Taking Chances

Title: Taking Chances- Chapter 5: New Roommate, New Problems
Author: Bubukittypuck
Archived: Here of course, Fictionpress, and my laptop
Summary: Marguerite's first person perspective on the relationship she has or does not have with Josef. She is fleshie to Josef's donor.
Rating: It ranges from PG-13 to M later on.
Pairings: OC/Josef
Feedback: Review please though do not flame.
Characters: Josef, Marguerite, Beth, Mick, and any other characters inhabiting Los Angeles.
Beta’s: None
Author Notes: I was not really happy with this chapter. I tried to stay true to Josef's mannerism and characterization though it was difficult to keep this chapter nice and meaty, but leave more for later.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Moonlight or the characters, though I do wish Moonlight does come back. For now, writing fanfics seems to stem the need to hunt down Jason Dohring and bring him back to my bedroom. I do not own Hostel and I respect Eli Roth. If I ever met him in person, I would ask him to put me in his next movies, whether I am the one being killed or the one to kill. He is a genius and I adore him.
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"The doctor recommended lots of liquids and bed rest. Also, he mentioned for you to ice the ankle and keep it elevated," Josef commented as he helped me into the house. After spending a night in observation, I was only too glad to breathe in air that was not sanitized up the yahoo. Once I was released, I was given one crutch, not two, to help me get around while my knee cap and ankle worked itself into better condition. On top of that I was given a prescription to help relieve the pain but chocolate was my pain reliever and I was wary of becoming pill-popper's I knew a few classmates of mine were. At least, Josef was kind enough; no scratch that, machismo enough in escorting me from the hospital to his house in the hills.

Iris, Mick, and Beth, along with Josef came to visit me on the day I was released from the hospital. Although, Iris, cut her visit five minutes after she arrived. Her fiancée called for a little tete-a-tete and I let my sister head off to her man. Wow, those two were bunny rabbits and one point, I wondered if two vampires could make a baby. A question I had not asked anyone, even my own sister about. I heard a vampire and a human were possible in making babies but no one in the community talked or even hinted at the possibility of it. Besides, I bet it made everyone uneasy if a vampan, the creation of vampire/human came out to be like the Blade vampire in the Blade series. However, Wesley Snipes looked fine as hell in the movie.

Mick and Beth came with a change of clothes for me. Discretion was given and I changed into pajama bottoms with pink duckies on them and a long-sleeved t-shirt with the words, 'Jose Jalapeño on a Stick' to cover up the bruises and cuts I obtained. Slippers on my feet and even my favorite pair of black sunglasses helped in hiding the fact I was attacked. In Los Angeles, it was only natural.

What was more natural but a first for me was photographed by paparazzi as I exited out of the hospital. Someone must have thought I was a celebrity feigning exhaustion and wanted the first pictures of it before sold off to the highest bidder. I smiled and even waved at them, even hearing them call out for Salma Hayek. Ha, that was a riot. Though Josef and the others did not see it as funny. Josef merely pushed the cameras away and placed a hand over his face to keep his anonymity. There was no anonymity for this man, especially, one who ruled over Los Angeles. One hour, maybe less, photographs of myself would be on the internet and every other place, though I prayed the other two killers did not watch television. Unlikely, but it was worth a shot.

Josef came during my observation, no rules applied to him, and brought along my laptop. At least I was grateful for that. Not only was my birthday looming closer than ever but I had finals' rearing its ugly head. "Thank you," I whispered as he escorted me into the guest room he had set up for me. It was a hallway down from his bedroom/freezer and he asked if there were certain things I would like in the room. Never did I want to impose but since he acted as if he wanted to make sure my stay was worth it, I asked for a television, a slew of horror movies, boxes of romance and paranormal novels, and chocolate. I swore I saw him smile when I asked for those items. Maybe, he assumed I wanted the room painted in bright pink with teddy bears and bubble gum pop music blaring in the room, even a pony if I grew tired of hobbling around on a crutch. However, Josef smiled because he knew I loathed those types of things. We both were bibliophiles, him more than I, for the several centuries he had over me to collect texts and original novels.

When my bottom hit the queen-sized bed, the comforter cool against my pajama pants, I was ready to take a nap. Nevertheless, Josef's presence in the room kept me from heading into dreamland. I only hoped when I slept the memories of the murder-attempt on my life stopped and I could obtain a full night of sleep. During my stay at the hospital, I barely slept a good five hours' before awakened to have several more assessments on my recovery. There was a moment as the good doctor asked me to stare at his light pointer and follow the direction of it, did I react and ask him to shove the pointer in his rectum. He merely frowned and wrote down a few notes on the chart. I had a chuckle even now when I thought about it.

"What made you smile? Could it be perhaps the pound of chocolate lying on the dresser next to you?," Josef asked as he settled himself on the edge of the bed, thereby forcing me to acknowledge his presence once again. The past few hours we talked when it was necessary and only then the conversation was strained or filtered with heated words. At one point, while he drove us in his Porsche towards his house, the two of us started an argument whether over whether Phantom should stay with my sister or placed in a dog kennel until I was strong enough to care for him. Phantom voiced his opinion by barking in the backseat and rubbing his bottom against the seats.

When I glanced and noticed a whole chocolate cake laid out on a plate, I could have hugged Josef. In fact, I stopped myself from reaching forward and embracing him. Fact was, I would have hugged Josef when he first came to the hospital with the others. In reality, there was no need for him to worry himself or even house me. Though, he was a good guy for doing so and the way he acted towards me showed he was either tolerating my presence or enjoying the fact that he had someone to converse with. Even with his empire, Ferris wheel of private assistants and associates, deep down, somewhere inside of him, he might care for someone other than himself. Sarah, the only female who he truly cared for. Now, he was caring for me, though he looked after me to keep me from ending up in a body bag. There was nothing sexual or territorial about it. Simply, he wanted to find the other men, removed them from his city, and go on his way.

After this, I would go on with my life and he would on with his immortal one. "You want me to have diabetes after this," I teased as I grabbed the plate and searched on the plate for the accompanying fork. Josef beat me to it with pulling out a fork from his inner breast pocket. A fit of laughter overtook me as he speared the top layer of the cake with the fork, giving me the fork I needed to eat the cake. "Thank you," I whispered as I cut a nice chunk of cake and stuffed my mouth with it.

The sensations hit my mouth and I shut my eyes. Sweet chocolate all mighty! I groaned and moaned in sweet pleasure of a cake that soothed my soul and the injuries I held. Intoxication and a euphoric feeling washed over me and I opened my eyes to have another bite. When opened, I realized Josef watched me the entire time. His eyes narrowed and mouth hung open as if he saw a ghost or Marilyn Monroe. For all I know, he could have met and hung around Marilyn Monroe before she met her untimely demise. Chewing on my lower lip, I looked away from his gaze and went back to the cake. Moist and delicious but it made me think of where else I wanted to spread the chocolate on.

Inwardly, I winced in embarrassment and sneaked another glance at him. Josef's mouth was closed but his eyes now held a fire within them. Eyes dilated and his chest rising and falling heavily, the sound his throat made brought back images of a tiger circling its prey. "Uh, Josef thanks for the cake again," I answered, enunciating my words and snapping my fingers in front of him. Doing so helped break the spell he was under. One blink, two blinks, and three blinks of his eyes until he shook his head and stared at me.

Nodding, he stood up and placed his clasped hands in front of himself. Rarely, did I see him take the position of an elderly monk. Reminded me to head down to confession and let the man forgive me for sins. Hopefully, the sin of yearning for a betrothed man such as Josef could be absolved easily. "No problem, since you were not able to get your usual intake of chocolate, I saw it fit to have this dispatched to fulfill it," he answered and smiled at me. Buttoning his jacket, he pulled back the sleeve and checked his watch.

The man never stopped in acquiring more of this city and ruled it with an iron fist. It made my psychology rear its head in decoding his need to be the dominant, the top dog, so to speak. From what I gathered, he was not one to be dependent on anyone and hated being made the victim. Even though I was made the victim in the plot of revenge against Josef, I predicted he took the pain I took within him. The way he dressed showed me more than his words ever could and reminded me of the color meaning when I interviewed for the part of freshie.

I smiled at him, he left, but not without turning back to throw a smile my way and then I was left to my own devices. The remote to my left and Phantom having kept himself quiet on the floor, I called to him. Phantom came and snuggled next to me on the bed and we started to watch Hostel.

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Closing the door behind him, he gritted his teeth. What a fool he was. Back there in the room, he had the compulsion to leap at her and attack her mouth with his own. Even the image of their own teeth and tongue against one another, locked in a battle to draw the other's breath into their lungs made his knees shake. Never did his knees shake. Even when he was running from a mob with pitchforks where his knees shaking. Now, he felt his skin tighten over him when the sweet and seductive picture of Marguerite with her eyes closed, moaning and groaning, over a damn chocolate cake came to him. Desperately, he wished he was the morsel of cake slipped between Marguerite's lips.

He pushed himself away from the door and headed towards his private study. Since the incident with Marguerite and her dead assailant, he had taken precautions with his work and even her. Strings and more favors were pulled to have her home cleaned up and secured with Logan Griffen's assistance in the form of a high-tech alarm system. "What am I doing?," he asked himself as he settled into his leather chair and powered up his computer.

Any other time, he would have shoved her off to her cousin in Compton. At least, he would not have to worry about her being in harm's way with the fact her cousin owned several guns and licensed to shoot. However, a part of him hated the thought of her far away from him. In another city, where he could not even get to her if the sons of bitches tried another shot at her. Somehow, he was slowly seeing her as something more than a freshie. He no clue what it was and scared the living and the night life out of him.

Typing in the several sets of passwords encrypted onto his computer, he entered into the main frame and started to get to work. He needed his mind focused on his growing empire and if his thoughts kept running towards Marguerite in the bedroom, watching horror movies, and orgasming over chocolate, he was never going to get anywhere.

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Winces and empathetic pains shot through my body as I watched one of the actors' character's have his fingers sliced off in Hostel. There was a point; I covered Phantom's eyes to protect him of the onslaught of blood and gore towards the last twenty-five minutes of the movie. In the beginning, I had to fast-forward the sexual scenes. Never was I afraid of sex and the conversations attached to it but the last few days', I had thought about Josef and I reenacting those scenes, and I blushed beneath the collar.

Several more minutes into the movie and the itch started up again. With the cast on my arm, the last few hours, I had tried to keep myself from shoving a pencil down the cast and relieving the itch. A few more seconds and the itch would go away, I kept repeating over in my head. The seconds went by and like the mantra I said, it disappeared. "This is going to suck, Phantom," I whispered and stroked Phantom behind the ears, receiving a bark and a wave of his tail.

Tomorrow, I met with my Professor's to finalize and secure the dates and times I could either take the finals online or in person. Josef and the others pushed the choice of online finals and even though I should have agreed, I wanted the last few days of the classes I had to memorialize the friends I made in class with a little get together. Doubt reigned whether Josef would agree to leave me to my own devices if I went to a pub or a diner with my classmates. Instead, he might even suggest I wore a tracking ankle bracelet or a chip inserted beneath my skin like a dog.

As I stroked the back of my neck, I thanked the fact I had no fear in backpacking even with Hostel and Hostel II to scare the bejezuz out of other people. Now, if it is was about a world where no one was able to show emotions like Christian Bale's movie, , I was screwed. Before the family split up to start in new places everyone was close. Nothing was hidden no matter how much some of us tried. Even my mother had people around my birth city, who called in to let her know if I attended school as I said I was or skipped it in favor of the mall. Come on, I am not stupid enough to throw away education for a new pair of jeans. Good thing, I missed the skinny jeans craze because I would have looked like an upside down triangle and not a good-looking triangle at that.

Tingles started in the back of my head, a sign I had forgotten something. A snap of my fingers and I remembered it. Missed calls to Sasha and James and I needed to fix it before their feelings were hurt. Plus, the call to Sasha and James was long overdue and needed. James, I guessed might have called the house to check whether I lived through the sibling dinner or called for another date. With Sasha, I knew she called and wanted the information on the date with James. Both were good people and I searched the room with my eyes in locating a phone. A frown crossed my lips when I realized there was no phone in the room. Interesting, considering, Josef never was without his phone in his pocket.

Like me, I had to have my phone with me at all times. Living in the De La Cruz clan, there was bound to be injuries and lovers' quarrel and most of the time, I was the one called for advice or a shoulder to cry on. In fact, I enjoyed the time I helped family members and parlayed it into pushing for a major in psychology. I wanted to help others with relationship problems and even bring together couples who felt the love fizzled out of their marriage. Just thinking about it made me forget the situation I was in.

"Let's find a phone around here," I whispered to Phantom as I paused the movie. There was about fifteen minutes left in the movie and though I wanted to see whether Paxton made the grand escape or not, I needed to make calls. When I reached over and grabbed my crutch, Phantom whined and moaned. Damn, he needed his bathroom and walk break. The way he eyed the carpet, there was a bit of time left before Phantom went and used the expensive carpet for his own toilet. For now, the search for a phone would wait.

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"Josef, this place is a damn labyrinth. Are you trying to be the 2008 version of Jareth the Goblin King or do you enjoy confusing the hell out of your guests?," I asked an hour later after I returned with Phantom at my heel. Though it was mid-afternoon, Josef needed his cold sleep and never received it when he came to pick me up from the hospital. Anytime, he could get in his freezer might help the little looks he kept throwing my way. Either he liked to stare down everyone he knew or he enjoyed to when it came to me. I hoped for the latter though he might be the former.

Settling in his spacious living room, Phantom whining when he could not jump on the couch because he wondered whether he would get into trouble or not, he stayed on the floor. However, I knew his bones were acting up and he needed his medicine. This old Chiapug was about to hit his eleventh year on my birthday and the average age for a Chihuahua/pug held between 15-18 years. As long, the son of a gun stayed alive long enough to see me graduate, even if he was a dog, made my heart cinch in love. The line about dogs being man's best friend needed revising. In truth, dogs were women's best friends hands down.

Tonight, Josef removed the midnight black Armani jacket he wore when he came for me. The sleeves of his long-sleeve shirts were folded at his elbows and cup of blood was held in his right hand. Hmm, I could guess the blood came from a bag and not a vein. I would have heard if a female was around, more so, Phantom would have felt the presence of another woman in the house and told me. A ladies' man, that dog was.

When he leaned against the wall leading to his study down the hallway, he smirked. How many more times was the smirk going to come my way? One more smirk and I would call him on it. Any lady including myself, especially one hopped up on pain medication, could question the reason for his smirks. There were smirks used to hide what was really beneath the mask and Josef was a master for it. Briefly, I wondered what he was hiding and if it involved me by the way he kept eyeing me as if I would dematerialize.

As he took a sip out of his glass, he finally spoke. "I might be, but I doubt I can pull off those crotch-hugging tights like David Bowie could in Labyrinth," he teased back, settling across from me on the couch. Phantom whined against and I shushed him with a pat on his bottom to settle his nerves. Two-alpha males whether it was human or not were not ones to get along in close proximity. It might take time and a few chew toys, but Phantom would have used to sharing a house, a house which belonged to Josef.

While I shook my head, Josef finished last of his blood, winced in disgust, and shook his head. "Dislike having to use the blood bags, rather get it from a warm tap," he commented, settling the wine glass on the coffee table. Wiping his mouth, I laughed as he held a facial expression of disgust and annoyance. If the blood bag were a smell, it could have been vomit and feces to Josef. His hand dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a carton of smokes. Another thing to file away in what made up Josef.

Using the crutch to get me up, he looked up at me in wonder. "I don't like to be around smoke, bad for my asthma and I am still healing, Josef," I explained. He nodded in acknowledgement and placed the cancer stick away. Leaning on the crutch, I looked him over. There were circles under his eyes a sign he needed those hours of deep slumber and top-notch human blood.

Without much asking or even suggestion coming out of Josef's lips, I sat down next to him. "Here," I whispered, pulling back the sleeve of my t-shirt, I held out my wrist to him. The bruises of the struggle were still there but it was healing nicely. Josef stared at me openly and tried to push away the outstretched hand. He needed his drink and I was not going to let him head to bed without a good taste of blood.

"No, I am good."

"No, you need it."

"No, I don't."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes times infinity and I am not going to give in," I answered. It was childish, I know, but when things heated and he had a gleam in his eyes, I knew he was going to try and pull a fast one on me. The signs were there. Overuse of his eyes into my own and his lips twitching in the need to reveal his fangs. He would try to scare me but when he could not at the interview, now was a waste of time. Wrist brushed against his chin and I held his stare, smiling at him.

Taking a hold of my hand, he stroked and brushed his fingertips against the pulse in my wrist. The bend in my arm was no use to the both of us after the whole nursing staff poked me over and over in search to find a vein. I was unlucky in the fact my veins were hard to locate even when the skin on the back of my hands and the bend in my arms were paler and stretched further than the rest of me. Mortification seized me when the nurses even tried my behind to find a vein and found there were two veins to inject the pain medication. In the end, veins were found in the crook of my elbows but even now, I was glad Mick, Beth, Iris, or Josef never knew about the bottom situation.

Josef leaned down and unexpectedly kissed the pulse point of my wrist. When he looked one last time up at me, he smiled sweetly, before opening his mouth, and latched his teeth on my wrist. There was a slight wince on my side but I relaxed when the euphoria started to hit. When I was employed as his freshie, whenever I was needed for a feeding, I always ended up on a nice high. Not a drug-induced high but the kind I received from eating loads of chocolate. Whimpering in pleasure, I laid back against the cushions and closed my eyes. Phantom's whines and the sounds of Josef' suckling added to my own breathing.

Slowly, thoughts filtered through the little brick wall I had of placed to keep away x-rated images. In creeped the picture of Josef and I on the couch, nuzzling and cuddling against one another, and it brought a smile to my face. Hands sliding against skin and clothes in search to remove the offending outfits and reaching naked skin. Once again, I needed to get a grip on reality. Opening my eyes and break the spell over my hazy thoughts, I brought myself back to the present.

"Thanks," he whispered as he pulled his mouth away. His lips were tinted red by my blood but there was color in his cheeks and a relaxation in the form of his bedroom eyes. God, when have I ever thought his eyes in that manner, I asked myself. Maybe it was time for the long needed bath of mine.

As I stood up, Josef stood up as well. I blinked a few times and cocked my head to the side. "What's up?," I asked as I staunched the slight bleeding of my wrist with the bottom of my t-shirt. Easily, I could get the stain out with a bit of soap and water once I returned back to the guest room. The problem was Josef kept looking at me as I held the bottom of my t-shirt against my wrist. Rolling my hand in a circle to motion him to continue, I waited impatiently.

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What was he going to say? Damn, when she had stood up and started to take her bid to leave, he wanted her to stick around a little bit longer. He knew sleep outweighed a bit of time in her company, but inside his emotions and thoughts were on stealing a few more minutes with her. Soon, he would need a shrink to help him break down the emotions and the images of Marguerite. Whatever was going on, he did not like it one bit. He hated not having his feelings under control. Hell, he was known as a man to keep his emotions shut down and tied up whenever the shit hit the fan.

Now, he felt strangled and the need to mark Marguerite as his own started in the back of his head. No clue where he thought about the comment but his brain took a hold and would not let it slip out of its fingers. Those tiny fingers in his brain gripped even tighter when he tasted her blood against his tongue. Her blood tasted of the sweet chocolate cake she had consumed and the sugary substance held in her veins.

Glancing upon her face, he saw her face was slightly pale and realized he must have taken too much from her. Upon trying to apologize for the mishap, she held her hand out in placate to stop his words and an argument he felt could start from his words.

"Don't worry about it, I am fine, but I need to give Phantom a bath. He smells like wet dog, well, as a dirty dog could get," she answered and smiled as she petted Phantom. Phantom's ears perked and his tail wagged, trying to get everyone's attention on him. Josef had to hand it to the dog in doing all it could to have Marguerite's attention solely on him. Inner alpha-male made him want to throw the dog in another room and hog her attention for himself.

For that reason, he should have let her go on her way. Instead, he asked if he she needed help in bathing the mutt. Any other person, if asked to bathe their flea-ridden animal in his sunken tub, he would have laughed in their face. Literally. She turned her smile towards him and his heart squeezed painfully in his chest. The last time he felt his heart do that was with....Sarah. What was happening to him, he wondered as he walked with Marguerite back to her guest room.

To break down the feelings and emotions he had for Marguerite was too complicated for him to begin with. But he had to if he wanted to figure out why Marguerite held him in her grip. A grip, he feared he never wanted freedom from.

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Thanks for the reviews everyone. I appreciate being corrected on the freshie thing. I apologize for using fleshie instead of freshie to indicate the status of human blood donors to the vampires. Though this chapter, I was a bit disappointed with it. I don't know, it could be because I wanted to do more with it but I will in the next chapter that comes up. Sorry for the slow update. Busy with gearing up for my college summer session and patching up a friendship with a friend I care for very much. Reviews help fuel me more than chocolate, well, almost. Haha.