Shadow Of Death

Trevor raised his fist and growled, making Chad laugh and quickly dart around him to run inside. It was good to see Chad at least making an attempt to smile again. The man really hated being center of attention but that’s what he gets for getting himself killed and scaring the hell out of everybody.

When Trevor heard Envy cry out and Chad groan loudly, he opened the door curiously and entered the building. A smirk appeared on his face when he saw Chad sprawled against the bar with an ecstatic Envy clinging to him like a dryer sheet.

“So good to see you,” Envy squealed.

Chad’s eyes went wide at the amount of force she was using to hug him. “Envy,” he rasped playfully, “can’t… breathe.”

There were a few snorts and chuckles at Envy’s display to her recently resurrected brother, not that they blamed her.

“Sorry,” Envy said with a giggle and let go of Chad to smile at Trevor. He quickly looked away and she knew why the moment she felt Devon’s arm come around her.

Trevor looked around at all the preparations for Halloween. The club had already passed out flyers announcing the grand re-opening and everything had to be ready. They had changed their minds from having a private Halloween party, to making it the kickoff of their bigger, better club.

“So, what’s going on?” Envy asked.

“Chad won't stay at the castle and he refuses to live at Night Light,” Trevor answered earning a heated glare from Chad.

Envy frowned showing her worry, “Why not? You can’t stay by yourself anymore.”

Chad’s expression became brooding as he turned to his sister, “I’m a grown man Envy but I’m not ready for a rest home just yet. It shouldn’t matter if I live alone or not. If whatever attacked me wants to find me, then nothing is going to stop him or her.”

“Or it,” Devon injected into the conversation and extended his hand, “Welcome back to the world of the living.”

Chad shook his hand, “Yeah, I’d just like to be able to live that life with a sense of freedom.” He sighed when he noted Trevor and Devon giving each other the cold shoulder.

Envy frowned, “But why can’t you live at Night Light? It’s the perfect place. No one is getting through those doors without a couple dozen wolves pouncing on them.”

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable there,” Chad answered truthfully. “If I have to, I’ll set up a sleeping space in one of the more private jail cells at the station.”

“Do you mean in the Hole,” Trevor demanded making a face.

Chad shrugged, “At least I’ll be safe and under constant surveillance… which seems to be what all of you want.”

“It’s not like that Chad,” Envy said sadly. “We’re your family… your friends. We just want to make sure nothing comes after you again.”

Trevor ran a hand through his blonde hair as Envy’s sadness hit him like a brick wall, “Okay, I’ve had it with this crap. Chad, you can move into my place… I got more than enough room and I’m rarely there. You’ll basically be on your own with the exception of me popping in every now and then. The alarm system is one of the best available and it’s a lot nicer than the Hole.”

Chad looked over at him with a startled frown on his face. He never even thought of that and the fact that Trevor had offered wasn’t to be taken lightly since they all knew how much Trevor liked his privacy.

“All right,” Chad said softly, actually liking the idea. “We’ll go get my stuff and I’ll move in with you later today. But,” he continued, “I keep my apartment. That way when I want some time to myself I actually have a place to go.”

“Too late,” Envy said guiltlessly. “I cancelled the contract on the apartment yesterday and all of our stuff is now stored.” She shrugged at the look Chad gave her and tilted her chin defiantly, “What? My name was on that lease too.”

“Whatever,” Chad gave up deciding to drop the subject.

Trevor nodded and clapped a hand on Chad’s shoulder, “Well, look at it this way… that’s better than her burning the place down and you having to arrest her for it. I’d take what I can get if I were you.” He glanced at Envy just in time to see the relieved light in her eyes and knew he’d just made her a very happy girl.

“Come on,” Envy said excitedly, “you gotta see what we’ve done to the club so far. It’s a lot bigger than what it was.”

Chad gave Envy a patient smile and let her drag him from one end of the club to the other. Trevor followed a few feet behind them taking in the new decorations and grinning at the numerous glow-in-the-dark Jack-O-Lanterns that were being set against the walls on the floor.

Warren was on the scaffolding, hanging upside down next to the mirror ball putting something on the faceted surfaces of it.

“Run it,” Warren called out after he’d pulled himself upright.

The lights went out and the mirror ball came to life. Trevor raised an eyebrow as the ball reflected light back across the floor and walls. Hundreds of witches, skeletons, and black cats with their backs arched high in the air were giving the appearance of running from shadow to shadow.

“Looks awesome bro,” Devon called up.

“Did you remember to order the fog fluid from The Witch’s Brew?” Warren asked him.

Devon gave him a thumb up, “It’ll be in tomorrow morning. Nick offered to pick it up for us.”

“He’s Alive!”

Chad yelped when he was suddenly grabbed from behind and spun around. When his feet found the floor again, he had to grab onto the railing to steady himself. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Nick standing there.

“Nick,” Envy admonished. “Don’t do that.”

“Why not?” Nick asked with a smirk. “Tis’ the season to get the crap scared out of you. Besides, it’s not every day I get to see someone who cheated death. I gotta get my hug too.”

Chad had regained enough of himself to bat his eyelashes at Nick. “Why Mr. Wilder,” he said in a sticky sweet voice, “I didn’t know you cared.”

Nick paused and slowly looked back over at Chad who was grinning stupidly.

“Damn,” Nick said when he realized Chad was joking with him. “As long as you don’t EVER do that again… we’ll be fine.”

“Hi Trevor,” Alicia said coming up behind Nick. She hadn't seen Micah in the last couple days due to her and Damon breaking in their new home at Love Bites. Michael and Syn were supposed to be living there too but so far they hadn't moved in. “Is Micah behaving himself at work?”

Trevor smirked, “If you don’t count the paper airplane battles, using the window as a garbage can to hit unsuspecting pedestrians walking by, and having to restrain him from spraying silly string all over Tasuki’s car… yeah, he’s doing good.”

Alicia grinned, “Yeah, he told me about the new guy joining him and Titus, and from what Micah says, Tasuki seems pretty cool.”

Damon growled from behind her and she promptly turned around to smack him on the arm. “You stop that right now,” Alicia announced then turned to Nick, “Speaking of crazy vampires, I’ve got something for you.” She waved him away from the others not wanting anyone to see the gift she had for him.

Nick frowned when Alicia slipped something into his hand. “What’s this?” he asked curiously as he stared down at the necklace curled in his palm.

“That is a charm I made to protect myself from falling under a vampire’s thrall,” Alicia whispered then smirked wickedly over her shoulder at Damon. “I switched the gold chain I was wearing with black leather so it would look good on you. Don’t tell anyone you have it. If you wear it the day of the party, then Michael won’t be able to trick you into dressing up like a girl.”

Nick had a smile plastered to his face, “Awesome! And who says I’m waiting until Halloween to wear it?” He quickly put the necklace on feeling safer for it. He ignored Damon who had started growling again and tucked the necklace inside his shirt to hide it. “I really owe you one for this.”

Damon drug Alicia back toward Envy before Nick decided to give her a hug too. He didn’t think she’d like it very much if he strangled the jaguar with her gift. He knew Nick didn’t remember but the image of Nick all over Alicia in Michael’s living room was still too fresh in his mind.

Alicia frowned when several overhead light bulbs brightened then shattered. She looked up at the back of Damon’s head when Warren yelled from the rafters something about there being a short somewhere in the wires. She hid her soft smile as she wrapped her arms around Damon in an attempt to save a lot of extra work on the club.

“What are you dressing up as?” Chad asked Nick when they rejoined the group.

“I’m going to be the twenty-first century version of Billy the Kid,” Nick answered with a straight face.