A/N:
Date 5-16-17

Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I made it extra long this time to make up for it XD

Word Count: 3274

-------------------------------------------

Chapter 16: Warm and Queasy Feelings

"Lena! Ivie! Come out here!" Mrs. Sterling yells to her daughters the next morning.

Lena and Ivie rush into the living room to see what their mom needs because she never yells for them in the mornings unless they're running late for school.

"What is it, Mom?" Lena asks as she adjusts her backpack on her shoulder. It's almost time for her and Ivie to head for school.

"I want to give you girls something." Mrs. Sterling says as she hands each of her daughters a box.

They open it to find a small bottle of mace pepper spray in each box.

"This is for you girls to protect yourself. You just spray it in the face of your attacker." Mrs. Sterling says with a nod. "Aim for the eyes."

"Thanks Mom." Lena says, indulging her mother by taking it.

"I'm also going to start driving you to school every day. It's too dangerous walking or riding your bikes." Mrs. Sterling adds. Lena and Ivie usually walk or bike to school because they don't have a car.

Ivie can drive and Lena has her permit, but neither of them own a car. Any time they've driven anywhere, they've used their dad's car.

"What? No, we'll be fine with the mace." Ivie argues immediately because she doesn't want to be dropped off at school by her embarrassing mom.

"I won't hear of it Ivie! I'm driving you girls to school and that's final." Mrs. Sterling says sternly.

"But Mom-" Lena tries appealing to her mom, but is interrupted.

"No! You will be in the car in ten minutes or you will be grounded. That means no phone, no leaving the house unless it's necessary, and no boyfriends!" Mrs. Sterling demands.

Lena and Ivie grudgingly comply. They don't want to lose their social life because of an argument with their mom.

~*~

Lena climbs out of the backseat of her mom's car in a hurry, hoping her mother won't do anything to embarrass her.

Ivie does the same from the passenger seat. Ivie and Lena close the doors to the car, praying their mom won't say anything.

But Mrs. Sterling doesn't take the hint. She rolls down the window of the car and yells to her daughters.

"Be safe! I'll be picking you up later!"

Mrs. Sterling is holding up the line for drop off at the front of the school. Another student gets out of their parents' car and heads for the front door.

"We should hang out more often! I'll make time for you today so you can have your boyfriends over again!" Mrs. Sterling tells her daughters as they slowly back away.

The student walking by gives them a sympathetic look. Ivie holds in a frustrated groan before saying, "I have to study with Vanessa and Selynn today."

"Okay. So we'll just have Lena's boyfriend over." Mrs. Sterling says with a huge grin, like this is all perfect.

Ivie sends Lena a glare that says "you better say yes."

Lena sighs and says, "Okay, Mom. I'll talk to him."

Ivie turns without another word and hurries inside the school with Lena following closely behind.

~*~

"My mom gave me this mace to carry around in case I'm attacked." Lena says, pulling the mace from her bag as she sits at a cafeteria table with Lucas, Mason, and Monique.

"That's smart of her. At least she's looking out for you and Ivie." Monique says with a shrug.

"Yeah, I know you're right. But she's so embarrassing." Lena frowns as she remembers that she has to invite Lucas over for dinner again.

"Which reminds me, my mom wants you to come over for dinner again, Lucas."

"Again? Why? I mean, it's not that I don't like your parents but I don't exactly like trying to prove myself." Lucas says, rubbing at the back of his neck nervously.

"And you shouldn't have to! But my mom said you should come over so..." Lena tells Lucas that last part reluctantly.

"Okay. I'll come over around five, after football tryouts and after I go home to get ready." Lucas caves into Lena's request, even though he'd rather stab himself than try and be the perfect boyfriend in front of Lena's parents.

Although Lucas would heal fast, so the stabbing wouldn't actually be that bad.

~*~

When Adrian gets to school that morning, he sees Monique sitting with Lena, Lucas, and Mason. But no Ivie.

Adrian rushes over to Vanessa and Selynn when he sees them eating breakfast together.

Adrian puts his hands on the table and leans in to ask, "Have you guys seen Ivie today?"

"No." Vanessa answers without removing her gaze from her tray.

Adrian listens closely to Vanessa's steady heartbeat. She's not lying.

"Have you been hanging out with her recently?" Adrian asks, narrowing his eyes as he realizes he hasn't seen them with Ivie lately.

"No. She's been distant." Selynn responds a bit sullenly.

Adrian walks away to look for Ivie. Adrian knows that this has something to do with her becoming vine girl again. "Does Ivie think she killed Rus?" Adrian asks himself as he scours the halls for Ivie.

~*~

Ivie sits in the bathroom until first hour ends because she doesn't want to face Adrian yet. Ivie knows that she's turning into vine girl at night and she's probably the one who killed Rus.

So the sleep medicine doesn't work. Ivie will have to try something else.

Ivie sits down in her usual seat next to Adrian for first hour, who immediately leans over to talk to her.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Adrian asks softly in concern. Ivie nods her head, knowing she can't say yes because it's not true. Ivie is a mess.

This is why Ivie decided to tell Adrian everything. So Ivie told her mom that she'd be having a study session with her friends. But really, Ivie will be at Adrian's house pouring out all her worries to him.

Ivie sighs when Adrian gives her a knowing look. Ivie knows that Adrian knows something is wrong. Adrian isn't stupid.

"I can come over after school to tell you. Just give me the rest of the day to gather my thoughts." Ivie looks at Adrian pleadingly, begging him with her eyes not to demand she tell him now. Adrian just nods. He understands.

That makes Ivie relax instantly and feel much better already.

~*~

The school day passes quickly as Lucas has time to build up his concerns. Lucas hates that he worries so much, but it's impossible to stop imagining the different scenarios that could go wrong at dinner.

Lucas' thoughts keep turning to that, even when he's attempting to force his mind to pay attention in class. Nothing's working.

The only time Lucas feels better is at lunch when he sits across from Lena. The churning in his stomach ceases and Lucas can finally breathe as he smiles at Lena.

Then it's back to class and Lucas is back to feeling awful. It suddenly doesn't feel like just stress over tonight. It's as if Lucas is being affected by the full moon, but that's not until Monday. Today is Friday, so Lucas has a few days left.

Lucas doesn't feel like he's about to shift into a wolf in the middle of class, but he does feel like his body is preparing for that. And Lucas has no idea why.

~*~

When the final bell rings and Lucas heads for the locker room to change for football tryouts, Lucas isn't feeling any better.

But he may have had a breakthrough. Lucas figured out that if he thinks of Lena, the churning in his stomach lessens.

And Lucas also realized that the stress he's under could be causing this weird shifting feeling. He probably should've realized that earlier... but better late than never, right?

Football tryouts are just like practice was yesterday. Everyone who showed up for practice is allowed to tryout for the football team. Not that the team is sexist or anything, but everyone trying out is a guy.

Lucas sees Mason after they change and go on the field, but he doesn't have time to talk to him.

And they didn't talk yesterday when Mason came home from hanging out with Monique. Mason went in his room and didn't come back.

Lucas wonders if that means it went bad and Mason was shut down.

"Four laps everyone! Get a move on!" Coach Hoff yells.

Lucas is in the back when they start running around the perimeter of the football field, but he quickly makes it to the front and stays there all four laps. A few people catch up to Lucas because he isn't feeling the best so he isn't trying to strain, but Lucas makes sure to keep at least a few feet between himself and them.

"Great job, Hallow! You seem to be working harder this year." Coach tells Lucas when he finishes his laps.

Lucas nods once but doesn't say anything. That's what Rus and his buddies did last year when Coach complimented them. So Lucas tries it and that seems to work out well because Coach Hoff grins at Lucas.

Mason doesn't get a shout out from Coach Hoff. He doesn't even seem to notice Mason. And that's because Mason isn't using his werewolf strength. That's basically cheating.

Mason realizes that thought was mean and that he should let Lucas do what he wants. What's gotten into Mason?

"Tryouts are the same as last year. For you newbies, I'll explain it now. We'll play a practice game to see who should be on what position." Coach Hoff starts telling everyone as they gather around him after finishing their laps.

"If you get a position." Coach adds in a sinister way. He takes football very seriously.

There are 19 students trying out for football this year. There will only be 11 on the team, then a few that will sit around as backup players.

Coach Hoff splits the students into two teams for the game. The teams aren't even and someone complains that it's not fair, but Coach replies by saying that life isn't fair. Lucas agrees with that statement.

~*~

Vanessa and Selynn are surprised when they get home after school and see their mom is there.

"I made you girls an after school snack!" Mrs. Delaney says as she gestures to their kitchen table.

Vanessa and Selynn share a confused look, then sit down at the table. Mrs. Delaney brings in two plates with two raisin cookies on each. She sets them in front of her daughters.

"Thanks Mom." Vanessa says gratefully while Selynn stares suspiciously at her cookie. Her mom has been making different foods lately for Selynn and Vanessa, causing Selynn to believe that her mom is putting the "anger issues medicine" in whatever she gives her.

"I'm not hungry." Selynn says as she shoves her seat back and rushes to her room.

"Selynn!" Mrs. Delaney calls after her daughter, but Selynn doesn't answer as she hides in her room.

Selynn hasn't been taking her medicine and her mom is trying to force it on her. But Selynn is determined to stop taking it.

At first, Selynn started only taking her pill a few times a week instead of once a day. It has gradually become less and less until Selynn stopped taking it all.

The last time Selynn took her medicine was five days ago, on Monday. And nothing's happened so far concerning anger issues.

~*~

After school, Adrian goes home to find Monique gone. She must be out on a job, like she usually is. There's an endless amount of demons to kill out in the world.

Adrian made sure to get here a little earlier than Ivie so he could do this.

Adrian grabs some of the animal blood that's been sitting in the kitchen fridge for a few days. Adrian pours it in a glass, then heats it up in the microwave.

Once the timer goes off, Adrian holds the hot cup in his cold hand, just staring at it for a few minutes, unsure if he can go through with this.

Adrian's been on a human blood diet for a week. That may not sound like a long time, and to Adrian it wasn't long enough, but even a day of going off diet can affect a vampire greatly. It's hard to climb up a cliff you jumped off of.

But Adrian follows through and drinks the blood, even though it tastes awful compared to the real stuff. It'll take a long time for animal blood to satisfy Adrian again. And until then, Adrian won't be the happiest person.

~*~

Ivie arrives five minutes later, which gives Adrian enough time to collect himself and make sure that all evidence of his meal is gone.

Adrian opens the door for Ivie as soon as he senses her, by his heightened smell and hearing, and she walks in quickly.

Adrian can see that Ivie is nervous by the way she's pulling at her bracelet and looking around anxiously.

"Did you see the murderer out there?" Adrian teases, which is the only thing he knows how to do in these situations. And most situations.

Ivie whips her head around and sends Adrian a dark glare. "Sorry. Bad timing?" Adrian says innocently as he shrugs in a way of apology.

Ivie just shakes her head as she enters the living room and sits on the couch. Ivie blinks and suddenly Adrian is sitting next to her.

Ivie jumps but remains seated, heart racing from surprise. "Adrian! Don't do that to me!" Ivie exclaims, slapping at Adrian's shoulder to scold him.

Adrian laughs at Ivie, then leans over and whispers a soft sorry in her ear. Adrian sits back in relaxation on the couch next to Ivie as she fails at frowning at him.

Adrian sits up, his grin falling away as he becomes serious. "Are we going to talk now?"

"IthinkIkilledRus." Ivie says so quickly that Adrian barely understands her.

"What? Why would you do that?" Adrian asks, but as soon as the words leave his mouth, he realizes exactly what Ivie means.

"No, Ivie. Even if that's true, it's not you. But I don't think it is. Why would your alter ego kill someone?" Adrian questions logically, hoping he's right about this.

"Because it's crazy! Why else?" Ivie says in an outburst.

"Ivie." Adrian exclaims, trying to get her attention by speaking firmly and looking her in the eye.

Ivie glances down at her hands in her lap, unable to stare at Adrian like that.

"You didn't do this. Let me find the killer, okay? I'll make it my job so you don't have to worry." Adrian says in a spur of the moment. Adrian has enough on his plate. He doesn't need this too.

But Adrian has committed himself to this investigation for Ivie and he's not about to change his mind.

~*~

"I'll announce the people who got into football and their positions on Monday morning." Coach Hoff tells everyone once the game is over.

The game went well, with Lucas' team winning. Cade was team leader on Lucas' team, so he made Lucas guard.

But the coach saw that Lucas played amazing and even complimented him again, so Lucas believes he'll at least get on the team.

Besides, Lucas doesn't have to be quarterback like he wanted. "Who are you kidding? Of course it matters!" Lucas' inner voice screams at him.

And playing the game calmed Lucas' nerves. Now he's feeling fidgety again, like his insides can't stay still.

Lucas just sighs aloud as he heads home to get ready for dinner at Lena's house.

~*~

Dinner at the Sterling house goes much the same way as the last time Lucas was there.

"Lucas had football tryouts today." Lena announces through the awkward silence as they eat.

"Oh really? Do you think it went well?" Mr. Sterling asks, knowing his wife isn't much for sports.

Lucas nods his head. "Yeah. We played a practice game where I was guarding, but Coach Hoff said I was doing a great job."

"I would've been there but the tryouts are closed." Lena says with a disappointed smile.

Lucas warmly gazes at Lena as he feels the queasiness in his stomach lessen because of her words. "And I will definitely be there for you during track season."

Lena puts her hand over Lucas' in a grateful gesture. They smile at each other until they remember that Lena's parents are there too.

Lena releases Lucas' hand as her mother turns to her. "You should show Lucas your mace spray! I want to test it out to make sure it works." Mrs. Sterling says enthusiastically.

"I'm not going to use that on Lucas!" Lena replies with a shocked gasp. How could her mother even suggest something like that?

"Not on him, silly! Use it on your father. He can cover his eyes." Mrs. Sterling replies in a no nonsense tone.

"But we're eating dinner." Lena says because she doesn't want to spray mace around like a crazy person. What will Lucas think?

"Just do it away from the table." Mrs. Sterling demands. Lena sighs, but grabs her mace from her school bag and goes with her dad a few feet away from the table.

Lucas puts his fisted hands in his lap, getting a bad feeling about all of this, which makes him even more anxious.

"For practice, act like you're going to attack her, but make sure to cover your eyes." Mrs. Sterling tells her husband. Mr. Sterling looks at his wife like she's crazy.

Mrs. Sterling makes a "go on" motion. So Mr. Sterling does what she said and Lena brings the spray up quickly, spraying her dad's covered eyes.

Lucas smells something awful that burns his eyes and throat, threatening to choke him. Lucas acts normal as he grabs his cup of water and takes a drink, but that doesn't help. It makes it worse.

The burning increases, forcing Lucas to cough while still holding his cup.

Lena immediately turns to Lucas in concern. "Lucas, are you okay? Did the pepper spray hit you too?" Lena doesn't see how that would happen, but it's a possibility.

"No, no." Lucas says between coughs, still holding the cup. "Water went down the wrong pipe." Lucas tells Lena while putting his cup down. Lucas struggles to fix his air supply, but it's not working as he breathes in the air around him. Mr. and Mrs. Sterling stare at Lucas along with Lena.

But Lucas coughs again as the burning in his throat and eyes continues. "I think Lucas needs some fresh air." Lena says as she pulls him out the front door.

Lucas keeps coughing, but instantly feels better when he gets outside. "Are you okay?" Lena asks, rubbing his back to soothe him.

"Yeah, that spray just overloaded my senses with the smell of it." Lucas tells Lena truthfully, at least of what he understood of what happened.

Lucas catches the curtain in the window by the door move from the corner of his eye. Someone's watching them.

Lucas figures that it must be Mrs. Sterling seeing if he's okay.

"The smell? I didn't smell anything when I sprayed it." Lena replies in confusion.

"It doesn't matter. I'm fine now." Lucas responds in a soft tone to reassure Lena. And to reassure himself.