June, 2019

"I think you should wait until he comes to see you," Ben uninvitingly babbled as I grabbed the last of my things. I hadn't told him my plans as I got ready, but he clearly knew my intentions.

"I think you should mind your own business and stop getting between us," I grumbled as I slumped onto my bed to tie my shoes.

"I'm not trying to... I just think that he's still going to need time to process."

"So that he can use that time to put more distance between us?" I pulled at the laces, yet one of the hoops slipped through, forcing me to untie and attempt to retie. "I've tried that tactic before, Ben, and it didn't work, remember? It took so long to break that barrier, and—gah! Why won't these damn things tie!" The hoop slipped free again, creating one long tail on my laces.

Ben knelt down in front of me, waiting in silence as I heaved my frustration out until, eventually, I met the knowing blue gaze I used to adore so much... and now it was just a wave of woeful mistakes. His ghostly hand hovered over mine in an attempt to calm me. "Breathe, Olivia. You have time to do that."

So I breathed, taking a few moments to slowly inhale and exhale as my racing heart slowed. "I'm scared that I've really fucked it up this time."

He shook his head. "Lukas will forgive you. If he can forgive me for taking you from him, he can forgive you for this. He just needs time to blow off the steam and his feelings of betrayal."

My lips worried together as I genuinely mulled through his advice. Yet, in the end, "I just don't have the patience to see if you're right."

With that, I leaned over, managed to finally lace my shoes together properly, and then took off.

· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·

The Hammersmith house was in disarray when I arrived. Mutants crowded the rooms as if some sort of formal gathering was taking place as I stumbled through the front door.

"I was wondering when you'd show up!" Erica cheered as she walked into the foyer, holding a bowl of chips.

"What's..." I glanced around the room at the people conversing all the while the door behind me opened and more people piled in, "... going on?"

Her brows pinched for a moment, but she shook her head. "Lukas called a meeting?"

"He did?"

"Did he not invite you?"

I shook my head, feeling the emptiness quickly returning within me.

"Well... maybe he just expected you'd come."

"Maybe," I replied, voice lacking conviction.

And it didn't go unnoticed by Erica. Grabbing my arm, she pulled me into the kitchen, voice lowering as she said, "What on Earth happened? He's been in a foul mood all day, and last I heard you two were getting along."

"When did you last hear?"

"When you were still in Lake Campotosto?"

The night we danced under the stars... "A lot happened since then."

"Such as?"

Though before I could get into the details, Jayce's head popped around the corner. "I think everyone's here."

Erica sighed, then said, "Later. Let's go hear what you guys learned on your trip."

I followed the witch out into the living area, where Lukas stood in the middle of the room, overlooking a crowd of mutants tucked into every chair and crevice. The witches at once worked in unison to chant a charm of silence over the place as Lukas called the room to attention.

As his golden gaze glanced over the crowd, they stopped ever so briefly on mine—long enough for me to watch a scowl of disgust still his expression—before quickly shifting away. "Thank you all for coming. You may have heard on the rumour mill that I recently made a visit to Windeck to see my parents and find out more about the Mades."

A few whispers stole his floor, and my heart thudded in despair. He made a visit... doesn't he mean 'we'?

"The Mades were definitely a creation from the lab..." He went on to explain the details he read in the file, from the origin, to the release, ending with the lack of cure.

"Well that's it then, right? The human species is fucked," Alexis was the first to blurt.

"Not exactly..." Lukas tried to cut in, but another was quick to share their qualms.

"If the scientists couldn't find a cure, then what hope do we have?" Blaze asked.

"It's not that they couldn't find a cure. It's that they didn't," Lukas explained.

"Same shit, different smell."

"No, it's not. They barely tried before their experiments were cancelled because they didn't want a cure for a disease they hadn't even created. It's completely different."

"Is it?"

"But Blaze's point is still right," Sarah piped up. "If they couldn't find a cure in their tests, how could—"

"They had like, three goes. I don't think we should base our hope on that. If there's anything to actually worry about it's what this whole Made thing is a distraction from."

"Distraction?" a few badgered.

Lukas heaved an exasperated sigh, and my eyes washed over him, taking in the hunched shoulders and dark bags under his eyes.

Did he sleep last night, or did he stew? Has he eaten? Has—

"All projects I saw in the filing room seem to have been cancelled except one: Project Infection."

A silence fell over the room, until one brave voice finally prompted Lukas for the details they were all reluctant to hear. "What infection?"

"It seems to be some form of SARS Coronavirus. I didn't get a chance to read much... but all of this—the Mades, the Infection, the attempts to separate and distract us—seems to be part of some bigger plan to wipe out humans."

"I thought we were past that when you and Olivia killed Rüdiger," Jade quavered.

"It seems... that perhaps my parents may have taken over that mission. To quote Stephen... just because the King fell doesn't mean the rest of his army isn't ready to continue the game of chess in his stead."

· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·

After the initial shock had passed, Lukas explained he had been brainstorming some plans for dealing with the Mades—which everyone agreed was still a priority focus over Project Infection—but he had to check in with those directly involved first before sharing it with the group.

When the mutants eventually took their leave from the Hammersmith house as the sky began to tinge with pinks and oranges, those who lived in the house alongside myself and Emma lingered behind.

"So what's the plan, Lukas?" Ivan finally pushed.

Once more, Lukas's eyes briefly washed over me before looking at everyone else. "We need to catch a Made and try to study it to find a cure."

Loren barked a laugh. "And how do you suggest we do that?"

"By setting a trap," he replied, as if it were that simple.

Of course, I was already privy to his plan. And while I still thought it had many complications, "It's the only option we have. We can't just keep killing them."

Lukas's eyes narrowed, but he didn't look at me again. Instead, he said, "If we lure it down an alleyway of our choice, we can ambush it, catch it, and chain it up somewhere so that we can get samples of its blood for study."

"And how do we lure it in?" Emma asked, though her face was hinting that she already had some form of clue as to what Lukas was about to say next.

"With a Terra Fairy, of course."

Emma sighed. "Right. Of course. And just how do we stop it from drinking one of us?"

"Well, you've fought many of them. Just play the usual tricks, and this time there will be many of us vampires waiting there as backups. Sprinkle the alley with your blood, pretend to be injured so that it gets false confidence and gets lost in the chase, and we will jump and pin the Made before it realises what's up."

"I don't know about that," Emma replied, arms crossing over her chest as her eyes narrowed in disbelief.

"It's fine if you're unsure," I cut in. "I'll be the bait."

"Are you sure you can handle that?" Emma asked, an eyebrow cocking.

"I don't have to kill one, so yeah. I just have to act like an easy kill."

But then, "No."

All heads turned to look at Lukas.

"Olivia stays out of this."

Erica smirked, while both of Emma's eyebrows raised. "Wow, Lukas. Be more obvious that her life is the only one that matters to you."

He shook his head. "That's not it."

"Uh-huh," Erica scoffed, unable to stifle her giggle that followed as she gave me a knowing glance.

But I heard the animosity in his reluctance before he even said, "I don't give a shit about whether Olivia dies at the hands of a Made. The reason I don't want her in my plans is because she will just fuck it up."

The knife he threw tore at my heart instantly, and I simply accepted the blow.

Though others didn't. "That was uncalled for," Jayce was the first to break the tension in the room.

"She may be new to this Made-fighting thing," Emma came to my defence, "But she can handle playing bait. As you said, everyone will be waiting so—"

"I don't want her involved. Everything she touches turns to shit," Lukas cut her off.

"If it doesn't work out, then I will—"

"That might be too late. What happens if the Made isn't fully monstrous yet and tells other Mades of what we're trying? I can't have this plan fail. Olivia will not be involved if this is to work. I can't have her ruin this."

The silence returned as eyes took turns taking wary glances at me... all but his.

"He doesn't mean it like you think," Ben tried to reassure me as we both watched Lukas, waiting for him to look my way with any form of apology on his face.

Yet it never came. No matter how long I stared at him, burning a hole in his face as I willed him to look at me just once. To show a shred of remorse for what he said.

So eventually I gave up. Pivoting on my heel, I beelined out of the room and towards the front door, ignoring Erica and Emma as they begged me to stay, and tuning out to the chorus of voices as they started to reprimand Lukas.

Only one voice rang loudly in my mind as I stormed away: my own.

He's right.

You ruin everything.