⊳⊱ ♕ ⊰⊲

They moved through the lab as quickly as they could, heading up to the main floor using the elevator, and then Elijah navigated the halls, trying to find a way to get out to where the morticians were dumping the bodies of dead subjects.

He tried to keep his focus, but the fact that Zoe was his sister still had him in a state of utter disbelief...and maybe even a little denial, too. Maybe he couldn't accept the facts because he'd never imagined the answers would be the ones he received. Through all the long nights of pondering, he never once thought that his family would be who they were; he thought he'd come from someplace far, far away from all the noise and bustle of the city because he never felt quite right walking the streets, but he was wrong; his family were rich, they were government officials, and they were connected to an Ancient.

"Wait, there," Zoe said, pointing to a sign labelled 'morgue'.

They headed left down the corridor, and at the end were a pair of double doors, both leading to the morgue.

Haru started grunting painfully, grasping his side. "I-I can't," he breathed, slipping out of Elijah's grip.

Elijah halted and pulled Haru to his feet. "We're almost there," he told him. "Just a few more minutes." But he noticed the blood soaking through Haru's shirt and onto his own sleeve; his wound must have torn. "We can stop once we're through those doors, okay?"

With a nod, Haru tightened his grip around Elijah's shoulders.

"Hurry," Zoe said as she held one of the doors open.

They rushed into the morgue, and when Zoe shut the door behind them, Jake grabbed a metal broom and pushed it through the handles to keep anyone from getting in.

Elijah helped Haru sit on a stool by a workstation. "Find something to cover his wound with," he said as he opened a nearby cupboard and grabbed a small bottle of anti-bacterial liquid.

Haru groaned and drawled, "That shit hurts like hell."

"It's all there is," Elijah said regrettably.

With a huff, Haru nodded and lifted his shirt up. "Just get it over with."

"Here," Zoe then called and hurried over with a roll of bandage and some gauze.

"I found this," Jake said, joining them with a tube of healant gel. "It was in someone's desk drawer."

Elijah examined Haru's wound. He hoped that he wouldn't have to use the anti-bacterial liquid, but the surgical cut was clearly infected, and the healant would be useless. He grabbed a small cloth and folded it up. "Bite down on this," he said, handing it to Haru.

Haru put the cloth between his teeth and bit down, looking away as Elijah unscrewed the bottle lid.

"Are you ready?" the demon asked him.

He nodded quickly.

Elijah didn't hesitate; not only did he not want Haru to suffer any longer, but they had to get out of the lab now, and they could do that if Haru was in pain and unable to keep going. So he poured the liquid over the ghastly wound, and when Haru yelled painfully through the cloth in his mouth, he grasped Elijah's hand and held it tight.

"God, that looks..." Jake grimaced, holding his hand over his mouth.

As the liquid poured over the wound and dripped from Haru's body, it carried blood and pus with it. Haru whimpered and held his eyes shut tight; he was clearly trying to hold back tears and knowing that made Elijah's racing heart ache. Haru was always so brave, but this time, the pain was too much.

"Just hold on," Elijah insisted, trying to keep his composure. He took the gauze and bandages from Zoe—

A harrowing, blaring alarm cut through the tense quiet. It reverberated so loudly that Elijah's eardrums started rattling in his skull.

"What the hell?!" Jake cried out, holding his hands against his ears.

"They know we're here," Elijah said as he snatched the healant gel from the pardus.

"They're...gonna find us," Haru cried, his voice muffled through the cloth.

"No, they're not," the demon said as he hastily spread the gel over Haru's wound. Then, he quickly bandaged him up as best he could.

"I think there's a door over there," Zoe said, pointing past the freezers.

Elijah helped Haru to his feet while Jake hurried off in the direction she pointed to.

"Fuck," Haru groaned as he pulled the cloth from his mouth. "I think...it's just...gotten worse," he breathed, gritting his teeth.

Jake hurried back from behind the freezers. "The way out's back there," he said, panicking.

The demon tried helping Haru to walk, but every step was a struggle, and his pained grunts and whines were distressing Elijah. "Let me carry you," he said and went to pick him up—

"No," Haru refused, shaking his head. "You need your hands...hands free in case...they catch up." He grimaced and exhaled deeply. "I can make it," he said, urging Elijah to continue forward with him.

Elijah nodded and continued towards the freezers.

But then something collided with the morgue doors.

He stopped and looked over his shoulder, watching as someone frantically shook the doors in an attempt to open them.

"Over here!" someone on the other side called.

Loud footsteps echoed towards the doors.

"We need to move—now!" Elijah growled and picked Haru up despite his protests. "Go!"

Jake and Zoe hurriedly led the way towards the single door behind the freezers.

The pounding against the morgue doors got more aggressive, and they'd break through any moment.

Elijah's ears kept ringing as the blaring alarm seemed to swell, each screech louder than the last. He focused as best he could, though, and when Jake pushed the door open, a harsh gust of freezing cold wind burst into the morgue; he felt Haru shiver in his grip, and in his current condition, the cold was going to be dangerous. But they couldn't avoid it.

They stepped outside, and Elijah set his eyes on the pit full of dead subjects. He couldn't see the jeep, though.

"Where's August?" Jake questioned as he closed the door behind them and wheeled a large metal bin against it.

"He said he'd be there, right?" Zoe panicked. "What if he got caught? W-what if something happened?"

Elijah scowled anxiously, but he tried to stay focused and looked around for cameras, but there weren't any as far as he could tell—and he wasn't surprised; why would the doctors and security want to see the morticians disposing of all the bodies they helped destroy?

"It's f-freezing," Haru shivered.

The demon frowned worriedly. "Just a few more minutes," he said quietly, staring at Haru's pale face. He then set his sights on the pit again, searching for any sign of August on the other side of the fence.

Zoe nervously said, "The fence is like two hundred feet away."

"And there's like...guard towers and shit. They've got snipers, right?" Jake quavered. "There's no cover or—"

"We're going to have to run," Elijah interjected firmly, looking at Zoe and Jake. "There are guards patrolling the grounds, but when I scoped the place out, there weren't too many looking or walking around here. If we're fast, we'll make it."

"And the fence?" Jake questioned.

"We'll deal with it," the demon answered. "Stay close to me and do exactly as I say. Understand?"

Zoe and Jake nodded.

"E-Eli," Haru trembled, his breaths becoming frantic. "T-they're coming."

"We're leaving," he told Haru, and then he glanced at Zoe and Jake again. "Let's move."

Elijah led the way, carrying Haru in his arms and Zoe and Jake followed closely behind. He frantically checked around him for guards who might have spotted them, but it was clear that no one wanted to look in the direction of the pit full of dead children.

There was still no sign of August, and when they were thirty feet from the fence, Elijah's worry became overwhelming. Where the fuck was he?!

When they reached the fence, Elijah looked at Zoe. "Melt it."

She frowned confusedly. "W-what?"

"You can create hellfire; it'll burn right through the metal."

"B-but what if they see and start shooting?"

Elijah looked down at Haru. "Can you walk? Just to the forest—twenty feet away," he asked, nodding at the forest on the other side of the fence.

Haru nodded. "Yeah. I can do it."

The demon carefully put him down, and as Haru leaned against the fence, grasping his bandaged wound, Elijah took out his two pistols and told Zoe, "I'll cover us. The moment you get through, head for the trees."

Zoe looked like she was going to be sick, but she nodded and said, "O-okay."

Elijah turned to face the grounds; he stood protectively in front of Haru, watching as the guards aimlessly searched far from the pit of bodies for the cause of the blaring alarms. He watched and listened to them talk through their radios, he watched the snipers search the ground outside the compound, and he listened to the echoing bangs coming from inside the morgue.

But then he heard a report...one that said the morgue was inaccessible. Several guards in his line of sight stopped in their tracks and looked towards the pit, and when they saw him, they aimed their weapons and yelled out to one another, "They're over there! Over here!"

Panic ensnared Elijah's racing heart. "Go now!" he shouted as he immediately started firing at the guards. They all dived into cover, and a sniper shot flew straight past the demon's head. But he wasn't shaken; he kept firing as the scorching heat of Zoe's fire emanated behind him.

"Elijah!" the girl called moments.

He quickly glanced behind, seeing Jake and Zoe helping Haru through the hole in the fence, and when they raced towards the forest, he stopped firing at the cowering guards and darted for the exit.

Another sniper's shot raced past, grazing his arm. He grunted but ignored the silver's familiar sting, and as he desperately scurried through the gap in the fence, he reloaded his pistols.

"Come on!" Jake called, covering behind the massive trunk of a sequoia tree.

Elijah sprinted towards them, but the harrowing sound of hellhounds cut through the gunfire and yelling voices. Their screeching howls sent shivers down his spine, and dread smothered his face.

"Hellhounds," he told them as he tucked his weapons away and quickly scooped Haru up. "Move!"

"Where the hell is August?!" Jake cried as they ran deeper into the forest.

"Can you locate him again?" Zoe insisted, panting.

Elijah attempted to focus, but he could hear the hellhounds' paws crashing against the snow, and their vicious, distorted snarls were getting closer. If he didn't find August, though, they'd get caught, and he'd lose Haru again. He wasn't going to let that happen, so he concentrated, scanning the world around him as he led the way deeper into the forest.

And then he found it. August's faint aura. Not faint because he was far, but faint because...he was hurt.

"This way," he said with a grunt as he veered right. His racing heart started aching, and his thoughts swirled around overbearingly inside his head. What if August was dying? What if he died? He was their only way out of this place, their only way back over The Ice Wall. Without him, they'd be stuck out in this freezing tundra. And Haru...Haru wouldn't last very long. He was pale, he was losing blood, and he was shivering so violently in Elijah's grip. "Just hold on," he told him.

Haru nodded weakly.

"Wait, I see it!" Zoe called, pointing slightly to the left. "The jeep!"

Elijah wanted to feel relief, but when they reached the jeep, August wasn't inside...and there was blood on the driver seat's door. There was blood staining the white snow, and there were signs of struggle. Tracks in the snow like someone had been dragged while trying to fight. The blood was August's, but there was someone else's, too. It smelled familiar, but Elijah didn't know who or what it belonged to.

"Where is he?!" Jake wailed. "What the fuck?!"

"E-Eli," Haru whimpered. "I-I don't...I don't feel...good."

The demon looked down at him; he was paler than he was a few minutes ago, and his aura was getting weaker—he was getting weaker. "We're getting out of here," he said as he pulled one of the jeep's back doors open. He didn't care about August anymore; getting Haru away from this place and somewhere warm was his main priority. So he placed him inside the vehicle beside Zoe's barking rat-dog and grabbed the coats they'd taken off before getting in the truck. "Put these on," he insisted, wrapping Haru up in them. "We're going, okay? Just...just stay awake."

Haru nodded stiffly.

Elijah closed the door—

"E-Elijah!" came Zoe's terrified voice.

The demon swung around but froze when he saw what they were gawping at.

Hellhounds.

In every direction he looked, a mangled, snarling beast stood. Their crimson eyes glared at him, their twisted bodies twitching while they waited.

Waited for what?

Zoe and Jake cautiously backed towards him, and then they took cover behind him.

"W-what do we do?" Zoe panicked.

There were too many of them...even for him. Their only choice was to run.

"Get in the jeep...slowly," he said cautiously, shifting his sights between all the hounds.

But the second Zoe and Jake took a single step, the hellhounds moved closer, growling and snarling. Zoe whimpered, and Jake exclaimed in both fear and shock.

"I wouldn't if I were you," came a horrifyingly familiar voice—a voice that Elijah had hoped he wouldn't hear again.

The snow crunched beneath heavy boots, and struggled grunts came from behind a tree to their left.

Elijah turned to face it, his heart racing as he watched the same man he'd seen in The Darkness step out from behind the massive sequoia. A maniacal grin stretched across his stubbly face, and in his grip, he held August, who tried to fight free, but he was bleeding; there were slashes in his clothes, and blood oozed from unseen wounds beneath all his layers.

And the man—Maverick...his severed arm had somehow healed, and when his dark eyes met Elijah's, a cold, dismaying shiver of trepidation spiralled through him. The angst gripped him tight; seeing Maverick's true face made him feel strange...haunted, maybe...like he knew it before now, like he'd seen it someplace before. But he didn't know where, and he couldn't stop the dread from constricting him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Maverick questioned, his voice thick with malice as he shifted his sights between the three of them. He then tightened his grip on August, digging his claws into his arms, which he held firmly behind his back. "You can't go anywhere without your little friend here, can you?"

August grunted angrily and tried to yank himself free. "Get the fuck off me!"

Maverick snarled irritably and harshly pulled August back, making him groan painfully.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Jake blurted, panicking.

With a sly laugh, Maverick locked his gaze on Elijah. "He knows."

Both Jake and Zoe turned their heads to look at the demon.

"Elijah?" Zoe asked quietly, trembling behind him.

Elijah scowled through his angst. His instincts were conflicted, telling him to run and stay to protect Haru. He knew that Maverick was dangerous, but there was nothing and no one that he wouldn't face to protect the man he loved. "He's Maverick," he replied, his scowl thickening. "The guy I saw in The Darkness."

"W-what?" Zoe stuttered, sinking further behind Elijah.

Maverick laughed again. "I told you I'd find you, Xaiden," he said, and then he glanced at Zoe. "And Zoe, too?" He laughed excitedly. "Who knew I'd get so lucky?"

Elijah pulled Zoe behind him as if he were trying to protect her.

The hellhounds snarled and roared at their movement, but when Maverick held his free hand out, they fell silent, obeying his command.

"You can't save her," Maverick said with a grin. "You can't save any of them." He tightened his grip on August again, making him grunt sharply. "

Elijah snarled quietly. "You and your dogs aren't going to stop me from getting back over the wall," he said and discreetly tapped Zoe's pocket, hoping she'd understand that he was telling her to call for help.

Maverick scoffed. "I don't think it's up to you to decide your fate from this point on." He grinned and glanced at August. "I'll tell you what, though. If you and Zoe come quietly, I'll let your boyfriends and this fucking fag go." His eyes shifted to the jeep behind Elijah. "It doesn't look like yours has very long, Xaiden. Better hurry up and decide."

The demon tried to think up a way of getting out of this; he didn't know if Zoe had managed to send for help yet, but if she had, he needed to keep stalling. Either that...or find a way to escape, a way to run and keep running until backup arrived.

"What do you want from me?" the demon questioned.

Maverick's twisted smile grew. "I'm going to consume you."

He frowned a little, unsure of what the fuck he meant. But then he saw August staring at him. When the fae realized that he had his attention, he glanced down at his own belt, where his knife sat, and then he looked up before setting his sights back on Elijah. He understood what he was telling him.

Elijah glowered at Maverick. "Not today you won't be."

August abruptly forced his moth-like wings from his back, throwing Maverick off him; he grabbed his knife, swung around, and stabbed it into the man's shoulder.

"Get inside!" Elijah yelled as the hellhounds charged towards them.

Zoe, Jake, and August hurried to get in the jeep.

Maverick growled furiously and yanked August's knife from his shoulder. "Fucking kill them!" he commanded.

Elijah pulled out his pistols and fired at Maverick, who darted out of the way as the hellhounds lunged at him and the jeep. The demon quickly turned and shot one beast through the head and another through one's neck. He wasn't fast enough to stop the third hound, though; it clamped its jaws around his wrist and yanked him away from the jeep. He snarled painfully and tried to pull free, and when he did, his flesh tearing against the monster's teeth, he slammed his gun into the side of the creature's head, making it stumble to the side.

Before he could execute the beast, Maverick collided with him. His back hit the jeep; Zoe and Jake were screaming inside, trying to hold the doors shut as the hellhounds relentlessly attempted to get in. The third hound then sunk its teeth into Elijah's forearm, snarling ferociously as he tried to pull free so that he could shoot Maverick.

"You're not getting away this time!" Maverick said with a crazed smile.

He tried to stab Elijah with August's knife, but the demon dropped the pistol in his free hand and snatched Maverick's wrist, holding him back.

"I'm going to enjoy taking you apart piece by piece," he growled, pushing the knife closer to Elijah's chest.

The demon gritted his teeth, grunting painfully as the hound bit harder; he was putting all his strength into trying to hold Maverick back, but he was strong—almost too strong.

"But first, I'll make you watch my dogs eat your boyfriend alive; they love tearing scrawny lycans apart, and they hate sharing, so things get extremely messy," Maverick said with a grin. "And Zoe? I'll let the ghouls have her. They just adore pretty little girls; they like to take their time, just like me." He pushed the blade closer as Elijah growled in struggle.

Elijah grunted frustratedly, glaring into Maverick's eyes. The jeep jolted back and forth behind him as the hounds crashed against it and sunk their teeth into the metal. If Zoe hadn't called for help when he told her, surely she must have done it now, so what was taking their backup so long to get there? He was losing. The hound clamping onto his arm was starting to tug and twist, and Maverick's strength was greater than his. He didn't know how much longer he could hold him off.

Maverick snickered cruelly as he abruptly pushed forward; the blade got closer to Elijah's chest, just mere inches away—all Maverick had to do was push it like that once more and it would piece Elijah's heart.

"Don't fight it," Maverick whispered, leaning nearer to the demon's face. "You belong in a cage, Xaiden."

Elijah snarled furiously at him. The mere thought of being locked up in another lab made him feel sick to his stomach. He'd only just gotten Haru back, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to him; he wasn't going to lose him or abandon him again.

He yelled painfully as he yanked his arm free from the hellhound's jaws. His flesh tore, and his blood splattered to the snow, but he didn't care about his own pain. He smashed the bottom of his pistol into the side of Maverick's head, and when the man grunted and stumbled to the side, Elijah kicked him back and fired several bullets at him.

Maverick dropped the knife as each round rapidly pierced his chest, but instead of collapsing, the man just stumbled back as blood oozed through his clothes.

Elijah went to shoot him again—this time in the head—but Zoe's horrified scream snatched his attention. He swung around and saw a hellhound dragging her out of the jeep by her wrist; she was trying to fight, but another beast grabbed her other wrist. Another hellhound was trying to squeeze its huge body in through the broken driver seat window, and August attempted to hold it off with another knife while Jake fought to keep the door beside Haru shut.

The demon snarled in frustration and shot the hounds in his way as he rushed around to the other side of the jeep. He grabbed the beast that was dragging Zoe and twisted its head, and then he shot the other one, freeing the girl, but before he could usher her back into the vehicle or grab the creature that was crawling in through the jeep window, Maverick snatched a fistful of his hair and yanked him back with so much for that Elijah was thrown against a tree, and then he hit the icy ground with an agonized grunt.

"I don't want to kill you here, but I will if you keep fucking with me," Maverick growled, gritting his teeth and baring his two fangs as he stormed towards where the demon lay.

Elijah lifted his gun and tried to aim it at him, but Maverick stomped down on his wrist, breaking it. He yelled painfully, and before he had a chance to even try to get up, Maverick grabbed his throat, pulled him to his feet, and pinned him against the tree—

"Get off him!" Zoe screamed and stabbed August's knife into Maverick's back.

The man yelled and aggressively swung his arm back, launching Zoe across the snow, and when she hit the ground, she tumbled along the ice. She didn't get up when she came to a halt.

Elijah seized the moment she gave him. He grabbed Maverick's throat with his now free hand, and the man tried to fight back, but the blade was still in his back, and Elijah could feel Maverick's depleted strength. He forced him back until he hit the jeep, and the collision forced the knife deeper into his body, making him scream out in agony.

Maverick grunted and gasped for air as the demon tightened his grip, now choking him with both hands despite one being broken. In the corner of his eye, Elijah saw August run to Zoe's aid; panic enthralled him, but as he was about to let go of Maverick to ensure the hounds didn't get into the jeep and to Haru, icy roots burst up from beneath the snow and ensnared the jeep, blocking access to the windows and doors while Jake remained inside, protecting Haru.

"Y-you can't...win," Maverick choked as he grabbed Elijah's wrists, trying to pull him off. "I...already...have you."

Elijah scowled and snarled at him, tightening his grip, watching as his face went purple. He could hear August dealing with the hounds, but a twisted smile broke Maverick's struggled frown, and the sound of incoming footsteps grabbed the demon's attention.

Maverick laughed through his stifled breaths. "It's over, Xaiden."

He looked over his shoulder, and as he saw the platoon of detainers heading right for them, dread and dismay dug their talons into him. They had to go now, but when he tried to pull away from him, Maverick held his wrists tightly, keeping his hands around his throat.

"You're not going anywhere," he said with a grin.

Elijah tried harder to pull away, but Maverick wouldn't let go. "Get the fuck off me!" he yelled furiously.

Maverick laughed crazily, sinking his claws into Elijah's skin.

A dark shadow then flew overhead, and an unsettling breeze carried with it trepidation. Maverick's laughter slowed and silenced, and a flicker of fear shifted across the man's maniacal face.

Black fog suddenly spewed towards them, ensnaring the area in darkness. The detainers started firing their weapons, but terrified and pained screams cut through the air. The hellhounds started whining, and the overwhelming smell of blood filled Elijah's nostrils.

"T-that's Xaiden!" came Zoe's voice.

Maverick started trying to pull free. Before he could slip away, though, Elijah grabbed hold of him again and slammed him against the jeep. The knife embedded in his burst through his chest, and Maverick cried out in agony. He let go of Elijah's wrist and harshly slashed his face with his claws; Elijah yelped painfully and held his hand to the wounds, but then Maverick managed to escape his grip and ran into the fog.

He wasn't going to let him get away.

The demon growled frustratedly and chased after him, lunging at him before he could get even a few feet away. When they collided, they both fell and hit the ground. Maverick tried crawling away, holding out his hand as if he were reaching for something. Elijah quickly scurried towards him and pinned him on his front, and then he grabbed the small amount of the blade's handle which wasn't buried in Maverick's back and twisted it, making the man yell angrily.

A pair of gnarly wings suddenly burst from Maverick's back, throwing Elijah off him.

Elijah hit the snow with a grunt. He immediately hurried to his feet; however, by the time he was up, he saw Maverick back off into a sizzling doorway burning the bark of one of the massive sequoias. The demon ran towards it, determined to follow him to wherever he was running, but just as he reached it, the passage closed, leaving an arched-shaped scorch mark on the tree.

Glaring at it, Elijah snarled frustratedly. He pressed his hand against the scorch, and he could feel traces of ethos, but Maverick's aura was gone and not within range of his senses. Coward.

"He's gone," came a voice he'd heard before.

Elijah quickly turned to face him, and when he set his eyes on the dark-haired man, something about him seemed familiar—it was like he knew him...but he didn't know where from.

Before he could ask who he was, though, Zoe raced out of the fog. "Thank God you're okay," she cried as she threw her arms around him.

He felt uncomfortable, and his wounds were still healing, but he didn't throw her off. His eyes fixed on the man again, and as the slashes on his face twinged, he held his hand over them and then pulled it away, looking down at the blood covering his palm.

The fog then started to clear. Elijah looked around, and everywhere he looked were the corpses of hellhounds and detainers.

And then he saw another man. His hair was as red as blood, his skin pale, and his eyes looked as though fire itself was raging inside them.

He was heading for the jeep.

As desperation consumed him, Elijah pulled free from Zoe's grip and hurried past the dark-haired man to get to Haru—

"Wait, that's my dad," Zoe insisted, gripping his wrist.

Elijah stopped and watched as Jake climbed out of the jeep and wrapped his arms around the red-haired man, who didn't look very comfortable at all.

And then when the dark-haired man stood beside her, Zoe looked up at him and said, "Daddy, this is...Xaiden...but we all call him Elijah."

Elijah set his eyes on the man again. Was that why he felt like he knew this man? He was his father, wasn't he? One of them, anyway.

"It's such a relief to meet you," he said to Elijah. He didn't have an accent, which must mean that the red-haired man was Alucard.

The demon turned his head and watched Alucard examine Haru's wound. His protective instincts urged him to run over there again, so he pulled free from Zoe and hurried to the jeep. When he reached it, though, and stood beside Alucard, he watched as Haru's infected wound slowly healed beneath the man's hand, which was surrounded by a faint golden aura.

"Haru?" Elijah asked worriedly.

Haru took his eyes off his healing wound and smiled up at Elijah. He didn't look so pale anymore, and the agony that was once within his brown eyes was fading. He reached out his hand, and Elijah took hold of it; even his body temperature was improving.

Zoe then stood beside him. "Papa, this is Xaiden," she said to Alucard.

Alucard slowly turned his head to look at Elijah as he pulled his hand away from Haru's almost completely healed wound. A look of both relief and sadness appeared on his pale face, and before Elijah could thank him for healing Haru, Alucard moved his arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"Ve never stopped looking vor you," he said quietly, his voice thick with sorrow.

Elijah thought he'd feel uncomfortable the way he did whenever anyone but Haru touched him, but this man's embrace made him feel...relieved. Safe. Like he'd finally found something that he didn't even know he was searching for. And when the dark-haired man and Zoe wrapped their arms around them, too, the demon didn't grow conflicted but something almost content.

"I'm sorry it took this long," the other man said.

Elijah didn't know the man's name or whether he was ready to think of him as his father; he didn't know what to say, either, but he was beginning to feel overwhelmed. These people were his family—these men were his fathers—and he never thought he'd have this moment. But the fact still remained that they were in enemy territory. Maverick might be gone, but he could come back with more dogs, more detainers. They needed to get out of there.

"I, uh...don't mean to break up the reunion," came August's nervous voice. "But I really think we should get going before more of those things turn up."

One by one, Elijah's family let him go.

"You two," the dark-haired man said, looking at Jake and August.

The two hurried over.

Elijah went to close the jeep door, but Alucard grabbed it and said, "Ve're not driving."

"W-wait, what?" August questioned.

"My dadcan sort of...fly really fast to places," Zoe explained as she took her bag and dogfrom the jeep.

"Uh...yeah, that sounds cool and all, but I can't leave my plane here. She's my baby," the fae said, shaking his head.

The dark-haired man sighed, and a few moments later, passages similar to the one Maverick escaped through appeared in several sequoias. Three men walked out, all demons, and looked to the dark-haired man for orders.

"Take..." he paused and looked at the fae.

"August," he said.

"Take August to his plane, and once you're back at the mainland, bring him to the castle."

"Yes, sir, " allthree of them said and then climbed into the jeep once Elijah helped Haru get outand grabbed his bag from the passenger seat.

August hesitated, though, and stopped beside Zoe. "I, uh...guess I'll see you soon?"

She nodded, looking a little flustered. "A-are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'll heal up real fast."

"Good," she said with a nod.

"All right...uh...yeah." August then walked away with an embarrassed frown and climbed into the jeep.

"Take my 'and," Alucard said.

Elijah watched as his family took each other's hands, and Jake took Zoe's. Haru took Alucard's, and Elijah held firmly onto his.

A strange vermillion fog abruptly ensnared them all, and before Elijah had a moment to work out what was going on, he found himself lifting into the air so fast that the massive sequoia forest was nothing but a blur after a mere second passed.

And then he was flying. He was moving so quickly through the air, just inches below the clouds. The world beneath him raced by, appearing as a confusing blur of colours. White soon turned into browns and greens, and The Spear's bitter coldness faded.

He had no idea where he was or where he was going, but he could still feel Haru's warm hand in his own, and the fact that he was surrounded by the people he thought he might never know brought him a new kind of contentedness. Somehow, despite everything that just happened, he knew that from this point on, he wasn't alone, and his world was finally starting to come together.

⊳⊱ ♕ ⊰⊲