Ryan brought the car to a stop, causing Hope to wake up. She leaned forward in her seat as the three looked at the warehouse about a hundred feet ahead of them. Even from their viewpoint, it was obviously heavily guarded and the men held guns bigger than Evelyn had ever seen.

"How the hell are we supposed to get in there?" Evelyn asked. "We'll be taken out before we even get within a few feet of the door."

"I told you this was a bad idea."

Ryan and Evelyn looked into the backseat to find Hope was no longer there. They shared a look of concern as they turned to look back out the windshield. Hope had appeared before the guards and was fighting them one on two. She knocked the gun out of their hands and picked it up to slam it into the head of the other. After some karate-style moves, the guards were on the ground and Hope stood over them without having broken a sweat.

She turned back toward the car and motioned to Evelyn and Ryan. "Are you guys coming, or what?"

Ryan and Evelyn shared another look before getting out of the car at the same time. They made their way over to Hope as they approached the thick, metal door. Ryan put in the code and held the door open for Evelyn and Hope before following after them.

The place looked like an alien containment facility from the movies Evelyn had seen on TV, it amazed her and freaked her out at the same time. They made their way down the hall as they came across another guard, Hope taking care of him easily, Ryan picking up the gun since he was the only one of the three to not have some sort of magical ability.

After the next code-locked door, they came into a room with four guards and when they saw the trio they picked up their weapons. Hope rushed at the two closest to them as Evelyn and Ryan took on the rest. Evelyn formed an energy ball, shooting a guard into one of the tables, snapping two of the legs off.

The other guard began to shoot at Ryan as he flipped over another table and turned it into a shield. He quickly rose to look over as another hail of bullets came in his direction, turning the table he was hiding behind into swiss cheese. Evelyn noticed his struggle and rose into the air, her wings appearing on her back, glowing.

The guard looked up with surprise as she appeared above him, kicking him straight in the face, knocking him back a few feet. He shook his head and pointed his gun at Evelyn, but just as he went to pull the trigger, Ryan shot him in the chest. The guard's body falling to the ground motionless.

Evelyn fluttered down to her feet, her wings disappearing as Hope sucker-punched the last guard into unconsciousness. She fixed her jacket with a deep breath before looking at the other two with a nod. Hope ran a hand through her hair before heading to the next door, Evelyn and Ryan following slowly behind.

A few more rooms and some stairs later, they found themselves in front of a high-security door. Ryan looked through the glass to find a giant room with something chained to the middle of the floor. When it moved, he realized what he was looking at.

"They have an Argus on watch…" Ryan muttered, moving back from the glass.

Evelyn furrowed her brow. "What's an Argus?"

"It's a giant with a hundred eyes," Hope said, rubbing her forehead. "Because of its abundance of eyes, it's considered a great watchman and was employed by the goddess Hera."

"Are you saying this creature is from greek mythology?" Evelyn asked.

"Well, it's a race of beings, but in a sense, yes," Hope said.

Ryan looked through the window once more and noticed a door on the other side, swearing under his breath. "If what your looking for is here, we're going to have to get past the creature to do it."

"Then let's get going, shall we?"

Ryan put the code in the door as it clicked open. The three booked it into the room and ran toward the door. The Argus heard the sound and looked at them with its many eyes, glaring at them with a screech. It rose tall and began to run at them. The three sped up but Ryan lost his footing and tripped, landing hard in the dirt.

He scrambled onto his back and noticed the creature getting close. He began crab-walking backward as it got closer and closer. Evelyn stopped running when she noticed. Hope saw her stop and grabbed her hand.

"Come on, we're almost there," Hope said.

"We can't just leave Ryan," Evelyn whined.

"If we don't, it'll kill us all," Hope said.

"So, you're just going to leave him there to die?" Evelyn asked.

"Better him than us."

Hope tried to pull Evelyn forward, but she quickly removed her hand with a shaking head. "Go get the answers you seek, I'm staying here to help him."

"Evelyn…"

"GO!"

Hope shook her head before turning to run for the door. Evelyn turned from Hope to Ryan who had the beast leaning over him. Evelyn closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her wings revealing themselves once more.

Evelyn opened her eyes and rose into the air a good fifteen feet. She flew close and formed a ball of electricity in her hands, throwing it into one of the creature's eyes. It screeched, turning to look at her with the other 99.

"You want something to kill? Come and get me!"

It looked as if the creature smiled when it ran forward, Evelyn flying away. Ryan ran toward the door Hope had gone through, sneaking past as Evelyn led the creature to the other side. It was still chained to the floor, but the chain was anything but short.

Evelyn flew around the circular room, the creature always just a few feet behind her. She dodged it trying to swing at her as she threw more energy balls in its direction, blinding a few more of its eyes. When she turned to shoot one more, it caught up and grabbed her before she had the chance.

It wrapped its hand around her, squeezing tight to avoid any chance of her slipping out. The Argus brought her close to its many eyes, the stench of its breath almost causing Evelyn to pass out from its intensity. Just when Evelyn thought it was over, she heard a loud bang, the creature dropping her to the ground with a thud.

She pushed herself up on shaky arms to find the chain holding it to the floor was broken, Ryan standing beside it with what looked like a laser gun. The creature instantly made its way to the exit and disappeared from sight. When it was gone, Evelyn relaxed against the ground, Ryan dropping the gun before coming to her aid, offering her a hand.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked.

Evelyn put her hand in his and allowed him to lift her to her feet. "I'm tired and I'm definitely going to have some bruises tomorrow, but I'll live."

As Evelyn caught her breath, Hope appeared beside the pair, holding a manila envelope. "Glad to see you're both kicking. Are you ready to head out?"

Evelyn nodded, looking down at her feet. "Yeah, we're ready."

The three headed to the car as Hope got in the back and the other two sat in the front. This ride was even more silent than the first one, but there was more to the silence than awkwardness. There was anger building in Ryan and Evelyn.

When they arrived back at Ryan's house, Hope said she had to do something and that she'd be back soon. She left the pair on his doorstep and vanished down the dark street. When she was out of sight, Evelyn collapsed down on Ryan's front step, Ryan following shortly after.

"I thought I could deal with emotionless Hope," Evelyn muttered, playing with her fingers. "But what I saw today made me think otherwise."

"I'll call the Salvatore school to warn them about the Argus, but I get what you mean, it's hard to believe it's the same person," Ryan sighed.

"I just don't know how to get through to her."

"You can't do this alone. You should tell the others where you are, so they can help," Ryan said.

"We tried getting through to her together. It didn't work, remember?" Evelyn sighed.

Ryan got up from the step and went into his house, leaving Evelyn alone on the stairs. He rummaged through some drawers and came back outside, handing something to Evelyn. A vial of bluish liquid that glowed under the moonlight.

"What's this?" Evelyn asked, gazing into the vial.

"This will render Hope unconscious for a few hours. Should give you enough time to get her back to the Salvatore school before she realizes how she got there," Ryan explained, wrapping Evelyn's fingers around the vial. "I got it from Triad before I left in case I ever needed to protect myself and I'd say you need it more than I do."

"How would I even get her to take it? She isn't gonna drink some random vial of blue liquid," Evelyn said.

"Who said she had to drink it straight from the vial?"

Ryan and Evelyn shared a look, both knowing what the answer was. She nodded, popping the lid from the vial and chugging the contents. It tasted of sour milk but she ingested it all; every last drop.

When the vial was empty, she handed it back to Ryan who slid it into his pants. As he did, he pulled out a small flip phone and handed it to Evelyn. "She probably destroyed your phone. After she's ingested it, call your friends. It'll only last a few hours and you do not want her waking up before you get her somewhere secure."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Evelyn hid the phone in the hidden pocket of her jacket and rose to her feet. Ryan wished her luck and went inside, locking the door behind him. As he vanished into the house, Evelyn walked to the street to find a car pulling up, Hope in the driver's seat.

Evelyn leaned down, placing her arms on the open window sill. "Where'd you get the car?"

"Don't worry about that, just hop in. Let's get back to our cozy penthouse and we can deal with the problems ahead of us tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me."

Evelyn got in beside Hope and acted like everything was peachy when in reality she was freaking out. She did her best to slow her heart, knowing Hope would be able to pick up on any changes in pace as she drove back to New York.

It was nearly 6 am when they arrived back at the penthouse, Hope opened the door for Evelyn as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. After locking the door, Hope and Evelyn made their way to the elevator, stepping into their room. Hope walked over to the curtain and began to pull it closed when Evelyn decided she couldn't wait any longer.

"Bite me."

Hope stopped mid-step and turned with confusion. "What?"

"I was thinking before we head to bed you could … feed from me," Evelyn said, looking down at her feet. "After the stressful day we've had, I think we both deserve some good."

Hope thought about it for a moment and Evelyn feared she'd say no, but Hope's confusion turned into a smile. "Well, I think that can be arranged."

Hope gracefully approached Evelyn, and appeared before her. She leaned forward, her breath hot on Evelyn's skin. She shivered under Hope's touch as she sunk her teeth into Evelyn's neck. Pain struck at first before being replaced with pleasure and as she drank, Evelyn could feel Hope's grip weakening.

She pulled back and stumbled a step, a look of concern appearing on her face as her gaze met Evelyn's. "What's happening?"

"Everything's going to be okay, I promise,"

"What's …"

Hope tripped on the back of her foot and fell onto the floor. She tried to say something more but the liquid was taking hold. Her eyes closed and her head fell to the side, silence filling the room.

Evelyn pulled the phone from her pocket and dialed the only other number than Hope's that she had memorized. As it ringed, she feared no one would answer, but then he did.

"This is Alaric Saltzman speaking, who's this?"

"We're in New York. The penthouse suite of the Arlo Midtown. Please hurry."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."