Chapter 357) Rogue

“Maybe the most that you can expect from a relationship that goes bad is to come out of it with a few good songs.” 

University of Britchester
Cameron On-Campus Housing

With an annoyed groan, Aria-Grace slammed her pen down onto her textbooks and notebook, before sliding back her desk chair so forcefully it nearly tipped over, as she rushed out of her room, already complaining loudly in the hallway.

“Goddamn it Bianca! If you need to have a trash talk show moment with Carson, can you guys do it when I am NOT cramming for a super-important exam!?” she roared.

As she turned into the living room now, she got quiet, then screamed ear-piercingly, as the scene before her made her blood run cold, before she sprang into action, brave as her mother Vivien had always been and still was. There was her uncle Gavin in the middle of drinking blood from her roommate and best friend Bianca.

AG jumped forward, grabbed Gavin and pulled, banging on him with her fist, until he released Bianca, who tumbled to the floor unconscious, while he flung AG off himself like a doll, sending her crashing to the ground, hard, which she acquitted with a painful shriek.

This instantly stopped the Vampire rage; Gavin froze with a shocked expression replacing his angry grimace.

“Oh shit! Oh no! Oh fuck!” he mumbled, clearly regretting losing control, staring wide-eyed at AG and the scene he had created.

Before AG could say or do anything, he had ported away.

“Gavin! Come back! CRAP! Shit! Bianca, are you okay?!” AG crawled over to her unconscious friend, relieved to feel vitals, but as she brushed back the hair, she saw fresh bitemarks on her neck.

“Oh no! Oh my God!”

AG carefully placed Bianca’s head back on the ground, while pulling out her cell phone, dialing with shaky hands.

“Hey – it’s me! You gotta come – NOW. I don’t care if you are recording, this is bigger. A Vampire kind of emergency! HURRY!” she hung up and within seconds Chase appeared in her living room, wide-eyed, as he grasped the scene.

“AG, you okay? What happened to her?!” he pointed at Bianca laying on the ground, while AG got up.

“I am fine, little bruised probably – but Bianca! He bit her! What do we do, Chase?! I am scared!” she panicked.

“Calm down. Who bit her?”

“Gavin did! Fangs and all!”

“What?! Goddamn it!” Chase cursed more colorfully while dropping to his knees, checking on Bianca, then picked her up.

“Go and open the door to her room for me. I don’t want to port with her like this. She needs to rest now.” Chase decided.

AG turned and stumbled down the hall in front of Chase, into Bianca’s room, where he placed her on the bed, doing a few more checks, then pulled AG out of her room with himself.

“Explain exactly what happened.” he demanded.

“No. First you tell me if she will okay!”

“Yes, she’ll be fine. He didn’t get to drink much, if anything. I don’t see any noteworthy blood loss.”

“Will she turn?” AG asked, worried.

“No, AG, that doesn’t work like that. Too much blood loss would be the thing to worry about, but like I said, not even remotely the case. She’ll be sore, but 100% fine, full and quick recovery. I noticed some bruises on her. Now, what happened?”

“I don’t really know, Chase. I was studying, then suddenly it got loud in the living room, loud talking, yelling, banging, I thought Bianca and Carson were rearranging furniture or something. Bianca gets weird spontaneous ideas sometimes; you cannot leave that girl unattended with Instagram or Pinterest or she is moving furniture and you know how Blaine feels about big changes to this place …”

“Yes, I know, he’s my father. And Gavin is my brother, AG, this is big. I need to know what you saw, please focus!”

“Well, I walked into the living room to bitch her and Carson out, but instead I saw Gavin, who had Bianca in some weird type of death grip right as he bit her … I think I screamed, then jumped him, till he let go, he tossed me around like a rag.”

“He what? Are you all right?! Let me see …” Chase tried to pull on AG’s sweater, but she swatted him away.

“No! Get off me! You’re my uncle, you creep! I am not letting you fondle me under my clothes, you weirdo! I said I am fine!”

“Oh Jeezes, seriously AG, fondling you is the furthest from my mind. I am not some creep, I am worried about you! Vampires are incredibly strong; I want to make sure you are not injured, some broken bone and maybe just don’t realize it because of a shock.”

“I just fell on my ass, that’s all Chase. You want to look at my bare butt now? Spoiler alert, it had a crack in it all along. Look, I appreciate your concern, but I said I am okay, don’t worry about it. The only thing shocking here is Gavin. I didn’t even think about them dating at some point anymore, evidently, he remembered! They broke up like two years ago. I NEVER would have thought he of all people would lose it like that! NEVER! He’s usually so sweet and all.”

“Yeah, he still is, AG, this is just a lapse in judgement, not a new normal, I am sure. It’s just more severe because we’re Vampires, if he were mortal, he’d have probably just raged and taken apart your living room or something. I knew he was pretty bitter about her dumping him just like that. Apparently, he had thought once he graduated high school she’d take him back, despite the age gap, then he found out about Carson and was festering a grudge for a long time, guess now it just boiled over. I really do have to find him before he goes off the rocker again, maybe bites someone else or whatever, cos if Grandpa Caleb hears about this, he’d have no choice but to send Caelan or Connell after him and then they would HAVE to punish him severely, so it doesn’t look like we get carte blanche just because we’re related to the leader. That, of course would not sit well at all with my parents, you know my dad Blaine well enough to know how he would get, but my mom Scarlett is fiercely protective of her kids, you see, I really need to do damage control here ASAP. Any idea where Gavin could have gone off to?”

“Are you for real, Chase? Do I look like his scheduler or like we share a Google Calendar or something?! I don’t know and honestly, don’t care! I am super-pissed at him!”

“Yeah, I get that. Anything will help, AG, any hint. I HAVE to find him, as soon as possible.”

“Sorry Chase, nothing. He hissed and cursed and poof, gone. That’s all I know. I am pretty much in the dark about anything Vampire, because you guys make such a secret about it, so I don’t have the first guess here.”

“Okay. I need to look for him. AG, not a word about this to nobody. You hear, NOBODY. Not even Nick, not your parents, definitely not my parents … nobody. Okay? I need to wipe her memory now. Maybe I should wipe yours …”

“Don’t you even ….! You are NOT wiping anyone’s memory! What is this, Men in Black?”

“AG, I have to do Bianca at least. Can you even fathom what would happen if she talked?”

“Hm. How? I need to know what you are planning to do to my best friend. You’re not hurting her, right? And she will remember me … and her studies … and parents and Carson … right?”

“Yes, AG. Come on now. You know me better than that. I don’t hurt people. I don’t even drink real blood, I …”

“Chase – TMI!”

“Fine. She will remember everything except the Gavin incident. I’ll compel her, replacing that memory with say .. her getting stung by some insects, which would explain the bite marks, and then maybe she fell off a ladder and knocked herself unconscious, hence the bruising. You found her and helped. Compelling is similar to hypnosis but will be permanent until I lift it. That’s all. All else will be fine. AG, I am trusting you here big time by not compelling you too. You cannot talk about this. To nobody.”

“Yes, Chase, I got that. Chill. Why do you think I called you and not grandma, grandpa or Caelan? I do get what all this means and what could happen. This is our secret.”

“Thank you. Not sure I can ‘chill’ though. My brother is out there going rogue. Can you be alone? I can get Patches to stay with you …”

“No, I don’t need Hailey to babysit me, thank you very much, I don’t need any more distractions, I really have to study, if I mess up that exam, Vampire attacks are like a vacation from the drama I face. You are welcome, by the way. So is Gavin, even though he is the glowing topper of my shitlist now! Make sure to tell him that from me, maybe delivered with an asskick!”

“I’ll make sure he knows he fucked up, and that he owes you a huge apology. Technically Bianca too, but since I wiped her mind, that won’t be happening. You did excellent. Thank you, AG, from the bottom of my heart, even in Gavin’s name. And I apologize for him too, please know this is an exception, not the rule. I need to fix Bianca now, and then I’ll just port out. Call me immediately if anything comes up or if Gavin returns. Okay?”