She was awakened by the doorbell.

Poppy, whose brilliant green eyes shone in the dark, studied her surroundings. She didn't need her night vision to feel her soulmate, James, lying next to her. She saw the crumpled and kicked blankets (she was a restless sleeper) around their feet. She knew that they were in the smallest room of the Circle Daybreak house. If she had turned on the lights she would notice the coppery color of the wallpaper and the beige-brown carpet. Of course, that carpet was covered in both James and Poppy's clothes and shoes.

The doorbell rang again and Poppy wondered why James wasn't getting up. She could feel his breathing - she knew he was alive. She didn't hear anybody else in the house stirring either. She chalked it up to her being one of the newest vampires in the house and her senses were still heightened from the change, even though that had been a year ago.

Without disturbing James, Poppy snuck out of the bed. She tip toed out of the room, avoiding the clothes and shoes. She knew that sneaking was what she was best at (other than the whole "strongest telepath" thing). She looked like a tiny ballerina or a pixie when she sneaked around.

She made her way to the front door. She couldn't sense anyone else's presence and she knew that meant that the person who had rang the doorbell was gone. To be sure, Poppy looked out of the small window at the top of the door, having to stand on her tippy-toes to reach it. Without seeing anyone, she opened the door.

There was a box.

Nothing special, she told herself. Cardboard and tape. There was no return address. All it said was "To those Damned Daybreakers." She vaguely wondered why this box couldn't have been dropped off several hours later, as in not at three in the morning, but she took the box in anyway. She placed it on the kitchen counter where she knew Galen would make breakfast the next morning. She yawned, not realizing how tired she had been until just then. The mystery box could wait until the morning, she thought. Someone else could take care of it.

With that, she sneaked her way back into her room, next to James, and cuddled up into his warm chest.

"There's a box."

It was put simply, but it had a strange effect on the Daybreakers. Everyone became immediately curious. Even those who didn't show their feelings most often - *cough* Jez, Morgead, and Keller - were surprised by this new thing that had made its way into their house the night before.

"Who is it from?"

"Who found it?"

"How did it get in?"

Poppy came out of her room, rubbing one eye sleepily. She hadn't bothered to brush her hair - she knew it wouldn't stay in place anyway.

"What's going on?" she asked through a yawn.

"There's a box," Thea said. With her blonde, flowing hair and her excited brown eye, Thea stood shaking the box up to her ear.

"I know," replied Poppy, "I brought it in last night. But what's in it?"

Everyone in the living room turned and stared at Poppy. James, her soulmate, stopped eating the eggs that Galen had made that morning and looked at her quizzically. Ash and Mary-Lynette looked up from their cozy spot on the loveseat in the attached living room. Thea, with the box to her ear stood dumbfounded while her soulmate, Eric, put a hand on her shoulder. Gillian and David had stopped flipping through television channels to stare at Poppy like she was insane. Rashel and Quinn, who had previously had their heads together in a plotting position, looked up at Poppy curiously before going back to their plotting. Hannah and Thierry took a break from playing with each other's hair to whisper about Poppy. Jez and Morgead laughed quietly to themselves, no doubt plotting something as well. Maggie and Delos stared at Poppy as though she was absolutely stupid. And Keller and Galen stopped pancake-flipping mid-flip.

"You brought it in?" asked Delos. "Do you know how dangerous that could have been? What if it had been a- a-"

"Bomb?" Maggie finished for him. "What if it had killed us all in our sleep?"

Poppy shifted uncomfortably. She hadn't realized that it could have been dangerous. After all, only those who called Circle Daybreak "those Damned Daybreakers" were people who hated them.

"But Thea was shaking it," Poppy retorted. "Don't you think that could have set off the bomb too?"

"Well all this speculation is no good if we still don't know what's inside of it," Thierry said, always the cool mind of reason. "Open it."

Eric gently took the box from Thea and asked the room for a pocketknife. He received several, taking only one from Morgead.

Once the box was open, all they could see were books. Three of them, each titled The Night World.

"Oh dear," Hannah said.

"There's a note," Keller said, still on edge from all the bomb talk.

"Dear Damned Daybreakers,

I am also a fellow Daybreaker. I come from another dimension where there are no Night People. These books are written by a woman who claims to have all of the Night Person knowledge. I know that you all are gearing up for the apocalypse and I believe that reading about all of your pasts can help your futures. Please learn about each other and take this as a way to grow. Please do not fight. It will only bring the end of the world to a close faster. I have called on some very powerful forces and they have stopped time outside for you all. You need not focus on anything but what is going on inside of your house. Please, save the world. Other dimensions depend on it.

Lovingly, A Fan"

All of the Daybreakers stood, shocked. How was that even possible? To get from one dimension to another? A place where there were no Night People? And how did the other dimensions depend on it?

"What should we do?" David asked Thierry. All of the Daybreakers than looked to Thierry for guidance.

"I guess we read them," Thierry suggested. The Daybreakers moved to the large living room and sat down. Poppy and James sat on the floor below Ash and Mary-Lynette's loveseat. Eric sat on the couch and Thea sat on the armrest next to him. David laid next to Eric, his head on the other armrest. Gillian sat on that armrest with Eric's head in her lap. Rashel and Quinn brought some bar stools over from the kitchen an perched quietly next to Ash and Mary-Lynette. Hannah and Thierry settled down next to each other on an ottoman in front of the television. Jez and Morgead lounged on the window seat and acted as though they weren't interested. Delos sat on the loveseat opposite Ash and Mary-Lynette's loveseat, Maggie lounging on his lap. Keller and Galen stayed in the kitchen, cleaning up the leftover food and then perched like cats on the kitchen counter to listen.

Thierry picked up the first book. "The Night World: Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, and Spellbinder."