"Isabella, can I talk to you?" Ray asked, stepping out onto the patio.

She sat in one of the white lounge chairs next to the pool and was staring out into the dark night.

"Yes, of course, Ray," she said smiling as he closed the door behind him.

Everyone else had gone to bed. And he had seen Tony leave the house. He had waited until they had done so to approach her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him, her smile turning to a frown as she studied his face.

"That's what I wanted to ask you," he said, sitting down next to her.

"I am fine, thank you."

"What's going on with you? You can trust me."

"I do not know what you say."

Ray sighed. "I know you're not who you say you are," Ray said to her seriously.

Isabella looked at him puzzled.

"Katarina never had a son named Antonio," Ray told her frankly.

"How do you know that?" she asked straightening.

"The power of the internet."

Isabella looked away.

"So who the hell are you?"

"I mean no harm," Isabella told him, looking him in the eye.

"I know that," he said with a nod, "I can tell nice people. And of course, Emily can and she would have spoken up by now if you weren't."

"She hasn't read my mind," Isabella said firmly.

"No. But she gets feelings about people. Like she did with those guys at the club."

"What guys?"

Ray laughed. "I seem to have a special gift, Isabella. It seems that I go unnoticed a lot. So you may not have noticed me around you when you were talking with the two Italian guys. I don't speak Italian, but it didn't sound like friendly conversations to me."

"They are visiting from Italy. We know each other. They come to say hello to be polite. But we don't get along."

"Would you mind telling me what's going on? You can trust me," Ray said, trying to be nice about it but he was getting agitated.

"No," Isabella said. "I don't know," Isabella muttered, her guard weakening at the sincere concern in his eyes.

"For starters, I want to know, who the hell you think you are pretending to be Tony's great granddaughter when you're not?! And why Katarina would cover your story?!" Ray snapped at her, finally losing it.

"Katarina believed it would be best that he believe so. At least at first," Isabella answered, sticking her chin up in defense of the woman.

"Why?"

"So he won't get hurt," Isabella answered softly.

"Who would hurt him? Those guys?" he demanded. Isabella nodded after a moment. "Why do they want to hurt him?"

"I cannot say."

"Isabella, please. Let me help. Let us help," Ray said, gesturing to the house.

"I cannot. It is best you all do not know. Let me handle it. I promise to you I will do everything so no one is hurt."

"How can I trust you Isabella if you don't trust me? Tony's a good friend. I'm not going to see him get hurt. Let me help you."

A tear slid down her cheek. "I know not what to do, Ray," she said, wiping the tear away.

He moved over to her chair and put an arm around her. "You just tell Uncle Ray all about it and he'll make it all better."

Isabella laughed wiping away more tears. "I wish it were that easy," she said, leaning her head against his shoulder in comfort.

"Sometimes it is," Ray answered, stroking her hair.

"You promise not to tell anyone unless I say?"

Ray hated to do such a thing if it were to cause anyone harm; but seeing no other way he nodded. "I promise."

During the next few minutes Ray was shocked by what she told him. And it took awhile before he could speak again while he retained the information that he'd been given and tried to comprehend it.

Finally he could speak,"Tony would never have done that! You have to believe that."

"I want to believe that. I really do. But I've believed otherwise for so long."

"Can't you just tell him what's going on? I'm sure he'd make some type of... compromise."

"No. They would never allow it."

"Well, they wouldn't have to know you told him."

"If Antonio knew then he would go after them. They would know that I told."

"But he has a right to know! And besides, he'll find out when they go through with it," Ray continued at her silence.

"But then Trey would have what he wants. That's all he wants," Isabella said,  looking down at her hands.

"And Max? Will he stop then?"

"I do not know. I do not know that it is even him sending this thing. But I do not put it past him."

"Can we stop them?"

"I wouldn't try."

"But we can."

"No, please. Do not interfere. Let me do what they sent me to do. And I will leave. No one will be hurt," Isabella said, tears flowing.

"Would they hurt us if we interfered?"

"Yes. I believe they would."

"Would they hurt you if you don't comply?" Ray asked concerned.

Isabella sighed, wiping the tears away, ashamed they had fallen. "They care for me but this has been eating at them for too long. Revenge is an evil thing. If it served their purpose, they would kill me," Isabella said. "At least Max would," She added softly.

"Would Trey?"

"No. I...I don't think so. Maybe. I can't put it past him if Max ordered him..." Isabella answered quietly and sobbed, wiping the tears away. "He follows Max's orders. He always has. Without question."

"We'll think of a way out of this."

"There's no way out, Ray."

"There's always a way out. You just have to find the right door. Or window," he told her.

******************************

The next morning, Tony tried to wake Isabella up gently. He knew it wasn't an easy thing for a vampire to do; to wake up during daylight hours and he didn't know how old she was and therefore how strong she was.

"What?!"

"Time for school."

"You're kidding me," she moaned from under the covers.

She had moved back into the room that Tony gave her. At least it was a room and no one would feel uncomfortable coming down the stairs to do laundry. And she didn't have to worry about sneaking past Antonio to get out of the house to go hunting now that he knew what she was.

"No, I'm not. You need to go register for classes today."

"I cannot. It's the middle of the semester," she answered with a yawn.

"You can sign up for winter session. It starts the week after Christmas." He continued.

"It's only November. Wake me up in December."

Tony laughed and pulled the covers off of her. "But you need to sign up today," he said as she played tug-a-war with the blanket with him.

"Tomorrow," she pleaded, giving up the blanket and put her head in the pillow.

"Come on, you can check out our parapsychology class. You'll like Brian," Tony tossed the blanket at her.

"Oh, I'm sure he'd love to experiment on another vampire."

"He's not like that."

She rolled over. "Do I have to?" she asked.

"Yes. And then you can sleep the month away," he told her with a smile.

"How are you so cheerful in the morning?"

"This is not cheerful," Tony said pointing to his face which he made serious.

"Alright. But give me some blood," she demanded, pulling herself into a sitting position.

"Fine," He replied, leaving the room. He came back in and handed her the cup.

"Oh! I'd like to leave this here," Isabella told him. taking off her silver watch. "Do you have a safe?" she asked, starting Ray's plan for the search.

"You don't need a safe. It's safe here."

"Please. I would feel better. Katarina gave it to me. I don't want to lose it."

Tony nodded and held out his hand for it. She handed it to him. "I'll put it in."

"Can I see it?" Isabella asked, getting up.

"I'll show you later. Hurry up and get dressed, we're running late," he told her and left the room.

She sat down on the bed and put her hands to her head wishing it was all over.

*******************************

"Good morning, Isabella," George said as she came into the kitchen.

She wore black jeans and a white off the shoulder blouse. She had pulled her hair back in a single braid down her back.

"You look nice," he told her, pulling his backpack over his shoulder.

"Thank you," She said with a smile.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Yes. I had something downstairs, thank you," she told him, looking at Ray uncomfortably.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine, just tired from last night," Isabella answered, pulling on a pair of sunglasses.

"Yeah, we were out late," George said. "We don't usually go out on a school night, but we were kind of celebrating Jake and Raven's birthday's a little late. We kept getting sidetracked before," he explained as they walked out the back door.

"Do you want to ride with us? I think I saw Tony fiddling with his motorcycle," Ray said.

"Yes, thank you," she said, following them to a green Mustang.

George opened the passenger door and held it open for her. She climbed in the back and Ray moved to the driver seat and George climbed into the front passenger seat.

"When are you finished your classes?" Isabella asked, leaning against the back of George's seat.

"I'm done around three-forty five. Same with Jake. I think Emily and Raven are done at four fifteen."

"And you, Ray?"

"Two forty five," Ray said looking at her in the rear view mirror. "Tuesday's are worse though. They've got all of us there all day. Classes are longer because they are only on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

She nodded understanding that she'd have the house to herself all day the next day to search.

"It's a lovely view," Isabella commented, looking out the window at the view of the ocean overlooking the side of the cliff they were driving on to get to town.

"We can hit the beach this afternoon, if you'd like. We have our own private beach. No one can access it but us," George told her.

"Maybe," she replied, looking over at Ray for help.

There was nothing worse than a vampire sunbathing. Not that she wasn't strong enough to handle it for a few hours, but there were just some things that a vampire would not do and making a mockery of younger vamps deaths were on the very short list.

"I thought we could show her around town this afternoon," Ray offered.

Isabella shot him a grateful look into the rearview mirror.

"Sure," George said disappointed.

"Oh, that sounds really nice," Isabella said, settling back into her seat glad that was settled.

******************************

Isabella walked into the parapsychology class room nervously. She had registered for the winter session of business classes at Antonio's insistence. He had demanded that she meet him at the class when she was done so she could meet Brian and see what the class was all about.

"You must be Isabella," a gentleman with brown hair, in blue jeans and a red collared shirt said, approaching her. She backed up.

"It's okay. Come on in. Make yourself at home," he said to her with a smile. "I promise this won't hurt."

She had no choice as Antonio and the rest of the group came and pushed her in the classroom.

"He's a good guy. Give him a chance," Tony said leading her to a seat.

Ray sat behind her and George in the seat across from her. It was good to have support.

*****************************

"What did you think of the class, Isabella?" Emily asked as they left the class.

"It was, what is the word? Um... interesting?" she replied, rubbing her arms.

She'd heard of Brian and his strong powers. A lot of vampires feared him, thinking he may use those powers against them.

"He wouldn't hurt you," She heard a voice say in her mind.

She looked at Emily surprised. "I thought you said you wouldn't read my mind," Isabella directed a thought at Emily.

"I said I'd try not to. Why are you worried that Brian would hurt you? He wouldn't."

"I hear he's powerful," Isabella said to her in her mind.

"Yes, but he uses it for good not for evil."

Isabella nodded, hoping that was true. She took Ray's arm absently in comfort.

Ray put an arm around her. "Doing okay?"

Isabella nodded, sliding her arm around his waist.

George watched Ray walk ahead with an arm around Isabella. He shouldn't be jealous of his best friend, but he was. When did they get so close?

George had danced with Isabella most of the night and had thought he made great progress with her. Now, suddenly, his best friend was moving in on her?!

George was upset. He didn't think Ray would do such a thing like that. Ray had known that he liked Isabella. But there he was, in plain daylight, with an arm around Isabella like she was Ray's girlfriend or something. And she was looking mighty cozy underneath it.

*****************************

Isabella sat under a tree in the picnic area behind one of the student unions with Tony.

"Do you like Ray, now?" Tony asked as the others had gone to get food. Isabella and he sipped on sodas to look presentable.

"I like Ray."

"No, I mean, I thought you were interested in George."

"I am."

"So why are you and Ray so chummy today?" Tony asked curiously.

"He's a friend."

"Just a friend?"

"For now," Isabella said with a smile.

Tony groaned."Please, don't get the boys fighting over you, Isabella."

"I wouldn't do that. They are both nice boys."

"Those two are best friends, Isabella. I've seen many best friends break up over a girl and it's not a pretty sight."

He quieted as the rest of them came out and sat around a picnic table near them.

"You're not eating, Isabella?" George asked.

"No, I'm not hungry," Isabella replied, taking a sip of her soda.

"You didn't eat breakfast."

"I did. With Tony," Isabella reminded him.

"Leave her alone, George. She's not hungry then she's not hungry," Ray said, taking a bite of his cheeseburger.

"How do you like our school, Isabella?" Jake asked.

"It is very nice. I like it," Isabella answered, adjusting her sunglasses.

A figure caught her eye in her peripheral vision. She then sensed who it was and forced herself not to react to his presence. She felt Antonio's body stiffen though. She looked over at Tony and he was looking around.

Emily looked at him. "What is it?" Emily asked.

"Vampire," Tony growled getting up. "I'll be back," Tony said, walking away.

"Is this a good thing or a bad thing?" George asked.

"It depends on the vampire," Isabella replied. She knew who it was and wished she could warn him, but in the others presence she would be unable to do so. She only hoped that Trey would sense Antonio's presence and would leave.

"Did you sign up for any classes?" Jake asked, trying to continue their previous conversation.

"No, I just did the, uh, application. They sent for my school records from Italy."

"So, what are you going to do with yourself for the next month while we're slaving away in class?" Jake asked with a smile.

"I don't know. Maybe look for a job, but I would like to enjoy some time before I have to do anything," Isabella replied, trying to sense Antonio and Trey's different locations.

Isabella's cell phone rang. "Excuse me, please," she said, standing up and walking away from the group. She answered it in Italian.

"Why aren't you at the house?" she heard Trey's voice.

"Why are you here?" she demanded.

"I came to see a certain pretty lady, but there was some unwanted company around. He's looking for me, isn't he?"

"Yes."

"No matter. He wouldn't recognize me if I stood right in front of him. Maybe I just might."

"Trey," Isabella said annoyed.

"Alright, I'll play nice. Again, why aren't you at the house?"

"He wanted me to sign up for business school," Isabella complained.

Trey laughed amused. "How charming! He's playing house with you."

"Shut up."

"This isn't going as easy as planned, huh?" he asked sincerely.

"I found out he has a safe. I just don't know where yet. They have to be in there."

"Good. Good," He said pleased.

"Trey, stay away from Raven," she told him firmly.

"Why should I? She's beautiful and sweet and I hear has a ton of firepower," he said with a chuckle.

"I need you to stay away. Let me handle things here. I can't concentrate with the two of you looking over my shoulder every five minutes."

She heard him sigh. "Fine. I will give you some space. Oh, about our conversation earlier. I talked with Max and he said he had nothing to do with it," Trey said.

"Take him away, please."

"I will try," Trey said with a sigh. "But you know how he is."

"Alright. Can I go now?"

"I suppose. We're playing ring-a-round the rosies, over here, do you want to play?" He said with a quiet laugh.

"No, that's quite alright," she said and hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" George asked curiously when she sat down at the table next to them.

"Just Trey," she answered and took a sip of her soda.

Raven looked up. "Is he going to call me?" Raven asked.

Isabella smiled amused at Raven's interest. "He said he was planning to stop by, but something came up," she answered honestly.

Ray looked over at Isabella.

"Is he alright?" Raven asked.

"Couldn't be better," Isabella replied as she saw Tony came back towards the group.

"Did you find them?" Emily asked.

Tony shook his head. "Whoever it was left," he said, sitting back down in the shade.

"Should we be concerned?" Emily asked.

"I don't think so. They were probably scoping out the campus."

"And we shouldn't be concerned about that?" Jake asked.

"All vampires aren't bad," Tony answered.

"I only know you so that's all I have to go on."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Tony demanded, standing up angrily.

"Geez, Tony, chill. I didn't mean you were bad. It's just you're the only vampire I know."

"Not the only one," Isabella said, biting her lip, feeling guilty.

Everyone tuned tp look at her.

"Are you one too?" George asked, visibly paling.

Isabella nodded.

"Whoa," Jake said, leaning back and stared at her.

Tony sat back down.

"So, it's hereditary?" Jake asked, looking from Tony to Isabella.

"No," Isabella shook her head. "Someone else, uh, did this."

"Who?" George asked, like he was going to beat up the person that did it.

"It doesn't matter."

"When did it happen?" Jake asked.

"A long time ago. Look, I was not prepared to discuss it. It just came out. I really prefer not to talk about it right now."

"Okay," Jake said putting up his hands. "So was it Isabella you were sensing?" he asked Tony.

"No. I knew about Isabella. It was someone else," Tony said.

"Can we change the subject off vampires, please?" George asked.

He wasn't sure what to make of it all. He was in love with a vampire. That was new! Heck, being in love was new to him, but this really took the cake.

Isabella felt a little offended but understood his reaction.

"Can we get back on the subject of Trey?" Raven asked with a smile towards Isabella.

Ray choked on his soda.

"You okay?" George asked, pounding on his back.

"Fine," Ray choked out between coughs.

"Trey's thinking of going back home," Isabella told Raven.

"Oh. That's too bad," Raven replied, trying not to show her disappointment.

"Who's this Trey?" Tony asked Isabella.

"He's from Italy. He's here on... vacation," Isabella explained.

"You left out that he's incredibly gorgeous," Raven said with a grin.

Isabella laughed. "There is more to people than looks, Raven."

"I know... but God, he's sexy!"

"When did you meet him?" Tony asked Raven.

"Yesterday while you were flirting with the blonde," Raven shot at him.

Tony remembered that he hadn't paid much attention to his friends at the club while he talked with Ramona. She was quite a distraction. "I wasn't flirting," Tony protested.

"Sure looked that way to me."

"Talk about gorgeous," George said with whistle.

"She's an old friend," Tony said defensively.

"How about hooking us up with some of your 'friends'?" Ray said with a laugh, "And how come I didn't see her?" Ray said.

"You were too busy dancing. Anyway, she's a vampire too."

"Are you guys everywhere?!" Jake exclaimed.

"Pretty much," Tony said with a mischievous grin.

*******************************

"Are you alright?" George asked, Isabella as they walked towards his next class.

Isabella needed to wait around until they were all done classes to get a ride back. "Yes, I just didn't expect to reveal what I did," she said, not looking at him.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," George told her.

"No, but you didn't like what you heard, did you?" Isabella asked, folding her arms in front of her defensively.

"I was surprised that's all," George answered, looking at her.

"Not disgusted?"

"No," George said, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. "of course not."

"You're still my friend?" Isabella asked him.

"Of course I'm still your friend," George said smiling.

She kissed his cheek. "I'm glad."

"Um, do you want to come to class with me? I mean, it's bio, it's boring, but at least it's something to do."

"No, thank you. I will see you after class. I'd like to just walk around a bit. Have some time to myself."

"Ok," George said disappointed. He started to walk away. "Hey, Isabella," he called, turning back. She turned back towards him. "I will always like you no matter what."

She smiled. "And I, you George," she said back. He smiled and walked away.

She sat down under a tree and put her face to her knees and tried to breathe.

"Are you alright?" she heard Ray ask.

She lifted her head up. "It's been quite a day," she said with a sigh.

He sat down next to her. "That was Trey that Tony sensed wasn't it?" he asked. Isabella nodded. "And what did he say on the phone?"

"He said he'd give me some time. He'll stay away. And try to get Max to do so, too."

"That's good. We need all the time we can get."

"I don't want time," Isabella said, looking away.

"What?! Why not?!" Ray asked puzzled.

"Because that gives me time to get to know all of you. To like you. And I can't like you."

"You can like us."

"No, because when I do what I do, I will not only be hurting Antonio, but all of you as well," she said. "And myself."

"There's no other way. Unless you tell Tony."

"I cannot. It would hurt him so. And there's no telling what they would do to him or me."

"Then we have no choice."

"We?" she asked surprised.

"I told you I'd help you."

She kissed him on the lips enthusiastically.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed, feeling the burden lightening off her shoulders.

"No, thank you," he said with a grin and kissed her back eagerly on the mouth. She kissed him back. He pulled her to him and deepened the kiss.

"Ray," She said, pulling away after a few moments.

"I'm sorry. I know you like George," he said, looking away.

"I do. And I like you too," she said, touching his arm. "I just don't want to get involved. With either of you. What I have to do is complicated enough without worrying about having a relationship or figuring out who I like more."

"And who do you like more?" Ray asked, putting an arm around her, and kissed her cheek playfully.

"Ray," She said warningly, pushing him lightly on the chest.

"Ray! Good answer," he said, kissing her again on the lips.

She kissed him back, enjoying the taste of him. The playfulness and sincerity of it was so comforting and welcomed. It wasn't what she was used to. "Okay. No more. No more," she pulled away, laughing as he continued to kiss her.

He groaned and pulled away. "Okay," he said, leaning his head against the tree, his arm still around her.

"You sure play hard to get," he said with a sigh.

"I have to. I'm sorry. Under different circumstances..." She said, trailing off.

"I know."

She put her head into his chest. "I want this to be over." She said, hugging him, needing his strength.

"Me too, Isabella. Me, too," he said, kissing the top of her head.

*******************************

Max watched her from a distance. He was annoyed at her for not doing the job she was sent to do. She and Trey demanded that he give her space to do the job. When he agreed to do so, he saw her kissing two of the boys, one much friendlier than the other. He found it amusing, but also annoying that she was becoming so distracted.

He thought about it a minute and then decided that it may be part of her plan. He had, after all, taught her well. If Isabella seduced the boys then perhaps they would help her against Antonio.

And as long as he got what he wanted, he didn't care how she got it. And when she got it? That was only the beginning to his plan. To teach Antonio the ultimate lesson, he would give her all the time she wanted.