Past

"Going on? Nothing's going on. Why would something be going on?" Thomas rambled as Elisabeth stepped into the room frighteningly close to where Alice had been standing just moments before. He had no idea if the jinn had teleported elsewhere or had simply disappeared.

A strangled sound flew past his lips as a strand of Elisabeth's hair lifted into the air on its own accord.

Alice, who had deemed it safe to come out as she recognized the princess and knew she was harmless, sighed with envy as she fingered the other girl's hair, still invisible.

"You have such lovely hair," her voice said, seeming to come from nowhere. "I wish I had hair like yours."

Thomas groaned inwardly. He had hoped to not get Elisabeth involved in his investigation.

----

Melanie's eyes widened slightly. "Careful, Cy. It's hot."

Ian shot Melanie a look. "Yes, thank you, Miss Obvious." He handed Cyrano a napkin. Setting his cup down in the cup holder between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat, he pulled out of the parking lot and started toward their destination.

"So I was thinking we should all have code names," Melanie said after a brief moment of silence. "What do you guys think?"

Ian rolled his eyes. "I think this isn't middle school," he said, putting on a burst of speed to pass a light just as it was turning red.

Melanie huffed in annoyance. "What do you think, Cy?"

----

Present

Prospero backed up a step as Mr. T spoke to Neal, watching the man warily. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he felt uneasy around the Darkling.

Pavel sat in the doorway of the chapel, out of the way of the sun, chin in his hands, elbows on his knees. He felt dismal because he didn't know where Satin was, and he got the nagging feeling she was about to go off and do something stupid again that could get her killed. Unfortunately wherever she was, he couldn't follow. Not in broad daylight.

----

Selena nodded slowly. "I think we should go as well," she said, thinking. She didn't say anything about friends. For some reason she still felt distant from the others. She wasn't entirely sure if that was her fault or the fault of others. In any case, she was glad she would be with Zaref at least.

----

Indigo drank the stew straight from the bowl, despite its heat. He watched Timothy with as much suspicion as the adopted pack member watched him. He still felt uncomfortable in the group, knowing it was them that had taken Lark from his family. But he knew he couldn't do anything about it and so remained silent about his feelings, simply sending off his "don't come near me" vibes as loudly as he could.

----

Caerwyn reached up to touch his forehead as it crinkled slightly under the pressure of the images Curse sent his way. When she opened her eyes and looked at him, he met her gaze and gave her a wry smile.

You don't need to worry about me. In fact, that's sort of what I came here about. Mr. T says we're leaving today. But I don't want to go. I want to stay here . . . with you. For some strange reason he felt his cheeks warming. Frowning, he pushed back the heat and lifted his head off his knees. But I don't think the Hooks would like that very much, he concluded with a soft, audible sigh.

"Ro . . . uoy dluoc emoc ot eht wen ecalp . . . htiw em," he said in a small, hopeful, and terribly vulnerable voice. He suddenly found he could not look at her. Uncomfortable, knowing he was asking her to do something she would never think to do, he adverted his gaze to stare at his feet, squirming inwardly.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Present

Staugh cursed under his breath before saying "Yet you have no kind feelings for this group?" he asked "An old enemy perhaps?" he added with a grin. He sensed much power in this hybrid... If he could get him to join him against Mark. The dragon rider would have no chance against them.

---

Mark finished putting the saddle on before walking over to Mr. T and the others "Old friends?" he asked "Don't believe I've had the pleasure" he said with a grin before extending his hand to the boy in a kind gesture.

Past

Amy sighed in frustration and telekinetically slammed a chair into one of the men heading their way.

"I'll try to clear a path to the door," she grumbled.

Portia blinked out of existence and reappeared behind the bar. She snatched the plasma rifle out of the hands of the barkeeper and knocked him down with a bash to the head with the rifle's butt.

A previously apparently passed-out drunk lunged out from under a table at Night. She yelped and slapped his hands away with her currently ungloved hands. The man collapsed to the ground, screaming in fear.

"You know I'm not terribly good in a fight away from bodies of water," Adrienne grumbled at Amy. She grabbed a pitcher of ale off of a table and smashed it over a shrieking woman's head. She then shaped the liquid within into ice projectiles and pinned a man to the wall by stabbing them through his clothes.

Christopher's wings burst through his shirt and he spun in a circle, his wings slamming into opponents and knocking them across the room.

Amy was steadily shoving and stacking furniture to make a walled-off pathway to the door. Adrienne was the first to break for the door, with small orbs of watery beer swirling around her head. A man lunged through the stacked furniture and stabbed a huge knife into Adrienne's back. There was a split second of drawn-out shocked horror and then Adrienne's body dissolved into a fountain of water that crashed to the floor.

"Oh, no! Get out! Everyone, get out of here now!" Amy yelled. She hurled a man halfway across of the bar and all the way out of the door, before making a mad dash for the doorway herself.

Portia looked at the other Unnaturals and shrugged. She vanished and reappeared outside the bar.

"Shouldn't you be a bit more concerned about your friend? She's kinda liquidy now." Portia asked Amy as she reappeared next to the girl.

"She'll be okay. I've seen this happen before. If she's hurt badly, the Elemental part of her physiology takes over and she morphs into a full Elemental form. The problem is, she automatically reverts to human form and because she can't control her powers fully, bad things happen.

"What kind of things?" Night asked as she ran up, pulling her gloves back on.

There was a crashing noise and Christopher appeared through a gaping whole he had just torn open in the roof of the bar. He glided to the ground next to the others with a few graceful wing flaps.

"To reshape her form, her powers summon all of the water in the vicinity to her. The problem is, she can't control the process and can't stop it either, so she pulls everything to her. Including the water inside living breathing people."

"Am I the only one who has noticed the grass around the building is dying and it's getting closer to us?"

-----

Aspros Island

Morgana snickered at Dex's protestations, but her mirth was cut short when she realized too that the sun was setting. She quickly patted the pockets of her raggedy clothes, feeling for her athame and various pouches of herbs and potion bottles. She cautiously crept after Odi and the new arrival. She didn't really know Odi that well, but was uneasy about leaving the woman alone. People were not on Aspros Island for being sweet and wonderful people after all.

Harmoni wandered past Dex and idly kicked at him.

"Time to retreat to the treehouse, pipsqueak. Or I can leave you for the vampires. Whatever."

-----

Present

Malachi didn't have much to pack and so he sat on the steps of the chapel, idly making shapes from flame he conjured from thin air.

Past

Elisabeth turned her head quickly as the girl's voice sounded close by. She stopped herself from screaming but couldn't help a frightened squeak.

"Wh-What is going on Thomas!"

Kanti cursed under her breath. This was not going the way she'd imagined.

---

"Sure, codenames," Cyrano said a little absentmindedly and then realized what he had just agreed to, "I mean..." he looked over at Ian, perplexed, "Why do we need codenames?"

Present

"Of course," Terrance replied. "They'll be taking many into the reservation after word spreads I'm sure," he answered, sounding a bit cryptic even as he gave Neal a kitten grin.

"Speaking of vanishing," Pepper said, passing Malachi to stand in front of Mr. T. "I thought Satin had just stayed with that scared girl from last night- but I checked Ms. Crazy's old hut and the rest of the camp. Satin's gone," the zombie delivered the news without the slightest bit of emotion, but there was an annoying lurch in her stomach, forcing her to think that she wasn't immune to human worry any longer.

Terrance nodded. Standing up on his back paws, he suddenly transformed into a small bird that flew up and away into the sky. Disappearing from the sight of the Unnatural camp, he flew low through the branches of trees.

Pepper saw the bird returning only a minute later, zoom over to the porch and transform mid-air into a cat that landed lightly where he'd been sitting before.

"She caught a cab on the outside of town. Looks like she's finally decided to leave," he stated, sounding a bit out of breath, "Well that's that."

Pepper could hardly agree that the issue was resolved at all but knew better than to argue with Terrance at the moment.

---

"Race you to the camp?" Zaref asked with a playful grin, picking up the cloak he'd brought that would protect him from the sunlight in the dappled forest.

---

"Mind telling the new alpha to stop with the glare," Timothy muttered to Naomi, half-hoping that Azriel would appear and the two would get involved in some sort of fight.

"Timothy stop with the-" Naomi started with a laugh and then stopped abruptly as Azriel appeared from the woods as if on cue.

Stalking over to the fire, Azriel helped himself to some of the food and took a seat on the log after Timothy had scampered out of his way. "Who are they?" he asked shortly, looking at Josh and then Indigo. He had been gone tracking for days, needing the escape from his father and the pack.

"Josh and Indigo. Josh is the rep from the elves- Indigo is- part of Lark's surrogate family...They've been helping with the scouting," Naomi replied, her tone suddenly dampened in her 'brother's' presence. "This is Azriel," she offered to the guests, "He's our eldest brother and Lark's future ma-"

Azriel turned and growled warningly, sounding more animal even in his human form. Angrily, he turned back to his food and continued to eat.

---

Curse looked back at Caerwyn feeling a sudden urge to embrace him. His nervous question cut to the heart of what she had been wondering herself over the past several days. As much as she was grateful for the Hook's kindness, they had never really felt exactly like family. Something was different about Caerwyn though- maybe it was because he had known her mother...

"I'll go with you," she replied, "I want to go with you."

Aspros

Anjali had been waiting for some time. As soon as it had been dark enough to creep out of her cave and hide in the shadows of the cliffs, she'd left and made her way into the humid forest to the bend in the stream that was the assigned meeting place.

"Sick of coming out late at night with the stinking, stinking, stinking-" she slapped her forehead hard and grit her jaw together until her brain got ahold of itself again, "Stinking river rats. All want their share- never bring anything good."

Odi skidded to a stop and shivered, feeling like he was being watched.

"What is it?" Darileen asked, suspicious that they hadn't reached the other boat yet...and more suspicious yet that they seemed to be in a damp, tree-infested environment...not a beach.

"Nothing," Odi replied and headed on to the river bend, stopping as he spotted a pair of red eyes staring unblinkingly at him. "I've brought you to meet a friend- she can help find your Victor."

Darileen pulled her hand out of the satyr's grasp, frowning. "I thought you said you knew where the boat was."

"What's this Odi- trickery failing, failing, failing-" there was silence for a moment, "Failing you?" Anjali strode forward, looking the new catch up and down with wide eyes.

Odi had seen she was interested before she could cover up the expression.

"What trickery?" Darileen asked angrily, backing up another step. She loosed the glove covering her hand.

Past

Thomas sighed, wishing Alice would behave for once. This was not going as planned. Still, he had to admit it was rather amusing to see Elisabeth so disconcerted. He wished he'd had a video camera handy to record her face and voice at that exact moment.

"I'm investigating the murder that took place in our suite," he explained calmly, as though he were simply looking into the price of sugar. "I got an Unnatural to help me."

Alice materialized directly beside Elisabeth. "Hi," she said brightly, hoping to startle the princess.

----

Ian rolled his eyes. "I don't think we do. Miss Secret Agent over there however," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Melanie, "thinks we do."

"It'll add to the intrigue," Melanie said. "Plus, if anyone tries to listen in on us, or we're interrogating the suspect, they won't know who we are." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmmm, we should get masks too."

Ian choked on his coffee, almost running off the road. Once he righted the car, he glared at his sister through the rearview mirror. "For heaven's sake, Mel, this isn't a special ops investigation or anything. We're just trying to figure out who is source for Monstropolis Daily."

"It never hurts to be prepared," Melanie said stiffly with an injured air.

----

Present

"Nice to meet you," Prospero said to Mark, shaking the elf's hand. "I'm Prospero. This is Lucetta." He held up the silver platter. "But I think most people around here already know her."

"I should say they do!" Lucetta exclaimed. "No one can ever resist a face like mine." She did her best to smile demurely and brightly at the same time.

"Satin's gone?" Pavel cried, standing up and looking distressed. He looked out toward the woods longingly, but dared not take a step outside the shadowed doorway.

----

Selena smiled. "I won't let you win," she warned, standing and positioning herself at the cave entrance at the top of the waterfall, balancing on the rocks.

----

Indigo froze. "What's this about Lark's future mate?" he growled, feeling rather akin to Azriel's temper at the moment. He thought about Lark and Brick trapped in Savage's lab, Lark pregnant. He wondered if the rest of the pack knew, and if they'd also guessed, as he had, that the child was Brick's.

----

At Curse's words, Caerwyn looked up, a smile brightening his pale face like a sunrise. With a delighted cry, he leaped forward, tackling her in a tight hug, his arms wrapping around her neck. He buried his face in her soft hair, grinning happily.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! he practically sang into her mind. He pulled back in order to look into her face. You've made me incredibly happy, Verity. It was strange, but he found he couldn't stop grinning. He wasn't used to smiling this much, but he couldn't help it. He was just so happy. Maybe now, everything was going to be okay.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Present

The same sickening feeling as when Serrena died came over Neal at the news that Satin had left. Fortunately, by this time the Darkling had learned to control his emotions and besides, there were no renegade vamps in the clearing to slaughter.

Pushing away the emotions with an outward shrug, Neal turned to Mark. "Well, never mind about looking after her, then." He said with a weak smile before turning to Prospero and Lucetta. "Or forget a voice like yours, even if we want to." The Darkling replied to the woman in the plate before tipping his fedora and walking back to the porch.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now." Neal said as he pushed the brim of his fedora up with his thumb. "Like I said, I'll be back in a week or so if all goes well. Hope the move goes smoothly and that Richard doesn't give you too hard of a time." he added with a smile before tipping his hat to Terrance and Pepper. "See you when I return..." Neal said as he turned and began walking towards the woods

The Darkling paused on the outskirts of the woods long enough to turn around and give a simple wave to the small group on the chapel porch. Then, with a sigh, disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

-------------------

"I have no kind feelings for any group. Not even my own kind...." Karl replied as he stretched his arms. "If you're slowly getting around to asking me to help you or be your partner in crime, the answer is maybe. Be forewarned I'm used to handling things my own way and I don't like being pushed around.... ever." the Hybrid added as he stood up in one fluid motion.

"Now, how about some breakfast?" Karl asked rubbing his hands together, seemingly unaware that he was talking to a fellow Unnatural.

---------------------

Aspros

Desmond slowly emerged out of the shadows behind Odi, being sure to stay hidden from view for the most part. So, you're cutting deals with an unbalanced vampire, eh Odi? Poor choice if I ever saw one... the Darkling thought as he watched the scene unfold.

At the present time that seemed to be the best option, sit back and watch the show. At this point, Desmond was placing his money on the new arrival... well, if he had had anyone to bet with that is.

Present
Staugh nodded "If you do decide to join me, my only request is that you leave Mark to me" he said, then to respond to Karl's suggestion for breakfast he said "Good with me. However I don't drink so you won't have to worry about that part of the meal"

---

Mark glanced at Neal before he left, then said to Lucetta "No doubt miss... You must be Prospero here's sister" with a huge almost fake smile. Politics class... How long ago was that. At least 1000 years?

---

Josh grinned at the retreating Timothy, the class system in this pack was clear. Big dog get the first pickings. Little guys move or get moved. Oh well, it was like that many places, even among humans and elves. Anyways it didn't matter to him, all it meant was that he got to rub it in with his apperant player hater.

Past

Portia began to blink in and out of existence, appearing to flicker. Apparently this was her form of nervous fidgeting.

"Shouldn't you bunch think about leaving? I mean, I can get out of here at any time, but you can't get away that quickly."

Two men stumbled out of the bar, tripping over their feet and fighting each other to get away from the doorway. Amy raised a hand and pulled them toward the group with her telekinesis. Night yelped in shock and horror as the two men burst into ash clouds as they impacted on the ground.

"I think we can safely assume everyone is dead in there," Christopher commented in a disinterested manner. He rose into the air with a few wing flaps and surveyed the scene with a detached calm.

Adrienne staggered out of the bar and fell to her hands and knees. Amy hurried to her side and attempted to help her to her feet, but Adrienne slapped her hands away.

"Please don't touch me. Just don't touch me." Adrienne said. The others could see tears rolling down the water mage's face and then just as quickly being reabsorbed into her body.

"I've heard rumors of an Unnatural camp near Ditto Town. Maybe there's a mage there or someone who can help you," Portia suggested, sounding uncomfortable. Memories of the havoc her own powers had caused when they were out of control were suddenly crowding her mind. She'd killed more than a few people by unwillingly teleporting into the space taken up by their bodies.

"I don't want help!" Adrienne snapped. "I want to die! Do you think this is the first time this has happened? At least this time I didn't kill half a dozen kids who just happened to stray into my path. I can't die and I can't stop this from happening and I'm so tired. I can't sleep at night because all I can see is their faces. Men, women, children. I tried drowning myself, the ocean threw me back. I tried living in the wilderness, I fell off a cliff and came to in the middle of a camp full of dead hikers."

Adrienne looked prepared to rant longer, but Amy moved up behind her quickly and touched her face. The empathic teen watched silently as her friend collapsed into a heap and began snoring gently.

"I'm taking her to the camp. If you people want to come with us, that's fine with me. If not, I'll understand."

Present

Malachi's attention was caught by Pepper and Terrance discussing Satin's departure. He still didn't know the pretty Normal that well, but he was disappointed that she had left without so much as a goodbye.

I wonder if I should go after her? Malachi thought. He shook his head and went back to playing with fire. Where she goes is her decision. The least I can do is respect her enough to accept that.

Aspros Island

Morgana barely restrained a gasp as the vampire popped into view. Her normally cool and calm exterior began to crack a little as righteous indignation flooded in. She slid her athame from its sheath and mouthed a silent spell. The blade twitched in her hand, ready to bury its blade deep in the flesh of her enemies. Though she had no expectation that poison would harm a vampire, Morgana took the time to carefully treat the blade with one of her more deadly concoctions. She had no fear of accidental poisonings as she was immune to all known poisons. Being raised by (slightly) crazed witches had its benefits.

Aspros

Although the setting of the sun usually did not bother Dex very much, Whiskey's demented mutterings did and that was enough to make him rethink the whole thing. He glanced warily at her, feeling safe at the distance he stood away from her but still watched for sudden movements.

When Desmond started to leave, however, he made a sagging face of mockery. "'And darkness shall cover the face of the earth,'" Dex re-quoted the hermit with a squeaky voice that purposely didn't match Desmond's despondent monotone, and then adding, "and kill all the freaks, too. Because the darkness is getting tired of being misunderstood as the devil, when it's only doing what naturally happens every day on or off this island."

Dropping the act, Dex frowned at the general direction of where the darkling walked off. "Thankfully I am not on that hit list!" he added in a loud voice, enough for the whole beach to hear, smug at having the final say on the subject.

When Harmoni got the drop on him and kicked him from behind, however, his smugness dropped into an annoyed scowl. "Whatever, you say," he muttered absently as he consoled the shin she kicked. He didn't know if she realized her own strength or not, but he made a mental note to bring it up later. "Lead on then, since you want to come back as a ghost."

What had been a joke before now had an edge of resentment to it.

~~~~~~

Past

Even though Satin was in all appearance kind and gentle her motion to touch Fanny's shoulder still startled her, instinctively causing her to dip her shoulder slightly almost out of reach. She stopped herself halfway, however; reminding herself that the woman wouldn't harm her, but it was already done, and she forgot about it instantly when Satin gestured towards a hut.

Fanny glanced at the hut briefly. Although the hut looked a little worn down, the shelter was a palace compared to most places she had to sleep. "Oh, thank you!" she cried, turning back to Satin with a fresh smile and new tears. "Thank you. You have no idea what this kind gesture means to me. You are an angel amongst devils."

I don't think we can do much else, none that I can think of anyways.

I'll post for the present next time.))

Past

Elisabeth did start and was completely angry with herself for doing so. "Thomas, this is completely insane!" she exclaimed, looking over at Alice.

Kanti wondered if she should come out or not. Concluding that the princess would not be leaving anytime soon, the detective came in from the balcony and nodded towards the group.

"Detective Kavita, your majesty."

Elisabeth put a hand to her head, "And I assume the police aren't allowed to associate with Unnaturals either-"

"Not strictly speaking," Kanti replied, trying to sound cheerful despite the fact that admitting this could get her into a whole lot of trouble.

---

"Well we don't know that we'll even find anyone to interrogate," Cyrano offered, keeping his eyes on the road, "And if they're investigating you two then they probably already know what you look like- and probably what I look like too if they've researched co-workers."

Present

"It's probably for the best," Terrance said, looking up as Latch's men began filing into the glade to begin work on moving the Unnaturals and their belongings to the reservation. "After all. Humans can't really live in the reservation- a wanted criminal presumed to be dead would just put the rest of us in danger with the law at this point. Satin must have thought it was better to keep us safe."

Looking up at Neal, Terrance nodded in goodbye and watched the man leave.

Jumping lightly onto the ground, Mr. T. trotted over to the leader of the group of men to discuss the logistics of the move.

Pepper frowned slightly, but didn't say anything. She knew Terrance was right, even if her newly found heart was wincing a little at the conclusion that they had to leave their long-time friend behind.

---

Zaref grinned, "Course not!" and without another word Zaref took off down the rocks, past the waterfall and into the woods. Laughing without a care for the first time in a year, he sped on, knowing Selena was bound to catch up and even pass him with her remarkable speed.

---

Timothy didn't like the amused look on Josh's face, but let it go, fearing of offending Azriel further.

Naomi's eyes widened at Indigo's comment and she made a quick motion with her hand, hoping he would catch it. She hadn't yet told the pack of Lark's pregnancy. She didn't know how Abijah would react if he found that Naomi had been hiding the fact from the pack. It wasn't very 'loyal' behavior.

Azriel looked up from his food, missing Naomi's gesture but catching that there was something unspoken between them nonetheless. His eyes narrowed

---

Curse grinned back at Caerwyn, reveling in his joy. Her eyes suddenly widened, "We should get going then- I have to pack my things and go talk to Emmaline," her expression fell a little and she extracted herself from Caerwyn's hug. "I better go do that now..."

Aspros

((Darileen is going to be taken to Joe, so if you want your characters to tag along you can have them taken captive or just following behind, thanks! ))

Anjali moved swiftly and had sprayed Darileen in the face with knock-out gas before she could even finish undoing her glove. Replacing the small bottle back in her sleeve, the vampire picked up the Mrina carefully and swung her over her shoulders.

"Well Odi, ready to make your bargain with Joe? No going going go-"

"Yes- let's hurry," the satyr replied and glanced around with agitation. He knew his power blasts could protect from almost any enemy but the feeling of being suffocated by the darkness around them was growing.

The vampire headed towards the sheer canyon face that rose up over the trees in the distance, Odi stumbling after.

(((If anyone is curious, I'll be writing for Neal later. At the present I will concentrate on Karl and Desmond. The Adventures of Neal will return after these messages.... )))

Present

"Very well, less hassle for me then." Karl said answering both statements by Staugh in one simple reply. "There's a coffee/doughnut shop a few blocks down that's good." The Hybrid stated as he began walking towards the previously mentioned establishment, expecting the Shade to follow.

About fifteen minutes later, Karl was sitting atop an overturned crate in one of the many back alleys of Ditto Town enjoying a bag of doughnuts and a large coffee. "It's ironic when you think about it..." The Hybrid mused between bites of doughnut. "... humans are so weak and such a nuisance, yet they have created some great little morsels like these." He continued holding up a doughnut for Staugh to see.

After taking a swig of coffee, Karl turned his attention to his new companion. "So, how do you know Mark and what exactly do you plan on doing? About finding him and killing him, I mean." the Hybrid asked as he pulled out a cigaret, offering one to Staugh as well.

--------------------

Aspro

Vampires were never to be trusted.... and they were infuriatingly hard to kill. Desmond knew this from first hand experience. The Darkling reached out and put a hand on Morgana's shoulder as the witch prepared her poisons. "I doubt that will effect them much, dear." Desmond cautioned as he stepped from the shadows. "Unless you hit them in the chest or skull." he added with a slightly unnerving smile.

Taking the new arrival to Joe? Not very original, but still could offer some good fun. The Darkling thought as he watched the satyr and vamp head for the covens den. "It is time for me to depart and follow." Desmond said as he nodded to the witch and then disappeared into the shadows again, leaving with only a slight ripple in the dark.

Past

Thomas took Elisabeth's elbow and led her a little bit away, looking up at her earnestly, wishing, not for the first time, that he was taller.

"Lissie," he said, using the nickname that he hadn't used for her since he was five. "Please, don't freak out, okay? We need their help if we're going to find out who broke into our room. Detective Kavita thinks it's vampires. We should know if vampires have been in our rooms, right?" He watched her face carefully.

"Hmph, she's not so beautiful up close," Alice muttered to Kavita as she kept a close eye on Thomas. "Those magazine covers were totally airbrushed."

-----

"All the more reason to wear masks and use codenames!" Melanie said excitedly. "I'll be . . . Shadowcat. I like that. Ian, you can be Brainiac. And, um, Cy can be . . ." she leaned forward and studied Cyrano's profile, tilting her head. She frowned slightly. "What should you be Cy?" she asked, so close in the small car that she could see the hair by his ear move slightly under her breath.

-----

Present

Prospero frowned in confusion. "Where is everyone going?" he asked, having thought they would be staying in the woods were Alice could find him again. He wasn't sure why the thought of her not being able to bothered him so much, but it did.

-----

Selena quickly caught up with Zaref, grinning brightly. Her skin glittered faintly as she moved in and out of sunlit spots within the forest. She started to pass him but then slowed her speed, reaching out to take her husband's hand as they ran, feeling a comforting security in doing so.

-----

Indigo looked like he wanted to say more, but he caught Naomi's frantic hand gesture and shut his mouth, tightening it into a grim line.

"Lark doesn't need a mate," he grumbled, wondering how devastated Brick would be if or when the boy found out.

-----

Oh, okay. Caerwyn did his best not to look disappointed as he pulled away from Curse and watched her stand. He drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. I'll wait here then. He looked up at her with slight trepidation, wondering if Emmaline would convince Curse to stay.

Don't be long . . . The words were faint, almost as if he were saying it to himself.

-----

Raphael stared at the horizon from the highest window of the abandoned hotel, looking out over Ditto Town. The hotel was located at the very edge of Ditto Town and hadn't been occupied in a very long time. So long in fact, that it had become overrun with rats, cobwebs, and rotting wood. But boarded up as it was, it was the perfect place for him and his family to wait out the day.

Mihael stepped up next to his leader, hands deep in his pockets. "Seems like a pathetic little town," he muttered. "Why are we wasting our time here, Raphael? There are bigger fish in Monstropolis . . . and I heard Los Angeles, California on earth is teeming with demons and vampires and other Unnaturals."

"Please, Mihael, don't call our brothers and sisters by such a vulgar name," Raphael looked at his companion with slight pity. "It is the name the uneducated gave us. No, we're a part of one family, Mihael." He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and looked the boy straight in the eyes. "And I know this is the right place for us."

Mihael stared back at his leader for a long moment before bowing his head in submission. "As you say, Raphael."

"Good boy," Raphael said, patting Mihael's shoulder. The words seemed strange coming out of his mouth as he looked younger and was much smaller than his fellow vampire. "Now gather the others. It is time for supper."

With another bow of his head, Mihael backed out of the room and then left, leaving Raphael staring out over Ditto Town once more.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Staugh sat down on a garbage can across from him "An old rivalry" he stated "I tried to kill his father for trying to kill me, Mark tried to kill me, and put this on my face" he said motioning towards the left side of his head.

"then the bounty hunters beat me back to them. For the longest time I figured he was dead, but I heard that he had been at a certain ball so I came looking for him" he said simply before digging into his next doughnut.

As soon as he finished it and took a drink of his own coffee he said "How I intend to kill Mark?" he asked "that my friend will most likely come down to a mind war, each of us trying to invade each others minds. He can ward everything else but that... Oh and did you know he isn't a simple magic user, he's a dragon rider"

---

Reagan sat on a chair across the hallway next to the doorway of his room, sharpening one of his knifes with Zac perched on his shoulder "E'llo buddy" he said to the vampire, Haniel.

He spotted a rat scampering across the hall way and the one of his knifes right into the rat "Go get him boy" he whispered to the minor dragon on his shoulder. Zac jumped off, flew to the rat and picked it up with his teeth before walking into Reagen's bedroom to share it with the others "Whats for dinner?" he asked Haniel.

---

Desperado watched them walk under his tree house, trying his best to be unnoticed, as soon as they past he jumped down from the tree and followed them as quietly as he could, wondering where the heck they were going like the idiot he was.
((OCC: Oh wait... Did Desmond use the shadow to transport or just walk into the shadows? If he transported via shadow I'll edit this ))

---

Mark saw the twisted pain on Peppers face, it felt wrong to him as well, leaving someone he had grown to know and trust. Even then he very well knew the logic behind her reason for leaving. He nodded to Pepper then went to sit next to Brand where he began to open his mind to the world to try and discern what was afoot in ditto town.

It didn't take him long before he located the minds of what were perhaps his greatest advisories Karl... And Staugh? He quickly reeled in his mind probe to prevent Staugh for finding him.

This couldn't be good, he quickly reached his mind out to Josh hey, guess who will pay us a visit? Josh replied ... Who? Mark said in response Staugh there was silence for a second crap.

Past

"She'd probably look better without all the makeup," Kanti answered in a whisper, not sure how she could be so amused by making fun of a monarch.

Elisabeth watched Thomas, deliberating for a moment. "It's your choice," she finally concluded, not wanting to say aloud that the plan had some merit. She looked quickly over at Alice with the feeling that she and the detective were muttering something important. "What have you found out so far?" she asked, loud enough for the other two to hear.

Kanti took the cue and stepped forward, clearing her throat with a guilty glance at the princess. "Well the marks on the wall are those of a matured vampire- capable of transformation. It might have been a sire fighting with an offspring since the blood suggests one was bitten...that rarely happens unless it's to forcibly or willingly share blood with a sick offspring to heal it by the blood of the sire. In this case it'd be forcibly with all the fighting they were doing."

The Detective crossed to the wall again and raised her phone to take a picture of the marks there. "There's a limited database of vampire markings left at crime scenes...we might be able to compare these with those left near other attacks." She pressed a few buttons to send the picture to Jason.

---

Adolescent boy? Cyrano said mentally thinking of his sudden and uncomfortable reactions to Melanie's proximity. "Not sure," he answered aloud, "Why don't you think of one for me?"

Present

"To a reservation that Mr. Latch has prepared," Pepper answered Prospero in her returned emotionless voice. She turned to watch Terrance stopping to talk to Latch's assistant. The man himself didn't seem to be present.

"So you're using us for advertising?" Terrance asked Maev as they discussed the plan for leaving the Unnatural's forest encampment.

"Not exactly," Maev answered, a bit annoyed that she had to be talked down to by a kitten. "Richa- Mr. Latch thinks it would be good to make a statement...this way any reluctant Unnaturals in town can join us as well."

"So basically we drive through town- hope no radicals target our very obvious caravan and also stop to let anyone on who presents a decent sob story about needing to find safety."

"In not so pathetic terms, yeah," Maev answered, her accent growing more pronounced with her irritation.

"Sounds good," Terrance answered and turned flicking his tail. "Go ahead and pull up the buses, I'll let everyone know," he offered and trotted off to do just that. He'd really just enjoyed giving the assistant a hard time for fun. He knew she wasn't as fond of helping Unnaturals as her boss was.

"So basically," Terrance was saying, moments later to the gathered camp, "You can board the bus that will take you straight to the camp or join us on a little joy-ride. We'll be taking a round-about route through Ditto Town to gather up any Unnaturals and publicize the whole reservation. Latch's lady says the vehicles are virtually indestructible and there won't be much danger...though I've never known any of us to care much about that."

The sound of the transports pulling up on the hidden forest road just out of sight of the camp, filled the group's ears.

Zaref looked over at Selena with a questioning glance. He didn't have much to fear as a vampire but getting to the reservation more quickly sounded like the better option.

---

"I agree completely," Azriel muttered back to Indigo, not feeling especially friendly despite the fact that they agreed on this point.

"We've picked up quite a bit of surveillance," Naomi offered, trying to redirect the conversation as Azriel didn't seem to be feeling any more cordial to the guests.

"Even with the surveillance we'll need more power than the pack's or even the elves...At this rate Abijah would even make pact with vampires if he could get her back," Timothy commented, shrinking back at a look from Azriel. He was thinking of Terrance and his Unnaturals, but Timothy knew that as long as he was part of Sage pack, Terrance would never offer a paw to help. The long past death had ensured their brotherly rift...

---

Curse nodded and disappeared from the doorway and into the hall. It took her some time to find Emmaline. The woman was curled up in a chair, in the library, sleeping as she soaked up the late afternoon sun. It was times like these that Curse thought Emmaline seemed much more like an older sister than a mother. She always seemed so confident, trying to be someone Curse could come to in trouble, but there really was just a young woman buried beneath the surface.

Stepping forward, Curse paused before touching Emmaline's knee gently. "Emmaline," she said, taking a seat on the unused foot rest beside the chair.

The woman's eyelashes fluttered for a moment before she opened her eyes fully and looked at Curse. "Oh," she said, sitting up in the chair, "I'm sorry...I must have fallen asleep. I was watching out the window for-"

"For Mr. Hook," Curse finished for her smiling.

"Yes," Emmaline answered, nodding. She sighed and sat up straighter, realizing the girl must have come with something to say.

"Emmaline...I know you and Mr. Hook have given me a home and safety...and I was so happy to live here and read the books and have you both for a family..."

Blue eyes watched Curse's expression carefully. Emmaline had known this talk was going to come sooner or later. Ignoring even the strife between the husband and wife of the house, it was obvious that Curse could never quite feel herself to be suited to Fargone Manor.

"You want to leave," Emmaline concluded, unwillingly tearing up at the words.

Curse nodded, looking at her feet, too ashamed to say anything more. "It's nothing you've done. I just think I'll feel more at home at this new reservation and...with Caerwyn."

Emmaline could only take Curse's hand and squeeze it for a moment. Curse had told her of the connection between her and the strange boy and although she had no fondness for Caerwyn, Emmaline had to admit that Curse would be safe with him.

"I'd hoped somehow I could be a mother to you...but I think that was silly of me now," she offered with a small, tearful laugh, "I want you to be happy though."

"I will be...I was," Curse answered, throwing her arms around Emmaline's shoulders.

A while later, Curse returned to the bedroom with tear-stained cheeks. "Well, I suppose I should pack some things," she offered to Caerwyn.

Aspros

The three, the two, the one... a vampire contemplated, hunched over an ornate glass. Three stages of life, two wings, one blood. Three founders, two chalices, one book.

Even with the rare blood he was now swallowing, Joe could not uncloud the mystery repeating in his head. A step in the corridor outside the cavernous room made him abandon contemplation and stand up. The rest knew not to disturb him over his cup...ever.

Anjali entered the cavernous room and lay down her burden roughly.

Odi gave a muffled cry of protest and hurried to check that the unconscious girl was uninjured.

Past

"We had vampires fighting in our suite," Thomas summarized for Elisabeth, unable to help from sounding somewhat awed by the idea.

"You should wear less makeup," Alice said to Elisabeth abruptly. "You'll look prettier." Of course, she didn't know if this meant anything coming from a jinn who looked like a freak half the time.

-----

Ian looked over at Cyrano sharply, his eyes narrowing for a second before turning back to the road.

Melanie studied Cyrano for a moment before leaning back with a sigh. "Oh, I don't know. You're a rather complex individual, Cy. You're smart though. Smart enough to know that working for Ms. Scope isn't going to help you in the long run." She watched him shrewdly.

"We're at the address!" Ian said quickly, hoping to save his friend from having to respond to his ridiculous and obviously not very stable sister. He slowed to a stop and frowned at their destination, which seemed to be a college campus, abandoned now that dusk was approaching.

Present

Selena shook her head slowly. "I'm not good with crowds," she said simply, looking back at her husband with frank honesty. "I'm not sure if I'd be able to control myself in such close proximity to so many humans."

-----

Indigo didn't look as though he favored this idea, but he nodded slowly with a dark scowl. "I'd do anything to get Brick and Lark back safely," he said. "Even team up with vampires, though it turns my stomach to even think about working close with those bloodsuckers."

-----

Caerwyn stood quickly on the bed, eye-level with Curse as she came into the room. You took so long . . . I already got started for you. He looked over at the two opened suitcases on the floor, one of them full of clothing, the other half-full of other necessities, including a large wad of cash.

The boy didn't seem to find anything wrong with this however, for he went straight to her, hopping off the bed and taking her hand. He noted the tear-tracks on her face but didn't speak of them, and tried hard to ignore them. He didn't want her crying for these humans she was leaving. She was going with him, wasn't she? She should've been happy.

But he wasn't about to say any of that to her.

-----

Mihael looked slightly disgusted as the dragon carried the rat into the other room.

"Leftovers," he said curtly, walking over to a closet. Opening it, he surveyed the half-dead human woman slumped in the corner. Sighing, he knelt beside her and withdrew from his pocket the needle he used to draw her blood for Raphael and himself. He always did it gently. He got no pleasure from seeing suffering of any kind. The woman didn't even open her eyes. She was almost run dry. They were going to have to get more food soon.

He picked up a parcel of dry bread and tossed it at Reagan as he shut the closet door, holding the two full bags of blood. "It's Sofia's turn to feed the dog," he said. "So don't worry about going near it today." He turned toward the door and then glanced back.

"And don't call me 'buddy'," he said, in a slightly annoyed tone of voice. He never liked it when other guys tried to be friendly. He always thought they were probably just using him to get to Raphael. Everyone wanted to be best friends with Raphael, but the coven leader had chosen Mihael for his right-hand man. A position Mihael was forever grateful for.

Sofia swept into the room dramatically. "I have done it!" she cried triumphantly. "I have created . . . a magical spork!"

Mihael paused. "What's a spork?"

Sofia looked at Mihael haughtily. "Silly vampire, you've been dead way too long. A spork, obviously, is a combination of a spoon and a fork. See?" She produced said spork from the folds of her long, rather impractical, dress.

Mihael blinked at it. "What's so magical about an eating utensil?" he asked.

"It's sonic!"

"It's what?"

"Watch! And you shall witness the great power of Sofia the sorceress!" She pointed the spork at the wall. Nothing happened aside from the utensil giving a faint buzzing noise that ended up fading away into nothing.

"Fascinating," Mihael said, sighing and turning away quickly to bring dinner to Raphael.

"It'll work, I tell you! It will!" Sofia called after the vampire, before frowning at her sonic spork with frustration. "Why won't you work?" she muttered to it, her pride causing her to flush with her humiliation.

((I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. ))

((Ugh, I just realized that I put "Haniel" instead of "Mihael" in my past posts. Sorry about that! He got a name change a few times and I forgot which one I'd finally settled on. ))

P.S."Brooklyn!"