I have come to the conclusion that the world is dead right now. My friend thinks it's because normal people have responsibilities. I disagree. I just think everyone is dead.

Mary wasn't typically careless. She really wasn't. It wasn't that she'd been taken off guard by the shifters. It wasn't even that she hadn't expected them to try to jump her.

What she hadn't been prepared for was the werewolves.

Almost all the werewolves were gone.

They were almost extinct.

She'd made sure of that when cleaning up the human race. They were too unpredictable.

The three werewolves that had joined the pack of shifters tracking her had been one thing.

The fact that the three werewolves had been aware of what they were doing had been an entirely different thing.

They had been aware. Werewolves weren't aware. They were mindless beasts. The fact that these werewolves had not only targeted her but also joined up with the shapeshifters had been more than enough to throw her off.

Even if she was strong, she wasn't that strong. Maybe if it had been just the werewolves she'd have been able to handle them. The fact that there was a pack of shifters tag teaming with the werewolves had been a bit more than she was able to handle.

She managed to knock one of the werewolves unconscious by catching him in the back of his skull with her ability but with them aware of exactly where she was she couldn't just vanish. She had to fight.

They managed to take her down by tearing off her legs.

Playing dirty by her rules. Taking a vampire down by removing their limbs was hardly fair.

She knew they couldn't kill her. It was physically impossible for her to die at their hands. It had to happen by the hands of someone she considered her brother. Either Brady or Collin had to kill her.

It didn't mean that these shapeshifters couldn't torture her.

For the most part she was unable to defend herself. With them watching her constantly she couldn't vanish.

She was stuck.

The shifters that caught her were of mostly feline origins, the leader was a tiger. She had a massive ego the size of Jupiter. Called herself the next leader. The true successor to Ak.

Mary hated it.

Those words tore at her every time they were spoken.

"Your sister was nothing. She was weak. All of that power and she died to the hands of something like you. A child." Mary stared at the brown haired shifter from her spot against the wall.

She was emotionally and physically drained. She had made the mistake of drinking the first human they'd brought her. The SH they'd pumped the girl full of had weakened her significantly.

"When I get out of this. You're going to regret talking about my sister like that." Mary laughed weakly with her words, digging her hand into the stone behind her and pulling herself into a sitting position. Having her legs detached from her body was an annoying inconvenience. Nothing more than that though. When she freed herself she would get them back. Then she would find out more about the werewolves that had caught her.

The shifter smirked, kneeling down just far enough away from Mary that she couldn't strike without the shifter noticing her intentions. "Your sister was weak, Mary. We've all heard the story. The shifter that surrendered. The shifter that gave up everything."

Mary hissed at the girl, baring her teeth. "My sister wasn't weak. She may have been bound to a weak willed girl but she wasn't weak. The girl you're talking about. My sister. She was going to destroy the world. She was going to commit genocide. I may not have respected her choices but she was not weak. You will never be anything more than a weak little kitten. Continue to burn me alive. Continue to tear me limb from limb. Only my sister could kill me. She is the only one."

The shifter rose to her feet suddenly. "That isn't completely true, Mer. You aren't immortal. You have weaknesses."

Mary didn't respond to the shifter's words. There was nothing to say. She was right. Technically she wasn't immortal. She could die at the hands of Brady or Collin. If Bella had still been alive she could've died to her. It didn't matter. These shifters wouldn't know that. Even if they did they couldn't make either of her brothers turn on her. They would never kill her.

She was safe.

That was the only thing that kept her going when she was being burned alive.

When she was nearing death.

She didn't know how long they'd had her captive.

It would've gone by in the blink of an eye for someone like her if it hadn't been for the constant emotional and physical torture she was enduring.

"If I don't find my own way out of this. My brother will come for me. My only direct creation left. He will come for me. He will find me. I don't care where you have me hidden. You could have me buried at the core of the planet. He will find me. You don't want to be between him and me. You and your werewolf pals won't stand a chance against his rage."

She was bluffing. They had taken her down and she was twice as strong as any vampire was. If Collin or Brady made the mistake of coming after her on a full moon they would die.

Neither of her brothers were strong enough for something like that.

"Let your brother come. Please. I'm begging." There was a dangerous glint in the shifter's eyes. Under any other circumstances Mary wouldn't have cared. Other circumstances. Not these. These circumstances were bad though. They weren't good. Something was wrong. She was old enough to know that.

Fear was something she hadn't felt in years. Something she hadn't felt since her sister had overpowered her. She'd been prepared to die then. It had been her fate. Either she'd die or her sister would. It hadn't changed that she was scared. Scared for her, scared for her sister. Because one of them were going to die.

Now she was scared for a different reason. Scared her brother would die. Scared her nephew would die. Scared to be alone again. The curse of eternity.

There was no value left in her life if they got hurt in the crossfire.

He can't come for me.

"You'll regret that, Kitten. Wanting him to come find you. He is ruthless. You call me a child but you are very wrong. I'm rational. I have purpose. He doesn't. He doesn't care who gets hurt in the cross fire."

The shifter didn't waver. Not a single sign of fear. In fact, she looked almost…smug. That dangerous glint in her eyes. There was something wrong here. Mary couldn't place it. She tried but she couldn't.

"Goodbye, Mer." The shifter rose to her feet and turned towards the stairwell.

Panic. No. She needed to know. "Wait." The word was foreign. She shouldn't have said it; but she did.

"Yes, Mer?" The shifter hummed. She knew something. What did she know?

A sickening feeling in her stomach. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Wise little girl, aren't you?"

A growl rumbled low in Mary's throat. "Kitten. What aren't you telling me?"

"That would ruin the fun, wouldn't it?" She heard the sound of the door at the end of the stairwell opening as two new shifters entered.

"What aren't you telling me!"

The female shifter didn't answer as she began her ascension up the stairwell.

Mary threw her head back against the wall, ignoring the sound of the stone cracking behind her.

They burnt her alive again. It was becoming a frequent pastime for them. They would burn her. It would hurt. She would scream. She couldn't die though. She would burn for hours upon hours. Burn until she felt like she was nothing. Until she thought she was nothing. She wouldn't burn to ash like other vampires. She would just burn.

When the fire finally went out she laid on the floor and stared at the ceiling. All she wanted was to feel nothing. Eternity hadn't prepared her for this.

In fact, eternity had given her freedom from the idea that this could happen. This was something she hadn't ever prepared herself for.

Pain, torture, suffering.

What she hadn't expected while her body was healing was a light nudge in her conscience. Something she hadn't felt in years. A light flicker.

Something was happening to Brady.

She wasn't certain what it was but something major was happening to him. She could feel it. It didn't feel horrible; but it didn't matter. It was enough of a pull to remind her of why she needed to get out.

So she did the only thing she could do.

Using her ability to hide herself she attempted to do just that. She focused the ability, envisioning herself not there. Willing herself to not be there. Willing herself invisible. They can't see you. They can't hear you. You don't exist. You aren't anything. You aren't there.

She knew they could see her. She could feel the eyes of the nearby shifters. They were boring into her. She was still visible.

It didn't stop her from trying. Trying to hide. Trying not to be seen. Trying to use an ability that had protected her for most of existence.

.-~**~-.

This was not something Collin ever thought he'd be doing. Seconds after waking up Bur had bolted back inside the house and locked himself in Brady's room. Obviously it wouldn't have been difficult for Collin to break the door down. It was the concept though.

They'd woken up a boy who had no experience in the real world. It would've been plain cruel to chase him. They'd have to try calm behavior. Coaxing him.

"Bur, please." He leaned against the wall and watched Daula who had pressed her head against the door, her hand resting on the handle. "Come on. We need you. I know it's scary. I know it is. But, Bur. We need you. Just talk to us. Let us try and fix this."

Something about Daula trying to coax their cousin who was being possessed by an ancient spirit was almost comical. It took most of Collin's willpower not to laugh at the stupidity of the situation.

"Go." The one word spoken from the other side of the door was shaky. The word was said as though it was foreign; and perhaps it was.

Daula lifted her head away from the door and gave her younger brother a hard look. "Collin, this was a bad idea."

He couldn't help but growl at his sister, baring his teeth at her.

"It wasn't a bad idea. We need Mer. We need our sister back."

"At what cost, Collin." She wasn't phased by the growl. "He's a kid. A damned kid. You woke him up and threw him into a time period millions of years following-" There was a click from the door as it was unlocked, Daula let go of the handle and stepped away as the door slowly opened. The boy trapped in the man's body emerged, his gaze flicking between the two of them.

The two siblings stared at the Old Soul for several long moments before finally he turned his focus to Collin.

Bur held up his hand with his palm facing the younger boy before turning it into a fist. He ducked his head slightly, in a faint nod.

Very rarely did Mary use her old signals. They simply didn't have enough language back then for their signals to have use in modern age society. This signal, he wished he knew what it meant. He didn't though.

"That means…he'll join…or follow you." The two siblings jerked their focus to Lila who was standing at the end of the hall behind Collin.

When Collin returned his gaze to Bur he was grinning like a fool, clearly overjoyed at the sight of Brady's mate.

"How did you know that?" Daula asked after a moment.

"He taught Brady. Always sitting in the back of their mentality. Influencing him slightly." She paused for several moments before she lifted her hand up and rotated her hand in a circle before moving it to her heart then holding her hand up level with her mate's. It was an awkward signal to use from several feet apart. Even more awkward considering the situation. But the excited sound that escaped Bur's mouth was enough to make all of them smile.

"Family. Bur, go save Mer. Help her."

"Okay." Bur pushed past Collin and made his way down the hall, pulling Brady's mate into a tight hug. The whispered words that came from his mouth flowed effortlessly. Bur was completely capable of talking in full blown sentences. "Lila, we are the same. Me and him. I feel what he does. I won't let you lose him. I swear on the life of my family. I won't let you lose him." When they pulled apart Lila had tears in the corners of her eyes. Rather than address it immediately Collin chose to not comment on what he'd heard. For now.

The two stared at each other for several moments before Lila nodded and turned away. "I have to go pick up Era. Dal, you should come with me. Kiddie One and Kiddie Two are going to bail soon and I don't like the idea of leaving you here alone."

"I'm not gonna do something stupid." Daula's voice held a hint of a lie.

"Dal, go with Lil." He turned on his sister, giving her a hard look. "Then, when you get back, call your dumbass husband and tell him you're leaving him. Because you should've done that six years ago."

"Coll-"

"No. Dal, you're my sister. I should've said this a long time ago. Dump him or I'll kill him. End of story."

Collin had silently debated this course of action for years. Andy had been a great kid. Him and Daula had grown up together. They'd gotten married. Then they had drifted. Andy had turned into a narcissist over the years. It had driven Daula away from him slowly but surely. That was why he hadn't been surprised to see her on the couch.

"Collin, you can't hurt him." Daula was staring at her brother with wide eyes.

He smiled darkly at his sister. "Dal, mass murder was fun. Killing your narcissistic husband would be satisfying. Dump him or he's going to die. Really, he might die anyway. Dump. Him."

Buried deep in his sister's eyes was gratitude. She would never admit to him that she was grateful but she was. "Okay." She finally told him with heavy reluctance in her voice.

He stepped into his sister and hugged her briefly before pulling away and looking down the hall at Bur and Lila.

"Go get your granddaughter. Tell her to keep an eye on her aunt."

Lila gave him a tired smile before turning and disappearing from the hallway.

"Dal, go."

"Thank you, Collin." She made her way down the hall, pausing to look at Bur. He stared at her for a moment before resting a hand on her shoulder and smiling awkwardly. She nodded before quickly disappearing around the corner.

Then Collin and Bur were alone. The Old Soul stared at Collin for several moments before turning on his heels and making his way down the hall towards the kitchen.

This was a weird enough situation that Collin wasn't actually sure what to do. Did he follow Bur or did he leave him alone?

They needed to get to Mary though.

That was reason enough to make him follow his cousin/the Old Soul down the hall into the kitchen. The Old Soul was in the freezer pulling out a carton of ice cream, Collin stopped dead in his tracks at the door frame.

"Bur-"

"Shush." The younger boy held up his hand, glancing at the boy before grabbing a spoon from a drawer and climbing on the counter. Collin couldn't stop staring.

The ice cream.

His mother had always given him ice cream in times of distress. It wasn't unlikely that she'd done the same with Brady. How aware was Bur?

"It's weird." Bur finally said as he scooped the ice cream, staring at it for several moments before taking a bite of it.

"How aware have you been?" He didn't look up at Collin as he took a couple steps into the kitchen.

"When Mer was around I would wake up. It was…weird. I was there but I wasn't. I would sometimes crawl through the cracks. Make Brady do things. It was pushes in the right direction." He stabbed at the ice cream as he spoke. "Mer was here. A bit back. She…was teasing us. Stabbing at me." The brown eyes in his cousin's skull lifted, staring into Collin's. "You were murdering. Lots of death. We heard about it. Why? Why were you doing it?"

Guilt flooded Collin, for the first time, he felt guilty for what he'd done. Killing all those people. Killing them in spite of Mary. Just to make a threat that he knew he couldn't go through with. "I was angry."

"It wasn't her fault." Bur took another bite, his gaze never leaving Collin's.

"She could've saved her."

"She could've saved me." Collin's eyes widened. She could've saved Bur? All those years ago?

"Back then…my mother was the only one. The only…shifter" The other boy seemed to struggle through his words. "I was…human…if Mer had bit me…she would've saved me…the hard choice she made…was letting me die. Because I didn't want her to save me…"

"I'm watching my sister die. I'm about to lose one of the few people in existence I love. I'm sorry you don't like it. I'm sorry it breaks your heart. I'm having to watch her die too. I have fifty different ways I could save her but she won't let me do it." Mary's words from outside the hospital rang through his head.

"She won't let me do it." He hadn't let her do it.

The reason it had affected her so bad.

If he had looked back on the situation without this knowledge he would've assumed that she was in such bad shape because she'd been forced to kill Ak. Except she hadn't wanted to save Ak. She'd been prepared to kill Ak.

Bur, her nephew and brother. One thing would be to watch him die and have no way to save him. An entirely different thing would be watching him die and not being allowed to save him.

Bella.

Watching her die and her not letting them save her.

History repeats itself.

"I'm an ass." Collin whispered quietly.

The shifter smiled sadly, "you didn't know." He set the ice cream aside and jumped off the counter. "No more killing to kill now that I'm awake. Feed if you have to. That's it. Now we have a sister to save."

As the Old Soul made his way to push past him Collin grabbed his arm, "Bur?"

"Family is family. Call me your cousin, call me your brother, call me your Nephew, anything you want." For a brief second Collin could almost see the young version of Brady standing there with him rather than the older man he was. Someone his age. Someone Mary's age. His…cousin took his shoulder in his hand and made the ancient motion for family. "Mer needs us."

Collin nodded slowly and followed his cousin as he made his way out the door. It was a bit unnerving, getting in the car with the Old Soul. Especially since he insisted on driving.

He wasn't worried about getting hurt himself, the fact that Bur was an ancient soul of a child was a bit unnerving though.

"Relax." Bur looked perfectly content behind the wheel as he started the car, Collin frowned but chose to lay back in his seat and shut his eyes. Bur had promised Lila he'd keep Brady safe. If he was anything like the rest of their family, there was no way he would break that promise.

Not being able to sleep was an issue for most vampires. Not him. Instead of suffer through the boredom of the trip he chose to sink into the back of his mind and dive into memories.

This time he allowed his subconscious to choose who he would relive the life of.

It was another one of those…off memories.

He was an onlooker. Every face he saw in the room was familiar. He'd seen them in memories before.

This memory was new though. He'd never seen this memory.

The room they were in wasn't extravagant in any way. It was a rounded room with a tall ceiling, at the back of the room was a large table that stretched for half the length, Zafrina sat on the far right with her sister next to her. On the far left Vladimir was sitting back with his legs on the table, looking extremely uninterested. On the right side of him Stefan was watching the entering group quietly. In the middle of the front of them, inside a small metal cage was a girl who was only about a year older than the Dol he caught sight of in the memory.

This girl had short black hair and copper skin so covered in scars and cuts that Collin couldn't look away. The girl was beautiful, past all the scars and gashes, she was beautiful.

Collin wasn't sure where this memory was going but he knew he didn't want to see the outcome. Rather than continuing to torture himself with the unfamiliar girl he moved his gaze to check out the remainder of the room. Lining the outside of the room were several stands, on the right side there were around thirteen vampires piled in the stands.

"Restrain the human." Senna spoke from her place, the second the vampire Collin recognized as Laurent made a move towards the human, Mike. Andy's father. Things changed.

He saw as Dol vanished completely from sight. He didn't see her for what felt like years before she was suddenly slamming into Laurent. Collin moved closer to the scene as Edward grabbed Dol and pulled her off before she could grab Laurent's head. A growl tore through her, not sounding human at all, it sounded like that of a wild animal.

Edward wrapped his arms around her and hissed in her ear, "if you don't calm down there will be serious problems." Dol growled again, a lot calmer than the last one. Collin watched as she took a deep breath and let it out. His gaze followed her as she looked towards the front of the room, straight at the two girls.

"No one will lay a hand on him without his or my permission. Do whatever the hell you want to me but not one finger on him, I will kill anyone who tries to do otherwise. I don't care if you send the entire city after him. Not. One. Finger."

Zafrina made a move to stand but Stefan spoke before she could do or say anything. "Do not touch the human. We have more important matters at hand."

Collin was drawn back to the girl in the cage again. Who was she? Who? He made his way towards the cage, kneeling in front of the shifter who was laying on the ground of the cage. She looked so weak, vulnerable.

He wanted to help her. So much.

He drowned out the chatter between the two groups. That wasn't important. Not right now.

The lack of knowing the girl in the cage was important.

He wasn't sure how long he stared at her before she began shaking more violently than she had been before from what he imagined was fear from the situation.

That didn't make sense though.

If he looked closer she was clearly shaking but…

Her head hadn't left the ground but her hand had moved up, she was tearing at the skin on her arm, clawing at the skin until finally she'd drawn blood. She was hurting herself. That was why she'd begun shaking more.

Using the blood on her arm she began running her finger across the floor.

She wrote one word.

One word she shouldn't have known.

A word that was impossible for her to know.

Collin.

It was plainly clear in the blood on the floor.

She'd written his name.

How was that possible?

"After this trial you and your sister are to leave the city. I do not wish to put you on trial but if you do not leave after the evidence presented here today I will be forced to do so."

"That-"

"I understand, Stefan." Zafrina interrupted Senna before she could say whatever she had to say.

"Leah?"

The girl in the cage lifted her head slowly, looking at Maggie.

Leah.

This was Leah.

"Leah?" He asked out loud, the girl's gaze flicked to his ever so slightly before returning to the red headed vampire.

He'd heard Leah's name. He'd seen memories of her in her jaguar form from his mother. A child in Emmett's memories. Of course it was Leah.

She saw him.

Edward had always told them Leah had thought in pictures. Never coherent thoughts. Never words.

In a memory.

She saw him.

"So Leah can be released?" Dol's voice filled the air.

"She can be released." Stefan said quietly.

He looked up in time to see Dol move for the cage. She stopped dead in her tracks.

The entire room looked completely confused. Everyone staring blankly.

One of the Amoz went through Collin, tearing open Leah's cage and breaking her neck with ease.

"Leah!" Collin wasn't sure who said it, there was a brief moment of silence following the terrible cracking of Leah's bones.

Saw him.

Memory.

Why was he here?

The entire room freeze framed.

He couldn't let her die.

Not sure how he did it, he froze the memory there.

Leah lifted her head from where she had laid slumped in a pile.

Stop.

The one word from her rang through him. She didn't speak it but he felt it.

"Stop what?" He asked, staring at the girl as she stepped around the vampire, cracking her neck back into place.

Dwelling. The female shifter stepped towards him, searching him.

"I can't. I wish I could but-"

Have to. She reached out, touching his face.

"Why?"

History can't be altered. No matter how much you wish it would. Don't.

The female shifter stepped into him and leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "I didn't think it could…"

You did. You began to wonder. I died a very long time ago and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. If I'd lived. I would've Imprinted on you. Years after this you would've been born and I would've Imprinted on you. That's why you're drawn.

"How are we talking?" He tried not to wonder what could have been. There wasn't any reason to dwell on that. Not if she was right.

I was born with a broken mind. My mind didn't work right. Not on a normal plain. I was more susceptible to things. Things like you. The eight ball. The boy who- She stopped in her sentence. Forget that. You don't know yet. Collin, do what you need to do. Save your family. Don't try to alter history.

Then he was alone again and the world was sinking away around him. He was waking up.

The one thing I've always regretted was killing Leah off. I really regretted it. If I could take back her death I would. With Collin's ability I do get a chance to toy with things I wouldn't have under other circumstances. Hence why I made his ability the way I did. On that note, review! Let me know your thoughts!