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He was in that place again.

The endless darkness.

Elijah looked around, but he wasn't so confused this time. He knew that he was dreaming; however, he wasn't sure why he was there.

Or why he was looking at the black-haired, red-eyed, pale man again.

Their gazes locked, and a strange sense of familiarity fell over Elijah. The man's eyes, the man's stare.... Elijah knew who he was—at least he knew where he saw him. This was the man he saw standing by the kiosk not long ago; this man in his dreams was the same man he saw in the real world...and the realization made the demon feel uneasy. Why was he seeing a man from his dreams in the real world?

Was he going mad?

No. He knew better than to think in such a mundane way. There had to be a reason that he kept seeing this man, but he'd not find out unless he knew who he was.

"Eli..." the man called from afar, his lips not moving.

"Who are you?" Elijah called back.

"Find me..." the voice echoed, slithering around him.

Elijah took a step forward. The water at his feet rippled, as it did at the footfall of the other man, who also stepped towards him. "Find you how?" he asked, taking another step.

"Find them..." the voice chimed as the black-haired man moved nearer, mirroring Elijah's steps.

The demon frowned confusedly. "Find who?"

But the man didn't reply.

Elijah stopped walking and frowned harder. "Find who?!" he exclaimed.

In the blink of an eye, the black-haired man appeared in front of Elijah. He reached out his hand, his fingertips adorned with claws much like Elijah's but as black as the darkness they stood in.

With a hostile scowl, Elijah stepped back, avoiding the man's grasp.

The man didn't lower his hand; he slowly twisted it, positioning it as if he were holding Elijah's throat. "Find us," the man said, and this time, his lips moved, revealing four devilish fangs in his mouth.

Four fangs that looked much like Elijah's.

It was then that Elijah thought he pulled something together from the scraps that had been given to him. He felt like he knew this man, and although he didn't know who he was, he suspected that he now knew what he was. Could he be a sangdevoro demon? Or perhaps the Ancient sangdevoro? Was he reaching out? Or was this Elijah's subconscious trying to tell him something?

He didn't know. There wasn't enough to go off. But one thing was for sure: somehow, someway, he knew this man...and he had to do what he was telling him.

He had to find him.

He had to find them.

But who were they?

Elijah stared into the man's red eyes, searching for the answers. "How do I find them?" he asked.

The man twisted his hand again, his eyes examining Elijah's face. "The doctor," he said, his voice echoing, ringing in the demon's ears.

"Which doctor?"

He didn't immediately answer. His eyes looked Elijah up and down, and he slowly pulled his hand away.

"Which doctor?" Elijah asked again.

The man's body began to fade, disappearing like smoke in the window.

Elijah reached out, fingers trembling in desperation, as the man's form wavered, dissolving like tendrils of mist upon a moonlit pane. Frantic, the demon's grasp met only empty air, his touch futile against the spectral vanishing. Limbs once solid now dissolved into ethereal wisps, a haunting transformation consuming him in a chilling dance of dissolution.

With a scowl of disbelief, Elijah watched as the man's countenance melted away, features fading into the darkness like ink dispersed in water. Yet, amidst the fading visage, a whisper, barely audible, slithered forth from the void, chilling Elijah's very core.

"Ronan," the voice murmured, a distant echo lingering in the air.

"Elijah?"

Zoe's voice pulled Elijah from the darkness.

He woke with a flinch, taking in the light of the afternoon and the smells of the suburban world outside.

"You were having a nightmare," Zoe told him.

Elijah exhaled deeply and stared aimlessly out the window.

"You were like, twitching and stuff," Jake said.

"How far are we from Hannah?" Elijah muttered, changing the subject.

"Another few hours, but we're gonna stop at a diner and grab lunch," the pardus answered.

"Hungry," Enid said.

Elijah rolled his eyes and sighed irritably. But instead of focusing on the frustration of how long the journey was taking, he thought about what he'd just seen. That black-haired man was the same man he saw standing by the kiosk this morning, and he told Elijah to find him, them, Ronan.

"What were you dreaming about?" Zoe asked shyly. "You know...it helps to talk about it sometimes."

"Nothing," he grumbled.

"One of my dads has nightmares," she said sympathetically.

He didn't care.

"Sometimes, they kind of...repeat," she continued.

Elijah scowled and looked over his shoulder at her.

"Sorry, you just...you've been mumbling the same stuff every time you've been asleep."

His scowl thickened, but he looked away and glared out the window.

"I heard him tell my other dad about it one time. He said that...he kept seeing someone who looked like him over and over, and he got closer every time my dad had the dream. None of it made sense until my dad stopped trying to get away from this person. I heard him say...that he wished he'd listened sooner." She paused and shrugged as she fiddled with her rat-dog's wig. "Demons have really powerful instincts, you know. I don't know if they ever taught you that...at Lyca Corp., but sometimes, we can...sense things, I guess. Maybe that's what your dreams are doing—maybe they're trying to tell you something."

He didn't know that, but he had suspected that his subconscious had something to do with the man he was seeing. But what did it all mean? He already knew that he had to find Ronan so that he could get Haru back, so what else could he need him for? What else was that black-haired man telling him he needed to get out of Ronan? And how would he even ask? He had no idea who he was or who they were.

"What...do you keep seeing?" Zoe asked.

"I don't keep seeing anything," he dismissed. "Mind your business."

"Sorry, I'm not trying to pry or anything," she said quietly.

"I have bad dreams," Enid mumbled sadly.

Zoe looked at her. "You do?"

She nodded. "Ever since they took me from family."

Elijah didn't want to listen to her because he knew that she was about to mention the things he'd been through. So he zoned out, focusing on the scenery. But there was no sound to steal his attention.

"They did...bad things," Enid's voice echoed. "The doctors. They said that...we should be grateful to be part of something so...ground...break."

Zoe rubbed the girl's shoulder. "They can't get to you now. You're safe with us."

She shook her head. "They find. They always find."

"It's okay," Zoe insisted.

"Yo," Jake murmured to Elijah.

The demon glanced at him. "What?"

"What's with the way she talks?"

"Jake..." Zoe scolded disapprovingly.

"I just wanna know," he insisted.

Elijah rolled his eyes and glared out the window. "We were only ever taught how to fight and kill. They didn't teach us to speak, nor did they teach us how to socialize. We were just assets at their disposal. Those of us who didn't know how to speak had to learn by listening to those of us who did, and most of the kids speak like she does."

Jake grimaced. "What the fuck, man."

"We can teach her," Zoe said.

"Teach...me?" Enid asked.

Zoe nodded and said, "I want you to learn everything you need to and have the best life possible. We still have a few hours until we get to Hannah, which I think is plenty. We can start now."

Elijah sighed deeply, and while Zoe tried to help Enid learn how to talk properly, he stared aimlessly outside. They drove through a suburban neighbourhood, crossed another highway of nothing but endless desert, and eventually reached a huge shopping centre surrounded by several neighbourhoods.

"We can find somewhere to stop here," Jake said as he turned off the highway.

"Somewhere with a phone," Zoe mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah," the pardus mumbled.

"We get food?" Enid asked.

"No, it's 'are we getting food?'" Zoe corrected.

Enid frowned. "Are we...getting food?"

"Good," the girl said. "And yeah, we're gonna find somewhere to get lunch and call my cousin so that the Nosferatu can help your family."

The kid frowned. "My family...will..." she paused and shook her head. "Will...my family be safe?" she corrected herself.

"Yeah," Zoe answered, smiling. "You're learning really fast. Have you ever had ice cream?"

Enid shook her head.

"We could get Slappy's again," Jake suggested.

Zoe shrugged and looked at Elijah in the rear-view mirror. "Elijah?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"What?" he grumbled.

"Do you want Slappy's again?"

"I don't care."

"Okay, let's go there, then," she said to Jake.

"All right, we can go to the drive-through and park someplace away from prying eyes, right?" he said, looking to Elijah for approval.

The demon nodded.

"There's probably some old payphone around here, too," the pardus mumbled as he drove into the massive parking lot.

"Food first," Zoe said.

"I'm hungry," Enid concurred.

Zoe smiled at the girl and once again said, "You're learning so fast."

Jake took them through the Slappy's drive-through, and once they got their food, he drove around the back of one of the large stores and parked away from any cameras.

"There's a payphone over there by that coach stop," the pardus said and took a bite of his burger. "You got change?"

"Yeah," Zoe said as she took a few coins from her pocket. "I'll be a few minutes. Enid, do you wanna come with me?"

The girl nodded.

Elijah watched them both get out of the jeep and head to the payphone.

"You know she's just worried, right?" Jake said.

The demon frowned and glanced at him.

"Zoe. She worries about everyone. But it means that she cares, you know? And she's a good person; all she wants to do is help, so...I think you should just give her a little credit," he said, sounding cautious.

Elijah rolled his eyes and glared out the window. "I don't need anyone to care."

"Right, because you do so fine on your own, right?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Elijah snarled. "Everything was fine before I had to drag you two along, and—"

"Okay, but if we weren't here, you wouldn't have learned about the Ancients or—"

"I haven't learned anything about the Ancients," he snapped. "I'm no closer to finding out who or what I am as I was last week. The only reason you two are here is because I can't risk Lyca Corp. getting hold of you."

Jake scoffed. "Okay, so why not just kill us? That'd be easier, right?"

Elijah's scowl thickened.

"Truth is, Elijah, you need us—well...Zoe. She knows stuff that you wanna know. She can teach you stuff about being a demon that Lyca Corp. probably never did, and she can probably answer a lot more of your questions, too. You just gotta stop being such a colossal dick, man," Jake said, shaking his head.

With another roll of his eyes, Elijah set his sights on Zoe. But she wasn't on the phone anymore; she was trying to calm down Enid, who was attempting to get away.

"No!" the kid insisted, trying to pull her arm free from Zoe. "Reepver!"

Elijah snarled irritably and got out of the car.

"Uh-oh," Jake mumbled as he got out, too.

"Enid, we've already said! We have to take you to Hannah while the Nosferatu help your family!" Zoe insisted.

"We go to Reepver now!" Enid pleaded, tears streaming down her face. "There not time!"

"Enid, please!"

"What's going on?" Elijah demanded, stopping beside them.

"Go to Reepver!" Enid insisted to him, looking up at him.

Elijah sighed and said, "Your family will be fine. The Nosferatu—"

"No Nosferatu! We go! We go now!"

"What the hell brought this on?" the demon asked Zoe. "She was fine."

"I-I don't know. I just told Lucian where to find her family and she started freaking out!"

Enid shook her head, still trying to pull free from Zoe's grip. "Doctors come!" she cried. "Don't want to go back there!"

"The doctors aren't coming," Elijah told her.

"You're safe with us," Jake chimed in.

Zoe placed her other hand on Enid's shoulder. "I promise, Enid. You're going to be safe with us, okay? There aren't any doctors, and there's no Lyca Corp., either. We're going to get you to Hannah, and you will see your family again, okay?"

Enid didn't look convinced. She bawled as she shook her head, but she wasn't fighting to get away anymore.

"Please, Enid?" Zoe pleaded.

This wasn't going anywhere. Picking the girl up and shoving her in the jeep wouldn't do any good, either; the last thing Elijah wanted was her kicking and screaming the entire ride, or someone seeing and thinking they were kidnapping a child. So, he sighed deeply and crouched in front of her so that they were at eye level. "Look," he said, and when she looked at him, he huffed and continued, "I know that you're scared, okay? I was scared when I first got out, too. But there aren't any doctors here. The ones who did things to you are dead—I made sure of it. And there aren't any coming for you, either. If there were, I'd kill them, too. We're going to keep you safe."

Enid sniffled and wiped her snotty nose on the back of her hand. "Safe?"

"Yes," he said firmly. "But in order for it to stay that way, you need to calm down and trust us."

The girl stared at him for a moment, clearly thinking, and then she wiped her nose and eyes and nodded. "Trust you."

"Good." Elijah stood up. "Let's get back in the car and get out of here."

She tried grabbing Elijah's hand, but he frowned uncomfortably and pulled it away from her. Instead, Zoe took the girl's hand, and they headed back to the jeep.

"All...the doctors are dead?" Enid asked as they climbed into the jeep.

"They will be," Elijah responded.

"Kill all them?"

"That's the objective," he grumbled, pulling his door shut.

"Even...ones at...moving place?"

Elijah frowned and glanced at her in the rear-view mirror. "What moving place?"

"Place where...we go before we move to different lab."

The demon turned to face her. "What?"

"Moving...place," Enid said unsurely.

Zoe clipped Enid's seatbelt into place. "You were moved to a different lab?" she asked.

Enid nodded.

"There's a place you go before being transferred?" Elijah questioned.

The kid nodded again. "Transfer...centy...centre."

"Transfer centre?" Jake asked.

Enid responded with another nod.

Elijah's heart started racing in his chest. What if Haru was at that transfer centre? "Did you talk to any other kids there?"

"Some," Enid answered.

"Did you see Haru?" Elijah asked desperately.

Enid frowned unsurely. "Haru...."

"Short black hair, brown eyes, tanned skin," the demon told her.

Her frown thickened. "I not...I don't—"

"He's a wolf walker," Elijah insisted. "An okami otoko, Samayōnese."

Looking a little overwhelmed, Enid diverted her gaze to her lap. "I...I think...maybe—"

"You think, or you know?"

"Elijah, calm down," Zoe then said. "You're scaring her." She then rubbed Enid's shoulders. "It's okay if you don't know."

Elijah snarled frustratedly and faced the windshield again. He was stupid to think that this girl might have been at the same transfer centre with Haru or that Haru was even sent to one.

"Elijah?" Enid then asked.

The demon frowned and looked over his shoulder at her.

"Eli?" she questioned.

Elijah's heart started racing again as desperation consumed him. "He was there?"

"He called you Eli."

He nodded. "Did he say where he was going?"

Enid shook her head. "I leave before he did. But he always talk about you. Man with white hair and orange eyes."

Elijah's desperation grew, and his heart ached.

"Said that...you're soulmate."

He stifled a smile; both relief and dismay coursed through him. "How long ago?" he asked her. "How long ago were you at the transfer centre?"

Enid twiddled her fingers and pondered. "I not remember. Memory...foggy."

Any positive feeling withered as Elijah sighed heavily. He sat straight, facing the windshield, and glared outside. He was stupid for letting himself hope even the tiniest bit, and now he was paying for it. His heart ached, and that horrible, drowning feeling of loneliness began to consume him.

"At least...you know he's alive, right?" Zoe said softly.

"Yeah," Jake agreed.

Elijah didn't answer. He didn't know how long ago Enid saw Haru, so for all he knew, Haru could have been transferred already to another lab, where he'd been turned into a monster...or worse.

Jake started the engine. "Come on, let's get back on the road."

The demon stared out the window as Jake drove back onto the highway. He felt himself sinking deeper into the dismay, but he couldn't let it devour him. Haru was out there, and the only way he'd find him was through Ronan, who he'd find any day now. That was what he needed to focus on.

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