The air between us is still as he stares at me.

Then his brow goes up. “There, was that so hard?”

I blink. “Excuse me?”

But he’s already turned back to the wreckage, kicking idly at a shredded book lying frayed and tattered amongst the splintered wood and shattered glass. “You seemed so sure of yourself. But you’re only mostly right.”

I look him over with a frown. "…You're not a vampire?"

He shakes his head and smiles at me. Small. Soft. "Not completely.”

My brow knits.

Then what is he?

And why does he look so smug about it?

Even now, were the sunlight not coming in through the windows so strongly, I might wonder if his eyes weren't glowing. Glowing green…

…Like the eyes of whatever had saved me last night.

"It was you…" I trail off, still not really understanding how this skinny man-boy managed to do it. He’s not a vampire and yet, somehow, he'd managed to take out a high-on-life, Very Important Revenant, and didn't have a single scratch to show for it. "You saved me last night…"

"Yes…? Wait, you're just now figuring that out?” He looks slightly appalled. “How did you think you'd ended up in my bed?"

I raise an eyebrow but choose to ignore the implications his question holds. "I thought you were a revenant—that they'd taken me hostage or something."

He rolls his eyes. "Oh yes, a revenant took you hostage, tended all night long to your profusely bleeding neck wounds—which was disgusting by the way—and then tried to feed you breakfast before driving you home—"

"On a bike—"

"My point is, does that sound like something a revenant would do? Considering you tried to take one on last night I assume you know something about them." He throws his hands in the air and makes to walk away from me but stops abruptly to turn back. "Come to think of it, you tried going at a revenant with your bare hands, and anyone who knows anything about the revenant would know how incredibly stupid that would be."

"Hey! Ok, fine! I admit, it was a little stupid—"

"A little—!?"

"But! I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have good reason. That revenant was carrying—" I freeze.

Dear lord, I'd forgotten about the briefcase.

The whole reason I was in this mess in the first place.

How could I have forgotten about the goddamn briefcase when I had almost died trying to get it?

Where is it now? He must have found it when he found me.

I spring forward, grabbing him by his collar and shoving him against the mangled wall at his back.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me—"

"Where's the briefcase!? The one I was holding when the revenant… when he…" I grit my teeth, unable to get the words past my lips.

"…Bit you?" he offers.

"Yes," I spit. "Where is it?"

"It's safe. It's at my house. Look, you can have it back, I promise. In fact," he glances warily out a window from where I hold him fast to the wall, "the sun will be down soon, and we probably shouldn't be here when it sets.”

He lifts his hands in surrender, probably hoping to make himself seem less menacing.

“Why don't we go back to my place? You can stay with me for a while. Just until you get back on your feet. You can have your briefcase. I’ll even make you something to eat.” He winces. “Just… promise you won’t throw it on the floor again. Okay?"

He lifts his hands a little higher, a conciliatory gesture.

Well, suppose it’s not the worst option. In fact, it might be my only option. No phone, no wallet, no money… and no family or friends to stay with…There really isn’t anywhere else for me to go.

"…Fine.”

I give him another glare for good measure, then release his collar to stalk over to my recently re-designed dresser.

"Let me just grab some things first then we can go."

Pulling open the top drawer, I lift out a pair of my favorite lace panties only to find them completely shredded…

Along with every other pair of underwear I own.

Owned.

…Damnit.

I pull open the rest of my drawers to find all my clothing in the same, shredded condition.

Now, that's just rude.

Angrily, I shove the drawers shut and stomp stop toward the bathroom to pack some surviving supplies into a slightly mangled carrying bag.

"Don't you at least want to take some clothes?" He asks, noticing I hadn't bothered to grab any.

My teeth grind. "I like your jacket so much, I figure I’ll just wear your clothes.”

I stomp to the—still hanging open on its mangled hinges—front door and motion for him to step through the first. I follow behind him, reaching out to grab the set of keys still hanging on the wall and praising whatever heavenly bodies might be listening that my spare set had managed to avoid being damaged by my demon redecorators.

No doubt my main set, along with my wallet, are now in the hands of the Order.

…I should probably cancel my credit cards.

He looks me up and down as he waits for me to wrangle the door mostly shut and jimmy the lock into place. "It does seem you wear it better."

I throw him a glare and he looks away.

"You can take your bike home by yourself,” I say, stalking past him toward the stairs. “Riding on the backend of a bike you're steering is an experience I would never like to repeat."

"Oh? Will you be walking back to my place then?" He ventures a peek in my direction and falls in behind me.

"If you must know,” I twirl my keys on my index finger as I saunter down the hall toward the stairs. “I'll be driving myself."