A/N: Filler chapter, sorry guys. Next chapter will be much better though😉

*****************************
sev·en

ˈsevən/

number

1.)
     Equivalent to the sum of three and four; one more than six, or three less than ten; 7.
*****************************

"It's not working, something's blocking me! I can feel her, but I just can't connect," Eric exclaimed as he stood from the couch in his living room to pace, wariness evident in his tone. He was beyond frustrated as the truth about this problem kept flying to the front of his mind. "If I keep pushing as hard as I am, it could eventually cause Iris to become sick and the last thing we need is for her to be weakened when in Elias's presence." Eric said with annoyance. He had been trying to connect to Iris's consciousness ever since he'd found out that she'd been taken.

And yet no results had yielded.

He couldn't even tell where she was like usually. Once in a while he would get flashes of pain from her, but it wasn't enough to distinguish what type of pain. He just knew she was hurt and there was nothing he could do.

Seven days. A full week.

That's how long it had been since Elias had taken her. And even longer since Eric, himself had seen and connected with her. After what had happen in her room, he'd thought to give her some time alone so she could calm down. And besides, the fact that he'd sensed her father's heartbeat so close was enough to convince him that he needed to be more careful when being around her. It was something about Iris that caused him to lose focus of everything else, as if she was all that mattered. That's the reason he was almost discovered in her room.

He was so concerned about her being upset, that all of his other senses blocked themselves out; leaving him to comfort Iris with everything else placed on hold. And he just couldn't afford to react like that to anyone, not when he had the pressure to keep up his lifeline by impregnating humans. Well, that and the fact that she wanted to know about him. Exposing himself to her would've only caused her more problems and he couldn't place her in that type of danger.

But now it seemed as if she'd been tossed headfirst into the mess of otherworldly beings. Thanks to Elias.

And even worse, if Eric didn't fine her soon his body would automatically start the reprocess of choosing another acceptable human to bare his children. And that was something he didn't want but it couldn't be helped.

It was in his nature to preserve his life line. A child being the answer to that.

"Are you sure? Just try at least once more, don't just give up! You guys connected, right? So try again, there has to be something you can get from her." Jenny encouraged as she paced and advised.

"You obviously don't understand the connection between Iris and I, so let me break it down for you. She is not my mate, so we cannot communicate telepathically or flash images! I can only sense things from her if she one: allows and two: if she's in a area she can receive the connection. Because of the fact that I've had sex with her-" Eric's angry rant was quickly cut off as his uncle stood and began yelling.

"Enough!!! All you two have done since coming in contact with each other is argue, when what we really need to be doing now is trying to think of another way to get to Iris!" Michael said as he glared at both, Jenny and Eric. "I think there might be something to what you've just said, Eric. Maybe Elias has placed Iris somewhere where communication would be harder to accomplish than usually. So we need to figure something else out." 

"If there is anyone in this room who could connect to her, he should be able to, Michael. She's pr-"

"I just said I can't! Now are you deaf or just dumb?!" Eric growled in anger as he cut Jenny off.

They were acting like children and Michael's headache was pounding from all of their back and forth.

"SHUT THE HELL UP! THE BOTH OF YOU ARE DRIVING ME MARS!" Michael screeched in anger.

It was quiet for a moment, Jenny stood glaring at Eric from the entrance of the living room, her arms folded tight against her chest in a defensive pose, her lips and face displaying her displeasure at Eric's words. But she stayed silent, agreeing with her husband. There was more important things to focus on rather than her dislike of Eric. 

"How are you able to deal with that humans nagging? She basically has no purpose, especially since she's barren-" Before Eric could finish his rant, Michael had him pinned against the wall by his throat. Eric's smaller form dangling its legs trying to reach the floor as his intake of air was being cut off by his uncle's large hand. 

"Let me tell you something, you stupid boy! That woman over there is not only the love of my life but she is also your aunt and you WILL respect her," Michael paused as he slammed Eric's head into the wall, causing some drywall to crumble and fall at his feet before finishing, "If I know my brother, I know that he's taught you everything there is to know about humans and our kind. So you must know that here, on earth, words can be translated into disrespect if said wrongly and hurtfully."

"O-kay," cough,"I u-un-understand," cough, cough. Eric choked out.

"I don't think you do, boy. You're taking the anger you have about me not being here when you need me, out on others. And Jenny will not be your punching bag." Michael allowed his purple eyes to darken with angry, trying to get his nephew to understand the importance of this situation.

He would never allow Jenny to be talked about as if she were below anyone.

He'd known she was barren and wouldn't be able to carry on his bloodline when he'd met her, and that did nothing but make him love her more. He wouldn't leave her because of something as stupid as that, even if his people saw it as a curse. He loved Jenny. And at the time, they had Iris; so he had a family, maybe not by blood but they were his nevertheless.

"Michael, Michael, let him down. He didn't mean it. It's okay, he's just a kid." Jenny said as she grabbed Michael's large bicep in her hands, rubbing soothingly back and forth until his grip released.

Eric went crashing to the floor in slight pain. Annoyance at the situation caused him to glare at the both of them but he knew his uncle was right. His father had taught him everything about humans and he knew words could hurt, and yet he was lashing out because he was angry that his uncle hadn't been there when he needed him. "Why couldn't we sense each other?" Eric asked lowly.

"Your father created a potion that would help hide who Michael was from humans, and I'm guessing it also hid him from your kind too. He didn't even have the memories of his old life, it wasn't until a week ago that I gave him a second dose which would erase all of the beginning effects. Then when he finally came to, Iris was gone." Jenny answered as she softly checked Eric's head for damage. But he was fine.

"Why did you pick Iris?" Michael questioned as he stared down at the both of them.

Eric paused as he looked at his uncle. This whole situation was as the humans would say, 'weird'. He'd chosen his uncles fake daughter to supply his children. So technically they were almost family.

"I-I don't know. We've been in the same school since I've chosen to stay here, and there was just something about her. We'd never spoken before, not even while in school. In fact, I'm sure she never noticed me and in some way that angered me. Because no matter where she was on school grounds, I could sense everything about her. Her perfume, the lotion she'd used, how her hair was, what clothes she'd picked, if she was upset or happy. I could sense everything about her, including.." Eric paused as he felt embarrassed at his next words but he didn't have to speak them because Michael did.

"-Including when she was more prone to receive a child." Michael couldn't help the scowl that fell across his face.

"Yes. But I never intended to follow through with doing anything about it! At that time I was still caught up with everything that'd happened with my father. But one night, I felt this pull and I was curious.. I knew the minute my feet reached the front yard that Iris was there, in the house. One thing led to another and eventually we get to this situation."

"You chose her simply because she could bare your children?" Jenny scoffed and stood as memories of Iris's mother came to the forefront. That was the same reason Elias had chosen her.

"Not intentionally. I'd been here for a full year and no other female had ever called to me the way she had. I thought it would be more but-"

"But your body finally adjusted to the atmosphere and you could finally sense the other female's proness to pregnancies? My god Eric, did your father not tell you to wait the full year. The only reason you could sense Iris earlier than the others is because she's a mixed breed. But we always wait a year before ever doing anything, especially because of the fact that we are so compatible with humans. There's a chance that your mate is walking around and you've impregnated someone else." Michael breathed out, everything was just a big mess.

Their people had always been taught to wait a year in humans years, so that their bodies could fully adapt to the change in surroundings. Mainly because most of ones senses while on earth were either dimmed or enhanced terribly, making it harder to function on a regular bases.

There was also the chance that one could meet their other half while here, and no one wanted the added complications of dealing with a mate and a pregnant human who wasn't your mate. It would be a unnecessary complication.

"I know that now. But-" Eric began to explain but paused as he realized his uncles words, "Wait. You said I've impregnated someone else.. Iris is pregnant?" Eric stood quickly, glancing from his uncle to Jenny, then Jenny to his uncle again.

"You didn't know?" Jenny questioned. Her eyes filled with a sorrow Eric didn't want to see. It was as if she knew something bad was happening to Iris.

"..No." Eric felt frustration and anger crowd his being. "We've got to get her back!" Her exclaimed as he rushed from the room down to his basement, grabbing a set of tools as a sudden idea came to mind.

"What are you doing?" Michael questioned, following Eric closely.

"We're going to go and find my pod that I was sent down in, then we're going to fix it up." Eric said stripping a map from the wall of his hallway. Quickly he knocked everything from the hall's table, laying the map down firmly. "I think I was about here when I crashed, so it has to either be here or here." Eric talked to himself as he circled two spots on the map. "I walked at least an hour straight before I even saw anyone. So between these two spots where is the least amount of people?" He questioned both Jenny and Michael.

"Kravford Hills are about an hour from town and there's barely anyone out there, 'cept for some hikers from time to time. So it's most likely your crash could happen out there and no one would notice." Jenny answered as she stepped closer, glancing down at the map.

"Okay, well Kravford Hills, here we come." Eric said quickly as he rolled the map up and grabbed his tool box. "Let's go find that pod."

Even as Jenny and Eric walked towards the door, Michael gave pause.
"But pods only seat one and we don't even know the location of the Divindur." He spoke quickly. He didn't want Eric to be the only one to save Iris, she was his daughter after all. Not by blood but still, she was his kid.

"We can figure that out once we get to that bridge, for right now I just want to secure our way there. So please help me uncle, I can't do it without your help."

"Of course I'll help, Eric."