"You want to tell me where you disappeared to? Where did you run?" As soon as I got back to the club, Luna started to bombard me with questions.

"Nowhere." It's not a good idea to tell her the truth. She would kill Killian first and then me. No, thank you.

"So I saw a ghost that just happened to look like you?" She crossed her arms over her breasts and raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"You really had a lot of drinks." She didn't. "While we're at it, why don't we have another one?" If you don't ask any questions, I'll pay for it gladly.

"We? You too?" She frowned.

"I meant you." I walked up to her and grabbed her arm. "Let's go." I started to drag her to the bar.

One foot in front of the other. Not that hard, right?

Not hard until you bump into someone and they spill the entire contents of their glass on you.

"Please accept my apology." I heard a man's voice while alcohol dripped from my chest to the floor.

I want to leave here already. This club brings bad luck.

I shifted my gaze to Luna, who either wanted to cry or laugh. I think it's the second option.

"Here you go, maybe this will help." He took out a handkerchief from his suit and handed it to me.

That's when I noticed his face. A sharp sledge that could not be missed. It was as smooth as a child's ass. His dark brown eyes were glued to my face as if he was trying to read something out of it. His black hair, which was gray in places, was combed back. He must have been in his early forties.

"No, thanks." I grabbed the edges of my leather jacket and took it off before it got even dirtier than it already was. The t-shirt, which had straps, exposed my shoulders and my entire arms.

I looked up at the guy to find that his gaze was already somewhere else. More precisely on my arm where the snake tattoo is located. He looked at him carefully.

"Problem?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Not in the least." He looked up at me and smiled. "Simon Jones." He introduced himself. "I haven't seen your people wandering around these places in a long time." He looked at Luna and ran his gaze over her.

"We're leaving." I said sternly, looking him straight in the eye. I turned on my heel and started walking towards the exit, with Luna at my heels.

The guy knew exactly who we were. It's mildly disturbing. Maybe it was just my imagination. Maybe he doesn't know anything and my subconscious is playing with me. It's a possibility I can't rule out.

When I stepped outside, I was enveloped in the cool air of New York. If you can call it air. They are mostly gasses from cars.

"Keys." I motioned to Luna who was walking with me. She immediately handed them to me and we got into the car.

"I hope the stench doesn't make my car stink." She mumbled under your breath.

"Excuse me?" I turned to her.

"Nothing." She smiled. "We should go, don't you think?"

Unbelievable.

"This will be your new room. Do you like it?" Charles and I entered the room, the walls of which were gray, while the entire interior was white. To the right was a single bed and next to it a bedside table. On the other side was a simple table and a small cupboard.

That is all. The room is otherwise completely empty.

No windows, just one door.

"I'll show you a spell, how about that?" He walked past me with a smile and stopped by the empty wall, right across from the door. He put his hand on one of the squares that made up the wall and pressed. That part of the wall went deeper and a door opened to the side in front of him.

"Wow." I ran to him and saw what he had just done.

"Great isn't it?"

With my mouth open, I stared at the bathroom, which wasn't there a few seconds ago.

"Why don't you at least wash your face and put on some clean clothes. I'll wait here for you. Okay?" I nodded and went into the bathroom where I found clean clothes on the sink. There were also shoes under it.

I looked at my legs, which were completely destroyed from running through the forest.

I quickly rinsed my face and changed into clean clothes. I left the old one I came in lying on the ground in a heap.

But when I wanted to go back to Charles, I kicked something with the tip of my foot. I lowered my gaze to the ground and found a dark blue bandana there. Lukas.

I slowly bent down to it and took it in my hand. Tears began to run down my cheeks and I had a stone stuck in my throat.

"Don't worry Eris." Charles appeared in the doorway. "You are in a better place. Wipe your tears now, I will show you where you will train."

With a bandana in my fist, I followed him when he left the room. We walked through the corridors, which were all white and the doors were glass and opened just like the door in my room.

Women were walking past us looking straight ahead. They stopped by us with their hands behind their backs and bowed their heads. But Charles ignored it and continued on.

We walked up a few stairs before stopping at a glass that showed an entire room.

There were girls, older than me, with sticks in their hands. They stood facing each other and did not move. It was completely silent, but someone suddenly spoke and the sounds of wood on wood began to resound.

They fought each other like me and Lukas when we were playing with fake swords in the garden.

"One day you will be there too." I looked up at Charles. He stood straight with hands behind his back and looked through the glass. "I hope you won't let me down."

"Iwon't." I blurted out and he immediately looked down at me.

I don't know why I said that. I guess I wanted to make him happy. Proud.

But why?

"Good girl." The corners of his mouth lifted into a smaller smile.

*****

"If you're trying to sneak out, you're not succeeding." I stopped just outside the door of Luna's apartment.

"What?" I laughed nervously and turned to her. "No. No way."

"Really?" She crossed her arms over her breasts. "Where are you headed?"

Go make thirty thousand because I need new shoes.

"Out." I shrugged my shoulders.

If I get out of this one, I'm invincible.

"You know what? I'd rather not even know the truth. Come back for dinner or you won't have anything left." She pointed her finger at me. "And for the love of God, don't get in trouble."

I can't promise that. "I promise."

I will end up in hell one day for these lies of mine. A room has been waiting for me there for years.

I said goodbye to Luna and left her apartment. When I was already standing on the street, I looked for any camera in the vicinity.

I found one right above the store I was in the night I met him.

Guess I'm going to visit my old friend.

I think he chirped slightly when I walked into the store and headed straight for him.

"Can I help you?" He swallowed hard.

"Yes you can. That camera up." I pointed in the direction where it was. "I want a record."

"The back room." He pointed with a shaky hand to the door a few meters to his right.

"Well thank you." With a smile, I went behind the counter and directly into the room.

I had a glimpse of technology that I thought was older than me.

If there's one thing I really miss from my old life with white snakes, it's technology. I loved all the toys we got.

Everything was much easier with them. Like, for example, a jammer of all signals in the vicinity of a few meters. It comes in handy when you don't want to be caught on camera.

Another one of my favorites were watches. I had to get rid of them so they couldn't track me down with them. It was a huge shame.

I closed the door behind me and sat down next to the "technic".

This guy should at least erase his history. The amount of porn on here is unhealthy.

Some people probably don't have a life.

It's a shame that some things can't be erased from your head. I'm going to have nightmares about it.

From his porn collection, I moved to the camera footage. In a few seconds I got to the day I was here for the first time.

I found a time between midnight and two in the morning and sped up the recording. Smudges that represented people were all over the screen. Car lights too. New York is a busy city at night.

I stopped the recording when I saw myself walking into the store. Fast forward a few minutes to when I went out with that girl.

She left and another figure appeared on camera. Luckily for me, he was standing under the lamp and his face was visible.

I stopped the recording and ran his face through the recognition program. It's not the best it could be, but it'll do.

Within a minute I had his full name and all the information I needed.

So Abraham Wagner is not really hiding.

Originally from Germany. His only family is his sister, who is in Germany. The rest of the family is deceased.

He has a basic education. Nothing special.

I found out from his health card that he should restrict a certain diet if he wants to live into his sixties.

And finally the address.

~ Undetermined

Awesome. Simply amazing.

It could have made my job a lot easier.

So a backup plan. Cameras around New York are running 24/7, so there's a chance that one might have caught him by now.

"Bingo." I smiled victoriously. "It won't be hard now."



"Do you have a minute?" Finn appeared in the doorway.

Odin, who was lying next to the table in his bed, looked up, but immediately lay down when he heard Finn.

"Not really, why?" I said, looking at the papers in front of me.

It's nothing important, but if I don't do it today, there won't be time for it tomorrow.

"It's Saturday."

"That's exactly what comes after Friday. Aren't you smart?"

"Funny. Really. Valentina calls like every other Saturday. We're in the living room if you have time."

"I'll call her later." I gave him one quick glance. I noticed the disappointment in his eyes.

"Sure." He fumbles. "Don't know why I even asked." Before I could answer him, the door closed behind him.

What was that about?

Before I got up and followed him, my phone on the table lit up and the name Simon appeared on the screen. I immediately picked it up.

"I saw you called, is something going on? I've been busy with the club right now. You know."

"Yes, I know." Hard work being between someone's legs. It certainly takes up a lot of time and attention. "I called about your friend. Abraham Wagner. It would be better if we met. Do you have time now?"

"I can make some. Come to the club, I'll be waiting for you."

"See you later." I hung up.

I stood up and took my jacket from the chair. "Don't kill anyone, okay?" I bent down to Odin and pet him, before I left the office.

I stopped when I was standing in front of the front door, I heard familiar voices.

"It's pretty cool here. The beach is amazing and everything is perfect, except for the sand, which is totally everywhere." My sister's voice rang in my ears. "You all could use some sunshine. You look.....terrible."

"Thank you sis, we really appreciate it." There was sarcasm in Sebastian's voice.

I moved a little closer to hear better.

"While we're at it, where's Killian?"

"Guess." Finn snapped.

"Come on Finn. Don't be so hard on him, you can be glad you have a roof over your head. It's to his credit." Have I told you how much I love my little sister? She is definitely my favorite.

"He could find five minutes for his own sister. It's not that difficult."

"You're too hard on him. You know very well that he loves us all. Even if sometimes he doesn't show it."

"Whatever you say Val." He exhaled heavily.

"Tell him to call me when he has time. If he doesn't have any, tell him I said hello."

"I'll tell him, don't worry." Kai spoke up.

"Thank you Kai, you are the most reasonable one."

"Hey!" Sebastian shouted.

"Sorry, but it's true Seb."

A small smile appeared on my face. They all sound so happy. I'll make sure it stays that way.

Because what's better than seeing the people you care about most in the world behappy?

There's nothing that compares to it. Nothing.

"Killian, whatever you think of, be sensible." Simon came to me with a rag covered in Finn's blood. I didn't know what to do, so I called him.

He tried to wash the blood off in the sink while I stood next to him looking at the couch where Finn and Sebastian were sitting. Kai stayed locked in the room with Val so she wouldn't have to see it.

"This can't happen again."

"And what are you going to do, huh? Kill him? Is that what you want?" He whispered so the others wouldn't hear. "You're only eighteen."

"And? If it means we'll have peace from him.....yes."

"He's your father Killian." He turned to me. "Whether you like it or not."

"What would happen if I wasn't here?" I squeezed hard on the kitchen counter. "And if he didn't go after Finn but after Val? She's eleven."

"But that didn't happen...."

"But it can." I turned to Simon. "It can and it will. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but sometime. He's not right in the head."

"And when you kill him what happens next? Have you thought about it? Are you going to jail and leaving them here? Is that your plan? They put them in an orphanage and take them apart one by one. Is that really what you want?"

"I'll find a way."

"They've already lost their mother. Your father can't even be called a father. Don't make them lose their brother too."

"You don't understand Simon."

"No. You don't get it Killian. Look at them." He pointed to my siblings on the couch. "They need you. This family is falling apart and you're the only one holding it together. I'm sorry it has to be you, but you are, and there's nothing you can do about it. I know what you're talking about, trust me."

*****

Hope you enjoyed. <3