Chapter 243 - Quiet Tears

"So you didn't forget about me?"

"No... But... For the record. Why are you trying to shoot me?" Laz was a mixed of stunned, happy, surprised and slightly scared. Laz could stare the devil in the face, get hit by lightning, shot from a high powered rifle out of a helicopter and not blink. But knowing that one of his lovers was shooting at him was enough to make him just a bit timid.

"Why? WHY? You ask me WHY?"

"Uh... no...?"

"I come all the way out here just to see you and here you are, messing around with another girl and you have the balls to ask me why? What? You already forgot about me and Kennedy when you decided to get your d.i.c.k wet with Leona and Ruby, but even that wasn't enough for you?" Malene had jumped down from the fence she was standing on, still pointing the silenced hand gun at Laz. It seemed like he just needed to utter the wrong word and she would be taking shots at him again.

"It's not what you think... we aren't like that..." Laz tried his best to explain. As far as he was concerned, Julia was nothing more than a temporary ally. So Laz could only do his best to explain this to his gun wielding lover who he hadn't seen in a few years now.

The response that he got was two more shots aimed at his feet. Then the gun moved up slowly and although Laz wasn't one hundred percent sure, he felt like it was being aimed at his little man.

"Sigh..." Laz decided that right now, words wouldn't be the best answer. As such, he moved forward to where Malene was standing next to Aqua and just started walking slowly while looking her in the eyes.

Seeing him come forward, Malene hesitated just a bit, wanting to pull the trigger but choosing not to. She knew that this weapon wouldn't be able to hurt him, but she wanted him to know that she was pissed, concerned, excited and a whole range of other emotions. But mostly, when she looked deep enough, she was scared.

If anyone who knew what she had been up to for the past year and a half heard someone say that the crazed spirit girl was scared, they would have laughed that person out of the room. Malene had gotten one hell of a reputation, just like the other members of the Blood Moon. Blood Moon unofficially became the silent leader of the infected. Anyone in the know, knew not only of Blood Moon, but of the four demons of the Blood Moon. They worked hand in hand with Black Rose which was now like an arm of Blood Moon, handling things that would get messy.

None of this was publicly known though.

The reason why Malene was scared was all due to this man walking towards her right now. She was scared that after all this time, the man in her heart no longer had her in his heart. Perhaps he just didn't care as much as she did. They had been so young when they were together before. And no matter what she did, she could not forget about him.

So when she was the first one randomly picked to come see him, she was very, very scared. And now that this moment was right before her, her heart pounded like never before.

The gun in her hand waved from side to side, incredibly unsteady. Before she could decide what to do, Laz was already in front of her.

Before she could react, his arms were already around her.

Feeling those strong arms and his warm c.h.e.s.t pressed against her head, she struggled for a few moments before her knees gave way and her body became weak. The only thing holding her upright was Laz. The tears started to drop from her eyes as soon as her face was buried in his c.h.e.s.t.

Laz knew that he had never really done well by her, not by a long shot. Over the course of the years, the whole 'first time' thing faded in the back ground, but you never really forgot it. Now that they had met again after all this time, Laz knew that he cared deeply for her, still and always.

It wasn't like Laz was cold hearted and just used women, or at least, he didn't think so. He cared about every one of them deeply. But fate was a fickle and easily offended thing, making him have to separate from people he cared about again and again.

You couldn't stop the onslaught of time.

Maybe Laz didn't love Malene when they had first gotten together, but time also has a funny way of distorting thoughts. After seeing her again, Laz felt connected to her in a way that he couldn't understand. Maybe she would want to be rid of him now, but he knew that he would never forget her.

"You big f.u.c.k.i.n.g jerk." Malene's sobs were barely audible. At some point, Aqua had vanished, knowing that the mistress needed her time with this man.

Malene had grown up quite a bit since the last time Laz had seen her. She stood at almost five foot five and had filled out quite a bit in her c.h.e.s.t too. It wasn't as drastic as Kennedy or Leona, but it was basically on par with Ruby. Or at least, with how Ruby was a year and a half ago.

On top of that, her entire body felt energized, toned and yet still gentle to the touch. She had grown up to be a head turning beauty.

The only weird part about things was that Julia was still hiding away behind a tree, barely able to show her face. Even if her skin was thicker, she would act like she wasn't there. Although she had only gotten a glimpse of her attacker, as soon as she noticed the red hair with pink tips along with the blue spirit that was close to her, she knew that the one who had come was the real spirit girl.

Some time ago, young girls that she knew had started to die their hair like the spirit girl, especially after her name rose to fame. It was all over the web, if you knew where to look, about this girl who could change her body in various ways and do amazing things that related to her spirits. Those with similar abilities used her as an example of how to work with spirits. On top of that, she had a reputation for her blood l.u.s.t. She was known to punish infected who tried to start shit as well as those who hunted infected.

She was also on several most wanted lists.

And yet here she was, sobbing like a teenager in the arms of this increasingly mysterious young man. All this after trying to kill him.

Julia couldn't help but wonder just how crazy things would get being around him.

"It's ok. I'm sorry. I never meant to leave you." It was all Laz could say, even though it didn't sound very reassuring.

"I left you, remember?" When Malene had finally come to, she wiped her face and fixed her hair before standing back up on her own. The transformation from happy to see him to being pissed off at him seemed as easy as flipping a light switch for her.

"Yes. I remember," Laz responded with a smile.

"Good. Anyway, I already know about your situation. For now, here is where I will be staying. I have some work to do in town so we can catch up later." Malene handed Laz a keycard with the hotel's information on it. It was obviously a room key.

"Goodbye for now." With that, Malene had jumped up, landing on the outside fence before taking off again like a shadow, vanishing in an instant.

"She's stronger than me now..." Thinking back to it, every time Laz had met a girl in his short life, he was always the stronger one. But now, while he was still in the early stage of the foundation realm, Malene was mid stage and it seemed like she was close to entering the late stage.

Laz couldn't help but wonder how strong the others had gotten.

As soon as she figured out that Malene was gone, Julia stuck her head out from behind the tree and noticed Laz was still staring blankly at the fence. She finally worked up the courage to stand and walked over to him.

"You... are close to 'Spirit Girl?' She asked.

"Spirit Girl?" Laz hadn't heard this name before.

"You don't even know who she is?" Julia was amazed. How could he not know? The was impossible for someone of his strength, right?"

"Sigh. I knew who she was... a long time ago. But now? How can anyone not change in four years?"

"Oh my god... and why are you acting so old?"

"It's nothing..."

Before Laz could go on though, the door's to the apartments opened and the others came wandering into the back garden. It was starting to become a ritual that they would gather here and either do some exercises themselves or just sit around and have coffee or something as long as it was nice out. It kind of just happened overnight after they had witnessed the first exchange between Laz and Julia.

As such, for now, their discussion would have to wait.

Just as Laz and Julia were about to go in and shower before coming back out, Abraham's voice rang out.

"Is this a bullet hole?"