ago had this been? Had the murderer ever been caught? It shouldn't have happened... there were many victims in cases like that, every day, but no one she could think of who deserved it less. "So you think this... is related to that?"

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Though he didn't have to hurry quite so much as Para, Darran nevertheless made pretty good time getting to the designated coffeehouse... thank god. Hurrying actually gave him less time to nervously wonder what he might say, obsess over the outfit he _hadn't_ changed, and so on.

But once he got there, he still wound up with nothing much to do except sip his coffee and nervously sneak glances at any nearby reflective surface. Only now he remembered that when they'd met, he'd been wearing fairly 'normal' clothes... in comparison to the current black bondage jeans/metal-studded cuffs/piercings ensemble. The t-shirt, too, with 'Lacuna Coil' framed in a giant sunflower, wasn't exactly... err, masculine, but at least it matched his hair, eh?

But hey, she was a clubber, how much could she mind...

So it was a good thing he saw Para walk in right then, or he probably would've swatted the issue back and forth in his mind till kingdom come. "Hey! Para, over here!"

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"I..." Nevan nodded slowly to her question as his eyes continued to take in the ghastly object on his desk. Now that he had made himself look to the doll, it seemed as if he couldn't glance away to save his life and, shuddering slightly, he frowned.

Yes. There was no doubt that it was connected to that night, but he couldn't figure out why or who would do it. It obviously meant that someone had been in his apartment to take the doll, but he couldn't think what it could mean.

"I... think that it has to be related to it..." Nevan agreed, finally, as he nodded slightly.

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So this meant Mr. Alraune was in danger, somehow. Sophia scowled at the very thought, already furious. New Eden was like a beast, stalking and lying in wait for the chance to devour anything pure, anything good. Or like a corrosive rust, eating away little by little at virtue until the entire city was Satan's playground.

But who would be sick enough to target him this way? She couldn't quite understand it... "I'm... I'm sorry to pry, Mr. Alraune, but... why do you think that?"

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"This doll, I bought last week when I was coming home from the Festival..." Nevan explained slowly as he tore his eyes from the thing. Tentatively, he glanced to the girl, but he wasn't sure he liked what he saw in her features any better. Again, he found himself why he was even telling her all of this, when it was likely best left unsaid and buried, but, really, it almost seemed as if she were drawing it out. Probably a good reason why the girl was a judge.

"My daughter, Elle, I used to collect dolls for her and, when... when I found them... her entire collection was absolutely destroyed." He winced a bit as he spoke this and, closing his eyes, he passed an unsteady hand over his features. Still, he continued on. "I don't... really know why anyone'd threaten me now or... or what they'd want to take, but..."

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"Oh! Hey, babe!" Para giggled as she caught sight of Dar and, waving happily, she quickly made her way over. Sliding into her seat, she grinned to herself as she noted that, really, they both looked more like they were about to go for a night out at the clubs instead of a quiet date in a coffeehouse; still at least her semi-dominatrix-with- an-undie-clad-guy-on-a-leash shirt and various leather accessories weren't entirely out of place. This was good.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long?" She asked as she tipped her head at him. Of course, considering that she ran all the way both ways, she was just about sure that she hadn't, but one had to be polite and ask those things. Of course, polite also usually meant not blantantly flirting, but, with a cute guy like Dar, that could probably be put aside.

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"I believe Lysander Santiago and Max Kant are employees of yours?" Sui asked mildly. Those were the two he'd caught. Young, probably no more than seventeen, both, pretty things, too. But they had killed his Drew, and he couldn't allow that.

The pimp felt Lem shudder and squeezed him reassuringly. He'd never let anything happen to his little pet.

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The school grounds were still quite bustling as Adiv stepped out of the building and, shouldering his overfull pack, he glanced around in expectation of seeing his mother near at hand, waiting for him. Still, no matter how he looked he saw no sign of her and, rather frightened by the implications of this, he wrapped his arms more tightly around his overslight frame.

Every schoolday, without fail, Majeeda would usually be waiting for him, but today she was nowhere in sight. Had something happened to her? Had she been hurt? Had she simply forgot? Was there something going wrong? Still, the most pressing question in his mind was a simple _why_ as he glanced fearfully to the other students.

As had become usual, a few upperclassmen already seemed to be eyeing him and Addie knew that it usually only took a few nudges to spur one of them into their usual acts. Though it could range to anything from the throwing of words to the throwing of punches, he knew that it usually meant going home with a new set of bruises and he wasn't thrilled at the idea of having to explain these to his to his mother, again.

Shivering softly, he burrowed a bit into the warmth of his coat as he tried to squeeze more tightly into the narrow corner where the stair railing met the side of the building. Perhaps it he just made himself small enough, perhaps if he could just try to be inconspicous...

"Aww, look! The widdle girlie's hiding!"

That was the only warning that his plans had failed and it was the last thing he really took notice of before the soda bottle one of the upperclassmen had thrown shattered against the side of Adiv's head.

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Alexei had given his grandmother the slip. He felt bad about it, knowing she would be worried when she realized he was no longer at the rink, but he needed to learn more about the great Evil inhabiting his city.

He had decided to stop by the high school, certain that was where the two demons would be hiding, but his search was distracted by a group of bullies beating up a frightened looking kid. Alexei stalked over to them, Erik in tow.

"Chachacha, we do not think this is a wise thing to be doing," he told the bullies pointedly.

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"What do you care?" The upperclassman who had thrown the bottle asked as he eyed the strange cactus-weilding boy. A smirk at his lips, he shook his head as he made a rather crude gesture toward the obviously unhinged youth. "Get lost before you end up like the little girl."

"Y-you really shouldn't..." Addie murmured as he slowly pulled himself together. Swiping at his brow, he got shakily to his feet and, crossing to the unknown boy, he shook his head. "It... it's alright, really. You don't have to..."

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"That is not nice," Alexei chided, setting Erik down gently, "we think you need a lesson in civility." He shuffled over to the boy, eyeing him curiously, "Did you know Sergey?" he mused, "He was older than you," sad, drooping eyes accompanied this statement, "He would not have approved of your attitude."

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"I need you tonight, Nathan, I need you really badly," the female voice begged on the other end of the cell phone. "Please..."

Nathan sighed as he placed his hands on the door. "What happened to your other sitter," he answered, obviously annoyed that his best friend had managed to ruin his plans for the night. He needed to find more souls and quickly. Usually he would comply with Thalia's request for a sitter; however, ever since he had met Lucia, it was like his life beforehand had just been a dream-- his makeshift family, his friends, being human. Now all he had was the reality of what he was and the gruesome task he had before him.

"She's sick," Thalia quickly chirped. She could tell that Nathan in a bad mood. She hated seeing him like this, especially when he finally blew up. It wasn't ilke she was doing it on purpose, she really did need a babysitter. But she really didn't want to get him angry.

"She's always sick," Nathan growled as he opened the door. "Here's a idea, stop calling the damn hypochondriac--" he paused as he looked at the scene before him. "What the hell is going on here?" His voice boomed, echoing against the walls of the school.

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"I... I... I don't know any Sergei..." Addie shook his head quickly, as if the strange boy were condemning him of something as opposed to asking a simple question. Still, upon seeing the sadness in Alexei's eyes, he frowned in sympathy. "I... I'm sorry that... he wouldn't approve. Are... are you okay...?"

Of course, the upperclassmen seemed to be using this time to plot, but, before they could really put anything into motion, a rather commanding voice boomed over them. Eyes widening, the troupe took off as if someone had very well put the fear of God into them. After all, a bit of fun wasn't worth all this...

Upon hearing this same, Addie turned his eyes from the boy who had helped him and, though there was nothing wholly off about the man, the boy suddenly noticed a sharp nausea in his stomach. Naturally, Addie couldn't identify why this would be so, but it didn't keep him from taking a single, small step back. Wrapping an arm about his upset stomach, he rubbed convulsively at this same with the other as he watched the commanding newcomer with wide eyes.

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Alexei eyed the new arrival thoughtfully. Whoever he was, he was good. No, better. No evil smell at all, not even a little. The boy could imagine this man holding him, loving him like Sergey... No. That wasn't the sort of thing one should imagine this man doing.

"Chachacha," he muttered, "This one," he placed a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, "was beig picked on. Chachacha, we only wanted to help..." He gave the boy a reassuring smile, "You should not be afraid of this man. He is Best. He will not hurt you." he was completely confident in this assessment. This was a man who was perfect.

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