I sat cross-legged on the living room floor of the sisters' living room. I had slipped on a pair of slinky sweatpants in order to keep the raging hormones dormant and my dress had tuned into a bunched up night shirt. I twitched uncomfortably, folding my legs beneath me tighter until my toes began to grow numb, along with my heart. My hair was matted with the smell of cigarette smoke and I had washed off every ounce of makeup in the bathroom. I looked like a hangover mess, minus the night of alcohol.

The room was chillingly silent. The Redferns let the Carters know that we weren't wanted in their family meeting. It was like an uneasy meeting of two families at a drawn-out wedding. The sisters and their insistent brother were dueling it out in the kitchen. They were silent for the most part, giving me a personal ride to a much needed mental institution. I was going insane not knowing, not being able to listen. Rowan had sat me down here on the floor like a puppy dog, obeying me to stay. The look in her eyes was collected, strong. We had locked looks and I felt as though she was trying to tell me that I wouldn't be so unknowing for very long. Rowan thought of me as one of her own sisters, she couldn't keep things from me.

Mark didn't seem that agitated. He got lost in the length of his fingernails as he started gnawing on each one. Apparently his nail epidemic was more devastating than the world's. I slapped him across his calf, bulging my eyes in disappointment. He shrugged with a 'what?' look.

"Aren't you curious?" I whispered to his gestured question, as if the Redferns were trying to listen to us and whispering would drive them crazy with curiosity.

"Mare. They're immortal superhumans. I think they can handle whatever the problem is." Mark liked having other people for problem solving. Life was easier that way.

"What if Jade has to leave? Isn't that important to you?" Take that, dispassionate brother.

"I would go with her." He looked back at his nails, spotting an oddly shaped one worth biting. It was that simple for him. Sure, just leave everything and dive into the unknown with the first woman I've ever dated. Is that what's twisting around in the gears in his head? He didn't hesitate. He didn't stutter. He was so sure about leaving, like it was deciding to pick up the pizza instead of getting it delivered. It was that easy. Why isn't it simple for me and Ash? Does Ash want me to leave with him?

"What about your life here?" I asked, almost pathetically. I had graduated. I had come full-circle with my adolescence. But what about Mark? I didn't know the road he was on and it scared me.

"Well apparently the sun is going to explode, or all the animals are going to escape every zoo across the country or a world of vampires, witches and shapeshifters are going to scour the land until not a human is left-"

"Melodramatic, much?" I interrupted, slightly laughing at the thought of an animal circus being the reason Ash had to come into town.

"I'm just saying. We're apart of something bigger. Something bigger than Mark's high school graduation with a 2.8 GPA." He pressed his hands to his thighs, relinquishing his nails to the air. His face was etched of stone, eyes focused on the swinging door of the kitchen. We had a moment of silence before my nerves fizzled.

"I can't wait anymore." My legs shot out beneath me. My feet were so numb even the thought of standing made me almost fall over.

"They're just settling a few things. They'll tell us what we need to know." Mark said cooly, knowing my balance was unreliable.

"Well I at least want to go in and make a cup of coffee."

Mark shot me a look that only a brother could give, mentally giving off the question, really?

I scrambled to my feet, fighting the tingles forming in my legs and inched to the door separating me and information. I pressed my ear to the door, feeling like an inexperienced detective who had run out of good ideas.

"Would you like a glass?"

"Oh, yes. Good idea."

"I'm kidding, Mare."

I balked, giving him a look that only an annoyed sister could give. It was all pointless. Even Nancy Drew couldn't figure out what these vampires were saying. I pressed my ear back to the wood anyway, listening to the muffled mumbling. Even the warped undertone of Ash's voice made my heart flutter. My cheeks burned and bumps began to rise on my arms despite the burning of my insides.

I struggled to listen a few more minutes until the door swung open with brute force, taking me be surprise. I stumbled forward, head first, exposing me for the Peeping Tom that I was. The sisters' eyes were on me like owls, wide with shocked suspicion. Kestrel glowered at me with irritation, her fingernails tapping on the wood of the door.

"Nice." Kestrel's voice simmered. "Can't have a family meeting without the sibling squad trying to inch their way in."

"Uh, I've been sitting here the whole time." Mark failed to defend me, despite the fact that we were just referred to as a 'squad'. Jade grinned with pride as if he just admitted to winning the Nobel Prize.

I stopped listening when I noticed that Ash was gone. The sisters kept rambling, bickering between each other. They were just background music to me, tunes you ignore while waiting in an elevator. Where did he go? I scanned the kitchen, waiting for him to pop out of a cupboard - I'm right here, silly.

"It's not like she heard anything anyways. Human hearing is as useful as seeing to a bat." Jade insulted with a bob of her head. She could call you a moron to your face, but if she finished it up with a smile and a curtsy you'd forgive her.

Rowan was the only one who noticed my soundless panic. She arched an eyebrow at me with amusement. My relationship with her brother had become a sociological experiment for her. She had always referred to Ash as my soulmate when talking to me, as if it was vital information. I think she was curious about the force that drove us. The feeling that carried Ash into a new world of forgiveness. The pink haze that encapsulated us in our best moments was a cloud of curiosity for Rowan. Her own Riemann hypothesis she can only hope to solve.

If she ever does, I hope she'll share her notes because I'm just as lost.

"Well." Rowan sighed with soft conviction. "We have much to discuss."