EMBERS

I'm so sorry this chapter was so long in coming! School got hectic and I had no time to write. Thank you to Dalonega Noquisi, ForAslan, My Name is Anon and Scarf the Squid for their lovely reviews, you're all wonderful! Also thanks to everybody who favourited and alerted. In this chapter, we have the much anticipated confrontation between Scarlet and Mitchell. Enjoy!

He had meant to just feed on her, but now he was intrigued. She was fire encased in human form, and in the time they had been together, she had fallen for him. In hindsight, she had given herself too wholly to him. He toyed with her emotions, stoking the embers higher. He forgot that if you play with fire, you'll likely be burned.

By the time Scarlet thought to go home, it was dark so she spent the night in Annie's room. She didn't have work that day, so she slept in late and by the time she emerged, Mitchell and George had already gone to work. Scarlet stepped down the stairs, peeking around the corner into the kitchen, where she heard voices.

"I never see you out of those clothes." Tully was saying, leaning over Annie in an intimidating manner.

"Oh, erm...They're what I was wearing the night I..." she made a throat-slitting motion. "It's just as well I wasn't in a Star Trek costume...or, you know, dressed... as a...squirrel..." she rambled, clearly uncomfortable. Tully put his hand on her arm and squeezed.

"Ooh, you're all... squishy. You're cold. You're like snow."

"That, that actually hurts." She said.

"How can it hurt?"

"Owen." Annie said warningly.

"What?"

"Er- Tully. Please. That-that hurts."

"I'm just messing with you, kid." He grinned.

"Er, so, what do you want?" Annie asked.

"Company. A kind word. Respect." He muttered.

"Oh. You have those things." Annie said kindly.

"Ah, what I have is a lumpy sofa, balls like concrete and a corpse giving me mixed signals," he said huskily. "Your face. I told you, I'm just messing with you! Though you have got Tully's imagination working overtime..." his hand moved and it looked as though he were stroking her arm, though Scarlet couldn't actually see the ghost. "I'm wondering what else you could feel."

"Oh, erm, no, no, actually it didn't hurt. It's more like, I saw you holding my arm and it felt like it should hurt. So, er, could you...would it be possible if you just moved back, just a little bit?" Tully had apparently backed her up against the fridge.

"Could you feel a kiss?" Tully asked.

"Oh, I don't know, erm..."

"Could you feel a fuck?" he asked.

"Oh, gosh! This is making me feel very uncomfortable now." Annie cried.

"Then I think it's about time we went upstairs," he said, lips moving closer to the fridge. Scarlet heard a tiny gasp of fear, and Tully fell against the fridge, muttering "Shit," under his breath. It was obvious Annie had rent-a-ghosted out of the kitchen.

"What the hell was that?" Scarlet demanded.

"Oh, look at you, little spitfire!" Tully grinned like a predator.

"Don't give me that look," She hissed. "Stay away from Annie."

"Oh, I don't need Annie while you're here, darling." Tully said smugly.

"Back up, Tully. You're out of line."

"You're the one who's been flirting shamelessly with me for weeks, right in front of your undead boyfriend, and I'm the one who's out of line?" he asked, laughing. He advanced on her, backing her into the wall.

"Fuck off." she hissed, before he crushed his lips to hers. She squealed as he shoved his tongue into her mouth, then struggled harder, grasping at his throat. He bit down hard on her lip and she shoved him back far enough to punch him in the nose. He fell to his knees, hands flying to his newly broken nose. Blood gushed out and he screamed.

"Bitch!" Scarlet ignored him, spitting into the sink.

"Ugh, you probably gave me rabies!" she hissed, storming out of the house. "Damn, I wish I could rent-a-ghost."

"Annie? Annie, come back!" Scarlet cried, roaming the street outside the house.

"I need to get to the hospital, I need to see my friend!" Scarlet could hear Annie's hysterical sobbing and made her way towards the sound of crying. Ice engulfed her torso as Annie wrapped her arms around Scarlet, burying her face in her neck.

"It's okay, Annie, I'm here." Scarlet soothed, rubbing the ghost's back, stomach turning in revulsion at the unnatural squishing sensation under her fingers.

"He scared me." She muttered, sniffing back tears.

"He scared me too," Scarlet admitted, pulling away from the embrace.

"What, did he go after you too?" Annie demanded.

"It's fine, I rearranged his face a little." Scarlet chuckled wryly. Blood beaded on her lip where Tully's teeth had scraped her.

"Dare I ask?"

"I'd really rather you didn't." she winked.

"What do we do?"
"Let's just get out of here, wait for Mitchell to get home." Scarlet suggested, and they wandered away from the house. They inevitably gravitated toward the hospital and intercepted Mitchell as he exited.

"Scar, what are you doing here? I thought it was your day off?" he asked. "Annie, why are you out here?" he noticed the tear tracks running down her face.

"We had a bit of a problem at home." Scarlet said when Annie remained silent.

"What did Tully do this time?" Mitchell demanded.

"H-He tried to…" Annie trailed off.

"He tried to kiss her." Scarlet explained.

"Which isn't something I encouraged him to do." Annie said.

"Bastard!" Mitchell cried.

"He forced himself on Scarlet as well."

"What?!" Mitchell demanded.

"I broke the bastard's nose." She said with a sheepish grin. Mitchell noticed her swollen lip and brushed it gently with the pad of his thumb.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked quietly.

"Bit me pretty hard," she said ruefully. "It's fine, really, I hurt him more."

"Serves him right." Mitchell said as his thumb came away wet with blood. He kissed the corner of her mouth, soothing the angry flesh. Annie cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Sorry, but what are we going to do about him?"

"I'll get rid of him," Mitchell said. "He won't hurt either of you ever again."

BH:UK

"Time to go." Mitchell said warningly, aggressively throwing Tully's hat at the werewolf.

"I thought my ears were burning," Tully grinned. Scarlet noted with some satisfaction that he had a black eye and his nostrils were crusted with blood. "Well, what if I don't wanna go?"

"I wasn't offering a choice." Mitchell said, looming over him. Annie lingered in the doorway, peeking around the doorframe.

"George got a say in this?" Tully asked, jumping to his feet.

"I'll talk to him." Mitchell said.

"Do." Tully said confidently. Suddenly George swung the door open.

"What's going on?" he demanded, immediately sensing the tension in the room.

"Tully's leaving." Mitchell stated, glaring at him.

"What? Why?" George cried, spinning around to look at Tully questioningly.

"I wish I could tell you, mate." He said.

"OK, I know it was my suggestion but it was only going for a day or so and instead it's been weeks, so I think now's the time-" Mitchell was cut off by Annie wailing.

"He's creepy. And he frightened me."

"Yeah. I- I was building to that." Mitchell said, glancing at the ghost.

"Creepy?!" George cried disbelievingly. "You're dead!"

"Look, he stinks out the bathroom, he eats all the food-"

"Oh, that's nice. That's generosity." George scoffed.

"He's upset Annie, he forced himself on Scar, he's pissing off the neighbours, he's..." he glanced at Scarlet for inspiration. "He's a twat!"

"Well, he's MY twat." George cried. Scarlet, Annie and Mitchell recoiled in a mixture of disgust and amusement.

"I expect that sounded better in your head." Mitchell noted, fighting to keep a grin off his face.

"I mean...he's my friend." George clarified.

"So what the hell are we?!" Mitchell demanded.

"I don't know, Mitchell, I really don't." George said.

"Look, I don't want to cause any trouble, maybe I should-" Tully was interrupted by George.

"Stay where you are," he hissed before turning on Mitchell. "Why haven't you helped me? Why is it Tully who's showing me how to manage my condition?"

"You can barely admit you have a condition!" Mitchell scoffed.

"Why is it Tully showing me how to talk to women?!" George demanded.

"Showing you how talk to women? What are you, twelve?" Mitchell cried incredulously.

"You know the difference between you and him?" George asked.

"Hmm, I don't know, I don't have to shave my palms?" Mitchell replied. Scarlet bit back a bark of laughter.

"I- I think that's actually racist!" George cried.

"Oh, shut up!" Mitchell groaned.

"He wants me to be myself. He wants me to be strong and independent."

"Turning you into his clone doesn't make you independent." Mitchell hissed.

"Well, you would know all about turning people into monsters!" George shouted. Mitchell recoiled, visibly hurt. It was obvious George had struck a nerve, and Mitchell lashed out.

"Oh, for Christ's sake! He assaulted Scarlet and Annie!"

"And I bet they loved it!" George howled. Scarlet heard Annie gasp.

"No, I can tell you that I very much didn't love it." Scarlet spoke for the first time.

"Come on, it's not like you're getting any from Mitchell!" George said. It was a barbed comment, meant to inflict pain. Mitchell and Scarlet looked horrified. There was a pregnant pause as they stared at him.

"What's happened to you?" Mitchell asked quietly.

"He stays. My choice," George said, grabbing Tully's arm and storming out the door. "Come on." Tully put his hat on and followed, a gleeful grin on his face.

"I think I'm gonna like it here." He said smugly. Scarlet heard the pounding of feet on the staircase and assumed Annie was fleeing. Mitchell nodded at her, and then took off up the stairs in pursuit of the ghost. Scarlet let out a defeated sigh and flopped onto the sofa, stretching out. She was too tense to relax. She concentrated on making her breaths deep and even, and had just calmed herself down when Mitchell appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Heads up," Mitchell began casually, dropping to the sofa beside Scarlet and throwing an arm carelessly over her shoulders. "I accidentally kissed Annie," she glared at him and he held his hands up in surrender. "I went in for a hug and bumped into her, it wasn't my fault!"

"Did you bump into Lauren as well?" she spat acidly. Mitchell recoiled from her, hurt crossing his features.

"I-"

"And what about Becca, Mitchell? Is that all you wanted from her, a hug?" she hissed. Mitchell's dark brows drew together and he frowned, unused to her acidic tone.

"Why are you-"

"I've played along with this sick little game of 'House' for weeks, pretending everything was fine, and I'm sick of it!" She stood up and paced furiously as she shouted at him.

"Where is all this coming from?" he demanded.

"You cheated on me, Mitchell!" she cried.

"I-I don't-" Mitchell sputtered. "I mean, I…" Scarlet continued to glare at him. "What do you want from me?!"

"I want an explanation, Mitchell!" she cried. "Why would you do something like this?!"

"I didn't mean to hurt you, you weren't supposed to ever find out."

"Well that makes everything so much better!" Scarlet snarled sarcastically.

"I didn't want to cheat on you, I was just going to feed on them." He said bluntly.

"I thought you were trying to stop this! I thought you were dry!"

"I am, I have been for such a long time. You don't know what it's like!" Mitchell wailed.

"Explain it to me then." Scarlet challenged.

"I can remember all of them, all of the people I've killed. The longer I stay dry, the worse it is," his eyes filled with tears. "I can see all their faces!"

"You said I kept you strong, so why would you do this?" Scarlet asked, realising her own face was wet with tears as well.

"I couldn't help myself." He muttered.

"What am I supposed to do, act like it's all okay?"

"Please, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know, and that's the only reason I'm still here." She muttered.

"Scarlet, give me one more chance, I'll do anything." Mitchell pleaded.

"I can't leave you now, not when you're desperate and vulnerable," she cursed. "You'd go back to killing, I know you would."

"So you'll stay with me?"

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" Scarlet said bitterly.

"Thank you," Mitchell breathed, kissing her. "I promise, this will never happen again."

"It had better not, or I'll castrate you then boil your eyeballs and string them onto your intestines for a necklace." She said, rather creatively Mitchell thought. He kissed her again, before pulling her into his arms. She sat stiffly, uncomfortable in his embrace. Perhaps Mitchell was ready for things to go back to normal, but Scarlet wasn't. It would be a while before she had truly forgiven him.

BH:UK

The morning after the full moon, Mitchell, Annie and Scarlet sat around on the sofa, waiting impatiently for George's return. When they heard him enter the living room, they rushed to the door to greet him.
"Where's Tully?" Mitchell asked tentatively.

"Gone," George said. Scarlet heaved a sigh of relief and sank back onto the sofa. George looked at her, shame in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I really am... so sorry. I don't know what's happening to me. This is becoming a habit," he glanced around, surveying the room. "I come in here, look at the wreckage and I say sorry." Annie chuckled good-naturedly.

"What's that you've got there?" Scarlet noticed he held a silver and blue DVD disc.

"I don't know, it was on the floor as I came in," he said, scratching his head. "I assume it's Mitchell knocking over a chair in Casablanca." He handed Annie the disc.

"Ooh, cool. I'm gonna pop it on." She grinned.

"My name's George...and I'm a werewolf." He said resolutely.

"Hello, George." Mitchell said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Just to warn you, if you go for a hug, Mitchell will try to kiss you." Annie grinned.

"My God, I leave you alone for five minutes..." George wailed.

"It was like being attacked by an ironing board." Annie teased.

"If I'd intended to kiss you, I'd have put on some chapstick first." Mitchell defended.

"What the hell is this?" George asked as the video began, showing a man standing alone in a bedroom.

"He's not Humphrey Bogart." Annie remarked.

"Who's he talking to?" George asked.

"Is he a mental?"

"Brown duvet- it's a cry for help." Annie said knowingly.

"He's talking to a vampire. Their image can't be captured on camera." Mitchell said as the man began to strip. He crawled onto the bed and began thrusting his hips. Annie let out a squeal and covered her eyes.

"Oh, my God! Are we...are we watching someone have sex?"

"Turn it off. Annie... Turn it off..." Mitchell said lowly.

"Someone has issues..." George muttered.

"Is he all right?" Annie asked as the man started furiously swatting at the air beside his head.

"He's dead." Mitchell said.

"What?!"

"No, no, no look, he is moving." Scarlet said.

"She's feeding from him." Mitchell said. The man crumbled the ground, a pool of blood growing beneath him.

"Who would send you such a thing?" George demanded.

"It's from Lauren."

"You're kidding." Scarlet sneered.

"What, that- that was her, in the film?" George asked.

"I've seen these before. It's a kill. Vampires film themselves making a kill and then they pass it on." Mitchell told them.

"So what, it's like porn?" Annie asked for clarification.

"In a way."

"Why do they do it?" Scarlet demanded.

"Same reason anyone does porn." Mitchell snarled.

"You mean that's supposed to be sexy?" George asked, disgusted.

"For some," Mitchell said defensively. "But this is different, this is... personal," he muttered. "It's to remind me of what I did to her."

"It's to show you what you're missing, Mitchell," Scarlet said, voice low. "It's to bring you back." Mitchell's arms tightened around her hips possessively. Scarlet knew there was trouble ahead. She could only hope the four of them would emerge unscathed.

Thankyou for reading! Don't be afraid to ask a question or leave a comment. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll write and the sooner I'll update!