There had to be a rule somewhere about how many weird situations Kane could land himself into.

Under chandeliers and bright lights, the sweetest of music filling the air, people laughed and danced across the ballroom. Women dressed in extravagant gowns giggled at the words of their male partners, timid and coy, while men bragged about things that probably never happened, singing songs of opulence. In the midst of all this, Kane couldn't help but feel out of place, out of time.

As someone who had grown up with nothing to his name except for a worn out hoodie and a pair of pants that had seen more tears than a rag, Kane knew he didn't belong. Yet, here he was, dressed in an expensive three-piece, holding a champagne flute in his hand, surrounded by people he didn't know. Couples poured in through the open door, songs changed and not once didn't anyone glance in his direction or notice his presence in the middle of the dance floor. Instead, people seemed to dance right through him, disappearing and reappearing when their bodies brushed past his.

Unfortunately, this wasn't anything new for Kane. He was used to being ignored by real and imaginary people alike.

Moving past the dancing couples, men and women who gossiped about one another, Kane headed to the balcony. Stuck in someone else's memory, he had no choice but to wait for the dream to be over.

Outside, with the wind blowing gently, he found his first companion for the night. In the starless sky, where darkness reigned, the moon stood out, the only source of light struggling against the shadows that danced around it. Sympathetic towards his friend, Kane averted his gaze, knowing that the moon would inevitably lose.

Once kissed by darkness, there was no escaping it. No one knew that better than him.

"Why do I always find you sulking in the corner?"

Glancing back, Kane found her standing behind him, a teasing smile on her face. Wearing a red dress that clung to her body with a neckline so deep that it clearly wasn't made for the timeline they were in right now, Aria crossed her arms, head tilting to one side.

"What can I say? Dead people aren't great company." Kane shrugged, leaning his back against the railing.

Shaking her head, Aria came to stand next to him and as her gaze turned to the moon, the darkness was chased away with just one glance. "I beg to differ," she whispered

One by one the stars came into sight, igniting in the darkness like fire. Their light reflected in Aria's brown eyes, making her skin glow and even though the sight before him was ethereal, it made Kane's stomach churn with disgust.

This wasn't real. None of this was real.

"You can drop the act now, Rose. I know you're not her," he sighed and Aria's lips turned into the saddest smile he had ever seen, enough to make his heartache.

Tanned skin turning pale, Rose finally looked at Kane with lush green eyes that matched her gown, curves thinning out. "I didn't think you'd want to see me again. After all, you were so angry the last time we spoke," she admitted as the curls that framed her face unraveled, turning straight and long enough to reach her now slim waist.

"Impersonating someone I barely know doesn't help," Kane pointed out, ignoring the sadness that laced her words.

The last time they spoke, he had a reason to be angry, a reason to push away the last person he could call family. While the world feared him, Rose had seen something else in Kane and taken him in, given him a childhood when he was sure he didn't deserve one. In the end, she promised him forever and then embraced death, leaving him alone once again.

"I just assumed that you'd shut me out if I approached you myself." Rose smiled to herself, the glint of mischief in her eyes enough to let him know that her words were a lie but he didn't question her.

Rose never gave straight answers. She did what she thought was right without any prior explanations and expected Kane to put his trust in her, no questions asked. But he couldn't blame her being this way. After all, with her own eyes, Rose had seen the beginning and end of the universe, every possible outcome of every choice and the price of such knowledge was much too high to pay.

"What are you doing here, Rose?" Kane finally asked, turning his attention back to the ballroom where memories danced.

"This was my last Summer Solstice before I left home. It was the first time Natasha and I danced together in public," she answered, smiling gently, her words nostalgic.

"And that very night your father announced your engagement to Johnathan." Kane finished and Rose flinched, fingers gripping the marble railing.

The smile that graced her lips disappeared and Kane watched as silence fell over the ballroom, the guests standing with their backs turned towards him as though they were listening to someone intently. Soon there was applause and cheer but Rose looked defeated, tired of reliving the night when her will was ripped out of her hands.

"I miss Nat," she finally whispered, voice so broken that despite his anger, Kane found himself covering her hand with his.

Fingers gripping Rose's hand, throat going dry at the thought, he turned to the raven-haired girl, heart hammering in his chest as he opened his mouth. "Is that why you did it?" he asked the one question he had been afraid to ask since he found out that Rose had died.

Ever since he had gotten the news, ever since he had watched her burial from afar, Kane had wondered why Rose had been the one to die instead of him. She saw things that no one else could, the past, the present, and the future. If she wanted, she could have avoided death. She could have been alive. She could have been with him. Instead, she welcomed death with open arms and Kane never understood why.

Sadness filling her eyes, Rose squeezed his hand, looking at Kane sympathetically. "When death comes knocking, she rarely takes no for an answer. She can't be denied. After all, Dshe is the ending that we all walk towards."

And yet, Death always refused him.

Kane knew that one day when Death came for him, she'd hold onto him tight and lead him to paradise or eternal damnation. It was unavoidable. But every time he knocked on her door, she turned him away, forcing him to live another day, suffer a little longer. He was so tired of breathing, tired of knowing that everyone he had ever loved was gone while he roamed the Earth, looking for the one person who could finally give him peace.

"You should go and join Natasha in the afterlife or something. You should rest," Kane said, hoping that the sorrow in his voice wasn't noticeable. He might have been angry with Rose but he didn't want her to leave. Even if he didn't admit it, he missed having her in his life.

Snorting, Rose just shook her head. "None of us can rest until this ends."

And there it was again, Kane's confusion that arose every time Rose was cryptic. She would often say things that never made sense to him but he kept them close to his heart, waiting for the day in his life when everything would fall into place.

Sighing, Rose glanced back at the ballroom where people had started to turn to mist one by one. "It seems we've run out of time. You have company." Her eyes turned to Kane. "Don't resist them."

With the moon crumbling to piece, every star falling at once, Kane stared at Rose. "Don't resist who?" he asked as the world around them continued to disappear.

But his question was ignored as Rose walked into the ballroom, fingers gripping the door that led to the balcony. "From here on, my brother will help you," she said.

Panicked, Kane reached out to grab the disappearing woman, needing answers before he woke up. "I don't even know who your brother is!" He screamed but Rose just smiled.

"He'll find you," she assured.

And the ground beneath him gave away.

Eyes snapping open, Kane was breathing hard as he stared up at the roof of a car that he didn't remember stealing. Frustration colored his face as he grit his teeth because once again, Rose had invaded his dreams and left him with more questions than answers. He knew that she couldn't outright tell him the truth but a little hint would have been nice.

"Rose's brother," Kane hummed to himself, trying to remember everything he knew about him.

Back when he was traveling with Rose and her husband, on many occasions, the raven-haired woman had spoken about the family she had left behind, a little brother she missed with all her heart. But she never mentioned his name and Kane never asked. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt the woman who had protected him for so long.

Now that decision had come to bite him in the ass.

Rubbing his eyes, Kane stepped out of the car. Before he could sit down and try to figure out how he could find Rose's brother, he needed to get something to eat. Running on one meal a day had taken a toll on his strength and while he had done a good job of avoiding hunters, his luck was bound to run out soon enough.

Just as he started to make his way through the parking lot, he noticed a girl staring at him, standing just a few feet away. No more than fourteen or fifteen years old, she held a gun in her hand, one that was pointed straight at Kane.

You have company.

As Rose's words came back to him, Kane closed his eyes in frustration and cursed himself for not focusing on what was important. He had been so busy trying to figure out how to find someone whose name he didn't even know that he'd forgotten all about the people who had been behind his rude awakening. But maybe he was lucky because the girl seemed to be alone.

"Shouldn't you be at school or something?" he asked her, immediately raising his hands in surrender when she cocked her gun. It was obvious that despite her age, the girl knew exactly what she was doing and Kane wasn't fool enough to take a risk.

He could have fought and easily overpowered the girl but despite all the wrong that he had done through his life, the blood that he had shed, this was a choice he didn't want to make. There was a time when he was a child and was robbed of his childhood by the hunters. He wasn't about to be like them.

"You don't have to do this," he said, voice soothing.

Unimpressed by his words, the girl just rolled her eyes but her gun remained pointed at him, unwavering. "Yeah, yeah. I know about your whole mercy routine and I don't care. Anyway, I'm not here to fight you," she said with a shrug.

"Then why are you here?" he asked, taking one step towards her and stopping when he realized she wouldn't hesitate to shoot.

"I need you to come with me," she answered and Kane burst out laughing.

It was a stupid move on his part considering the situation he was in but Kane couldn't help but be amused. After years of hunting him like a dog and ruining his life, he was sure that the hunters had run out of ideas. Not only had they sent a child after him but they wanted her to bring him in? And for what? To be experimented on? To be thrown into a jail cell for eternity?

Kane hadn't stained his hands red for his journey to end this way.

He would find the Blood Key and he would find a way to end this mess once and for all. If that meant hurting a child, so be it.

"I don't think I can do that," Kane said, smiling calmly as warmth rushed through his veins, ready to attack.

But the girl was unfazed by his answer and instead of giving him a warning, she shot him in the knee. Howling in pain, tears forming in his eyes, Kane fell to the ground as blood rushed through his new wound, feeling his body work towards pushing out the bullet as the areas around it began to heal.

"Dave! You owe me 10 bucks! I told you he wouldn't cooperate!" The girl shouted, paying no attention to Kane. She had to know that he would heal. She had to know that he would come for her so why didn't she care?

Grunting through the pain, Kane followed her gaze towards a man who emerged from one of the cars, a cigarette between his teeth as he looked at the girl with a blank expression. Brown hair falling on his face, he blew out smoke and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'll give you your money once we're done here," he muttered and then proceeded to throw his cigarette to the ground as he approached the girl.

"Can we bring Justin with us next time?" she asked, smiling brightly as she jumped on her feet in excitement.

Taking the gun from her hand, Dave just gave her a look before shaking his head. "I would honestly rather have my head chopped off," he replied and turned to Kane. "You better be worth the trouble pretty boy otherwise Rose and I are going to exchange some words."

Alarmed by the revelation, Kane stared at the duo with confusion and betrayal on his face. For years, he had trusted Rose and done as she asked without any questions but in the end, she had given him away to Hunters. He knew that she did what she had to do to maintain the balance of the world but was the future she had seen so bad that she had turned her back on him?

As tears blurred his vision, pain coursing through his heart, Kane didn't feel a thing as he was shot in the heart.