A/N: Hello again, and welcome to the fabulous month of February. NOT! Not that I have anything against Black History month or anything. It's just, it's also Valentine's Month….I guess since I did nothing for Christmas, I should do something for that…hmmm…I'll think about it.

Anyway. The story, right.

I don't own HOA. THERE I'VE SAID IT THE MILLIONTH TIME! (Actually…) NO! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO COUNT!

Sorry. Here you go.

Ivory's POV

"Here it is," Oli declared. Whispered really.

We were on the rooftop of an adjacent home to Vera von Devenish's house.

More mansion. The large white stone walls looked more like a bank than anything else. Tall gothic arches swept over the general face of the mansion.

All I could think about was the tiny mishmash of houses we lived in. A ragged patchwork quilt compared to this beauty.

But at the same time, the mansion had a hard, cold edge to it, much like ice. It looks beautiful on the outside, but on the inside, it is cold and gets all over your clothes.

"So how do we get in?" asked/whispered Emma.

Oli looked at her like she was insane.

"You don't."

"We have to," I pointed out, looking back at the building, scanning the rooftop.

"Why?"

"Mum and Dad are probably in there!" I exclaimed. A few crows flew away from us, from my loud outburst.

"Fine," he muttered.

Cassie joined me at the edge of the roof, taking in the building in front of us.

"It looks like the windows, the vent on the roof, and the main door are the only places in," she whispered.

"It's a death trap," muttered Oli.

"No, it's not. Nina and Fabian are probably just in the kitchen and are going to be coming out any minute," Ivan wished.

"It's not going to happen," Emma, the realist forever, muttered. I could just imagine Ivan sneering at her before focusing on the building again.

"I can hope," he mumbled, leaning on my shoulder. I shrugged him off, finally getting an idea.

"If Ivan would stop physically contacting me, I would be able to say that we could just go through the window," I said.

"Which one though?" asked Ivan.

"The one that has the horrid burgundy drapes, it seems like a place they wouldn't go every often," I answered, standing up.

"And here we go again…" muttered Emma.

Mara's POV

When I had finally managed to get the man I had married out of the bounds that had held us both, it was time for an assessment of where we were.

"So you say you were here before?" I asked, pacing around eating my roll that had been on my tray of food (it wasn't good, but it was better than staring at it for hours on end).

"Yes," Jerome answered. He too was eating his roll.

"You escaped…how?" I asked, rubbing my temples.

"Don't you remember?" he asked, smiling up at me. "I walked right out of the jail, then almost got hanged then I escaped thanks to…I think it was you and Amber."

"It was. I remember now. We bribed the guards into letting you go. We told them you weren't really the Night's Cloak," I smiled.

"What did you tell them?"

"That the Night's Cloak was hiding out in the crowd, waiting to kill you," I answered.

"But how is that going to help us get out of here?"

"No idea. But I'm working on it."

Nina's POV

"Don't you need three generations!" I screamed, throwing myself at Fabian, trying to save my love. "With the parents!"

Vera stopped, contemplating what I had said.

"Well Ms. Martin…" she began, moving her stick forward towards Fabian on the floor.

"Mrs. Rutter," I corrected.

She glared at me, her stick hovering over his back. "Let me remind you Ms. Martin, his life is balanced in my hands, not yours. I think it would be wise to follow my directions." She pushed Fabian away from the fire, but the fire on his jacket was still burning. "ALVARO! Get water!" she yelled before sitting down in her previous chair and turning to me.

"Please sit. We have some things we need to discuss."

"Yes," I answered dully, sinking into the chair.

"First of all, why did you come here?" Vera demanded, leaning forward on her stick.

"I came to die," I answered in a deadpan voice. "So you would leave my family alone. But then I realized you needed three generations."

"Yes, we do. That is why we need Trudy," she said. "And Ivory."

"What?" I cried, standing up.

"Why, I haven't told you have I? Before dawn tomorrow, everyone in your precious little family will be…dead."

Amber's POV

I stared at the burgundy drapes that were bugging me. No, killing me slowly.

Then there was a tap on the window, then a shatter of glass.

"Are you an idiot?" I heard someone ask.

"No, she's a genius," a male voice retorted.

"Honestly, just open the drapes," another voice said.

"I'm going, I'm going," muttered yet another voice.

I blinked as the drapes parted, bringing in sunlight and five figures, three females.

"Who are you?" I asked, trying to blink away the light.

"Amber?" asked one of the people.

"OH AMBER!" cried one of the girls. "It's us! We've come to save you!"

"I'm not dead am I?" I asked quickly. "Could you close that drape?"

"Of course," answered the one who had defended the person who had broken the glass. The boy walked over to the drapes and pulled them closed. "Hey, they're black on this side," he muttered, shifting them so that the only light that came in was light rays on the sides.

"So…who's going to untie me?"

Patricia's POV

I was standing outside the cottage, looking back on the city like I had many times over the years, taking in the horrible beauty of it. It was home.

"You thinking about telling them?" called a voice behind me.

I turned around to see Piper standing a few yards behind me. I turned back towards the city. I heard her come up beside me as I answered her, "No. Not really."

"What are you thinking about then?" she asked.

"What life used to be like. Before Vera came. Before she found out that the only way to fully dead a person is to kill three generations."

"But we're not her family. Trudy isn't even our mother…" muttered Piper.

"I know, I just wish Vera knew that."

"Then who knows what she would do to Ivory," whispered Piper, staring out at the city.

I glanced over at her, watching the sun dance across her features.

"Something horrid, that's what," I mumbled.

Alvaro's POV

As I came back into the room, carrying the bucket of water for the poor man's jacket, I heard Vera say, "Why, I haven't told you have I? Before dawn tomorrow, everyone in your precious little family will be…dead."

The word hung in the air. Almost as if it were a person.

An entire family gone by sunrise, just because Vera hated the Night's Cloak. Just because of one person, an entire family has to die because of her.

I thought back on the kitchen I had worked in before I worked for Vera.

It had been the Duke's house. But then, after the Night's Cloak had taken me into custody the Duke declared me not worthy of working for him.

The Night's Cloak hadn't been the woman who was gapping at Vera right then, no it had been someone similar.

Maybe her daughter. If she even had one.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Please, please, please, please review. I love them, and they make me focus.