(A/N): We're back with Evie, Vi, Pip, and Hettie. A healthy dose of foreshadowing, I suppose- none of it subtle (and also some accidental, I now realise as I come back after having written certain future chapters in this arc).

Okay, turns out it won't let me name the chapter that, but it was originally meant to be called 'Pain In The ****', to satisfy Evie's reluctance to curse.

January 16th, 1966

Evie

I had thought to myself- offhand, very much unseriously- about whether it would be too much to ask to find proof that everything would be okay, in a back shed... and the second I saw the note taped to the underside of one of the ladder's steps- freshly taped- I knew Khal had done something he shouldn't have. While Vi and Pip looked to Hettie for answers, only to be met by confusion, I kept my eyes on the note as I tried to figure out how to handle things without making them even more suspicious of me.

I wasn't that worried, if only because it was Khal who'd put it there- it had to be, right?- and given his ability to see the future, I knew he wouldn't have done anything I wouldn't be able to take care of on my own... unless... Unless I had to fail now, in order for something to work out in the future. Okay, I was a bit more worried, now. Well, I guess there was nothing I could do without knowing what was in the letter, so I took charge in a way I usually never did, catching their attention as I sighed exasperatedly. "I swear to God, if that says what I think it does..." It was more for Khal's benefit than anything else, whether he was somewhere nearby listening in, or viewing this whole thing through whatever lens his seer powers granted him, now or later. Or... previously, too, I guess.

"What-" Vi cut herself off as I started climbing, and I silently prayed that if there had been spiders or any other creepy-crawly clinging to the ladder before we'd taken it out of the shed, they'd either been shaken loose, or Khal had been kind enough to take care of them for me.

Concerned by the possibility of unwanted six or eight legged guests, I startled slightly as Hettie grabbed my arm after I ascended to the second step. "Evie- We're not going to talk about this?" There was more than an air of desperation to her voice- a stiff breeze, perhaps- and as much as I knew she was referring to me climbing the ladder, and subsequently my newfound assertiveness, I couldn't help but equate it to the decision I had to make... had already made, even if they didn't know it yet.

"What's there to talk about?" I asked her- all of them, really, though I didn't look at Vi and Pip. What was there to discuss, when my mind was already made up? They couldn't change it, even if they knew, but they couldn't know; I couldn't tell them. Would it soften the blow, to be aware of what was coming before it happened, or would it just make it hurt more? Hm... I guess, if I could infer from Khal's experience with his abilities and his relationships- and the effect those two things had on each other- then... knowing that something would end, and perhaps even how and when, would inevitably permanently affect the current state of said relationship... which was the last thing I wanted. But when they found out I'd kept it from them, wouldn't they be mad at me? I know I'd be furious if any of them did something like this, but... what choice did I really have? Not a good one, certainly. "It's just a piece of paper, right?"

They were clearly nervous, and I couldn't blame them, knowing what I knew- either way, after another long second, Hettie reluctantly released my arm, allowing me to continue the climb. I could have stopped at the third step, the note was well within reach, but I didn't want to risk one of them- well, let's be honest, Pip was the only one who was close to being tall enough to do so- to try to read over my shoulder. Normally, I wouldn't have worried about such a thing, but considering his eavesdropping on my phone conversations- intentional or otherwise- I couldn't take that risk. I rose one more step, four high now, and peeled the note free from the metal, holding it as close to me as I could while still remaining inconspicuous, and unfolded it.

Dear Evie,

Congratulations on your difficult decision! I know this is a hard time for you, but enjoy it as much as you can while you have the chance- take several deep breaths just to feel your lungs expanding, and revel in the way your heart beats in your chest. You'll miss both those sensations when they're gone- I know I do! As for what you came out here for... if nothing I've told you thus far has reassured you that everything will turn out fine, eventually- first of all, how dare you doubt me

There was some sort of symbol here that resembled a face with a single winking eye.

and second of all, fair

Another face, this time with its tongue poking out, it seemed.

-please believe that if I were to lie to you, our MUTUAL FRIENDS would eviscerate me. Literally. And having been there before, I can tell you- not as fun as it sounds. Anyway, good luck with your sister and friends- we'll need it.

There was a line after this that was unreadable- I was sure it was a proper language of some sort, but it wasn't written in any alphabet I was familiar with, nor could read, so to my eye it just appeared to be a line of odd but rather pretty squiggles. Immediately following the squiggles, however, written in brackets as if to translate, were the words, 'Take care of yourself.' And beyond that, what little was left of the note was all in English, but not any more understandable.

KRIE

PS: How saintly is your saint? What would it take for him to become a sinner? Love... or loss?

Well, that was an incredibly concerning thing to end a letter with; thanks, Khal- not! I'd have to ponder what he was trying to say about Pip some other time- because who else could that 'saint' comment be about, given the conversation we'd had earlier about Khal's tastes running a bit more saint-like, since Pip's surname was St James- seeing as I had to devote all my brain power to keeping this note out of their grasps, right now. There may not have been anything blatantly explicit in writing- okay, those comments about missing breathing and having a heartbeat were a bit telling, but I was pretty sure my friends wouldn't jump to the idea of vampires or other supernatural creatures existing, and they'd just assume that Khal was absolutely bonkers. Which... wasn't far off, to be honest. It may not have been explicit, but it was suspicious... which was almost as bad. At least if they caught us conversing about vampires they'd probably just think I'd lost my mind, rather than valiantly trying to figure it out from these slightly more subtle clues.

I forced myself to snort, pretending to be amused by my own disappointment. "Shopping list," I told them, and I was immensely glad none of them had the vampire ability to smell lies. "Eggs, milk, bread- that sort of thing." It wasn't the most convincing lie, but it was the best I could come up with on short notice, and as I folded the letter back up and shoved it into the pocket of my trousers- which I knew Hettie would have a harder time picking from should she try to do so- I could tell that they were skeptical. Really, really skeptical.

It didn't surprise me that they didn't believe me, even if I thought they might have just a day prior, because I knew as well as they did that if this was a shopping list, even one only written by Hettie instead of one of my parents, I would've brought it down to show them. We would've imagined where in our lives we'd been when it'd been written, and deduced who had written what and why- had Pip noticed we were low on eggs after making a scramble, or had I baked a cake with Lou? Was it someone's birthday, or just a Sunday night? The fact that I had hidden the note was suspicious in and of itself, and coupled with the fact that they were already skeptical of my every action as of late, I knew they wouldn't believe me unless I showed them that I was telling the truth- and since I couldn't, they never would.

I stepped down from the ladder, and raised a brow at Hettie. "How should we get started? You're the expert, Hettie, I defer to your judgement." Her face screwed up as if she wasn't sure whether she liked my deference or not. Or maybe, she just didn't like the fact that I was only saying these things to distract them from the note.

"Well..." She started, then glanced at Vi carefully, who crossed her arms over her chest with an expression on her face that told me she was seconds from calling me out on my bull... stuff. "I guess we could start with... the bird nest? I think that might be... easier, and safer." Safer as in we won't fall off the roof, or safer as in we won't have a falling out?

"Sounds good to me," I said with a faux-casual shrug, and moved toward the ladder again. "Pip- you'll actually have to hold the ladder this time, since I'm going all the way up." He nodded automatically, then shot Vi and Hettie an apologetic look- because he knew the same as I did that they'd most likely wanted to capitalise on my inability to fight them off while my focus was on climbing the ladder. It was, after all, why I'd asked him- Pip wasn't about to slip a hand into my pocket, secret or not. "That way, once I'm up there, you can pass up what we need to get this done. Someone has to go up first, might as well be me."

Hettie frowned, and Vi barely managed to stifle a scowl. She really wasn't happy with me, especially when I made sure to keep my leg as close to the side of the ladder as possible, so neither of them had the room to try to sneak a hand in between the two, and into the pocket. "Something wrong with your leg?" She asked, an air of smugness in her voice, and I shrugged.

"You know what, now that you mention it, I am struggling with a pain in my side- a thorn, if you will. Three of them, in fact, though I imagine one more might join in later today." Because surely as soon as Lou was awake, they would drag her into all of this- and she would follow willingly.

Hettie snorted quietly from below me, and I felt a tiny bit better as I made it to the edge of the roof, out of their reach. "Better than a pain in your arse, which is what we usually are." My brows drew together at that insinuation. "Well, more Vi and I than Pip and Lou, but still." I leaned out over them, and Pip flinched and went pale at the sight of me hanging off the roof, even though I was perfectly safe where I was.

"Hettie, you're not- Sure, you can be a little difficult sometimes, but so can I; so can everyone. I love you, you know that right?" Her cheeks darkened, but she hesitated only briefly before nodding, which was a lot better than she used to be.

"Yeah, I know..." Her voice was quiet, which was unusual for Hettie in general, but to be expected on a subject like this one. This was one of the things I was most worried about, when it came to leaving them- that Hettie would never trust me again, or worse, lose trust in everything I'd told her up until this point.

I stared down at her- at them- and smiled the biggest, most genuine smile I could muster, which seemed to both surprise and confuse them. "I love all of you," I told them firmly. "Don't ever doubt that for a second, and don't you dare forget it."

(A/N): Translations (Arabic):

Diiri belik a'a halik = Take care of yourself. (Khal offered the translation because he knew Evie wouldn't understand it, because the 'squiggles' were obviously Arabic, which Evie can't read. This is a pretty standard sign off for a letter, but also serves as a warning, which I thought was fitting, coming from Khal.)

KRIE is just Khal's initials, Khaldun Rashid Irshad Elmahdy.

So, obviously, Khal knows what emoticons/emoji are, and thinks it's hilarious to use them even though (especially because) people don't understand what he's doing/trying to do. Hence the winky face, and the tongue out face. He also put 'mutual friends' in all caps because you can't really italicize things in a letter, and I especially can't, considering that's how I denote that it's a letter in the first place, but also because he really wanted it to stand out to... certain people.

On the subject of emoticons (which are the precursor to emoji), it has been claimed that the first emoticon appeared in 1979, but the first substantiated use of an emoticon came from American computer scientist Scott E. Fahlman on September 19, 1982. (from britannica dot com) So, possibly the first emoticons aren't TOO far off, but still a ways away, which is why Evie is confused when she sees them in Khal's note. However, I'm SURE at SOME POINT throughout history people have used little drawings in letters to convey what they mean, beyond like... diagrams and stuff, so it's not like, a COMPLETELY foreign concept to her, but it's just sort of like, 'clearly he means something by this. it feels like he expects me to know what this means- or NOT know what this means, which means it has a meaning', which is exactly the sort of fucking with people that Khal intended.

Also, Khal shuttled each and every creepy-crawly away to a safe location, have no fear.

An update on the road rash situation: Turns out I was allergic to the type of bandaid (the only one with latex in it, go figure) I started using after the hydrocolloid patch, so now I have a VERY angry rash surrounding the road rash. The actual road rash itself is healing... reasonably well, for what it is, but has started fusing itself to the (different) bandaid if kept on for a certain amount of hours, which makes sleeping difficult.

As for where I am chapter-wise, I finished 663 a day or two ago, and am now having trouble with 664... which isn't that much of a surprise, considering it's the same POV I was having trouble with for 661. 663 was pretty easy in comparison, especially since it was a brand new POV (I'm pretty sure), it's just Sebastien being a butt again.

I'm also trying to transition to a new computer (my dad's all-in-one), but I don't have the energy to deal with that, so I'm in that awkward in-between stage of not wanting to do things on my old laptop and not being able to do things on the new desktop, which means I can't really DO ANYTHING, at least until I work it all out.