"Christ, Nick. You have your new toy for less than a day and now look at her," Jason shook his head tiredly. "You do realize the more physical damage you cause, the harder it is for her to do her job as the Mother, right?" he grumbled. "Darvey, come over here," Jason waved Darvey over from the open doorway of Nick's bedroom. "You might as well start learning now," Jason sighed. "Nick pulled her arm out of socket last night, so we're going to have to reset the bone."

Nodding his head, Darvey drew closer, observing with a cold, calculating eye. Jason began to explain to him the way to identify a bone out of socket and the proper technique to set the bone correctly.

Sitting down on the other side of the bed, Nick was holding Melody's limp hand. Her eyes were open, but all she was staring up at was the ceiling fan. Her black eyes were glazed over with extreme pain, but she never made a sound. Not when the sickening sound of her bone being reset echoed in the room and not when Jason put on sterile gloves and knelt between her legs, pulling her limp body further down the bed so he could examine her better by her ankles.

Swallowing, feeling a mixture of smug pride, satisfaction, and regretful horror, Nick just kept holding her hand. He honestly had no idea what else to do in that moment. Not after all he'd done last night...

"Holy fuck," Darvey breathed out in shock, holding a small flashlight, standing behind his uncle.

Jason's eyes were grave as he lifted his gaze to his nephew's over the girl's body that only had a small blanket laid out over it as a form of coverage. He pulled his finger out from inside her, throwing off the glove that was splattered with blood here and there. "How many times?"

"S-six," Nick admitted in a very quiet voice. Even Darvey raised a brow at that, his face stricken with sympathizing pain.

"No more. Not for at least a month. Her body needs quite awhile to heal. Did you forget you're almost three times her size, Nick? Christ!" Jason's voice made it clear his words were the same as a full-on curse.

"She didn't seem to mind," he half-lied, in an effort to make himself feel better. "In fact, she kept egging me on," he muttered.

Jason shook his head. "She's a goddamn succubus, Nick. She feeds off of sex, idiot. Why would she protest when she's never had a meal before, so to speak, and you suddenly show up with a goddamn feast?"

Nick opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't find any words to throw at his uncle in that moment. So instead he returned his gaze to Melody's hand in his. Jason rose to his feet and Darvey straightened, clicking off the flashlight. "What's her name?"

"Melody," he answered in a harsh exhale of pain.

Jason eyed him for a moment before nodding. "Well, Cedric should be here soon to start the tattooing."

"Thank you," Nick nodded, slowly rising to his feet. He released his hold on Melody's hand. He was the new Head. He couldn't look weak, not among his own family. He had to push back this choking, overwhelming guilt and sorrow over how he'd handled his Initiation and his small, delicate wife's body. As the Head, he couldn't be flinching, sniveling, and hesitant. He had to be strong, firm, sure and confident at all times. As the Head, it was his job to make all the tough choices, to have the final say in all matters.

As the light of determined indifference entered Nick's brown eyes, both Jason and Darvey bowed slightly to show they recognize the change in him and his change in status. "You can leave us now," Nick nodded toward the door. The other two bowed once again before doing as he'd instructed.

Turning his head, he gazed down at Melody. Another voice from the doorway made him glance toward it. Shannon was leaning against the door jam, his black eyes unreadable. For a second, another moment of clarity bubbled up from the pit of madness inside Nick. I wonder how it feels to look at his little girl, his daughter, and realized I raped her last night...I suppose, years from now, I'll find out.

"She do good?" Shannon's quiet voice pulled Nick's attention back to the man who was both somehow Uncle and Father-in-law to his warped mind in that moment. At least I'm not the only one in the family who's mad, he laughed in the back of his mind. All of us, everyone of us have a sickness that we keep letting grow, thrive, and feed upon our very souls. I wonder how the weather in Hell is this time of year.

"Yeah," Nick nodded stoically. "She was great..."

"I told you," was all he said as he turned away and walked out.

Letting out a low breath, Nick moved over to Melody, very carefully lifting her into his arms. He positioned her so that the arm that hadn't been injured wrapped around his neck, his other arm moving underneath her knees. Without stopping to glance at the others, he carried her to the bathroom. Once there, he shut the door behind him with his foot. Gently, he lowered Melody's small body into the tub. She only made a few faint sounds of discomfort, but she still hadn't said one word. Swallowing, he pulled his eyes away from her blank ones.

Instead, he turned on his heel and left the bathroom. Jason was sitting down on the couch, Darvey beside them. Their heads were leaning together, talking intently in low murmurs. They didn't even glance up as he came out. In the kitchen, Shannon was making himself a microwave meal, leaning against the counter, arms crossed over his chest. His black eyes followed Nick as he passed his uncle to Melody's old room. Now that she'd become the Mother, Nick was determined that she would sleep and live with him.

In her room, he quickly grabbed a clean pair of clothes and underwear, as well as her brush. Bundling all of it in his arms, he moved into his own room, grabbing clean clothes as well. He hadn't woken up until five minutes before Shannon had shown back up at the house, followed close behind Jason and Darvey. It had been roughly ten minutes since then and Nick had only found a granola bar to snack on, plus throwing on his clothes he'd worn the night before.

Clean clothes in hand, he returned to the bathroom, closing and locking the door once more. Putting the clothes on the counter top next to the sink, he stripped out of what he'd put on. A large cabinet door on the wall behind the bathroom door opened up to reveal the towels storage. Grabbing two, he put them on the metal rung on the wall within reach from the tub. Then, moving slowly, he pulled the plain black shower curtain back further and stepped inside the tub. Melody was still where he'd left her.

Biting his lip, he let out a long breath, closing the shower curtain behind him. Half-crouching down, he cupped her cheek with one hand. "Mel, honey, can you stand up for me?"

Very, very, very slowly, she blinked. Just as slowly, a little bit of light seemed to return to her eyes. She jerked her head in a tiny nod, before attempting to rise to her feet, instead of sitting down on the bottom of the tub. But it was quickly evident that, between her bad arm and the various amounts of abuse her body had been put through the night before, she couldn't. She glanced up at him, shaking her head slightly. "S-s-sorry, N-N-Nick," she whispered.

A strange, conflicting, confusing mass of emotions rushed throughout his mind and heart at the sound of her voice. It was the first thing she'd said to him since their insane, destructive, amazing wedding night. The sound of her voice made a part of his heart swell up in happiness. But, just as easily, another part began to sink. 'Sorry, Nick'? he repeated in his mind. Sorry? Her first word to me at the beginning of our life together is 'sorry'?

He shook his head, lips twisting into a bitter smile. "No, it's okay, really. I should have realized you couldn't move very well right now. I'm sorry." He reached out to support her body, lifting her up to a standing position. It wasn't lost on him that, for just half a second, she flinched at his touch. It's what you deserve, he told himself. It's what you'll be seeing from her for the rest of your life. Just ignore it. Pretend it never happened.

"T-thank you..." she whispered.

"No problem," he sighed. Turning after he'd made sure she was as steady as she was going to get, he turned the faucet to get the water running. It shot out in a loud rush, and he played with the settings until he found a temperature that was lukewarm. He didn't know how she liked to take her baths and showers. Besides, he didn't think it would be good for her to be under something extremely hot or cold. Once he was certain the water wasn't too much of either temperature, he pulled up on the switch to move the water to the shower head.

Stepping forward quickly, he pressed his hands against the other side of the shower, using his larger body to effectively block Melody's body from the sudden stream of water. He decided it was a good idea a second later when the water came out extremely cold for a few seconds before warming up to the temperature he'd put it at before. Staring up at him from her shorter height, Melody blinked, her face registering her surprise at his sudden movement. Slowly, he leaned back and let the stream of water begin to run over her, shaking his hair out behind him.

Awkwardly, they took a shower together. Melody seemed very unsure around him, but also eager to do anything he asked. It was a little disconcerting, honestly. But he didn't protest. Especially when it proved necessary for him to help her wash her hair and body. Touching her, he felt threads of that sparking, all-consuming need start to try and overcome him once more. But when his hand brushed over her left breast and he felt her body flinch under his touch, it woke him up. She had a procession of love bites-some almost a ugly purple-blue color-running over the majority of her body. On the breast his hand was currently resting at, about two inches above her nipple, was one that was quite bad.

Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes and forced back the need he had for her. Without another word, he doled out some body wash from the bottle onto his hands and began to run them along her wet body. When he started washing her lower body, he had go down on one knee again. As his hands traveled along her lower back, her buttocks, her thighs, her pelvis, and her legs, Melody became absolutely still. He kept himself in check, grimacing as he watched matted blood along her inner thighs mingle with the lathered soap and slid down her legs to the bottom of the tub and be washed away.

"I'm sorry I hurt you so badly," he whispered in the white noise of the pouring water. "I'm sorry I made it a lot worse for you than it had to be. Please, Melody, I promise. I won't touch you again until after you've healed up, alright?" Slowly rising to his feet once more, he stared down at her. She blinked through some of the water that his body over her didn't block out. She gazed into his eyes for a very long moment before nodding her head once.

And just like that, a strange relationship between them was formed. A mutual understanding of how their lives together would be was reached, without a single word. Nick was the Head and he would act as his position dictated. He'd show her very little kindness, only on rare occasions. But he'd already vowed he'd keep all his promises and he'd meant it. The only man who'd ever touch her would be himself. He wouldn't let any of his brothers or uncles have her.

To him, intermingled in the madness that had been both taught to him and inherited from generations of men just like himself, Melody was his one and only. No other woman in his life existed anymore, not even his own mother. As far as he was concerned, she was the only thing worth living for. He supposed-in a part of his mind that was still mostly sane-he loved her in his own twisted, fucked up way.

Leaning down, he brushed his lips along hers in a light, gentle kiss. "Let's hurry up this shower of ours, love," he sighed. She nodded once more, stepping closer to him as she tried to get under the water a little more.

Ten minutes later, Nick was dry himself and dressed. He had the second towel he'd grabbed earlier, using it to dry off Melody. She was sitting in his lap, on the toilet seat, remaining quiet. For just a brief moment, he paused in his movements. Placing his chin on top of her head, he closed his eyes, holding her close in a hug, breathing in the fresh, clean scent of her hair and body. "Forever mine. You're my music, sweetie. You're the song in my soul, the only good thing about me. You know that, don't you? You're the Melody of my heart," he whispered.

She said nothing for a very long time. In his mind, Nick was more than a little surprised at his words. Can I even say something like this? Am I even allowed to? How can I be? No, he was the Head. He was allowed to do anything he wanted, most especially with the Mother. He sucked in another deep breath of her scent, of the uniqueness that was just her. His hold tightened just a little and he let out a short, quiet laugh. Really, everything about this was insane. Everything about this was wrong. Wrong.

But he couldn't ever let himself think that. Everything about this had to be right. Right.

After all, this love, this brightness in his heart...Could anything about it be wrong?

Yes. The fact that he knew, without a doubt, this was something he couldn't let thrive. Survive throughout the years to come, perhaps. But he couldn't let it become any larger, any stronger than it already was. If it did, he'd break. He'd realize, fully and truly, the gravity of his sins. And, God save him, he knew he had many to answer for and many more he would commit from now on. But it was the Way, and according to the Way, to the path of his life, he couldn't falter. He couldn't let himself ever truly waver, to stray off the path.

"I care for you, in my own way, Melody," he continued to whisper. "But, sometimes you have to hurt the person you care for the most. Sometimes, it's what's best for them," he murmured, trying to convince himself more than her. "Sometimes, it's the only way you can show you care for them."

"Yes, Nick," she nodded her head, her damp curls brushing along his chin and neck at her movement.

"C'mon, we still have a long day ahead of us. We have to get our bounding tattoos done today. It's going to hurt," he warned her as he rose to his feet and began to dress her.

"Alright," she nodded her head a little again.

He glanced into her face, seeing that distant light in her eyes. It bothered him, made the part of him that loved her almost feel jealous. He wanted all of her, damn it! But, no matter. As long as she did what she was told, what did it matter if she barely spoke to him?

Five minutes later, they were back in their bedroom. Cedric was moving about, getting things ready. He grabbed several pillows from off of the bed and put them under his butt, using them for cushioning. Nick had placed Melody on the edge of the bed, deciding to go first, in order to show her how it would be done. He had got one of the large blankets and a few pillows off the bed before laying them out on the floor at the foot of the bed. "So, where are we putting this at?" Cedric asked, ink gun in his hand.

Nick awkwardly touched his lower back, a few inches above and to the left of his tailbone, having already taken off his shirt. "Right here. Did you bring the white and grey ink, like I asked?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course I did," Cedric muttered. "White key, black heart, and grey ribbon, right?" he double-checked.

"Yep," Nick confirmed as he laid out on his stomach.

"Then we're all good to go. I have to say," Cedric murmured as he leaned over his oldest son, beginning his work. "This is a tad bit cutesier than I ever expected from you."

Nick let out a soft grunt as he felt the needle start to move along his skin. "Um...yeah. Just a thought that wouldn't go away," he waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I figure, eh, what the hey?" he fought back his shrug, which would have pulled the skin of his back, messing up his father's work.

"I'm not judging," Cedric mumbled, concentrating more on his work than the conversation. "I was just noticing and commenting, son. Now, I'm going to have to ask that you stay still and quiet."

Nick shut up, turning his head slightly to shoot Melody a smile. Her black eyes were alight on Cedric. She was watching the man's work with a torn expression of fear, worry, and curiosity. Sure that no one would be able to see him, he turned his head forward once more and a small smile lifted his lips. Damn, Mel, why are you so cute? he sighed in his heart. Externally, he wiped the smile off his face and lowered his head down onto the pillows.

Nearly four hours later, the tattoo was done. Stiff as all hell, both men slowly got up to move around and take bathroom breaks. They also went ahead and had some food. After an hour, Melody had risen up off the bed and started doing some of her normal chores. Nick stayed silent as she left, not showing any reaction to her departure. When he finally got to his feet again, he found that the kitchen and living room had been cleaned, as well as a simple meal of beef and vegetable stew cooked.

He was also more than a little surprised to find that Shannon was carrying their bowls. When Nick raised a brow at his uncle from his seat on the couch, Shannon shot him a glower. The man's head jerked to the kitchen, making Nick focus on the girl in there. She was struggling to move her injured arm enough to ladle out the stew into bowls. A flash of irritation at himself moved through Nick, but he kept his face as blank as his uncle.

"Even I'm not completely heartless enough to make her have to irritate that arm of hers more than she honestly needs to," Shannon muttered in explanation. "I stopped her from starting the laundry and trying to clean up the mess you two made in the bathroom. I even let her take a thirty minute break," he sighed, like it was something he deeply regretted. "But the more she moves, the longer it's going to take to heal and the longer I'll have to deal with her clumsy-ass. Make sure she doesn't use her bad arm for the next week or so, alright?" he grumbled as he held out the bowl and spoon to Nick with an annoyed glare.

It was nearly five in the afternoon before Cedric started on Melody's tattoo. He placed it on her right side, still the lower back. The design was pretty damn simple. A black padlock in the shape of a heart, it had dark shades of grey where the metal of the clamp was, as well as spots of white to indicate where the tiny screws held the metal face where the keyhole was in place. The key itself was mostly white, with an outline of dark grey, like a shadow. And, wrapping around the two and connecting them, was a short, flowing ribbon of light grey. All together the tattoo was only about the size of a golf ball.

Nick helped Melody onto her stomach, going slow, being careful. Her breathing picking up into shallow, fast pants was the only indication that she was hurting at all throughout the entire four hour session. Even so, she remained still and quiet. Once it was over, it was nearly ten thirty at night. Cedric gathered up his things and left, while Shannon went to bed to get ready for the next day where he'd have to go to work.

Nick lifted Melody onto the bed and helped her lay out until it wasn't obvious to him that she was in pain anymore. He knew she had to be, but he couldn't do a whole lot about it. She was too small to give her much pain medicine and he was sure the medicine would actually do nothing to help. Not with how much she must be hurting. At this point, the best thing for her was as much rest as possible. So instead, he found some sleeping pills and gave her the lowest possible dose, even cutting up one pill in half to make sure it wouldn't be too much for her. She took the half-pill without protesting and, within half an hour, was passed out.

Letting out a breath of relief, he stripped off her clothes, as well as his own, keeping their undergarments on. Climbing into the bed, he pulled the blanket up over them, gently moving her to his side. Tucked in against him, her small chest rising and falling in even, steady breaths of deep sleep, he smiled. Alone in the darkness, he didn't have to worry about keeping up appearances. "Good night, Melody," he murmured against her hair as he held her close. "Sleep well and get better soon, love." He ran his fingers through her hair, loving the way her curls clung to his fingers, as if trying to make him keep touching her.

A fanciful idea, he knew. If she had her way, he'd never touch her again, he knew. But he could let himself think it, in the quiet of their bedroom. In the silence and darkness of his own heart, he could dream and imagine what their life could have been like if none of the things that had both brought them together existed. Bound together and yet truly apart...

O O O

One year and seven months later...

Nick was sitting down on the couch, leaning forward, elbows on top of his knees, hands folded together, fingers pressing into his forehead. His head rose and fell with the nervous bouncing of his leg. Sitting in each arm chair, roughly an even amount of distance from him, were Shannon and Cedric.

"You're almost as nervous as an actual father," Cedric chuckled. "Really, there's nothing to worry about. It's no big deal. Eventually, you'll get use to it," his father promised, shrugging casually.

"Yes, your dad's right," Shannon sighed. "Take it from me. If it's a boy, don't hold it. If it's a girl, don't hold it either. Don't touch it, except when necessary, until it's a year old. The less you touch it when it's born and after it's still a newborn, the better. The more you avoid it, the less it'll cause you any problems. It's not your kid anyway. Just think of it as the Mother's child, as Melody's kid."

Nick fought back his snarled response of But I am a father and this is my child! Instead he nodded his head. "Thanks," he mumbled.

The constant noise of Melody's cries of pain and effort to push were suddenly broken up by the cry of a baby. Nick's head started to shoot up, but he stopped himself, just barely. Instead, he forced himself to cease his fidgeting and straighten his posture on the couch. He'd been sitting down for the past three hours and his body was stiff. Before that, he'd spent five hours alternating between standing, pacing, and sitting. But, eventually, his father and uncle both told him to sit down and stop moving around. He was apparently bothering them as they settled down to watch TV, putting it on some sports channel, ESPN, or whatever.

Nick had been fighting his instinctive responses and the behaviors the Way told him were the correct ones since realizing that his wife was going into labor. It had already been a surreal experience to go through her pregnancy. She was so tiny herself, having only grown about two inches since their marriage. And then, seeing her start to grow even bigger with child...It had been equally sickening, shocking, amazing, and awe-inspiring to him. He'd felt pride to know that he'd accomplished his mission as the Head a simple ten months after their marriage. It had taken him less time to get Melody pregnant than he had ever expected, honestly. And now, 37 weeks along, she was finally bringing their baby into the world.

But at the same time...it had been a bittersweet experience to know that, if they weren't as they were, he'd be celebrating the moment he'd get to meet his son or daughter. He'd be anticipating the moment he'd get to hold them in his arms, give them a name, and realize that his life was truly happy and complete.

Instead, he was celebrating with his family over how much money they might be able to make off of this child. Unable to take Melody to a doctor to be examined or have a ultrasound run, they had no idea what gender the baby would be until after it was born. If it was a boy, the price ranged from $30k-40k for a normal human child. But a incubus? That honestly depended on the amount of monster it had in it.

If it was a girl, it would have to be a much longer investment before they'd be able to gain any real profits off of it. But, in roughly fourteen to sixteen years from now, they could start to prostitute her out, plus begin making porn movies to sell as well. Which could easily equal out to the same amount of a human boy in about a year, if not a little more or less. Three generations back, the Foli family had been very rich. Granted, they'd lived in a completely different state then, but that was the Generation before the most recent reset. Now, they were roughly keeping theirselves afloat in the middle-class range.

Darvey came stumbling out of the bedroom, face pale, even for his dark skin tone. He sucked in a sharp, shaky breath. "Holy fuck that was crazy!" he burst out. "I haven't seen that much blood in my entire life..." The fifteen-year-old looked ready to faint for half a second, before shaking his head and straightening. "Oh, yeah. It's a boy, by the way," he announced nonchalantly.

Nick closed his eyes briefly, not sure how he felt about this news. My first born son, he thought. A throat being cleared made him open his eyes.

Jason was standing behind Darvey, who quickly moved back out of his uncle's way. "You can all come in, if you want. Melody's feeding the baby so he'll stop crying for now."

Darvey headed into the kitchen, opening the fridge door. "I need a drink," he grumbled. No one tried to stop him. Shannon was the closest to the door, so he went in first, followed by Cedric and Nick.

Sitting up in the bed, a dazed, amazed expression on her face, Melody was cradling a small baby to her breast. She'd certainly grown over the past year and a half, especially her bust size, in comparison to how small she'd been before. She was now in a B cup and her entire upper body was completely exposed to the men. She was long past seeming to notice or care about that though, and the men were all too occupied with other things to really care either.

The baby boy had a skin tone much closer to Nick's complexion, though he was still definitely a hundred percent black. He was making soft, small cooing noises, sucking at Melody's nipple hungrily. Something in Nick's chest began to squeeze and ache. His heart started up and froze over just as quickly. Gaze and expression hardening, he fell into the familiar habit of closing off any and all emotions he had for his wife...and now for his son.

"Dad, you have your bag ready, correct?" he asked calmly.

"Yeah," Cedric answered, gaze taking in the sight of mother and newborn bonding.

"Uncle Shannon, you'll go with Dad, as back up. Uncle Jason, you'll remain here, for any health emergencies that may arise," Nick ordered calmly. "Has the child's purity been checked yet?"

"No, I was just about to do so," Jason stepped forward. Behind them, Darvey leaned against the open doorway, tipping his head back to swallow down a long drink of alcohol. Out of his pocket, Jason brought out a clear crystal, about the size of the pad of his palm. Around the middle was a gold band, engraved with magic symbols, with a small diamond nestled in the very center and front of the band. Holding it out, he placed it against the skin of the baby.

Still holding the baby, Melody watched quietly. She was very tired-exhausted, honestly. She had no idea what was happening. But she'd come to learn that when all the men gathered together, it usually meant something that she didn't like. Even so, she'd long since learned to stop fighting against them. There were too many and it only ended with her bruised, bleeding, and broken, racked with pain for weeks or months on end. Instead, she did her best to remain quiet, out of the way, and obedient, in order to save herself from their wrath as often as possible.

Touching the skin of the baby-and only the baby-the crystal began to glow brightly. As they watched, it turned a dark red color. Like water filling a cup, the red, glowing, smoke-like substance began to rise inside the crystal. It stopped once it reached roughly three-quarters full. Jason slowly moved away, and the red began to fade until the crystal was once again clear. "Well," he murmured in surprise. "It seems you were able to manage quite a powerful kid, this first time."

"That's roughly...$250k, right there," Cedric did the math up in his head slowly. "I made sure to get my research done last month, to be safe. Damn, that's a lot better of a catch than I was expecting, for your first try."

"We should hurry up and be going," Shannon muttered.

"I've got the bottles packed and ready," Cedric agreed.

Jason slipped the crystal back into his pocket, moving back to Melody's side at the bed. "Okay, time to say goodbye," he murmured.

Nick's gaze was riveted on Melody's face, seeing the tiny, fraction of a second of time where her face was filled with complete and utter heartbreak, confusion as to why she was having to let go of her baby. But she didn't fight. She slowly released her hold and her face returned to it's blank mask. Seeing that she felt the way he did as well, deep in the depths of his heart, it only made him hurt more. But he did nothing to stop them. She slowly lifted her eyes to his and their gazes clashed. They said nothing, and yet, in that one moment, they had a full conversation. Turning on his heel, Nick left the room, the others following behind him.

Shannon closed the door and Jason handed over the baby to Cedric, who was quickly getting a sling together to carry the infant against his chest, making sure to give the baby skin contact as he took off his shirt. He'd made sure to wear a very large shirt, which he quickly put back on, careful not to crush the baby. He grabbed his keys and hurried out to the car. Getting inside the back seat after unlocking the car, he laid out in the very back part of his van, which had tinted windows. Taking off his shirt, he rubbed at the baby's back, waiting for Shannon to finish getting his own stuff together, grab the keys from his younger brother, and start off on the trip to the MBM contact they'd be using.

Back in the house, Nick knew that Melody was silently crying in the bedroom, finally alone. It was one reason why he'd left, besides the fact that he had no more use for her right now.

"Give her about a week to rest up, and then you need to go right back at it," Jason said from the bathroom, door open as he washed his hands. "Doctors say to wait a month or two before having sex, but that's mostly because a woman's usually at her most fertile after giving birth. So, it's the perfect time to sex her up and go at it like rabbits," he chuckled. "Maybe we'll get lucky and the next one will be a full blood boy, or better yet, a girl with abilities."

The next one, his uncle's words echoed in Nick's head. "Yeah, I was planning on it. I'm praying for a boy though. The more money we can make off her, the better. I'm not too worried about a girl until Cavin starts to get a little older. We don't exactly need a successive Mother until we have my replacement born."

"Right, right," Jason agreed evenly. "But even if a girl is born, we can still use her like normal. The only girl we really have to worry about is the one that will be the next Head's bride. But he's not going to be born until, what...eighteen, twenty years from now? So, until then, we can still use a girl, when she gets a little older."

"You are correct," Nick nodded, stretching his arms out above his head. "Well then. I suppose I'll just have to do the best I can," he chuckled under his breath.

O O O

Across the street, a dark shape stood, staring out the front window of his apartment. His gaze took in the house directly in front of and across his own building. He raised a hand and pressed it to the glass, brown eyes studying the house. Light was pouring out of the windows. The dark black van he'd seen quite a few times had left, taking two inhabitant with it.

He wasn't quite sure why, but for nearly two years now, he'd been sensing the cries of a soul. It was a sound he'd heard only seldom in his long, long life. Very few souls were filled with so much pain and suffering that they could call out at a level so intense they pushed past the normal boundaries of mortals. So, now and again when he was actually 'home', he'd find himself drawn to his window, staring out into the neighborhood. He knew the soul that was in anguish was somewhere here, close by. Still, he hadn't been able to pinpoint it down very well.

But tonight...

Tonight, something was different.

Another soul, one that was both stronger and weaker than the soul he'd been hunting had appeared. This one was strong enough that he could tell there was Other blood running through it's veins. And now, as he watched the black van disappear off into the night, the newer soul was slowly fading away.

In contrast, the pained soul let out a scream so great, so filled with sorrow that it physically sent him to his knees. Gasping, he raised a hand to his chest, squeezing his shirt tightly. With his other hand, he struggled to rise to a half-standing positioning. "Gods, please...save this Pitiful One," he begged in a soft pant. "Or, if you will not, guide me that I may find them and end their horrible pain. No soul should have to remain with this sort of...Sort of torture. I know not why the soul suffers so, but I can stand it no longer. Gods, grant me a way to Save them."

Falling to his knees, he pressed his hands together in prayer.

As if in answer, the soul's cries seemed to grow suddenly much more focused, louder, in his ears. Turning his head slightly, he opened his eyes, scanning the neighborhood. As his eyes fell onto the house across from him, the screams reached a crescendo, before dying off completely. Swallowing, he bowed his head once more.

"Great Ones, thank you for your guidance. I shall find a way to grant this soul your loving Mercy," he promised tightly.

His eyes watched the house like a hawk. He'd find some way to save the soul. He could stand to let it suffer no longer.