A/N: Beta'd by ShadowPast620.

Like most holidays celebrated in America, whatever religious or ceremonial aspect the Quileutes might have once held were mostly forgotten, especially to the young generation and significant others presently gathered at Sam and Leah Uley's house.

Most of the guys were out back at Sam's place, the yard strung with miniature lights meant to look like fictional monster eyes. A roaring fire filled a deep pit at the very back of the property line and random tables sat around, holding the many numerous snacks and foods people had brought. A fog machine had been set up as well, giving the place a fun but eerie feeling perfect for the holiday.

"Why aren't you ready yet?" Quil ribbed Brady, smirking at the look of reprehension from the honored. He gulped heavily from his red plastic cup of beer. Even werewolves could get drunk, although they didn't stay that way for long. Part of tonight's events always included setting up sleeping tents to prevent any possible alcohol related accidents. Even Sam and Leah would stay outside to be a part of the group.

The only exception this year would be Emily and Embry. Due to her pregnancy it had been decided she should probably sleep inside, out of the cold and closer to a bathroom.

"Shove off, Quil," Brady laughed good-naturedly. "I still have some time before that part of the party starts. Let me enjoy some time with my girl."

"Speaking of," Jared said, coming up from behind. "Are we still taking bets on which imprint gets drunk first?" All of the guys turned towards the house where the girls were collected around their own bottles of alcohol.

"I don't know," Jacob replied, watching as Kim poured the gathering of girls liberal amounts of tequila shots. "The party just started twenty minutes ago and per my count that's round four."

"Is it safe to leave Paul in there?" Seth asked, watching the proverbial fox in the hen house. He had arrived fifteen minutes ago and had yet to leave his young imprint's side. She seemed to be okay, though, and it puzzled some of the guys as to why Paul was still inside, not drinking, while everyone else had split within the first two minutes of arriving at Sam's.

"Relax," Collin offered, "The girls only do this a few times a year, let them have their fun." He pulled out a bottle of higher proofed alcohol. Homemade Rez moonshine, to be exact. The guys cheered in approval, most quickly finishing their beers to hold out empty cups for the sting.

"As for Paul," Jacob added as his glass was filled, "he'll be put here soon enough to fuck this up."

Jared clenched his jaw in irritation. "Lay off of him, man. He's just trying to cope as best as he can."

"Why you're friends with him is beyond me, Cameron," Jacob shot back, still angry about this morning's hunting for Paul trip.

"He's a good guy and you know it, Black," Jared returned with the same level of contempt. "All of us went through it at one stage or another with our girls; why give Paul shit about his?"

"I'm not giving him shit about his girl! I'm giving him shit because he's using his girl as an excuse to act like an even bigger ass." Jacob swallowed the rest of his drink quickly, holding the cup back out towards the pouring liquor. "I feel sorry for her and hope Uley takes care of that shit soon."

"Hope Uley takes care of what?" Sam asked, joining the group with Paul in tow. The man was still staring at the house as if he had been forcibly dragged from it.

"Hi, Sam. Hey, does anyone else hear Embry's car? That's him, right? He should be back by now with the pizzas. Man, am I hungry. Maybe I'll go into business and start my own pizza place. That'd be pretty good, huh? Lots of people like pizza and it wouldn't have to be just pizza, I could do burgers and wings and salads, too. You know, for the girls. Claudia likes salad, she'd probably be pretty mad if I opened a restaurant and didn't have some healthy things on the menu."

Eight wolves stared in bewilderment at Seth Clearwater.

"Holy shit," Brady remarked. "That's got to be a record. Less than a minute and my buzz is already gone. How the hell do you do that, Seth?"

Quil was the first of the wolves to start laughing at Seth's attempt of diverting a fight. "What I want to know is how he's managed to survive this long without his imprint duct taping his damn mouth shut!"

Paul was too occupied still with the house to notice the distraction, but Uley narrowed his eyes towards Jacob. It had been decided that if the girl, Arial, had spoken, sooner or later she would tell them her real name and history. In the next few weeks a bonfire gathering would be planned to explain to the girl about Paul and the pack's abilities, the connection between Paul and Arial, and what it meant for all of them.

Sam had been specific that the pack leave the man alone for now. He had his hands full already and if they kept his 'collar' too tight on the rez, the man's natural anger could easily spill over either at work or worse, in his home where his imprint lived virtually defenseless. The leader was confident that if Arial hadn't talked before the bonfire, surely she would after, if for no other reason than to ask to leave.

Jacob simply shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, indicating to Sam that he would drop it for now. No one else cared nor bothered to figure out what had been going on. Embry showed up a few minutes later, the tantalizing scent of fast-food Italian surrounding the man like a cloud of perfume.

Even Paul became distracted, joining in the laughter and teasing as he grabbed a drink and pizza. He had information for Sam, good information for once and he wanted to relax and enjoy himself for a bit. His girl was close enough to be safe and protected if need be. As the minutes passed by, he relaxed more and more, sitting by the fire to listen to the guys shoot the shit about nothing in particular. It wasn't often he got to be normal and he was sure as fuck going to enjoy it while he could.

Claudia wasn't the health food zealot the other girls accused her of, but she did try to maintain good eating habits. Although meat was practically essential for her man Seth, she herself couldn't stand the thought of eating it. Sugar, too, wasn't exactly devil's food, but if she could avoid it, she would. Alcohol was in a class of its own. She never drank casually and rarely at events unless it was for the purpose of a toast. However, these few pack night gatherings, where all the girls gathered to really have fun, Claudia did drink without reservation.

"Arial, you aren't drinking," Claudia noticed with concern immediately after Paul was out of earshot. "Come on, you have to a do a few shots with us girls."

Leah looked between the two girls before nodding her head in agreement. "It's okay, Arial, none of us will be driving and your man is out back getting shit faced as we speak."

Sniffing the glass carefully, the smaller girl's nose crinkled in apprehension. It didn't smell very good and she'd much rather just have some water. She failed to notice when both Regina and Denise flanked her.

"One gulp. Tilt your head back and drink it until it's gone before you try to breathe," Regina instructed. Denise grabbed the bottom of the glass, pushing it up to force Arial's compliance. It wasn't intended to be a mean spirited gesture.

Choking and sputtering, Bella tried to move her head to avoid the liquid, realizing at the last second if she did that, she'd become wet with the beverage and cause a puddle on the ground. Her Leah friend didn't look as if she was trying to be hurtful and Bella slowly accepted the idea that this was supposed to be fun.

The liquid burned her lips and tongue and Bella hadn't felt this much throat pain since that last time the monsters had left her with a mean man. Like then, her eyes shut with the memory, the scents and sounds different yet stifling. Her lungs hurt a bit when she did finally breathe, Denise taking the glass to plunk down on the nearby counter.

"That a girl!" Nadine hooted loudly before erupting into giggles. Everywhere Bella looked, everyone was smiling, talking and laughing. None of them looked like they wanted to hurt her, not even that mean Claudia person who was laughing so hard she kept spitting her drink back into a glass.

Bella didn't require assistance when she was handed a second glass of liquid. It was a different color, but the smell still caused her eyes to water She caught Leah's friendly stare and both of them raised their glasses to drink.

Leah lowered her glass after only one swallow, expecting Arial to do the same. "Wow," she said after the glass had been emptied, "that was impressive. But you might want to slow down or you're going to be the first one drunk here."

"Don't bet on it," Nadine bragged, holding out her cup for Claire to refill. Claudia stepped up as well and using a different bottle of liquor poured simultaneously with Claire into Nadine's drink.

"Slow down, drunkies," Leah laughed as Denise joined into the pouring fun, grabbing a third bottle to pour in as well.

Emily, the lone imprint not drinking, smiled happily and enjoying everyone's company. "Yeah, Leah is right. Embry should be here any minute with the pizzas. Wait until after dinner before you guys drown yourselves in that."

"Speak of the devil," Kim announced as a man hidden behind a tower of pizza boxes strolled down the hallway. If it hadn't been for the numerous other women around here, Bella would've been petrified. As it was, she hedged closer to Leah, not necessarily behind the taller woman but definitely beside her.

Embry sat them all on the counter, some cups falling over and people rushing about to grab paper towels. "Alright, the top three are for you girls. Cheese, pepperoni and… I have no idea what the hell is on the last one," he said, trying to decipher the toppings.

"It's a vegan pizza," Claudia proclaimed, stepping forward to grab the box. "The crust is tofu."

"Tofu is not pizza," one of girls stated, a scattering of snickers sounding in agreement. "There's not even cheese on it. Just sauce and veggies."

Claudia didn't take offense to the teasing she was well used to by now. "Shut up and drink some more," she laughed aloud. "Two or three glasses later and you won't even be able to tell the difference between this and the other boxes."

Embry just rolled his eyes while the girls ribbed each other about Claudia's choice in pizza flavors. Before taking the remaining boxes outside to the boys, he stepped over to Emily, kissing her on top of the head and whispering in her ear to make sure she was okay, comfortable and didn't need anything, like a piece of man's pizza.

Once he left, Bella began to relax even more, the alcohol coursing through her system in a warm, fuzzy motion. Her coordination, never the best to begin with, was extremely sloppy. Her plate of pizza kept sliding dangerously in the direction of the floor even when she held on to it. After several near drops, she decided the counter would be best and went to find a narrow sliver not occupied by someone.

She never saw the person, but Bella heard the hiss of displeasure when she backed up and accidently stepped on someone's foot. Her eyes didn't really want to focus and when Bella turned around, it seemed as if she could've stepped on anyone or maybe no one because there weren't any angry faces. At least none she could make out.

"We are definitely going to have to think of more appropriate activities when more of us have kids that will be at the party," Nadine said loudly to the crowd.

All eyes went to Emily and the soon to be mom just laughed. "Are you kidding? That's what grandparents are for." A small round of applause filled the room. "I can't wait to have my baby so next year I can be with you guys, drinking and relaxing again."

"You better run that plan by Embry," Kim slurred slightly, a happy grin plastered across his face. "That boy is gonna drive all of us insane. How do you stand it?"

Emily launched into a story about her wolf's careful tenderness. She had moved to the dining room table and most followed, their attention focused on how best to keep the upper hand if you decided to have kids with your wolf and what pitfalls to avoid.

Denise grabbed Claudia by the sleeve and pulled her back into the kitchen, her eyes darting around the area for Arial while she opened the fridge and pulled out a jar of jalapenos.

"Oh, good," Claudia nodded in approval. "I forgot to add those to the tofu pizza. It needs a little zest." She grabbed one of the peppers from the jar and popped it into her mouth.

"Yeah, you like them, but what about the others?" Denise asked, smirking.

"No one else is probably going to touch my pizza. I'm good."

"Yeah, but I thought you could put some on a piece for Arial." Denise nudged Claudia meaningfully and nodded her head to the silent girl.

Claudia perked up in approval. If anything could make someone speak, it would be a mouthful of unexpected peppers. Assuming the Arial chick didn't know what they were. Seth had told her last week, though, that Arial could talk, but that no one was to push the issue and make her feel uncomfortable about it. Claudia thought it was just another cover up to protect a faker.

She located her target hovering in the doorway facing away from them. It was entirely possible that Arial wouldn't eat the pepper or that she would eat it and already knew it would be spicy tasting. Claudia decided to up her game. She reached back in the fridge and extracted a small, opaque jar from the back, Denise's eyes growing large with the realization of what was in it.

"Oh my god, Dia, you can't do that. Shit, you're gonna kill her!"

"Shut up," Claudia instructed, looking up to make sure no one had heard the last comment. "It won't kill her but it'll burn, that's for sure."

Denise laughed, agreeing the idea of feeding Arial a habanero pepper in place of a jalapeno nothing but a harmless prank. "Paul is going to kick your ass if you do that. Here, give me the jar so we don't have to play interrogation all night."

The trap was set before either girl could think it through. With the selected piece on a plate, Denise approached the quiet figure of Arial, tapping her on the shoulder to gain her attention.

"Hey, Arial, you wanna try some of our pizza?" Denise asked, cracking up in laughter due to the alcohol she had been drinking. Drunkenly she faced Claudia and spoke in a deep, gravelly voice. "Hey, little girl, you want some pizza?"

"I do! I want some more!" Nadine yelled from the other room, tripping over feet to get to the kitchen.

"How did you hear that?" Denise asked, dumbfounded, trying to figure out why Nadine was answering for Arial.

"How did they," Nadine asked, pointing to the imprints in the dining room, "not hear it? Is there any left?"

"There's plenty of mine," Claudia offered, pushing away the habanero laced piece and pointing to the rest of pie.

Nadine stared at the tofu pizza for a full minute, her mind whirling. "Fine, okay," she huffed out in acceptance. "But dig around and find some cheese first. It needs cheese."

Denise, forgetting about Arial, wobbled her way to a set of cabinets, flinging open the doors in search of cheese. Claudia, not as buzzed as her friend, tried to keep one eye on the special piece meant for Arial. She became distracted when Regina stumbled back into the kitchen with them, laughing hysterically as they discussed loudly why the cheese search wasn't taking place in the fridge.

"Here you go, you picky bitch," Denise laughed, pulling out the can she had been searching for. Thirty seconds later a piece of the tofu pizza was drowned in canned Cheeze-Whiz, the unnatural orange color glaringly bright to its onlookers.

Bella didn't feel hungry and she didn't want any more pizza, but the Denise lady had made the offer sound friendly and something that others usually agreed to, like Nadine had. She had to learn to take her cues from these women; these were the types of things people who gathered together did.

Not wanting to interrupt those who were happily discussing the shade of weird brightness going on at the far end of the counter, Bella inched to where her piece had been pushed. The things on top of her pizza weren't the funky orange, instead a deep scarlet red that Bella normally would have shied away from.

A normal person might have assumed it was the alcohol. Or perhaps they would've been too far gone to pay attention to the signs of intoxication. It did not occur to any of the people, including Paul, that Bella-Urchin-Arial was unaware of the effects liquor had on self-preservation. No one paid the slightest bit of attention as the newest imprint picked up the pepper tainted piece and took a large bite.

The pain was delayed, but when it hit Bella made more of a mess than she could have if she had set out to purposely do so. There was no air for her to scream; no air to form words she might have made if need be to express her pain; there was no air to breathe. Her hands went to her throat as if she was being choked, her eyes watering as if she were standing underneath a source of running water. Was this death?

Bella hit something with her upper torso first, unaware that it was a person who thought she was trying to be funny. She released her throat in a desperate attempt to reach for some type of unknown salvation, her arms sweeping across the kitchen counter. Plates, bottles, food and liquid crashed to the floor. It was the sound of shattering glass that alerted the unaware imprints all was not well.

Emily tried to make her way into the kitchen to figure out if anyone was hurt, but Leah held her back, telling her to stay in the dining room until she knew what was going on. Her grip was loose and sloppy; like everyone else except Emily, Leah was definitely drunk and she sort of giggled. There were other scattered giggles as well; no one understanding what was happening, including Denise and Claudia who had set up the prank to begin with.

"Someone's feeling it," Claire hiccupped, trying to keep a straight face. The draft of cold air had most turning to the back door where Sam and several of the other guys stood.

"Are you okay, Emily?" Embry asked, pushing his way to the front of the crowd. His concern was for her and her alone, everyone else still trying to figure out the awkward motions of Arial. The wolves weren't as drunk as the girls, but they also weren't as sharp as they were supposed to be.

One of the wolves to enter the house as well was Quil. He was laughing at what, to the casual observer, would be normal antics from a bunch of young drunk people. Even still, his nose twitched in apprehension at the smell of something off. Taking another deep whiff, it occurred to the pack garbage disposal that he knew that smell all too well.

'Alright," Quil laughed loudly, pointing towards his own giggling girl. "Whose bright idea was it to try and eat hab-peppers? You guys are really crazy tonight!"

Bella still felt as if her throat was being burned with an iron. She had once seen the monsters seal a man's mouth closed that way, a memory she had long forgotten until just now. Not without effort, she was finally able to scream, uncaring as to what any punishment or consequences may be. She hurt bad and wanted everything to just go away.

Large, warm things grabbed at her, holding her still on the floor. Bella didn't care. She couldn't see, couldn't focus enough to hear anyone telling her things and howled until her mouth was filled with something cold, wet and comforting.

"You better turn her fucking head sideways, Collin," Paul yelled as he poured milk directly from a carton into her open mouth. "She's not coherent enough to know we're trying to help her and you'll fucking choke her holding her face up!"

While it was Paul who was taking care of his girl, it was Sam standing directly behind him, ready to throw his own body on top of Paul's when the man turned on his pack. This wasn't as simple as a careless comment in reference to Arial that Paul would be able to punch a brother and be done with it. Nobody knew what had happened, who had started it or if it was even intentional.

Jacob and Embry had herded the girls out by the bonfire, seats set up and the rest of the inside pizza disposed of by Jared and Seth. Everyone felt bad for Arial, but the general consensus had been that she accidently grabbed the peppers and tried one without knowing what they were. Either that or she had thought they were a milder pepper. Brady had also suggested that maybe Arial was colorblind and that contributed to her mistake of eating the peppers.

"Come on, Bella. Relax, please," Paul whispered softly.

There were no easy fixes for pepper burns. They'd have to wait until the oil was diluted enough to decrease the sensation of pain, milk being the best theorized solution. Thank fuck most of the wolves preferred whole to skim. Paul had used most of what Sam and Leah had on hand, although most of it covered the floor. Once his girl had calmed down enough to realize she would be okay, Paul would be able to explain she needed to actually drink it.

"Who's Bella?" Sam asked in concern. If Paul was so far gone that he was calling his imprint by an unknown name, he would need more backup to restrain the man.

"Urchin. Urchin is Bella." Paul poured more milk into her mouth, noticing that her struggles were weakening and that at least her body was receiving some relief from the liquid. "That was what I wanted to tell you. I figured I'd just wait 'til after the bonfire shit."

"So she told you? Paul's that's great! What else did she say?"

"Nothing and no she didn't fucking tell me. We spent the day earlier watching that damn cartoon you sent home with her and I guessed. That was a real shitty thing, too, Uley! She fucking flipped out and we had been having a pretty good fucking day up until then."

"No pain, no gain," Collin muttered unthinkingly. He wasn't quick enough to miss the head slap Paul delivered.

"Do I need to painfully beat the shit out of you for you to gain some sense, Littlesea?" Paul demanded, his eyes straying away from Urchin long enough to make sure his point had been made.

Unconcerned about the condition of Collin's head, Sam jumped back onto the subject at hand. "But we at least know her name. Why didn't you say something earlier so the girls could stop calling her by the wrong name?"

"Let go now, Collin. She's relaxing," Paul instructed. "Are you deaf, Alpha? I already fucking just said she flipped out. I don't know why, but she doesn't want people to use it. Before you go blabbing to the idiots, I figured I could fucking get her used to it first. If she isn't fucking comfortable with me using it, you losers don't have a chance in hell."

Urchin's eyes blinked open from their previous tensed squeezing. Paul set the milk aside and reached for her hand, letting her know it was just him and not some weird asshole. Just in case the guys missed the memo, he gave them the clear-out-or-lose-it look. Worked every goddamn time, too.

Bella still felt immense pain. She could at least breathe now, but it hurt. She had no idea that her Paul had been pouring milk into her mouth. Whatever the stuff had been had felt good. Except, as nice as it had felt, she was beyond full and her stomach twisted funnily. She still didn't care about her surroundings and had no energy to fight. It was simple instincts that rolled her to the side, her unnaturally full tummy deciding to empty itself.

As quickly as she had been sick, she rolled over in the other direction, away from the mess and into a large body. Bella hoped that if it was someone meant to hurt her, they did it quickly. Dying sounded like an option.

"Fuck, is that blood?"

"Pizza, dumbass. Shut the fuck up already and leave."

"Take her to the bathroom, Paul. We can clean this up."

The sudden feeling of being lifted off of the ground must be her Paul man. Bella waited until she heard a door closing before she tried to open her eyes. Opened or closed they still leaked tears.

"I know it hurts, Urchin. And you probably feel like real shit now after you hacked everything back up," Paul explained as he set her on a countertop, his arms acting as braces. She was grateful for that.

"Do you want to try to stand over the sink to rinse your mouth or do you still feel like puking? I can hold you over the can if you need me to."

Bella's tears of pain began to mingle with ones of shame as she processed his words. She had vomited all over her Leah friend's floor and then the Paul man had taken her away before she could apologize or clean it up.

"Holding it is," Paul said, scooping Bella back up, using his foot to lift the lid of the toilet and then squatting down in front of it with her.

In another time or place, Bella might have found it funny that her Paul was dangling her over a toilet in preparation for her to be sick. It might be gross, but you had to have some sort of feelings for a person to be willing to stick around with them when you thought they were going to be sick. Thankfully, she didn't need to vomit again and she was grateful Paul recognized that when she tried to squirm backwards.

"Are you sure, Urchin? You still look pasty as shit."

She wanted to answer him but the pain in her mouth was increasing again. The tears simply increased but when she pointed to her mouth, he seemed to understand.

"C'mon. I know you just threw up everything, but if you drink the milk it should help like earlier."

Paul wanted to leave this shit party yesterday. It had been hours since the pepper fiasco, the others reestablishing the drunk buzzes they had lost from earlier. Most had stayed outside to get their drink on.

His girl was still in a lot of fucking pain -unnecessary shit pain- but Sam had already ruled the incident an accident. It probably was, they happened occasionally but that did nothing to calm his ass down or make him feel any fucking better. And if the situation wasn't fuck-tarded enough, they were sitting outside in forty degree weather, away from the bonfire while Urchin tried to eat ice cream to help her damn burning mouth and throat.

Emily had been the only one to look up remedies and ice cream was much like milk. The supposed colder temperature of it also aided in relief and while Paul was grateful, he wasn't sure sitting outside away from the heat source Urchin was terrified of was the best thing. For fuck's sake, someone had fucked over a damn pizza party and turned it into this miserable shit-fest he and Urchin were still at, for reasons he had yet to figure the fuck out.

On instinct, he opened his mouth to accept a large bite of ice cream that held too many chopped nuts for Urchin's liking. She probably couldn't handle the feel of them against the inside of her burnt cheeks. Despite the various states of intoxication, Paul was the only one at the party who failed to notice he was being spoon fed by his girl or that a drunk Nadine snapped some pictures of it before Jake took her phone away.

He was mentally ranting away when Sam started a tale of horror. The story itself would have been disturbing to anyone who hadn't heard it a million times before. It was a tradition for the pack, though, and the imprints gasped and cowered during the appropriate lulls, knowing what was to come, but enjoying the show. Nobody noticed that Urchin was also paying rapt attention.

A popular camping area suddenly losing large groups of hikers and vacationers. It was common for one or two to disappear every summer, but this place was losing five or six a week. Entire sites were found to have been abandoned for no reason. No tracks to mark an attack from wildlife, no signs of a struggle to indicate some crazy asshole had been on the loose and even the local UFO weirdo watchers hadn't experienced an increase of lights-in-the-sky phone calls. The people vanished from their locations with no logic. Some hadn't even been camping too far in the park, their gear visible from the damn road and still the people ceased to be anywhere.

The wolves could hear the approach but the imprints couldn't and despite wanting to know in advance the guys went along with the joke. The only exception was Embry. He didn't say anything or indicate the surprise was close but his arms tightened subtly around Emily's waist, his hands moving in a soothing pattern to give her a heads up not to tense up.

"Tom decided he was going to set up video cameras to try and record some pictures." Sam's voice had lowered gradually, to the point where most of the girls were leaning in closer to hear the story that held their attention entirely.

"It was late afternoon, still hours away from nightfall and he knew he had some time. The first camera he went to set up was about 300 yards from his tent. He had also made some poor-man alert lines with fishing line and cans. He gets the line tied between two trees halfway to where he planned to set up the camera.

"The line got snagged and Tom realized he had left his knife back at the site. He wasn't about to go back, he needed to keep the area free from as many prints as he could. So he leans up to the tree and plans to just bite through the line and retie it. He bends over, prepared to chew and—"

"BAM!" Brady roared from behind Kim and Claire, his hands lightly pushing their heads together in a soft impact motion.

Bella and Paul were sitting far enough away for her not to be able to see Fuller's makeup and fake props but everyone around the fire could see it. Each wolf who was the selected was required to make their own costume. In order to keep the event from getting boring, they mixed it up to their own liking and Brady had done an excellent job at creating terror.

His flesh was coated in some type of eerie white paint, tiny flecks of pink and red shimmering through the areas that were meant to be flesh while the rest was left to look like a decaying corpse dirty gray and black skin boogers hanging like shredded flesh.

In order for the guys to have a larger target area, his upper torso was also decorated, clinging pieces of latex meant to look as if his skin was molting.

Prosthetics had been glued as well, mimicking an extending jaw he could push out with his tongue, the action hidden beneath the makeup. The extra teeth in the jaw rolled in and out slowly, a moaning hiss accompanying the action and making the girls scream even louder.

"Vampire!" Collin yelled, adding to the outcries.

Kim and Claire were rooted in terror. They knew it was only Brady and that he would be doing something like this but it was a lot like a haunted house. Just because you knew you were supposed to be surprised, that didn't stop the heart from racing or real fear setting in when something popped out. Even when he moved away to scare others, their wolves had to physically move them.

Bella had been startled and worried at first when the Brady person had jumped out, but when the Collin man said the word 'vampire', she tried to run. Like so many of her previous actions, this was another behavior that Underground people were ingrained with. There were fights, but mostly there were only flights and you hoped you were quick enough to disappear.

Her Paul man wouldn't let her go. She tried to throw herself from his arms, but he only laughed and picked her up, taking her over to where most of the other girls had gathered.

"It's no big deal, Urchin. We'll handle this," her Paul man said. He thought nothing of leaving her there while he joined the other men to fight the monster. Bella knew they would all die.

She wanted to leave, to run, to dig a hole and hide! It was too late. The vampire was coming to where the Paul man had left her. It was scary looking to be sure, and Bella couldn't understand why it looked the way it did, but she was willing to believe it was a vampire. She didn't recognize this demon, he wasn't one of her previous captors, but she had heard stories that others existed. They must have found her. That's what this was all about, her disobedience and now all of these nice people, even the mean Claudia, were going to die because Bella had left the Underground without permission.

Bella could no longer see where all of the guys had gone, a question she had trouble concentrating on. Did they make it or was another monster torturing them in the trees?

The attack was quick and Nadine was grabbed first, her look of surprise almost painful. Bella wanted to reach out and hold her hand, let her know it would probably be quick –hopefully—and that to fight them would only extend the pain.

She heard the Nadine woman scream 'no' and someone else laughing at her. Bella couldn't watch anymore. With no hope or protection in sight, Bella knew she would die this night. For one brief moment she wished her Paul man had stayed by her side. He might think he could get away, but he wouldn't.

More shouts and scream filled the air, people were laughing out of control and Bella saw it all only in the form of shadows dancing behind her closed eyes. She felt the ground and realized she had sank down on to her knees, head bowed, awaiting her punishment.

The creature came for her eventually, her body being lifted from under her arms in a hard grip. The voice that spoke to her wasn't pretty, though. She had never heard a monster with an ugly voice.

"You might be small, but you smell good," the Brady thing hissed directly into her ear.

Oh, god, she had heard those words before. It was her saving grace from the previous Underground demons. Did this one know that? If he didn't, would he think it to be a bonus?

"Put her the fuck down, you piece of shit!" The Paul man yelled from somewhere close by.

Bella whimpered in sadness. He hadn't left her, but now it was too late. She opened her eyes for the final look at the only man who had ever shown her kindness. She felt the wet spray of liquid splash across her face, an arc of blood sure to look black in the dim light of the yard.

"Fuck, Paul!" Brady complained as he sat Bella back down. "You weren't supposed to dump the whole bottle on me. Now I look like I pissed myself."

"Whatever, shitter. You lose. Be a good bloodsucker and play dead so we can take the pictures."

Brady grabbed his chest, then his back, hunching over. "Oh. Ow. Yikes. The pain. It hurts."

"Quit fucking around or I'll make it hurt," Quil shouted, laughing with others while they threw water balloons filled with vinegar at Brady, the vampire victim of their party this year.

The vinegar reacted with the baking soda Brady had mixed with his body paint, making it look as if he was "dying". The guys knew this wasn't how a real vampire acted or died. Their casual play of killing a Halloween vamp helped to contain the stress some of the imprints felt when their men had to face real monsters.

It had been a unanimous pack decision to spare the girls the horrifying reality of what was needed to kill one. There was no benefit in scaring an imprint with the knowledge that should they meet a live vampire, the chance of survival was less than none.

Bella wondered why she could still hear people talking if she was dead. Was this what happened when you died, you heard people talking who were still alive? But then how was her Paul man still alive? Maybe they were all dead and that's why they could still hear each other and talk.

"Open your eyes, Urchin. It's over," Paul said, his warm breath fanning across her closed eyes.

For the first time, Bella contemplated not following a direct order made by a man. If this was a hallucination and her Paul man was only alive here, she wanted to stay as long as possible.

"Hey, are you alright, Urchin? It's almost over."

This time her Paul sounded sad and scared. Bella reached her hand out to find his, the feel of his warmth a comfort beyond words. With the hesitation of a soul being told to exit the promised land, she opened her eyes to be met with her answered prayer.

Her Paul man smiled, his gaze locked on hers. "Once they string Brady up by his damn feet –literally this year, thanks to me—and take a shitload of funny pictures, the noise will die down and people will start to find tents. You wanna crash here or home?"

Bella was still having a difficult time understanding what was happening. The monster vampire Brady person was fake? She didn't get it. A sharp yelp from across the yard didn't explain much either. Most of the people there were gathered around a large tree where the Brady monster was hanging upside down and the others were still throwing things at him.

"You wanna throw a balloon at him, Urchin?" Paul offered, holding out something that looked like a small brightly colored sandwich baggie.

Bella couldn't shake her head no fast enough. She didn't want to risk anyone's anger and was happy to stay where she and Paul were until she could crawl into a tent and hide there.

Her Paul just laughed. "Okay, be that way if you want to, Urchin, but I'm not missing a final few free punches," he said determinedly. His arm snaked around her legs and he picked her up one armed to trot over to where most of the group was gathered.

"Open wide, bitch!" Paul yelled out before throwing the balloon he had offered Bella. It hit Brady directly in the mouth and the man who had been pleading with Quil and Jared to 'stop fucking bitch smacking me in the same stomach location' sputtered in renewed anger.

"Whoa, nice shot, Lahote," Embry congratulated, slapping at Paul's free shoulder in amusement.

"Poor form, man," Brady objected, wiping at his face to remove more of the bubbling makeup. "Am I done yet, Uley? Can you please let me the fuck down so I can shower this shit off?"

"No fucking way! You smell like a Long John Silver's dumpster drunk," Jared cackled. He was wheezing in good spirits next to Quil who was partially supporting the man's weight as he leaned over to catch his breath.

"Yeah, that smells about right," Leah agreed. "Oh shit!" She hollered with several others in surprise when the garden hose came to life and sprayed the crowd a few times before focusing on Brady.

Bella's stare was of morbid confusion. The Brady monster wasn't able to free himself from a simple rope. The hose water was eating away at his skin and while he was complaining about the temperature, there were no signs of pain or distress as his skin sloughed away in white chunks. He was dropping away in pieces and there were no screams from him!

"Urchin, you need to stop staring," her Paul man demanded, snapping his fingers in front of her face. "He's about to strip his clothes. Give the idiot some privacy."

Bella blinked in apprehension, her eyes sweeping away from the Brady man. He was no longer suspended upside down and instead was standing upright with the Regina lady holding out clean clothes.

The Paul man's irritation turned back into concern. "You look like you've seen a ghost, Urchin, or a real fucking vampire. What gives?"

Kneeling once again in front of her, he held her and her undivided attention as Bella struggled to convey her worries. She reached for his hands again, clutching tightly in desperation, her mouth working to make words he would understand.

"Mmm…..mhhh…muuuuhhh….."

"Holy fuck," Paul whispered, falling forward out of his crouch and onto his knees in shock.

"Mmmhh….mhhuu," Bella said, becoming frustrated with herself.

Tears formed quickly and her breath hitched as she tried again and again to ask her Paul the one simple question that stood between their lives or deaths tonight. He didn't know what was happening and by his look, he didn't seem to be in any great hurry to find either. Bella blamed herself for his lack of understanding.

"Mmmh….muhhss…." Bella pulled one of her hands away from the Paul man to wipe her eyes. "Mmmmussher?"

"I don't, I'm fucking, what, fuck!" Paul answered her, totally fucking lost as to what the fuck was going on. His wolf came online in this time of derangement and gave Paul a sharp, mental kick to his ass. His confusion didn't matter; he needed to help Urchin through hers first.

"Shh, Urchin, calm down, okay? You're all worked up, and I'm trying to figure out why, but I feel like I've fucking missed something." He pulled her closer into his body's warmth and looked around, making sure none of the other pack morons were paying attention to them.

Everyone seemed to be gathered back around the fire, passing the cameras around to share their favorite caught poses. Brady was trying to plead with several to delete certain shots and Collin had Seth helping him dispense more liquor. Nobody seemed to give two shits about what was taking place with him and his girl and Paul fucking preferred that for now.

"Look, I know you really want to tell me something and I'd be fucking giddy as shit to hear it, too. But whatever it is sounds like you'd rather shove a cactus up your…never fucking mind. But it does sound like you really don't fucking want to, say it, that is, and no one here can make you, neither. Just…fuck, just calm down and if you can, say it, but don't fucking push yourself, okay?"

Paul felt like smacking himself for that load of shit. He sounded like a crack addict on heroin just now and if he couldn't understand his own damn logic, poor Urchin would be clueless.

"Lemme try that again," Paul said. "I need you to relax for me, okay? Take a breath," he inhaled himself, waiting for Urchin to follow suit, "then breathe out and keep doing that shit until you feel better."

When Urchin was back to being somewhat relaxed, Paul convinced her now was a really bad fucking time to practice talking. He wasn't ashamed or any of that shit, but if the others heard her, they'd want to come over and help and wouldn't she prefer for that shit to be private?

His Urchin seemed less inclined to go with that idea, her nerves wired tighter than a nerdy kid's junk tied to a flagpole. It took the sight of several couples heading into tents to convince her they should probably do the same. And then the night got worse.

Paul couldn't sleep because Urchin was still freaking. Every rustle of a leaf or wisp of a wind caused her to bolt upright in terror, shaking and staring at the tent door. Jesus, Paul knew this was a shit idea to begin with. Why the fuck had he hoped otherwise?

His wolf knew why. This large gathering of the wolves and their significant others was normal. Urchin didn't understand what they were and once again the fault was entirely Paul's fucking fault. If he had just sucked it up and followed through on Uley's suggestion, his Nancy ass would've been better off. His girl still might not like sleeping outside or bonfires and shit, but she'd be more inclined to participate knowing it was meant to be a happy "pack" celebration. Other people might view it as stupid—Hell, Paul had called it worse—but traditions ran deep. He spent the remainder of the night trying to cuddle his Urchin, whispering reassurances and hoping and fucking praying she'd believe him.