Chapter 2

The drive back to Angelicas was quiet and Angelica would glance over at Kevin to see if he was okay. He still looked fairly pale and she could tell that he was tired. Once they got home, she would make sure he got set up in a room right away. He was so quiet that she thought he might have fallen asleep, but she was wrong.

"What exactly do you do for a living?"

"I own one of the major investment companies here in Orlando. Celeste and Celestin own the other one. Combined, we basically own half of this city, so we don't have to worry about money. If there's anything you need, just let me know."

He stared out the window, looking thoughtful. "Tell me about the people you live with. How did they end up with you?"

"I'm not really sure. They just sort of came to me. The place I live in is huge and does get lonely sometimes. I was coming out of this one building in town one day when a dark haired man approached me. Just looking at him, I could tell that he was a vampire, but he looked like he was down on his luck. We got to talking and I asked him if he had a place to stay. He said no and I invited him to live with me. He's the one that convinced me to take in stray vampires."

"So, there are four other vampires in the house as well as you?"

"Yes, and they are all guys. Howard Dorough, Alexander McLean, Brian Littrell, and Nicholas Carter. Howard, or as we call him, Howie, was the first one I took in. He's the one that convinced me to take in strays."

Kevin turned to look at her and she could see that he was now interested. "Who did you find next?"

"Howie and I found Alexander, Alex, in a street fight. He's tough as nails on the outside, but he has a big heart on the inside. He didn't know that one of the people he was fighting was a slayer. Fortunately, Howie and I did and we were able to save Alex from becoming dust. We offered him a place to stay and he excepted. So, the group grew to three."

Leaning back in his seat, he pursed his lips together. "Let me guess, Brian was the next one to join the group?"

She grinned. "Yes, Brian was next. The way I met Brian was different. The one day while I was driving through town, something told me to head to the one part of the city. I did and as I got closer to this one house, I could tell that something was going to happen and I was right. I parked the car and waited. About ten minutes later, this young man came out of the house. Just by looking at him, you could tell that something terrible had happened to him. I could hear yelling and screaming coming from the house. The man got in his car and took off. I followed him to the one bridge. He got out of his car and stood at the railing. I knew he was going to jump. I got out of my car and walked up to him. He turned to me and I could see that he was a vampire. We talked, just like I did with Howie, and I convinced him to come home with me. We became four."

"So, that leaves Nicholas. How did you meet him?"

She flipped on her blinker light and turned a corner before answering. "Nicholas, Nick, actually tried to rob me." She caught Kevin's surprised look and laughed. "Seriously, he did. He was newly turned. His parents had kicked him out of the house when they found out and he was living on the streets. He tried to mug me the one night and I had him against the wall before for he knew what was happening. I bared my fangs and he bared his. He was scared, but he still tried to be tough. I was still mad that he tried to rob me and I grabbed his arm. He cried out in pain and I quickly let him go. He told me that he tried to go out in the sun and received a nasty burn on his arm. Again, like the others, he came home with me and our group became five."

Kevin shook his head in amazement. "I still find it hard to believe that they all went home with you."

"You have to remember, Kevin, all of them were turned against their will. They had no place to go and I was offering them a place to live, a place to be safe."

"Did any of them have a really hard time adjusting?"

"Brian and Nick had the hardest time. Nick because he was so young when he was turned and Brian because he came from a very religious family. Even thought they joined us, we still had a time convincing them that things would be okay. But, they have adjusted well. They spent a lot of time together even more so now since they became a couple."

Kevin perked up. "A couple?"

"Yes, a couple. Brian, Alex, and Nick are all bisexual. Brian and Nick are together and Alex is with one of the guys from Celeste's group. Howie is straight and plays the field. You'll probably see some affection sometimes."

"Why aren't you and Howie together?"

"We don't have that certain connection. We prefer to be just friends. She glanced at him. What about you? Are you straight, gay, bisexual?"

"I'm straight."

"Are you going to have a hard time with Brian and Nick dating as well as Alex?"

"Not at all. If they're happy, that's all I care about."

Smiling, Angelica turned into her driveway and steered the car up to the house. Well, house wasn't exactly the right word. Mansion was better. The house was a huge two story Spanish style creation that overlooked the city. Numerous balconies jutted out from the house and the walkways were lined with rose bushes. Angelica rushed around to the other side of the car and helped Kevin get out. They walked up the steps and opened the door. Once inside, they were immediately greeted by the sound of a video games and four voices all talking at once.

Angelica rolled her eyes and hung up her coat. "They're like this all the time. You'll get used to it." She hung up Kevin's coat as well and they walked into the living room.

The room was done in white, cream, and peach with two couches, three lounge chairs, a huge TV and a fireplace with those fake logs. Two of the men were lounging on the couches. The one had dark hair and dark eyes while the other one had red hair and dark eyes. Kevin could tell that the red hair was not the mans natural color. The other two men were in front of the TV, playing the video game. The younger one had blond hair and blue eyes. The older one had brownish blond hair and blue eyes. They were sitting close together, trying to grab the others controller and Kevin guessed that those two were Nick and Brian.

Angelica leaned against the door frame and shook her head. "Haven't I taught you boys anything?"

Nick leaned his head back and grinned at her. "Of course you did. You taught us how to be absolutely annoying."

"And you're the worst of them all." Nick stuck his tongue out at her and received a smack on the head from his boyfriend.

Howie put down the magazine he was reading and walked towards the duo by the door. "So, who's your friend, Angel?"

"Guys, this is Kevin Richardson. Hell be living with us from now on."

Brian shot her a look. "So, your feeling about our sixth member was right!"

"You got it. Kevin was turned against his will. I saved him from being robbed tonight."

Howie extended his hand to Kevin. "Welcome to the group. I'm Howie. That's Alex on the couch." Alex gave them a salute and Kevin chuckled. "And those two goofs on the floor are Brian and Nick."

"So, those two are the couple and Alex is with one of the guys from Celeste's group?" The guys shot Kevin four very surprised looks.

"Don't worry, guys. I told Kevin about Brian, Nick, and Alex and he doesn't have a problem with it." She laughed as they breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to Kevin. "Come on. Ill show you to a room. You can talk with the guys tomorrow."

They left the room to the sounds of Nick making a smart remark to Alex and Alex tackling him for it. Brian and Howie thought it was terribly funny. Angelica pointed out various rooms to Kevin as they made their way to the long, winding staircase leading to the second floor.

"There are two empty rooms upstairs. My room is the first one on the right. Alex is next to me. Howie is next to him and Brian and Nick are at the end of the hall on the other side. The one is done in royal blue and emerald green. The other is done in hunter green and burgundy." She looked over at Kevin and noticed that he was beginning to sway. "Kevin? Are you okay?"

Kevin didn't have time to respond as he closed his eyes and collapsed. Angelica managed to catch him before his head hit the floor. The guys heard the commotion in the hall and ran out of the living room to see what happened.

"What happened?" Brian asked.

"I don't know. He just collapsed. Kevin?" She lightly tapped his face. He stirred and opened his eyes. "Kevin? What happened?"

"I got dizzy." He may have been awake, but he was still groggy.

"Kevin, did you feed tonight?" Alex asked.

"No...I haven't..."

Brian and Angelica exchanged looks. "Kevin?," She placed her finger under his chin and tipped his head back so that he was looking at her. "You've been a vampire for two weeks. Have you fed at all during this time?" He shook his head. Leaning back, she looked at Brian and Howie. "Go into the kitchen and get two bags. Bring a glass with you. Nick, Alex, help me get him to my room."

As Brian and Howie went into the kitchen, Nick and Alex got Kevin upstairs to Angelicas room. Positioning him on the bed, Angelica sat next to him on one side while Alex was on the other. Alex had his arm under Kevin's head, holding him up. Nick removed Kevin's shoes and pulled to covers up over the lower half of his body.

"Kevin?" She waited until he looked at her. "I know you don't want to do this, but you have to feed. If you don't, you'll die for sure." She unbuttoned the cuff on the shirt and rolled up her sleeve. "You need to get your strength. I'm going to give you some of my blood to give you strength. I don't think you're strong enough right now to break the skin, so Ill do it for you." She exposed her fangs and bit down on her wrist, drawing blood. She moved her wrist to Kevin's mouth and pressed it against his lips.

Kevin didn't want to drink any blood, but he knew that Angelica was right. The smell of blood sent his senses into overload and his hunger took over. He grabbed her wrist and began to drink, letting the blood fill his mouth and cure his hunger. Alex held Kevin's head up as he drank. Angelica gently stroked his hair. Brian and Howie came in the room with the two bags of blood and a glass.

Once they had the blood in the glass, Angelica pulled her wrist away. "That's enough of my blood." She took the glass from Brian and handed it to Kevin. "Here. Drink this. We always keep some around in case of an emergency."

Kevin gratefully accepted the glass and drank it slowly. He noticed that the wounds on Angelicas wrist had closed already. He finished the last of the blood and handed the glass to Nick. Alex moved off the bed and laid him down. In no time, Kevin was asleep.

"Why don't you guys go to bed since you all want to go shopping tomorrow? You all did feed, right?" She received four nods. "Good. Get some sleep." Howie and Alex said good night. Nick did as well, but stopped in the doorway when he noticed that Brian wasn't following.

"Brian? Are you coming?"

"I'll be along soon, baby. I need to talk to Angel for a few minutes." Nick nodded and left the room. Brian turned to Angel. "So, what are we going do? Is Kevin really going to stay with us?"

"He doesn't have any other place to go. He was turned against his will. The night he was turned, some slayers killed his creator and chased him. He managed to hide from them and had been on the streets ever since."

"Damn. He's been through a lot. He was so pale downstairs. Do you think hell be okay?"

She looked at the sleeping figure on he bed. "I'm sure he will. He should be fine tomorrow."

"Speaking of tomorrow, are we taking Kevin with us to the mall?"

"We have to. He'll need some clothes and other things. Were hooking up with Celeste and her bunch. I'll have her tell Kevin about how she ended up with her guys." She noticed that Brian was getting tired. "Go to bed, Brian."

"You going to be okay with him here tonight?"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." She gave Brian a gentle shove towards the door. "Go to bed. If you don't, Nick will start whining and I really don't want to hear that."

Brian laughed, said good night, and left the room. Angelica went over to her closet and pulled out a pair of black satin pajamas. She went into the bathroom and changed. Coming out, she saw that Kevin was still fast asleep. Turning off the light, she slipped into bed and pulled the covers over herself and Kevin. She moved closer and rested Kevin's head on her shoulder. Running her fingers through his dark hair, she couldn't help but smile.

"Don't worry, Kevin. Things will work out. You're safe now." She pressed a kiss against his forehead. "You're safe." Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep.

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