"Well, you got back quickly," Mary commented as Junior came through the door of Eva and Sean's house. "Did you do what you needed to do?"

"Actually, and you're not gonna believe this, by the time we got to the building where John was keeping them, they were gone!" Junior said. "Malachai and I looked everywhere."

"That's good!" Mary cried. "Maybe they escaped. How wonderful for them!"

"Or maybe they didn't," Eva put forth from her spot on the sofa next to Sean as he put an arm around her and played with her blonde hair. "Maybe they weren't in the building because John's killed them all!"

"He wouldn't do that yet," Junior assured her and sat down. "How's Sarah? Is she all right?"

"Yeah, she's resting right now," Sean told him. "But I'm sure she'd love it if you went into her room and told her you were all right."

Junior nodded and went to greet Sarah and give her a kiss. "Hi," he greeted her as he took her in his arms. "I just wanted to let you know that I made it back all right."

"Well, good," Sarah replied. "So glad to hear."

"How are you doing?" He asked. "Good? Bad? Anything I can do for you?"

Sarah sat up and nodded. "I need some blood, please," she requested. "Then after I have it, would you mind helping me out to the living room? I haven't been out of this room for a while and it's beginning to make me go nuts like the lady in that 'Yellow Wallpaper' story."

"All right," Junior nodded. "I don't see any harm in that."

"I don't know why you would," Sarah told him. "If I say that I want to go out, and I feel well enough to do so, I don't see it being a problem."

"I just don't want you to hurt yourself or anything," Junior tried to explain.

"'Hurt myself'?" Sarah asked in amazement. "Why would you even think that would be an issue?"

"Well, I don't know!" Junior shouted.

"Just get me my blood, will you, please?" Sarah asked as she sighed and pushed her hair back from her face. This conversation alone was beginning to wear her out. He got her the blood and insisted on watching her drink it before he led her out to the sofa.

"I tried to carry her, but she wouldn't let me," Junior explained.

"Well, that's because I'm perfectly capable of walking!" Sarah sighed. "I'm not fat enough to waddle yet and it's not like my legs are broken."

"I was just trying to help," Junior snapped. "Why are you so intent on starting a fight with me? I was hoping that our reunion would be a nice one."

"And it still could be!" Sarah told him. "Why is it my fault that we're having this fight? Why are you heaping all the blame on me, you big jerk? You're the one who went off on some wild crazy adventure and left me all alone! What would you have expected me to do if you hadn't come back? Answer me that."

"Well, you would have been taken care of," Junior told her. "But the point is that I did come back."

"I don't want you going out again," Sarah told him firmly. "You're gonna stay here with me."

"You know I would love to," Junior replied and stroked her face before giving her a kiss. "But there's also this thing I have to do with Malachai-"

"No, you don't!" Sarah shouted. "You don't have to do that. You chose to! That's more important to you than I am!"

Junior shut his eyes. "You know, you're right," he told her. "I'm being thoughtless and I'm sorry."

"Thank you!" Sarah said and took a deep, calming breath. "Now sit next to me, please, so I can give you a hug."

Junior sat down next to her and gave her a hug before standing up and saying, "I have to go pick up something at my parents' but I'll come right back."

"I'm coming with you," Sarah said decisively. "Let's go."


Junior groaned and then zapped them both to his room at his parents,' stopping cold at the sight of the strange young man on his bed looking through his pictures, and urging Sarah to stay in the hallway and out of sight until he came back out

"Why?" Sarah asked.

"There's a strange guy on my bed," Junior explained as Sarah tried to get a peek herself. "He could be dangerous."

"Fine, I'll stay," Sarah agreed. "Just don't take too long."

Junior nodded and then went into his room. "Hello," he said to the young man. "Who are you and why do you have your fingers all over my stuff? That's private."

"Hello, brother," said the young man, finally looking up from the photos to meet Junior's eye. "I'm Christian. You must be Sean."

"Yeah," Junior nodded. "What's it to you? When you say you're my brother, is it from…him? The man who fathered me and who I hate with every fiber of my being?"

"How can you hate him?" Christian asked of the brother who he knew his father prized so highly, much more than Christian himself.

"He won't let me have a life of my own!" Junior replied. "I have to do exactly what he says and see who he says. Or not see who he says."

"Oh," Christian picked up a stack of photos that were beside him on the bed. "Are you trying to tell me that Father has issues with this girl? Is this Sarah?"

"Yes!" Junior snapped and snatched them out of Christian's hands. "Don't you look at those! They're private!"

"Do you love her?" Christian asked. "This girl, I mean?"

"I'm not telling you!" Junior shook his head. "Anyone who has anything to do with John I don't trust."

"Fine," Christian said, getting in Junior's face. "If you won't tell me that you love her, she must not matter to you. I'm feeling angry. I just might kill her." He grabbed another picture, a family photo of Liam, Mary, and Junior that made him twitch with envy. "Or I could kill your mother. Which would you prefer?"

"I would prefer that you don't kill either of them because they both mean a lot to me," Junior told him firmly. "Don't you have anyone like that? Who you love so much that you would do anything for them? Protect them? Keep them close to you all the time?"

Although Christian was feeling very angry and was determined to hold on to that and not let his brother see that he had a soft side, Junior mentioning him loving someone made him think of Jill and, just for a moment, his control slipped. Junior saw that there was some semblance of a caring nature in his brother and he was quick to jump on that.

"I think I'm right about you loving someone," he told him. "And that's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. I'm happy for you. And I also think that the person you love is the reason why, no matter how tough you talk, you won't actually go through with killing anyone close to me." He got in his face. "I'm right about that, aren't I?"

Christian didn't answer, but instead glared at his brother and gave him a little push so there was space between them. Then he said, "All right. Maybe there is. But that's none of your business."

"Don't worry," Junior put his hands up and backed out of the room. "I wasn't gonna ask for details. Now would you mind getting out of my room, please?"

"Fine," Christian sighed. "There's nothing else worth looking at here anyway."

When he was gone, Junior called for Sarah to come in and he put his arms around her. "Who was that guy?" She asked. "Did I hear him say he was your brother?"

"Yep, he's my brother," Junior confirmed. "Aren't I lucky?"

"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "You really are. Can we go home now?"

"Let me get what I came for, because with my brother around, I got distracted," he told her and went in to grab his toothbrush and toothpaste because he'd used up the travel-sized extras he'd brought on the trip with him. Then he said, "All right, Sarah. We can go home now and get you that blood you said you needed."

"Good," Sarah nodded. "Cause I need it even more now." She paused. "Or we could just go back into your room and I could take it from you. That would be quicker. Do you mind?"

Junior looked into Sarah's big brown eyes. "All right," he said and pulled her into the room, sitting her down on the bed and offering her his bare neck. "Go ahead."

"Thank you," she told him, then put her arms around him as her fangs lengthened and she stuck them in his skin, holding him tight until she'd had her fill, detached herself, and they were able to head back to his uncle's.


"How much longer do we have to walk?" Leslie asked as Patrick pulled her along behind him and then finally told her to hop on his back so he could carry her piggyback. "I'm tired!"

"Oh, you're not the only one," Todd said irritably. "We all are, but the long walk and complete lack of direction is a small price to pay for getting out of that damn warehouse. I've never been so pleased to breathe in fresh air before."

Since their release, they'd been following nothing but their own instinct (and a potential address for a safe house shouted about by John when he was yelling at one of the guards and didn't think they were listening) for more days than they would have preferred when it came to looking for a place to stay. Finally, when they all felt like they were going to pass out from exhaustion, Caleb found Malachai's house.

"I have a good feeling about this place," he said. "Let's see if they'll let us in. And it has the address that we heard."

"Are you crazy?" Leslie wanted to know. "We can't just knock on some stranger's door and ask them to take us in! What if they're weirdos or perverts or something?"

"If they are, we can just zap them away and take possession of the house for ourselves," Todd said. "Is that all right with everyone?"

"Well, what other choice do we have?" Patrick asked. "Go ahead and do it."

So Todd knocked and when the door opened, Leslie let out a scream.

"My god," Helene said, a hand on her heart. "Are you all right?"

"We've been walking a long time and we just…this is gonna sound crazy, but can we come in and stay for a little while?" Patrick asked. "Maybe have something to eat? We're not dangerous or crazy, we promise."

"Are you?" Todd asked, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Helene.

"No, I…I'm not, I promise," Helene assured him as she let them in. "Can I ask why you've been walking for so long?"

"We were kidnapped by a very bad man who hates our birth father," Leslie explained. "We're all half-siblings with the same father, who apparently wants to use us to defeat evil."

"And are you the result of sperm donation?" Helene asked as she brought them all drinks.

"How do you know that?" Caleb asked.

"Cause my husband is your father," Helene explained. "And you're not the first kids to come here saying what you're saying. Do you want to meet him?"

"Okay," Patrick agreed. "Why not?"

Helene got to her feet and was prepared to go fetch Malachai when he came into the room, a shocked look on his face. "They're here, aren't they?" He asked her. "The rest of the children from my coven are here. They managed to escape John's confinement."

"Actually, his son let us out," Caleb explained. "Wanted to take some sort of vengeance on the old man so he set us free."

"Ah," Malachai nodded. "Well, whatever way it happened, it's good that you're here. Now I can make more long-term plans."

"Plans for what?" Leslie asked.

"You'll see," Malachai told her. "Now, after you've drunk and eaten, why don't we find you places to sleep?"

"You're gonna let us stay here with you when we just showed up without any sort of invitation?" Todd asked. He definitely hadn't been expecting that."

"Of course," Malachai replied easily. "Do you have anywhere else to go? Cause if you do, I would be more than happy to let you stay at the place of your choice."

"No, we'll stay here," Leslie told him. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome," Malachai replied. Then he went over to Helene and kissed her. "And thank you for taking this so well. I'm very grateful."

"Well, it's really no trouble," Helene replied, trying not to sound surprised. "I'm actually quite used to it now. Is that all of them?"

"Yes," Malachai assured her. "All thirteen accounted for. I promise there won't be any more."

"All right," Helene let out a breath and sat down on the sofa. "That's good to hear. Cause once all of them have settled in here, we won't have any more rooms left. Annie and Jill moved out just in time, didn't they?"