"Nobody sees, nobody knows, we are a secret, can't be exposed…"

My eyes flickered open. Was my subconscious making an external manifestation of my biggest secret? I balled the duvet in under my chin and turned my head in both directions. Bedside table, window, discarded pillow bowed by my knee, an old pj top and an abandoned half empty bottle of water.

"…That's how it is, that's how it goes, far from the others close to each other…"

I kicked the duvet up, knocking the pillow off in irritation. Tulip's music dammit. Kanti must be a heavy sleeper to stick it. I yanked the duvet up to create a cocoon to disappear into and tried to focus solely on the tease of a touch it delivered as it settled. However, when a knock sounded through the apartment, the soft sound of Tulip skittering off to answer the door was much appreciated. I still slowly pressed the balls of my feet to the floor and crept across the room to eavesdrop. Pressing an ear to the door, I held my breath.

"Heya, just let me lower the music," Tulip yelled. Thanks for making my job easier Tools. "Crystal, you here to check on her?" No prizes for guessing who the 'her' was.

"Well yeah but Xav just called. He volunteered for a morning shift at the hospital they took Nicolette Winters to and… She died half an hour ago."

My oath to remain quiet abruptly broke. I lost my balance, tipping forward and slamming into the door. I instinctively gasped and pulled back stumbling foot over foot to the wall on my left. I caught my shoulder hard and the pain had me biting back a torrent of the foulest swear words known to man. It took me a minute before I even realized the girls were oblivious so when the pain dimmed I re-assumed my original position with care.

"Saul wants to come but they have no one to look over the slopes so just Trace and Diamond should be here late tomorrow."

"Good, good, everything is set then." I heard the coffee maker going. "D'ya want to get Willow up? She hates to sleep too late."

Me! I scuttled over to my wardrobe and pulled out the first thing I saw just as Crystal knocked gently on my door and entered.

"Hey," I tried to say breezily. I leaned against the side of the wardrobe awkwardly, possibly resembling a drunk model.

"So, you hang up your onesies?" Crystal said as a reply. I gave a start when I noticed what I had pulled out. My leopard print onesie Sherry had gotten me for my last birthday. I had an irrational fear of the thing but it found its way into my suitcase... Rydian...

"I had spare hangers," I attempted to say nonchalantly. I shoved it back it, pretending to study a very fascinating plain grey jumper and bootleg jeans to keep my eyes averted. "I smell coffee."

"Yeah," Crystal eyed me cautiously. "You want to dress and join us?"

I nodded manically and practically shooed her out the door. Being alone again was the antidote to the anxiety building in my chest and I let out a big sigh of relief, my heart slowing down like a boat approaching the docks. It chugged back to a steady seventy bpm and I had the presence of mind to pull on some clothes.

"So," Tulip said cheerily as I walked in rubbing my eyes. "I got a text from Lucian saying he and Kanti were coming soon. The little ditchers. Next Friday actually. "

"Sure," I said. I grabbed a box of something Xav insisted we buy called poptarts and put one toasting. "Any other news?"

"Well, the girl who collapsed yesterday, Nicolette, um… Passed away this morning."

I nearly cracked the plate in my hand. Hearing it a second time was no easier. It was barely a day ago I was cursing this girl's manic laughter but she was still real. A living, breathing girl with lots of people who loved her dearly. I loosened my grip on the plate slowly and focused on the toaster to keep my face hidden. I gave a quick nod, letting the silence sit between us. It was nearly a relief when the poptart jumped up. I went to sit down on the couch to eat and I felt their eyes follow me.

"So, how are we this morning?" Crystal asked deciding to bite the bullet. She plucked a few grapes from our fruit bowl and came over to join me.

"Fine," I grumbled, pulling my legs up to cross them. "I think avoiding each other is the best bet right now."

"Fine," Crystal said mimicking me. "But the truth will come out eventually." I scoffed and started eating. These things were too sweet but Tulip had grown fond of them so we always had a box. Crystal huffed and went back to the kitchen. Tulip, who had been shamelessly eavesdropping, picked up her coffee and started playing with her phone. I inhaled my food, skipped off to the bathroom, washed my face, brushed my teeth and grabbed my wallet and phone. I gave a quick glance in the mirror. This would do.

I called out a bye, not even glancing their way, and hurried down the stairs. It was beginning to get pretty cold and my breath clouded the air the moment I hit the pavement. Something told me it would only get worse for the foreseeable future. A few streets of aimless wandering followed and my hands had just begun to take on a bluish tint when I decided I needed to sit down. I leaned against a wall of exposed brickwork and blew air into my hands, rubbing them roughly off one another to get my circulation moving. I just wanted to be home, away from all the drama that followed the Benedict's like a loyal puppy. A puppy that bit too frequently for my liking.

The cold of the brick began to ice my skin, ordering me back to the present. I backed off and read the grey cement plaque above my head. A library. It was quiet with no one venturing up the slab grey steps today it seemed. On impulse I went inside and revelled in the baked, artificial heat the library emitted freely. It was bliss and to be surrounded by books was even better. True, half of them were probably no more than drivel but the possibilities the other half held… My brain ached for it.

I picked a row at random and relished in the musty scent. I could focus on something other than the now for a while. I trailed my fingers over the bottom row and plucked the first one that knocked against my fingers. 'The Book Thief' by Marcus Zusak. The book had a certain heft to it for one. I flicked to the last page. 'A Last Note from your Narrator- I am haunted by humans' were the book's parting words. I snorted and flicked through the odd book until I found an obscure corner to loose myself in the book. You and me both Narrator.

I spent my days until Kanti and Lucian's arrival with the book decorated by the girl and skeleton. It was fascinating as I constructed the world from the oddest point of view. I could relax with it in a peculiar way and when my eyes tired I took note of my page before walking home. No one knew where I went and I never told them either.

I was civil of course but the secret I harboured had placed a sheet between myself and those I loved. Tulip and I spoke but the sheet blocked the things that were not conveyed through words. Xav remained wary though greeted me with a customary "morning darlin'" as he did with the woman who sold newspapers beside our building. Crystal was much the same.

So helping Kanti settle into my room was a relief; she was someone who had not witnessed that 'incident' so failed to understand the tension. "You room is quite airy and welcoming as were you and Tulip," Kanti said putting her suitcase at the foot of my bed. "Are you sure about this arrangement? I can easily get a blow-up mattress." I noticed her lips part gently as she re-orientated herself in my room.

"No, no. Tools and I will be fine in her bed. It's huge, you seen it yet?"

Her lips twisted ruefully. "No. Perhaps later. Shall we go back to our company in the kitchen?" I swore lightly under my breath. I really had a way with words around Kanti. It was incredible how independent she was and followed me without any aid other than her gift. Lucian came to kiss her while I went to set them something to eat. Tarryn ordered that her little sister not share a room with Lucian and they obliged. The duo were still like Velcro and I was certain Lucian had dashed upstairs, thrown his bag in (hopefully) the right room and dashed back down so as not to miss more than mere seconds with her. Cam would have called it whipped. I called it leashed.

Trace and Diamond had been here with days already. I had been friendly but discreetly avoided them as much as I could. I had enough Benedicts for now. And all I knew of the case developments were the snippets I overheard anyway. Their latest theory was that one of the bosses involved in an organisation Yves and Phee had brought down in London was active again somehow. I highly doubted it. Each one was in high security prison thanks to what I labelled the 'Bloody Brilliant Benedicts' whenever they came to mind lately.

"Hey," Lucian addressed me. "Take away on us. Kanti and I agreed it was the least we could do for you guys and the crew upstairs." I opened my mouth to object but Tulip was quicker.

"Free food!" she crowed and hugged Lucian and Kanti together tightly. "I think I love them Willow. Ahh! I know the perfect Chinese that delivers." She scurried off to her room. "I have their menu. I cradle it at night with my dreams."

"Well, it would be rude to deny Tulip," I said with a weak smile. I think Lucian sensed something was off but Tulip rattling off the dishes worth their time distracted us.

"I know what they like," she yelled from down the hall, "so let's get ordering!"

I sat on the windowsill, automatically moving forks of chicken fried rice and lamb chow mein from my plate to my mouth. Vaguely I was aware of a fortune cookie cracking over the room's chatter. I consciously perked my ears and noticed Will as he just looked up from reading his fortune. We were beyond the point of trying not to let each other infuriate the other so his pretty happy expression soured. That was tantamount to a normal person openly growling at me. Yikes.

"Can I have your attention?" Tulip declared standing up. "Kanti has some important news to share!" Lucian groaned as Tulip clapped, turning the entire room's attention to poor Kanti.

"It appears we do," Kanti said taking Lucian's hand. "Tarryn, this news is particularly for you and Uri. I was beyond delighted the day you shared you had both met with me and I still wish I could have been there. This is as I longed for you to be there the day I met my soulfinder, Lucian."

Tarryn audibly gasped and leaned over to shower her sister in hugs and kisses as everyone clapped and cheered. Kanti laughed and turned a pretty pink as she shrugged off the attention. She tried to regain a semblance of calm by clearing her throat.

"However, I would like to applaud the remarkable work you, Uri, Vick, Diamond, Trace and everyone is doing to bring down the despicable characters involved in that drug scheme. You all are incredible." This received loud hollers from Xav and Crystal causing everyone to laugh. Tarryn shook her head but resumed gushing with her sister, excitedly whispering and giggling like someone half her age.

"How much have you uncovered so far in this drug thing?" Lucian asked Uri, putting his empty plate in the sink.

Uriel rolled his neck. "Not a great deal though we have some students willing to contact the number we have for the suspected group in their uni," he said with a nod in Tulip's direction. "I also was able to access the remains of a student who died recently to trace her history. Unfortunately as soon as I reached the point where she received the drugs everything blanked."

"Definitely Savant then." Lucian said as Uri nodded. He pinched up his and Tarryn's glasses to get refills. I caught his eye and he looked at my glass but I shook my head with a small smile.

"Someone 'swiped' her and probably her parts of her memory too." Crystal said.

"The students that were sent in…"

"Just to prove my theory they 'swipe' the students," Uriel said as he poured some water, "Though testing the drugs themselves is key too. We are also tracking about thirty students who may be involved as well, phonecalls, whereabouts, the lot." This was all news to me so I made an effort to listen in.

"This is seriously great dinner conversation," Crystal said sarcastically. "Dead bodies, drugs, what a treat!"

Uriel smiled. "True. How is your course anyway?" and I tuned out again. Thirty students? Knowing Victor, he probably wanted to bring all of them in to use his gift on but the talents they could possess would put us at risk too. I finished my plate, dropped it off and headed to the bathroom. My plan was to pop back for dessert then make myself scarce as soon as possible. Every nerve ending I had was on fire in an extremely uncomfortable way around Will. To waste time, I distracted myself when I finished washing my hands. Pulled my hair into a bun, a ponytail and a braid. Brushed my teeth. Arranged the towels neatly. Washed my hands. Again. As I dried them, a light knock came on the door.

"Just a sec." I called before the door was opened anyway. I jumped back when I came face to face with Will. He frowned but came in, crossing his arms.

"Uri just got a call from Vick. Intelligence believes a big drop is going to go down at this petrol station on the outskirts of the city tomorrow night."

"Why are you telling me?" I said with my mouth agape. I gripped the side of the sink behind me.

"Because they planned to keep it from you." He said simply. "And me I bet if it could be helped." He sighed. "They have been keeping a lot from me after…" he nearly comically grimaced, "that 'thing' you caused."

"I caused! Really?" I snapped. "You challenged me!"

"What good was contributing that when you had no idea," he said getting closer to me, "How to even carry out your farcical idea!"

"Oh grow up!" I groaned running a hand through my hair and shoving it back, "I was trying to help. Are you that stupid!? Maybe that's why you never got the damn message!"

"Heard it loud and clear you-"

"Um, I should go." came from a higher pitched voice than I was expecting. I whirled on the open bathroom door to see Kanti there appearing awfully confused.

"What is wrong cupcake?" came Xav's cheerful voice before he saw his brother and I in the bathroom. His smile vanished. "Out." He ordered his brother. Will threw me a glare before skulking off to the now remarkably quiet dinner party. Xav shook his head and stared after Will. I was certain he was wondering where his brother had gone as this Will seemed like a stranger to everyone. I was probably a stranger too.

"What was that?" she whispered. I had no response so I squeezed out the door, went across the hall, slamming my door shut behind me. I could buy dessert tomorrow. My appetite was gone.

Author humanoid reporting for duty,

Thanks charrrr, ShootingComet and a sweet Guest for reviewing and Karu52 for following and favouriting. Your profile pic is adorable btw ShootingComet. I always have a peek at anyone who reviews or follows or favourites to see have they written stuff or some cool favourites! A lot of the time I find good stuff to read this way. I sound like such a creep tbh.

Also the song lyrics are from 'Uncover' by Zara Larsson. Updates are still on a Friday or Monday :)

Hint for chapter 21... A certain confident boy makes a reappearance, a girl's night avec Lucian and an ending you might want to look twice at...