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((This *pant* is getting *pant* really difficult. *Sigh*))
A cold chill ran down Lily’s spine while she slept. She tossed a bit ruining the already haphazard support the air mattress had been giving her as it had lost a good deal of air during the night. She blinked several times as her body felt the floor through the mattress and looked up at the couch. Nick’s arm had been hanging over the edge when she had first closed her eyes but now she found it gone. She bolted up from the ground and looked at the now vacant couch as another wave of fear washed across her. “Where, where did he go?” She whispered to herself. Her question was greeted by footsteps coming from the hall. They had a certain rhythm and would stop periodically only to start up again. They’d get louder and louder, then stop, then suddenly start up again getting softer and softer, only to stop and start the whole cycle over again. Every once and a while she’d pick up a word or two. “Weak… I’m too weak. My fault… weak…” She couldn’t believe it. He was pacing back and forth berating himself when he should be resting. “What’s wrong with…” She started but was suddenly cut off.
“It’s what he does. He stresses and paces. He knows it won’t make things better but he does it anyway. He puts the weight of the world on his shoulders so we don’t have to.” Ryan grunted shift his weight his eyes still closed. “That’s that’s…” Lily once again began. “Stupid? Of course it is but we all have to cope somehow. It’s his mental process. He might not sound like it but his mind is racing. Coming up with ideas of what he will do to become stronger, better prepared, more aware. It’s why we respect him. He’s always thinking.” Again Ryan barely moved as he spoke these words. They came out almost like he were sleep talking, mumbled but still somehow philosophical and true. “I was going to say terrible… he shouldn’t do that to himself. No one should. What he needs is rest…” Again Lily was cut off but this time it was by the sound of Ryan snoring. “You… you can’t be serious. You were just talking to me like five seconds ago. Hey!” She tried her best to keep her voice down but it seemed that Ryan was indeed asleep and might well have been the entire time he spoke. Lily was beginning to think her new friends might be as crazy as all the events that had transpired. Her thoughts drifted back to the fact that her mattress was out of air. “Now what do I do. I can’t blow this back up and the machine that does it makes way to much noise…” She listen for Nick and after a while realized he might just go at it like that until morning. “Well, if he’s gonna pace around all night, I guess I’ll just use the couch.” She picked herself up off the ground and lay out on the couch pulling the blanket of the mattress she was on and laying over herself. She considered that he might be mad when he saw her in his prior resting place but she assumed he’d just sleep on the ground or find somewhere else provided he didn’t continue pacing for the remainder of the night. She smiled as sleep started to take her again. “Poor guy…” She mumbled. “Wish I could…” She tensed. “What am I saying… I must be tired.” She slowly drifted back to sleep though her mind was conflicted.
Meanwhile Nick was still pacing his mind darting over everything that transpired, running worst case scenarios, and that nagging voice that continued to tear him down. “I’m weak. If I was stronger, if I had already known. I’ll get Ryan to train me. We have to tell others. Who would believe us? They’d think we were crazy. Do we just try to handle this on our own? Lily doesn’t deserve to be caught up in all this. None of them do. He only came to me. What do I do? Who do I turn to? No I have to do this myself. Gotta get stronger.” His thoughts and ramblings continued to cycle in this manner with each lap he took up and down the hall. As the night wore on his pacing became more and more forced. He had become even more fatigued than before. “Stop it. Stop it. You’re not solving anything here at five in the morning. Get some sleep and then take action. Nothing you say now will do anything and you can’t do anything until the morning anyway. Just get some sleep. The guardians, if they are still around, should protect us right…” His eyes closed momentarily and then snapped open again. “Sleep… just need… sleep.”
Nick trudged his way from the hall, into the dining room, and back into the den. He failed to notice the added bump Lily made in his blanket and lay down next to her without even realizing it. He was still wearing his jacket and so the thought of pulling the blanket over himself failed to occur to him for as his head hit the couches soft leather arm rest he passed out. Lily suddenly became somewhat aware of the change in environment while in her sleep but simply on impulse moved a little more towards the back of the couch. There they lay until the long after the morning light began to pour into the dens many windows.
At 12 in the afternoon Nick’s sister Jill unlocked the front door and entered with two of her friends. “I’m home bro. You up yet?” What she was greeted to at first wasn’t too strange. In fact, this had become a common practice in the household. Her brother would invite all kinds of friends over and the next morning they’d be all strung out across the den passed out on snacks, sugar, and entertainment. It wasn’t until she entered the den that she was compelled to do what she did next. “Nicholas Dean!” Nick bolted upright starring at his sister and her friends. “Wha-what? What I do? We’re tired Jill, Jesus. Let us rest.” Ryan stretched laughing, “I forgot your middle name was Dean…” He stopped short though as he looked over at him his mouth slowly dropping. “What? What the hell is…” Nick started. Jaq was immediately pulling him off the couch smacking him across the head as she did so. “What the hell are you doing you son of a…” Jaq yelled furiously. “Ow! Hey! What the Hell did I do, seriously? Jesus H. Chri…” Nick looked down at the couch where Lily lay sheepishly looking up at him. “I can explain… ya see…” She began. “Shut up bimbo! And you, you, I’m gonna…” Jaq began pummeling his arm over and over again. “When I get done telling mom and dad you’re never going to be able to have friends over again. My own brother… such a…” Jill joined in. “Good work Nick. Looks like today’s gonna be fun.” Ryan laughed. “Screw you man! Tell them they’re wrong. I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t even know she was there. This is, ow, knock it off, ow! At least let me defend myself here.” “I’m sorry.” Lily whispered. “But how could you not see me here on the couch.” “It was dark! I was tired! Ow! Damnit! And we just finished getting our asses kicked. I was exhausted… ow! Knock it off!”
After the beating ceased Nick sat down at the dinning table sighing. “So what’s all this about Nick?” Jill asked. “I’d like to think there’s a reason why you have not just one, but two females staying over night when you’re not allowed to have any at all. You’re usually more responsible so fine, tell me what’s up.” Jill asked. “You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.” He starred at the table looking like hell itself. His eyes were blood shot, his hair was a mess, and he looked completely dazed. “We…” Ryan looked over at him from the kitchen and shook his head. Nick knew he was right. Better to not get his sister involved in all this. It was bad enough that the four of them were in this mess. Besides, there was no way she’d believe him. “We got jumped my some gang members on the way here.” Jaq nodded in approval from her seat at an arm chair against the side wall. Not entirely a lie. They did get jumped in a way, and gang members were certainly more believable than demons. “Yeah, and after we managed to get away we found ourselves feeling unsafe hun.” She spoke adding a little sugar to her words like she did around people she felt the need to. Siblings, gullible friends, people she wanted stuff from. Jaq really was a dangerous blonde. “So your brother was nice enough to let us stay here until we felt safer. It was really scary.” Lily softly said from the chair next to Nick pretending that she had been traumatized. “You know your bro Jill. Always being responsible and worrying about everybody’s well being. He’s stupid like that. We both are. Break the rules so that everybody is safe. That’s a good enough reason right?” Ryan smiled. “Sure, whatever. Even if did believe all that…” Jill started. “Look.” Nick showed her his torn shirt front and Lily too showed her torn shirt shoulder. “These are from the struggle to get away. We got lucky. A few bruises too but if it wasn’t for Ryan…” Nick began to justify. “Look. I believe you.” Jill finally breathed sitting down across from her brother on the other side of the table. “That’s not the issue. You were both on the couch…” “And she was under the blanket and I was on top of it. Fully clothed…” Nick started. “I swear, as far as I know he didn’t do anything. Listen, you’re a good sister for being concerned uh…” Lily found her name escaping her. “Jill.” She interjected coldly. “Jill, you’re a good younger sister Jill for worrying but can’t you just look the other way this once?” She asked giving a cute smile. “We’ve had a really rough night Jill.” Ryan added walking over to her and patting her on the back. In a lot of ways Ryan had become a sort of second brother being that he was always over and Nick’s friend since before she could remember. “Alright, alright you all win.” She sighed. “It’ll be another one of our secrets. But you owe me.” She smiled mischievously. “What… what did you have in mind?” Nick asked reluctantly. “Well, since you probably have to drive your friends home now anyways, we need a ride to the mall now. Okay you got it. I’ll meet you guys outside.” Nick grumbled. Jill and her friends walked outside exchanging excited banter about what to buy and how much of a sucker her brother was.
“Yare yare.” Nick breathed. “English you stupid otaku.” Jaq joked smacking him on the back. “Sheesh.” He translated rolling his eyes. “Barely dodged that bullet. Sorry about that guys.” He grabbed the back of his neck rubbing it lightly to relieve the tension. “Don’t worry. What’s she gonna do kill you?” Ryan joked. No one laughed though. “Seriously though I know what you were thinking about last night and you’re right. We need to prepare for this.” Ryan rationalized hoping to make up for his un-timely joke. “I think we need to tell someone though,” Jaq began. “Even if it’s just a few of our friends. I realize no one will believe us but they’re our friends. Some of them might. Hell I’m starting too.” She added. “This is just too much for me…” Lily sighed tracing shapes with her finger on the table. “Don’t worry. Just stick with us. We’ve got your back.” Nick smiled. Jaq couldn’t help thinking that Nick should speak for himself but chose not to say anything. “Tell ya what. It’s the weekend and we should get some rest. Monday is the big graduation party. We can talk to a few of our friends there and make plans to hang and train.” He looked at Ryan as he said this last part. “Guess I gotta put together some workouts huh? Hope Preston’s down with all this. I could use his help. I’m not the only one with dojo experience ya know?” Ryan tried once more to break the ice. Nick smiled. “That’ll do Ryan-san, that’ll do.” “So… Monday then?” Lily asked looking up at him. “Here.” He handed her a piece of paper with his number. “If something comes up before then, call me.” Nick tried not to smile as he handed it to her. Ryan grabbed it from him, grabbed a nearby pencil and added his number. “And if you need someone that can bust some heads, call this one.” He added. “Alright add my number too. Like it or not it’s the four of us I guess. Idiots.” Jaq grumbled. “Thank you. The three of you are so… so very different than most of my friends but you accept me so easily. You defend me though you have no reason to. You’re all so very kind. It’s strange. But I appreciate it. I really do. I feel kinda bad about ignoring you guys on campus and…” “Yeah yeah blondie just pull your own weight and get to defending yourself too okay. We gotta look out for our own skin too ya know.” Jaq interrupted realizing that this was becoming harder and harder for Lily to admit and she was eventually going to say something she’d probably regret.
“Nick! Mall! Now!” Jill called from outside the door. “Coming. Chill out, God!” He yelled after her. “We gotta get moving guys. Sorry.” “So’k. Just get us home first. Don’t really wanna watch your sister and her friends shop man. Ya understand right?” Ryan grinned. “Yeah yeah yeah. Just stay alive until Monday huh?” Nick joked back. They headed out the door unaware of the time the had left but knowing that had much to do within it.