We reach our destination an hour before sunrise. Most of the survived were sent directly to hotel Carmilla so that's why now we are no more than five vampires in the lobby, waiting to receive our room keys and the appearance of the nest leader. I, personally, have no intension to lock myself in a room and sleep like a dead man until I make sure Godric arrives safe and sound. He and Erik stayed behind to take care of the Queen and talk to the King. He said that he would be here after His Majesty brings his royal ass to our nest, or what's left of it and escort the Queen out of his territory.

Now I feel a strange and disturbing knot tying in my stomach at the absence of the brunet male which makes me feel uneasy. A hand on my shoulder brings me back to the present and I turn to see Sable looking at me with a pale face and eyes full of fear. Before I can even ask her what's wrong we are already on the rooftop and the metal door shuts behind us with a soft click. I turn to my friend but I can't even open my mouth as I see why we are here. On the guardrail, with his hands crossed over his muscular chest, and his short blonde hair in its usual messy shape, sits my brother with a grim expression on his face. I take only one step towards him when I feel a sudden whiff and hear Sable's yell. The sudden pain in my back and the tight grip over my throat tell me that he is really pissed. At first I think letting him have his way would be for the best but I change my mind the moment he pushes Sable, who comes to help me, so hard that she flies away and smacks against the brick wall.

"SABLE!" I yell as her body falls to the ground like a rag doll and does not rise up.

The tightening around my throat is rewarded with a bunch of painful signals that my oesophagus sends to my brain, which makes me grab my brother's hand and crush it with my fingers until I'm sure that all the bones are broken. He yells and jumps back enough for me to kick him in the stomach and send him flying away. He hits the ground hard and stays there for a second or two but I don't waste my time as I rush towards the motionless Sable. Her hair, which is strangely sticky, covers her face and it takes me no more than just a second to find out why as blood streams down her head, making her long messy curls stick to each other. I grab the motionless female by the shoulders and make a pitiful attempt to wake her up. The sudden pressure on my head and the tight pull over my hair signalizes me that my time's up. The next thing I know is that I'm flying across the rooftop and that if I don't do something soon I will definitely fly over the edge. In the last minute I flip around and land on my feet, only a few centimetres away from the guardrail. Lifting my head I manage to glance at my sibling before he disappears in a blur of colours only to reappear in front of me. His icy blue orbs that stare at me are full of betrayal and hurt. His muscles are tense; shoulders sagged under an invisible burden and jaw tightly clenched. I know something is wrong. My brother never loses that spark in his eyes, never looks so defeated and definitely never, ever, attacks his close ones.

In a despaired attempt to tell me something or attack me he reaches at me but before his fingers can even caress my skin he is lifted in the air by the back of the neck and thrown halfway back. I gasp and try to take a step but Sable's strong grip of my wrists stops me. I look at our now linked hands for a second then I look at her. There is blood all over her pale face, her hair a messy bush of curls and her clothes dirty and ripped here and there but as whole she is fine.

"I had no choice." She whispers, bud doesn't release my arm. Despite the softness and hurt in her voice her orbs are a complete opposite. They are cold and angry.

"What did you do?" I ask, feeling the anger bubbling in me.

"He compelled me to bring you up here. I tried to stop myself but it was all in vain. When he threw me at that wall the connection somehow broke. As he is older than me trying to help you would be pointless so… " she left her sentence like that, unfinished, but I got the point.

My gaze turned towards my brother and the other men. It took me no more than a second to recognise Godric who was towering over my fallen sibling, and even less to figure out what my friend did.

"He's not gonna show any mercy." It is not a question, more like a statement.

I look at the three males who are now barking like wild dogs at each other. Eric, who is the largest, looks at my brother with unhidden hate and grabs him by the throat after he says something stupid. Jason tries to fight him off, but it has no effect as the older vampire is like a rock.

I release my hands from the grip of my friend and zip towards the males. With a swift movement I manage to set my brother free and push Eric away. The larger man stumbles a few steps back but regains his balance. My brother tries to attack but I grab him by the T-shirt and pull him behind me. Well, I use a little bit more strength than necessary and he falls to his ass, but I manage to stop Godric's swift form from attacking. He tries to get around me but my hand on his chest stops him. All this happens for less than a second.

Despite the fact that we lack the need to breathe I feel the brunet's chest lifting and then a sigh leaves his lips. He's angry, I can tell, as his eyes have turned greyish and his fangs are out. He does not look at me nor says a thing but when I slightly apply some pressure over his chest and he takes a step back.

"We should all calm down now." I say slowly as my hand never leaves Godric's chest.

Eric's snort makes me wanna roll my eyes but I don't as this may not be the best time to be bitchy. My brother's sudden movement catches my attention and I grab him by the throat before he could attack somebody.

"Don't you even dare thing about it, Jason!" I hiss as I grip him a little bit harder.

A sudden whiff of hot air blows my hair away and brings the scent of the upcoming sun and its warmness. I glance at my wrist watch just to see that the sun's about to rise. A quick peek at Godric and Eric and I know that we have no more than a few minutes as the bleeds have already started. I try to say something but Godric has left his stop. So has my brother. I quickly turn around to see how Godric squeezes the life out of Jason, who is pinned to the wall so hard that little cracks have formed. As I try to take a step towards them Eric's strong grip on my shoulders makes me stop. I turn my head towards him ready to yell and fight but he doesn't say a thing, only shakes his head.

"Let him say what he has to say to the boy."

I tilt my head at Sable who stands next to us and she only nods. I puff but don't make a move. Before I know it the brunet male is in front of me, his eyes back to their usual bluish-grey colour, staring right at me. I don't blink for a few seconds; the next thing I know I'm in the hall of the hotel.

Without a word said we separate. I go to my room and lock the door after me. The night's events are starting to have side effects over me. The tiredness and annoyance are the two main emotions that circle through my system the whole night and even more now so that it's a good thing I took one last meaningful decision by sending both my brother and Godric away before locking myself in the apartment. The fact that I may lash out at them at any time, to show my worst faces, makes me wanna punch a wall. Because my emotional walls started crumbling down the moment I saw that Godric was almost captured and killed, and so they are literally at the verge of falling apart.

Cracking my neck and taking off my clothes is the only thing I'm able to do before I go in the bathroom for a quick shower and then in bed. I fall asleep the moment I touch the pillow. I feel nothing as the darkness consumes me and all my senses shut down, leaving me in peace. At last….

When I wake up I have no more than twenty minutes until the sun rises so I decide to take a shower and try to relax my still tense muscles. As I comb my now wet hair I realise that a ball is forming in the pits of my stomach. 'Freaking nerves!' I hiss mentally as I decide to braid my long blonde locks. When I finish a knock on my door splits the comfortable silence. 'Here it goes…'

I walk to the door and try to prepare mentally for the storm that is going to lash out on me any moment. Usually my brother and I don't argue or defy the other's authority but now things are different and I'm almost one hundred per cent sure that something bad happened in San Diego while I was gone. As I grab the knob and twist it I feel that freaking knot in my stomach tying painfully again. I take a deep breath then exhale and pull the door open. My blonde brother stands on the other side of the threshold, his hands in his pockets, trying to fake a carefree attitude. Only if he knows how poorly he is failing at that.

"We need to talk." Well, at least he is direct!

"I'm really not in the mood for the 'you should have told me' talk right now, Jase." I rub my suddenly throbbing temples and try to chase the headache away.

"That's not why I'm here for." Suddenly his voice is cold and strict, like a father running low on patience with his disobedient little daughter.

"Then speak."

"Can I come in?"

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

There are a few seconds of aching silence that makes my suddenly appeared migraine hit my brain even harder. As I rub my temples for a second time, never breaking eye contact with my brother, I try to figure out on my own what is wrong. The list with the stuff that can get my brother so pissed is relatively short. 'Okay, so it must be some family business. I must be out of the picture as I'm here with Godric, Jason looks fine so the only one left is…' the sudden discovery makes me tense as I look at my brother and bark:

"Get in, and pray the Lord that I'm wrong!"

He only enters the room without saying a word, sits on the red sofa and when I shut the door and lock it, he sighs. It is a deep and full of desperation and tiredness sigh. 'Definitely bad news!' I take a sit in front of him and wait for him to begin.

"I did some seriously bad shit after you left, Sook." He confesses in a low, almost a whisper like, voice.

I don't say a word, patiently waiting for him to continue. The sudden tension that wracks my body and the fact that Jason's head is bent so low that his blonde locks hide his eyes from me, makes me wanna hit something. The dissonance vibrations coming from him are so thick that I'm sure I will be able to cut them with a knife! As I know pacing around and rushing him won't help I try to give him all the time he needs, but I find it difficult to-

"I'm dying."

'Touché!'

After my brother finished his story I was so mad and frustrated that it took me at least 3 seconds to snap myself out of the shock and slap him across the face.

"You idiot!" I remember yelling at him before running out of my room and right into the back gardens from where I teleported somewhere safe and secluded, so that I could think and relax. I barely recall Sable's sudden yell from my room and the crashing sounds that came after it. It soon all faded away and I was no longer in the city, or the state. My sudden outburst and the emotional flow had made my mind picture the last place I felt carefree and at peace. 'It's a little bit ironic for me to hide from the storms in my life near a volcano.'

The Haleakala National Park was created in the 17th century near the volcano that gives the name of the park itself. At first there wasn't much to see, as the volcano had destroyed one huge part of the flora and fauna in the area. Nowadays, though, step by step the nature is coming back, as the 'house of the sun', which the name Haleakala means has long ago fallen asleep. Of course almost nobody knows that I had made myself a little nest in the Park, near the crater itself. At the time I got that strange idea to build a house on a volcano, I was in the state of complete rage. I hardly remember what for but one thing I'm sure of – I did it to make Ian angry. He was so bossy and overprotective at that time that I was literally suffocating thanks to his closeness! So I acted impulsively and invested in a house near the volcano but soon changed my mind, probably thinking that it was too insignificant and not risky enough. So I did some last minute changes and the house, with the knowledge of some members of the authority of course, was built almost at the very top of the crater and yet it was completely hidden from the praying eyes of the never ending tourists. It was a win-win for me and the state of Hawaii as I got the privacy and solemnity and they got the money from the building of my home, the passage for the electricity and water pipes, not to mention the bonus that if the sleepyhead decides to wake up one day I'll be the first to smell it and I'd inform the locals. So I had permission and a house and they got the best volcano alarming system they could get and some money in the treasury.

The house itself was made of 10cm thick bulletproof glass, only some walls and the roof were made of wood mixed with some metals. The furniture for the time I lived in there, was quite modern – wood and cotton, nice colours, dots and stripes, hippish and yet classy. It has one living room; a kitchen and a library on the first floor, while on the second there are four bedrooms, each having its own bathroom. Oh, I have an indoor pool as well. It is actually dug into the rock with half of the house, as I was hoping that Ian may decide to come to visit me some day. That never happened, though. Anyway, I lived in the house for a couple of years until I, eventually, got bored and left. Still I used to come once in a while just to check on it and see if everything was ok. Now, finally back after my long departure, I find my little save heaven in need of cleaning and redecorating.

With that thought I'm off to the nearest city from which I buy things from bleach to mops, from curtain made of colourful beads to a few new cushions in nice beige.

While walking down the streets of Kahului, the only city that's big enough so that I can buy all the things I need, I spot a little corner shop for flowers. I like flowers but never had the courage to buy some because I'm not always home and I can't take care of them, not to mention that most flowers hate volcanic climate. I enter the little fancy yet cosy shop and look at all the strange and different flowers. A leggy blonde, no more than 32, nears me with a polite smile and asks if there's something she could do to help me. From behind my sunglasses I look her head to toe, old female habit, and find her way to pretty to be working in a flower shop. Until I see that, unlike me, she does not look me up and down. She doesn't even spare me a glance. Her pale eyes spot no one, glance at no one. Because they can't see anyone…

I take a breath and smile at her even though she may not see it.

"I'm looking for a flower that can cope with… climate changes…" I say while glancing at all the petite flowers that definitely will die if they receive a little bit more heat. They look so fragile like even the slightest touch can break them. I'm starting to doubt that there is even one flower that likes volcanic heat so I end up really surprised when the blonde woman starts telling me different names of all kinds of flowers.

"… we also have aloe, asparagus, begonias and so many more! Do you have any specific type of flower in mind?"

"Uhm… I don't really know much about flowers so I don't know what to take. I never had one actually. But I'd like something that has more colours than just green."

She laughs and nods.

"Then follow me, miss. You should have started with that! Just so you know most of the flowers that like warmer climate are in the green shade."

I nod, forgetting that she can't see me and follow her to the very back of the little shop. A metal door separates the shop from the storehouse. I watch the blind girl fishing a key-ring with at least 20 different keys on it from the pocket of her denim overall. For a second I overthink the possibility of her finding the right one in her state, yet I'm left amazed when only with one swiping of her slim fingers through the many keys she grabs the newest and smallest and unlocks the door with ease. She pushes it open and enters the dark void. Seconds later the darkness is scattered away by the rays of the fluorescent lamps and I follow the shop assistant inside. Probably, when empty, this place is huge, but now with all those flowers it looks like a labyrinth. The chattering of heels tells me that my guide has decided to go so I rush after her, trying not to push a flower pot or a giant tree. As I follow her silently I look around. I see no windows or air conditioners or what so ever. The whole space is taken by flowers and empty pots. The dampness and heat make the girl in front of me pant every now and then so I try to 'pant' as well, so that she won't ask any questions.

"Have you heard about the rose of Sharon?" her soft voice catches my attention and I wrack my brain but no information comes in hand.

"Never heard of it. What is it? I hope it's not a real rose?"

"Oh, no. it's also known as hibiscus. It's colourful, as you asked, and likes warmth."

After another turn, one of many, we stop in front of a huge shelf with thousands of little pots in different colours. I take a step closer and sniff the air.

"They smell nice, don't they?" I smirk and nod, but soon remember she didn't actually see me do it.

"Yeah. But they are so small."

And it is true – the little pots have little flowers in them who look too fragile for me to take them in my house.

"Oh, then something bigger, maybe?" and with that the blonde heads off in another direction and I'm left with no other choice but to follow her.

The next time we take a stop is in front of another shelf with lots of orange flowers. They all smell nice, yet strange, and I'm left to wonder if they are poisonous or something.

"I assure you they are not poisonous, miss. The Clive has just more…specific smell. " she says like she can read my thoughts or something.

"Well they really do look nice but sad as well."

And without another word she's off again. Almost 5 minutes pass until we stop again but this time the shelf is small and has no more than 15 pots on it. The flowers, all so colourful and cheerful, are the smallest we stopped near until now, but before I can even ask why we stop she grabs a pot and continues. I blink after her but decide to follow. I only manage to take a glimpse at a little tag hanging on the shelf saying Koleus in nice red letters.

"What do you think about the Spathiphyllum?"

"Nice, but isn't it quite… sensitive?"

"It is but with the right care it's worth it!"

Yet she doesn't even stop by it. She passes the shelf like it's not even there. I follow close behind but still sniff the air near the beautiful white flowers. 'A pity. They don't smell.' We pass by many other shelves with different kinds of plants, most of which are only in the green shade. 'The fuck did nature did with the flowers loving warmth?'

Some shelves have so many little pots that I doubt that those bush-like flowers actually live in the wild. Like azalea, amaryllis, fuchsia and many whose nametags I failed to read.

"Hey, uhm…"

"Akala. It stands for 'pink' I guess."

"It's original. I never heard of it."

Akala just smiles and blushes. We walk in silence for no more than 2 minutes when she finally stops.

"This is the last thing I can offer you, miss."

Stepping aside I see a bush of fiery red petals, swaying under the soft breeze coming from another door down the path left slightly ajar.

"What are those?" I ask as I gently take one of the little red flowers in my palm. It's soft to the touch and has a light smell.

"This, miss, is Cuphea ignea. Our Queen. Isn't she just wonderful?"

As I gaze at the little trunk like flower I really do find it wonderful and unusual.

"I'll take two. And one Spathiphyllum… make those two actually. And maybe that Koleus one you grabbed on the way here? "

The smile that appears on Akala's face brings a sudden and unexpected feeling of warmth to my chest. Even in her state of complete darkness she smiles and brings light into another person's soul. 'Soul lighter…' the long forgotten name of a tribe of people that no longer exists matches this girl's personality and I'm almost 100% sure that she has their DNA in her system. 'A distant relative maybe?'

The Soul Lighters were people who had lost their ability to see the material world, but in exchange they were able to see the spiritual one. Ironically their greatest gift was also their curse. Back then there were people who thought nothing about the soul and hated the Lighters. It was no secret that sooner or later someone would destroy them. After all, despite the great opportunity they had, the spirits did nothing to help them when the Vandals killed the tribe in cold-blood. It was a bloodbath like no other. The sad part was that the warriors made to kill other warriors were killing defenceless blind people. It ended quickly yet the screams that shattered the night's calmness and sleepiness made my blood run cold. Since then it is believed that the Great Spirits had left us, ashamed and enraged by the lack of humanity in humans. Yet here I am, standing in front of a living descendant of that tribe. And despite the fact that her gift is weaker and in a different spectrum, she copes with it the best way she can.

After we finally go back to the shop I pay for my flowers and begin to leave when a sudden question I forgot to ask makes me stop.

"May I ask you something?"

"Only if I can return the favour!" she smiles childishly at me.

"How do you know where to go and which flower you are in front of?"

She thinks for a while before answering me, the smile never leaving her rosy lips.

"Intuition. And a lot of practise I guess."

"Fair enough."

"Now may I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"How's that you walk during the day without turning to ashes?"

The question catches me off guard and I stay silent, overthinking all the stuff I said and if I, somehow, managed to give myself away.

"I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that you are the first of your kind that I 'see' out during the day." She adds after a second or two of tense silence.

"I'm….different, I guess. But so are you." That statement doesn't seem to bother her one bit and she answers calmly while arranging a bouquet of daffodils.

"You mean the Soul Lighters? I've heard of them but I doubt we are related in some way."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well I can't see ghosts."

"But you see colours and shades. That's close enough."

My reply seems to startle her yet she only nods and tilts her head.

"Will I see you again?"

"Probably not. I don't live here."

"It's a pity then."

She comes from behind the desk and disappears in the forest of green plants, only her bushy blonde hair giving her away. A few seconds later she comes back caring a pot in her hands. She comes to me and offers it to me.

"What is it?"

"It's Strelicium. The Paradise Bird."

The flower looks like it came from the secret gardens of Heaven. It has the colours orange and violet in a perfect combination, giving it an exotic and surrealistic appearance. Not to mention that it actually resembles a bird.

"But it's not-"

"I know it's not big and all but I also know you won't stay here for long. When you go back to your home you will see it'll adapt just fine."

With that said and a soft smile she turns her back at me and walks back into the labyrinth of flowers.

"Goodbye Akala."

With that I leave the cosy flower shop and go to the car I rented when I arrived in the city. I unlock the boot and gently put the flowers between the other bags. When I make sure it's secluded and nothing will fall I close it and go to the driver's seat. I fire the engine and leave the city just like I entered it – unnoticed.

Akala was right – I left sooner than expected. Actually right after I cleaned the house and took a nap I decided to go back to Dallas and make sure everything was ok. The plan was simple – go back, talk to Godric, talk to Jason and Eric and just try to put some order in the mess I left behind. But Karma has its way with people, eventually throwing your own ideas in your face and laughing like a total bitch. If I have to be honest with myself I was not surprised when the things didn't go as planned. They never do anyway…

I return to the Carmilla hotel an hour and a half before sunrise to find it empty of any vampires. When I ask at the reception desk the black-haired man simply tells me that they had left. I nod and leave, returning to my car and driving off. At first I have no idea where to look for them so I decide to start from the most obvious place – the nest. To my greatest surprise I don't find the house halfway destroyed, quite the opposite actually. All the holes and windows are repaired, the ground is covered with grass and flowers like nothing bad happened here. As I exit the vehicle a sudden wave of familiar scents makes me freeze at the spot. 'I know that smell!' the joy that passes through my system is soon replaced with anxiousness and … fear? As I rush to the door and in the house a new set of emotions comes to life in me – anger, amazement and shock.

"You must be kidding me."

Those words slip through my lips before I can stop them but even if I haven't said a thing it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

In the middle of the living room six pairs of eyes stare at me, some with grief like Jason's, some regretful like Godric's, even Eric has an emotion in him right now, yet I cannot quite place it. My maker's are full of doubt. On a leather chair sits Sophie-Anne, her pale and frail hand holding a glass full of thick red liquid, probably blood, and her icy eyes stare at me full of mischief and ridicule. As she sways her glass I know she mocks me, everything in her posture and movements prove it. And, of course, right across of Her Majesty sits no one else but His Majesty, the King of Texas.

"I knew you would bring only trouble to my Kingdom." Hisses Luke, as his eyes look at me head to toe, judgingly.