Cardboard boxes littered the living room of the Westley household, stacked neatly in piles or strewn about. Some were completely full, while others were waiting to be filled, and given that Samantha was the only one home at the time, she was the one who would be doing it until her brother got back from work. The pair had decided that it was time to move to a place more affordable, given that their current apartment's rent cost more in one month than Daniel made in two. With Samantha having graduated from school, she was without anything to do while she decides what to do for college, so it only made sense.

Daniel had already told her not to worry about cost, because he would handle it for her. Anywhere she wanted to go, she could probably get into. Even the most prestigious of schools both foreign and domestic, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to travel the globe just yet. She had given herself one year to figure out where to go, as that was all she would allow herself, despite the fact that her brother insisted that there was no rush. Samantha would definitely become successful and outshine all of the Westleys before her. Granted, she would return her brother's kindness and take her turn to look after him as well. He said she didn't have to, but she was stubborn as she was ambitious. Yet, she didn't even know what exactly it was that she wanted to do just yet. Although she was hasty to get started, she was still stuck at the starting line until she figured out a plan. Until then, she would just pack these boxes while the pair got ready to move into a new place.

The young woman was quite excited, as Daniel, by some bizarre miracle, had somehow managed to buy a flat in Gehenna. The fact that he worked with HELLSING and was friends with two of the organisation's highest-ranking agents definitely came into play, but she would not go too deeply into it, as she didn't want to spoil the moment. Yes, even she was being granted access as Daniel's dependent to the world of the supernatural. It was both an exciting experience to be given the chance to witness and integrate into a world seen by very select members of the human race as it was a terrifying one.

After all, she had never seen practically every other species that lived there in real life up until this point, that she knew of. All she had were illustrations in the Gehenna bestiary that depicted the beings that lived there. Would she be frightened? Would her fear accidentally offend? There were so many questions, what exactly was the reason her brother chose this location. "Money" was the only reason Daniel had given her, making her wonder just how cheap real estate in Gehenna was.

All she could think of were Halloween decorations and movies, though she did her best to shake them off. It might be a good point of reference as to what her eventual new neighbours might look like, but not at all how they act or function. According to Daniel, they're like human beings with their own personalities and demeanor. He compared their individual conditions to those found in humans, like his own nut allergy. Still, it was all very, very scary to think about. Fortunately, Daniel would be there, Geraldine agreed to come over as often as she could, and Revy offered to give her a tour around the town. It sounded like a fun adventure in theory, but she didn't know how she would react when the moment came.

Yet, she need not worry about that right then. Instead, she tried to focus herself on neatly packing all of her books into boxes. Samantha didn't need to worry about meeting monsters in Gehenna, especially since there were monsters dwelling just outside her front door.

Out in the hallway lurked a creature so foul, so sinister, and unbearable to cope with that even hearing the sound of her voice over a phone while she was on the other side of the continent was enough to make one want to cut themselves off from society and live the life of a hermit. The clacking sound of high heels hitting hard floor echoed throughout the halls, announcing her presence with a steady pace that grew louder and louder with each step closer she took. Then, she stopped in front of Samantha's front door and raised a manicured hand to knock on it, startling the youngest of the Westley siblings out of her daze.

With a jolt, Samantha cautiously stood up, trying not to make noise. She peeked out of the doorway to her bedroom and watched the door, ears piqued at attention. If it were Daniel and he simply forgot his keys, he would say something eventually. If it were Nathan, he would start yelling and pounding more viciously. Yet, this person was almost gentle in their way of doing so in a way that was unusual to the young woman.

Carefully, she tiptoed toward the door and held her breath as she positioned her eye over the peephole to see who it was. On the other side was a middle-aged woman with neat, brown hair parted on the left, perfectly straightened and primped. Genuine pearls adorned her throat and an expensive handbag was haphazardly hanging from her arm as she impatiently looked around. Immediately, Samantha recognised her and moved away from the door with a surprised squeak. Just as she realised what she had done and covered her mouth, she realised that it was too late.

"Hello?" called the woman from the other side of the door. "Daniel? Samantha? Is anyone home?"

Upon hearing her voice, Samantha quickly got up and rushed to her room, closing the door behind her. The young woman dug around for her cellphone before frantically dialing her brother. This was bad. Very bad. If only it were Nathan instead, Samantha could outsmart him, but no one made her feel more stupid and more guilty than that woman who stood outside the front door.

"Daniel!" she said once she heard the man pick up. "You need to get over here right now!"

"Why? What happened?!" the older Westley questioned, suddenly standing up upon noticing the tone to his sister's voice. "Is Nathan there again?!"

"No! If it was Nathan, I could just ignore him until he goes away. It's worse this time." Samantha replied. "It's mum! Mum's outside and any second, she's going to start trying to guilt me into opening the door!"

"Hold on, I'll talk to somebody to see if I can get out early." Daniel informed. He walked out of his office with his phone in hand. "Did she hear you?"

"I think she might have..."

"Shit..." That isn't what the man wanted to hear. "I'm coming as quick as I can! Ignore her the best you can, okay? Put in headphones or something."

"Okay…"

The woman outside grew louder, calling out to her. She was so loud that Daniel could hear her though the phone. "Daniel? Samantha? Are you there? You're not going to just leave your mother outside after I've come all this way, are you?"

"Hurry..." Samantha pleaded.

"I'll do my best!" the older Westley replied before hanging up. After arranging for someone else to take the appointments that fit in with their schedules and rescheduling the ones that couldn't. Daniel grabbed his jacket and made a run past the front desk as he ran to his car.

"Whoa! Where's the fire, Dan?" chuckled Mister Ravenscroft from his post behind the desk.

"My mum's at my house and my sister is there by herself." Daniel explained very quickly in passing. "I have to go help her."

"Entertaining guests is tricky, huh?"

"Entertain? No, I'm gonna help make her go away!" With that, he ran out the door, prompting the two front desk clerks look at each other with a puzzled look, but Daniel had no time to worry about that.

He got in his car and rushed home, anxiously tapping his hands against the steering wheel as he went. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he shouted when traffic slowed, but he somehow made it to the building. Parking in one of the spaces in the lot, he got out and slammed the door on his jacket, tearing it as he walked away. "Fuck!"

Freeing himself, he ran into the elevator and stabbed the button repeatedly with his finger until the doors closed and he was carried upwards. Then, it was a mad dash to his apartment once he reached the right floor, but when he rounded the corner, the hallway was completely empty. No one was there. Certainly, Missus Westley could have very well given up and left them alone, but Daniel feared the worst. He briskly made the walk to the door and pulled out his keys. Taking in a deep, shaky breath, he mustered all of his courage and swung the door open. Immediately, his heart dropped at the sight of a rather disappointed woman in a designer dress that was too tight.

She looked around the space with mild disgust as she sat on the arm of the sofa, almost to minimise the contact between herself and it. When she looked up at Daniel, her expression changed, albeit slightly. Her face changed into a somewhat forced smile as she stood up.

"Daniel! My sweet boy, how are you dear heart?" she asked, extending her arms to hug him, only to be cut short.

"What are you doing in my house?" Daniel asked, cutting her off.

"Why, Samantha let me in, silly goose. How else would I get in?" his mother innocently replied. Daniel looked past her at his sister as the young woman continued to pack. She looked up and flashed an apologetic expression before going on to resume being terrified.

"What do you want, mum?" the man continued to ask. "It can't be just to tell me to be nice to Nathan. By the way, thanks for sending him my way. Really appreciate that."

"Hoping that you'll lookout for your brother isn't an unusual thing to ask, Daniel."

"Right, so you take care of him, then. You're his mum."

Missus Westley shifted uncomfortably for a moment before resuming her facade. "I was away, so I couldn't."

"Now I see why dad was the politician and you weren't. You're a shoddy liar." Walking farther into the house, Daniel stopped at a coat closet and removed his jacket. "You didn't tell me what you're doing here."

"What kind of welcome is this?" scoffed his mother in disbelief while shaking her head. "I flew all the way here from Greece to see you, and this is the way you treat me?"

"Since when do you come just to visit?"

"I've visited you many, many times, Daniel. Don't be ungrateful."

"Right, right. I should just be happy that my mother decided to pay attention to her children for a few minutes or so. Silly me."

Daniel was surprised at himself. He had never been this bold before toward his mother. Then again, the last time he saw her, he was still a teenager who relied on her and his father's money to survive. Now that he was a man and adequately self-sufficient, he felt less afraid. It also helped that he harbored very little affection from her. After all, he hardly knew this woman. She was never around, so why would he? Certainly, she gave birth to him and his sister both, but was she really even his "mother?" If not, then she was just some random woman who had invited herself into his house.

"Honestly..." rubbing the area between her meticulously shaped eyebrows, Missus Westley sighed. "Unbelievable. I come here with a proposition, and you disrespect me like this?"

"Oh yeah? What's that? If you're going to tell me that you want me to let Nathan stay here, then the answer is 'no.'"

"No, that's not it. It's actually not even for you, it's for Samantha." A sickly sweet smile appeared on the older woman's face again as she turned to face her daughter.

"I'm perfectly happy living with Dan, mother." Samantha stated while picking up a box and placing it neatly on top of the rest.

"I never said you weren't!"

"You tried to get me to imply it when he wasn't here."

Both mother and son looked to one another for a moment as they registered what the young woman had said. The latter had anger in his eyes as the prior tried to think of a way to save face. Gracefully, she sat down on the arm of the sofa again and said:

"Now that's just not true. Honestly, I don't know what it is with the two of you and blaming me for things I didn't do." Shrugging her shoulders, she added: "I was only concerned for your future. If you're not going to college, then my proposal should interest you."

"I assure you, it does not." her daughter bluntly answered, emboldened by her brother's actions.

"What 'proposal' was that?" Daniel asked, folding his arms across his chest with an arched brow.

"Well, I was just telling her that I met a nice man while I was traveling whose son is currently single." the older woman shrugged. "I was willing to take her with me so she could meet him."

"Why would I want to meet someone I know nothing about?" Samantha questioned before the realisation hit her. "Don't tell me: he's rich, isn't he?"

"He's rich, his father's old and frail, and it seems like an optimal situation." Missus Westley answered. "He's only a few years older than you."

"Get out." Daniel ordered, pointing to the door. "Just get out right now."

"Daniel!" his mother gasped. "I don't know what's gotten into you."

"You are not going to come in here and try to marry her off to some sleezy fuckwit! You are not going to do that to her!"

"I'm only considering her future, Daniel. She doesn't even need to waste time, this way. The older she gets, the harder it's going to be to find someone."

"That's sick!" the man's face contorted with disgust at what his mother was saying. "She is not and will not ever marry someone for money! She's too good for that!"

"That's what a lot of women in our circle do, Daniel. It's just the way the world works."

"Yeah, and how fucking well did that turn out for you? Huh? Mum?"

"How dare you?" his mother practically growled as she suddenly stood. Indignation was the first genuine emotion that she had expressed since she walked through that door. "Don't you dare compare my marriage! I'll have you know, I loved your father very much!"

"Even after you found out he'd been buying prostitutes and harassing his interns?" the man questioned, giving her a skeptical look, but she only gawked at his reaction.

"He was lured by those men. That's how they are. You'd know that if you still hung around with that… that Miles boy." She spat his friend's name like it was poison. "Honestly, I don't know how his mother does it. Not well, obviously. I mean, look at her!"

"We're talking about dad, not my friends." Daniel reminded her, grabbing her attention at the mention that he and Kristopherson still fraternised. "And your marriage. What right do you have to come in here and give relationship advice to people who don't even want it?"

"It is my right as a mother."

"Right… because you care oh so much for your darling babies and didn't ignore them to go on permenant vacation with your husband's money." His face suddenly lit up. "Hey! That's something you and dad had in common! Only he ignored his children to go diddle someone else's."

"You awful-!" Missus Westley stopped herself before she said something she might regret. "I can't believe I trusted you with custody of your sister. I should have just brought her with me!"

"Should have thought about that before you voluntarily gave up your rights! She's an adult, now. You lost your chance on that one!"

"She could still come with me now if she chooses to!"

"If you pressure her to, that is!" Daniel guffawed with a shake of his head.

"She could have a future!"

"You'd ruin it!"

"What? Do you want her to waste her good years now and be too old to get married later?!"

"You mean like you are now?!"

"How dare you?!"

"Quite easily!"

"Stop!" Shouted Samantha, holding the sides of her head. "Just stop! I'm not going anywhere!"

Silence followed, causing the already tense air to become almost unbreathable. The two others looked at her, then back to each other, and then to her again as they both tried to think of something to say. Missus Westley was on top of things, however, and was first to try it.

"Samantha, sweetie..." she began, "I'm so sorry for yelling… I'm just so worried. All any mother wants is for her daughter to be happy! I'm just looking out for your best interests, darling..."

"Mum, I'm… I'm… I can't… That would only make me miserable, mum..." the younger woman shook. Daniel could hear the slight crack in her voice and instantly tried to step closer to get between the two.

"There's no need to be so dramatic, sweetheart." her mother replied. "After you get to know him, I'm sure you'll love him."

"I'm a lesbian!" Samantha suddenly blurted out, causing shock to wash over both her mother and her brother's faces in an instant. Only thing was, it did not last for her mother, as her mother immediately scowled.

"You stop that!" ordered Missus Westley with an accusatory point of her finger. "There's no need to be throwing a fit about this! What if other people heard you? Do you have any idea what they would think? Did you learn nothing from your father?"

"That's enough!" shouted Daniel, creating a wall between her and his sister with his body. "It's time for you to leave!"

"Don't tell me you support this… this phase!" his mother gawked.

"I do! And I highly doubt that it is! Even then, I'm gonna support the shit out of her!" the man declared triumphantly. "In fact, I like some cock every now and again! And so do most of my friends! If you don't like it, you can just get out and never come back!"

"How disgusting!"

"Get out, or I'm going to call the police!" he roared, stepping forward and shooing the older woman along. "That's right! Out! Out! Get out!"

"Daniel! Daniel Lennon Westley, how dare you do this to your own mother?!" Missus Westley was shoved through the doorframe.

"Like this!" With his hand on the door, Daniel slammed it in her face before locking it fast.

Placing his back to it as if to hold it shut, he let out a sigh of relief. He was glad that she was gone, but his tranquility would not last as he looked up to see his sister on the brink of tears. In an instant, he was back in action and quickly made his way across the room with outstretched arms.

"It's alright." he said, wrapping them around his sister. As soon as he did, the tears started flowing freely, only to be wiped on his shirt. "Everythings' gonna be okay."

"I know..." Samantha sobbed. "It hurts anyway..."

"I know. It's okay. Just let everything out." the man replied, patting her back. "I'm really proud of you, though. You stood up to mum. It took me a long time to get the nerve to do that. I might have burned a bit of a bridge there, but I'm not too worried."

"Realistically," his sibling began, pausing only to hiccup. "We don't actually need her… She needs us more, but we don't actually owe her anything."

"'s right. If we chose to be born in the first place, we'd have picked better parents, wouldn't we? You're gay too, though? That's good. There's not a boy alive who's good enough for you in the first place."

"I didn't think you'd have anything against it, but it's easy to doubt..." confessed Samantha. She made some headway in regaining her composure, but still remained a bit of a mess.

"I know it is. I've been there. It's gonna be okay now, though. I'm really happy for you, Sam. No matter if you're gay, bi, or one of the straights, you're still my little sister and I still love you."

"I was really scared…" the woman stated. "I really thought she was just going to grab me and carry me away… The idea of marrying a man… it's just so..."

"Disgusting?"

"Yeah..."

"It's okay. I'll keep you safe. We're going to move where she can't get to us." Daniel said. "We probably won't ever see her again if we stay."

"What about Nathan?"

"We won't see him, either."

"It sounds too good to be true..."

"It does, doesn't it? Even though it's a secret town of supernatural beings hidden from human knowledge, that is somehow the most unbelievable thing about this."


A/N: Remember when I said I designed Daniel to be the most ordinary out of the seven? Sometimes, things don't turn out the way you planned...

I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I really wanted more tension. But, I have places to be tomorrow, so I can't update then. It had to be now.

What do you guys think? I really need to know what needs expanding upon at the moment. I can't really tell what this needs, but it's missing something.

Either way, fuck off, Barbara Westley. You can't just come into your adult children's homes and tell them what to do! I have no idea what she's gonna go off and do now. I don't think she knows, either... She's at a bit of an impasse. She's got a limited amount of funds to live on for the rest of her life because that inheritance money goes faaaaast! She needs to find either a job or a meal ticket. Guess which one she's gonna aim for?

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!