(MEL'S POV)

ONE WEEK LATER

      I've been at this house for about a week, and boy has it been something. The guys have been pulling pranks on each other nonstop, and I somehow get roped into half of them. I crash some of their videos sometimes, and they don't always edit it out, which is amusing to watch. Wilford has been following me around like a puppy, which I honestly don't mind cause we're dating. Even if we were just friends, he's a lot of fun to be around, so it probably wouldn't bother me either way. Anti and I have grown much closer in this short span of time. He's helped me pick out a lot of good outfits, many of which were chose to drive Wilford insane. I didn't wear them though, instead, I saved them for a later time. I've basically moved in here, which was a good thing since I'm pretty sure I'd been evicted from my apartment anyway. This week my rent money was due, it this would mark the third month in a row I was late, and the owner was probably getting tired of my shit. Oops.

       Currently, I was just kinda roaming around the halls, hoping to run into someone that I could bug until I found something else to do. I had already passed by the gaming room, which was oddly empty, as well as the many bedrooms. Again, empty. I finally decided to head towards the living room and kitchen. As I rounded the corner, I basically ran down by a very familiar pair of green haired boys.

      "Oh! Hey Mel!" They both exclaimed in unison. "Yer need ta come with us now!" They didn't give me a chance to say otherwise before pulling me into the kitchen. They do seem more and more like brothers the more I'm around the two hyper Irishmen.

      "What the..." I stopped dead in my tracks to see the whole house gathered inside their large kitchen with a cake and a few decorations. Holy balls... It was amazing!

      "Surprise!" Everyone screamed, even Dark seemed happy and smiling for this event. I smile widely as I glance at what the cake said. "Welcome to the Family Mel!" it read in purple writing. I laughed and shook my head.

      "You guys..." I had no words for these hyperactive, probably insane people I now lived with. I felt an arm around my waist as Wilford came and stood beside me. He planted a light kiss on my cheek and I smiled happily.

      "Do you like it?" Mark asked, looking very proud of himself, almost like he made it. If he did this then color me impressed... Never thought he could do something like without hurting himself.

      "He did make it," Dark replied, matter-of-factly. Well, that answers my train of thought... Wait what the freak just happened?! Nevermind that... I shake myself before glancing around at everyone.

      "He had supervision of course!" Jack said, hugging his muscular boyfriend. That makes a lot more sense now. I smiled brighter, seeing everyone get along so well since everyone was usually bickering about something or other.

      "I love it, Mark," I said, leaning against Wilford. I glanced about all the happy couples, everything was peaceful and everyone was happy. This almost felt too good to be real.

      "So... We didn't get you anything..." Felix started. I wasn't expecting this and I'd be more embarrassed if they did get me a gift. I really don't need anything more than what they've already done for me. 

      "Though all those crazies over there," Cry threw a thumb at the group of demons. "Bringing all of your personal items to the house." Yeah, that's a thing that happened and never was addressed. That will probably never be addressed ever again now that it's happened.

       "There's something one of us need to tell you," Bob says while holding Wade by his waist. Are you gay? Oh, wait... We already know that! MY mind is totally flawed and full of memes kind of stuff now. Great...

      "It wasn't something we wanted to hide," Wade stated. "But we didn't want to freak you out any more than living with a house of gamers and demons." Oh blasphemy... What now?! What could they have possibly kept from me now?!?!

      "I mean, I wasn't really freaked out in the first place, more amazed than anything," I replied, chuckling. "What did you want to tell me?" Jean stepped forward, just about to say something when there was a sound at the front door. Almost like someone was trying to break down the door. I glance from the front room to Jean, she was holding a finger to her lip in a 'stay quiet' motion as she made her way out of the kitchen. I moved to follow her, but Wilford tightened his grip around my waist, holding me back. When I looked back at him, he shook his head silently. I watched as all the demons began teleporting their counters to their rooms as if something bad about happened. "What's going on?" I asked quietly. Just as he was about to answer me, I saw something being thrown across the living room. The thing hit one of the bare walls, leaving a medium size dent as it fell to the floor. A blur of a figure rushed at the slumped object with colors of purple and gold trailing behind it.

      "How dare you even THINK of coming back here! Much less breaking into my damn house!" The blur growled out, their voice sounding more animalistic than anything I'd ever heard before... Whatever was going on sounded horrible and possibly dangerous... I want to see what's happening now.

       "Is that..?" Before I could finish my sentence, Wilford had teleported the two of us to his room. I spun around to face him, my eyes filled with both curiosity and fear. "What just happened?"

       "Someone who's not welcomed here just burst in," Wilford explained in the vaguest way possible. Something told me this was much bigger than he was letting on. "Just... Please stay here... I need to see the others real quick. Anti will be on his way here shortly." He pleaded with me, his neon pink eyes full of worry and concern with a hint of fear. What would scare the 'WiLfOrD wArFsTaChE dOn'T tAkE nO sHiT fRoM nObOdY'?? I nodded and sat down on his bed, waiting patiently as he teleports away. Or at least, I made it seem that way. The second I was certain he was gone, I slipped out of the room and crept back to the kitchen, praying that nobody saw me. If Wilford wasn't going to give me a straight answer, I would figure it out myself.

        "Please listen! I'm here to help you!" A male voice pleaded from the living room. I crept closer as I hear the voices start to move further from me. He sounded like one of the guys but a bit deeper maybe? Kind of like Felix, I think.

       "How would you ever expect me to believe that?!" The voice I heard before practically growled out in rage as I heard another crash, this one sounded through some glass. It had to be through the back door that leads to the pool and back forest. "After what you did to him?! After what you allowed happen to this family?! Have you lost all common sense?!" I continued to step forward silently. I peered behind me to make sure nobody was following before peeking I head around a corner. My eyes widened when I saw Jean standing there with the broken door in front of her, and a man on the floor atop a bed of glass. What the hell was I watching?

      "Jeanette, please! The more time you spend on me the closer they come!" The man cries out as she grabs him by the collar. How can that petite woman hold up a guy about twice her weight?! Can she help me workout like that?!

       "Explain. Now." She damn near barks at him as if she was some sort of an animal. I snap out of my own world realizing this is no game here. Something was happening and it was not something good.

      "Virus and others are on their way here now! They're coming for you and her!" He exclaims through her hold on him. Wait... Virus? Didn't he hurt her? Oh, Imma fight that son of bitch...

      "How do they know about her?! Did you tell?!" She pulled him closer to her face. I couldn't really see her face but I could tell by the actions she was beyond livid. I honestly feel like she could KILL him! I had to do something. I mean, it was probably the stupidest thing I'll ever do but I had to do it.

       "Jean?" I asked quietly, stepping into the room. "What are you doing? Who's coming here?" I looked over at the guy Jean was holding by the neck. "Who is that?" I said, pointing at him.

       "M-Mel..?" She turned to me with fear in her.. purple and gold fused eyes...? "It's.. not what it looks like... He's a threat to us. This is Lucius... the one I told you about..." Her voice went back and forth between soft and a growl.

       "Oh," I stayed silent. He was the guy who cheated on Mad, right? No wonder Jean was angry. But still, this angry? "It just, it looked like you were about to beat the crap out of him.."

       "He's placed us all in danger..." She twitches as if she was fighting on whether or not to end him or drop him. At least I had stopped her from just straight up killing him.

        "He's telling the truth," a deep voice says from behind me. "Wilford can confirm it if you wish, Jeanette." Dark stepped forward and calmly made his way over to her.

       "That doesn't mean he didn't lead them here!" She growled out frustrated. I knew I was putting myself into danger by doing this. For all I knew, this guy could turn on us and use me against them but... I felt like that wasn't the case at all.

        "They already knew where we were, love" the soothing voice of Mad stated as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She dropped Lucius as soon as she felt his embrace. Looks like I know which pair to grab if she ever were to lose it completely. Suddenly I felt hands on my shoulders. I spun around and came face to face with Wilford.

       "I thought I told you to stay in my room," he said, his voice laced with a bit of anger but mostly concern. Yeah... I knew this was coming the moment I left the room.

     "You did," I replied matter-of-factly. I wasn't going to beat around the bush about it. I disobeyed but what do you expect? I'm a curious person, can't help it.

    "Then why didn't you stay there?" He groaned as he rubbed at his eyes. I didn't like making him worry so much but he needs to realize this is me and this is how I work. Hopefully, he can accept that I'm like a curious kitten who only has one life instead of nine.

     "I got curious since you didn't give me a straight answer." He squinted his eyes at me. That look was enough to make me feel shorter than normal. He just has those eyes that either can melt your heart or scare you to death.

     "Curiosity killed the cat, Mel," he sighed as he rubbed his neck in frustration. Hey! I just did that comparison two paragraphs ago! Stopping saying what I thought!

     "Good thing I'm not a cat then." I chuckled a bit as he sighed with an eye roll before pulling me into a hug. Also good to know he can't stay mad at me either and I totally was not going to admit that thought aloud. 

     "Please be more careful, I can't lose you..." He whispered softly. I smile and pull him into a gentle kiss. He's a sweetheart and teddy bear but a total worried-wort. I see where Mark gets it from.

      "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." He smiles softly before turning to the situation at hand. That doesn't mean I'll stay out of trouble, I hope he knows that.

      "He isn't lying which means we need to move and quickly," he says in an oddly calming yet stern way. Called it! Jean nods before moving away from Mad. 

      "Collect what supplies we can and inform the others that we're moving to the second location in a bit," she orders in a manner as if she is commanding her officers about some huge armed military or something. "How long until they're here, Lucius?" He slowly raises to his knees and bows to her, responding that they should be on us in a few hours. "Try and get us a better idea. You are dismissed. Your room is as you left it." He nodded before making his way out of the room. "Dark, keep an eye on him. I don't want any more funny business happening." Dark informed her that he had Mark and the others watching him. I couldn't decide whether now was a good time or not to ask Jean how the fuck she was bossing around demons. I was also a bit surprised nobody had yelled at me for interfering. Guess I'm still not used to the way things work here. I began thinking back on everything I had heard between Lucius and Jean.

      "Wait, why would they be after me?" I asked, confusion riddling my mind. Those left in the room exchanged glances before Mad stepped up to me. Oh no... Bad news?

      "There's evidence to believe you aren't demonic or angelic or anything in between." He states coolly. "What I mean by this is that you might be a pure human or something of a rarity selection. You see, the world is full of demonic, angelic, and mixes of the beings. You would know this if you were any of those when Jeanette informed us you didn't know and didn't even know we existed, it caught our interest as well as the interest of some nasty beings." He pauses for a second, his body reacting to the thought of whatever 'nasty beings' he was referring to. Though before I could as a single question, he continued on with his ramble. "There is a way or two to test this but we were not going to test them until you knew the truth of all of us and the information I have just given you. Questions?" He returned next to Jean as if that was his rightful place to be next to her or something. Okay, I'm missing a few more puzzle pieces than I originally thought. Question bombing time now.

       "Why is being a pure human special? Aren't the guys human too? When the fuck did Jean get super strength?" I take a breath before turning to Jean. "How are you bossing around demons? Why do Mad and Anti like each other if they're already with you two?" I wave my hand at Dark and Jean. "And why do you keep not telling me stuff?"

      "If our theories test correctly and ya are pure human, ya would be the only one... Well minus yer family of course," Anti piped in. "And yer knows Mad, Dark, Wilford, myself, and Lucius are not human though that also means our counters are part demonic as well. Bob and Wade are more of some mix breeds but lean more ta the angelic side of the spectrum. And uhm..." his mixed colored eyes glance towards Jean, waiting on her to take over. Though before she could answer, Dark seemed to step up.

       "To answer your question on Anti, Mad, myself, and Jeanette; in Hell, it is common for demons to have more than one partner but not more than one mate. The higher a rank a demon is, the more likely it is for them to have a second partner," He stated in a monotone, formal manner,

      "As for the questions on me, that's what we were going to tell you, Mel," she sighed while rubbing at her eyes. They were mixes of her sky blues and this weird purple and gold mixture. "I'm not human. I'm not mortal and I'm no way in Hell an angelic being. I am a demon but not a common one. None of the guys and myself are among the common rankings."

      "Wait, so demons are polygamous?" Why was that what I picked up most of their conversation? I mean, Jean wasn't human, neither was anyone else here apparently. Still, something still bothered me. Jean kept so many secrets from me. I opened up basically my entire life to her, but she hid away from me and I never noticed. Honestly, that kinda hurt.

     "We wanted to tell you everything at once but we were afraid that others would hunt you down sooner if we did," Wilford attempted to reason with me. I literally wanted to scream and rip my own hair out at the moment, way too much at once right now.

     "And yes but not as much as the mortals are," Dark says answering my spoken question. "Royals and their Guards commonly form relationships within their ranks before they find their mates. At times, these relationships will come back but can never compare to the relationship with the mate which is why they are known as partners."

       "Believe me when I say this Mel, I wanted to tell you from when we first started talking... I was afraid..." Jean's voice came across clearly though she had grown softer as she spoke.

      "Afraid of what? What harm could have possibly come out of telling me other than me not believing you?" I asked, slightly annoyed. I tried to keep my voice as gentle as I could, but it didn't work that well. She flinched back from me but didn't allow it to stop her.

     "There was that, you running away from us... Virus finding you... There was so much for you to take in when you found out about the guys that I didn't want to overwhelm you. I have no more secrets. My name is Jeanette in Hell, I am the Queen of Hell and those around us now are my Royal Guards," her quiet voice grew in a formal manner though it sounded a bit broken.

    "Time out, you're the Queen of Hell?!" I blurted out, my anger evolving into astonishment. She simply nods with a look of pain and relief that I wasn't angry with her.

     "That's also why we were terrified ta tell ya, Mel. There are people out there that'd want ya just ta get ta her and if ya really are pure human... Yer got a target just as big as her's on yer back now," Anti pipes in both comfortingly and worriedly.

      "Why does being pure human make me so special. Other than the fact that I'm apparently the only one left." I glance among the familiar faces in wonder.

       "Your blood," Dark stated. "To demons, it's not only an addictive drug but to those with the insanity virus, they see you as a cure. To the Angels, you're a precious child that must be protected and some pray they can change you into an Angelic that way you may take on the next High Court Leader. To Rogues though, you are a tool that can be used to start the end of the world, a war, or as a bargaining chip for the two sides. Either way, this goes, you are valuable to everyone and we all wish to offer protection for your sake and your mate's sanity," he finished nodding at his brother behind me.

      "Wait, how do I know you're not gonna use me as some drug or whatever the hell you just said?" I asked fearfully. I backed up a bit, only to hit Wilford, who wrapped his arms around me comfortingly. I leaned my weight against his body, instantly relaxing at his touch. Jean's eyes turned back to blue as she seemed to break a bit.

      "Never," Mad stated firmly as he held my broken friend. "And not for Wilford's sake but for Anti and Jean's as well. You are family to us, Mel. We would never harm you in any format. You have our words as the Royal Guards." All of the guys in front of me knelt as I felt Wilford let go of me to do the same.

     "And you have my word as the Queen of Hell that I will do all in my power to protect you and give you the best that I can," Jean bowed to me to show just how serious she was. Now, how many people can say they had a Queen bow to them. I opened my mouth to say something in response, but honestly, I had nothing. I just nodded and watched as everyone slowly rose back to their feet. Wilford moved to stand next to me, and I snaked my arms around his body. He gently laid an arm over my shoulders as the others started whispering amongst themselves.

      "We need to get moving now," Dark says after a moment of silence. "Lucius just told Mark that they are about 60 out from our location." Jean nodded before ordering Anti, Mad, and Dark to round up the others and teleport to the second location now. Mad seemed a bit hesitant but listened and followed the other two demons to the rest of our group.

       "Where's the second location? Are we ever gonna come back here?" I asked, looking to Wilford. He tried to smile back at me but I could tell it was a forced smile for once.

        "When it's safe again, we'll come back. Hold on," he grabs ahold of me as Jean walks over to us. She places a hand on us both before covering us in purple and gold smoke. 

(Hey guys! This is really late and we're sorry about that! A lot has been going on so TimeWorper and I had to get creative with sending out updates but I hope this settles well with ya until we're back to a calmer schedule! Hopefully, you'll be seeing one or two more updates this month! Anyways, thank you for reading!)