Jac - Yo yo woman, I await your call to scold me. I don't know for what also. Haha.. Message me before you call arh. Jiaz - Jasper... Brief mentioning but he won't come out. Yet. Perhaps you can suggest to me how you want him to be tortured. -sniggers- Spawn - Heh heh heh. Ooohhh.. there should be an enormous confrontation soon. Soon... but not yet. Ching - At this rate, you'd prolly have to read the whole story in one sitting the next time. Hehe. After our A I guess.

-sigh- My latest exams were devastating. I guess I do pretty much have only myself to blame. Anyway, I don't really know when will be the next time that I updates. Either my ideas come flooding into my small little pweeny brain too slowly or I am simply overloaded with work work and more work.

I guess most of you will just have to re-read the chapters if you realised you're lost. Alright, here we go.

Aria checked to see that all the Daybreakers were gathered in the living room, deeply engrossed in their discussion on how Tommy was to be rescued. Satisfied that she was truly left alone in her bedroom, she turned on the table lamp.

Holding up a clear, deep emerald potion under the table lamp, she squinted at the potion that she had concocted the day before, checking for any contamination. Then, she looked at the two empty glass tubes in front of her.

"Which one?" she pondered.

While one was cool as a cucumber, the other was hot when steamed. Torn between the two choices, she wondered if it was possible to have the best of both worlds.

Yes, she decided. Pouring the potion into both tubes in equal portions, she muttered absentmindedly, "Both." Sealing the spell with a chant, she replaced the tubes and was about to rise from her chair -

"What are you doing?"

Spinning around in her swivel chair, Aria turned and saw Jodie standing at the entrance of her bedroom.

Dusting her hands as if she had been handling some dirty articles, she stood up and said nonchalantly, "Nothing."

Inwardly, she cursed herself. She should have heard the vampire approaching, had she not been so engrossed in her spell. She could read the suspicion in Jodie's blood red eyes as the latter assessed the situation.

"Shouldn't you be resting already? I thought you said that you were tired." Jodie said, her eyes never leaving the table top as she tried to look at the contents on it. Aria switched off the table lamp abruptly, plunging them in darkness, except for the weak stream of light from the living room.

"One shouldn't be nosy, especially when she's on other's territory." Aria replied, anger blazing in her heart.

"Aria! Express mail for you!" Zach's loud voice made the windows vibrate. Before Jodie could say another word, Aria bolted out of her bedroom and grabbed the envelope from Zach's big hand.

She took a glance at the envelope, and then tore it open fervently. A small object slipped from an opening and landed on the carpet with a dull "thud".

There was a slip of paper in the envelope, and the message was simple.

The time is running out.

Russell bent down and reached under the sofa, where the object had rolled into He picked it up and saw that it was an eyeball with light purple iris, staring up grotesquely at him.

"Ugh!" He blanched and dropped the eyeball onto the coffee table in front of him, as if it was a hot potato.

Then Aria lost it.

A high-pitched, blood curdling scream rose from her throat and reverberated throughout the house. Her fist clenched, eyes shut tightly and face twisted in utter anguish - anguish of a strickened mother. It continued for about thirty seconds, and then her voice broke off and without a warning, her body crumpled into a heap on the ground.

"Damn it." Kyle muttered. He rose from his seat and went over to Aria's fallen form. Her skin was clammy and cold, and she appeared to have passed out due to immense shock. Kyle lifted her head up and she opened her eyes.

"They've gotten Tommy... Tommy's going to die... Tommy..." She wailed.

"Aria, get a hold of yourself." Kyle urged gently. Aria's eyes darted around Kyle's face.

"Whatever you guys are planning to do... please! Do it tomorrow, alright?" Aria pleaded, tears streaming from her eyes and falling onto Kyle's hands supporting her head.

Kyle's black eyes lifted and looked at his team mates, who had gathered in a circle around Aria and him. Their faces reflected the same thoughts - they would rescue the boy at all cost.

Looking down at Aria, he nodded grimly.

Paula stirred the steaming coffee in her cup. A few tables in front of her sat Jade and Skye. Paula was somewhat unsure of what exactly was the relationship between the two. Lately, they had been seeing each other very frequently.

She had once tried to ask Jade subtlely about her relationship with the elder, but her daughter insisted that it was nothing and changed the subject quickly.

Paula was getting a little worried.

"Hey." Dermot greeted Paula warmly, sliding into the chair beside hers. Seeing that Paula was preoccupied with something else in her mind, Demot followed her gaze and saw Skye and Jade, who were laughing as if having shared a joke amongst themselves. He looked inquiringly at Paula.

"Hmm?" The lady asked in return to his questioning look.

Dermot smiled, his baby blue eyes twinking, "You were just staring at them as if they had done something wrong."

Paula shrugged, and then she shook her head to herself, sending her long blond hair in a ripple of waves down her back. "Nothing." She said.

"She takes after you a lot, except for her eyes." Dermot observed, looking at the younger Finster. Unlike her mother's sapphire eyes, Jade's eyes were jade-green in color, and one could only guess where her name had came from.

Paula lowered her head, "She has her father's eyes."

Dermot nodded in understanding.

Slowly, Paula smiled as if she was reminiscing the better days. "You know, Skye kind of reminded me of Benjamin before he became a drunkard."

Dermot raised an eyebrow in genuine interest. "Really?" He looked at Skye for a moment before asking, "In terms of looks or mannerism?"

"A little of both." Paula answered. "Benjamin was twenty four years old when I got married to him. This sounds a little stupid, but it was an arranged marriage."

Dermot could not suppress a grin, "Woah. I didn't know about that."

Seeing that grin on Dermot, Paula smacked his arm playfully, "I am from a traditional family, alright? Anyway, we only met once before we got married,. Both of us came from rather well-to-do families, so our parents agreed to the marriage immediately."

"You didn't object to it?"

Paula laughed, "Oh, no, girls in those days didn't have much of a say in such matters. Besides, Benjamin wasn't that bad." Her voice was tender, and Dermot knew then that she had loved Benjamin. "I grew to love his kind and gentle self."

"6 years later, I gave birth to Jade and Jasper. One day, just before we were leaving for a holiday in Hawaii, I found a photo of Benjamin and a woman in his drawer. I knew they weren't just friends from the intimate pose. I confronted him in the trip and almost wanted to divorce him back then. Until he explained that it was all in the past, before he married me. He swore to remain faithful to me always."

"Perhaps I should have divorced him back then," Paula sighed ruefully. "He got his fingers burnt badly on the stocks' market repeatedly. I advised him to stop before he lost everything, but he just wouldn't listen. Finally, he got bankrupt. Devastated, he became a drunkard to "get himself out of his sorrows", he said."

Demot waited for Paula to take a sip of her coffee, and then she continued, "It was bad enough that he became a drunkard; it was worse when he took out his frustration on us. Jasper was diagnosed with leukemia at fifteen, I couldn't let his weak body take any of the abuse, so I would lock the siblings into their bedrooms and..." She took a moment to collect herself, and dermot offered her a tissue to dab her tears, "...and I would take all the beatings by myself."

"No one knew anything about this?" Dermot asked. He loved the woman before him even more now, for her motherly love and protection towards her children, and for her courage to face that beast.

"No. I didn't want to embarrass our families. Besides, Benjamin would apologise when he was sober and often promised not to do it again."

"But one day, I came back and found him home earlier than usual, reeking of alcohol and all. It wasn't the state of his being that shocked me; it was seeing him punching Jasper." Paula drew a deep breath, her sapphire eyes bluer than ever. "Something just snapped in me. I ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and attacked Benjamin. It was a table knife, so the cuts that I inflicted in my rage didn't hurt him badly. He was stunned by me though, he never did expect me to fight back. We packed up immediately and left that beast. Then we came to Clainesville."

The two sat in reflective silence. Dermot reached over for Paula's hands. How could anyone hurt someone so lovely, so beautiful?

"Don't worry, it's all in the past now." Dermot reassured her.
Ah, finally. Haha, well, so, what will happen in the next chapter? I don't know that myself too! Review review!