HARLOW

"Maybe I should've accepted Oz's offer..." I mutter as I walk through the house, coming up to the doors but not remembering which one is mine.

I go to reach for the handle on the second door, but suddenly a hand reaches out and grabs my wrist harshly, making me gasp and turn to face whoever grabbed me. I stare at Azusa with wide eyes, flashing back to my past with Jonathan. Azusa's stoic expression softens with realization upon scanning my face and he releases my wrist.

"I wouldn't go in there," Azusa says quietly, his eyes flickering to the door, "that's Everett's room."

"Thanks...I'll keep note of that," I trail off, unsure of where he even came from.

Azusa nods and shoves his hands in his pockets.

"Good," Azusa hums and glances around before he sighs, "I won't always be around to...correct you."

I give him a small smile, knowing what he really meant to say was protect me, and I nod to him gratefully.

"Your room is probably the third one," Azusa clears his throat with a nod, "it's one of the only two ones that were empty before you came. And...sorry about earlier."

"It's okay," I assure him and he gives me an unsure smile before he waves with one hand, the other still in his pocket, and walks off.

I make my way over to the third door and twist the knob, opening it to reveal my room. I sigh in relief and shut the door before I head over to my bags and begin to unpack. I take out my clothes and head over to the closet, hanging them up and folding the rest that there aren't enough hangers for or things that would take up too much space being up. I then put my shoes in the closet as well before I take out the rest of the items I brought along.

I place my ID, letter, and travel papers on the dresser by the roses with a picture of me and my parents and some jewelry that I brought along. I also brought along a sketchbook and some pencils, as well as two novels. I place the two novels on the nightstand with the sketchbook and pencils before I sigh in content. I also grab my cell phone from my other front pocket and grab my charger from my bag, plugging it into an outlet and letting it rest on the nightstand beside the books and other materials.

I decide that I don't really need a shower yet, saving that for when it's night-time. Instead, I head back over to my bags and grab a stack of letters that I brought along with me, all written by my father. I go over to the bed and sit down with a sigh, opening the first letter and pulling it out.

'Dear Harlow,

I hope you waited to open this until you arrived like I instructed you to. In any case, I know things are probably most confusing for you. I know I told you before you left that I'd be sending you away to stay with family friends of mine because you'd be safer there. I want you to know that I'm proud of the beautiful young woman you've become. You remind me much of your mother, not just because you share her abilities, but because of how strong and independent you've become and how ambitious you are.

You'll be continuing your university studies at the manor through asynchronous learning. I can't wait to hear how you excel in your studies and see pictures of your artwork. I know how much you want to be an animator, always creating stories in your mind and drawing them out on paper for the world to see. I've always loved that about you, and I believe you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

I hope Oz and his family treat you well, as they should, considering I know them quite well. I hope you aren't too startled by the situation, but even if you are, I know you'll get used to it. I'm not sure exactly how many others are staying at the manor, but I hope you make some new friends while you're gone. I'll be missing you every single day and I promise to write to you.'

Love,

Dad

P.S. — I'll be having Jonathan arrested, don't you worry.

I smile at the letter before I put it back into its envelope and place it on the bed next to the rest of the stack. Suddenly, someone knocks on my door and gently pushes it slightly open. I smile when I see Oz peeking inside and glancing around until his eyes land on me and he smiles in return.

"You can come in," I say and Oz opens the door completely, stepping inside.

"I just came to tell you that Aithne said she'll be ready in about ten minutes," Oz says and I nod.

"Alright, thank you," I say.

"So, how are you doing? You know, getting settled in and everything," Oz asks as he shuts the door behind him.

"I'm doing well," I say and Oz nods as he walks around the room before he settles for sitting in the computer chair and faces me.

"Good," Oz says with a smile and his ears twitch happily.

"Hey, Oz. Do you mind if I ask you something?" I start.

"What is it?" Oz hums and tilts his head to the side.

"About you and Azusa earlier...do you two not get along, or?" I frown, wondering about their earlier encounter.

"Uh," Oz rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and blushes as his ears droop sadly, "that's not really it."

"Then what is it? If you don't mind me asking?" I raise a brow in curiosity.

"Um," Oz shifts around in his chair and sighs, "the thing is, Azusa and Alecsander were the first two to come to the mansion and stay here. They've both been here since I was nine and now I'm nineteen, so they've been here for ten years. Azusa's a year younger than me and Alecsander's a year older than me, and we all got along really well when we were kids."

"What changed?" I frown.

"Well, when Caesar came here when he and I were both eleven, Azusa ended up getting really close with Caesar, which I'm guessing isn't too surprising due to their personalities. At the time, I felt upset, but I wasn't really sure why," Oz continues. "Two years later, I realized that I liked Azusa...you know...as more than a friend. I wasn't sure if it was just a thing for Azusa, but then Karmine came when I was fifteen, Karmine being sixteen, and I realized I thought he looked well, pretty. I knew then that it wasn't just a thing for Azusa. I realized that I liked guys in general but that I had feelings for Azusa."

"What happened then?" I ask, genuinely caring about Oz's feelings.

Oz smiles when he realizes that I'm not going to judge him and he opens up a bit more, explaining the situation to me.

"Well..." Oz sighs, "I always knew Azusa never had any interest in me, so I knew it would never work out. I tried to get over him, but a part of me always liked him no matter what I did. Alecsander knew that I liked Azusa and he comforted me when I felt really sad about the situation. Eventually, I accepted that I would never get over my feelings for him. But, just because you'll always love someone doesn't mean you can't move on from them and love somebody else too. Sometimes, things don't work out and it's not anybody's fault."

"I'm sorry, Oz," I frown, feeling my heart squeeze in my chest for him.

"It's okay. You can't control who you like or who you don't like, so you can't blame someone if they don't like you back. It hurts at the time, but it'll be okay in the end. In fact, I met an amazing guy a while ago and gained feelings for him," Oz smiles. "We met last year while out shopping and we started dating about six months ago, and I couldn't be happier."

"Aw, Oz, that's great," I smile, glad that he's happy now. "What's your boyfriend like?"

"Well," Oz smiles sheepishly, "he's actually coming over for dinner if you want to meet him. I invited him over. His name is Ryker."

"Sure," I smile once more and Oz stands up from the chair, brushing his hands on his thighs as he does so.

"Well, we should probably go to the others. Aithne's probably ready by now," Oz says and I nod.

The two of us head to the dining room, which is next to the kitchen. The dining room is full of red elegant curtains that cover tall windows and there's a beautiful long table with a dark purple cloth over it and candles with roses in glass jars all along the table, white plates and silverware set out already. The table itself has twelve black chairs, two on each end and four on each side. The walls of the dining room are black and the floor is a pretty dark purple that matches the table cloth. All in all, the brightly colored kitchen is like the complete opposite to the dark and romantic styled dining room. Caesar, Karmine, Alecsander, and Aithne are already sitting on one side of the table, picking food from dishes that are splayed out in the center of the table.

"Do you think Everett will come down?" Aithne frowns. "I really hoped we would all be together."

"I don't know," Alecsander sighs, "I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't."

Aithne frowns once more and sighs, looking dejectedly at her plate of angel food cake and strawberries.

"Hey, don't take it too personally, shorty," Caesar gives Aithne a sad smile, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Besides, your food is amazing. It's his loss if he misses out."

Aithne smiles back at him before she nods and attempts to enjoy the meal she prepared.

"It really is amazing," Karmine adds with a bright smile as his eyes scan over the food. "Such a decadent array of vibrant and savory foods could surely only be prepared by the beautiful Miss Violet."

Aithne blushes lightly at the compliment and Caesar chuckles at Karmine's eloquent words while Alecsander shakes his head with a smile. A few minutes later, Azusa walks in with a scowl on his face.

"Hey, Oz," Azusa sighs, "your boyfriend's here."

Oz's eyes light up and he runs out of the dining room and to the front door, apparently not noticing the disdain in Azusa's voice. The other four watch the scene silently with me and Alecsander seems to know something the others don't as he frowns. Azusa sighs once more and walks over to the table before he flops down in a chair across from Alecsander, glancing at the food in front of him.

I make my way over and take one of the seats next to Azusa. He glances at me from the corner of his eye before his lips twitch into a smirk and he stabs a strawberry from one of the strawberry bowls onto a fork as he looks at me. He then raises the fork to his mouth and bites into the strawberry, red juices leaking out before he laps them up with his tongue as he eats the strawberry.

"Azusa, this isn't a 'seduce the newbie' dinner, this is a 'welcome the newbie' dinner," Aithne scowls.

"Same thing?" Azusa tilts his head to the side and blinks curiously as he stares at Aithne, who snorts in reply.

"Hey, Aithne?" I start, gaining her attention as she hums with interest. "I've been wondering, do you happen to be supernatural too? I know you know about them because of you and Caesar's conversation earlier, plus you're good friends with everyone here, but..."

"No, I'm not human," Aithne chuckles, "I'm an angel."

Aithne raises one of her hands and wiggles her fingers, electricity sparking off of her fingers while her lips curve up into a sly smile.

"Yeah, an angel who can wield electricity," Alecsander snorts.

"Precisely," Aithne beams and goes back to eating.

"So, how come you don't live here then?" I ask curiously.

"I live with my parents down the road," Aithne smiles sadly. "My mom grew ill a few years ago and my dad's always at work trying to pay the bills, so I take care of her when he's away. He works as a construction worker, so he's usually gone sporadically and it's just easier for me to live there with them. Even though I'm eighteen and most eighteen year olds can't wait to move out and go to college, I really don't mind. There's nowhere else I'd rather be. Plus, I get to hangout with these awesome people every so often."

"I'm sorry about your mom," I frown.

"It's okay," Aithne assures me. "She's doing a bit better now, which makes me happier to see her feeling better."

"That's good," I smile. "So, how long have you known the others?"

"Um," Aithne pauses to think for a few brief moments, chewing on her food, "I've known Oz since I was five, so I met the others as soon as they came."

"That's cool," I continue to smile and Aithne smiles warmly at my genuineness.

"Harlow!" Oz beams as he walks back into the room and I turn to face him, noticing a tall black haired man with black glasses, a dark grey scarf with a dark grey coat and white v-neck, black skinny jeans, and black boots walk in beside Oz. "I'd like for you to meet my boyfriend, Ryker. Ryker, this is Harlow."

"Nice to meet you," Ryker grins, something glinting in his dark brown eyes that makes me slightly uncomfortable and want to grab the charm hanging around my neck.

"Nice to meet you too..." I trail off uncertainly.

Azusa's lips twitch in irritation as he stares down at his plate with an intense expression while Alecsander watches him with concern and the others continue eating, unaware of Azusa's inner turmoil. Oz moves to sit on the other side of Azusa, which leaves Ryker taking the empty chair to my left. I tense slightly and wonder why I feel so uncomfortable around him but don't mind being around the others. The eight of us begin to chat around the table before Azusa eventually tenses up so much that Alecsander begins to voice his concern.

"Azusa, are you—" Alec starts, frowning.

Suddenly, Azusa stands up from the table and grabs ahold of my arm, dragging me out of the dining room with him.

"Hey!" I snap and wrench my arm out of his grip once he drags me to the entrance area, "Just what the hell do you think you're—"

My breath hitches and my sentence stops when Azusa turns to face me and I notice his eyes have gone from their usual brown color to bright red and he looks seriously pissed off and almost somewhat panicked.

"Sorry...sorry..." Azusa mutters and clutches at the sides of his head, his eyes wide, "I just...I couldn't...couldn't let you sit by that monster..."

"What're you talking about?" I whisper, my expression softening.

"Ryker," Azusa grits his teeth as he forces the name out, wrapping his arms around his chest, "he's a piece of shit and nobody else can see it. Every time I try to mention it, nobody believes me. The only person who believes me is Everett, but he never leaves his damn room and he doesn't care enough to tell anyone! I just...I felt you getting uncomfortable and I hoped that maybe you'd believe me..."

"I believe you," I whisper, thinking back to the feeling I got off of him.

Azusa's breath hitches and he meets my gaze, the red in his eyes fading back to brown as he lowers his hands.

"You...do?" Azusa asks quietly, as if I'll change my answer.

"I do," I nod and Azusa almost seems to smile.

"Thank you..." Azusa breathes out before he suddenly comes over to me and pulls me into a hug, wrapping his arms around me as my face presses against his chest, my eyes wide, "thank you..."

"You're welcome," I whisper in return and Azusa's arms squeeze a little tighter, and a sinking feeling fills my chest as I wonder if Oz is in danger from Ryker.