A/N:
Date 4-29-17

Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter is sort of late, but it's ready now.

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Word Count: 2709

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Chapter 11: Fear and Cold Blood

After Adrian reads the coded emails, he sits and thinks about the time that Mr. Woltz informed him of their secret communication ways.

Mr. Woltz had Adrian memorize the email addresses of all the others of their kind a very, very long time ago.

Adrian makes whole new emails for each person he sends it to with the same message on it instead of forwarding it to lessen the chance that someone would be able to connect the emails.

Then Adrian sits in wait. That's all there is left to do for now. The plan Mr. Woltz came up with was that no one was to respond to the emails in case someone was hacking into their accounts. Hunters can get creative.

If Mr. Woltz is still alive, for all intents and purposes, then he will email Adrian again in one day. Mr. Woltz will send the same email every day until the danger is gone. If an email doesn't come, that means Mr. Woltz is dead. For real this time. If the message in the email changes, that means the danger is gone for the person who sent it. Everyone else could still be in danger.

These emails weren't concocted so that Adrian could come to Mr. Woltz's aid if he was in trouble, or vice versa. These secret emails were created for the Kitsune Vampires to warn each other of the danger.

Mr. Woltz basically told all the other Kitsunes to save themselves.

Adrian is definitely worried about Mr. Woltz, but there isn't anything he can do to help. If it really is hunters, Adrian could get killed in the process of trying to help, which wouldn't contribute to anything in the end.

Adrian is supposed to go back to the city of Cain today, but he can't imagine going to school tomorrow, only to worry about Mr. Woltz the whole time.

Adrian goes back to sleep for awhile to feel better and to waste some time. Adrian figures he can deal with everything later.

//////////////////

Meanwhile at the Sterling household...

"I'm worried about Ivie, that's all." Lena answers Lucas from her lazy position on the couch.

Lucas is currently in the kitchen making them lunch. Lucas isn't much of a cook, so he's making bologna and cheese sandwiches.

"But you should be sleeping at night. Let me and Mason deal with her." Lucas calls back to Lena, speaking louder than usual because she can't hear as well as Lucas can.

Lena speaks normally because she knows Lucas' werewolf hearing will pick up what she's saying, even if she's whispering.

"But I can help! She should've told us what was going on." Lena grumbles that last part to herself, but of course Lucas hears.

Lucas walks in with their food and sets it on the coffee table in front of the couch. Lucas turns to Lena to comfort her. It's not like Lena looks haggard or anything, but Lucas can tell she didn't sleep well last night.

Lena's voice seems strained like she's on the edge of breaking down. But Lucas knows Lena. She's strong and she will make it through this.

"I don't think any of us can help. The only one who could is Adrian. And he's not here." Lucas says what Lena already knows.

Lena looks down at the floor, but Lucas isn't done talking to her. Lucas grabs hold of Lena's chin gently, moving her head so that she'll look at him. "And Ivie didn't tell you because she thinks she can handle it. She's stubborn. Wouldn't you do the same?" Lucas appeals to Lena's better sense.

Lena sighs and Lucas lets go of her chin. Lena rests her head on Lucas' shoulder, wanting nothing more than for him to hold her so all of her fears shrink away.

After Lucas and Lena eat their lunch, Lucas gathers up their plates to take them to the kitchen.

On the way back, Lucas passes a door that he's been wondering about for awhile. "Hey Lena! What's this door for?" Lucas calls out to Lena.

"What door?" Lena asks as she gets up, walking towards the place that she heard Lucas' voice.

"Oh, that door. It goes to the basement." Lena tells Lucas dismissively.

Lucas wonders why Lena never went down there when he was over. This is only the third time Lucas has came over, but it still seems odd to Lucas.

"Why don't we go down there? I've never been in a basement before." Lucas says.

"You haven't?" Lena asks Lucas instead of answering the question.

"Nope. As you know, my house doesn't have one. And John doesn't have a basement." Lucas replies with a shrug.

There's a moment of silence before Lucas speaks up. "So are we going down there?"

"Oh, no. I'm not allowed in the basement." Lena averts her eyes, uncomfortable with the conversation.

"Why not?" Lucas questions, pushing his luck with this one. It's obvious that Lena was trying to avoid this, but Lucas wants to know.

"It's my parent's office. They're scientists and don't like their stuff messed with." Lena says. "Why don't we go watch some TV?"

Lucas rolls his eyes at Lena's attempt at changing the subject. "Have you ever been down there?" Lucas asks Lena, refusing to back down.

"Yes. Years ago with Ivie when I was seven and she was eight. But we never went back." Lena says with a cold tone.

"Why not?" Lucas pushes on.

"Because it was creepy! Alright? The basement's creepy." Lena suddenly bursts out, her cheeks heating up from embarrassment.

"Awe! Well you're supernatural now. I'm sure it'll be fine. What do you remember?" Lucas asks in a teasing voice before getting serious.

"I remember running through dark halls, screaming, scared out of my mind." Lena tells Lucas, not looking at him.

Lucas grabs Lena's hand, squeezing it in support of her, to show that he's still with her. "Why don't we go down together and get rid of this scary memory? You'd probably feel better." Lucas suggests.

Lena debates if it's a good idea, considering that she's always been told not to go down there. Her parents said there were dangerous chemicals. But Lena feels safe with Lucas, and she does want to rid herself of this irrational fear.

"Alright, let's go. But we have to hurry because my parents will be home in around an hour." Lena finally answers.

"I'll go get the key." Lena says, disappearing for a minute.

Lena comes back with a brass key that looks less than new and unlocks the door. Lucas eagerly reaches out and grabs the doorknob, swinging open the basement door.

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Adrian sits around all day, mindlessly staring at the TV. Adrian keeps finding himself thinking of his time with Mr. Woltz, wondering if there'll be more time or if that was it.

Mr. Woltz ruined Adrian's human life by killing him, but he brought Adrian into the extraordinary life of a powerful vampire. Being a Kitsune Vampire, Adrian is faster than most vampires and can be trickier than them. It's why Adrian is such a good hunter.

How ironic that Adrian might be hunted soon, once Mr. Woltz is finished.

It's a dark thought, but a true one. The hunters won't stop until all of the Kitsune Vampires are completely dead.

Adrian is perfectly fine sitting around all day. Adrian could be completely still for hours and be fine because of his ability to retreat into his mind.

Adrian doesn't mean to do this at first, but throughout the day he finds himself searching for good memories to relive. It's easier than thinking about the future.

At around 2:30pm, Adrian's phone rings. Rushing over to the side table and grabbing his phone, Adrian unlocks it quickly to see that it's an email.

Hoping it's a new message from Mr. Woltz saying that he's safe, Adrian opens the email.

From: [email protected]

"Fun fact of the day: Like the cat, the fox is most active after the sun goes down."

It's one of the other Kitsune Vampires, number four. This means that another Kitsune is in direct danger. Adrian has never met that one, but he still gets nervous and hopes they make it out okay.

Out of the Kitsunes, Adrian has only met two and five. Two is Mr. Woltz and five was Adrian's best friend at one point. They don't talk much anymore for safety purposes, but he helped Adrian through a lot when Adrian thought he couldn't handle the blood cravings. That was in 1722, a year after Adrian met Matt.

His name is Enrique, but he goes by Rick now. The last time Adrian saw him was two years ago when they met to catch up.

Rick is one of the rare good vampires. He hardly ever slips up and does something bad like Adrian does. Mr. Woltz even had his bad days when Adrian knew him, but not Rick.

Last Adrian heard, Rick was on an all animal blood food diet. Adrian was on that diet too until last night when he fed from the married woman.

That reminds Adrian that he needs some nourishment. Adrian goes to the fridge where he stored his bottled animal blood.

Adrian takes a deep breath before uncapping the bottle and bringing it to his mouth.

As soon as the cold liquid makes its way down Adrian's throat, it shoots back up. Adrian rushes to the bathroom and throws up his late lunch. So much for going back to the diet.

//////////////////

Descending the wooden steps into the basement is easier than Lena imagined. The stairs don't creak and the light turns on, lighting up the small staircase.

Lucas leads Lena down, holding onto her hand for support. It's not long until their feet hit the bottom because it's only one flight of stairs.

Lucas flicks on another light when they enter the room. Lena blinks to adjust her eyes, hesitant to look around because of the bad memory of this place playing in her head.

"This doesn't look like an office." Lucas comments as they walk farther into the room.

The floor is covered in beige carpet. The room seems like a second living room for the house, including matching red couches and a small flat screen TV across from the staircase. On the left wall there's a brown wooden desk with nothing but a laptop resting on it.

Lucas wanders over to the desk. "Mind if I...?" Lucas questions, gesturing to the drawers built into the desk. Lucas wouldn't want to go snooping without Lena's permission, even though this is her parent's private area.

"Go ahead." Lena answers, sounding like she's in a daze as she looks around curiously.

Lucas tugs at each drawer. "They're all locked." Lucas tells Lena.

"And there's no other doors." Lena responds as she goes back over to Lucas.

Lucas walks around the room, looking for something but not knowing what that something is.

Lucas turns to Lena when he gets an idea. "Maybe I can see something with my wolf eyes."

"Like a secret room? This isn't some creepy mansion in a movie." Lena teases Lucas with a laugh.

"You said the basement is your parents' work office. Does this look like scientists would work here?" Lucas argues logistically.

Lena sighs in defeat, knowing Lucas has won this round. "Fine. Go ahead and try. Don't be too disappointed when my parents turn out to be regular people with a regular house."

Lucas just grins at Lena, giving her a peck on the cheek, making her laugh at him. Then Lucas taps into his wolf side, allowing his golden eyes to shine.

Looking around the room, Lucas doesn't notice anything different.

Deciding to try a technique he saw on TV once, Lucas goes over to a wall, leaning close and tapping his knuckles against it.

"What are you doing?" Lena asks with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Lucas holds up his index finger to signal Lena to wait and be quiet, then he continues the tapping.

The wall on the left side of the stairs sounds different than the others, so Lucas examines that one closer.

Lucas suddenly notices a hole in the wall slightly above his head, just big enough for a pencil to fit in. "I think I found something." Lucas announces. "I think I can..." Lucas trails off, concentrating on his task.

Lucas releases his claws, holding his right hand up to see if the claw will fit in the hole in the wall. Just as Lucas is about to try out his theory, he hears a loud rumbling.

Lucas rushes over to Lena, not immediately recognizing the noise and wondering if he disturbed something in the room, setting off a trap.

"My parents are home early! We have to go!" Lena says, grabbing Lucas' hand. Lucas realizes that the sound was the garage opening.

"But what about the hole?" Lucas asks, turning back to look at the wall.

"We don't have time!" Lena practically hisses out at Lucas. She drags him up the stairs.

"Do they know I'm here?" Lucas asks, hoping the answer is yes.

"No." Lena replies, pulling Lucas to the back of the house. "You have to go. My parents don't even know we're dating. Trust me, it's better this way!" Lena whispers, pushing Lucas towards the back door.

Lucas is conflicted about whether or not he wants to be introduced to Lena's parents as her boyfriend, but he doesn't have time to think about it now.

Lucas rushes out the back door, hearing car doors opening in the front yard. Lucas has to jump the fence, but he makes it over after getting a small running start.

As Lucas lands smoothly on his feet on the other side, he grins at the achievement.

That doesn't last long as a small, angry dog runs straight for Lucas, barking its head off. How can such a little thing be so loud?

Lucas freezes until he hears movement in the house, someone coming towards the door to check on their dog. From Lena's house, Lucas hears the front door open and close, the Sterling parents entering their home.

The dog is still barking like crazy as Lucas tries to calm it. "Shh! It's okay. You don't need to bark." Lucas whispers to the dog, attempting to be soothing.

The dog, which looks like some breed of Chihuahua, gets even louder, informing its owners that there's a stranger in their yard.

Lucas suddenly tunes into Lena's voice inside her house, greeting her parents. "What is going on with that dog?" Lena's mom asks her.

Lucas finally decides to take off, jumping another fence to escape the dog and its yard. The dog doesn't quit barking, even after Lucas leaves.

Lucas feels like he should've growled at the tiny dog, scaring it so bad that it peed itself. Now that would've been funny.

Lucas makes it home and immediately texts Lena to tell her of his adventures.

///////////////

Adrian tries again to drink cold animal blood a few hours later, but the result is the same. Adrian can no longer keep the blood down. That's going to be a problem.

This new problem causes Adrian to stay in Alton, Illinois, for another night. Another reason that Adrian stays is because he's waiting for an email from Mr. Woltz that can come at any minute.

The email from Kitsune Vampire number four should arrive sometime tomorrow. Unless something bad happened.

And something obviously did happen with Mr. Woltz, because Adrian doesn't receive an email that day or that night.

///////////////

On Sunday night, Ivie gets out of bed and climbs out her two story window, using vines to help her down.

Ivie has time to wonder why she's outside for only a moment before she's no longer in control of herself.

Her orange hair turns green and her warm eyes turn bright neon green.

"Not again!" Ivie thinks before disappearing for the night, becoming vine girl.