She'd felt a wave of relief upon finding Tristan's car safe in the driveway, though not parked anywhere near approaching straight. From where she stood she could see the front door was slightly ajar, meaning that, at the very least, he'd made it that far. She took a few hesitant steps forward while her mind struggled to decide how she felt about anything. What Tristan had done to Jacob would normally have been unforgivable, but she knew he'd been given the same drug the other vampires at the club had. Still, they'd done little more than lay around; they certainly didn't seem to have gone out to beat people with 2x4s.

Emily froze upon entering the front hallway. There was a smear of blood on the wall leading up the stairs, another small spattering of blood on the floor in front of where she stood. Her efforts to convince herself that bleeding was in any way a good thing failed entirely and she quickly darted up the stairs.

The top of the stairway was littered with discarded clothing -- a pair of boots, a T-Shirt, a lone sock. More blood glared at her on the otherwise pristine white walls. Just a few more steps now to the bedroom door- Emily had to force herself to walk the remainder of the way.

The room was dark and quiet, the drapes drawn tightly closed against the sunlight. Emily's eyes struggled to adjust while her ears strained to hear the slightest sound, yet heard nothing. She wondered if she was alone after all, if Tristan hadn't actually managed to make it beyond the top of the stairs.

Emily: "Tristan? Are you in here?"

Her voice sounded strange to her, shaky and unsure, as it echoed back. For a moment it was the only response she got.

Tristan: "I need you to leave. Just turn around and walk back out the way you came in."
Emily: "Are you hurt? I saw blood…"
Tristan: "I did something earlier, something very bad."
Emily: "I know. I found Jacob in the parking lot when I was out looking for you earlier."
Tristan: "How bad…?"
Emily: "He's going to be all right; I'm here to check on you."

Emily took a hesitant step forward. Her eyes hadn't yet fully adjusted to the darkness, but she'd seen movement near the side of the bed.

Tristan: "Don't come any closer, just get out. I don't want you around me right now, it's not safe."
Emily: "I'm not leaving until I'm sure you're OK. Unless you're holding a severed human head in your lap, I'm not going anywhere. Which you're not, are you?"
Tristan: "Emily, I'm serious."
Emily: "I'm staying, deal with it."

With a determined breath she crossed the room to the side of the bed where she found Tristan. Even in the dark she could see shadows of deep bruising along his ribcage, but more startling to her was the long series of gashes running along his upper arm where blood oozed out from under his fingers, black and sickly.

Emily: "Jesus Tristan, what did you do?"
Tristan: "I could feel it crawling under my skin, I wanted it out of me."
Emily: "Can I turn a light on? I can hardly see my hand in front of my face."

Tristan didn't answer, but a second later the room was flooded by a soft warm glow from a nearby lamp. He looked even worse than Emily had at first thought.

Emily: "Oh Tristan."
Tristan: "I don't think you're safe here."
Emily: "Why? Do you think you're going to hurt me?"
Tristan: "I could."
Emily: "But you won't. Let's get you cleaned up."
Tristan: "I don't… I can't."
Emily: "What?"
Tristan: "I'm not wearing any pants."

Emily did her best to suppress her laughter, only managing to turn it into a sound like she was choking on a small poodle. She could feel her cheeks flushing hot and could only hope Tristan wouldn't notice.

Emily: "It's ok, it's not like you're completely nude. Where do you keep your first aid kit?"
Tristan: "In the bathroom."
Emily: "Can you stand up?"
Tristan: "I don't particularly want to, but I can."
Emily: "I've seen boy-undies before. Stop being silly."

Emily waited patiently as Tristan rose shakily to his feet. She followed him into a large bathroom where he pulled a small collection of bandages and antiseptics from under the sink.