CC had awakened in the middle of the night feeling thirsty and got up to get a blood pack when he heard Raven tossing, turning and panting almost as if she was being frightened by someone or something. He could tell she had settled when he couldn't hear the sheets rustling and continued down the stairs. “I hope she's ok, it sounded like she had a pretty terrible nightmare there for a second.” CC tore the corner off of an blood pack and sat at the island sipping at it as if in thought. “I think I will take her shopping again, seems stupid to most because I just took her shopping it seems like yesterday even though it has been almost a half a year, well back to bed..” He tossed the empty packet and went upstairs and back to bed.



The following morning Raven woke up feeling as if she had not slept at all and she got out of bed grabbing from her closet a purple tank top with a fishnet overlay, a pair of black boot cut jeans and studded belt and a pair of purple,open toe heels. “Hopefully a shower will help..” She left out of her room and went to open the bathroom door and remembered that CC and Andy tend to use it back to back and she knocked. “I'll be out in just a second, I need to finish styling my hair.” Raven knew it was Andy and dug out her phone to call Juliet.

“Morning Raven, how are you?” Juliet said when she answered her phone after chewing a piece of toast. “It's unusual for you to call this early.”

“Oh, I'm fine, I just wanted to ask if I could come use your shower, Andy is in ours and then CC won't be far behind and I really need to shower, it might help me wake up a little bit more.” Raven explained over the phone to Juliet who was taking another bite of toast.

“Of course you can, you are welcome to come here whenever you feel the need, I told you that the night I walked you to CC and Andy's place from that party remember?” Juliet replied to Raven and stuck her plate in the sink. “Come on over, I made extra toast.”

“I remember Juliet and thanks, I'm starving! I'll see you in a few minutes.” Raven slipped on her slippers and left CC and Andy's house to walk to Juliet's a few houses down. “They really need to find a two bathroom house.”


“I couldn't have said it better myself Raven, come on in and take your shower, have some toast if you would like and I'll call the guys and let them know where you are.” Juliet showed Raven where the bathroom was and then went downstairs to call CC.

Raven undressed and turned on the water to the shower and allowed it to get hot while she brushed out her hair so it would be easier to wash. While looking in the mirror she noticed the toll the nightmare had taken on her. “I look like crap, I thought these nightmares of Alyan coming to find me would go away, but I was very wrong.” She stepped underneath the steaming hot water of the shower and she felt her muscles relax. “I hope he doesn't come back...”


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“Guy's you really need to find a house with more than one bathroom, I don't mind Raven coming here to shower but from how she looked when she walked in, she needs a relaxing soak in a bathtub big time.” Juliet said to Andy on the other end of the phone call.

“We can look around, but damn my curiosity for asking this, what did she look like when she arrived?” Andy asked Juliet and then put him on speaker while he cooked some eggs and toast.

“Well, she looked like she hasn't slept in days, like nightmares have been keeping her up.” Juliet explained and she heard a choking sound in the background which he could only assume was CC.

CC ran to the counter and picked up the phone. “Did you say nightmares? Last night while I was going to the kitchen for a blood packet I heard Raven tossing around and panting almost like she was frightened...I should have checked on her..but you said she's at your place now?”

“Yea, she's in the shower because you two beauty queens take so long getting ready in the mornings, don't get me wrong I don't mind but like I told Andy you guys need a two bathroom house, gotta go, Jake is calling in.” Juliet hung up with the guys.

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Raven got out of the shower and started drying her hair and noticed that the streaks in her hair looked pure white and looked like more had appeared which on a normal day would freak her out but with the way she was feeling it didn't really disturb her at all . “Time to dress.”

She put on her tank top with the fishnet overlay first followed by her jeans and shoes and then she picked up her clothes from the floor and walked down the hall to Juliet's living room. “You can have your bathroom back Juliet, thank you for letting me use it.


"No problem Raven, come over anytime you need to get away from all the crazy, you have a good day."Juliet gave Raven a friendly hug and sent her on her way back to CC and Andy's place.

“Hey guys, I'm home, sorry about leaving to shower but I heard Andy in the bathroom and knew you weren't far behind CC..so I called Juliet to see.."Raven was interrupted by CC pulling her into a tight hug and he placed his chin on her head to try and hide the tears of guilt that were streaming down his cheeks. "It's fine Raven, Juliet called us and explained to us why you were there showering."

"CC, why are you crying, and don't tell me you aren't I can hear it in the way you are talking." Raven said firmly trying to hide the exhaustion in her voice and wondering if it was something she did to make him upset.

"I'm crying out of guilt, I heard you tossing around last night like you were being frightened and when Juliet called she said you looked like you hadn't slept because nightmares had kept you up and it struck me with guilt that I didn't check on you last night when I got up to get a blood packet." CC explained to Raven who was trying to looking into his eyes to let him know there was nothing to feel guilty about.
"CC, I've had these nightmares since I came to this realm, I have periods where I don't have them but it's nothing new for me, and there's nothing that can be done about them, trust me I've tried everything." Raven said trying to reassure CC that she was ok, that he had no reason to feel guilty.

"I hate to sound harsh but I don't care, I feel I need to be there for you no matter what the situation. I'm sleeping with you tonight, for my peace of mind, you can hate me for it if you feel you must." CC argued the point not noticing that Raven wasn't speaking until she collapsed from sheer exhaustion. "Raven! Andy bring me a blanket, pillow and a glass of water for her, I'm putting her on the couch so I can watch over her."He laid Raven on the couch and covered her up with the blanket Andy had retrieved and slid the pillow under her head.


"Dude, Juliet tried to tell you she looked exhausted, and no I'm not saying that to make you feel like shtako, don't ask where I got that word from, but anyway, Raven seemed off when she walked in the door but even I didn't see that she was going to collapse."Andy said and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water for CC. "Drink this, it will help your nerves.

"Nothing will help my nerves, Andy, I promised myself I would protect the girl that came into my life but yet I haven't been able to protect Raven from nightmares..."CC cried over his guilt that he wasn't able to help Raven. "I wanted to take her shopping this morning, but maybe she will be able to later.

Raven turned over and pulled the blanket over her eyes because the light was bothering her and she drifted back to sleep hoping nightmares wouldn't come to her and she could rest peacefully.



"Maybe she will be better by this evening, she seems to be resting quite peacefully right now so who knows."Andy replied and grabbed his keys from the key rack. "I'm going to go grab some groceries for the house, is there anything you need while I'm out?
"Something to make me feel better, if you can't find that then I would like to have something special bought for Raven, I've noticed she eats a lot of fruit and ice cream so something within those ideas. "CC replied and he wiped Raven's forehead when he noticed she had been sweating which was unusual for her because of her ice demon form. "Raven, love, I know you are sleeping but give me some sign you aren't having a nightmare.

Raven turned over and squeezed CC's hand and her eyes fluttered open. "I'm fine CC, I just need a little rest..nothing more, but I can get that later, you said you wanted to go shopping?"

“I do but it can wait until you are better, I'm sorry if I woke you talking or wiping your forehead, you were kind of sweating and honestly I didn't know that could happen." CC handed Raven the glass of water Andy had gotten for him a few minutes earlier.
“You didn't wake me, and it can happen, it's a healing process unique to my people, and it isn't really sweat, it's more like a shedding of skin but since I am an ice demon, my skin melts and when I'm not in my demon form it appears as sweat but enough about my anatomy, you wanted to go shopping, don't let me keep you.” Raven said and she sat up on the couch and took the glass of water from CC and sipped at it.

“You aren't keeping me from doing anything, this shopping trip was for you. I wanted to get you something special.” CC replied and he took the glass from Raven when she handed it back to him. “I wanted you to be able to look your best this evening, I wanted to take you on a date, something really special.”

“CC, that's really sweet of you, let me shower...again..and wait on Andy to get back and we can go. I would like Andy to come with us, just in case I collapse again and you can't get to me.” Raven smiled and threw the blanket off of her legs and put her feet on the floor.

“Would you rather sit and take a bath? So you can relax I mean, you just woke up and I thought it might be better on your muscles after your fall.” CC helped Raven up from the couch and up to the bathroom.

“That..actually sounds like a really good idea, would you please grab me some clothes? My off shoulder top with the cross, my black cargos with the white belts, my flats with the hearts on them and the red and black bow under garments you bought me when I first moved in.” Raven asked a little embarrassed that she was asking CC to get her panties and bra for her.

“Of course, and feel free to use my lavender bath soap, it makes a wonderful bubble bath.” CC smiled lovingly at Raven and helped her into the bathtub after she undressed and got the water running. “I will be back with your clothes.”



Raven sat back in the tub and let the warmth of the water wash over her and relax her muscles which she realized were truly sore from her fall. "I truly hope that these have been just nightmares and that Alyan hasn't really been trying to find me."




"Hey, Raven, I couldn't find the ones with the red bows so I got the blue ones, is that alright?" CC sat the neatly folded pile on the counter by the sink and sat on the stool he kept in the corner for those days he needed to take extra time on his makeup.

"It's fine, um CC, I know this is going to sound like a really odd question coming from me but would it be too much to ask if you would join me in the tub? I don't know why but I feel like I just need someone to hold me right now and I don't want you to get your clothes wet while trying to." Raven fought the tears that were trying to fill her eyes and the confusion as to why she was on the verge of crying.

"You are correct about one thing, that definitely does not sound like you, but of course I will join you, I smell a little bit anyway, worry makes me sweat." CC undressed and slid in the bathtub behind Raven and he wrapped his arms around her. "Raven, I don't mean to dig but what have these nightmares you keep having been about?"
"I've never talked about them in the past..but do you remember that day in the studio I told you that my parents tried to force me to marry?" Raven replied with her own question hoping CC did remember.

"I do remember, I saw the pain in your eyes when you spoke of it, all I wanted to do was hold you and just let you cry and let everything out, but I didn't know how appropriate it would have been at the time." CC answered and ran some water through his hair to let it down from the slight spike he had done to it that morning.

"Really? Anyway, they didn't really want to force me to marry, my parents loved me so much but they tried to join with one of the wealthier families in Khelek but when they saw how horrible the other family's son was, they sent me here to have a life of my own, knowing they would be cast from Khelekian society." Raven started to explain what her nightmares were about while she scrubbed at her shoulders and arms. "My nightmares have been about Alyan coming to this realm, finding me and forcing me back to Khelek. Alyan is the name of the son of the family my parents tried to marry me into."

"I will never let that happen, you aren't going anywhere I can't protect you." CC took another wash cloth from the basket by the tub and used it to wash Raven's back when he saw her struggle to reach. "I do have another, unrelated question, um is there any reason Andy would be talking to animals? I don't mean like he talks to the dogs at mom's house I mean having full conversations with them."








"He has a gift, all vampires have gifts, his just happens to be able to communicate with animals. I have been wondering if you have discovered yours yet, and if you haven't it might be because you haven't been told about the different levels of gifts." Raven told CC who had started washing her back and by how he was washing, being very careful to keep his hands above the water.

"I was not aware, what are the levels of gifts?" CC rinsed the wash cloth off under a stream of water from the faucet behind him.



"There are common gifts, such as mind control and astral travel, then there are uncommon gifts like elemental control and communicating with animals, and then there are rare abilities like memory walking and shape shifting and the rarest of all abilities is having two abilities instead of one." Raven broke down the different levels of abilities further while CC shampooed his hair with the lemon rosemary shampoo she had picked out for him a month ago.

"I see, well how would one go about discovering their gift?" CC rinsed his hair and then rested his chin on Raven's shoulder hoping to catch a glimpse of the icy blue eyes that drew a smile every time he saw them.

"Well the easiest one to discover is mind control, all you need to do is look someone in the eyes without blinking and get them to do whatever it is you want them to do, astral travel is best discovered in a sleep state, and elemental control takes a lot of concentration and focus on the element you are trying to control, and memory walking is done through blood but without drinking it and shapeshifting takes muscle control and focus on the animal you want to be." Raven looked over her shoulder and chuckled at how goofy CC looked hunched over with his chin on her shoulder looking up into her eyes and smiling when he saw them.

"Wow, that is a lot to remember, um I want to try to see if I have the ability to memory walk, that sounds very interesting." CC sat up from having his chin on Raven's shoulder and he moved around to stretch out his legs that he had crossed so he wouldn't be too much of a bother to Raven even though she had asked him to join her in the bath.

"Well, I would offer up myself for your experiment but I don't think you want to see some of the things from my past, that's even if you are a memory walker." Raven said and out of pure habit she leaned back to put her lower back in the water and remembered that CC was behind her. "I hope you don't mind if I lean back."

"Not at all, and sometimes I wonder what goes on in your mind sometimes, I would love for you to be my test subject." CC said and chuckled at the look on Raven's face at how he said what he did.

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"CC, Raven, I'm home! Could use some help with the groceries." Andy shouted through the house. Not knowing that CC and Raven were in the tub together he starts looking around in the rooms to find the couple and finally comes to the bathroom and not thinking about it opens the door. "Gwah!" Andy shouts when he sees CC and Raven in the tub.


Raven shrieks when Andy opens the door and blasts him with a shower of snow and ice from her palms. "Get out!" She jumps out of the tub with a towel and runs to her room, leaving CC and her clothes behind.

"Andy, you idiot! Look what you've done!" CC grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist and ran after Raven to see if she was alright and making a mental note to deal with Andy later if he couldn't get Raven to calm down and even then, Andy needed to be taught to knock from there on out. "Raven, Raven open the door, it's CC."

Raven opened the door to her room just enough to look out into the hall and in a harsh tone of voice she said just one broken by sobs of embarrassment phrase. "Your friend...manners..horrible." She slammed the door shut and grabbed her largest messenger bag which with her little knowledge of Khelekian magic had managed to enchant it to fit everything in her closet and then some and she started packing.
Andy had finally thawed out and sat close to the fireplace to warm up after lighting a small fire. "I didn't know they were in the bathroom..CC is going to kill me if she leaves and then Patrick will be all "I told you so", I cannot let that happen but what am I going to do?"

"ANDREW DENNIS BIERSACK!" CC stormed down the hallway in a pair of boxers, crimson red eyes and his fangs bared, fuming that his bandmate had upset Raven so much. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU IF SHE LEAVES!"

Andy was afraid, truly afraid of his friend and ran out of the house and down to Juliet's place where he hid in Juliet's large closet.

CC didn't care that he had frightened Andy, he was too worried that Andy had upset Raven to the point she would leave and little known to CC that's exactly she was doing. Still furious, CC had gone to the kitchen and grabbed a blood packet to calm his nerves.

Raven had finished packing her messenger bag, dressing and opened her door quietly as to not alert CC and quietly went down the stairs and out the door after leaving a note taped to her door telling CC she would not be back until Andy had learned better manners now that there was a girl in the house and that she would be staying at the Marriott in room 604.

CC had calmed down enough to go check on Raven and started up the stairs when he saw a note on the floor that looked like it had fallen from somewhere, he picked it up and started to read it. “She's gone...Andy Biersack what have you done.." He fell to the floor with a heart-wrenching scream of pain, holding the note crumpled in his hand and tears falling down his cheeks from the shattering he felt in his heart that the girl he had fallen in love with had left.


Andy had come out of Juliet's closet and saw that his girlfriend had been sitting cross-legged in front his hiding spot. “Juliet, how long have you been sitting there?”

“Long enough to wonder how badly you fucked up with CC." Juliet stood up and dusted off her shorts and continued to speak. “It had to have been pretty damn bad for you to come hide in MY closet, what did you do?”

“I..I walked in on Raven and CC sitting together in the bathtub, it freaked Raven out bad enough to blast me with her power of ice and run to her room without taking her clothes. CC followed her not long after that and then he went to her to see if she was alright and next thing I know his eyes are glowing red, he has his fangs bared, screaming at the top of his lungs and he didn't bother to fully dress.” Andy explained the situation and the threat CC had made towards his life if Raven were to leave.
“You need to go fix this dude and you need to go fix it now, and I put your groceries in my extra fridge and freezer for the time being but you need to go..now.” Juliet shoved her boyfriend down the hall and out of the door.
Raven had paid for her room for at least a month after discussing it with the hotel manager and headed up to her room trying not to cry out of pure guilt for leaving CC like she did, but she just had to get away from Andy. “At least he knows were I will be, if he comes looking for me.” She opened the door to her room after several minutes of being on the elevator and started to unpack some things from her bag, including the phone CC had gotten for her a month ago. Raven never understood why CC wouldn't let her earn the money for her own things but she never truly questioned him about it.

A knock was heard at the door and Raven answered assuming it was room service with the smoothie she ordered just before getting on the elevator and it was a older gentleman with a room service cart with a single cup on it. “Room service miss, your smoothie is ready and you also have a visitor in the lobby, a young man with shoulder length brown hair, says his name is Listing should I send him up?”

Raven nodded and took the smoothie from the nice gentle man tipping him well as a thank you for putting up with the strange requests to come.

A few minutes later another knock was heard and Raven knew it must have been Jake coming to try and convince to go back to the Biersack/Coma/Pitts/Ferguson/Purdy household. “Come in Jake, I know it's you, it's unlocked”


The door opened and Jake walked in looking as if he had been in a panic and ran over to the bed where Raven was propped up reading Rapture and sipping at smoothie which she kept cold with a chill from her fingertips. “Raven, something is wrong with CC, he won't answer his phone and he won't let Andy in the house, and it has all of us freaked out.”

“It is because of Andy that CC is in such a state, Andy walked in on me and CC in the bathtub, and no it isn't what you might think, it freaked me out, I ran to my room and started packing my bag, I heard CC screaming at Andy but I couldn't make out what he was saying due to my own sobs and I left the house while CC was in the kitchen, I left him a note saying where I am and by his state I assume he found it.” Raven responded to Jake who looked dumbfounded at how calm Raven was about the whole thing.

“So..you left CC because of Andy? Doesn't that seems a little..harsh?" Jake replied while looking at his phone hoping that CC had called back.

"That's just it, I never left CC personally, I just left the house, he can come see me if he wishes, he can even come stay with me if he wishes to, I just do not want Andy around until he can learn better manners." Raven said and she picked up her phone from the bedside table and scrolled through her contacts (of which there were four main ones and then take out places) and pressed CC's name. "You can go if you wish Jake, I'm calling him now, I just needed time to cool my own nerves before contacting CC."

Jake just nodded and left the room so Raven could talk to CC in private.

A click was heard on Raven's phone which she took as CC picking up and when CC spoke she could tell that he had been in pain. "H-Hello?"

"CC, love, it's Raven. I just got a visit from Jake, why haven't you been picking up your phone for him?" Raven asked at the silence on the other end.
"Raven! Please come back..Andy isn't here, please come back, I need you in my arms again..please." CC was hysterical while he was talking on the phone, Raven didn't know if she was going to be able to speak.

"CC, love, please calm down, I left the house to get away from Andy, you know where to find me, if you want to come stay with me then come stay with me but I am not returning to that house until your band mate has learned some manners." Raven said firmly but calmly so she didn't upset CC further.

"So...you...didn't end it with me?" CC asked in between small sobs and crumples of empty blood packets.

"No, it isn't over between you and me, it could never be...so if you wish to come stay with me then pack a bag and come stay with me, I will tell the manager I have a guest coming to stay and he will give you a key card, my room number is on the note I left, if you arrive and I'm not in the room, then I am probably at their aqua bar." Raven said to CC who she could tell was packing a few bags.


"I will be there as soon as I can, let me go so I can finish packing ok?" CC sounded a little better now that he knew that their relationship was still there and hung up after Raven said goodbye.

Raven felt a little calmer now that CC was alright and decided to gets dressed in her best bathing suit with sarong, her strappy sandals, a towel and went to go see the manager before going to the aqua bar.

During the ride in the elevator Raven thought about helping CC look for a larger house and what kind of details to discuss with him about the house. “I just know it needs to have at least two bathrooms, the rest we can talk about." The elevator stopped and Raven walked over to the front desk. “Excuse me, but I was wondering if Ms. Halifax is still here, she said if I had any questions or needed to discuss something about my living arrangements to talk to her directly.

“She is still here, I shall go get her for you, and to compensate for your wait have a free dinner on me at any of the hotel's dining area's, I recommend our little gem, The Jade Dragon, even though it is like your average Chinese place, the food is affordable and delicious." The girl at the register said and went off to go get the manager.

Raven sat on a bench close to the registration desk and dug out the book she had been reading when Jake showed up earlier and started reading.

"Excuse me, miss, you wanted to see me?" A tall blond haired woman approached Raven with a kindness in her voice which Raven took as genuine and not a have to for business.

Raven looked up from her book and smiled. "Yes, Ms. Halifax, I was told to come to you directly if I had concerns about my living arrangements or if I had something I needed to discuss."

"Please call me Raina and yes, if you need anything at all please feel free to come to me, now what is it you wished to discuss?" Raina sat down beside Raven and sat her clipboard in her lap.

"Um, I was wondering if it would be alright if someone close to me could come and stay in my room with me, I will even pay for the extra person if needed." Raven said to Raina who had been scribbling on the corner of her to-do list while listening to Raven.

"No need to pay, with what you put in for your month-long stay, you can have a guest stay with you and I will have a key card ready for this person for when they arrive, also we have a private aqua bar set aside for our more exclusive clients, if you would like to use it and your guest may use it as well. Is that all you will be needing miss?" Raina asked Raven who was putting her book back in her bag.

"Yes, thank you so much, could you possibly show me where the aqua bar is? The public one for now, well at least until my guest arrives." Raven asked and she followed the directions the manager gave her before walking off to deal with another matter.



CC threw his bag in his car, put the keys in and drove off to the hotel to see Raven and unpack his things in her room and meet her at the aqua bar. "I hope I didn't frighten Andy too much, it's just he has ruined so many of my relationships being stupid like that, here it is, the Marriott, now to check in and unpack." He turned off the car after parking, grabbed his bag from the back seat and went to get his key card that Raven assured him would be there.

CC walked up to the check-in counter and rang the bell hoping there was someone to check him in. A few minutes of waiting a blonde woman came walking out of a small office and looked up from her clipboard. "Yes, can I help you?"

"Hopefully, I am here to stay with Raven Montgomery, she might be under one of two aliases Angela Crow or Raven Blackwing." CC said hoping he read Raven's note right about the location of the hotel.
"You must be Ms. Montgomery's guest, she told me she had someone coming, here is your key card, I will have someone take your bags up and I will tell her you are here or you can meet her at the public aqua bar just down this hallway third curtain on your left." Raina explained to CC where the aqua bar was and she handed him the key card.

CC just stood there perplexed because he had never gotten service like this in all the years he had toured the globe with his band. He dug out his swim trunks and then handed his bag over to the older gentleman who had shown up waiting to take it up to Raven's room and he followed the directions Raina had given him and saw Raven sitting in the far corner with her eyes closed like she was very relaxed with a drink sitting on the ledge beside her.

"CC, you made it, I hope everything went well with your check in." Raven said with her eyes still closed which left CC perplexed once again as he went to the restroom to change into his trunks.

"How did you know it was me Raven?" CC slipped into the water beside Raven and dunked his hair under the water. "I hadn't even said hello, or anything."

"Your cologne, you were wearing the FMJ Rockstar, I always wondered why you got a women's perfume but after smelling it I saw why and figured that was your signature scent." Raven replied and waved over the bartender and whispered in her ear to bring another daiquiri for her and CC ordered a Monster Energy Drink.

"I like FMJ Rockstar because it has Asian inspired scents like amber and lavender that can only be found in Asia but yea you are correct on the fact it is my signature scent and everything went well with my check in, actually it went better than any check in I've had before." CC replied and snuggled up next to Raven as if she were going to leave again.

"CC, I didn't mean to leave like I did, but I just couldn't be around Ashley, his manners are horrible also, I am very glad you are here for many reasons, one of the least important being now Jake will quit bothering me and one of the more important being, I thought it over and I have decided you were right in choosing me to use as a test to see if you are a memory walker also....I missed you." Raven laid her head on CC's shoulder and closed her eyes.


"I actually wanted to talk to you about that, I thought it over and maybe you and Juliet are right. We do need a bigger house so I called Patrick, mainly because he has resources that we do not, to see what he can find for us and I made it very clear why I was asking this of him and he understood." CC said to Raven who wasn’t really paying attention because she was happy CC was with her.

"Hey CC, why don't we go to the private aqua bar? We can test you to see if you are a memory walker or a shape shifter there and not be bothered." Raven suggested while trying to climb out of the pool to go get her drink.

"That sounds like an ok idea, just let me go grab my clothes and my phone from the locker in the men's room." CC climbed out of the pool with ease because of height and helped Raven out so she could get her drink and wait for CC.

"I need to grab my towel and my bag from the ladies room so I'll meet you back here by the bar so we go together." Raven ran to the ladies room so she wouldn't get too much water on the floor and she struggled to get her towel around her waist because she was shivering like crazy. She grabbed her bag along with her shoes and went back into the main room to grab her drink and wait for CC.

"Ready to go Raven?" CC ran a towel over his hair and then wrapped it over his shoulder and he grabbed his Monster and stood beside Raven who was slipping on her shoes.

"Yes, I'm ready let's go to the private aqua bar." They walked together out of the public aqua bar and Raven took the little map out of her bag so they wouldn't get lost looking for the private bar.

"So, Raven, how will we know if this works? Finding out if I'm a memory walker?" CC asked as they walked down a secondary hallway that was indicated on the small map that Raven was holding.

"It's hard for me to explain because each individual that has been reported to be a memory walker has had a different sensation, one report something like a jolt pulling him forward into the person's mind, and another reported a over whelming sense of peace, and now we turn here and go down these stairs." Raven looked at the map and then opened the light blue door in front of them holding CC's hand as they went down the stairs.

"I hear water, we must be almost there..I can't wait to see it." Raven and CC reached the bottom step and their jaws dropped at the sight of the private aqua bar. Midnight blue walls draped with silver chains which were adorned with jewels of the brightest topaz in the shape of dolphins and fish. In the corners were smaller bubbling hot tubs that were framed in silver flecked sapphire stones. The bar was painted to look like the ocean at midnight on a full moon.

"It's beautiful...and the lockers are co-ed...must be a perk of this being a private aqua bar." Raven whispered in awe at the sight of the aqua bar.



"Then that is where we go, to the locker rooms to put our stuff away and then we get in one of the hot tubs, or the larger pool.." CC picked up his bag and Raven picked up hers, they walked to the closest locker to the door and put their things away.

"Ready?" CC picked up Raven and carried her to the hot tub closest to the bar just in case they wanted an extra drink and he sat her in the water gently.

"Yes, I am ready." Raven leaned forward so CC could get in behind her comfortably.

CC settled into the spot behind Raven and laid his chin on her shoulder. "And you are sure this won't hurt you at all?"

"I'm sure CC..I'm sure." Raven pinned her hair up away from the back of her neck and leaned her head forward. "It may seem crazy biting directly on the spine but it is how memories are more directly accessed because of direct blood flow to the brain and memories are imprinted in the blood."

"I see.." CC replied and wondered how memories were imprinted in the blood. He tossed away the thought for the time being and gently bit down on the back of Raven's neck. When the blood splashed on his tongue, CC felt a chill go down his throat but not much else until a flash of light blinded him for a brief moment and he found himself drifting in what he figured was Raven's memories.

"Whoa...this is awesome...I wonder what memories she will let me see..." CC floated around looking at the different images that were Raven's memories and saw that some had frames around them as if they were more special or important to her than others. He glided over to one in particular that he recognized as the day he met Raven and their lives changed forever, why it was framed he didn't understand at first but to Raven it must be special because that was the day they became friends.

"I wonder how I can see it again....do I just touch it or..whaaa!" When CC touched a finger to the picture it sucked him in and he was seeing that night in Paris from Raven's point of view, feeling what she felt, the fear, the joy and the love of her favorite band.

"I see you figured out how to enter my memories, why you picked this one I won't ever understand but I do have one rule while you are in here, if you see the memories start to blend and fade together, you must leave, it's a sign that my body is getting weak." Raven's inner conscience said to CC before rippling away.

"That was odd, but I will abide by any rules she lays down, I wonder what other memories she will allow me to see." CC left the memory through the same frame which he used to enter and drifted around to find another memory to see.
"I wonder if she has any memories of Khelek..hmm.." CC floated around searching for any sign of a memory of Raven's home world. He drifted for what seemed like hours when he came across a silver frame coated in ice crystals and he touched a finger to the image and was drawn into a world of ice and snow. “This must be Khelek..I wonder what memory she chose to show me..
CC wandered through the streets and picked up a handful snow to sift between his fingers. “It's so beautiful here..I just can't believe this place exists.”


He heard a frantic voice speaking an unusual language and he recognized it as the language Raven spoke that night in the hospital so he turned to see where it was coming from and saw a male and female ice demon running towards a mountain pass and saw running closely behind the female was a girl no older than 16 and realized that it must have been Raven's memory of the night she was sent to Earth to hide from Alyan who CC saw not too far from the corner he spotted Raven and her family at.

No wonder she looks so scared every time we go out..she's afraid he is going to find her. Oh dear her memories are blurring together..because I just saw Jake without his shirt..” He closed his eyes and let his physical body take control.


He let go of Raven in the physical realm which jolted him back to reality. "That was very interesting." He looked at Raven who had fainted from loss of blood but looked as if she had dozed off, laying back against CC who couldn't help but smile at how peaceful she looked but felt a twinge of guilt at how much blood he had taken from her. "Come love, I will take you back to the room."

After getting their things, CC carried Raven in his arms back up the stairs and to the elevator. He told people who stopped to ask if Raven was alright that she had downed a few too many drinks, knowing it was a lie but too afraid to reveal why she was really passed out.

He made it back to the room and laid Raven down on her bed and covered her up with the blanket he had packed in his bag. "Sleep Raven, I will get you some blood packs as soon as I can." CC picked up his cell phone and called Juliet because she was closest to the house.

-Juliet: "Hello? Oh CC how are you and Raven doing?"

-CC: "Juliet, I need you to go over to the house and look in the bottom drawer of the fridge and bring me what you can of our stock of blood packs, in her rush to leave Raven forgot her's and she is very weak..also I forgot mine as well."

-Juliet: "Will do, hey can Andy go back to the house? He won't leave my house, don't get me wrong he's my boyfriend and is welcome over anytime but this is ridiculous CC.."

-CC: "Of course he can, and he needs to help Patrick find a new house...well I have to go check on Raven, I will see you when you get here, I texted the hotel info to your inbox, bye Juliet."

CC hung up on Juliet and dragged a chair from the corner of the room to Raven's bedside and took her hand in his while she slept. "Juliet is on her way with some blood packs for you and me and Andy will help Patrick find a new house for us."

"You need to call your band mate....let him know you are alright.." Raven said from her bed in a weakened tone of voice. "Go see him if you need to..."

"Will you be ok without me here?" CC tucked Raven's hair away from her eyes and smiled at her with the comforting thought that she was able to speak, that he didn't completely drain her when viewing her memories.

"I will be fine, go see your friend, if anything I will have Juliet here..and speak of the devil...hello Juliet." Raven said when she heard Juliet knock on the door to her room. "CC will you get the door for Juliet?"

CC got up from the chair, put it back in the corner and then went to open the door for Juliet who stepped around CC and rushed over to Raven's bed side to give her a blood packet. "CC why didn't you tell me she was this bad....why didn't you call me earlier?"



"She was fine up until we got back to the room, I will let her explain the whole thing because even I'm still stunned about what we found out today, I need to go see Andy, I will be back soon." CC replied and walked out the door to go see Andy.

"Up you get." Juliet Helped sit Raven up against the small pile of pillows on the bed and reached in her insulated bag for a blood packet and snipped the corner with a pair of scissors. "Drink up, so now I gotta ask, what happened for Andy to come hide in my bedroom closet, I want to hear it in your words?"

Raven sipped at the contents of the packet Juliet gave her the rush of blood through her veins blushed her cheeks. "I was sitting in the bathtub, trying to get the aches from the fall I took out of my back and hips when I asked CC to join me in a non-sexual manner." She started to tell the story when she emptied the packet and threw the plastic away. "CC had started scrubbing my back, more like massaging but anyway, when he brought up that Andy had been having complete conversations with animals."

"Wait...wait a minute, did you just say complete conversations? As if he could understand them?" Juliet interrupted.

"Yes, and I will explain that later, Well, CC had finished scrubbing my back and laid his chin on my shoulder when Andy walked in and that's when things went sour." Raven said and she propped herself up and took the second packet Juliet offered her.

"Sour how?" Juliet asked and then stood up to explore the room a little while Raven was telling the story.

"I freaked out and froze Andy then ran to my room and that is when CC went into full rage mode, I've seen vampires in full rage mode, bared fangs, crimson eyes..and screams..such loud screaming. He threatened to murder Andy if I left and I guess that is when Andy ran to your house." Raven finished the story and Juliet stood there slack jawed at how she described CC in rage mode.

Juliet sat back down and reached into the bedside drawer to get Raven's phone which she heard vibrating. "It's for you..it's Andy..."

"Give me the phone..What is it Andy.." Raven said to Andy who was on the other end of the conversation.

Andy- "I'm sorry Raven, I didn't know you and CC were in the bathtub, I'm not used to knocking on the bathroom door in my own house."

Raven- "Start learning...also, have you or David found a new house yet?"

Andy-"Actually yes, we think we have but I need your opinion on it as well as CC's, do you think you cannot kill me long enough to come take a look at it tomorrow? I can have Saki come get you."



Raven-"I guess, well I need to go Andy, I need to rest.."

Andy-"Rest well Raven.."

Raven hung up the phone and handed it back to Juliet who took the hint to put it on the top shelf of the closet. "Juliet...CC told you I would tell you why I was in such a weakened state..well what I need to know is can you promise not to freak out when I tell you?"

"I take weird well remember?" Juliet simply replied.

"I remember...ok take a seat. CC and I were testing to see what his gift as vampire was..whether it was elemental control, speaking to animals, or memory walking to name a few." Raven threw the second plastic packet away and continued speaking. "So while we were in the private aqua bar, which is gorgeous by the way, we tested to see if he is a memory walker and what the test entails is for CC to bite directly on the back of my neck where blood flows directly to my brain so the memories are more vivid and complete..and he was in there for a while which drained a lot out of me."

"Wait so..CC can access and view memories now?" Juliet inquired while she unpacked the rest of the blood packets into the mini fridge in the room. "That has got to be weird."

"It can be if you don't know the person but because CC only managed to access the memory of the day we first met and the memory of the day I came to this realm, it wasn't as weird as I thought it would be even though I do know him." Raven climbed out of the bed and walked over to the closet to find something to wear to go house viewing with CC and Andy tomorrow, today if possible. "Hey Juliet, how good is your sense of fashion?"

"I'd say it's fair, I can tell what looks good on someone and what looks good in general but it's not to the point of flamboyant." Juliet replied wondering why Raven was asking her this.

"Good because I will need your opinion on what I'm going to wear tomorrow, possibly later today if I can move a little better." Raven went through her vast selection of t-shirts,jeans and flats and decided upon her lavender Honorary Weasley t-shirt, a simple pair of light blue denim jeans and her silver flats. "Wait here." She went into the bathroom to change and Juliet took up a seat in the corner while she waited for Raven to dress.

"I can't help but wonder why of all places Andy could hide in your house, he chose the closet..that just seems a little comical really." Raven said from the bathroom while trying to put on her jeans.

"It does seem a little funny but no, I don't really know why he chose the closet." Juliet replied from her chair in the corner while picking a piece of lint from her jeans pocket."Ready yet?"


"Yes, yes I am." Raven stepped out of the bathroom after pulling up a small section of hair into a ponytail and pinching her cheeks for a little color. "So, what do you think, I tried to pick something casual and easy but also something that looked like I put a little effort."

"I think it looks alright, should I call CC and see if they would like to go look at the house?" Juliet took her phone out of her pocket to check his messages and to call CC if Raven gave the ok.

"Go ahead, I will be downstairs talking to Raina about my living arrangement and see about getting part of my money back since I'm considering going back to the house...I kinda miss my room." Raven said to Juliet before leaving the room to go downstairs.

Raven took the elevator down to the lobby and rang the bell for assistance to see if she might leave a note for Raina.

"Yes? Oh Ms. Montgomery is everything alright, did your guest make it here alright?" Raina asked Raven who to her eyes looked ill.

"I'm fine and yes my guest made it just fine but I know this is going to sound completely absurd but I have been called away for family business and I will need to discuss a possible partial refund so I can pay for my transportation." Raven lied in hopes Raina would not go on a rant about business and profits.

"I completely understand Ms.Montgomery and I will write your refund check immediately, I hope your stay was enjoyable while you were here." Raina took out the company checkbook from the drawer underneath the desk and scribbled down the refund amount that was owed to Raven and handed it to her. "You have a wonderful evening and we hope to see you again Ms.Montgomery."

"You too Raina, have a nice evening." Raven took the check and waited for Juliet in the lobby, she figured she was repacking the blood packets and gathering her bags which she was going to go back and get but realized that she could hear Juliet in the elevator.

"Juliet are you ready? We need to go and see how CC is fairing." Raven looked to Juliet after glancing back to the reception desk to see if Raina was still there.



"Ready to go, I have your things and CC's things as well..I really hope we are taking your car, I rode my bike all the way here and it is not a fun ride..." Juliet replied and hauled the bags she was carrying over her shoulder.

"You rode your bike all the to LA just to bring me and CC blood packets?" Raven asked in awe of the feat.

Notes