Rebecca bit the end of her pencil thoughtfully, then frowned at herself. Now was not the time to indulge in such bad habits, especially when she was supposed to be talking to someone.

The kid she was talking to - Austin - paused momentarily, and Rebecca landed back on earth, hoping that he hadn't asked her a question.

"Mmhm," Rebecca nodded, gesturing for him to continue speaking.

He seemed a bit suspicious, but his elation returned within seconds: "So I don't know how busy you'll be this year, Rebecca, but if you want to swing by some time and help out with the semi formal, that'd be fantastic."

Semi formal? Rebecca put down her pencil in disbelief. People were dying, but huzzah! Let's dance! She could understand the need for a distraction, though.

"Maybe, Austin," Rebecca said, turning to her books and flipping to a random page. It was English class, and they were reading something called The Chrysanthemums. Rebecca would read anything if it didn't have to do with Dread Doctors, honestly, so she didn't mind how boring it sounded.

Austin, who was standing beside her desk, noticed her vacant eyes, and hesitated. Rebecca looked up at him warily. He obviously had something else to say.

"Are you … going to the dance though?" Austin asked quickly. "I mean, I'd hate for all of this planning to go to waste, and the more the merrier, right?"

"I don't know," Rebecca answered honestly. She looked at his face, and hoped to God that he wasn't about to ask her to go with him. Austin was a nice guy, and she didn't want him to think she was pompous or anything.

"Excuse me."

Rebecca turned to find none other than Theo Raeken sit down in the empty desk beside her. Austin, with a sudden wish to depart, gave Rebecca an awkward salute before stalking off. Rebecca turned to look at Theo, moving her jaw to visualize her irritation.

"He's a bit weird, don't you think?" Theo questioned, his mouth quirking upwards. Rebecca pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows at him. Theo played off her cold stare while unpacking his books and making himself at home beside her.

"What?" He finally asked, after her unwavering glare became uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?" Rebecca interrogated. Theo raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm your partner for the project on this book … The Chrysalids?" Theo said, sifting through his papers to try and find said book.

"Chrysanthemums," she corrected, smiling bitterly. "And you're not my partner, Mr. Gordon said Kamilla is."

"Sure I am, me and Kamilla switched partners," Theo said. "Gordon said we could."

She cocked her head and looked beyond Theo to Kamilla. She winked and gave her a thumbs up. Rebecca turned back to Theo who shrugged, then looked straight ahead and sighed.

"Of course you did," she muttered. Theo was taken aback at her moodiness.

"Why? Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Nah," Rebecca said, sarcasm dripping from her voice as she made an exaggerated 'don't worry' hand gesture. "I don't mind people doing everything they can so they can stalk me during school. It's not like my mom doesn't do that enough at my own house."

Theo narrowed his eyes at her, leaning in to grab her attention. "I'm not doing this so I can watch you, that's Kamilla's job. I asked because I'm bad at English."

"Sure," Rebecca replied, giving him a fake smile. Theo shook his head, watching her throw a temper tantrum like a little kid. Rebecca knew she was overreacting, but the entire 'Kamilla and Theo will keep an eye on you at school' thing was still an open wound. It added insult to injury to the fact that Gus, and most of the adults, found Ren and Rebecca helpless.

Twenty minutes had gone by, where Rebecca had offered next to no words to her partner, and Theo was left to talk to Kamilla instead. Rebecca got a text, and glanced at her phone.

"Monkey Brain," Rebecca chided quietly. Ren was in class, why was he messaging her?

If the Doctors use electricity to stay alive, what if that's why they glitch around so much?

Rebecca read the message once, then twice. It made sense, and Rebecca smiled slightly. Ren was in physics right now, of course he wasn't paying attention.

"Miss Virk," Mr Gordon popped up out of thin air, scaring Rebecca out of her skin. She handed him her phone, a guilty look on her face. He shook his head and pointed a commanding finger down at her open novel. "Read."

Rebecca scowled and waited for him to saunter away before turning to Theo, who was busy pretending to work so he wouldn't get in trouble.

"Hey," Rebecca whispered. "What if the Doctors use electricity to stay alive? Theo, are you listening? The Dread Doctors could be using electricity to survive."

"I'm pretty sure Doctors don't appreciate you calling them names," Theo muttered back. Rebecca furrowed her eyebrows.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"And I'm pretty sure Doctors just use electrical equipment to save lives, not to survive," Theo responded, never lifting his eyes from the book. Rebecca groaned and rest her chin in her hand.

"That's not funny," Rebecca said, trying not to seem like she was pouting. Theo grunted as a reply, turning the page in the sassiest way he could manage. Rebecca looked at the ceiling, then back at Theo. Finally, she caved.

"Alright! Alright," Rebecca exclaimed, resting her elbows on the desk and raising her hands in surrender. "You win. I'm sorry I'm a bitch."

"You're not a bitch," Theo said, giving her a look that made her nose crinkle. "You're just acting like one."

Rebecca rubbed her forehead, exhausted. "I know, I know. I just … feel like everyone's against me right now. And I haven't gotten enough sleep in like, weeks."

"No one's against you. We just don't want you to die," Theo stated. The word we bounced around in her head as she looked between both of his eyes.

"You sound like my mom," she pointed out.

"Maybe you should listen to her, then," Theo suggested sarcastically. Rebecca rolled her eyes. "I just want to be on your side. Having you not die would help."

"Wow," Rebecca taunted, blinking slowly. "Thank you for that, really."

"Stop it," Theo said, upset with her uncaring attitude. "Why don't you take your own life seriously?"

"Chill out, Dr. Phil," Rebecca responded, flaring her nostrils. "I've got my life, you got yours."

Theo scoffed. "Whatever, Rebecca."

Rebecca turned away from him, crossing her arms and scowling at the novel in front of her. She ground her teeth in sync with the clock that was moving at a sluggish pace. Her heart beat slowed down, and she could feel her head nodding as she fell asleep …

"... That we could start sometime soon?" Theo was saying. Realizing that Rebecca was half asleep, he accidentally dropped his hard cover book onto his desk. Rebecca's eyes flew open at the sound.

"Ah!" Rebecca exclaimed, thrusting her hands out and smacking her wrist on the edge of the desk. She bit her tongue to stop herself from swearing, while turning to Theo, burning a venomous glare into his taunting eyes. "What?!"

"I was asking you about this book report we have to do for The Chrysalids," Theo explained, smirking slightly. Rebecca, who was too fed up to find him funny, clenched her jaw. Her thoughts went a million miles an hour as she tried to come up with some way to get him back.

Deciding to be petty, Rebecca pushed all of Theo's books off of his desk and onto the floor. The commotion turned a few heads, but Rebecca couldn't care less. Her eyes never deviated from Theo as she angrily made her point.

Smiling smugly, Rebecca crossed her legs and hummed a quiet tune while watching Theo get out of his desk and pick up his things. A few students offered their help, and in no time Theo was back beside her, steam coming from his ears.

"You're an asshole, you know that, right?" Theo stated, his voice biting. She had taken his light mood and twisted it until he looked as sour as she felt.

"Wow, I'm shaking," Rebecca murmured. "An asshole? How shall I recover from these wounds thou hast given me?"

Theo turned back to his book, opting to not reply to her at all. Rebecca closed her books and rest her forehead against them. She sighed deeply, feeling guilt rise in her chest. The past few days at odds with her mom left her with a bitter taste in her mouth. However, that was no excuse as to why she was being a demon to everyone else.

She stayed silent for ten more minutes before tapping Theo's arm with her fingernail. He turned to her slowly.

"Maya is a telepath," Rebecca said, referring to the book they were reading. Her face was squashed against her forearm that was slung over the pile of books. Rebecca swore she looked pathetic, but she didn't care. "We should do one of our character analysis' on her. She's got a lot of backstory."

"You've read this before?" Theo asked, his tone flat. It was as if he was shocked that she had dared to try and talk to him after the previous fiasco.

"Sadly," Rebecca responded, pursing her lips together. "Also, Maya isn't an asshole; I think you've had to deal with enough of those."

Theo held her gaze for a few moments before writing down Maya's name in his notebook. Rebecca let out a long breath through her teeth, feeling guilt grip her stomach.

The bell rang, and Theo began to pack up his books quickly. Rebecca did the same, but at a slower pace. She waved goodbye to Kamilla, who was already sprinting for the door. She also wondered why Kamilla had decided to switch partners with Theo.

"I don't know how you want to get this project done," Theo said, startling Rebecca out of her reverie. He adjusted the straps on his backpack and looked down at her with a softer look than before. "But we'll figure it out somehow."

Rebecca nodded as she watched him leave the room. She looked at Mr. Gordon, who was eagerly shoving his students out the door, and sighed. Now it was time to grovel for her cellphone.

Ren didn't know how to approach the subject, so he stood in the doorway of his own kitchen for an awkward amount of time before his father became concerned.

"Are you alright?" Mr. Otsuka asked, putting down a spoon he was using to ladle sauce. The aroma of the room was heavenly, but to Ren's twisting stomach, it became more nauseating than anything else.

"I don't know, Dad," Ren answered honestly. He had been meaning to speak with his dad for the past few days; ever since the night he and Rebecca saw Connor MonHeim. More specifically, the night Ren felt a dizziness linked to the supernatural aspect of his existence. Something had unscrewed that night, and Ren was having a hard time bottling it back up again.

Mr. Otsuka removed his apron and gestured to the dining room. Ren made his way over while his father shut off the stove. When both of the Satori's were sitting face to face at the table, Ren tapped his fingernails on the tablecloth.

"I think something's wrong," Ren admitted. Kyou allowed his son to speak, watching him with an earnest yet respectful gaze. His son was obviously still uncomfortable. "That night, when the Librarian died and you nearly ran me over, something happened."

"You saw Connor MonHeim," Mr. Otsuka said. Ren looked up, surprised. "When I was cleaning Rebecca's bruises I saw her thoughts for a second. Did something happen? Did he threaten you?"

"No, Dad," Ren said, his voice betraying how frustrated he was with himself. What was the point in trying to tell someone? He could hardly explain how it had felt. "It's not about Connor. It's about … me."

Mr. Otsuka waited with a patience Ren was grateful for. The comfortable silence allowed him to retrieve his scattered thoughts.

"After we watched him … you know," Ren said, gesturing his hands so he didn't have to say it. "It was like the world was suddenly real. Like, realer than real. I heard things that weren't even there, but I knew they were there. And I saw all of these colours; ones that don't even exist!"

Mr. Otsuka drew back in his chair and looked at Ren with a thoughtful expression as his son rambled on.

"And I don't know what to do, because ever since then, it's like … I'm less of myself, and more of something else," Ren blurted. He ran his fingers through his shiny black hair, while his eyes roamed the room to look at anything but his father.

The Otsuka dining room did not escape Shimako's obsessive need for walls lined with decorations Yet Ren never minded a particular painting of a village where his great grandfather grew up; Shirakawa. The painting displayed two small people walking toward their houses on a path lined with trees.

The painting reached out to him every time he looked, with comforting colours and a reminder that he was more than just a supernatural creature. He had history. His family was not just comprised of beasts that stalked and sometimes even ate humans.

Now, however, the assurance that he was more than just a telepathic coward wavered.

Ren looked away from the painting, and looked at his father, who had followed his son's gaze. Kyou sensed the distress in his son, but one of the things they had always agreed on was mutual respect. Mr. Otsuka would not lie straight to his son's face just to provide temporary comfort, and Ren would swallow that fact.

"You recall, Ren, when I told you about our kind?" Mr. Otsuka questioned. He looked back at his son, who pursed his lips in confirmation. Kyou nodded, leaning forward and clasping his hands together. "Then you know that Satori's were cowards. They read people's minds to cause fear so that they could inflict pain."

"And eat the people walking in the mountains," Ren added, a twinge of bitterness in his voice. "I know, dad. They confused them by speaking their thoughts, then ate them. Nice stuff."

"Agreed," his father said, smirking. Ren's eyes glimmered as he mirrored the gesture. "You also know that Satori's were giant money creatures."

"Oh yeah," Ren said, puffing up his cheeks with air before releasing it through puckered lips. "They were pretty ugly."

"Yes. They were," Kyou laughed. Ren didn't know if it was Kyou's powers that were reaching out and comforting him, or if it was just Mr. Otsuka being a father. Ren hoped it was the latter. "And that's it. They were monkeys, Ren. You can act up sometimes, but you're not a monkey."

Ren sat back in his chair while scoffing. The lightness in his voice did not reach his crinkled brow. "Thanks."

Kyou ducked his head to keep himself in Ren's line of sight. "I know what you're thinking."

"What? That you're wrong?" Ren said sharply, much more abrupt than he meant to be. "I know we aren't monkeys, Dad. It's called evolution. We changed, doesn't make us any less Satori."

"It does," Kyou stated, leaning back a bit. "We evolved, Ren. We aren't primitive monkeys anymore. We are strong, capable humans with enhanced abilities because we evolved differently from everyone else.

"I never expected you to accept this with open arms, but I won't let you think of yourself so lowly," Mr. Otsuka declared, sighing as Ren fiddled with the tablecloth. "And what is happening to you, perhaps is triggering your Satori abilities. That's not a bad thing, Ren. I don't want you to have Rebecca Virk syndrome, where you try and run from who you are instead of accepting yourself."

"You should be on one of those daytime soap operas," Ren muttered, making Kyou laugh, then stand up.

"I love you, Ren. But you know what you think is up to you. I just hope you can see that you're a smart young man who better start studying more and getting into trouble less," Mr. Otsuka said. Ren grimaced when his father ruffled his hair.

"I'm not three years old," Ren grunted, pushing his dad's hand away and standing up as well, ready for another attack. His father just laughed and made his way back to the kitchen. Ren's smile evaporated as his dad walked away.

"Hey, dad?" Ren called.

"Yes?" Mr. Otsuka asked, turning around and raising his eyebrows.

"Can you … help me out sometime?" Ren asked. His father stared at him blankly for a few moments, so he added: "You know, to hone my abilities."

Kyou smiled, putting on his apron while shaking his head in amusement. "Only you would make something like this seem like a video game."

"I don't even like video games that much," Ren groaned. He hasn't played video games in weeks, for God's sake. He just didn't seem to have the time anymore.

Kyou looked at his son for a moment longer, an emotion Ren couldn't recognize gleaming in his father's eye. "Of course I will, Ren."

"Thanks Dad," Ren murmured, looking at his socked feet, not wanting to look at the pride in Kyou's stare. He quickly slid out of the dining room, and was halfway through the kitchen when he remembered something. "Oh yeah: can Rebecca and Kamilla come over after dinner?"

Kyou raised his eyebrows while turning on the stove once more. "I don't know, I have to head into work for a meeting tonight."

"Mom will be home, right?" Ren pointed out, but his Dad still exclaimed a reluctant sigh.

"Fine," Kyou said. "But do me a favour; go into Mieko's room and check how she is. I haven't seen her all day."

A few hours later, Ren's room was crowded. And Ren, with his everlasting hatred for textbooks, slammed his face into one in spite. Kamilla snorted and Rebecca raised her eyebrows, too distracted to be amused.

"Don't lose the rest of your brain cells, Monkey Man," Kamilla snickered, poking his shoulder and causing him to groan. "This whole electricity business is messy. Believe it or not, we actually need you for once."

Gaining permission from her mom, Rebecca had stopped by the library on her way over and grabbed a few books so that they could research Ren's theory about the Doctors. Now, they were huddled in his ever- disastrous room with books, notebooks, and pencils littered across it.

"Eat me." Ren turned his head, his cheek still firmly against the textbook, so he could blow raspberries at Kamilla.

"Both of you, shut your holes," Rebecca said, flipping a page and rubbing her mouth. It was obvious her mind was set elsewhere.

Kamilla and Ren exchanged looks, then stared at Rebecca until she noticed. The strawberry blond glanced up after an uncomfortable expanse of silence, then demanded what they were doing.

"For once, you're not worried about the Dread Doctors," Ren pointed out. Before Rebecca could think of a reply, Kamilla blurted:

"It's about Theo, isn't it? What you told us about English class."

"What? No!" Rebecca huffed, then sighed when her friends stared her down. "Okay, yeah. I don't like taking all of my problems out on him. Or anyone."

"I'm not saying I agree, but I get it," Ren admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "He's got perfect everything; a good body, a nice face, a great car, and he's got hella moves with the ladies." Rebecca squinted at him, her mouth pursed in disapproval, but she didn't argue.

"What's the matter, Becks? Wolf got your tongue?" Kamilla teased, wiggling her eyebrows and biting her lip seductively. "Soon, you'll be falling over your balcony calling him Romeo."

"You're an idiot," Rebecca stated, pointing a pencil at Kamilla's ridiculous swooning.

"For once in her life, Kamilla might be onto something," Ren admitted, making Rebecca open her mouth in surprise. Kamilla turned on him, her eyes bulging.

"Someone get a tape recorder!" Kamilla exclaimed, pretending to sift though the papers in front of her.

"Nevermind," Ren groaned. Rebecca threw her hands in the air and clenched them into fists.

"I hate both of you, for the record," Rebecca said, as Kamilla plugged her nose and made a gagging motion. "But seriously, what I'm going through with Theo is none of your business. Besides, no one is falling in love with anyone, Kamilla."

"You sure?" Ren laughed. "'What I'm going through with Theo' God Rebecca, you make it sound like you're going through your first fight as a couple."

Rebecca's face was red with embarrassment as her friends poked fun at her. She hit her own forehead in exasperation. "You guys are the absolute worst. We aren't a couple! For the last time, me and Theo are not dating, you freaking vultures! Besides, he hates me."

Ren rolled his eyes and looked at Kamilla, shaking his head.

"Tell him you feel bad," Kamilla said, taking her phone out of her pocket and dialing a number. She held it up so that Rebecca could see she was calling Theo. "Here, tell him right now."

"What the hell!" Rebecca yelped, tugging on her hair as Theo picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he said. Ren, who was a gleeful observer, covered his mouth so no sound of laughter could be heard. Rebecca's face was drained of all colour, and Kamilla smugly put it on speaker phone.

"Hey, Theo!" Kamilla said, sounding cheerful. Rebecca sporadically waved her arms around, making slicing motions with her hands and frantically trying to get Kamilla to end the call. "What are you up to?"

"Um, nothing much. I'm a bit busy though, what's up?" Theo asked. Rebecca, who was getting desperate, reached to Ren's bed, grabbing a pillow and smacking Kamilla in the head with it.

She had no chance to reply as Rebecca shoved the pillow into Kamilla's face and struggled to reach the phone that her friend was holding just out of reach.

"Guys! That's my pillow!" Ren hissed as Rebecca climbed on top of Kamilla, trying to wrest the phone from her hands. Kamilla grunted indignantly, attempting to shove Rebecca off of her.

"What's going on?" Theo asked, concerned. Rebecca pressed her hand against the pillow, which squished it against Kamilla's face even more so than before.

Rebecca, who finally snatched the phone from Kamilla, leapt off of the werewolf and spoke into the phone breathlessly.

"Nothing, everything's fine and nothing is wrong. Everything is fantastic."

Kamilla threw the pillow off of her and lunged for Rebecca, who jumped onto Ren's bed, evading her just barely. The Satori hissed insults at Rebecca while she tried to listen to what Theo was saying.

"Rebecca, is that you?" Theo questioned as Rebecca gawked at Kamilla as the werewolf accidentally knocked over Ren's bedside table. Ren howled, trying to catch it, but ended up having his lamp not only smack him in the head, but land on the floor with a loud crash.

"It's me," Rebecca whispered, trying not to giggle as Kamilla roared with laughter. "Listen, I gotta go…"

"Wait, is Kamilla still there?" Theo asked, which Rebecca replied yes, she is. "Tell her me and Gus need her to come to the old shoe factory downtown."

"Why?" Rebecca asked, shushing her friends and pointing at the phone. She watched it earnestly as worry overtook glee in her expression.

"There's another chimera, and we need all the hands we can get."

The room was dead quiet. Kamilla's narrowed eyes punctured holes into her phone as Ren rubbed his head and hissed in pain.

"I'll be right there," Kamilla said, taking the phone from Rebecca and hanging up. She looked between the other two people in the room, then scrunched her nose. "Don't look at me like that, you guys are coming too."

"We can't," Rebecca said glumly, playing with her fingers as Ren picking up his lamp. "Me and Ren are under lockdown."

"Yeah, I know," Kamilla rolled her eyes. "But I'm the one who is locking you goons up."

"No," Ren interjected, craning his neck forward to patronize Kamilla. "You're a junior to their senior; to be a snitch when we're at school."

"Okay, first of all," Kamilla said, rounding on Ren and putting one taunting finger into the air. "Call me a snitch again, and I'll give you stitches. Second, no 'seniors' are around. You're dads at work, you said your mom's not here-"

"Gus is with Theo, and my Mom's busy!" Rebecca agreed, snapping her fingers. She deflated upon seeing Ren's glare of warning. "But … maybe me and Ren should sit this one out."

Kamilla clicked her tongue and siddled up to Rebecca, bumping her arm with her shoulder. "C'mon. It's the most logical thing to do. If I leave, no one's monitoring you. Monkey Brain could fall into a hole again. Remember that one, Abu?"

"That was weeks ago, you prick," Ren spat, then began to murmur bitterly about how dirty it had been down there

"Plus," Kamilla continued, ignoring Ren. "If you come with us, we will be leaving this forsaken place where there is no - gasp - adult supervision. And, we will be going to a sanctuary where Gus' wrinkly arms will embrace us with safety and-"

"Okay, okay," Rebecca yelped, blinking a few times to rid herself of the mental image Kamilla was conjuring. "I get it."

There was a long silence, where Rebecca looked between Kamilla and Ren. When Ren finally shrugged his shoulders and cast his eyes down in defeat, Rebecca turned to Kamilla.

"Let's go," Rebecca offered. Kamilla's response was to wink, then haul her two friends out the door and into Rebecca's car.

"This saves me walking, anyway," Kamilla grinned, and Rebecca stuck her tongue out. Ren, who had the unfortunate luck of sitting in the back seat, poked Kamilla in the back of the neck. "I'll take the blame if this goes south, too, so hopefully you won't be eternally angry about the whole calling-Theo incident."

"Don't hold your breath, sunshine," Rebecca muttered as she turned around, checking for traffic before she pulled out of Ren's driveway and into imminent danger.


Can you believe I almost forgot to post this? I bet you can ... considering my posting habits are atrocious.

Wolftear1 - I'm so glad you're still with me :)) I fangirl whenever I get reviews, so we're in the same boat! Thank you so much for your wonderful compliments as well. Theo will be in the next season, and I'm happy to keep him alive until then. :)

Your fav guest (lol I read your name and went: "Well... you're not wrong" :)) - I'm glad to hear it's your favourite! I do know thst Theo's coming back, and I do hope to update quicker! (I'm failing already but ... I'm trying!) Hopefully see you again next week! Kisses back from Canada :)