Carmine drove as fast as she could over to Zev's house, her conversation with Luke still playing over in her mind.

When she'd answered the phone, she hadn't thought much of it. Sure, Anna's sort-of ex-boyfriend didn't exactly call her every day, but it wasn't like they weren't friends. And they did talk every day after school in track.

"What's up?" Carmine asked casually, flipping through her history book. She wondered if maybe he'd done the homework already. Would he let her borrow his? Actually, it never occurred to her to wonder if he was any good at history. Maybe she should find out before she asked for his answers.

"You busy?" Luke asked, and something in his voice made her stop going through her stuff.

"What's wrong?" she asked, sitting up on her bed. He seemed to take forever before he answered.

"...Can you come over to Zev's house?" he asked.

"What – now?" It seemed kind of sudden.

"Yeah – if you can."

"What's wrong?" Now she was getting really worried.

"Mia's here." he told her. "She's been yelling at Rudi for like ten minutes."

"Seriously?" Carmine could hardly believe she'd heard him right. The morning after a full moon? What was Mia thinking?

"Yeah – in front of the whole neighborhood." Luke told her. "It's kind of bad – we just got her inside."

"I'll be right there." Carmine leapt off her bed, grabbing her keys off her desk as she went.

"Carmine!" Luke yelled into the phone before she had a chance to hang up.

"What?"

"My dad's here."

"Your dad? Why?"

"I mean – he's outside." Luke clarified.

"Yeah, but why?"

"He was here when the whole thing started. Now, he's busy yelling at Rudi."

"...Ok. So...why do I care?"

"He's a cop, remember? So watch out – just in case."

"Will do. Thanks." Carmine said as she hung up the phone. Actually, she was glad for Luke's warning; she did not want to run into an angry werewolf cop.

As she pulled onto Zev's street, Carmine slowed down. There was no way she was getting ticketed by Luke's dad on her way to pick Mia up from Zev's house. All she wanted to do was sneak in, grab her friend, and sneak out.

Carmine pulled into Zev's driveway. As she got out, she saw Rudi talking to some man – Luke's dad, she realized. He looked furious. Carmine ducked her head and hurried up the path to the front door.

"It's unlocked!" she heard Luke call when she knocked on the door.

Carmine opened the door and started to make her way in. But before she could cross the threshold, she was stopped; instead of crossing through into the hallway like every other house she'd ever been in, she slammed into an apparently invisible barrier that kept her from going any further. Her shoulder rammed into it first, sending an incredibly painful shock throughout her body. Actually, it reminded her an awful lot of being trapped by that salt barrier last year, and Carmine suffered a momentary panic. How could this happen? How could she really be trapped? Instinctively, she backed away, trying to clear her head.

Once she was a few feet away, she started to calm down. Ok, she wasn't trapped. She was just standing outside. Obviously, something else was going on here. She just had to calm down and figure out what it was.

Carmine started going through all the mythology she knew. Could it be a werewolf thing? She doubted it; she didn't remember anything about them being able to prevent people from going places. What about vampires then? Could it have something to do with what she was?

It took her a minute to remember that vampires couldn't enter a place unless they were invited. Was that really true? How had she never run up against this problem before now? Well, she guessed she hadn't really been anywhere new in the past year that she would need to be invited into. Well, except for today, apparently. Now all she had to do was convince one of the guys to come over here and let her in.

"Carmine?" Luke called out. Obviously, he had expected her to just walk through the door a few minutes ago. Too bad it didn't look like that would be happening any time soon.

"Yeah, Luke? Can you come here?" Carmine asked, trying her best to sound casual. She didn't really want to shout out that she couldn't come in – not when there were two very unhappy werewolves only a few yards away. And who knew where Zev's parents were? She didn't want to attract attention to this if she could help it.

"You coming?" Luke asked, appearing at the door. He looked like he couldn't believe she was still standing there.

"As soon as you invite me in." she told him. He looked shocked for a second before realization dawned on him.

"Oh – right. Sorry." he told her. "It's been a long morning."

"I'll bet." Carmine told him.

"Yeah...So, come on in."

She was a little nervous about trying to come in again; could it really be that simple? And did Luke actually have the authority to invite her? Did it have to be someone who actually lived there?

Slowly, she walked towards the threshold. But when she went to cross it, it was just like any other door she'd ever been through. She wasn't stopped; there was no pain – nothing. But her relief was short-lived as she remembered the reason she was here in the first place.

"So what's going on?" Carmine asked as she stepped into the living room. "Mia? Are you ok?"

Mia was sitting in a chair in the living room. Zev was kneeling in front of her, holding her hands in his and looking pleadingly at her. Carmine had never seen him look so worried.

"I'm fine." Mia told her, looking over to the hall where Carmine and Luke were still standing. But she had a wild look in her eye that Carmine had never seen before.

"She's been saying that, but something's not right." Luke told her quietly. He nodded for her to go into the kitchen with him.

"Where're Zev's parents?" Carmine asked. She really wanted to ask about Mia, but she had to make sure it was safe to talk here first.

"Zev's dad had an early shift today – there's no one here but us." Luke told her.

"Oh, thank God." Carmine breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, that's why my dad suggested it." Luke told her, giving a short nod.

"So what's going on with her?" Carmine asked, keeping her voice just under a whisper. If there was one thing she'd learned in the past year or two, it was just how quiet she could be to ensure the werewolf next to her heard, and no one else.

"I'm not sure." Luke replied just as quietly. "But she's been swearing up and down that Rudi was stalking her last night."

"But wasn't last night the full moon?"

"Exactly." Luke nodded. "I don't know what Mia saw, but it wasn't Rudi. Rudi was with us last night. I saw her – I smelled her. Trust me – Rudi wasn't there."

"So what did she see?" Carmine asked. She couldn't even be bothered to stop the worry in her voice from shining through.

"I have no idea." Luke told her. "But there's no way it was Rudi..."

He looked thoughtful for a minute. It seemed to Carmine like he was trying to figure out the best way to phase something that he didn't really want to say.

"What are you thinking?" Carmine asked.

She figured Luke probably wouldn't be able to insult her anyway; except for one brief problem she'd had last year, she'd never known him to be anything but diplomatic – and even then, he hadn't actually said anything too bad. He sighed before looking at her just a little apologetically.

"Could lack of blood make her...you know – see things?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know." Carmine told him honestly.

She didn't actually have a ton of experience with this kind of thing; she'd only been doing it for a little less than a year. Really, it seemed more like a question for Anna. She was about to point that out to him before she remembered that they weren't exactly talking at the moment.

"I mean, it's never happened to me before." she said finally.

Luke nodded, looking grim.

"That's kind of what I thought." he told her. "So what is this?"

"I have no idea." Carmine admitted.

She really wished she knew. She started automatically going over all the mythology she'd ever learned, trying to come up with something that might fit. But nothing seemed right. Luke nodded, looking lost in thought himself. Slowly, he headed back to the living room, and she followed.

"Mia, are you alright?" Carmine asked gently. She took a seat on the floor next to Zev, and he scooted over to make room for her.

"I'm fine." Mia told her.

She didn't look great, but she wasn't as hysterical as she had been when Carmine first got there. Carmine tried to take comfort in that. But just when she was starting to think that Mia really might be feeling better, Mia whispered something that made Carmine seriously reconsider.

"I know she was there." Mia said quietly to Carmine.

"...Could it have been the night before last?" Carmine asked gently. Mia just gave her a look.

"I know the difference between last night and the night before." she snapped.

"I know." Carmine nodded. "But it's just that there's no way she could have been there. You know what last night was, right?"

Carmine had tried to say it as gently as she could, but it was kind of hard to point out to one of her best friends that she might have been hallucinating.

"Yeah – the full moon." Mia snapped. "I've been reminded a couple of times."

Zev winced, looking like maybe he'd just been hit. And even Luke looked uncomfortable.

"I know. And I believe you." Carmine said. Well, maybe she didn't believe Mia really saw Rudi, but she definitely believed that's what Mia thought she saw.

"Maybe it was just a trick of the light?" Carmine asked hopefully. But Mia was already shaking her head.

"I didn't just see her." Mia said firmly. "I chased her for like six blocks. And I've seen her so much lately – it was definitely her."

Carmine opened her mouth to say that it still could have been a mistake; even the best hunters made mistakes, right? But Mia didn't give her the chance.

"Have you ever stalked someone?" she asked slowly.

Carmine could tell Mia thought she'd said it quietly, but the way Zev took a sharp breath through his nose let Carmine know Mia wasn't as subtle as she thought.

"I have..." Carmine told her after a minute. It wasn't really something she wanted to admit at the moment.

"You know how you can tell who it is?"

Again, Carmine nodded.

"That's how I know." Mia told her.

Carmine thought about that for a minute. It was true that there was a certain something about stalking a target until it was just where she wanted it. But Carmine wasn't really sure she wanted to be announcing that just now, especially since both Zev and Luke were sitting right there. And Carmine would never forget the way they treated her when they thought she was out of control last year; she really didn't want to risk a repeat of that whole situation.

"Well, maybe..." Carmine started weakly. But Mia cut her off before Carmine could finish her pathetic attempt at an explanation.

"It's not just that I saw her." Mia told Carmine. "She saw me. She knows. What am I supposed to do about that?"

Mia was starting to get hysterical again. But before Carmine could calm her down, Zev spoke up.

"She can't know." Zev told her firmly. "Trust me – she was busy trying to kick the crap out of me." Under his breath he muttered, "Just like she has been for years."

"What if she says something? What if she tells everyone?" Mia asked, not pacified in the least.

"We'll say she's lying." Carmine told her instantly.

"Definitely." Zev nodded. And Luke was standing right behind them, agreeing.

"I'll find out what she knows." Luke promised. "And if she actually does know anything, I'll make sure she keeps her mouth shut. And this time, she will listen."