Azazel knocked on the recently occupied room. 

Not recent. He reminded himself, almost one and a half winters now. And for five and a half winters more.

When no sound of life reached his ears, he hesitated and called out a warning before opening the door. A made bed and an untidy room greeted him. 

Azazel waited for a breath waiting for any sound to reach him and released a confused breath when he spotted no one. Hadn't he asked her to return in the early hours?

He grew frustrated when he realised that he did but then he paused. Cress had never ventured out or disobeyed his direct orders.

He would never say it of course but he had slowly grown to depend on her, she was his life insurance and he liked knowing that she was there whenever he would go for matters the society would turn up their nose at.

Today was no different. There had been men messing up with his business, luring away his customers. This was supposed to be a polite deal filled with concealed threats and they were not supposed to carry any sort of weapon. 

But that is exactly how men died. No man ever went to a 'deal' without making sure that he would be alive when he came back. The ones who did were foolish.

Azazel was most definitely not foolish. That brought him back to his original worry.

Where in the name of all evil was Cress?

***

Cress was late. She had figured it out when she had heard the city of crooks waking up and going about their business just like she was supposed to go for hers. 

Azazel was going to kill her. Then use black magic to make her alive to yell at her and kill her again. Fan-bloody-tastic.

Cress was dimly aware that her clothes were stained a dark red but she knew that no one would ask any questions. No one did in Vilehelm.

She ran pushing past people not caring to yell insults at them as they did at her. A man grabbed her hand in fury and she in return grabbed his hand and twisted it into a wristlock. She released it when she heard a small snap and felt a wave of satisfaction roll over her when he ran away cradling his newly broken wrist. 

She was slowly becoming a monster and the scary fact was that she didn't try to become something else. 

The night was still prevalent but in Vilehelm, the briefest of rays of light meant that the day had arrived. Cress had always found it fascinating, the kingdoms around Vilehelm experienced light for about half of a day whereas light rays seem to bend away from Vilehelm. 

The sunlight could only be experienced in the afternoons and even then they wouldn't stay for more than five hours. The rest of the 'day' would be dark with the briefest of light. It was as if they were stuck in twilight for hours.

Cress checked her watch, it was nearing to five hours after midnight. She was supposed to leave with Azazel at four. 

She ran, her feet hitting the surface with audible thumps. Her ankles had begun to ache as did her legs but instead of slowing her down, they seem to spur her. She relished the pain, it was as the pain made her realise that she was pushing past her limits and succeeding. 

Cress would have continued sprinting if she hadn't spotted the long luscious locks of chocolate brown hair, something that gruelling and wrinkled people of Vilehelm would never have. She almost unconsciously slowed down to a jog as the person turned around.

The city had woken up and people were yelling around, some bartering for a cheaper price and some yelling pointless accuses. Wagons and cycles had started their journeys and were dogging children who ran around carelessly, not realising that they might get trampled.

The world hadn't slowed down but Cress's mind began to spur faster catching every little detail. Her eyes captured the symbol emblazoned on the carriage and the purple-violet dress the girl standing beside the carriage wore. 

The girl's deep violet eyes locked on her face but Cress wasn't looking into her eyes, she was staring at her mouth which had opened up in surprise and was forming a name. Diana.

Before the girl could say anything, a hand landed on her elbow and began to push her back into the carriage.

Cress waited for Taemia to snap or look at that man with her infamous cold glare but instead, Taemia's shoulder slumped. She quickly mumbled a few words to the man and then began walking in her direction.

But the man had grabbed her again and was forcing her into the carriage not paying any heed to Taemia mumblings and pleadings.

Before the man could push her into the carriage, a small lithe hand grabbed his wrist and tore his hand away from Taemia.

"Do not touch her," Cress said coldly standing protectively in front of her sister. 

The man rubbed his wrist as if she had just infected him with the world's most dangerous bacteria and said with an angered tone.

"Who the hell do you think you are mudscraper?!" He said pushing her out of the way and reaching for Taemia.

Before he could, he felt a swift and painful jab in the side which left him groaning. The 'mudscraper' came to stand in front of him again. 

"I said don't touch her." This time he heard the dangerous threat in his voice. 

The man backed away and called out "Carmen! Jake! Maven! Dean!"

Cress felt her heart hammer at the names, she could have taken the guy easily but five of them together? That would prove to be... tough. Not impossible just tough. Maybe impossible. 

At least she had her arrows. Cress reached back to grab one and her eyes widened when she felt nothing but air. Fiddlesticks! Now she was left with a beautiful dagger and whatever skill she had. 

But the exhaustion of the night was catching up with her and her arms had begun to feel heavy. 

A hand gripped her shoulder and without looking back, Cress could tell it was Taemia. 

"Don't worry, I'll get you out," Cress promised her eyes turning hard. She wouldn't let any of these barbarians harm her sister, she won't.

"It's not what you think-" Taemia began but the men called to reinforce had appeared with glinting weapons.

And Cress rushed forward to greet them with a silver dagger. She was fast, ducking out of the way of the swords. She faced the first man, ducking as he swept his sword into a deadly arc and rammed her blade into his torso and pulled it back just in time the second man tried to stab her. She stumbled back a few steps, regaining her balance before moving again. This time she ran, hoping the men would follow and to her delight they did.

She found herself cornered and others gave a smirk before charging at her with loud cries. But Cress was familiar with all the alleys and walls of Vilehelm, she climbed up the wall just as they came towards her and dropped down sending one down with a forceful kick. 

Two down, three more to go. She attacked the third and fourth one recklessly, leaving her back undefended. As she fought the third one and the fourth one, the man who had received a jab to the side approached her retrieving a small knife from the back of his pocket.

He pulled his hand back and rammed the knife into the girl's back. She went still for a second and the man used this time to pull the knife out causing her to yelp like a tortured puppy. He pulled his hand back to ram the knife back again when he felt a whoosh of wind and stinging pain in his side which flared to a burn. A bullet.

Two more followed causing the other men to fall. Cress grasped her side and looked up to see Dmitri and Azazel. She stumbled to one side still clutching her side as they jumped down from the roofs, the weapons still in their hands.

"What are you doing here? I could have fought them just fine." Cress said analyzing the blood flow from her wound. The knife shouldn't have gone too deep, she had been moving so the man shouldn't have been able to aim at a spot.

"Of course you could have." Azazel sneered, lifting his palm, turning it so Dmitri could see it and then turned it away and back towards him. Dmitri gave a nod and clenched his gun tightly before leaving them.

It was their sign for checking if there was any other sign of threat. You would twist your palm forward and backwards in half circles twice and the other person would go, they had named it 'whisper' because that is what you did. You checked for whispers of danger. Or at least Cress thought so.

"What are you doing here anyway? You had a job to be at." Azazel said harshly and looked at Cress with annoyed eyes.

Cress's thoughts circled back to her sister and she gasped. Oh, bullsticks!

She ran towards the way she came from, her side aching and her mind praying that Taemia wouldn't have left the place. Azazel was at her heels, asking questions which did not register in her mind.

His hand grasped her elbow effectively stopping her and Cress jerked her arms away. 

"Do not touch me." She growled. Azazel's eyes narrowed but he lets her hand go.

"Tell me." He ordered. Cress ignores him and moves up ahead, her eyes wandering. A flash of purple catches her eyes and she moves to the beginning of the alley where her sister is talking to...Dmitri? 

"I am sorry Ma'am but I cannot understand you." Dmitri was saying in a courteous voice trying to remove her hand which was gripping his arm.

Taemia's voice is unnaturally high and filled with panic. "Please help me! Just think if you have seen her. She has almost black hair and blue-green eyes. Her name is-"

"Cress. Her name is Cress. And that's me." Cress interrupts hoping that her voice sounds fine.

Taemia turns at the sound of her voice and seconds later Cress was pulled into a tight hug. Taemia had never been the one to express her feelings freely so Cress savours the moment. Even though her side is flaring up in pain, she holds Taemia close. For she is one of the very few pieces of her life that she loved. More importantly, she felt safe. She felt as if everything was alright, that now she was home. The quattor palace wasn't her home, it was Taemia. 

"I guess she is not a threat." She heard Dmitri muttering and ignored him, too busy holding her sister and registering the fact that she is here.

Then she heard the sobbing. Her shirt was becoming wet with tears, Cress realised with a start that she had grown taller and now she almost stood as tall as her sister. How long had she been away?

"I thought I lost you again." Taemia's arms tightened around as if they were scared of letting go and Cress would have let them if she hadn't felt the wound burning up.

"Ouch," Cress muttered weakly, taking a step back and Taemia let her as she looked at the wound with wide eyes.

"What did you do?" Taemia whispered, her hand inches away from the wound as if she was afraid to touch it.

"Just a scratch," Cress muttered ripping the lower part of her shirt and pressing it against the wound ignoring Taemia's eyes.

"Which language are they talking in?" Dmitri muttered his eyes drifting from Cress to Taemia and back to Cress in slight confusion.

"Celysa." A boyish voice quipped and Cress caught Felix's eye as he came into the alley carrying a small bag.

"You are hurt," Felix muttered looking towards her. "I thought we agreed that getting stabbed is not the best way to go. If you cannot think of yourself then at least think of me. I am the one who has to deal with the blood."

He opened his bag and approached her with clean bandages and she removed her hand to let him look at her cut. Felix ripped the part of the shirt covering the cut and set to work. He covered the slash with a fresh white linen cloth, applying pressure and then used his other hand to rummage in the bag.

"Were you applying pressure?" He asked as he found a bottle filled with water.

"Yes, I was." She said with a sigh. "I am sorry, I should have been more careful."

"You should have been." Felix was strangely calm making Cress wince. Her bond with Felix had strengthened to a point where she could understand his emotions and him being strangely calm was a volcano waiting to interrupt.

 But he said nothing and proceeded to wash the wound with it. Cress shuddered a little when the cool liquid came in contact with her burning skin. 

"Can I help?" 

Cress looked at Taemia who was staring at the gash looking pale, she is about to refuse when Felix speaks up.

"I could use a hand." He conceded and looked pointedly at Dmitri and Azazel who shrug with no guilt reflecting in their eyes. 

Cress tried not to smile. She had gotten used to... this. This relationship the three boys seemed to share, Azazel was always the one to talk about practical matters and Cress didn't think that she had ever heard him make a joke or a good one at least, Dmitri ran away from logic and practicality and was famous for his sense of humour and his talent for lightening the tensed atmosphere. 

Felix was the person who kept them in check, he was always the one to convince Azazel to stop him from jumping into dangerous matters and Dmitri to stop making jokes about anything and everything and he was the one who treated Cress when she got hurt, which had happened a lot of times in the past one summer and a half. 

Cress knew that it wasn't Felix's job to stitch her wounds or change the bandages but he did even if he complained about it, he always asked her if her wounds hurt her. And even though he always glared at Azazel and Dmitri when they made no move to help, he was the first one to approach her with the first aid kit.

Cress wasn't sure where she fit in the group but she wasn't very bothered. It wasn't new for her to not fit in.

"I can do it myself,"  Cress said bending down, trying not to wince when her side throbbed and grabbed the stack of bandages. "You don't need to Mia."

The nickname flows quickly and easily, it surprised her and her sister who looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself.  Instead, Taemia took a step back and looked hard at Cress when she spoke.

"What happened?" Taemia looked like she had failed to express her emotions in those two words but Cress understand perfectly.

Taemia was asking her what had happened to her after she had left the palace. Why she had been declared dead, how had she managed to survive and what was she doing in Vilehelm. There were a million questions and Cress wasn't ready to answer. Not now hopefully sometime in the future. But not now. She didn't want to turn into a monster in front of her sister. She had just got her and she didn't want to lose her again.

She couldn't. 

This fear wasn't like the one she had faced before, this was different. This didn't cause her heart to race and neither did it cause for her knees to buckle but instead, it settled over her making her heart feel heavier than it was and for an unfamiliar pain to break out in her chest.

Taemia was still looking at her, searching for an answer and Cress was trying to escape from her gaze. She turned to Felix whose eyes widened at her pleading look but he tried to divert the topic.

"That is a lot of blood Cress. How long were you bleeding for?" Felix asked sounding unsure of his question.

"Most of it is not even mine." Cress trying hard to change the topic didn't even realise the words on the tip of her tongue until they were out in the open.

Her head swerved towards Taemia who looked at her with shocked eyes.

"Have you killed a person before?" Even though her voice shook, her eyes were steady and unflinching.

Cress's silence was enough for Taemia to receive her answer. 

"Did you kill the guards too?" Taemia asked staring at something without really looking at it.

Cress stayed quiet nodding her head. Taemia finally looked at her and her violet eyes were filled with horror and despair. 

"Why?" 

Why? Because that was her life now. Why? Because she had learnt that she had to kill to survive. Why? Because she was a monster. 

Which answer did Taemia want? 

"I.." A floundered Cress reached for her sister's hand seeking reassurance and safety. Or maybe just she wanted to make sure that Taemia wouldn't run away from her.

But then something happened that made her heart crack into imperfectly perfect two halves. 

Taemia flinched.

In that split second could see the horror in her eyes and her reflection that made her frightened her. Cress had known that she was monster but to see herself as one in her sister's eyes was something that made her want to sit in a corner, wrap her arms around her knees and never leave it. 

At least now she doesn't have to worry if Taemia would see her as a monster.

She already did.

***

Hello fellas. What a spiffing morning/night/I-haven't-opened-the-curtains-or-seen-the-time-so-I-am-not-quite-sure-yet it is!

So..hi. *awkward silence* 

Great. I am awake and I have time yet I have nothing to write. *sighs* Oh well, it was pointless anyway. No one reads this do they? 

 Let me know your thoughts, ideas and theories.

Okay, this note sucks. I'll probably update it. 

Sadie Kane.