Hallows: Eulalie

Way Too Good To Be True

Deftones- Diamond Eyes

Dante:

For a moment right before she began playing, I didn't think she was going to do it. There was a slight hesitation and I thought she was going to run and then she shut her eyes, let her head fall back. It was pure madness. Chills broke out all over my body the moment she hit the darker notes. I felt it in the crowd. The shift was mindblowing.

This isn't the first time I sit at one of these things to feed from the excitement of the crowd. These snobby assholes keep me going for days with just one feed, but tonight, I couldn't take much from them. She brought out something dark and monstrous in the crowd. I knew they were going to tear her apart the moment she stepped off that stage.

It felt a lot like the first time I played for a large crowd. The first time they heard me sing live and I fed off those who were there to see me perform. The energy was chaotic and filled with pain. Except I know exactly what I do to people. It's intentional. The darker the songs, the more of their essence I take in but Ashley. She has no f*****g idea what she does to these people. This is simply who she is. A human with the f*****g will of a Hallow.

"I am fired up," Anthony comments when we finally get Ashley back to the dorms. "We've never fed on energy like that. We're keeping her, right?"

"Definitely keeping her," Kelly agrees. She smacks my chest, getting my attention. "You're full, right? You still think she wasn't worth the trouble?"

"All right, so you proved me wrong for once. Don't get used to it, Kels," I sigh. They all turn to look at me.

"I think you should apologize to Kelly," Anthony proclaims. "And I think you should give her, her s**t back,"

"Kelly thinks that too," Kelly agrees.

"I'm not giving you those f*****g katanas back. You're not going out there with those f*****g things again," I growl.

"What if I promise to only use them when we hunt?" she asks.

"Then I'll let you borrow them when we hunt," I glare at her. She crosses her arms over her chest and pouts. "Kels, you went crazy with them. No,"

"Okay, but I promised I would be good and I have."

"No," I shake my head.

"Sorry, K.K. I tried," Anthony pats her head.

"I'm giving Ash a swish blade and I hope she f*****g stabs you with it," she storms off.

"I hope she stabs me with it too," I laugh.

"Danny," Anthony smacks my chest. "Are you into the human?"

"I think he's into the human," Rudy laughs. "In the very least, he wants to f**k her."

"That's a given," Anthony laughs. "She's not going to let him, though. Not with all the ass he has right now. Ash strikes me as the possessive type. Maybe you two actually have something in common, snake boy,"

"Ash is relationship material," David smirks. "Mr. Commitment-phobe over here isn't going to take that dive,"

They all laugh.

"f**k you, guys. No one wants to f**k the new girl. No one wants a f*****g relationship. I can give two f***s about her types. So as long as she can bring that level of power to us. She can stay for however long she wants," I wave them off.

"Yes," they all start talking about her again.

"So, you won't mind if we take a shot at her?" Anthony asks. I laugh feeling a deep anxiety in my chest.

"If you think you can pull her. Do your f*****g worst," I shrug.

"All right, you hooligans," Tam comes over to us holding shopping bags. "We were invited to a house party in the Southside,"

"The Southside?" Rudy makes a face.

"Yes, baby. The Southside. Kelly and Ash have coordinated all of you. Ash said to lose the watches and rings. The earrings can stay. Boots or sneakers," she hands each of us a colored bag with clothes inside. Mine is black. "Costumes so we don't get shot at,"

"We don't want that?" Rudy laughs.

"No, some of us a human. We don't heal as fast as you. Come on, guys. Best behavior. She's really going through it. She's up there right now calling the front office to see if her mom picked up the ticket she left her,"

None of them say a word. She didn't pick up the ticket. I paid Mrs. Dubois to tell her she did and I left the smallest bouquet I could find for her to give Ash later. The rest of us went all out and I'm sure she's going to be getting more from her newly established fan base. Their dorm is going to be overflowing with flowers for the next couple of weeks.

"Fine, we'll go for a bit but if it gets a little crowded I'm out," I agree.

I go back up to my room to change into the clothes they got. She went with something a little less confined and my size this time. Jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black button-up. The material is thick and it has a little bit of a suede texture. At the bottom of the bag is a black leather wallet with a golden chain linked to it and a note.

Thanks for talking s**t. I was going to give this to my dad for his birthday but he doesn't deserve it. Don't make a big deal out of it. I still think you're a piece of s**t. -Ash.

"Always trying to tell me what to do," I shake my head.

"Here," I look up when David comes in holding a box in his hands. "I know you don't have boots that cost less than two gs,"

"Thanks," I take the box and open it to find a pair of black combat boots. I pull them on and start lacing them up.

"It's okay if you do," he says, leaning against the vanity across from me.

"If I do what?" I ask.

"If you want her," I look up at him.

"Not you too."

"Hey," he laughs. "I like her too. She's-" he shrugs. "Different. I didn't want to see it before because I thought she was just another Aubrey. We have both gone through a lot of different Aubreys, Danny. She's not going to want whatever you can spare her. I think she's worth more than anything we can offer her."

"We don't know her," I shake my head.

"That is the lamest excuse. What did you tell me before you agreed to move into the dorms?"

"No, you were right. I wasn't defending her for me, then. If I let her in, if I bring her between us, I have to know everything. All of it. Even the deep dark s**t. She doesn't play like that because she's some poor girl. That's real pain, David. You know that. I'm bulletproof. You're not."

"What happened when you went with her to the school?" he asks.

"She was f*****g lavished with attention. The same way we are here,"

"Yeah, right," he snorts. "Ashley? Little miss piano ruled the Southside high school? That's a f*****g den of jackals,"

"Yeah, and they all bowed their heads to her. They call her Queen. Jimenez didn't want to give her up to me, David, and you've seen his guys out there waiting for their chance to snatch her off the street.

"Or maybe they're out there waiting for her to feed them intel on us. She's up all hours of the f*****g night. I've been out there every night watching her. Making sure she doesn't walk out those f*****g gates. We don't know who the f**k she is. But I do know Chato and she's way too f*****g good to be true."

"Danny," he pushes off the vanity to come over to me. He crouches down in front of me and begins to lace up my boots. "You gotta get out of your head,"

"Tell me you trust her then," I demand. He looks up at me and stands up when he tucks the laces into the boots. "Tell me you trust her with me and I'll let it go,"

"When you put it the way you did, it makes sense, but I don't think that's what this is,"

"So tell me to trust her," I urge him, because I want him to. I want him to want this as much as I do. "You can't, can you?"

"No, I can't," he shakes his head. "You have that extra sense I don't and if you want to learn more about her. I trust in your judgment."

He clears his throat and grabs the box. He leaves the room without another word and I feel my stomach clench tightly. That wasn't what I wanted him to say and it's f*****g me up to even consider it. To think that Ashley is going to be the one to bring Chato down on our house. The idea of her belonging to anyone else but me takes me past violence and straight into a murderous rage.

"She's not the one," the voice sends a chill down my spine.

"She's not the one?" I ask, but the voice doesn't answer. She's not the one, what? Not the one to ruin me or not the one for me?

The sound of her voice echoes in my head as the girls come out of their dorm. Ashley is wearing fitted low-ride jeans. They're ripped up, showing off parts of her perfect legs. She's got on a tight tank top with her belly button on full display. She doesn't have a bra on and I can see the n****e piercings through the thin black fabric. To protect her from the cold, she has on a black leather jacket. Her hair is pulled back with little butterfly clips that kind of form a crown on her head. The length of her hair is loose down her back.

"You guys look almost normal," she laughs inspecting our clothes.

"Normal is overrated," Anthony scoffs. "People really wear this?"

"Yeah, you look great," she fixes his baseball t-shirt.

I don't miss the way Kels watches her. But he's not the only one she hypes up. She looks us all over to make sure we follow her rules. She stops in front of me and sighs.

"What?" I demand.

"Nothing. I'm convinced that everything you put on makes you look snobby," everyone laughs. "Okay, try to be on your best behavior, guys. There's going to be some big-mouth people there. Don't let it get to you. Trash remember?" she points at herself. "But the most important thing is, have fun. It's a party, not a battle field,"