As Charlie, Billy, and Gabriel set off to find Cook, Billy felt a bit queer. Something told him an animal was in danger. This didn't worry him so much as this strange feeling told him it was an animal he knew. This frightened him a lot, what if it was Rembrandt, or Solomon, or Blessed, or any of Gabriel's guinea pigs? He knew so many animals it was hard to figure out which one might be in danger.

"Have you seen Cook?" Gabriel asked one of the kitchen ladies. The lady gave the three bowls a sour look but pointed to the right. Slowly walking away, Charlie whispered to them, "She must be in her secret room."

"Let's go see." Gabriel said. The three boys continued on their way, stopping in front of a bookshelf. Looking behind them, Charlie pulled out one of the books on the shelf and slowly but steadily, the shelf slid to the right showing a big, antique room. To the right was a giant hearth and in front of it sat Cook in her own thoughts.

"Cook," Billy said happily. He ran up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Cook gave a start but relaxed when she saw who the unexpected guests were.

"My, Billy. You gave me a scare there for a moment." Cook said breathlessly. Her eyes fell on the other two briefly then returned to Billy's excited face. "What brings you here my boys?" she asked.

"We just wanted to see you Cook." Billy said sitting himself on a nearby stool. Gabriel and Charlie sat in a chair, either side of Cook and Billy.

"And… we also wanted to hear news from you as well." Charlie added.

"Ah yes. Tell me Billy. How was your very first summer being adopted?" Cook asked. She leaned forward towards Billy.

It seemed as if Billy was just simply dying to tell her for he immediately poured out everything little detail about his summer. He told her about Una and the Onimouses. He told her about life in Pet's Café. He told her where he went and what he did. It seemed to Charlie that he and Gabriel just sat there for hours as Billy went on and on about his vacation. Just when he thought Billy would never stop, Billy took a deep breath and said, "That's about all I did. It was really great though." He stared up at Cook as if waiting for approval. Cook smiled and gave a slight nod.

"That's great Billy. I'm so happy for you. Finally, at long last you have a loving family." However, as she said this, Charlie noticed a hint of distress or sadness in her voice. He glanced over at Gabriel and saw that he was thinking the same thing.

"Cook," he said. Cook wearily turned to him. "Is… is something bothering you?"

"I'm sorry, Charlie." Cook said. She leaned her head against the headrest. "I've just had a lot going on and I'm more tired then I could possibly imagine. You three have to watch out for each other, do you understand me? Watch your friends as well."

"Of course we will," Charlie said. What could she possibly mean by that? What has she been doing? Unfortunately, it seemed as if Billy was wondering the same thing, though he said it a bit tactless.

"What have you been doing over this summer then Cook?" Billy looked curiously up at Cook. Cook smiled and raised her head.

"I've been busy Billy. I've been searching around the castle for clues and hints about the history of you children of the Red King."

"And did you find any?" Billy asked, his eyes filed with excitement.

"Indeed, I found some, though I did not wish I did."

"And why is that Cook?" Gabriel asked. He was now sitting close to the left hand rest, leaning on it interestedly.

"Well I have found a lot of great information but…" Cook hesitated looking into the crackling fired, "I'm not going to tell you kids about it. It'll just be too disturbing and you need all the focus you can get to get through this term."

"What do you mean?" Billy asked. He was now, on the edge of the stool and if he wasn't careful, Charlie thought, he would fall over.

"What I mean, dear Billy, is that you three mustn't think about what I just said. Tell no one about this and don't think about it."

"How can we?" Charlie asked, "It has something to do with us. If it has something to do with us then we want to know." He looked at Gabriel for support and received it. Gabriel nodded his approval and added, "It can't be that bad that we can't know. We're all teenagers now. I think we can handle it."

However, Cook obstinately shook her head. "No, you kids mustn't know now I regret telling you. I will tell you this," she rested her head on the chair's headrest and closed her eyes, "Evil is abroad yet again and you all know how important the balance is. It must be kept otherwise, there will be great trouble."

Feeling a bit disappointed Charlie said, "But Cook, there's always some sort of evil every term. What makes this term any different?"

"You will be surprised, Charlie. Keep your eyes peeled for danger. That's all I can tell you at the moment." Charlie waited for her to say something else but she said no more. Sighing, Charlie stood up and gestured to Gabriel and Billy.

"Come on guys. Let's head out." Gabriel and Billy followed him solemnly and the three walked out the window in silence. When they reached the cafeteria, the horn sounded for the end of lunch. Charlie waved at the other two and walked off to his next class, wondering what could've disturbed Cook so much that she had objected to tell them anything. What use were her words if they didn't tell them anything new? Charlie idly walked into his trumpet lesson. Taking out his trumpet he began to play for Sr. Alvarez, barely aware that he was playing. All he was thinking of was… what did Cook so desperately wanted to hide from them?

*****

As the last class ended with the sounding of the horn, Emma excitedly gathered her bag and rushed out the door. However, as soon as she got out into the hallway, Emma slowed her pace down and began walking leisurely. As she walked she heard footsteps running behind her. Turning around, she suddenly stepped backwards, lost her balance and crashed to the floor.

"Oh my gosh!" came the reply. Emma groaned as she recognized the voice.

"Livvy," Emma cried angrily. She brushed her hair off her face and put up a hand. "At least help me up if you're going to push me down." she said when Olivia stared blankly at her.

"Oh right," Olivia said hurriedly and quickly pulled Emma up. Rubbing her back, Emma reached down to retrieve her bag.

"What was that for?" Emma asked. When she received no reply, she gave a big huff and began walking towards the garden.

"Wait," Olivia said but Emma did not stop. "Wait," Olivia said again and raced towards her. Grabbing Emma's arm Olivia pulled her back. "Look," she said, "I'm really sorry about bumping into you. I just wanted to know where you were going."

Emma couldn't help but shake her head and smile. How could she possibly stay angry at Livvy? Livvy was always very clumsy and reckless and of course she hadn't meant to hurt her or anything. "I'm just going to see Tancred in the garden before homework starts."

"Oh…" Olivia exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "All right then. I definitely don't want to stop you then." She immediately ran of in the other direction.

"I'm just going to play some soccer, Livvy." Emma called after her. "I'll see you later." Olivia waved her hand in response but kept walking. Shaking her head, Emma continued her way to the garden.

Reaching the garden, Emma saw Tancred playing soccer with his best friend, Lysander. Emma felt disappointed, but not for long. She reasoned with herself that if anyone else was allowed to be here with she and Tancred it would only be reasonable to have Lysander. Plus, he was a great soccer player as well.

"Hey Em!" Lysander cried out when she walked close towards the soccer field. "Tancred was waiting desperately for you to come."

"I was not!" Tancred retorted from the other side of the field. Emma smiled and ran towards Lysander.

"You're going to be on Tancred's side. Just throw your bag to the side and let's play some soccer." Lysander said.

"You don't want to play with Tancred?" Emma asked.

"Are you saying I can't play both of you?" Lysander challenged. His hair was blowing in the air as he leaned to one side, trying to look serious. Emma stared at him for a second and then exploded with laughter.

"What is so funny?" Lysander demanded.

Emma continued to laugh and her stomach shouted in pain as she tried to stop. "It's… it's just that... you look… so funny. Stop it!"

"What do you mean Em?" Lysander asked holding back a smile, "Do you mean I should stop this?" Lysander pulled himself up and pretended to look serious.

"Stop it!" Emma cried as she fell to the ground in laughter.

"Hurry up Em!" came a distant voice. Emma looked up and saw Tancred waving his hands, his cape blowing in a strong breeze that wasn't there.

"Sorry Tanc!" Emma cried. She got up and she pointed her finger dramatically at Lysander. "Tanc and I will beat you! Just you wait!" As she sprinted off to Tancred she heard Lysander call after her, "You're becoming just as good an actress as Olivia."

Ignoring him, Emma took the soccer ball from Tancred and ran to place it in the middle. "You're going to regret playing alone, Sander." Emma said smugly. Though she was an extremely sweet girl, she absolutely loved soccer and it was while playing this game, she unleashed her competitiveness.

"1, 2, 3." Emma counted and immediately took the ball. Surprising Lysander with her quickness, Emma dribbled it towards the net and easily kicked the first goal of the game.

"Well," Emma said as she turned around to face Lysander. "You regret that choice of yours yet?"

"Not at all," Lysander grinned. "I really like this side of you Em. You should let it out more often."

"Yeah," Tancred agreed, "Very fiery and competitive. Not at all like your normal sweet side." Emma pulled her lips tight and brought her fist back to give him a nice punch.

"Hey!" Tancred cried in surprise, automatically bringing his hand up to rub his sore arm.

"Was that comment meant to be good or bad?"

"Good of course." Tancred said indignantly. "I never say anything mean about you."

"I suppose not." Emma said reluctantly. "Though I'm sure there was once a time when you…"

"Let's play," Lysander said in a brief annoyed voice. "We haven't got all day you know." Both Tancred and Emma nodded casting each other an amused look. This time the three decided to play soccer a different way. All three of them played against each other trying to score a goal by themselves. Lysander started with the ball and soon, all three of the endowed children were playing joyfully.

Moments later, the score was Tancred: 20, Emma: 17, Lysander: 19. As Tancred took the ball to begin another round, he saw a group of students wearing various color cloaks walking towards them. As they came closer, Tancred realized they were the soccer team. Were they going to kick him and his friends off the field? Tancred picked up the soccer ball feeling tense a little.

"Hey!" One of the boys from the team called out. He stepped away from the group and Tancred guessed that he was their captain. The boy was probably in his senior year with brown hair and eyes. His hair was like any other soccer player's, it was not too short or too long. It flopped down over his ears. Tancred eyed him suspiciously as he neared closer.

"You're Tancred the storm boy aren't you?" the boy said nodding his head towards Tancred. Tancred slowly nodded, keeping his guard on. The boy approached him and scanned him head to toe.

"We were watching you," the boy said matter-of-factly .

Tancred turned his head to eye the boy with his suspicion, "And…"

The boy looked at his group as if collecting their approval. When the group nodded the boy turned back and said, "We would like to invite you to join our team."

Tancred's eyes grew wide as his jaw dropped. Turning to Emma and Lysander in amazement, he saw his expressions mirrored in their faces. They too looked astonished. Turning back to the boy, Tancred said coolly, "Can I discuss this with my friends?"

"Of course," the boy said. "Just so you know, we will have practice every other day for two hours during this time. We are free on the weekends but sometimes we might have parties or a gathering of some sort." Reaching into his pocket, the boy took out a piece of paper, "This is the schedule for our games. They'll either be here at Bloor's or at another area."

Tancred took the piece of paper and muttered to himself, "I didn't even know we had other schools." He turned around to see Emma and Lysander standing behind him. Apparently, they had moved in closer during this conversation.

"What do you guys think?" he asked moving them away from the group and the tall boy.

"It could be good for you," Emma said, "You know, something to do when you have nothing to do."

"Yeah," Lysander agreed, "I don't see anything wrong with it. If you don't like it, you could always drop out or something. Plus, you must be pretty good if they asked you? They're like the best soccer players here at Bloor's."

"And, they also won a championship as well." Emma added, "I don't remember which one but it was a big one."

"So you guys think I should do it?" Tancred asked unsure.

"Of course," Lysander said, "That is if you want to. Don't do it if you don't want to. No one's going to force you to do anything." He smiled making Tancred smile in return. Tancred gave a nod of his head and turned back to face the captain.

"Sure, I'll join." he said giving a shrug of the shoulder. The captain gave an approving nod and stuck out his hand. Tancred took it and they shook.

"By the way," the captain said before he turned around, "My name is Blaine. Hope to see you next week. That's when we'll start practice." Tancred nodded and the captain left with his group.

Tancred watched them walk away for a while until Emma said, "Sander, what are you staring at?"

Tancred looked around and saw that Lysander was staring into a bush, his brows furrowed. "What's up, Sander?" he asked. He headed towards him and stared at the bush but saw nothing.

"Nothing," Lysander responded. "I just thought I saw…"

"Who?" Emma asked.

"I just thought I saw someone in there but I guess not. Let's head into the castle. I think homework will be starting soon." Lysander said. He turned away and Emma and Tancred exchanged curious glances before following them. What had Lysander seen? Did he even see anything or was he mistaken?

Sure enough there was someone in there. Melanie Wilson was hiding within the bushes. She had been sitting there for some time and she could no longer feel her legs. She grumbled in frustration as she watched the three kids play soccer. She had no idea why old man Ezekial had told her to hide in these dumb rose bushes and watch Emma and her little friends. The bushes contained thorns and Melanie figured that she must have been high when she agreed. Besides, what he expect to gain out of this. Nothing that Melanie could see. Melanie sighed and shifted her position. Suddenly her leg fell onto a sharp thorn and she yelp in pain. That was when Lysander turned towards her.

Ducking desperately, Melanie forced her hands over her mouth to avoid shouting in pain. As soon as Lysander and the others had left, Melanie released her hands and screamed in pain. Desperately she scrambled out of the rose bush only to bump into someone. Fearing who it was, Melanie slowly turned around. In front of her stood a tall, muscular man, probably around 21 or so. He had long dark hair, which he tied up in a pony tail, and he had stood there, in front of her, with his arms crossed. Melanie rarely got intimidated but this was one of those times when she desperately wanted to dart as far away as she could.

"You're Melanie Wilson aren't you?" the man asked in a husky voice. Melanie briefly nodded, her eyes still wide with fear.

"Well I have a letter for you Melanie." the man said passively. He took out a letter from his coat pocket and shot it in front of him. Carefully, Melanie took the letter. Staring back at the man, something was extremely unnerving about him. The man turned away and immediately began walking away. Looking around, Melanie carefully slipped a finger through the slit to open the envelope. A letter fell out. Picking it up, Melanie opened it and saw, with disappointment, it was from Ezekial. What does he want? Melanie read the first few lines, "Welcome to Bloor's, Melanie. I understand that your parents sent you here to help me with my plan. Therefore, it is fitting for you to know about the plan…" Melanie looked around and quickly scanned the letter. The letter talked about Ezekial's plan and what role Melanie had in it. What a dumb plan. she thought. She didn't want to go along with it but she didn't want to be sent home either. She rather liked this place and wanted to stay here as long as she could. If she had to help that dumb baboon of a man then she will do so.

The horn sounded and Melanie headed for the King's Room, reading the letter. As she reached the door of the room she quickly pocketed the letter. Walking in, she was immediately caught off guard for standing to her right was the same man who had given her the letter just a few minutes earlier. Avoiding him, Melanie quickly looked away and looked for a seat. Choosing a seat in the corner, Melanie quickly sat down and took out a book. Ignoring the rest of the endowed who entered, Melanie created a cold, empty shield around herself. Who was she really? This was a question that posed difficult for her and she always had to answer it, in some form or another. In every single class she had had since coming to Bloor's, she was required to fill out a form, one of the questions being, something along the lines of: How would you describe yourself? Sure she answered them but none of the answers were the same. Melanie had simply made them up. Ever since she was little she never truly knew who she was. She knew who she acted like, but who was she really?