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Dante turned to look at Aria. He was not mad at her for the most part. He knew that it's hard to get over what she went through and he wouldn't hold that against her. "Aria. Don't worry about them. You're different now and that's all that matters. But I have to make a quick phone call."

Dante stepped into the other room and picked up the phone. He has been planning this since day one. Everyone at the party the night Alex was killed considered everyone else family. This was a crowd that was always in trouble and could care less about the consequences. After Alex was killed, everyone wanted revenge at any means, and Dante was the plan maker. They discussed how that when Dante thought the time was right they would take drastic action. One of his friends had a father that owned a gun store. Dante came up with a plan that they would break in and steal what they would need. Everyone would get together afterwards and find the rats.

Dante dialed the number of the key friend. He answered and all Dante said was, "Are you ready?", so that Aria would not know what was going on. The friend said yes and so they each called up everyone else. Dante walked back in the room Aria was in. "Stay here, lock the doors, and what ever you do, do not leave the house. Understand?" Dante did not wait for a reply from Aria before he left. He went home and along the way watched the surroundings around him. He grabbed the bag with the clothes in it and changed. He put on gloves and put the mask in his pocket.

Dante ran to the meeting place outside the gates by the gun store. Everyone was there and so they did the job quickly and efficiently to cut down on getting caught. After hiding everything they headed towards the neighborhood and was prepared for anything. Dante could care less if he died, got arrested, or anything else. When it came to his friends he would not give up without a fight and did anything to protect them, especially for Alex. Since they were looking for Aria this made things even better.

They came up to the neighborhood and began to search for anyone that was connected to Veto.

The group wandered the neighborhood for two hours. Dante figured they would find someone but he was wrong.

"Where are they?" someone in the group said quietly.
"I don't know. They have to be around here somewhere." Dante paused and thought. "Alright. Everyone go home and keep everything hidden. No one can know. I will let you know when the time is right again." he said as they turned around. What Dante had prepared for did not happen tonight, but it would eventually.

Everyone went their separate ways and Dante headed to his house. He stashed everything and then decided to go check on Aria. He walked over to her house, and up the drive way. Her parents were not home yet since the car was gone. The lights were on and he thought he saw two dark shadows through the curtains. He became nervous and cautious as he approached the house. He knocked on the door and could hear people talking. He knocked again and stepped to the side of the door for safe measures. He did not know what to expect, but he expected the worse.

((I read everything, so I'm caught up. You guys sure do like to write a lot. O.o There isn't really anything I can do right now..so I'm just gonna type. biggrin ))

Victoria walked as quickly as she could to her apartment. She glanced up, seeing a full moon and a few stars in the sky already. After a few miles, she heard a rustle in the bushes. She screamed loudly, and backed up. Seeing a squirrel jump out and run up the nearest tree, she felt stupid and cowardly. She half ran half walked the rest of the way home. When she got on the front porch she rummaged around in her pockets for her apartment key.

But instead she pulled out the card which held Dante's message and number. She took a deep breath and took a quick glance over the digits, but stuffed it back in her pocket after a few minutes. It wouldn't do any good for him to come over. Just because she was scared..it was no excuse. She smiled after her memories conjured up a quick flash of Dante's smile, and she pulled out her key, ending the faze. She opened the door and walked in, looking around. She stiffened when she felt someone in the room with her.

Glancing around, she put down her keys and heard a meow. She jumped but laughed quietly when she saw it was only her skinny cat, Ray. He came over to her and purred, rubbing against her leg. She petted him gently and picked him up, kissing his nose. He touched her cheek with his nose and she giggled. "Ray, your my buddy, you know that?" She whispered to him softly. She put him back down on the stained carpet and went to the kitchen. She grabbed a cup and refilled the cat's bowl. She sighed when she saw that he was running low on food. She felt under her foot and pulled out the wadded bills leftover from today.

She remembered Dante insisting that he paid for the rest of her lunch and she smiled to herself. He was so sweet, she couldn't imagine him hating anyone. He had been so kind...she drifted off and almost fell down with her dreams. She had fallen asleep right there! She took a deep breath and looked down at the floor, where Ray was now happily scarfing down the rest of his cat food. She felt the bills crisp but damp in her hand, and she tightened her grip on them. She was tired, so tired. But she needed to get the cat more cat food, even if she did have work in the morning.

She scowled. Even though she did have a job at the jewelry store down the street, it paid her nothing. Once a week, only a few hours in the day. She could barely afford her apartment then. She went into the living room and felt under the couch for the jar that held a little over a hundred dollars now. She pulled out another five and figured it would be enough to pay for the cat food if she went to the dollar store down the block.

Victoria hated living in this part of the neighborhood. There were so many junkies and weirdos out there...she wished Dante was with her. She went out the door after calling a good-bye to the cat, who meowed in response. She felt a sudden chill in the air as she walked down the empty street, and she shivered. She looked on and saw the store lights in the distance. She heard a moan and some scuffling sounds, and she walked quickly now. Another moan and she screamed. She started running to the store. It seemed the more she ran, the farther the warm lights became. Finally when she arrived in the parking lot, shaken and her face pale, she noticed an old man walking in and she relaxed. He seemed at peace, why shouldn't she?

Suddenly she heard glass breaking and she saw figures down the street. She widened her eyes when she realized they were breaking in somewhere, and she headed inside the store fast. She walked down the pet aisle, and grabbed a small bag of cat food. She carried it down to the cash register. The woman ringed it up and Victoria paid for it. She took the bag containing the food and walked back outside, scared still. She looked down the street, but there was no one their now. Still heading down the sidewalk cautiously, she wondered where Dante was.

Aria stood motionless as Dante entered her house. Veto walked in silently behind Dante, smiling.

"It's nice to see you again to Dante." Veto said smoothly.
"Heya Dante. What's up? Did you forget something?"

Aria flinched as if Dante had just punched her in the stomach.

"Dante, he just showed up. I didn't know he was coming." she pleaded.

Veto stepped in front of Aria,. His stance was that of someone who was trying to protect someone else; like Dante was the dangerous one.

"You don't have to explain anything to him, Ari. It's alright."

Aria kept speaking from behind Veto.

"Could we please just dial it down a bit. Please?"

Veto sat down, dropping his stance, and let his signature smile cross his face. If Aria didn't know better, it'd almost be like Veto was talking to an old friend.

"Everything is just fine amigo" Veto said the word sarcastically. "I just came over to see how my love was doing. How about you? How are you holding up these days?"

Aria disappeared into the kitchen. She didn't want to be there if the conversation went from calm and relaxed to faces being smashed in. Instead she just sat on the counter and listened.

"Que? Me? I honestly came because I wanted to speak to Aria. Nothing more, nothing less."

Veto looked at Dante and leaned back in his seat.

"But with you, the truth comes out. You want to know about Alex. Well, I'll tell you like I told Aria before she dumped me; I don't know a damned thing."

Aria listened and remembered when she had first found out about Alex's death. She had hoped that it wouldn't be true, but she couldn't at that moment bring herself to believe Veto. So she broke it off and swore she'd never see him again. Now he was in her house. Sitting on her couch. Talking to Dante. Oy vey.