Disclaimer: Na ah ah ah. I see that finger on speed dial. Now set down that phone and let's talk like reasonable adults. I know i have to say that I don't own Darkest Powers and you don't have to sue me for the puppy I got for Christmas.

First of all, Kidding! I didn't get a puppy for Christmas. I got a Nerf gun. Which in retrospect was not the smartest idea because I can't stop ambushing people and shooting them. But hey at least I didn't get an actual gun! Secondly Happy Halloween! . . . oh what? New Years? Freakin' Frick. No wonder no one asked for my snickers! I just figured they thought they were to high and mighty for it's goodness. Anyway at least I got this updated within a weeks notice. I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to get this updated before school started up again. Which trust me would have taken like another 2 weeks because I go pretty much straight into finals. I also tried to make sure that the plot started rolling in this chapter. It kinda starts up towards the end. So just stick with me for now until you get an actual taste of the plot.

Last Chapter:

"Chloe. I know your there." Derek's deep rumbling voice popped me out of my thoughts. So I walked over to Derek and said the one thing that came to my mind. "B-blanket?"

"You risked our safety for blankets?" Derek asked as he started to make a rumbling sound in his chest. Which almost sounded like a growl coming from him.

"N-not exactly." I shortly answered him. If it were any other day, I would have been excited to have just a few minutes alone with Derek. This time though, I could barely stand up from exhaustion and as I tried to focus on what he was saying, I knew now was not the moment I envisioned for some one on one time. Derek of course wasn't willing to have any one worded answers from me.

"Chloe." He growled out as a warning for me to keep explaining.

I debated on whether or not I could make a break for it and get to my room or if it would be less painful for me to just spend another fifteen minutes explaining my little non-venture. After about five more minutes of me opening and closing my mouth with not a single word coming out, Derek finally figured out that I was debating escape so he quickly went to the door and blocked it with his massive six foot four body. I knew I had lost any chance now.

"I- I just couldn't sleep." I mumbled quietly. I knew he would be able to hear it but, it still didn't make me anxious to make it easy on him. When I looked up at him, I saw some form of concern pass in his eyes before they went back to the stoic look they had before. "So I just thought it would be better to get some fresh air. Ya know? That room was making me feel edgier by the moment." I explained praying to whatever god that he didn't freak out.

"You've got to be more careful out here now. Before all this, people only thought that we might be a danger to the world." He then crossed his arms across his chest again as if to block out the effect of his own words. "But now we proved to them that we are. Some of us have blood on our hands now, Chloe. No more trying to "rehabilitate" us. All we'll get now is a bullet in the back and some hollow words of pity." Derek had sustained his little speech in a complete monotone. I wasn't sure if he meant to do this for effect or if it was to keep some underline emotion from popping into his voice.

So I just nodded my head like I knew I was supposed to and started to move towards the door that Derek was still blocking. When I was about six inches away from Derek, I looked up to his face as if to silently ask him why he was still in the way. He seemed to get the message though because he answered "You still didn't tell me, why you're up at four thirty in the morning."

I usually didn't mind much when Derek got all protective but, I was starting to see double and I knew that if I told him I was afraid. I would get the whole "Don't be afraid, I'll protect you." speech and I wasn't sure if I wanted him to know my slowly becoming unfiltered thoughts as he would prod more questions from me. I don't know if it was my sleep deprivation that came up with the plan or if it was the one that made me think that it would be a good plan but I somehow agreed with it. So I went up on the balls of my feet and gave him a quick peck on the lips. I swiftly then went around Derek and opened the door, in his moment of confusion. Right before I went in the room, I mumbled a goodnight and left him for the comfort of my sweet bed. I could have sworn though that when I looked over at Derek, I saw those same pairs of yellow eyes staring right back at me.

When I woke up I found myself alone in the motel room. In my past life, I would have been counting down the minutes until I was alone. Now though, all I could think about was meeting up with the others and not dwelling on the budding fear that they could have left me behind. So I quickly went and put on a plain red tank top from one of our stops to Wal-Mart. I then dashed out the room and knocked on the guys' room. After about two minutes of my eyes sweeping the area, the door opened to reveal Mr. Bae or Aka Simon and Derek's dad. Mr. Bae's clearly Korean features went from suspicious to cheerful the moment he noticed it was only me at the door. I could understand how he felt. We all knew we were safe for now but it didn't mean we would stop expecting danger.

"Hey Chloe, come on in. Your aunt and Tori are here too." He tacked on the end after seeing me practically bursting from curiosity of their whereabouts.

I tried to play it off, like that wasn't the reason I practically ran over the moment I woke up. "Cool. Is Simon in here too? I thought that well we had a break we could work on our comic." I asked him as I walked into the small room.

It was pretty much the same one I slept in. Two queen beds, a T.V., bathroom and a small couch crammed in the corner. All "brilliantly" decorated with seventies striped wallpaper.

He answered me with knowing eyes as he said "No. Not at the moment. Him and Derek went over to the convenience store to get us all a somewhat healthy breakfast."

I was somewhat disappointed by this information. Yet, my mood lifted up again once I spied Tori on the couch watching what I was guessing MTV and Aunt Lauren washing something in the sink. So I turned my head back towards Mr. Bae. "You do know that there is a continental breakfast in the main building, right?" I asked him with a somewhat smug expression on my face. At least my wandering had some point. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it Derek.

Mr. Bae however didn't seem to be all that surprised. "Yes, I saw that actually when we checked in. I just thought it would be better to get our own food. Never really know what kind of things you could find eating from a place like this." He then proceeded to wink and walked over to Tori. He started talking to her about some pretty mundane stuff.

I wasn't sure if he figured out Tori was his daughter or if he was trying to show that Tori was a part of this make shift family. I just thought it was nice to see them together, even if neither of them knew of their relationship.

I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy for them though. I wasn't even sure if I was ever going to see my dad again and there they were pretty much blatantly ignoring the obvious signs that they were father and daughter. After a small self-pity session I moved over towards my aunt to figure out what she was doing. "Hey Aunt Lauren, what are you washing in ther-" I stopped the moment I saw what she was scrubbing in my sink. It was my hoodie, the one with Andrew's blood practically dying the previously light grey color into a deep red. I was shocked, the image of his corpse kept flashing in my mind. I think my aunt must have seen something in my face because she quickly moved in a way that blocked my vision of the sweater. It was too late though, I couldn't stop thinking about it now.

I made an effort though to make it seem like it worked. I worked on my smile and asked "How long do you think we'll be staying here?"

I wasn't sure if it worked because my aunt Lauren's crystal blue eyes still held that note of sadness before she answered "Kit and I were thinking that it would be best to stay for a couple more nights. That way we can be better set up for the next town we get to." This bit of news didn't make me feel as excited as I thought it would. For the past three weeks I had been waiting for the day when I could just relax for a couple of days and catch up on what was going on around me. It seemed however that the thought of staying in one place for that long made me antsy.

The only indication I gave was a half-assed nod. I wasn't really excited but, I would have to learn that the adults around me knew what to do more then what I did. Didn't mean I liked it but, I also knew when to keep my mouth shut. There was a slight awkward silence after that. I mean what could we really talk about though? All our conversations we used to have together all seemed petty after all that happened and right now didn't seem like the right time to talk about the stuff that we needed to talk about. It seemed though that we wouldn't have had time to strike a conversation anyway because Mr. Bae called from across the room. "Hey Chloe? Would you mind going over to the other room and grabbing the towels from there? It seems that my boys took advantage of the utilities and we ran out."

I jumped at the opportunity to escape this semi awkward situation. "Sure. Want me to grab all of them or . . ." I left the end open for him to fill in.

"I only need a couple towels. No need to take them all away from you girls." He joked around.

"Ha. No problem. I'll be back." With that I walked out the room and went back over to my own room. I slip the electronic card into the slot and walked right over to our closet and grabbed two medium sized towels. I wasn't sure why anyone would ever use these towels. They seem like they've never been washed a day in their life but, who was I to judge. When someone probably hasn't had a shower in weeks it doesn't really matter if your towels are Egyptian cotton. Just as I was closing the closest door, those eyes flashed right before me again. Except this time it was accompanied with a voice. It whispered to me in its sickly sweet voice. "Child, I am in need of your assistance again."

Your reviews keep me young. So keep 'em up.

Little side bar that snicker reference reminded me of a pick of line. "Hey Baby, you must be a Snickers, because you satisfy me"