Decisions Ch. 05

"Sweet. Spasibo, Elena." I said, fiddling with the walkie talkie.

"No problemo', captain. Did you get the cheese?" She asked.

"Yep." Viktor said, leaning over. "Over 10 kilos."

"How many is that in freedom units?" I asked.

"Around 25 pounds. Either way, that's a bunch of cheese." He replied.

"Nice... speaking of cheese, do you two want to hear a pizza joke?" Elena asked.

"Bye, Ellie." Viktor said, reaching over to roll up my window before I could say anything. Elena chortled and patted the top of my car, going back to sitting behind her table. I drove past her to secure a parking spot relatively close to the fairgrounds.

"I wanted to hear the pizza joke." I said to Viktor, disapprovingly.

"It's so stupid. Here, I'll say it. Do you want to hear a pizza joke?"

"Sure." I said, fitting my compact car in between two cars snugly.

"I'd tell you, but it's too cheesy."

Oh.

Har de har har.

Chapter 3.5:

"Jazz, this is burnt." Stasi said in dismay.

"No, it's crispy, I swear!" Jazz argued.

"Jazz, it's burnt!" She cried, shrilly.

"No, it's crispy!"

Stasi picked up a toothpick and jammed it into the delicacy in question. She held up the deep fried slice of banana to me, the aromatic scent of honey wafting into my nose. "Chris, is this burnt?" She asked.

"No, it's caramelized." I said, playing the diplomat. I took the toothpick and taking a bite of it, about half. The crispiness gave way to the soft, sweet, and melted interior of the banana, which overpowered the bitter taste of the slightly burnt parts of the banana. I offered the remainder to Stasi. "It also tastes great. Nice cooking, Jazz."

Jazz smiled pridefully. "Thank you, Chris. See? Someone here appreciates my uber skills at cooking."

I gave her a two hand salute with my other hand, my current arm currently occupied by the toothpick. Stasi finally brought her mouth forward, taking the remainder of the delicacy in one chomp. As she was chewing, she narrowed her eyes at Jazz.

"It's still burnt." She muttered, turning on her heels away from the drama booth and dragging me along with her. Jazz laughed at Stasi's stubbornness. Jazz would've helped us volunteer at the event, had she not been 'coerced' by the drama department into working at their booth.

She was hardly coerced. Jazz loved drama and if her career as a doctor never panned out, she told me that she was going to shoot for becoming an actor. I wouldn't be surprised if she failed in her endeavours. Jazz was a damn good actor.

Stasi and I waded through the crowds of people. It seemed half the city of San Francisco had decided to show up for the festivities. Although we had allowed humans to attend, they were still heavily outnumbered by the teeming amounts of monsters. There was still a fair amount in attendance, but most of them were busy protesting at the entrance to the parking lot. I didn't really mind. Everyone was having fun with the food, music, and games.

Just as we were walking past a booth, a smooth French voice called out Stasi's name. We both turned our heads at the same time, finding a familiar woman standing out of the crowd. She was wearing day clothes, a nice rugged jacket, blouse, skirt, and boots. The woman tilted her wide hat upwards, grinning at us.

"Josie!" Stasi yelped. She dragged me over to her, giving the woman a hug.

"Hello to you, too Anna." Josie giggled, hugging her back. "You too, Chris."

Stasi broke the hug, grinning. "I didn't know you were going to come! Oh my god, we have so much to talk about."

Josie chuckled, looking at me. "See what I meant when I told you she was different at the ball? The Anna I knew wasn't glowing, nor did she have a bounce in her step." The both of us turned slightly red.

I decided to let them catch up. Josie and Stasi only had a few days a year to talk and I had every day, all day.

I let go of Stasi's hand, making her look at me with a questioning look. "I'm going to go check out the other booths and make sure everything's running correctly." I explained. Even though I wanted to spend the whole day with her, we couldn't skirt our duties. Besides, it'd save her the embarrassment of having Josie harass her with stories of the both of us.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Alright. I'll stay around here. Josie's here, so I'll just go and talk to her.." Stasi pouted. I pacified her with a quick kiss. "I won't be long. Call me if you need me." I said, holding up the walkie talkie.

"Yes, do go and head away. The rest of the Royal Family wants to talk to you and unless you want to be bored, you should make a hasty exit." Josie advised.

"Got it. I'm outta' here." I said to the both of them. Stasi nodded and went to check out the booths jabbering with Josie. I walked towards the outskirts of the carnival.

I walked past the booths, smiling and waving at the people I knew. As I was roving through, I reached an unpopulated portion of the school and was about to head back until I ran across four people hanging around the classrooms. The three tall Asian dudes I knew, but only barely: Greg Huynh, Michael Tran, and Trent Phan. They were werewolves in the Nguyen Pack.

The fourth looked to be a human. A small and young boy with red hair. He was up against the wall, with the three surrounding him. His scared eyes locked on me fearfully as soon as I rounded the corner. The young kid was up against the wall with the three werewolves around him.

"Shit..." Trent said as soon as he heard me. He turned around.

"Is there a problem?" I asked, my hand subtly reaching towards my walkie talkie.

"No, no problem at all, Williams. But I think it'd be a good idea to head out of here, yeah?" Michael said, stepping in front of the group and gesturing for me to leave.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." I replied.

"Do you even know who this is, Williams?"

"No, and I'm going to find out. What's your name, kiddo'?" I leaned around Michael, looking at the young boy. He looked as if he was close to crying.

The kid in question looked at the glares that Trent and Greg were giving him. "Austin." He said quietly.

"Come here, Austin." I said. Austin looked at me as if I grew a second head, but he quickly slipped from behind Michael and went behind me. He was small, diminutive, and looked no older than twelve. I reached towards my walkie talkie, unclipping it from the waistband of my khakis and held it out to him, all the while keeping my eyes focused on the three werewolves who were scowling at me.

"Austin, do you know how a walkie talkie works?" Out of my peripheral vision, I saw him nod mutely. "Good. Take this and go back to the main area. When you turn the corner, press the big black button the side and tell the person on the other side to send a person named Ricky to C104."

Austin took it and scampered off, leaving me to fend off the three werewolves. We stared at each other, a showdown of one on three, before I finally grew tired of the silence.

"Really guys?" I said, disapprovingly. "The fuck were you guys doing?"

"None of your fucking business, Williams." Trent scowled. "Why didn't you just leave?"

"You're lucky I didn't have the kid call over Principal Finch, unless you want to be suspended. You know how she feels about 'detriments to the human race'." I replied. The three werewolves advanced slowly on me.

"You going to tell Principal Finch on us now, Williams? Maybe we'll have to show you how to keep your mouth shut." Greg said, balling his fists.

Oh fuck me sideways. What was I? The Karate Kid? Couldn't we just talk this out?

I stood my ground, raising my fists as the three werewolves came close. The only time I had ever gotten in a fight was in elementary school when someone insulted Stasi and wouldn't take it back. I never fought since then and never hoped to, but if I was going to go down, I was going to go down swinging. Just then, I heard lumbering footsteps. I didn't want to turn around and look in case I got a cheapshot from a werewolf, but the wide eyes of all three of them told me everything.

"Problem?" Ricky asked in his loud voice. He went to stand beside me, towering over all four of us.

"No." I said, dismissively. "These three were just about to go. Right, fellas'?"

The two werewolves behind Michael looked at each other, suddenly unsure. Conflict raged across Michael's face, before he finally balked. Getting into a fight with a guy that could toss him around like a ragdoll didn't have any good outcomes. "Fuck this shit. Let's go." He muttered, walking past the two of us and heading back to the carnival, leaving me slightly jittery with adrenaline. I heaved a sigh a relief.

"You showed up just in ti-..." I turned to Ricky, before bursting into laughter. In place of his standard oversized outfit, he was wearing a massive turkey suit, complete with a gobbler. His turkey mask was hanging at his side. "Why are you dressed like a giant ostrich?" I gasped out. It was a wonder how he managed to intimidate all three werewolves.

"What is it with you guys and not identifying the correct type of animal? Jazz said I looked like a chicken. Lucy said a peacock. You said ostrich. Only Anna got it right. Goddamn, did you not pass kindergarten or do I just look stupid?"

I patted him on the back, heading back to the carnival to make sure the three left. "No, no, you look fine. Absolutely fine. Did Stasi tell you to come?"

He walked with me, forcing me to keep up with his huge strides. "Yeah, Anna said it was important. She was with some kid who was crying."

"Shit. Where is she?"

We rounded the corner, the carnival in front of us. "No idea. She and some other girl went and got me in front of the athletic boosters' booth. I came as fast as I could."

"Right. She's going to kill me." I muttered.

"No, she won't. She loves you too much to kill you. Who were those three anyways?" We began to walk past a number of people, attracting a number of looks because of Ricky's turkey suit. It must've been pretty funny to see at a giant turkey with a head full of curly hair scurrying past you and following a freakishly lanky staff member hauling ass.

"Three werewolves from the Nguyen Pack bullying some human kid. I'm going to have a talk to Principal Finch to get their minutes limited. I just gotta' find Stasi, though." My walkie talkie as well. That kid has my walkie talkie and I wanted it back. I arrived at the hub of the carnival, looking around like a kid who lost his mom in a supermarket, before someone called my name. I snapped my head towards the source, breathing a sigh of relief when I saw Stasi and Josie walking towards me. Stasi had her hand latched onto the hand of Austin.

"Are you ok, Chris?" She asked, worriedly. She came up to me, inspecting me for any signs of being injured.

"I'm fine. Are you ok, Austin?" I gestured to the kid.

"I'm ok." The kid admitted. "Thank you for helping me, Chris."

"No problem, kiddo'. Where are your parents?" I asked, taking the walkie talkie from Austin.

"They're coming." Stasi said. "I called them." I gave her a questioning look. "He knew their phone number."

"Good thinking, Stasi." I turned to Austin, looking for a way to pass the time. "Do you like sports, Austin?"

Austin nodded. "I like to play football." He said, meekly.

"Oh yeah?" I said, excitedly. "What position?"

"I'm a receiver."

My eyes widened and I turned to the Athletic Boosters, hoping to borrow a football. By some miracle, they managed to produce a disused ball and Austin, Stasi, Ricky, and I got a fun game of two on two football going on, with Josie standing by and watching, seeing as she didn't know how football was played.

A few more people from the carnival joined in, with a lot more spectators screaming advice from the sideline. It was turning into a nice game of 7 on 7. Everybody was having loads of fun until finally, Austin's parents showed up to come and get him. I had just thrown to a soft pass to Stasi, admiring the way her attractive body adjusted to catch it, despite the thick jacket she was wearing. She could make anything as trivial as catching a ball or typing on her computer sexy.

"Nice catch, Stasi." I called out. She flashed me a thumbs up and blew me a kiss as she came over. I turned to face the adult couple, who were wringing their hands nervously.

"Austin's parents?" I asked.

The mother nodded, moving closer to her husband as a slime person got a bit too close to her walking past. I resisted the urge to snicker, instead adopting a comforting smile. "Great. He's right here." I gestured for Austin to come over, who was clutching the football that Stasi had caught. He walked up to me and Stasi patted him on the shoulder. Josie stayed back, watching.

"Are these your parents, Austin?" She asked, gently.

"Yes." He said shyly. He turned slightly red when Stasi talked to him. Someone must've had a crush. He stepped away from the two of us, into the arms of his mother. "Thank you both." Austin's mom said. "We were worried sick." After the hug, Austin turned around to hand the ball to me. I waved him off. "Keep it and keep practicing. You're going to be a great receiver."

"Do you think you can sign it for me?" He asked, timidly. "People say that you're the best quarterback in California."

My chest swelled up in pride. "I would... but I don't have a pen and I'm not that good." I confessed. Austin's mother snapped her fingers, reaching into her purse. "Nonsense. I have one." She said, brightly. She produced a sharpie, uncapped it, and handed it to me. I grinned, before picking up the football and writing on the side: "To Austin, the best receiver in the universe. - Christopher Williams #14"

I handed it back to him, which he took eagerly. "Alright, now come on, Austin." His mother commanded. "Let's get you something to eat." His mother guided him away, leaving the pen, Stasi, and I with his dad. The man was shorter than me, around Stasi's height of 5'9''. He extended his hand to me.

"Richard Leydon. Thanks for finding my son, Chris, Anna."

"Richard Leydon? The Congressman?" Stasi asked. She knew a lot more about politics than I did. The man smiled, nodding his head. "Yes, the Congressman. I know your father, Anna. Fine man, he is. Is he here now?"

Stasi looked around the crowds. "Er... no, Mr. Leydon. I think he's around here somewhere, but certainly not here. Do you want me to text him that you're here?"

"No, no." Richard said, dismissively. "I'd rather speak to you two, to be honest." He turned to me. "How are you enjoying Belcourt High School, Chris?"

"It's er... it's good. I like it. A lot better than Jefferson, in fact."

"Oh? Did you know that Jefferson made it to the league championships?"

I nodded. I did and I was certainly salty. I'd like to say that Jesse Johannson, my former backup at quarterback, had to be carried by his team to the playoffs, but in truth, he didn't. He was a damn good quarterback accompanied by a damn good team. It hurt alot more that Belcourt beat Jefferson, only to be forced to acquiesce to sitting out of the playoffs because we were unqualified for the league.

"I did. Good for them. They're a good team with good players." I said, truthfully.

"A good team, maybe. You know, I visited their team before their trip to San Jose for the league playoffs. Do you know what they told me?"

I shook my head. "No, sir."

"They said that the Belcourt High School Minotaurs deserved the chance to go to the playoffs. Your school played well, and it's a shame that you weren't able to go to the playoffs, but it looks as if everybody walked away from this season respecting Belcourt a whole lot more than they did when they came in. They realized that monsters are no different than anyone else. That's why my family is here, I suppose." He gestured to the carnival around him. "Trust me, there are people working on getting some changes to how you and your friends are being treated, and with you and your school's recent endeavours, the DTOSA is under a whole lot more scrutiny than it was when it was brought into legislation. Keep your chin up, you two. Change might take some time, but it is coming."

The man extended his hand, shaking the both of ours, and departed, citing 'funnel cakes and deep fried bananas' as his reason.

Chapter 4:

Serenity. Sweet, sweet serenity. It was as if I was floating down a gentle river, soothed and cradled by the calm tide. Nothing to cloud my thoughts, nothing to interrupt my rest. Just a relaxing cocoon of comfort. A blissful slumber. I could stay here forever, just laying here. No DTOSA, no college, no school, no homework, no life, no problems... No Stasi.

No Stasi?

Where was Stasi?

My nose twitched, then my forehead, then my mouth, then my cheeks, then my entire face. Something was tickling me. "Chris?" A soft voice whispered into my ear. A voice that was so familiar, yet foreign in my state of Nirvana. "Chris.." It repeated, with slightly more force behind it. Who was saying my name? They were disturbing my peace! "Chris!" The voice whispered loudly.

"What...?" I mumbled, groggily. Or did I? I wasn't sure if I said anything. I was still dead the world, on the brink between sleep or awake. Even if my eyes were open, I wouldn't have been able to tell. My room was pitch black. The voice sighed and the tickling departed from my face. My warm cocoon of a blanket was peeled back and I felt the ticklish sensation radiate from my head, to my chest, my stomach, and finally, my groin.

My boxers were peeled back and when she started to run her cold hand along my cock, I was instantly ripped away from sleep. "Yo!" I gasped, my eyes flashing open and getting accustomed to the dark room.

"Sorry lyubov. I didn't want to wake you up but..." She began, guiltily. "You were hogging the blanket and I was cold."

She was looking back at me from her spot at the end of my bed. I could barely make out her silhouette, but she was there. In the dark, my visual senses were diluted, but my other senses were absolutely off the wall. I could hear her breathing and feel her long ice cold fingers delicately wrapped around the base of my cock.

"Huh?" I strained my neck and felt around my bed. I was indeed hogging the blanket, which was falling off the side of my mattress. Stasi's side was bare of any coverings at all. She must've tried to toughen through for awhile before succumbing to my cold room. "Oh... damn... sorry." I pulled the blanket from off my side, trying to somehow get the blanket on her side without having Stasi move.

Stasi saw my struggling through the dark and sighed. She put her hand under the covers and moved it behind her, so if she wanted to, she could simply just pull it up and we'd both be covered. "There... all warm."

"Right... what time is it?" I mumbled, sighing when I felt Stasi's hand move up and down my cock slowly to keep it from going flaccid.

"Last time I checked my phone, it was... around five-ish?"

"Five? AM?"

"Noooo, it's five PM." Her snarkiness was as sharp as her bite. "Does it look like it's five PM, lyubov?"

"Five AM? How long were you awake?"

It took a moment for Stasi to answer as she mentally calculated the time. My eyes were already beginning to adjust to the darkness of the room, and I could make out her body, as pale as the moon, clad in a tank top and boy shorts. Her hand was still wrapped lightly around my cock. "I think three-thirty or four?" She guessed.

"You were awake and cold for an hour and you didn't say anything?" I asked, bewildered.

"I'm a vampire, remember? I'm always cold. I just got too cold to bear. Besides, after I wake up during the night, I can never go back to sleep." Oh, that's right. Her prescription pills were good, but they weren't enough to completely suppress the nocturnal tendencies of a vampire. "Even then," she continued. "I tried to deal with it as best as I could. I didn't want to wake you up. You were snoring and saying my name. It was adorable."