Keller drew in a deep breath, realizing that there was nowhere that she could go to escape the bedlam surrounding her.

After the meeting was adjourned everyone dissipated and began to work feverishly at completing their assigned tasks. And while Keller was extremely grateful for the commitment and dedication that she was seeing, she hadn't realized that carrying out the plan would be so hectic.

Winnie was in the dining room with Iliana's parents attempting to convince them that seeing their distant relative, who lived in some remote town in Iowa and who Iliana's parents had never had even the slightest interest in visiting, was a good idea. They were slightly more resistant than Keller had assumed they would be.

Nissa was pleading with yet another airline company to sell her three tickets. The first five that she had tried had been unresponsive to her various methods of persuasion. She had tried using the "family crisis" line, insinuated that the tickets were for someone of importance, used mild threats, and even resorted to bribery. She didn't seem to be having much luck with this new company.

Iliana was busying herself with getting everything that had any connection to any of her friends out of her room and into boxes that she would take with her to Jaime's house. This was no small task. Every so often Keller heard banging on the floor above her which meant that Iliana had dropped yet another box or knocked something else over in her haste to save her friends from any potential danger.

And Keller was standing in the epicenter of it all.

She felt somewhat helpless as she stood still as stone, listening to raised voices and falling objects. It was agony to be in the midst of chaos and have nothing to do.

She checked the clock for the hundredth time. There were still two more hours of school, which meant that she still had to wait two hours and fifteen or so minutes for Brett.

Maybe she could just ago to the school and convince him to play hooky.

As she pondered this, Nissa walked up to her and shoved a piece of paper in her face.

"Here you go," she said triumphantly. Her eyes were alight with the thrill of victory.

Keller skimmed over the piece of paper in her hands.

"The plane leaves at six thirty tomorrow morning," Nissa said aloud as Keller read.

Keller looked up at Nissa in awe. She had never been more amazed by the vampire.

"This is great," she told her, breaking into a grin.

Nissa smiled back. "You don't want to know what I had to do to get those tickets," she said.

Keller looked at her inquisitively. "Anything illegal?" she asked.

Nissa shook her head quickly. "No, nothing like that," she assured Keller, but as she said it her lips formed a small, mischievous smile.

Keller was going to press her for more information when they heard Winnie shout a spell at Iliana's parents which apparently didn't work because they responded by asking her if she was felling well.

"Oh Godess," Keller groaned.

Nissa nodded. "How long has she been at it?" she asked.

Keller shrugged. "Maybe an hour, they were trying to walk away at one point because they have work and stuff but she practically dove on them and started crying so that they would listen." She shuddered, "If this doesn't work and she doesn't make them forget about this whole thing they're going to start looking for a straightjacket for her."

Nissa laughed a little. "I'm sure that she can handle this," she said.

Keller didn't say anything. Convincing Iliana's parents to leave was supposed to be the easiest part of the plan. They were supposed to bend to Winnie's will without question.

For a moment Keller considered the possibility that Iliana's parents might be stronger than she had given them credit for, but that was unlikely. They probably just really didn't like this relative of theirs.

"She better be able to," Keller muttered.

Nissa gave her a sideways glance. "Are you alright Boss?"

Keller didn't have the energy to pretend that she was fine.

"I can't just stand here and do nothing," she told Nissa. "I'm just going to start criticizing people's inadequacies."

Nissa snorted. "Ah, those pesky inadequacies."

They both stopped speaking and listened to Winnie chanting in the dining room. Keller was taking that and the fact that Iliana's parents were no longer protesting as a good sign.

"Have you checked on Iliana recently?" Nissa whispered.

Keller shook her head. She had no intention of getting involved with Iliana's project.

"I would check to make sure that she hasn't forgotten anything crucial, but I'm pretty sure that she's taken care of it all," she responded.

"Making sure that all of her friends are completely safe?" Nissa guessed.

Keller turned to her and gave her a pointed look. "Its Iliana," she reminded the vampire, "what do you think?"

Nissa nodded.

As they resumed listening to Winnie Keller began to wonder what she would do if Brett refused to let them stay. She had to admit that it was a possibility. Not only would the unrequited love of his life, or his current crush or whatever he thought of Iliana as be there, her sortof fiancé would be there as well. Keller hadn't really thought about how Brett would react to having Galen in his house.

However, Jamie also lived there and she was Iliana's best friend. There was no way that she would turn Iliana and her cousins and her boyfriend away.

Although, Keller did attack her that one day in the hall, so Jamie might still be harboring some sort of resentment towards her.

She tried to reassure herself that there was nothing to worry about, that Brett and Jamie and their parents would surely take them in, but thoughts of Galen and Brett together in the same house started to eat away at her confidence. It was clear that they really disliked each other, although Keller wouldn't go so far as to say that they hated each other. How could they when they didn't even know each other? But she couldn't shake the feeling that the rift between them was the result of something more than their mutual desire for Iliana. When they were together it was like every fiber in their beings was compelling them to destroy the other one. To Keller it had looked almost instinctual.

"Hey, Boss," Nissa said nudging Keller with her elbow.

Keller turned to her. Nissa pointed at Iliana, who was standing in the kitchen. Her arms were wrapped around two enormous bags.

"I'm finished," Iliana announced.

Keller thought that the question was unnecessary, but she asked anyway.

"Are you sure that you have everything?"

Iliana nodded emphatically, but after a moments hesitation her eyes became troubled.

"Well, maybe I should go look again," she said, placing her bags on the floor and turning to go back upstairs.

"No, its fine," Keller told her, regretting her question. "I'm sure that you have everything."

Iliana turned back to them. "I just don't want them to find anything," she said in a small voice.

Keller held her gaze. "They won't," she said.

Iliana's fearful expression began to smooth out. She seemed placated.

"Alright," she said. She let out a dainty sigh. "I'm going to go find Galen."

Keller watched Iliana walk out of the kitchen, her face lit up at the prospect of seeing her beloved.

"Well, one project done," she said, trying to be positive.

Nissa opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

"What?" Keller asked, sensing that Nissa had something to say that she wasn't sure she should.

"Nothing," Nissa said quickly.

"No, really," Keller insisted.

Nissa looked like she might laugh. "Well, that was just very nice of you is all," she said.

Keller bristled. "What do you mean?"

Nissa chuckled. "It was kind of you to reassure her, and without even insulting her too."

Keller gave her a dirty look. "I just wanted her to stop freaking out," she grumbled. "She was going to sweep that room a million times if she thought that there was even the slightest chance of the Night World finding any of her precious friends."

"Wouldn't you?" Nissa asked.

Keller thought for a moment and realized that Nissa had a point. She would do everything in her power to protect the people she cared about if she perceived them to be in danger.

"Yes," she answered finally.

"Maybe you and Iliana aren't so different in that respect," Nissa mused.

Keller shot her a severely dark look.

"I hardly think that it would be that awful," Nissa said defensively. "I know that you hate her but she really isn't the worst person."

"I don't hate her," Keller snapped. "Why does everyone think that I hate her?"

"I have no idea," Nissa responded, giving her a crooked grin.

Keller wouldn't let up. "Really, why do you think that I hate her?" she pressed.

Nissa sighed, probably contemplating the consequences of answering honestly.

"Well," she began, "the way that you treat her is a bit of an indication, and the things that you say about her, and the way that you roll your eyes almost every time you hear her name."

"That's not hate though," Keller insisted. "It's just…its not hate."

Nissa said nothing but from the look on her face Keller could tell that she wasn't convinced.

Why does it matter if you hate her, Keller asked herself. As long as you don't let your feelings get in the way of you doing your job it doesn't make any difference.

As Keller contemplated this, Winnie burst into the room.

"They're going!" She announced.

Keller and Nissa had to fight to suppress their laughter. Winnie looked like she had just physically battled Iliana's parents. Her hair was in a flurry around her and her shirt was wrinkled. As she walked into the living room she immediately plopped down on the couch, weary from the long, hard fight.

"Where are they now?" Keller asked.

Winnie looked a bit dejected. She probably thought that for what she had accomplished she deserved a huge gold medal.

Regrettably, Keller was short on those.

"They're packing," Winnie informed them. "They'll be ready in no time, and they're actually really excited to see Mitchell now."

"Is that the relative?" Keller asked realizing she still didn't know the name of Iliana's distant cousin, or uncle, or whatever.

Winnie nodded, "Iliana told me his name."

"You and Iliana seem to be sharing a lot lately," Keller retorted, the words spilling out of her mouth before she had a chance to think about them.

Winnie frowned. "She needed to tell me that because I needed to tell her parents exactly who to see," she explained hesitantly.

"You know that it's not just that," Keller said, crossing her arms. She hadn't planned on confronting Winnie about Iliana so soon, but she had already broached the subject. "You and Iliana have become very close lately, and I need to know that your," she smiled at Winnie mockingly, "bond or whatever you want to call it isn't going to get in the way of you doing what you're told to do."

Winnie looked indignant, and a little wounded.

"I have been following orders," she said. "And my friendship with Iliana is not going to affect my ability to do my job."

"It better not," Keller warned.

Winnie sat up abruptly, knocking over a pillow in the process.

"I don't think that I deserve this since I haven't done anything to sabotage this mission," she rebuked.

"No, nothing yet," Keller agreed. "But I can see that you want to side with Iliana, and I can't have you doing that when important decisions are being made."

Winnie scrunched her face. Anger poured out of her. Her hair began to look redder. It gave her the appearance of being on fire.

"She needs someone to stick up for her since you have some sort of vendetta against her," she shouted.

Keller felt the blood drain from her face. She couldn't believe what Winnie had just accused her of.

"No, I do not," she said, feeling an eerie calmness creep over her. "I'll admit that I'm not particularly fond of her, but I have never made any decision without making sure that it's what's best for her and Galen."

Winnie continued to look reproachful.

"You don't think about her when you make your decisions though," she insisted. "You never take her opinions or ideas into consideration at all, you just expect her to go along with whatever you say!"

"If she had any good ideas I would certainly take them into consideration," Keller said, "but her opinions and ideas tend to get in the way of my attempts to keep her alive."

Winnie turned and gave Keller the cold shoulder. Keller found that to be very childish.

"Look Winnie," she said quietly, "I would die for Iliana."

Winnie turned to her, her eyes as bright and fiery as her hair.

"So would I."

Nissa, who had been silent until that point, told whoever was listening that she would die for Iliana as well.

Godess, do we need to draw straws to see who gets to die for her first, Keller thought.

"Well then as long as you continue to follow orders and trust that what I'm doing is for the good of, well, all of mankind actually, then we're good," Keller told Winnie. "I just wanted to clear that up."

Winnie stood up and promptly walked out of the room, leaving Keller to congratulate herself for making things that much more complicated.

Probably eager to relieve some of the tension, Nissa joked that Winnie's wrath was more dangerous than that of the entire Night World. Keller couldn't bring herself to laugh.

"Boss," Nissa tried again, "She'll move on, just give her some time."

Keller ran her hand through her thick hair, but it got caught in a mass of snarls. She struggled to extricate it for a few seconds until it finally came free.

When she looked back at Nissa the vampire was attempting to keep a straight face. Seeing Nissa like that made something inside of Keller snap.

"We don't have time!" She shouted. Her hands flew to her head as if to keep it intact. "I can't have this right now, there's just way too much," she mumbled in the direction of the floor.

She heard soft footsteps and then felt a hand on her arm. She was confused but oddly comforted. Stupidly, she imagined that it was Galen, because his touch had a funny way of making even the worst things seem bearable. But that fantasy was quickly ruined when she remembered that Iliana had gone to find Galen, and that the two were probably together that very minute.

When she raised her head she saw that it was Nissa's hand that was resting on her arm, which she supposed made sense because Nissa was the only other person in the room.

Keller gently moved away so that Nissa's hand slipped off of her arm.

"Thanks," she said. "I just…" she trailed off, not wanting to show Nissa how much she was struggling, even though she had the sneaking suspicion that Nissa already knew the extent of her struggles. Though Keller tried, she had a hard time hiding it when she was around Nissa. Maybe she just trusted her a little more than the others.

Nissa waved her hand to show that Keller didn't need to explain. Keller felt her gratitude for Nissa grow exponentially.

"It's alright Boss," Nissa said reassuringly. "It'll all work out."

Keller nodded absently, hoping to the Godess that Nissa was right.

After that, Keller let herself be absorbed by the chaos once more. She waited impatiently, constantly checking the clock. After an hour of watching the hands move excruciatingly slowly, Keller began to feel the time had ceased to progress.

Eventually the designated time rolled around, and Keller rejoiced at finally being able to contribute to the plan.

She rushed to door the moment that she heard Brett's car pull into the driveway. As she flew down the hall she tried to tell herself that she was merely excited at the prospect of getting out of the house and away from certain people, but as she tugged at the handle and whipped the door open she couldn't ignore the way her stomach flipped at the sight of Brett reclining in the drivers seat of his spectacular car.

Maybe her excitement might have had a little to do with him.

She slowed her pace as made her way down the front steps. Even if she was somewhat happy to see Brett she didn't want him to know.

Brett ushered her into the car with a lazy gesture. He eyed her beneath heavy lids.

"You look much better," he informed her.

Keller stopped dead in her tracks. The small smile that had been threatening to form on her face evaporated.

"Why thank you," she said sarcastically, throwing him a dirty look.

Brett smirked at her. "What I meant was that you looked a bit disgruntled this morning and now you look," he paused and grinned wickedly, "less disgruntled."

Keller was about to toss some sort of rejoinder at him but a thought silenced her. She had to be on her best behavior around him if she was going to have any chance of persuading him to let her use his house as a temporary hideaway until the ceremony. She had to make sure that this was the one time that she didn't find a way to anger him. She suspected that this would be difficult.

It was just that he got mad so easily, and he made it so easy for other people to get mad at him. He was so volatile, and even though Keller had no evidence that his mood wasn't just a side effect of his medication, she had a feeling that there was something else behind it. She also had the sense that he couldn't control it.

"Well…" she said, realizing that she had taken a long time to respond. He probably thought that she was an imbecile.

And now she had to try to think of something to say that was pleasant, but not something so pleasant that he would become suspicious.

"Keller, are you alright?" Brett asked, cutting into her thoughts with a semi-concerned voice.

Too late.

"Ya," she said quickly, waving her hand as if trying to brush away his concerns. Her mind raced feverishly to find something to say.

"You seem a little disoriented," Brett observed. "Do you want to sit down?"

Keller nodded and hopped into the car. Brett put his hand out to steady her, but she deftly avoided it.

"Are you sure you're not going to faint or anything?" he asked warily.

Keller snorted. As if she'd do something so dainty.

"No," she assured him mockingly. "It's just that your presence is so overwhelming." She gave him a crooked smile, hoping that he would be satisfied.

He stared at her. "You're really strange," he said after awhile.

He shook his head as he started the engine. It roared to life and moments later they were speeding off.

Brett continued to glance intermittently at Keller as they cruised down the now busy road.

"You're quiet," he said. It sounded like an accusation.

"Oh, well," she tried to summon up a decent response, "I'm tired."

Brett nodded and focused on the road ahead of them.

"Well, as you tend to yell at me and jump out of things when you're awake, this might be a nice change," he said.

Keller felt her lips twitch. It made her sad to have to suppress the myriad of insults that she had conjured up. She was itching to just let one slip.

Brett seemed to notice her internal struggle.

"You're really alright?" he asked finally.

Keller wanted to laugh, scream, and smack him all at once. He was making it so damn hard for her to just be pleasant. It was like he was suspicious of her when she wasn't yelling at him or jumping out of his car.

"Yes I am absolutely fine," she snapped at him.

He grinned in response. He seemed relieved.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asked smugly.

Keller groaned. Apparently an explanation was the only thing that was going to silence him.

"It's just," she began, but stopped short. A perfectly believable lie was on the tip of her tongue but for some reason she didn't really feel like lying to Brett. And as she thought about it, she realized that she could tell him a sort if half truth and it would be just as good.

"Its just that when you said that I looked disgruntled this morning, that was sort of true and I was just…thinking about that I guess," she told him.

She was surprised, and extremely relieved, when Brett didn't ask why she was disgruntled.

She was more surprised by the look on his face when she told him. His expression had gone from placid to a combination darkness and bitterness and hopefulness. The mixture was shocking.

However the look was fleeting and moments later Brett was grinning again, though it took a second before the grin reached his eyes.

"I guess that makes sense," he said. "You don't seem like someone who can stand a family like Iliana's for too long before some kind of unpleasant fate befalls you."

Keller gave him a pointed look. "Living with that family is an unpleasant fate."

Brett looked back at her and chuckled. "I'm afraid that most people would disagree with you," he said.

"No I don't think so," Keller mused, "because eventually they would realize that it's all fake and ridiculous."

"You really think that it's all fake?" Brett asked, sounding intrigued.

"Of course it is," Keller said assuredly. She had no doubt in her mind that Iliana's family was just putting on an elaborate play for the rest of the world to admire and envy. Whether or not they had gotten too wrapped up in it to recognize that it was fake, Keller didn't know. She had just seen too much evil to believe that any family could be so…good.

"Somehow I don't think that Iliana's personality is just a façade," Brett said.

Suddenly Keller felt her face heat up with embarrassment. She should have checked herself before she sounded off about Iliana and her family. Here she was bashing Brett's unrequited love or whatever and her family and she hadn't even considered that it might be offensive to him.

She also hadn't considered that it might be deleterious to her cause.

"Is something wrong or are you just boiling with rage?" Brett inquired mildly.

Keller turned to him and tried to somehow drain the color from her cheeks.

"No," she said calmly. "I just thought, I'm sorry if that was mean."

She waited for him to say that it was fine but to refrain from making those remarks about Iliana but instead Brett said, "No, its fine, it's the resentment of happy people resurfacing." He smiled infuriatingly at her. "I expect it now."

Be calm. Think about the plan. You can't get mad. You can't get mad. Be calm.

These thoughts did nothing to quench the fire that had rekindled in Keller. Every fiber in her being was yearning to lash out at Brett. Was he really stupid enough to bring up the exact thing that had made her fling herself out of his car the day before? It was like he was deliberately trying to get a rise out of her.

Oh enough. She couldn't keep up the charade.

"You know what Brett," she said in dangerously calm voice, "I think that you accuse me of resenting people because you're trying to project your feelings on me."

There. It wasn't really an insult but it made her feel much better.

Brett looked ponderous, not wounded. This bothered Keller.

"You think that I resent happy people so I'm trying to convince myself that you do too?" he clarified. He didn't wait for Keller to respond before he said. "Well, I don't resent happy people, but I'll admit that I envy them."

Keller was silent. His honesty was surprising. It had caught her off guard.

And it also made her intensely curious.

"Why are you unhappy?" she asked in a matter of fact way.

Brett let out a dark laugh. His deep blue eyes flashed.

"Keller there's a lot about me that you don't know," he said bitterly.

Keller had an impulse to laugh, it sounded so cliché, like a line to make himself seem mysterious and troubled.

But, on second thought, he had a point. She barely knew him as it was, and she had suspected for some time that he had some sort of inner turmoil. She decided not to mock him and waited for him to explain.

When he didn't she asked, "And this stuff that I don't know, it prevents you from being happy?"

Brett smirked in an unpleasant way.

"I'm fairly sure that it is not my destiny to be happy. Happiness is irrelevant," he told her.

Keller couldn't help but laugh at that.

"What, you've never even experienced momentary happiness," she scoffed.

Brett turned his frown on her, and Keller found that it was more unnerving than she had imagined.

Brett let go of the steering wheel, which was fine since they were at a red light, and ran his hands through his hair.

"I guess I have…conflicting ideas about what happiness is and what brings it about," he explained.

Keller continued to look at him, waiting for him to elaborate. He didn't.

"So decide," Keller said simply. "Which one makes you feel…better?"

Brett let out a breath. Self depreciation colored the twisted smile on his face.

"What I mean," he began, then stopped and stared at her. His penetrating eyes were filled with questions that he didn't seem to want to ask even though they were of the utmost importance. Keller wanted to tell him to ask her, just so that he wouldn't have to look so torn and conflicted.

He turned back to the road and shook his head slowly.

"I mean that I don't think that my purpose in life is to seek happiness," he said at last.

Keller let his words sink in.

She wanted to refute his statement, but how could she when she felt the same way? She had given her life to fighting the Night World and defending Circle Daybreak and while it gave her fulfillment it didn't necessarily make her happy. For her happiness was irrelevant too.

But Brett was a normal human teenager. He should be able to look at life and see promise and opportunity. Not the darkness that surrounded Keller every day.

She wanted him to be happy, maybe almost in a selfish way. She felt a kinship with him, this human boy. He was unhappy and alone, and so was she. She wanted him to find happiness because he might actually have a chance at it, and she had a sinking feeling that happiness wasn't something that was ever going to happen for her. She wanted him to be happy for the both of them.

At that moment she vowed to fight the Night World with everything that she had, so that Brett would never have to be burdened with more troubles than he had right then.

"What do you think that your purpose is?" she asked quietly.

Brett just stared at the windshield somberly, but out of the corner of her eye Keller saw that his knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard.

He muttered something that was almost inaudible even to Keller. She couldn't quite make out the words, but it had almost sounded like "rule and destroy".

But that didn't make any sense, she told herself. He could have said any number of things.

The words hadn't disturbed her. What had disturbed her was how soft his voice had been. Even human whispers were easy for Keller to hear. Humans usually only lowered their voices enough so that other humans wouldn't hear them, but they never considered that others might hear. Brett had made his voice so quiet that if Keller hadn't been listening intently she would have completely missed that he said anything at all, let alone make out his words. She felt a wave of paranoia sweep through her as she wondered how he knew to lower his voice that much.

What if he knew what she was?

Don't be ridiculous, the voice of reason chided her. He's probably ashamed or embarrassed or just doesn't want to talk about it. This is not evidence that he has any idea of what you are.

Keller shook off the paranoia.

"I don't think that anyone is destined to be happy," she said firmly.

Brett looked at her skeptically. "Iliana?" was all he said.

Keller shook her head. "No. Iliana wasn't destined to be happy. But she does things that make her happy. People find their own happiness, if that's what they want."

Brett's expression didn't change, in fact he looked almost pitying, as if she were some naïve child who was unaware of the harsh ways of the world.

Keller cursed mentally and wished that she was better at articulating her ideas. She hadn't really made a very convincing point. And she really wanted to convince Brett. As she looked into his hopeless eyes she found that she wanted nothing more than to drive the hopelessness away. For a moment she doubted that it was even possible for him to ever be happy.

But she really wanted it to be possible for him.

An idea struck her. She grinned, which probably seemed very out of place to Brett.

"Well, since the universe has dictated that you should be perpetually unhappy, why don't we stick it to destiny and go try to," she paused and furrowed her brows, "have fun?"

It felt very strange to say the sentence. The last word felt completely foreign to her.

But somehow it worked. Brett smiled in a way that made Keller sure that the boy that she had met that day with Iliana was an entirely different person from the one that she was with. There was no way that the Brett from that day and the Brett sitting next to her were the same.

"That was difficult for you wasn't it?" he teased.

Keller frowned at him.

Brett held up his hands in surrender. "Ok, let's try it," he said, and gunned the engine.