After they were done school for the day, they all headed into town to show Isabella around. Isabella tried to memorize the layout. It was good to know your surroundings.

"We'll walk around town after dinner," Tony told her as he saw her studying every turn. "Everything looks different at night," he continued as they walked by the entrance of the club they went to the night before.

"Yes," she said knowingly.

They went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Tony and Isabella did eat a little to get a taste of their homeland's cooking. Tony had ordered wine for Isabella and him, of course, it was wine from his vineyards.

"What are everyone's plans for Thanksgiving?" Jake asked.

"I've got none," George replied.
"My parents are in Germany. My dad just got stationed there for a year, so I won't be going anywhere for a while."

"Ray?" Jake asked.

"I hadn't really thought about it."

"Well, my parents have invited everyone to our place if everyone would like to come. You too, Isabella," Jake announced.

"What is involved with Thanksgiving?"

"Nothing really,"Ray told her. "You just sit and eat a turkey dinner."

Emily frowned at him. "It's more than that. It's about giving thanks for your friends and your family."

"And for football," George snickered.

They all laughed.

"It sounds too personal for me to attend. I think I should decline," She turned to Jake. "But thank you. It was kind of you and your family to invite me."

"Come on, Isabella,"George pleaded, "you're our friend now, too."

"It just...wouldn't be right," she said, getting up. "Excuse me." She walked quickly away from the table with tears in her eyes.

"I'll be back," Tony tossed his napkin to the side of his plate, and got up to follow her outside.

Isabella leaned against the brick of the building and breathed in the night air. It filled her nose and lungs with the refreshing scent of sea air. The breeze from the ocean cooled her from head to toe. She thought of the Mediterranean so far away.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked her.

"I needed some air."

"You're upset. Why?"

"They are too kind."

Tony laughed. "You're upset they are too kind?"

"I don't deserve it."

"Of course you do. Look, they like you. And I know you like them," he put his arm around her shoulders. "Besides you're my family. And I'm thankful for you," he said, kissing her cheek. Tears slid down her face. "Hey, don't cry. I'm not good with tears." He reached with his other hand to wipe them away.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, hugging him. She was sorry for everything that was planned. He didn't deserve it. He couldn't have done what Max had said he had. She knew that. She had always known that. But here she was. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed.

"Hey!" he said, hugging her tight, "Come on, there's nothing for you to be sorry about. Come back inside with your friends. They are your friends too."

"I will. In a minute," she said, tying to compose herself.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked hesitantly.

She nodded. "Fine. I guess, I'm just missing my family and Katarina...with the holidays and everything."

"I understand," he said, kissing her on the forehead. "Don't be too long." He squeezed her arm lighlty before opening the door and heading back inside.

"Is she okay?" Ray asked,when Tony rejoined them.

"She's fine. She'll be back in a minute."

"Was it something I said?" Jake asked.

"For once, no."

"Don't you two start," Raven warned them before Jake could reply.

He shut his mouth, but gave Tony a stern look. He knew Tony was jealous of him and Emily, but the guy needed to get over it.

Isabella returned and sat back down at the table. "I am sorry. I would like to join you at your Thanksgiving, Jake," She told him.

"Great!" Jake answered.

"Will you come too, Tony?" Jake asked him.

"You want me to come?" he asked, surprise filling his voice and face.

"Yeah."

"Alright, then," Tony said with a nod.

Emily shot him a smile like see, I told you he wasn't such a bad guy. He didn't have to read minds to tell what she was thinking.

"Ray? Are you coming? Or are you going home?" Jake asked.

"My mom will have my hide..." Ray said stretching, "but I'll come too."

"Great, Em's in too. Brian will let her go for one Thanksgiving. Raven?"

"Wouldn't miss it," she grinned. "I'd love to meet your adoptive family. You can meet mine at Christmas."

"Deal."

"Cool. So the whole gang's going to Iowa," George said.

"Can you milk a cow?" Jake asked George.

They laughed at the expression on George's face.

"No. But I'm sure you'll make me try."

"This will be fun," Jake said,  rubbing his hands excitedly.

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

Later that night, Isabella heard the steady breathing of heavy sleep. Sleep came out of Emily, Jake and George's rooms, but not Ray's. She heard the clicking of his typing on the computer.

Tony had gone to the hospital to get more blood supply.

Isabella crept up to Ray's room and knocked lightly on the door.

After a moment, he opened the door. His chest was bare as he only wore pajama bottoms.

Isabella admired his muscles. They weren't as prominent as the other guys, but he had them, and they were nice to look at. He wore his glasses and looked incredibly cute in them.

"Hey, um, come on in," Ray invited, rubbing his head absently.

He stepped backwards so she could enter. Ray quickly went to his dresser, pulled out a tee-shirt and slipped it on.

She closed the door gently behind her. Isabella studied his room as she had George's. His bed was unmade as if Ray had gone to bed and then got out of it again. It was a double size bed with a chocolate brown colored comforter and white sheets. His bed was a dark wood to compliment the bedding.

His dresser was of the same color. She walked over to it and looked at the picture of his family that sat upon it and set it back down.

Ray's computer was in the corner of the room on a small table. He had a black executive style chair on rollers next to it. The carpet was beige and didn't allow the chair much rolling around.

She sat on the edge of the bed.

"What brings you up here?" Ray asked, sitting in the chair.

"I heard you were up."

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep."

"What are you looking on the internet for?" she asked, looking at the computer.

"I was trying to find a way out of this mess."

"Find it?"

He shook his head.

"There's no way out," she told him, pulling her legs up under her.

"Will you really come to Jake's for Thanksgiving with us?" Ray asked, leaning forward.

Isabella sighed."I don't know."

"We want you to."

"I want to, too. But I think I just need to get this done and get out of here," she answered, trying to remain strong.

"You won't give us a chance?" he asked, taking her hands in his. He knelt down on the floor in front of her.

She touched his face. "I can't," she said, fighting back the tears. "I can't go against them. I just need to find what they want and get out of here without Tony noticing they're gone. Eventually, when they have no more use for them, I can get them back to you and you can put them back in the safe."

Ray looked away, hating to see her pain. "Look, try find out the combination to Tony's safe and where it is. He might show it to you since he took your watch," Ray said seriously.

Isabella nodded.

"If you can't get the combination, find out the make and model. I'm researching how to break into one, but I need to know what kind it is."

"Okay."

Ray laughed quietly. "I never thought I'd ever have to learn how to break into safes."

"Let's hope you don't have to."

"Where's Tony?" Ray asked, suddenly concerned.

"He went out to get more stored blood from the hospital."

Ray got up and sat next to her on the bed. "What's it like?"

"What?"

"Being a vampire. I mean, Tony, he doesn't talk about it much."

Isabella sighed.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"It's okay. I don't mind. It's hard to explain," she said and paused to think about her words. "At first, you don't know who you are. It's like you are stuck in a bad dream and you can't wake up. You watch yourself doing these terrible things, attacking people, animals, anything for blood but you don't realize it's you. Then one day you wake up and you realize what you've done. Some vampires don't mind what they are. They think it's better than the human life. Others are ashamed of what they are and just do as they must to survive."

"Like you and Tony."

"Yes."

"Is there a difference between the bag blood and getting it from a person? I mean I know that Tony does both. And I get that bagged blood is probably cold and doesn't taste as good, but is that all? He seems like he feels guilty about drinking someone's blood straight from them even if they've offered."

She sighed. "It is different. I just recently started trying the bagged blood. You're right, it tastes horrible. It's cold. And yes, I know some vampires that will heat it up in the microwave."

"Really?" Ray wrinkled his nose.

She nodded, "It's not just that it's cold and bagged. It's that it's impersonal. When you drink from a person it's fresh, it tastes better than anything you've ever had in your life, and you want more of it. And it's not just because it's right from someone. It's because their life still flows through it. You can still taste their life. You can taste them. And afterwards, you feel a thousand times better. It's like you've been walking around sick your entire life and once you drink the live blood you feel healthy again. More importantly, you feel alive," she said wistfully.

She sighed, "It's hard not to understand why a vampire that's dead would want to feel alive again, huh?"" she laughed bitterly, "that's all what we want to be again; alive," her eyes filled with tears, "any way we can get it....even if it's just for a moment..."she trailed off and brushed her tears away. She offered an apologetic smile.

"Isabella, I'd like to give you some of my blood," Ray said softly.

"I cannot ask you to do that."

"You didn't ask. I offered," he told her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"You will trust me to take your blood?"

"Yes, I trust you," he replied, looking into her eyes without flinching.

"Okay, then," she said and looked around. "It will be easier for you if you lie down."

Ray laid down on the bed and got comfortable adjusting the pillow.

"Take off your shirt."

He did so and handed it to her. She rolled up the shirt and lifted his head and tucked it at the side of his neck.

"Will you make it look like a hicky so all the guys will be jealous?" he asked with a chuckle.

She laughed. "Sure, I'll try," she said. She got on top of him straddling a leg on either side of him and laid her chest against his chest.

He moaned,"I can get used to this real quick." He wrapped his arms around her waist and ran his hands up and down her back.

"Behave and stay still," she ordered and gently pushed his head to the side.

He dropped his arms to his sides. "Will it hurt?"

"Just real quick. Like a shot," she said and kissed his neck gently.

"Mmm...Nice shot," he murmured and then flinched when she bit into him.

He felt the blood draining out of him. A few moments later, he felt an overwhelming pleasant feeling as he felt her enjoyment of it. And he actually began to enjoy it himself. He felt as he was becoming one with her, he wasn't sure whose thoughts were whose. It didn't matter to him as all he was feeling was this great warm, loving feeling, he didn't want it to end.

Isabella pulled away and quickly held his shirt to his neck. She laid her head on his shoulder as she applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

"I'm sorry," She whimpered, putting her face into his chest, ashamed.

He blinked as he slowly came back to reality. "For what?" he asked. wrapping his arms around her and kissed her nose.

"I shouldn't have let you do that."

"It was nice, actually."

She smiled. "To a vampire, taking blood from someone so willing can be like..." she explained cutting off embarrassed. "Your emotions can be transferred to the giver, whether it is anger or love or any other emotion."

He smiled. "So you like me, huh?" he asked, looking towards her.

She kissed him lightly on the mouth. "Yes, very much," she said, touching the back of her hand to his cheek.

"What about George?"

Isabella looked towards the door.

"I find George attractive, but I really don't know him. I think I know you." She kissed him again.

Ray groaned and pulled away. "He's going to be mad." He tucked his free arm under his head.

She frowned. "Why would he be mad? I made no obligation to him."

"I know, but he really likes you."

He brushed a strand od hair out of her face.

"Ray, I've made no obligation to you, either."

"I know, Isabella," He said kissing her again. "I know, but I don't care," he repeated it in his mind to try convince himself.