As thick as he was sometimes, even Ryah could tell when he was being rejected and when someone wanted a subject change. He hesitated for a second, warring with himself. Part of him wanted to reach out and stop Drake. But the rest of him was frozen in indecision. And then it was like the vampire was deciding for them, getting dressed and dismissing the subject, and then the moment was gone, passing by them without ever having a real chance to form. It felt a lot like giving up to Ryah. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, foreign and bitter like ash in his mouth.<br/><br/>But if this was what Drake wanted, Ryah wasn't going to push. Instead, they went over to The Owl and Holly, and Ryah explained things to his parents. Not quite<i>everything </i>but enough to convey the urgency of the situation. They put a 24-7 watch on Charlie, Ryah offering to take second shift, in the afternoon. There were a couple of other hunters doing research, trying to find answers but it wasn't exactly like this sort of situation was well documented, and it was slow going. So until they either found something useful or Charlie woke up on her own, there wasn't much they could do.<br/><br/>It seemed like nothing was changing, time crawling to a near standstill, until Ryah felt like he wanted to claw at his skin from the waiting. He was spending his days watching over his sister, expecting an attack any time, and he was spending his nights alone in his bed, waking up hard from half-remembered dreams of skin on skin, of his lips against Drake's, of the slick feel of the vampire's mouth, wrapped around his cock.<br/><br/>Finally he couldn't take it anymore and he found himself across the street from one of the many nightclubs in the city. One of the gay nightclubs. The hunter warred with himself, wanting to go in but still feeling terrified, not that he would ever admit that to anyone. It was another twenty minutes before he worked up the courage to get in line. Once inside though, he found himself at the bar, taking a couple of generous helpings of liquid courage.