Freedom is just a pretty way of saying you've gone off the grid. For better or for worse, you're out of options. But we call it freedom. We write songs about it. You probably crank them in your car, and never thought much about it. Some people think it's exhilarating, not having your future mapped out. Others start to drown in all that nothing. Maybe you'll enjoy for a moment the purity of doing what you want, when you want. Beer for breakfast, sex in the afternoon. But obligations sneak up…duty, moral code. Some of us are wired to put ourselves back into cages. Freedom in just that moment of calm before the dread sets in. Because no matter what you freed yourself from, you only get so far down the open road, cars windows, music blasting, before you're forced to take a turn, make a choice and sentence yourself to the next adventure.

~Aidan Waite

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Aidan walked into the house as I stared out the window as vampires piled up outside and familiars begin to attack.

"Aidan, you have to get rid of them." I said. "Things have been getting out of hand ever since you killed Bishop."

"Things have been getting out of hand on my end?" Aidan questioned me. "Glaceon, familiars have been attacking the vampires none stop."

"They're hungry, lover. The vampires have stopped going to the outskirts because they're coming to you for blood."

"Love, I can't keep going out and be afraid that a familiar is going to jump me." I bit my lower lip in thought.

"Let's make a deal."

"What's that?"

"Teach the vamps how to survive and not hang around here all the time. I'll tell the familiars to hunt only downtown and on the outskirts and that you're off limits. Ok?"

"Ok."

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEE

Sally stood by the microwave struggling to push the button to open the door and put mine and Aidan's mugs of blood in. I whimpered wanting my blood now.

"Sally, how 'bout I—" Aidan began.

"I can do it!" Sally yelled.

"Or your way's good." Aidan held up his hands in defeat and I whined. Aidan had his hand on mine keeping me in my seat. Josh came down the steps and into the kitchen.

"Ah!" I whimpered again, crying inside for blood. "How important is it really to have your blood warm?" Aidan and I ran our hands down our faces.

"They had a rough night." Josh said. "I'll just—" He picked the mugs up and put them in the microwave before turning to us. "So, there were an unusual amount of tweaky-looking vampires scuffling around the doorstep last night before most of them were attacked by familiars."

"And we took care of them." I sighed. "It's temporary."

"A month is a little long to be temporary."

"Do you want coffee?" Sally asked Josh. "I can pour coffee." Josh pulled the mugs out of the microwave and my fangs flashed out and my eyes grew dark at the lustful smell. Aidan gripped my hand tighter to hold me in place. Josh didn't move towards us.

"I do want coffee, Sally, but I want it in my mug." I muttering at Josh not able to find words, reaching out for my blood. "I'm sorry, sorry." He handed the mugs to me and Aidan and I eagerly chugged it while Aidan casually sipped his. Josh sat across from me. "So, I thought you killing Bishop was wiping the slate clean."

"Yeah, well, because I killed Bishop, it's my responsibility to control the chaos." Aidan explained.

"Because…" Sally pressed on.

"What? You want one of the doorstep tweakers doing it? I want to contain this, survive this quietly, and the least I can do is set an example of what I do believe which is normalcy, civility, living our lives without taking others." A cup shattered to the left of me and I looked over to see a broken cup on the ground in front of Sally.

"Sorry." She muttered. Josh sighed as he got up to clean up the mess.

"Nice work." He said sarcastically to her.

"Look, Josh, Mother's coming to meet me." Aidan said and I almost choked on my blood.

"Mother?"I questioned him.

"Yeah."

"So, that is happening?" Josh asked. "Because it's been weeks since we heard anything, and I was just thinking maybe she was on a cruise in, like, Alaska."

"You shouldn't talk about Mother like that." I whispered, remembering the things she has done in my hundred years as a vampire.

"It's really nice this time of year."

"When you live forever, a few weeks is nothing." Aidan said. "Look, when Mother gets here, she will determine the proper order and that's that and not even the council can go against her word. It's all good!"

"If there could be a lot less Mother will determine the proper blah, blah, blah and—and floating, broken coffee mugs and less chugging blood like a serial killer when Nora comes down here, that would be awesome."

"Ok, come on." Sally said. "I mean, she knows I'm here. She saw Aidan not die. She saw Glaceon turn into a dog. She saw you wolf out. You know, in the words of Don Aidan, it's all good."

"No, it's not." Nora came into the kitchen with a piece of paper in hand.

"Is Sally here?" She asked.

"She is. What's that?"

"I found it in the bathroom trash can. Her high school reunion is today. Does she even know?"

"Yes, she knows." Sally declared. "She found it in the mail, and expended a lot of energy trying to hide it in the trash. But thanks, Nora!"

"Come on, Sally." I cooed. "She didn't know."

"Did I do something wrong?" Nora asked.

"No, not at all."

"So, you're not going?" Aidan asked.

"What's the point?" Sally asked.

"Um, you can openly stare at people." Josh suggested. Nora looked around curiously.

"Oh!"

"Yeah. She's wondering why she should go."

"Oh!" Nora exclaimed. "You have to go." She turned her back to Sally and Sally looked offended. "It's like going to your own funeral, only way…" Aidan got up and turned Nora around to face Sally before sitting back down. "better."

"Ok, reunions are all about proving your success." Sally said. "Right? What am I proving? That I can sometimes hold a spoon. I can't. I can't. Too depressing. Can't do it."

"She has very valid reservations." Josh explained to Nora.

"Well, she—" Nora said. "You will only be seen in the best light. Everyone there will be talking about you. She was so young, so beautiful."

"Oh, come on." Sally smiled.

"It's true." Josh said.

"Well, I gotta go look at my hair." Sally began to walk out of the kitchen.

"You can't change your hair."

"I can still look at it!"

"Sally, I promise you that you're way better off that everyone who's gonna be starving themselves this week. Am I right, girlfriend?" I stared down at my empty mug not sure whether to tell that Sally left already. "She's gone, isn't she?"

"Yeah." I answered.

"She's considering her hair." Josh explained.

"Right." Nora mumbled.

"Hey, so, we should get to work." Aidan said. "Nora, you wanna…"

"I'm not on till one."

"That's right." Aidan and I walked out the door as Josh and Nora said goodbye.

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I sat on the kitchen table while Josh packed his bag for when he turned that night when Aidan walked into the house. He strolled into the kitchen and sat down in the chair in front of me.

"You've been a little hard on me, Josh." Aidan said after a heavy sigh.

"Really?" Josh questioned him.

"Yeah, a little bit. Well…ok, not a ton. Just a pinch."

"We made a deal."

"I know, and it is the second most important thing in my life." Josh scoffed. "She's asked me to help lead Boston." I let out a nervous chuckle.

"That's funny." I laughed. "Because the pack asked me to lead them. Aidan, do you know that with me leading the pack and you leading the enemy team, things could tear us apart? You do know that right? There's going to be war between the vampires and the familiars and we…" I choked back on my tears. "We might have to fight each other."

"I won't let it come to that, Glaceon."

"Am I supposed to be clutching my pearls in shock?" Josh asked.

"You should be."

"I'm not shocked."

"I know. I'm just telling you, because…In order to be free, really and truly free, I'm gonna have to do this. There's a good chance that I will become…something…that you would not recognize. And when—and if that happens…Glaceon, I'm gonna need you to somehow remind me…what we started here.