A Modern Myth III

[--Kyle--]

-- Corey's POV --

I laid awake on my bed, waiting for the call. My cell phone lying next to me, my eyes not trailing away from it. Luciana was going to call tonight. If not on my cell, than on the safe house landline. Focusing as hard as I could, trying to will the phone to ring, I drifted off to sleep.

While asleep, I dreamt of Luciana. Her telling me that I had to save the others in order to stop Lilith. Save. As if it were me to be the one. I was doing very little saving. More and more of what I was doing, trying to save them, was destroying things and getting them lost. Then I thought of Xian, hoping they would find there way. He was the only one that believe me.

I jerked awake. The small digital clock near my bed said it was near morning here in Russia. I jumped out of bed, scrambling to find my phone. It was where I had left it, beside my pillow. Clicking one of the buttons to alight the screen, it told me there were no missed calls.

I got dressed as quickly as possible, running into the hall, peering my head out into the kitchen area. Nathan was standing, leaning against one of the counters, watching the walls and up board doors as if they were about to spring to life. Trudie and Cecil were sitting at the table.

"Has anyone called? The phone ring?" I asked urgently.

Nathan looked up. "Uh, no. Nothing."

I nodded, looking back down the hall. It was eerie to think that nobody else was in there. The others were gone. I stalked back down to the room I was sleeping in. The night before, I had assumed no one would trust me bunking in with anyone, so took the one in the middle on the left. Xian and Ethan would also accompany if they ever arrived.

If we didn't hear from Luciana soon, Lilith might have already gotten to her. It was a thought I couldn't bear to think. There needed to be something. Luciana needed to call. Then I would know whether or not it was safe to let Luciana into the safe house. If she didn't call, we could be stuck down here…maybe even surrounded by Lilith's army if she had gotten to Luciana. I hadn't told the others this risk.

There was a knock at the door. I walked over, looking out the small peep hole—something I hadn't noticed was on the door before. It was Nathan.

"Trudie made food…" He said when I opened the door. "I just thought I would tell you. If you wanted any."

"Thank you." I said nodding. "But, I'm okay for now." I was too worried about if Luciana was alright. If Xian—the only one who trusted me—was alright.

Then I heard it. Brrrrring. The landline phone.

Nearly knocking into Nathan as I ran, tripping over a rug, I got to the phone in time to answer. "Hello? Luciana?"

There was a crackle. And then dial tone.

Oh no, I thought. "Hello? Hello?" I hung it up and just as I did, the phone rang again. By this time, Trudie, Cecil, and Nathan had all gathered near me. I picked it up again. "Hello? Luce?"

"Corey? It's me." Her voice was like an angel. A saving grace. She was alright.

"Yes, yes, it's me. Luce, we need to hurry. I can't—" She cut me off.

"Corey there is something you need to know. Something happened. It's Lilith." I nearly dropped the phone. "I can't talk long. But be warned, she's on to me. She knows. And I can't do anything about it. She can't trace this call…but…then…for…" She began going in and out.

"Luce? Luce I can't hear you!" I panicked. "Luciana!"

"Be ready—" Was all I heard before there was a scream from the other end. The line went dead. I dropped the phone and it clattered against the floor.

All was silent for a few moments before Trudie spoke up behind me. "I'm guessing that wasn't good."

[Kàylà]

~Valkyrie's POV~

My hands were bound as were my feet, the taste of wet fabric filled my mouth as I realized I had also been gagged. I tried opening my eyes to see if they had also blindfolded me but as I started to open my eyes, light pierced them wanting me to quickly close them again. The sound of an engine filled my ears and I could tell we were in some form of vehicle. I slowly tried opening my eyes again, careful to not open them too quickly so that I would not be blinded by the daylight once again. I blinked furiously to have my eyes readjust to the new surroundings. I looked to my left and saw Xian also bound and gagged, though his bonds were heftier than mine. They knew he was a Dartan. Xian's head was against the window, still knocked out by whatever they drugged us with. As I became more awake I realized something that chilled me to the bone. My son wasn't in the vehicle with us, and I had no idea where he was.

I instantly started to silently panic. I had no way of trying to wake Xian up as we were too far apart from each other for me to attempt to wake him up, and my bounds were tied too tightly for me to try to loosen them. I was completely at these people's mercy and I had no way of changing that until Xian woke up. I was completely helpless.

All I could do was sit there, letting the MM Officials take me wherever they pleased. It was 20 minutes until Xian started to arouse from his drugged up state. It took him less time than me to collect himself and realize our situation. He looked over at me, and while I tried to hide how afraid I was, I knew he saw the fear in my eyes. Xian tried to struggle with his bonds quietly but if he was making any progress with them ,it was slow and unnoticeable.

Every now and then an official would look back on us to make sure we were behaving, whenever they got suspicious of Xian they held a gun to his head telling him to not try anything funny. They knew it was highly unlikely that we would just give ourselves up. This meant it was going to be that much harder to escape. From the little bit of conversation I could pick up on we still had a long ways to go, which was a good thing, for Xian was finally starting to make slow progress on his bonds.

It was 2 hours later when the vehicle finally started to slow, Xian had made enough progress on his bonds to where he could wiggle out of them if he tried hard enough. I had never seen a material that was that difficult for a non human to break out of. I didn't know what Xian's plan was except escape, we had no way of communicating to each other except with our eyes, and well, I just didn't know Xian well enough to communicate with him in that way. I was just going to have to hope that whatever he had planned was going to work. I looked out the window and saw that we were at a gas station. I hoped Xian was ready, because this was about the only chance we were going to get.

The Official in the passenger seat got out of the car and proceeded to go through the motions of fueling up the vehicle. They weren't stupid enough to pay inside, making this trickier than I had hoped. I looked at Xian and he gave me the slightest nod to let me know that he knew now was our only chance. He managed to free himself from his hand bonds. Before the driver could understand what was about to happen Xian lurched forward and bashed the driver's head against the steering wheel, while at the same time locking the doors so the other official couldn't interfere. He bashed his head one more time for good measure to make sure that the driver was unconscious. Xian then removed his gag and started to work on the bonds on his feet, trying to work quickly as the other official was try to break the windows using the gas pump. Cracks were starting to form in the side window as Xian finally starting working on my bonds. Just as Xian was finishing with the bonds around my ankles the window shattered, glass raining down upon us. He held his gun up to both of us. Xian and I both froze, there was two ways this could end. With the official dead, or with one of us dead. I wasn't sure which possibility was more likely. Before anyone could speak, Xian, moving faster than any human could, ripped the gun from the man, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

Citizens from inside the gas station ran outside in a panic...we needed to get the hell out of here. Xian quickly unlocked the doors, grabbed me, and started running. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to keep up with him, he lifted me up and carried me bridal style as he ran. He ran until we were in a thick forest and then set me down.

"They have Taavi, Xian." It was the first thing anyone had said since we had been captured. My voice sounded raw and raspy and I realized I was sobbing. My son had been ripped out of my arms and I had no way of saving him. I hadn't even been able to help Xian in our escape, I had been a burden, a helpless human. Xian tried to put a hand on my shoulder to try to comfort me but I brushed him away. My mind was reeling, I knew what had to be done, but I didn't know how to accomplish it.

"We'll find him Valkyrie, he'll be okay." Xian tried to assure me.

"Don't lie to me Xian! We have no idea where he is, we have no idea if he's even still alive!" I screamed at him.

"Corey said that they wanted him alive, not dead." Xian tried to reason with me.

"And how should we believe a word he says! He could have just been saying that! I can't trust him on his word because I can't read minds anymore! I'm a helpless human who is just a burden now!" I screamed again. "I know what I have to do Xian, and it's up to you whether you wish to help me or not."

"What are you planning on doing Valkyrie?" He asked unsure of where I was going with all of this.

"I need to become a vampire again."

[<^>Krustine<^>]

~Trudie's POV~

The land-line phone rang and Corey ran faster than I had ever seen him move to answer it. We all stood contently listening to the conversation that was happening. We could tell what was being said was not good and our assumptions were confirmed when we heard a faint scream from the other side of the phone line and then the sound of the phone hitting the floor.

No one knew what to do or what to say so we all stood there in silence for a couple of minutes. Finally, I reached down and picked up the phone from the floor. Something had to be done and I can't stand a mess. It seemed that when I did that everyone else realized they hadn't moved yet and Nathan asked Corey what happened on the other side of the phone.

We all sat down in the living area as Corey was trying to figure out himself what just happened. "That was Luciana she wanted to warn us. I couldn't pick up everything that she was saying, it kept cutting out, but she said that Lilith was on to her and that we need to be ready. Then she was screaming and then the phone cut out."

Nathan and Corey started discussing the possibilities of what could have happened and what she could have meant by 'Be Ready'. I couldn't take hearing what was going on so I got up and went into the Kitchen. I felt safe in the kitchen even if there wasn't that much I could do with the few supplies I had, it was still my safe place.

Surprisingly no one followed me right away and I had time to think about what was happened without hearing everyone elses ideas. Corey, Nathan, Rivers and I were here. We don't know where Kynaree, Ethan, Xian, Valkyrie and Taavi are and that scared me even more than the fact that Luciana just called us and told us to be prepared. I kept thinking about Kynaree, she is my best friend what would I do without her?

I was angry with myself for even thinking that I would have to survive without Kynaree. I needed to be more positive. We are all going to be okay, everything is going to be fine.

Then I saw Cecil walk into the room.

"Are you okay?" Cecil asked as he came through the doorway.

"I'm trying to be. You know, my hormones are all messed up with this pregnancy. It really affects my emotions." I replied.

That is when Rivers walked in. We were now all sitting at the kitchen table in an awkward silence.

Rivers protectively held my hand, but he didn't look at me to offer me comfort. Instead he shot glares in Cecils direction. Cecil acted as if he didn't notice the fact that River's was glaring at him and tried to act like River's wasn't making him uncomfortable.

"I'm going to make some food." I said standing up from the table, I needed to get out of this awkwardness. "Do you think everyone is hungry?"

"You just made breakfast Trudie." Cecil said comfortingly because he knew what I was trying to do, because he was trying to do practically the same thing; thinking about Kynaree and wondering if they were okay or if we were even going to be okay.

"Trudie, don't stress yourself out too much. Everything will be okay." Rivers said trying to one-up Cecil.

"I can't do this." I said and I went into the bedroom where Rivers slept the night before. I guess it was considered my room as well, but I didn't spend much time in here the night before. I had to really think about which room it was that was supposed to be ours because I couldn't think straight right now. I laid on the bed with my hands resting on my stomach feeling the kick of my unborn baby.

I felt the tears rolling down my face as I started to really realize what was going on right now. When did everything get so messed up? One minute I am perfectly happy with my husband and the idea of having a child with him and the next we are here, not sure if we will be found, but just trying to cling to the hope that we will survive.

[×|{å†ìe×]

~<>~Rodger’s POV~<>~

Ever since Cecil’s departure, I tried to find ways to see if he was okay. My first act was calling my parents. The entire phone call was bit awkward, and it was very obvious of what I was getting at. My parents rarely used speakerphone, and it was clear to me that the rest of the household was listening in. After my father hung up, it left me with a sense of accomplishment because now I knew where Cecil was. I knew that he was safe under my parent’s protection.

That sensation quickly faded when I realized it was only a matter of time before the rest of the MMC found them. I had to find a way to stop them before they left. I didn't want to rat them out, but I also didn't want to lose Cecil. Instead, I sent something I thought would get their attention. Theo. I made up a story that would get my son’s mind going. I was in danger, and my life was in his hands. Once Theo was done giving Trudie the message, I was sure that Cecil would come to my rescue, but he didn’t take the bait. It was less than a week before the ministry had a team ransack through my parent’s house. By then, the group was long gone and the only evidence of their stay was a sock that belonged to neither of my parents. Thankfully, they weren’t brought in for questioning. My father’s word, the word of a Cooksley, was enough to end the investigation.

Now I was looking through pictures that had been emailed to me. The images were slightly pixelated, but there was no doubting that the figures standing in the airport were the culprits the MMC was looking for. They hadn’t changed very much from the last time I seen them all together, with the exception of the child. The photographs were emailed to me because I was now one of the lead operatives in the case.

I had recently been relocated to Russia. Everyone on the case consulted me as if I could read the group’s minds. “Where are they going? What do you think they’re doing? How have they come this far without us finding them?” My usual answer to every question was, “Don’t underestimate them.” I willing took the job under the agreement that nothing would happen to Cecil. Once he was found and taken under custody, he would be brought straight to me with no harm done to him.

The photos came with a long update. There was a car chase. Some of our guys were critically injured. One of the cars managed to get away. The other car was found, and after waiting patiently –patience, just as I had suggested- for night to fall we now had three of them in our hands. I smiled to myself and looked at the description of the captives. After reading it, my smile faded, Xian, Valkyrie, and the child. There was no Cecil.

While I was dialing a number, I received a second email. That was quick. I set the phone down and opened it. Maybe they captured the others. My hopes were crushed when it said something entirely different. Xian and Valkyrie got away. All we had now was the child. This was the most important thing to the ministry, but not to me.


~<>~Kynaree’s POV~<>~

We decided there was no other explanation: Valkyrie, Xian and Taavi were kidnapped. Now that we were on our own, we had no idea where to go or what to do. Both of us were frustrated with the situation. “Are we not good enough to be kidnapped?” Ethan asked in an opposite of calm voice.

I shrugged, “I guess not.”

“Do you think maybe we should just give up and try getting ourselves kidnapped?… I mean, what else are we going to do?” It was his turn to panic. I had already had my turn today.

“Probably not. Can you imagine what everyone else would think if we just gave up?” I said.

“What else are we going to do? Spend the rest of our lives in the this stupid motel room?”

“I dunno…” I mumbled.

“Kynaree!” he scolded, “I thought we agreed it was my turn to be pessimistic. You’re supposed to be playing the optimist. Keep going with the not giving up thing. That was good.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” I replied. “What I meant to say is, maybe we should get out of here and search for everyone else.”


~<>~Cecil’s POV~<>~

Rivers and I made eye contact after Trudie left the room. I couldn’t ignore the glares he was shooting me all morning. I knew that scowl; in fact, I used to be an expert at giving that scowl. “I know what you’re thinking—“ I started, but I was quickly interrupted.

“We have another mind-reader with us?” he got up to leave.

“Wait,” I said, “I’m not trying anything. I’m not up to anything. I’m just doing what you’re not. When Trudie leaves the room looking pale and worried, you’re supposed to follow her and see what’s wrong. That’s your role, not mine.”

“Just because you lost Kynaree doesn’t give you the right to steal my wife,” he said. He turned away and headed towards the hallway.

I had a second of speechlessness before I could respond, “Where the hell are you getting that from?” I said louder than I had intended. I stood upright, tailed him, and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “I’m no—“ This time I was cut off by a fist to my nose. I back-pedaled a few steps. I checked my nose to see if it was bleeding. After discovering it was, I tried to stop the blood flow with my hand. I wasn’t one for one on one combat, especially with someone who could bench twice my weight and was over a head taller than me.

Rivers didn’t pursue the fight, instead he said, “Don’t touch me.”

Although I knew none of the odds were in my favor, I considered going after him. The situation was infuriating. I tried to remind myself we were all under a lot of pressure. Trudie and Rivers were going to have a child. Under the conditions we were in, the thought of their child growing up like this must have drove the two of them insane. Not knowing what tomorrow would bring. I was just someone to take out his anger on.

I repeated this again and again in my head while I tried to stop my nose from bleeding. I held my head over the sink while covering my nose with a dishtowel. Nathan came into the kitchen behind me. “What’s with all the blood? Are you okay?” I noticed his first question, and then I wondered the last time Nathan had eaten anything. I nodded my head as best I could, and he came closer. “What happened?”

“Rivers, and I. We had a conversation,” I said. I knew Nathan would search my mind and come up with the rest of the facts. We shared the same expression of annoyance.

“What do you think we should do?” Nathan asked me.

“About what?” What were we supposed to do? Kick Rivers out?

“About being here.” Nathan apparently had a very different train of thought; “I can’t keep staying locked down here when I don’t know what’s happened to Valkyrie or Taavi.” This was the first time we had a real conversation since the airport.

“I think we should try looking for them,” I said, “I mean, at least one of us should go back to the city. I don’t care if it’s me. All I’ve been doing is causing problems anyways. At least with you here everyone’s a little more protected.” Now it was up to whether or not he trusted me alone.

[--Kyle--]

— Xian's POV —

"That's insane, how are you even going to do that?" I asked, looking at Valkyrie skeptically.

"I'll find a way," she snapped. "I can't stay like this! I can't stay so helpless! I need to find Taavi!"

From the moment we had run from the gas station, all I was able to think about was getting back to Ethan. Had he been kidnapped too? What about Kynaree? I couldn't just leave them as helpless as Valkyrie was now. Even though it wasn't the same as Valkyrie needing to protect her son, I had the same gut reaction to protect Ethan.

"Listen," I said. "I can't leave Ethan—um, and Kynaree, what if they were kidnapped too? We don't know where they are either."

"It doesn't matter, they can take care of themselves!"

It was silent then. The forest was deafeningly quiet as Valkyrie and I stared at one another thinking.

"You go." I finally said. "Go do whatever you have to do to become a vampire again and start searching for Taavi. I will go back to the motel to find Ethan and Kynaree. The three of us will try to find the cabin to get to the others and tell Nathan where you are."

"Good luck with telling him I'm on my own," Valkyrie snorted.

"It's the only way." I only hoped this plan would work. It probably would blow up in our faces like it always seemed to do. "We can't stay split up from the rest of them any longer. And you need to find Taavi. We'll come find you to help as soon as we can. I'll be able to see where you are going with my visions."

"Like that worked so well before."

We sat there again in silence for a moment.

"It's now or never," I said, my voice cracking nervously. It was the only way.

"All right. Let's do it."

We didn't say anything as a goodbye, only nodding as we turned to go our separate directions: Valkyrie to find Taavi and become a vampire again; and me to get back to the others.

-- Ethan's POV --

Kynaree and I walked around the town where we had found the motel for what felt like hours.

"I think we're lost," she said defeatedly.

"You said that an hour ago."

"We're going to die. They're going to find us wandering around and kill us and skin us and use us as science experiments!" Kynaree wailed, her hands in the air like a crazy person.

I was starving, not having eaten for a while, and my stomach churned at the thought. "They only wanted Taavi for experiments, not us. They'll just kill us I think."

"Oh," she said, calming down. "Right."

"We need to eat something, I'm hungry."

"I am too," Kynaree said, looking down at her growling stomach. Her purple hair fell forward letting the sun stream through it, giving it a metallic-like shine.

"Ethan!"

I recognized the voice. I spun around and saw Xian running down the sidewalk after us.

"Z!" I ran toward him and hugged him, happy to see him alive. He smelled the same, except overwhelmingly like he had been running for a long time. "Where have you guys been! We thought you were kidnapped!"

"We—were—" Xian said through ragged breaths.

"Where's Valkyrie?" Kynaree asked, now sounding worried.

"Taavi is gone. They took him—and us, but they have him—We escaped—Valkyrie is finding him." He bent over, taking in huge gasps of breaths. I patted his back to make it feel better.

Kynaree squeaked, covering her mouth at the news of Taavi missing.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"We have to find the others. We go to the cabin and tell Nathan."

"Then what?" Kynaree asked through her fingers in a whisper.

"I can see where Valkyrie is going, but just barely. We follow her and help as much as we can."

We stood there on the sidewalk for a moment as Xian caught his breath. Cars drove by but seemed not to take notice. I glanced up and down, noticing the security cameras on the corner of two buildings. They would find us.

"Xian." I said and nodded up toward them.

"Come on," he said, "follow me."

He led us to a parking garage, sneaking in through the side entrance and racing up the ramps to where several cars were parked. Xian went up to a black one and punched through into the window, smashing it. There was no alarm. He unlocked the door and we all climbed inside.

"Let's go," he said and started the engine. Kynaree was in the backseat and I was in the passenger side. We drove out of the garage, knocking down the striped bar that told us not to cross into the street.

"How are we going to find the cabin if you can't see the vision anymore?" I asked.

"By memory, hopefully this time it will work."

We drove down winding roads for what seemed like hours. Kynaree whined periodically about the long drive and wishing they would hurry so they could find Valkyrie and Taavi. Xian told the story about what had happened; from when he opened his eyes in their kidnapper's vehicle to when he decided to split from Valkyrie and find us.

Finally Xian was able to remember one of the turns that Corey had taken, the one he had gotten wrong before. Except, this time it was in reverse because they were coming from another way, making it even harder for Xian to remember.

"Are you sure that's the right way?" I asked.

"No." He turned anyway.

After what felt like another hour, but when I glanced at the clock it was only fifteen minutes, we began passing smaller roads and driveways to large houses and other cabins. The sun was just going down by the time we reached a dead end.

"Dammit!" Xian yelled, slamming his hands on the steering wheel in anger. He had taken the wrong turn.

"Wait a minute," Kynaree perked up from the backseat, pointing outside the car. "Is that it?" There, where she was pointing, was a a cabin with the other car that Corey had been driving the day before, tucked away behind some trees that neither of us had seen a minute ago. The cabin looked empty except a small light that came from one of the windows.

Xian sighed in relief and nodded his head. "We're here."

[Kàylà]

~Nathan POV~

Everyone shut up as the roar of a car sounded up the driveway. Quickly Cecil drew out his gun and I positioned myself towards the window to maybe get a glimpse of who was approaching the house. The car was one I didn't recognize. It wasn't the one that Valkyrie had been in with Kynaree and the others. For all I knew Corey's warning was real and this was it, this was the attack that was coming. Then again..wouldn't they have a more tactical approach? Or maybe that was to catch us off guard using an upfront approach like this.

We all held our breaths as we waited for the car to come to a complete stop. Cecil raised his gun to the door ready to fire if necessary. When the car doors opened and we saw Kynaree come bounding out, racing to the front door we all let out a sigh of relief. The relief was short lived until I noticed that there were two less people than before. Two people that were all that mattered to me.

As soon as they entered the house I cornered Xian. I wanted answer, I wanted to know what happened, and more importantly I wanted to know why my wife and son were not in my arms at this very moment. "What. The. Hell. Happened."

"In the confusion of everything I took a wrong turn. The further we went the harder it was to retrace to try to figure out the right route. We found an out of the way motel that we had broken into, figuring we would be safe there. However they found us. They kidnapped Valk, Taavi, and I. I managed to get Valk and I away but Taavi was nowhere to be found. I think they took him separately in case we did manage to escape." Xian explained to me.

"If you were able to escape then where is my wife? Why isn't she with you? Where is Valkyrie!" I shouted.

"She went off to try to become a vampire again." Xian said quietly. I heard someone gasp quietly at the news. "She said she couldn't say human, that she needed to become a vampire again so she could find Taavi and protect her family again like she used to. She asked me to come with her."

"AND YOU LEFT HER ALONE! She's a human now Xian!" I yelled at him.

"AND I AM NOT HER KEEPER NATHAN!" Xian shouted back.

"You had a choice! You made the wrong one!" Before I could stop it my head was snapped backwards as Xian punched me in the face. I stared at Xian bewildered until my senses came back. My self control and patience was over. I punched Xian back. He seemed more surprised that I responded to his blow than I was that he had delivered the first punch.

It wasn't long until an all out brawl between us erupted. Everyone stayed back, there was no one there besides Ethan (who looked terrified at the thought of trying to break it up) that wouldn't be life threateningly injured if they tried to come between us.

~Valkyrie's POV~

I hoped Nathan wouldn't be too hard on Xian when Nathan found out why I was no longer with the rest of them. This was something I had to do though, I had no idea how I was going to do this but I knew I had to. Russia was one of the biggest populations of vampires if you knew where to look. I had already been walking for an hour. My feet were sore and I was starting to get hungry.

I hated humanity, I hated every part of it. Nathan never knew how hard of a time I really had learning that I was a human. He read everyone's mind that he could but mine. He told me he wanted to give me as much privacy as he could.

It was another hour until I finally came upon a small village. I looked for the signs that it was the kind of village that I was looking for. Anything to tell me if vampires were the main residence of the area. However if it was, nothing was giving it away. It all seemed so...human.

I wondered if this had been the right decision after all.

[×|{å†ìe×]

~<>~Kynaree's POV~<>~

I thought when we got to the safe house everyone would be really happy, but that wasn't the case. I guess I should have expected Nathan to not like the idea of Valkyrie and Taavi missing. All of us watched as Xian and Nathan took turns throwing punches at each other. When Nathan slammed Xian against the wall, I thought the entire place was going to come crumbling down around us. Finally, I just screamed.

It seemed to bring Nathan and Xian back into reality. Nobody asked if I was hurt or why I screamed. They all new I was just trying to stop the brawl. Nathan left the room quickly after my outburst. I wouldn't have been able to stand watching us reunite with our loved ones if I was him either. I would just want to be alone. Although I understood, his speedy departure made me feel a little sad. He could have acted like he cared that the rest of us were okay. After he left, Xian stood upright and checked himself for any fatal injuries. He was a Dartan. He would heal.

I turned to face Cecil once I was pretty certain nobody was too badly injured. After we kissed again, he brought me into another long hug. "I was so worried about you," he said into my ear, and a few seconds later he added, "I missed you." I couldn't help but notice he smelled a little funky, and was wearing he same clothes I had seen him in last. Trudie came from behind me and hugged me right after Cecil let me go. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside. Everyone missed me. Rivers didn't come up to me because I knew he was shy, so I made sure to hug him too. While I was giving hugs, I decided to go give everyone one. Well, everyone besides Nathan, who I figured needed some space. The next few hugs included Corey, Xian, and Ethan. Even though I had just been with the two Dartans. I was just really happy that at least most of us were together again.

"I'm so happy everyone's okay-- except for Valkyrie and Taavi, but--well, Nathan's sort of not okay either, and-- wait, Xian are you okay?--Well, what I was trying to say is I'm just really happy." I sang the last part after interrupting myself several times to make sure I was understood clearly.

Trudie and Cecil nodded their head in agreement, and I was pretty sure Rivers agreed but he just wanted to look cool so he didn't nod. Ethan and Xian came over to where we were standing. There was a little bit of awkward silence before Trudie said, "Are you guys hungry?"

"YES!" Ethan and I said together.

"We're starving!" Ethan told her.

We followed Trudie into the kitchen, which was underground. Corey decided to leave us once we got in to the bunker and disappeared through the hallway. I assumed the bedrooms and bathroom were back there. The five of us crowded at the table and along the wall. Trudie riffled through the cupboards. Eventually she stopped, and defeated she said, "Well, there's lots of protein bars…" She passed them out to the few of us who wanted them. "The ingredients are in Russian, but I'm pretty sure they're vegetarian," she shrugged.

I didn't care at that point if the bars had any bit of animal in them. I shoved the bar in my mouth and took as big of a bite as I could. I tried to chew it, but started having difficulties. After some coughing, I spit half of the bite out onto the table. The others around me looked concerned, especially Cecil. "Its just really dry," I assured them, my voice sounded gravelly.

"Here, I'll get you something to drink," Cecil offered getting up before I could refuse, which I wouldn't have because a drink sounded absolutely perfect. Cecil brought back Xian and Ethan something to drink with their bars too. We ate and then sort of just sat there looking at each other. What we were supposed to say?

I broke the unbearable silence, "So, Trudie, how's your baby?"

"Its fine… As far as I can tell."

The silence continued a bit longer.

"Well, I'm really happy everyone's okay… Did I say that already?" They nodded.

"We should probably decide bedroom arrangements," Cecil stated.

There were three bedrooms in the safe house and each of them had only one twin bed. Right now Cecil had his own room, Rivers and Trudie shared the second, and Nathan and Corey shared the third. It was assumed that the couples would stay together, and that Nathan would continue watching Corey. "Well, you and Cecil can share a room with Rivers and I. It's not like I do much sleeping anyways…" Trudie offered.

"Or we could share a room with Ethan and Xian… Or I could help Nathan watch Corey," Cecil suggested. It seemed odd to me that he would suggest something else. Trudie was right, there would only be the three of us actually using the room for sleeping. Trudie spent most of her time in the kitchen or living room at night. Otherwise it would be four of us in one room if we stayed with the other pairings, or the worst solution Cecil and I could stay in different rooms. After thinking it through, I shot Cecil a confused look. What was his problem with Trudie and Rivers?

"You can stay with Xian and I if you want," Ethan said, "But Trudie has a point."

Cecil didn't argue. The arrangement was decided and we all brought what luggage we had into our assigned sleeping quarters. The rooms were dull. The bed was technically a mattress on the floor. There was no headboard or box spring underneath. The bed was made, and the comforter lying on the top of it looked like it was made of stringy cotton tied together. "Is there any more bedding?" I asked.

"I'll go ask Corey if he knows and where it would be," Trudie said. Her and Rivers left us. While we were waiting the two of sat on the end of the bed. Cecil had an arm wrapped around me. It seemed like he had some physical contact with me ever since I'd arrived. Whether it was a draped arm or held hand.

"Kynaree," he paused, "I don't want to share a room with them."

"What? Cecil, what's wrong?"

"Just trust me. Let's sleep in the living room or something."

"Tell me why. I can't trust you if you're not giving me all the information," I pointed out.

He sighed and began, "Well, Rivers and I haven't exactly been seeing eye to eye. Earlier today, he tried to accused me of stealing his wife. I disagreed with him, and the result was his fist in my face." he pointed to his nose. I hadn't noticed before he pointed it out, but now I could see a bruise forming along the top left side of his nose.

"What?! What did Trudie say?" I exclaimed in horror.

"She doesn't know, so don't tell her," he said, and before I could reply: "I don't think her and Rivers are getting along very well right now. With the baby coming along I think it would just be best to keep the two of them happy. Telling her will just make her mad."

"I know you're right, but… I feel like she should know. I mean, I would want to know if you were acting like a maniac and going around punching peoples' faces." There was anger in my voice. What was Rivers' problem? My anger faded as a thought was raised. "Well, what makes Rivers think you're trying to steal Trudie?" I asked him.

Cecil didn't seem to know how to answer for a moment, "Well, just like you said. He's acting like a maniac… I don't know what he's thinking. He's just been really weird. The situation we're in is really stressful. Especially if you have a child on the way, and have never been through life or death situation."

"But, he came to help us rescue Trudie last time. Remember?"

"Yes, but he didn't know the circumstances. He was just a high school sports-star on a damsel in distress rescue mission. Now that he's a little less immature and now a husband-soon-to-be-father, he's grasped our situation."

"I wouldn't say less immature," I snorted. Cecil smiled and I added, "If he ever does anything to hurt you again. I want you to punch him back or tell me and I'll do it." Cecil smiled widened into a grin. "But really, if he doesn't anything like that again, I'm telling Trudie."


~<>~Cecil's POV~<>~

Kynaree's concern was flattering, and I couldn't help but smile. It was particularly nice after feeling like she had treated me like everyone else. Well, maybe I got two or more kisses than everyone else did, but it was so easy for her to tear herself away and run to everyone else. She didn't say that she was worried about me, or that she missed me. She just said that she was really happy everyone was okay. I just felt like I was everyone.

I wasn't everyone. I was her fiancé. I deserved more attention than them, didn't I?

Now that we were alone and we could just talk, I realized the whole thing was silly. I was turning as crazy-jealous as Rivers. This was just the way Kynaree was. She didn't need to tell me she loved me or that I was missed. It was something I was supposed to assume. Suddenly, I noticed Kynaree looked sad.

"What's wrong?"

"Nathan," she said. "I just feel so bad about Valkyrie and Taavi." I didn't know what to say. I couldn't help but sympathize with Nathan. I could only faintly grasp what it would have been like if Kynaree wouldn't have shown up, but Nathan was also missing his child. They were gone, and they were also apart as far as we knew. The MMC had Taavi.

Finally, I said, "We're going to have to do something." I was through considering trading information to keep Kynaree safe. I wasn't completely against it, but after spending more time with the rest of the group I knew it wasn't a possibility. I didn't have the rigid heart my father possessed. I couldn't betray the closest thing I had to friends.

[--Kyle--]

— Xian's POV —

It felt like I had slammed my hand into a window. The glass shattering, piercing my skin and slicing my fingers into pieces. But it only lasted a moment. That's what punching felt like, or at least it did to me. But being a Dartan, the feeling didn't stay long as it healed almost immediately.

Getting punched, however, felt worse and lasted a bit longer.

I was on the ground, my head against slammed against the floor when I realized Nathan was on top of me swinging his fist for another punch. I pushed him off, twisting around and landing on my feet when I leapt into the air away from him. He punched me again and I fell backward, this time catching myself against a table.

Together, we rammed into each other, fists hitting each other's faces with a force that would kill any human. But the two of us would be fine afterward, hopefully. Vampires and Dartans could kill each other; that's what we were bred to do. Dartans hunting Vampires and killing them. It was strange to remember a time when we had done that. Now, fighting Nathan was like hitting a friend. He was our friend, wasn't he?

Another blow to the face and I stumbled backward, using the momentum to swing myself around and punch Nathan again. We punched each other over and over until finally, when Nathan knocked me into the wall we heard a scream.

It was Kynaree wanting to break up the fight.

Nathan stormed off. It wasn't like I wanted to leave Valkyrie. He would understand eventually, but for now he had a right to be angry—not at me, but still.

After Kynaree began hugging everyone, it became a little weird and awkward. It wasn't until after the room assigning—why did we always have to have room assignments, could we ever just find a place to stay with a bedroom for us all?—Ethan and I went into the small room.

"You're hurt?" He asked, pushing me onto the bed.

I nodded.

Ethan left the room and returned with a wet rag. He sat next to be on the bed. While facing each other, he dabbed the rag on my forehead, taking it away again with a blob of blood. "I'll be fine," I pushed his hand away.

"We don't heal like Vampires, you can hardly tell they were injured at all," Ethan said to me, dabbing it again on my left cheek bone. "The way we heal is different. More human. We can scar, and this pretty face shouldn't be all scarred up."

My face warmed with a rush of blood. Blushing seemed like such a human thing to do; the human side of me that still lingered. Not even Aurora had ever made me blush. What was going on with me?

"I thought scars were sexy?" I joked, not knowing what else to say.

Ethan didn't say anything, only laughing lightly. When he was finished, the cuts were almost healed completely. They probably wouldn't scar anyway. What mattered was that Ethan was caring for me, like I always had with him. It was eating me alive that I didn't know exactly what he was going to say that night. If he loved me or not.

I laid on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. It was a small bed, but enough wide for us to lie on side by side with our legs dangling over the edge. When Ethan's head went back to lay next to be, it smacked into the wall. "Ouch!" I laughed, and after almost pushing me off the bed, he laughed too.

"What was it like?" Ethan suddenly asked when we were finally lying down together.

"What was what like?" I asked, turning my head to look at him.

He swallowed, his adam's apple moving up and down his throat. "Um—being kidnapped?"

"Weren't you kidnapped before?"

"Oh, was I? I don't remember. But what was it like for you? To be taken away?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "A little weird. I was scared at first, but once Valkyrie and I made a plan to escape, it was less scary."

"Were you afraid you would never come back?"

I thought about it for a moment. The only thing I really had thought of was never seeing Ethan again, but I couldn't say that now. "Sort of." I shrugged again. "Why are you asking?"

"I don't know, I was just thinking a lot lately…about dying." He looked at me now. His face looked the same as it always has, but something was different. Something changed in the past few days that I hadn't seen before. Or maybe it had changed in the past few years. He wasn't the annoying kid in high school anymore—not to me anyway.

"Why?"

"Well, it just seems like we are always running from it. I just wondered what it was like. I wondered if being kidnapped felt similar…I don't know it was stupid." He sat up and went over to the door. "Do you need anything?"

I shook my head. "No."

He left the room, closing the door behind him. I closed my eyes, searching for anything. Valkyire was still taking the way she has been for the past few hours. But the more I searched for Ethan, the less I could see. I never tried to see the death of anyone in a vision, but now that I tried it wasn't working.

Don't die. Please, don't die soon. If Ethan died I don't know what I would do. I had to protect him, no matter what. He came before anyone else, now. At that moment, I vowed to protect him for the rest of my life–even if I had to die doing it.

[<^>Krustine<^>]

~Trudie's POV~

Everyone had gone into the bedrooms except for Rivers and I; we remained in the kitchen sitting at the table across from each other. I needed to take a breather; everything that was going on was just too overwhelming for me and the baby. Rivers was staring at me like I did something wrong and I wondered if something happened that I didn't know about.

"I'm going to go see if I can steal Kynaree away from Cecil." I got up, I needed something to relieve me from the stare-down I was receiving.

"Trudie..." Rivers paused. "Wait, can we talk?"

I winced. I was trying to avoid this awkward encounter with my husband; I was pretty sure I knew what this was about. Fighting all my intentions to run, I sat back down.

"Trudie.." He kept pausing, like he didn't know how to continue. "Trudie, I know things are hard right now for all of your friends, but for us even more so because we have a baby on the way."

"For all of my friends? What? Are you going to inform me about how this is all my fault because these are my friends not yours?" I wasn't sure where all this anger was coming from, but it felt really good to unleash it.

"Trudie, that's not what I was going to say. I--"

"I don't want to hear any more excuses Rivers." My voice saddens extremely quickly; these hormones are messing with my emotions beyond my control. "They are just trying to protect us all... They could have not informed us that the MMC was after us and just let things play out and let them find us in France."

Rivers just sat there gazing at me for a minute It wasn't the same protective stare I was receiving earlier, it was different, more emotional. "Trudie, I don't blame you for the situation we are in. I just wonder if there is something else going on that you aren't telling me about." He sounded like it was hard for him to be comforting right now, like all he wanted to do was be angry.

"I think I am going to find Kynaree after all." I tried not to sound too rude when I avoided his comment, but I couldn't help but wonder... What does he think I'm not telling him about?

When I got to the bedroom that Cecil, Kynaree, Rivers and I are sharing I knocked softly as to announce my entrance and I opened the door slowly. "Hey" I tried to force a smile and hide my pain of my previous conversation. "Cecil, can I talk to Kynaree... Alone?" Cecil didn't say anything, just sent Kynaree a comforting look and walked around me to exit the room, closing the door softly behind him.

"Kynaree, can I talk to you about Rivers and I?"


~Rivers POV~

After Trudie left, I went into the living room and turned on the TV for background noise so I could think.

Despite Trudie's attempts to avoid a conversation with me, I think I got my point across. Even without mentioning anything with Cecil directly, I think she must know what I am talking about since she ducked out of the conversation as quickly as she could. I couldn't help but replay the image of her face when she thought I was accusing her of it being her fault we are in this situation in the first place. How could I actually tell her that it is her fault? I should never have come with... This is not how my life should be----

"Dammit Rivers!" I found myself screaming. Luckily I was alone in the living room. I hated myself for feeling this way, for being so resentful towards Trudie, and for being so jealous of her and Cecil.

That is when Cecil walked into the living room only to exit into the kitchen the second he saw me sitting on the couch. Go figure, I wouldn't want to talk to me after what he has been doing to Trudie and I's relationship.

I hate myself for being so weak and human.

I never should have come with, the only reason I did was to help protect Trudie and our unborn child. But what am I supposed to do to protect them? I am just a stupid human; I can't help them when dealing with the kinds of people we are hiding from. The worst part is that I have only made things worse between Trudie and me by being here. Trudie is no longer happy with me, I can tell. But how can I make her see that the only person she should be with is me? The only way I will be able to save my marriage is by making sure that the problem is removed from the situation, but how?

[Kàylà]

~Nina's POV~

I sat on the window bench, looking out the window as it started to snow. There had been rumors floating around that there would be a new assignment for me soon. I hated working with vamps...but they paid well. They were always trying to find some way to go against their monarchy, always trying and always failing to gain the upper hand against them to over throw them.

That was where I came in, the Russian witch that had to cast a blood ritual in order to create the potion that would be their salvation. At the same time, the MMC was paying me extra to kill any subjects that showed any sign of success. If there ever was any small chance of success I was also to bring another sample to them. Most people would care about being a two timing deceiving bitch, not me. It was how I survived, how I lived, and how I made money to feed myself.

I was always careful to make sure that any vamps that I ended up having to assassinate looked like either another vampire killing, or a werewolf killing. Mama always said that I was good at deceiving and manipulating people. I was never sure if she meant it as an insult or a compliment, I always took it as a compliment though.

"Nina, we're ready for you." The elder vampire of the community told me as he took a step into my room. I took a quick look in the mirror before I followed him. Grey eyes that were framed by long red hair stared back at me. They told me nothing, they never did, I had shut out the world a long time ago.

I followed the elder into the office room where two other elders sat already waiting for us. While these vampires were outcasts and therefore clan-less in the eyes of the monarch, to them they were their own clan and these three vampires were their leaders. In the clan-less clans each vampire had done something worthy of being banished from the monarch. It made them hate the monarch. They wanted revenge on them and that was where I came in.

All my life I had studied in the ways of witches and warlocks. Technically any human could become one, but there were only a select few that were the true forms of witches and warlocks. I was one of them, I was a full blood witch. The vampires needed me to preform blood rituals that would create a potion for them that would ultimately give them the powers that those of the ruling monarch clan had.

So far there had been very few success and many failures. Even the successes ended up being failures for the effect would only last at the most up to 3 hours. It was as if the blood we used wasn't potent enough in royalty to make the change permanent. I finally realized that one of the elders was talking to me as I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

"Nina! Stay sharp, we can't have you daydreaming about silly little things." Dimitri snapped at me.

"I'm sorry sir." I bowed my head in respect. "What assignment do you have for me this time?"

"There are rumors that they Ourea queen has come to Russia. Some of our sister tribes have claimed to have seen the young queen walking around looking for us. However they say that they are unsure if it is her for her blood smells of that of a human." Igus the second oldest of the clan spoke next.

"How is that possible? No vampire can be turned human." I wasn't able to hide the surprise in my voice.

"We were wondering if you had an answer for that, us vampires have a world of knowledge between us, but even the rituals of witches can confound us." Igus explained.

"There is no ritual, potion, or spell that I have ever heard of that can do such a thing." I said shaking my head. It was impossible, crazy to think about. There had been attempts of course, there was always a vampire whether born or made that could never cope with what they were especially since both start out human and are either changed by the blood that was already there in their body, or by force. All the attempts had ended in death.

"So you want me to see if the rumors are true and then the same ol same ol?" I asked them.

"In a sense..but we want you to take precaution, if the rumors are false then the queen will be more powerful than any royal vampire you have yet to subdue."

"I'll set out in the morning then."

"You'll set out now." Dimitri demanded.

"I'll be leaving after I pack my bag." I glared at him.

~Valkyrie's POV~

Each village I visited was to no avail. I was not one step closer to becoming my old self again than I had been when I first became human. Each day I failed, was another day that those monsters were using my son as their guinea pig. People in Russia were easy to steal from as I was learning. It wasn't hard to pickpocket a woman scolding her daughter on the street, or finding a wallet in an unlocked car. Apparently people in Russia didn't believe in locking their cars.

The little bit of stealing I did in each town made it possible for me to eat and find a place to stay for the night. I even thought about high-jacking a car but decided that I should wait to do that in a bigger town. The people were kind enough, but I always told them a fake name, never trusting a soul. Even once I found my own people, if I could even call them that, I knew I wouldn't be able to fully trust them.

Russia was known for its hatred of the monarch clans. There were many that felt instead of a king or queen that we should be like the human system, a democracy. Those that spoke of such treason were banished and were no longer acknowledged by us. When they were no longer acknowledged by us we no longer went to their help under attacks by the MMC, werewolves, or any other kind of threat. They simply no longer existed to us.

The next town I came to was small than the last, I jumped out of the car that had given me a ride and left the Russian equivalent of twenty American dollars on the seat for them as thanks. The small town looked no more promising than the last. I sighed wondering if my search was pointless and if I should just find my way back to Nathan so we could find our son together.

Angry at myself for doubting I made a noise like a growl and shook my head. I couldn't let myself think such things. There was nothing I would be able to do to help my son as a human, this had to work! I walked to the tavern, wishing I had something warmer than a hooded sweatshirt as it was starting to snow.

When I entered the tavern, no one paid me any heed but a red headed woman whose gaze instantly found mine. There was something different about her than all the others in the room. Something that I couldn't quite pick up. I knew she wasn't a vampire, but maybe she was my ticket to finding them. I walked up by the empty seat beside her.

"Mind if I sit down?" I asked. She waved her hand as a reply. The bar tender came up to me as I sat down and asked what I wanted to drink. "I'll have a brandy." Normally I didn't drink, but I didn't want to seem out of place by not ordering anything.

"Don't you have anything warmer than that? There is supposed to be a blizzard tonight." The red headed woman asked me gesturing to my lack of warm clothes, her voice thick with a Russian accent.

"I'm afraid I lost my luggage at the airport." I told her shrugging.

"Did you come to Russia by yourself?" She asked me after taking a swig of her drink.

"Yes, I have family matters that need to be attended to here." I nodded to the bar tender as he handed me my drink. I quickly paid him for it and took a small sip and grimaced at the taste.

"Not one for strong liquor?"

"Not really. I never was a big fan of alcohol but today's been rough enough for it to sound good." I half smiled at her.

"Maybe you just haven't found the right drink yet." She suggested, but there was something else to her suggestion, like there was another one hidden underneath. I searched her eyes looking for some kind of hint that I was right. At first I thought I hadn't seen it, but as I looked closer I found what I was looking for.

"I suppose you're right. I do have a very partial taste in drinks." I baited her, hoping she would get my hint.

"You should come to my room, I may have something that would better suit you." She offered me.

"I might have to take you up on that offer. My name's Rayna." I told her the name of my former best werewolf friend and offered my hand. She grasped my hand and shook it firmly.

"I'm Nina."

[×|{å†ìe×]

Kynaree’s POV


“Kynaree, can I talk to you about Rivers and I?” Trudie was talking to me, and she had her serious face on. I was being confided in. I felt a strong sense of self-importance, which was quickly followed by worry. I hoped she didn’t bring up anything that would make me blurt out, “Rivers punched Cecil.”

“Wait, what?”

“What?”

“What did you just say?” she asked.

My eyes widened, “Oh no, I didn’t say that! I DIDN’T SAY THAT!”

“Are you serious? Did he really!?” I avoided eye contact and didn’t say anything in the hopes that she would forget the conversation we were having. My method wasn’t successful.

She stood up abruptly and headed for the door. I ran from behind and grabbed her by her arms. “Wait!” I begged. She kept moving forward into the hallway. I took a different approach and clung to her legs instead. Now she had a harder time moving. Before she could start yanking my hair or using other means of pushing me off her, we both paused at the sound of an intense conversation. I remained hugging her legs while we eavesdropped together.

“—trying to tell me how to run my life?” I could tell from the voice it was an angry Rivers talking. I peeked around Trudie’s legs to see Cecil’s standing and facing the couch. I couldn’t see Rivers from where I was, but I assumed he was sitting on the couch.

“Would you just listen to me for a second!?” Cecil’s sounded frustrated. The next thing he said was calmer, “This isn’t about you. You’re not here for you. You’re here for Trudie, and you’re here for your unborn child. You love her, and she loves you. Can’t you see that I am not in that equation? This thing between us needs to stop because it’s ridiculous.”

There was a pause. Rivers’ voice lacked the rage it had a moment ago. “I see the way she looks at you. She looks at you that same way she used to look at me. Maybe you don’t feel anything towards her, but she doesn’t love me anymore.”

I let go of Trudie’s legs. I thought that maybe she would go and interrupt them. She crouched down to my level and whispered, “We should go. We shouldn’t be listening to this.” She was right, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to listen. I hadn’t watched any soap operas since I left Liverpool. In the back of my mind I started to wonder what was going on in General Hospital. Trudie began to walk away. She looked back when she noticed I didn’t follow her.

“You’re blaming me for your relationship problems?” Cecil didn’t sound the least bit happy. “You’ve obviously ruined your own relationship. What do you do for her? Nothing. You’re useless pile of meat that sits around her house all day while she runs her restaurant and tries to make you happy. She cleans, she cooks, and what do you do? You’re a child.”

I felt sick. Maybe eavesdropping wasn’t like watching a soap opera. These weren’t the days of their lives. These were the days of our lives. I’ve never ever compared myself to Rivers before, but now the idea was planted in my head. Suddenly, I could just see all the days I sat at home while Cecil worked. Did he think I was a useless pile of meat? Trudie must have gotten caught up in the argument again because she hadn’t completely made it back to the room. Instead she came back and took my hand to help me up. This time I followed her back.

It wasn’t until I got to into the room that I wondered what Rivers said back, or if he reacted with fewer words and more actions. Neither Trudie nor I said anything. We sat there on the bed just taking it all in. I looked at her and wondered what she thought. A couple soft knocks interrupted my mind. “Come in,” Trudie called. I guessed we were done talking.

Cecil let himself in. There were no visible bruises or detached limbs, so I figured that Rivers didn’t start attacking him. Trudie and I were both silent still. I realized I should be smiling, but it was too late to act like it now. “So, um, did you girls have a nice talk?” he asked. The question sounded awkward coming out of his mouth. As if he were reading it from some sort of script.

“Sure,” I tried to sound cheerful. “We were j—“

“Did you have a nice talk?” Trudie cut me off. She sounded angry, and she didn’t give him time to reply before she continued, “Don’t act like you know anything about us, Cecil. Just stay out of this.” She got up to leave.

“I shouldn’t be part of this,” he agreed. “I didn’t ask to be part of this.”

Trudie walked past him and out of the room before he finished. He stood for a while before taking a place beside me. It was almost like none of that had happened; like we were sitting here and Trudie never came in to talk to me. But she did, and now all I could think about was how childish and useless I was.

I finally spoke, “That was mean.”

“I know. I should go apologize.” He didn’t get up.

I couldn’t get myself to ask if he felt the same way about me as he did about Rivers. Would he even see what I was talking about? Or was he oblivious to the fact that he was the constant provider in our relationship? I never over-analyzed it. I didn’t want to be a constant burden on Cecil, but I was. There was no denying that he wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me. Did he ever regret being with me? I was thinking a lot of sad thoughts, which resulted in giving me a stomachache.

“I don’t feel good. I think I’m going to bed.” I said.

Cecil nodded, “I should probably get some sleep too.”

~<>~Cecil’s POV~<>~

Trudie and Kynaree weren’t supposed to hear my conversation with Rivers. I didn’t want to talk to him in the first place, but I knew one of us had to step up and get it out of the way. I didn’t like to feel like almost everyone on this trip hated or distrusted me. Now I probably made it all worse. I added some kindling into the flames. It was stupid of me to think I could talk some sense into him in the first place.

“I see the way she looks at you. She looks at you that same way she used to look at me. Maybe you don’t feel anything towards her, but she doesn’t love me anymore.” Rang in my head over and over again. Rivers was acting ridiculous, but there was no reason for me to say what I said to him. I knew how it felt to see someone that you love look completely past you. There was something about the way Kynaree used to look at Theo that crushed me. To this day I felt like I still couldn’t get her to smile at me like that. When you have yourself convinced about something, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says you’re still going to feel like you’re not good enough.

[--Kyle--]

— Corey's POV —

Nathan and I were alone in the bedroom. I knew that Nathan was angry, his head in his hands, eyes searching the blank wall. If he wanted find his wife and child, we were going to have to leave. He knew that. I knew that.

"Nathan?" I said, trying to sound as gentle as possible. He didn't answer. "Nathan, we have to leave. As soon as possible. At the very latest, the morning. It gives you the best chance on finding—"

"I know that."

"Luciana's call—we have to be ready. We have to leave," I said. "I know you don't trust me. Or at least, most of you don't. But I am…Luciana is my Valkyrie. I know that means nothing to you, but she's also in trouble. I have to find her too. And if we stay here, we'll die. They will find us."

"I thought this was a safe house?" He said, laughing without humor.

"Not safe enough. Not when Lilith knows we're here."

— Xian's POV —

I couldn't sleep. I heard the loud voices from outside in the living room, tried my best to ignore them, but I couldn't. The only thing I could hear were sounds, not many words stood out. Ethan volunteered to sleep on the floor with the blanket and pillow—I didn't need anything to fall asleep—and he began to snore.

There was a long time of quiet as everyone slept. Or, at least, I assumed everyone was sleeping. It was quiet, anyway. Staring at the ceiling, counting the small holes in the tile, put me to sleep eventually. 1,203…1,204…1,20…5…

The dream came through like a nightmare. It was rare to have visions through dreams, but it happened from time to time. I stood in the doorway of the safe house. I could sense the danger ahead. It was mid-morning. Chaos was all around—but it was not from a threat outside, but from within.

All of my friends were fighting, yelling at each other from across the room. There was panic in their voices and the sounds of their yells were blurring, fading. A crash upstairs sent us all to freeze.

Then, as if suspended in the air, I floated toward the hall, grabbing onto a hidden door. There was a bright light when it opened—

I woke up, the light in our room was on. I looked down to see Ethan missing and I panicked. They were coming. Whoever Corey was warning us about, the MMC—they were on their way. I ran out to the hall and into the living room. Everyone stood in the middle of the room, Corey holding a phone in his hand.

"What is it?" I asked with a short sigh of relief, thankful to see Ethan among the others. But my heart dropped when I saw that the sun had already risen.

Corey looked up. "Luciana got away. She called on her cell, but…they're coming. Right now."

I looked to the others. They stood, worry on their face. Ethan's face was pale and his eyes…they looked different. They looked sad, broken. This wasn't good.

"We have to go," Corey continued. "Right now."

I knew what would happen next before anyone else. The arguments would being—should we go, or should we stay. I didn't need to see the future to know. But before they could start, I sat down. I remained silent as they began to ask questions about what they should do. I waited for the crashing sound from upstairs.

If I went to the secret door too early, the vision would change and we might not escape. But the vision never finished, and I couldn't see what was on the other side…

We might not be able to escape at all.

[<^>Krustine<^>]

~Trudie’s POV~

Cecil let himself into the room with Kynaree and I; his gaze was shifted downwards. He stepped closer to us and asked, “So, um, did you girls have a nice talk?” His dark brown eyes met Kynaree’s purple pair and, then my blue eyes. If I didn't know he could act, I would have thought I just imagined the argument I’d just witnessed between him and my husband. Just the idea that he was hiding it all was enough to put me over the edge.

“Sure,” Kynaree said with forced enthusiasm. “We were j--”

I cut her off, “Did you have a nice talk?” I let the anger seep into my voice. “Don’t act like you know anything about us, Cecil. Just stay out of this.” I stood up from the bed and headed for the door. I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say, but he managed to get out a few words before I could make myself disappear.

“I shouldn’t be a part of this. I didn’t ask to be a part of this.” I was out of the room before he finished, but I heard it. I slammed the door behind me.

Great. Now I was in the living room with Rivers, the other person I was trying to avoid right now. I turned to the kitchen hoping that he wouldn’t follow me. I sat down at the kitchen table. I was starting to get a headache. Here we were running for our lives, and all this marriage drama had to come along.

I already regretted yelling at Cecil. He was just trying to help, and a lot of the points he made were true. Rivers wasn’t being very supportive right now, instead he was being crazy-jealous. And it was true that he didn’t spend a lot of time doing things for me. It was usually the other way around. I tried to remind myself that I liked taking care of Rivers and that taking care of him was sometime I used to take pride in. I buried my face in my hands. Feelings were so frustrating.

There was another thing Cecil was right about, he shouldn’t be a part of this. When did he begin starring in our stupid relationship? How did Rivers get jealous enough to punch Cecil in the face? Was I doing something wrong? Was I emitting some sort of weird signal? What alerted Rivers into thinking that I felt anything towards Cecil?

I wouldn’t let myself fall in love with Cecil, and Rivers should have known that. Kynaree was my best friend; I wouldn’t ever betray her trust like that. And Cecil, well, why would I fall for someone like him? Sure we had a teeny bit of history together, but that was only one date. Besides, Kynaree was the one who set it up, and he never called me back or asked me out again after that. So, obviously he wasn’t interested in me because he was always in love with her. He didn’t care that I volunteered to go to Oni just to save him and his dad. See? If it weren’t for me, Kynaree and Cecil wouldn’t be together right now. So, of course I wouldn’t ever want to interfere with their relationship.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat near the kitchen table just thinking, but I eventually I got up to stretch my legs. The headache I was starting to get before was only getting worse and I knew it was going to be a long night. I walked into the living room without thinking about the fact that Rivers was going to be there. Thankfully he was already asleep on the couch. I shut off the TV for him, something I always seemed to have to do for him, and let out a long sigh. I just wanted to escape from my head for a little while.

I looked at Rivers sleeping form and decided that I was going to allow myself a peek into his dreams. I hadn’t entered anyone’s dreams for a while. Dreams were a private thing, and I didn’t want to seem like some sort of creep. Usually Rivers didn’t mind me looking into his dreams, but I didn’t know how he would feel about it at this moment. However, maybe I could get a better perspective into what he was going through.

First, I needed a place to lie down, so I went into my assigned room where Kynaree and Cecil were fast asleep on the floor. Then I slipped into River’s bed, closed my eyes, and tried to find an entrance into Rivers’ dreams.

Trudie sat in a bright hospital room holding her newborn. “Rivers, come look,” she whispered, “he’s waking up.” Rivers got up from the chair near the bed and looked over his wife’s shoulder. He looked happy, and so did the baby.

“Have you thought of any names?” Rivers wondered out loud.

“Rodger,” she stated. “You know, like his grandfather.”

“Your father’s name was Rodger?” he asked.

“No, I’m talking about Cecil’s dad.” She laughed as if this should have been completely obvious. His expression went from dumbfounded to outrage.

“Wait, this is Cecil’s baby!?”

“Of course, its Cecil’s. Where have you been?” She was completely calm.

Cecil entered the hospital room not a second later. “I’m so sorry, love. I got here as soon as I could.” He was out of breath and dropped the brief case he was carrying and walked over to Trudie. Rivers watched them kiss, and it was as if everything fell out from under him.

Colors began to shift into more browns and grays, until the white of the hospital room disappeared all together.

The room was cold, windowless, and dark. The only light that Cecil could see was coming from the opened door. He knew the door led to a hallway. From the angle of the light, he could tell he was lying on the ground. He heard footsteps and his heart began pounding in his ears. He was afraid.

He struggled to move before the mysterious man got to his room. He looked down at his non-cooperative limbs. That’s when he noticed all the blood. Realization hit him fast and hard. He turned his head to see the tall dark figure enter the room.

“I don’t know how much longer I can make you last,” Oni said. “You were putting up a much better fight before I killed your father.”

The vampire walked close enough to Cecil to touch him with the tip of his foot, and then he pushed Cecil onto his stomach using that foot. Oni bent over and lifted Cecil by his hair until he was on his knees. Oni swatted near him and he pulled an IV out of nowhere. He hastily stuck it into Cecil’s arm, “We don’t want you passing out too quickly, do we?”

He let out a maniacal chuckle, and Cecil knew what was coming next. He found he still couldn’t move or struggle before Oni violently bit into Cecil’s neck.

I startled myself out of the dream. Somehow by mistake, I ended up leaving River’s nightmare and entering one of Cecil’s. I could only assume it was because Cecil had been in Rivers’ dream and it made me think of him instead. I heard Cecil on the floor to my left wake up from the same nightmare. I pulled the sheets tighter around me, hoping that he wouldn’t look over at me.

A few minutes later, I watched him get up and leave the room. He took a left, so he was probably headed to the bathroom. I got up and snuck out of the room and into the kitchen before he got back.

[Kàylà]

~Nathan's POV~

We didn't have much time left. They were coming and they were coming fast. We had no way out except for a puzzle of a vision from Xian. Apparently there was a secret door somewhere within the house. A way of escape for at least most of us. There was no question about it, Xian, Ethan, and I were going to have to fight to allow the rest to get away safely.

"We need to break into groups." I told everyone. There were two main objectives we faced...okay three if you counted escaping from the MMC yet again. More importantly we needed to find my beloved wife and also my captured son.

"We're splitting up again?" Kynaree asked.

"We have no choice Kynaree...we need to find Taavi and we also need to find Valkyrie. I think it's best if Xian, Ethan, Cory, and I stay back to hold off the MMC and also go after Taavi. While the rest of you find a way to escape and go find Valkyrie." I told them.

"You're not gonna go after Valk?" Trudie asked angrily. She had a scowl on her face like I was failing my duties as a husband and maybe I was, but I also had duties as a father.

"If I didn't have a son, yes I would go after her, but if I found her and did not have Taavi with me, she would probably find it in herself to rip my head off." I shrugged trying not to show how worried I was about the both of them. I had barely slept since Xian had told me the news.

"So what are we going to do?" Ethan asked.

"You, Xian, myself, and Corey are going to do what we can to keep the MMC at bay so that way the others can escape. I don't care if you knock them out or kill them but we should probably take at least one hostage for information." I explained.

"Where do we even begin to look for this secret door?" Cecil asked.

"I don't know, you're the one with the MMC shouldn't you know how you build your safe houses?" Xian snapped.

"Yeah in America, it's different over here." Cecil snapped back.

"You guys arguing is not going to help solve anything!" Trudie yelled breaking up the fight before it could even begin.

"She's right. We need to do what we can in order to find that door hopefully before they even get here, though I highly doubt that will happen." I nodded my head in agreement.

Before we could even start searching a loud crash filled the silence. They were here. I started pushing Kynaree and Trudie in the direction I thought was safest. "Hurry and go, stay safe."

"Don't worry Nathan, we'll find Valkyrie for you." Kynaree told me, her bright purple eyes starting to fill with tears as she gave me a quick hug.

I hoped she was right.

[×|{å†ìe×]

~<>~Cecil’s POV~<>~

I started leading Kynaree, Rivers and Trudie to the back of the house. “Wait, Cecil!” Trudie called from the back of our group. “I think I might know where it is.”

“Where?” I asked. I didn’t know exactly where the hidden door was in this safe house model, but I was pretty sure it would be near the back of the safe house. Trudie turned around and I hesitated to follow. If she was wrong and didn’t get out of here soon, we might find ourselves in the middle of the other’s brawl. Trudie wasn’t stupid, and she did spend the most time awake in the house. I trailed behind Rivers and Kynaree.

Trudie stopped in the kitchen and began opening cabinets, “I don’t know where it is exactly, but there was a weird draft in here the other day.” The rest of us started searching through the rest of the cabinets.

“Here!” Rivers said. He was crouched by the cabinet near the fridge. “Its really small though.”

“That’s just the entrance. It’ll get bigger once we’re through.” I told them pushing Trudie and Kynaree forward. Rivers began crawling through the opening until he disappeared from the kitchen. I looked behind us and the fight between the MMC and our friends was already beginning. “Hurry!” I said to Trudie and Kynaree.

Trudie crawled in after Rivers and Kynaree was close behind her. I shadowed them, making sure to close the cabinet door behind me. Once the door was shut there was no light. I felt my way through until I bumped into Kynaree. She took my hand and helped me stand upright.

None of us had mobile phones or flashlights so we all felt our way through the dark tunnel. I stayed behind the girls while Rivers lead us forward. Soon my eyes adjusted enough for me to notice that Rivers was slumped a little because of his height and the ceiling of the cave. The top of Trudie’s hair and mine was just brushing the ceiling. Kynaree’s head didn’t even come close to touching. The space was small enough for me to begin worrying about running out of oxygen, or tunnel collapses.

“How long do you think this tunnel is?” Kynaree asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied, “It could be anywhere from a few more yards to a couple kilometers.”

A few minutes later, I already started feeling fatigued. It didn’t surprise me. I hadn’t eaten breakfast and didn’t get any sleep after waking up from my nightmare. What I really needed right now was a vat of coffee. Coffee that was so strong that it had the consistency of mud. While my mind wondered to daydreams of myself sitting at a coffee house reading a newspaper, I didn’t noticed Rivers stopped. I walked into Kynaree’s back which brought me back to the present quickly enough for me to catch her before she fell face-first. “Sorry,” I apologized.

“Which way do we go?” Trudie asked, obviously referring to the fork in the tunnel we’d arrived at.

“Left” Rivers said at the same time I said, “Right.”

Silence lasted a moment.

I broke it, “What makes you think left?”

Rivers straightened himself the best he could in the current circumstance. “Well, we’re going north right now, and left is to the west. That’s where the nearest city is.”

“We don’t want to go back to that city. We’ve already been there. From what I can guess Valkyrie probably didn’t go back. She’s someone that would move forward to a new place. Going back’s too risky.” I tried telling him in the calmest manner I could manage. I didn’t want to start a fight.

“Who knows how much farther this tunnel will go? Do you even know how close the next city is?” Rivers paused, than added; “Besides are we really planning on risking our lives to save Valkyrie? You do realize that this is her fault. She should’ve stayed with Xian instead of acting like some sort of hero.”

“Let’s vote,” Kynaree suggested quickly. She wanted to relieve some tension that was beginning to build in the air. “Who wants to go right?” she asked.

“I do!” she answered herself and stepped forward into the right tunnel. I followed her because everyone already knew my decision. Trudie stepped forward too.

“We need to find Valkyrie,” she stated.

Defeated, Rivers joined us. We moved onwards.