Merril opened her eyes. Her body ached. As she sat up she saw Kevfire cradling his head, still sitting on the polished marble floor of Malcolm's office. Haley crawled to the sofa, wiping away the tiniest remnant of goo from the corner of her mouth. Malcolm turned from his computer screen and did a double take. "Hey. Are you guys ok?"

Kevfire moaned. "Nah, we just fucking died dude." Merril stood up, her body protesting with creaks and cracks. She shook her head at Kevfire, trying to silently convey that he needed to shut up. Malcolm looked confusedly between them all. Kevfire looked around. "Hey, where's Clayton?"

Malcolm looked at the three vampires strewn across his floor. He had no idea what happened when his back was turned, or how they'd changed their clothes, but he didn't want to know. However, it was his job to ask. "Who's Clayton?"

Kevfire raised a hand, one finger extended. "Honorary member of Team Fuckhead."

Merril dragged him to his feet and slapped a hand over his mouth. "Shut up. He doesn't know what he's talking about. We've had a rough night, uhhh so we're going to rest up. Permission to leave."

Malcolm just stared, trying to process what was happening. "Uh, well I do kind of need you guys to go find Fish."

Kevfire broke free of Merril's grasp and in a parody of his actions in the same situation that felt so long ago now, he started rummaging through Malcolm's desk. Ignoring Malcolm again he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. With his left hand a blur he filled the page with his elegant curling script. He handed it to Malcolm and grabbed Haley, throwing her over his shoulder and heading for the door. "You'll find Fish at this address, upstairs in a wardrobe. There will also be a mage that's been turned to glass, and a lot of dead gang members."

Malcolm watched him walk out, and then turned to Merril who shrugged. With a quick salute she also made her way out. He looked at the paper in his hand, then at the door, and back to the paper. Grabbing his desk phone he figured he might as well follow up on the information. This was insane, but maybe he'd get his second back without too much trouble.

"Kev, wait!" Merril sprinted down the hall towards the elevator trying to catch up to him. Haley was struggling on his shoulder but he didn't seem to notice. Even moving naturally he was easily going twice the speed of a human. "Damn it, will you stop?!"

He whirled on her, his face a carefully constructed mask of indifference. Underneath was barely restrained panic, and the beginnings of a mental break down. Haley ducked as he turned, barely missing knocking her head against one of the plate glass walls separating out one of the clubs. She quickly looked back, thinking maybe she'd hit her head after all.

Sitting at a table inside, was the glass man. He was watching them, and catching her eye, lifted his drink and gave a wave. Before she could say anything he got up and walked into the crowd, and she quickly lost sight of him.

Merril finally slowed to a jog before stopping in front of them. "Ok, we need to talk about what happened."

Kevfire hissed through his teeth, his grip on Haley tightening in his irritation. "I don't fucking know. We all just died, didn't we? And we go to Hell. Like, no question about it. So is Hell, just us repeating this shit over and over?"

He was babbling. Normally he kept such tight control of himself. Merril had never heard him babble out of nerves before. That was her thing. She walked up to him and reached out and hugged him. He flinched at her touch, almost pulling back, before stroking her head with his free hand. She looked up at him, trying to keep her own fears down.

"I don't know how, but I'm pretty sure we're not dead. Well, more dead. Somehow, we've been sent back in time."

Kevfire growled, and Haley kicked him, causing him to grunt. "How the fuck?"

Merril shrugged. "The important thing is that we can try to avoid that shit show this time."

Kevfire nodded, his terror starting to calm as he shifted to mission mode. "So what do we do?"

Merril thought for a minute. "Well, we remember things. Obviously Malcolm didn't. However I wouldn't bank on Chantal and Xavier not remembering."

Kevfire groaned, misery etching lines into his face. "Even if they don't, they're going to figure out I'm here and the whole bullshit will start again." His eyes went hard, and his face perfectly cold. "We need to leave. Now."

She took a deep breath before letting go of him. "We'll talk about it upstairs, ok?" He nodded, before quickly turning again and entering the elevator. Haley again had to duck down. Either he was really scatter brained today and not paying attention to her, or he thought her brain damage couldn't get much worse. Either way, she didn't want to get knocked on the head.

Her phone pinged while they waited in the elevator. It took some creative stretching, and contortions, but she managed to get it. The other two expressed noises of pain when her happy shrieking reverberated through the enclosed box. "Clayton made it!"

Blinking furiously as he waited for his ears to stop ringing, Kevfire nudged Merril. She rubbed her ears and glared at him. "What did he say Haley?"

Haley began reading off the messages for them, her voice still high pitched with excitement.

Are you guys ok? That was weird.

Yeah! We're fine. Confused, but ok. We're at home, come meet us!

I'm not going to be in the city for a week yet.

The trio entered their apartment, and Kevfire finally dumped Haley onto a couch. "We'll tell him where to meet us as soon as we figure out where we're going." He looked over his shoulder to Merril. "So where the fuck are we going?"

Merril thought. They didn't really have anywhere they could run. If they just moved havens within the city then the psycho couple would come for them. Well, come for Kevfire at least. She studied him as she thought. He looked so lost, like a small boy who'd gotten separated from his parents.

A light bulb went off. It was a long shot, and it was insanely dangerous, but it might work. "You need to call your father."

His face dropped. "Merril, I don't think that's a good idea."

She huffed at him. "Do you want a repeat event? Or do you want to man up and tell him what's happened?!"

He growled and stomped off to his room, slamming the door behind him. She sighed heavily. "Haley, I need to let the big boss know we're leaving."

Haley cocked her head. "Malcolm?"

She shook her head. "This is bigger than Malcolm. He's like middle management. I'm going to text his boss."

Kevfire came back out, his fingers flying across his phone. "Took care of it. Get packing."

Merril went pale. "What do you mean you took care of it?"

He shrugged as they heard the pounding of several pairs of feet quickly coming towards their apartment, before the door burst open and several armed men came in, weapons drawn, followed by Malcolm.

Merril jumped back and then groaned. "What did you tell them!?"

Kevfire pulled out his phone and read in a flat voice. "Red alert: Klingons and Romulans imminent." Putting his phone away he started gathering up items around the living room. "I thought it was pretty accurate. Why'd you guys bring guns?"

Slowly the men lowered their weapons and filed out of the room. Malcolm, his face purple with rage rounded on Kevfire, clearly wanting to just shoot him and be done with it. "What's going on?"

Deciding to save the idiot, Merril stepped. "Kevfire, drop that stuff and go make that phone call." With a growl Kevfire complied, locking himself in his room. One problem dealt with, she addressed Malcolm. "There are two vampires in your city right now, who are controlling two of the main gangs. They're using the city as their own personal game board for entertainment, and they have a vested interest in Kevfire."

From the other room Kevfire's voice rang out. "They want you too!"

Merril cringed at the memory. She'd rather have forgotten that. "Yes, they have interest in me too. So in the interest of not escalating the situation, the three of us have decided to take some time outside the city until things calm down."

Malcolm's color faded as she made her report. "Ok. I think you guys getting out of town for a bit is a good idea-"

Kevfire's voice boomed through the rooms again. "TELL HIM ABOUT THE WOLVES!"

Malcolm jumped, but quickly regained his poise. Merril shouted back, "PHONE. NOW!" before continuing her report. "Yes, we learned that several weeks from now there will be a lunar festival held in the park by a bunch of werewolves. About one hundred we estimate."

Malcolm scratched his chin. "They'll need to get a permit for that. I'll look into it. Alright, for now you three get out of here. Keep in touch, keep me updated."

Merril saluted, and Haley gave a half-hearted one and he took his leave. The girls sighed with relief, this latest crisis over, but before they could do anything else Merril's phone went off. Swearing under her breath she checked it and her blood ran cold.

Well, that was interesting wasn't it?

She glanced at Haley who for once was paying total attention. "I need to go make a phone call. Get packing, I'll be right back."

Before Haley could respond, Merril was out the door. Haley stretched before getting to her feet and shuffling off to her room. Merril was obviously upset about something, but the best thing she could do right now was get her things packed so that they could make a fast exit.

Kevfire paced up and down the floor of his bedroom. He wasn't worried about packing. With his speed he could have it done and in his car within minutes. He made an unhappy noise deep in his throat. They'd most likely have to take his luxury sedan, and leave his other three cars behind. He had no doubt Malcolm would store them, but they were his, and he didn't like the idea of leaving them.

As his anxiety began to overcome him, he felt a cold winter breeze upon his skin and circle around his heart. He quickly thrust a hand to his throat and clutched at the delicate silver chain there. The cold radiating from it cleared his mind. He didn't know how on earth he still had Kyra's necklace, but he hoped it was a sign that she remembered him and he would be able to find her again. A sudden image of Merril's frowning face filled his mind and he grimaced, resolving not to tell her about his little discovery.

He looked down at the phone in his hand, at the name pulled up in his contacts. His heart no longer beat, but he still felt it racing. This was the most terrifying phone call of his life, and he had certainly had some bad ones over the years. Finally he stopped in front of his window, and gazed out over the city. He'd come to love this place, and for the first time in a long time he felt sadness at leaving. Swallowing his fear, his pride, and all the masks he hid behind, he hit call.

His father's voice was rough, but he did pick up immediately. "Hello?"

Kevfire tried to keep his tone neutral, conversational. "Dad."

His father didn't buy it for a second. "What's wrong boy?"

Kevfire stuttered for a second, before the tears started. God he didn't want to have this conversation. "I'm so sorry for everything I've done these past few years. I've been awful, and I didn't want to be but I had to! I didn't have a choice. I-I need to tell you something and I-" He started to break down.

His father was silent for a long moment, and Kevfire could just picture him staring straight ahead as he processed the situation. "Are you in trouble boy?"

Kevfire nodded, but then remembered that he couldn't see him over the phone. "Yeah. I am."

"Tell me."

He tried to stop the tears but they just kept coming. This stress had been building for a long time and he couldn't stop it now. "I-it's hard. I never wanted to tell you."

"Just spit it out, boy!"

Kevfire felt that familiar fire in his chest flare. It cleared his mind, and let him get enough of a grip to get the words out. "Fine, sledgehammer to the ballerina then. I know you're a werewolf." Kevfire paused to let the words sink in before continuing."And I don't give a shit. Dad, ten years ago I was turned into a vampire. I've been living that life since then, and I knew you wouldn't believe that I had died if I faked my death, so I acted like an asshole instead so that you wouldn't come after me. I'm sorry, I'm a shit son, but I'm in trouble. There are these two much older vampires who really want to make some claim on me and I'm terrified and don't know what to do."

The silence on the other end was palpable and last few several long seconds. Kevfire broke again, beginning to sob. He couldn't keep holding it in, and that cleansing fire had petered out. Finally, his father's voice came through, sounding somewhat choked. "Come home, boy."

Kev let out a cry of relief through the sobbing. "I-I have friends. They're vamps too, but they ne-"

"Just come home."

Kevfire sniffled a few times. "I will. Tonight. I'll be there soon. Thank you."

They ended the call, and he took a few minutes more to cry out his emotions, letting it all just wash over him and out, before mopping himself up and beginning to pack. He moved quickly, quicker than he normally would indoors, intending to have most of the rooms packed up and in the car before Haley and Merril were done. Most of the furniture would have to be stored, but that wouldn't pinch his wallet. He only paused for a moment, to carefully wrap a small beautifully carved wooden jewelry box in velvet before gingerly packing it away.

Merril stopped in the shadows of the parking garage, and leaned heavily against the wall. She felt a massive weight in her chest as she read the text again. It was so simple, but it struck fear into her heart.

Well, that was interesting wasn't it?

It would seem that the bastard remembered what happened, and that he wasn't done with her yet. She wished vehemently that she had any idea where she could go where she would be safe from him. She gave herself a mental shake. She was a marine God damn it! She'd been through so much worse than an asshole ex-boyfriend during her tour of duty. Taking a deep breath she punched the call button intending to find out exactly where they stood.

It seemed to ring for ages. Just when she thought it would go to voicemail she heard a quiet voice. "Hello?"

Merril's mouth went dry, and tears choked her. She'd heard that voice happy, sad, and in customer service mode. She'd never heard it so broken and defeated before. She coughed to clear her airways before hesitantly asking, "Heather? Is that you?"

Heather was quiet for a minute. "Yeah. It's me. This really Merril?"

"Yeah. Why do you have Chad's phone?"

Heather went quiet again, but a minute later she heard her talking quietly, muffled, as if she were covering the speaker. The reply was garbled and she couldn't make out the words. Heather eventually came back on. "Um, well, I'm kind of living with him right now. He needs someone to take care of him."

Merril felt a pang of concern in chest before viciously squashing it down. "Why does he need someone to take care of him?"

"He...got into a fight and he's not doing so great."

"Did you take him to the hospital?"

"No..."

A thought occurred to her. God, she hoped Chad hadn't done what she thought he had. "Heather, what do you know about him?"

Heather hesitated, which told her all she needed to know. "Did he bite you?"

She heard a sniffle and quickly controlled sob, and some angry garbling in the background. "No...but he made me drink his blood."

Merril closed her eyes, and felt hot tears start to leak out her eyes. As far as she was concerned it was too late for Heather now. Bonds were difficult to break at the best of times, and required distance from the vampire who formed them. If Heather wasn't able to leave then there wasn't anything she could do the help her. "Heather, you need to go. Get out of there."

"I can't. He needs me. I love him."

Merril sighed. "Fine. What happened to him?"

Heather was crying fully now. "I don't really know? I was at work, and I got home and he crawled in. His jaw is broken, and so is his arm and a leg. He shouldn't be alive! He wrote down that he'd gone to see his new friend Xavier about some game? I don't understand, but he's in pieces now!"

Merril swallowed a satisfied grunt. Sounded like the idiot had gone and insulted the psycho pirate. Served him right. "Heather, give him the phone. Just hold it up to his ear. I have something to say to him."

There was a brief scuffle type of noise before she heard a louder, slurred, "Hello?"

She squared her shoulders, and lifted her chin as if she was speaking to him in person. "Listen up you son of a bitch, I'm done with your shit. I'm not going to play your damn games. You want to be in my life? Clean up your act, grow the fuck up, and get your shit together. Otherwise, I will fucking end you."

The last line came out as a near scream. Looking up she saw security by the entrance eyeing her, and waved to them with a fake smile plastered onto her face. Turning her attention back to her phone, she shouted over the garbled half baked apologies and pleas. "No, shut the fuck up. I'm leaving the city tonight. Don't come looking for me. Or do. I don't care. I guarantee that wherever I end up that you won't get there without dying. Better yourself and be the person I know you can be, or FUCK OFF!" She hit the end call button, and took several calming breaths, lamenting how unsatisfying pushing a button was compared to snapping a flip phone shut. With a final wave to the extremely concerned security guards she made her way out of the parking garage. It'd been enough time that she was sure the others would be packed up.

Kevfire circled the block for the fourth time. Haley was fidgeting in the passenger seat, periodically ducking down as they passed another member of The Voodoo Boys. They were everywhere, having effectively surrounded The Wildside. Kevfire was glad that they'd gotten out when they did. Getting the place packed hadn't been difficult, and he was sure Merril would forgive him for packing her things as well. If they'd taken even five more minutes they would've been trapped in the building. He poked Haley as a limo pulled up the the main entrance. "Hey, did you text Merril?"

Haley lifted her head slightly, careful to keep it under the level of the window. Kevfire laughed internally. Xavier wasn't interested in her after all, so it was kind of hilarious that she was the one hiding. "Yeah. She said she'd meet us up a block."

Kevfire punched the gas, not willing to wait any longer in the danger zone. Using his enhanced sight he picked Merril out of the crowd easily, screeching to a stop right in front of her. Merril quickly climbed into the overstuffed sedan and pocketed her phone. The second the door clicked shut, the car was flying. She sighed and smacked the back of the driver's seat. "Slow down."

"Fuck no." She frowned at his flat, cold tone, and Haley pointed out the back window. She turned just in time to catch Xavier stepping out of the limo in front of The Wildside and shivered.

She turned back to the front. "Nevermind, punch it."

She heard a thump as Kevfire's foot hit the floor. She felt herself pulled back into her seat by the force of the acceleration. Haley screeched as she was thrown back in her spot below the window. Kevfire ignored them both, intent only on getting out of the city as fast as he could.

In a short amount of time they all shivered as they approached the city limits. Kevfire finally eased off the accelerator, before working his phone out of his pocket, rolling down the window, and throwing it full force outside. Both girls turned at the resounding clang as it shattered against the city limits sign. They both turned to him in askance, and he huffed at them. "I don't want them to track us with it."

Haley gingerly picked herself up off the floor and settled herself in her seat before pulling out her own. "So where are we going? I want to tell Clayton."

Kevfire rattled off an address at a rapid pace, and she texted it out. Merril scrunched up her face. "How do we know this place, and that it's safe?"

Kevfire let out a low, almost cruel laugh. "I grew up there, and it's safe because anyone who comes to fuck with us is going to meet a pissed off werewolf."

Merril and Haley straightened up with identical looks of shock. Merril recovered first. "Hang on, we're going to your home? You know werewolves kill us right?"

He glared at her in the rear view mirror. "You told me to call him. He invited us. Nobody's going to get to us there. Get comfortable ladies. We're heading out into the wilds of Nappa Valley. It'll take about two hours to get there." He turned his attention back to the highway, a clear signal that it wasn't up for discussion.

Merril shook her head, and started swapping out the rounds in her pistol for silver ones just in case. She'd just finished when Haley turned in her seat to get her attention. "So who'd you call earlier?"

Merril groaned. "Chad."

Kevfire's voice exploded with venom and ill disguised hatred. "The fuck did you call him for?!"

She bristled in her seat, before deciding to ignore his anger. She didn't need him yelling at her right now. "He texted me. He remembers what happened."

Haley cursed softly and politely while Kevfire screamed, "FUCK!" at the top of his lungs. Merril continued as if they hadn't interrupted. "It seems that he went and tried to see Xavier. He didn't take to kindly to it and turned him into a human Rubik's Cube. I told him to get his shit together or fuck off out of my life."

Haley scoffed, but Kevfire inexplicably burst out laughing. It was cold, and cruel, full of fulfilled sadism. Haley patted her knee. "He can just fuck off."

Merril touched her hand in acknowledgment but kept her eyes on the back of Kevfire's seat. He was, happy about this? Happy wasn't the right word, but she'd never seen him like this before. It was, in a word, terrifying. He wasn't like the other vamps they knew. He was kind, warm, and compassionate. He didn't find pleasure in other people's pain, at least non-consensual pain. This behavior was bizarre, and jarring. She felt her heart sink and fear set in. Maybe Xavier and Chantal had had more of an effect on him than she thought. All the more reason to keep away from them.

He wiped a small bit of blood from the corner of his eye as he finally calmed down. Haley poked him in the ribs, causing him to jump and the car to weave dangerously before he regained control. He glared at her and she glared right back. "Ok, share the joke."

Kevfire pursed his lips, mulling over some thought or other. "Well, it seems to me that Chad, having remembered things, tried to insert himself into a game he had no invitation to. Xavier was obviously insulted by the breach of etiquette and reacted accordingly. Which is to say completely over the top and ridiculously. However, since it's fuck face, I approve." He sighed wistfully. "I kind of wish he'd just killed him though."

Merril reached up and smacked the back of his head. "Don't say things like that! Killing is bad, no matter who it is!"

He rolled his eyes at her in the mirror and went silent, all of his limited focus on the drive ahead of them. Haley shook her head and worked on hooking her phone up to the speakers in the car. Merril turned her attention to the passing countryside, wondering if things had really changed as much as they seemed.

Even with Kevfire's speeding it still took them two hours to get to their destination. As Merril watched out the window he suddenly veered and drifted onto a poorly maintained dirt road. Instead of the vineyards they'd been passing they were bumping along through an ancient, deep forest. Branches from immense trees were reaching over the car as if the grab them. Haley shrunk down away from the windows, and even Merril felt unnerved. They were old, gnarled, with whorls and knots that looked like faces. And those faces didn't seem to welcome them.

Weirdly enough, rather than sharing their anxiety Kevfire had completely relaxed. He'd eased off of the accelerator, one hand resting on the bottom of the wheel and the other elbow cocked up onto the window he'd opened to let in the night air. The smells of earth, and leaves wafted in, as their hair was tousled by the breeze coming in. He grinned at them both. "Listen, you can hear peepers." Sure enough a chorus of the small frogs was echoing eerily through the trees. Kevfire might've liked it, but to the other two it sounded like a warning alarm. Mother Nature certainly wasn't happy that they were here.

Kevfire wasn't nearly as at ease as he seemed. The forest felt more oppressive around them than it had when he left as an eighteen year old. He told himself he was just being silly, that he was projecting his fears outward. In reality he was certain that he wouldn't be leaving here alive. Their brief encounter with his father had him convinced that it wouldn't go much better for him here. He could deal with dying, and at least it would be in a place he knew well. Perhaps he could request where it was done. He just hoped that he could bargain for the lives of his friends.

The road twisted and turned in upon itself endlessly, and Merril started becoming concerned that they were lost until Kevfire suddenly slammed on the breaks, throwing her and Haley forward in their seats. Picking themselves up they spotted an old, rusted gate stretching across the road in front of them. However their attention was quickly grabbed by thudding steps that shook the car as something approached.

Stepping out of the woods next to them something massive, and metallic came up to them, arm raised. Merril shrunk back as she saw the barrel of a cannon on the end of it. Kevfire merely waited until it came up to the car. The robot sent out a red beam from it's head that scanned down his face, before beeping. With a resounding clang the gate in front of them opened, and Kevfire pulled through.

Merril turned in her seat, right along with her. "What the hell was that?!"

Kevfire didn't turn, keeping his eyes trained ahead. "A mech."

"A what?!"

Kevfire pointed to their left. "Hey, check out the bar. I used to work under the table there." Merril and Haley obligingly took in the structure. It was rustic, but looked like it was a popular spot. All of the buildings were wooden, and were most likely built from trees felled from the surrounding forest.

All around them more mechs, and heavily armed people were going to and fro. There were several training yards, some with obstacle courses, some just for target shooting, and Merril covered her ears as she heard an explosion go off somewhere near by. Kevfire jumped, but managed to keep them moving. People were coming out of the nearby buildings and following their car, trying to get a look at the new comers.

Merril tapped Kevfire's shoulder. "What's going on?"

He huffed a little, and she caught the sight of tears forming in his eyes in the mirror. "Prodigal son returning home." He swiped at one of the tears as it streaked down his face. "I can't really answer your questions. I don't know them. I always assumed that I was raised in some sort of hippy dippy, eco-terrorist commune."

Haley's brows shot up as their car slowed to a stop. She glanced at Merril who shook her head. The time for questions had passed. She looked past them and out the front window. Two people waited in front of them. She recognized the mountain of a man, with his bushy red beard as Kevfire's father. On his right, with her hand resting on his arm was a diminutive, delicate looking woman. Her wavy, brunette hair fell well past her waist, and she watched the car with a quiet strength that seemed to hold back strong emotions.

Kevfire's head hit the steering wheel, as he gulped in several deep breaths. Merril and Haley both laid their hands on his shoulder, and he shook them off. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's go see if we live." Rather than pull himself together he hopped out of the car, blood on his face and barely holding it together. Merril and Haley hastily followed, hurrying to catch up as he approached the couple.

He stopped, close enough that they could see his face, but far enough to be out of reach. His father studied him for a second, before sucking in a breath, turning on his heel, and stalking off into the woods behind the house they were parked in front of. Seconds later they all heard an anguished cry, full of rage and sorrow ring out from that direction. Kevfire hung his head, his face contorting as his held in his own sobs.

Merril and Haley reached him just as the woman came forward and took him into her arms. She was older, early fifties if Merril had to guess, with tanned skin and a friendly face, though it was worn from years of worries. Merril wanted to reach out to him, but the woman held him tight, her eyes closed. He'd bent down to rest his head on her shoulder, his arms wrapped around her. Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and when she finally blinked them away, the girls stifled a gasp. Her eyes were precisely the same shade of violet as their friend's.

He straightened up and put an arm around her shoulder. She watched them, warily, but not unkindly, as he gestured to them both. "Ladies, may my introduce my mother, Helena DeLacroix. Mom, these are my friends, Merril and Haley."

Helena smiled at them warmly, before taking Kevfire's hand and leading him towards the house. "Welcome home Kevin. Come with me and tell me what's happening."

The girls exchanged a look before asking in unison, "Kevin?"

Helena's eyes narrowed with suspicion and Kevfire patted her hand reassuringly. "They know me by my nickname Mom. It was safer that way." He turned to them, and rather than striking a pose he placed his free hand in his pocket and seemed, normal. "Ladies, my name is Kevin Ian McDermott, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Merril cocked her head as she absorbed the information. Haley just started laughing. "Your name is Kevin?!" He stuck his tongue out at her in distaste before being pulled into the house by Helena. Not wanting to be left behind Merril grabbed Haley by the wrist and rushed to catch up.

Author's Note: And so begins book two. Feedback welcome and appreciated.