ERZA'S POV - FRIDAY

I pushed Jellal off of me and threw a nearby pillow at him. Confusion was all over his face when the pillow made contact with his bare chest.

"You bastard." I felt tears threatening to fall.

"What?"

"This bet, your knight in shining armour moment... it was all set up..." I concluded. Jellal stiffened for a moment. "I'm right! Oh hell, why am I right?" I sat upright and held my head in my hands.

"What are you talking about?" Jellal took a step towards me but I scrambled backwards on my bed.

"Don't. Don't you dare." I glared at him. "Your bet, you planned it with Ultear and Meredy. You planned to make yourself seem like a good vampire who keeps his promises when in reality you were just playing the part. You came tonight because it was planned. You came just now... because you knew that..." I choked back a sob.

"I knew what...?" Jellal asked.

"No." Throwing myself off the bed, I reached beneath the mattress and took out one of the wooden stakes from earlier that night. "I won't lose to your stupid game, I won't ever let my emotions get the best of me again."

"Erza..."

"Admit it! You've been lying to me this whole time... this bet was a cover up to make you appear to be on the opposing side to Ultear. But now I know! You're working together!"

He said nothing.

"Get out before I turn you into a pile of ashes." I held out the stake, unaware that my hand was shaking. "Get. Out." I growled, taking another step closer to him to exaggerate my point.

Jellal just gave me a look, I didn't want it.

"I'll go," He neither denied nor admitted to my accusations, but I knew already that I was right. He vanished into a cloud of smoke and as a bat flew out of the open window. Quickly I rushed over and shut the window so that he couldn't get back in.

Then I sloppily made my way over to my bed and crumbled onto my mattress, breaking down into tears.

***

The next morning I noticed that neither of the vampires were around the manor, Juvia showed up at my front door bright and early with a worried expression on her face. Gajeel had clearly explained to her the events of the previous night. When she asked me about what had happened I brushed it off with a simple shake of my head and quickly telling her that I didn't want to talk about it. Juvia nodded and shook off her doubts although she didn't look completely satisfied.

"So then Erza, are you ready for today's lessons?" Juvia asked as she sat down at the kitchen table whilst I grabbed some bread and put it in the toaster.

"What do we have?"

"Chemistry for the first two lessons, some English literature and then Juvia has the afternoon off!" She grinned, "Erza however has to stay in school."

"How come you're leaving early?" I took the toast from the toaster and placed it on my plate before grabbing the butter from the fridge. Juvia looked down at the table and drew images on the wood with her finger.

"Juvia has some business with her other Water Sprites... They're wondering if Juvia should be the new leader of the community."

"I thought you already were the head of your group?"

"No, Juvia was acting as the leader since our previous head had fallen ill," Juvia suddenly spoke with venom in her voice. "Juvia suspects foul play, there is no way it could have happened naturally."

"What did they become ill with?"

"A virus which is lethal to Water Sprites, however it is uncommon here. It can be caused by a specific herb which is scentless... Juvia is so confused."

"Be careful, there's a group of bloodsuckers who are more dangerous than we originally thought." I spat out the poisonous word and took a bite out of my toast. "It wouldn't surprise me if they were involved."

Juvia merely shrugged and continued to draw shapes on the wooden table. We sat in silence until it was time to leave for school.

As we were walking through the forest I noticed someone waiting near the clearing by the closest road for us. Nudging Juvia I gestured to the familiar face, she followed my gaze and seemed to steam up beside me.

"I-It's..." she stammered.

"Erza! Glad to see you in one piece," Gray wandered towards us and shot a grin to Juvia. "Morning, why're you two...?"

"She knows." I cleared up, causing both of them to look at me suddenly.

"You told-," they both started but stopped as they heard the other speak.

"Gray-sama can go first." Juvia smiled.

"Okay...." Gray raised and eyebrow but continued. "How does Juvia know?"

"I can either tell you or let Juvia show you, and to be honest I want to see her do a cool trick." I admitted, turning to face Juvia. "Is that okay?"

"It is fine, Erza." The water sprite beamed before holding her arm out in front of her and turning her body into water. Gray watched with and awestruck face whilst Juvia reverted back to a solid body and blushed. "So Gray, you're a vampire hunter?"

"How did you-?"

"Gajeel told Juvia, ever since Erza needed help Juvia and Gajeel have always assisted her."

The two of them stood there, both unsure of what to say. So I broke the silence to make it easier for us all.

"Anyone do the chemistry homework?"

***

We arrived at school shortly after our conversation, I felt like a complete third wheel whilst the other two kept talking about their supernatural experiences together.

With no sign of Jellal, I took it as a blessing believing that I'd be free from the bloodsuckers for a while.

Unfortunately fate has a way of screwing you over.

Natsu came rushing over to me, his face paler than usual and his wild hair in a catastrophic mess on his head. He made no effort to hide his fangs, earning an icy glare from Gray and a curious look from Juvia.

"What do you want?" I asked him, towering above his hunched over posture. "I believe that after last night I made it clear how I will win this bet and that I did not want any contact with any of you today."

"Okay, okay fine." Natsu coughed out. "I need to know what you said to Jellal. Last night..."

"Last night?" I turned to my left and saw Gajeel wander over, a growl emitting from his snarling face. "She didn't say anything to seriously send him off his rocker, he actually helped us out."

I gave Gajeel a look which made him grumble. "You did not."

"I saw past his façade and sent him packing. Told him that he wasn't fooling me anymore and that I would never let my emotions get the best of me ever again." I stated.

Gajeel and the others stared at me with shock written across their faces, Gajeel then nodded in approval whilst the other two adjusted themselves to this new information. Natsu on the other hand widened his eyes and fell to his knees.

"Woah, you okay?" I crouched beside him.

"SHIT." He face palmed. "Erza, I'm meant to be on his side but last night.... he came back from your rendezvous and he wasn't right."

"You mean more despicable than usual?" I scoffed out the words, refusing to believe anything that Natsu tried to tell me. How was I meant to trust him when the rest of his kind liked to screw with my mind?

"As in tonight there will be no mercy." His dark eyes met mine and for once I saw an emotion I never thought I would witness from the vampire in front of me:

Fear. Pure fear.

"W-What do you mean?"

"The bet... Jellal's been holding back on you." He shakily stood up and sat down at the desk beside me. "Before it was playful, he had a month. He wanted to make the most out of it. Now though, now Erza I don't think seducing you will suffice."

"You're talking-," Gajeel began.

"-Jellal will drain her." Gray finished.

Natsu meekly nodded, gasping for air.

"Why is Natsu so tired?" Juvia finally spoke, her normally cheerful voice becoming monotone.

"Jellal is a terrifying guy."

I took a deep breath and held my head in my hands. Scrunching my eyes closed I thought back on my actions last night; had I been too harsh? No, that monster got what was coming. Then again, I had refused to hear his side. But he stayed quiet when I called him out...

"What's his plan?" Finally dropping my hands to my desk, I faced Natsu. He ran his hands through his pink hair and sighed. "Out of all of us you're the one with the most intel on this."

"All I can say is that he isn't the same guy you made a bet with. Jellal's never been fully stable as a vampire, that's why I hang around all the time."

"Aren't you meant to be his friend? 'Cause right now you're coming across as a big old dickhead." Gray commented, Natsu shot him an icy cold glare and snarled. "Dude did you just snarl at me?"

"That's... my thing." Gajeel whispered.

"Concentrate!" Juvia huffed, crossing her arms. "We'll talk later, Meredy is just outside the room."

***

Later didn't come soon enough.

Juvia was wary about the timings since she had to leave for the water sprite meeting but ended up leaving earlier anyway since her ride didn't understand the concept of time.

"Honestly, Juvia loves Chelia but she can be clueless in the human world."

Gajeel and Natsu were in all of their classes together leaving Gray and I in our own respected groups. There was no sign of Jellal at school at all, filling me with concern but also a sense of peace that I hadn't experienced at school in a long time.

Lunch was crowded more so than it would normally be. The cafeteria staff were giving away free fortune cookies with the meals for a festival passing through. Gray picked one up for me since I had bought my lunch at the exact moment they ran out of the cookies.

"I already know my fortune won't be good, how about you just open it instead?" I asked Gray. He shrugged and picked at his food.

"What can I say? I like surprises."

"Good, then this'll be a treat for ya." Gajeel grinned behind him and snatched the burger from Gray's tray.

"...Nice surprised Gajeel, not horrible ones."

Natsu sat down abruptly beside me and shook his head. He looked paler now, just hours after he first spoke to me.

"What is up with you? You look deader today than I've ever seen you." That earned a chuckle from him, but that was it.

"I told you Jellal was acting different, that includes fighting." He reached his arm into his shirt and winced as his fingers slowly undid his shirt buttons. He opened up his shirt slightly but wide enough for the group to see a long gash trailing down from his shoulder to just above his abdomen. "I haven't had a drink since."

"I didn't think vampires would use claws to fight...?" I asked.

"Depends on the type I guess," Gray explained whilst Natsu smartened up again. "A vampire as old as Jellal, this doesn't surprise me. He's got abilities he's used on you before, no doubt he knows some fighting techniques too."

Gajeel warily looked Natsu up and down. "Why haven't you had a drink since then? I thought you vamps healed extra quickly."

Natsu chuckled. "Yeah well, Jellal did a number on me after lashing out over you-know-who, so I haven't been able to catch a stupid rabbit or creature for the past twelve hours."

"I would offer you to drink my blood, but I hate your species guts." Gray spoke up, taking a bite from Gajeel's burger and claiming it as his own. Through a full mouth he smirked, "payback."

"Werewolves don't give blood to other supernaturals." Gajeel stated, taking a bigger bite out of the burger that was originally Gray's to try and spite him.

Before I could say anything Lucy sat down at the table and smiled at us all. "Hey guys, what'd I miss!"

"We're planning a huge heist." I joked, wrapping my arms around her. "Please tell me you have a nice story to tell me."

"Sorry E, but no." She smiled sympathetically. "I just came for the food."

Natsu laughed and his eyes met Lucy's.

Gajeel growled and elbowed Natsu before he could do anything earning a grunt from the vampire.

"Where did Juvia head off to?"

"Family issues, you know how that stuff can be." Gray waved it off.

"Okay..." Lucy eyed us all. "Is something going on that I don't know about?"

"L-Like what?"

"I don't know, it just feels like you guys were talking about something big and are keeping me
in the dark."

Before any of the boys could potentially ruin the situation I stepped in. "You caught us."

"She did?" The boys all asked.

"Yep." I said, popping the 'p'.

"What?!" Lucy asked, her eyes wide.

"Gray was looking for GIRL advice on Juvia." I 'admitted'. "Reckon you can help?"

"Can I?!" Lucy squealed. "I knew it. From the moment you guys met and all..."

"Pretty sure that's not how it-," poor Gray didn't have time to protest as Lucy began to interrogate him.

Meanwhile I turned to Natsu and Gajeel who were snickering at my distraction for Lucy.

"After school we'll get you some blood, then you've got to fill me in on what is happening with Jellal."

Natsu nodded. "Deal."

***

When school ended I waited by the gates for the boys and was shocked to see Gajeel already waiting for me. His forehead was lined with beads of sweat and some wolf fur stuck out from his collar.

"Are you okay?" I asked cautiously.

"Yeah, I just picked up a snack for the bloodsucker." He patted his bag and grinned. I almost threw up.

"Good... good job."

Gajeel looked around and leaned in. "Erza listen, I trust you completely. I just... can't help but think, are you seriously up for this? Let me and Juvia stay at your place till this thing blows over. Sure Natsu says he'll help us but from what he's told us about Jellal I don't think you're safe alone full stop." His eyes lit up. "You can come and stay with the pack! No one would dare come and threaten us-,"

"Gajeel," my eyes met his and I saw him shake. "I will not let this scumbag scare me out of my home. Let him come and bring his fury, I'll just fight back with twice as much force."

He didn't say anything else, he merely bowed his head in response. A sign of respect.

Shortly afterwards, Natsu wandered up to us with a reluctant Gray behind him. Gray excused himself from the group meeting, stating that he had a family matter to attend to. "Sorry guys, it's my brother."

"Sure, I hope he's okay." I said as he left.

Gajeel lead Natsu and me to a more derelict area so that no one would see his magic trick: making a (dead) rabbit appear out of his magic bag.

Natsu scarfed down the blood and almost immediately pale colours returned to his features. His fangs dripped with crimson blood.

"That hit the spot... so goooooood."

"Come on!" I whacked his chest, he winced and rubbed the area where his wound was. "What else can you tell me to expect?"

"Okay. So you know about his eye power, pretty neat right? I mean I would love to have that but to be honest I think I've got some pretty cool abilities-,"

"Wrong details Natsu." I deadpanned.

"Right..." Natsu sheepishly agreed. "What you haven't seen is his true nature, all supernatural creatures have it. Even goody-goody werewolves." Gajeel growled at him.

"At least our true nature revolves around our pack for survival and not one person."

"Anyway." Natsu continued. "I saw it yesterday and it was not pretty. His fangs are longer, sharper, more prominent. His nails are claws, if they touch you then you're dead. I'm only okay because he didn't scratch me that badly... you on the other hand would die from blood loss in minutes."

"Good to know." I gulped.

"You'll know he's in his true state, his eyes will be black. No colour just, an abyss. He's stronger like this too, more cunning. And not in the playful 'let's make a game out of this!' As in he will kill you and dishonour the bet." Natsu looked at me with a pitiful expression. "You need to be ready for an attack tonight. I don't know how long this fury will last."

"How long do they normally last?" I asked, my mouth feeling dryer by the second.

"Jellal is ancient," Natsu sighed. "The last time he was like this, he wiped out a town."

I looked over at Gajeel and nodded. "Then this time he'll have to face an army."

"Do you want me to bring my pack?" Gajeel asked.

"No," I shook my head. "I want you to bring me as many wooden stakes and vampire killing weapons as you can. This is my fight and I am taking him down."

*****

I'm back!

I hope this chapter didn't feel like too much of a filler? It's still got some pretty important information in it though, so don't skim too much of it!!

It's summer, and it's rained like 70% of the time? Typical eh?

Anyway, I'll be trying to finish my stories this year if I can.
That's the plan.

OHC