~Kota's POV~

The whole situation was beyond bizarre. I had asked Nate to drive my car back while I tagged along with Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Roberts.

Dr. Green had opted for riding with Victor and Gabe was taking his Moped.

"What are really our options here, Phil?" Mr. B asked the good doctor who apparently turned furry at will.

My brain was still contorting itself to comprehend all the information that had been shoved into it.

Vampires and werewolves were real...

Did that mean elves and hobbits were also real?

"Not many, I am afraid, Owen." Phil suddenly answered, snapping my thoughts back to the business at hand.

"There are no vampires in the Academy's ranks, and fighting against them isn't easy. In the past we've made deals with others, more approachable, vampires in exchange for their help fighting another of their kind, but they refused to become full on members, just lending a helping hand every now and then."

"Do you think any of these vampires would be willing to help us in exchange for something other than eternal enslavement?" Mr. Blackbourne asked dryly.

My eyes widened at his tone and words, not having thought of Sang's words quite like that.

Yes, the thought of promising eternity to her was rather scary and puzzling, I needed more information before making a decision, but I hadn't considered it "enslavement" either.

Doc snorted. "Trust me, Owen. If that girl wanted to turn you into a slave she would already have done that. Vampires are powerful enough to take over your will with a single look, but so far she is giving you freedom of choice. That, more than anything, tells me she can be trusted."

Mr. Blackbourne's hands tightened at the steering wheel, his knuckles turning a little white "I don't understand what she wants with us, Dr. Roberts." He admitted, reverting back to the more formal form of address that I knew he was most comfortable with.

"It shouldn't be that hard to comprehend, Owen" Doc murmured softly, "That girl is a terrifying predator capable of unimaginable things but she goes all soft and shy around you boys. She is been through a traumatic situation with her family, much like you all did and now she is clinging to the only things that offer her some sort of comfort."

"Luke and Gabe." I said when Mr. Blackbourne didn't respond.

Doc nodded his head in agreement, "Maybe all of you, actually, but mostly those two for now. She went through a lot of work to keep them safe and they gave her blood. It formed a bond between them of caring and sharing."

I nodded, thinking about how my two brothers were always close to her, stances protective even while they knew she was more than capable of protecting herself.

It wasn't her physical safety they had been worried about, but her emotional state.

"She cares for your boys, Owen and there is no safer place on this world than under a vampire's wing." Doc added before we could comment.

Mr. Blackbourne relaxed a bit, his fingers hold on the steering wheel easing while he kept his perfectly straight posture.

"I think we will see how things go this week, get a better understanding of what her expectations are before making a decision. While we are doing so, Phil, I'd like for you to contact those other vampires and see what they want in exchange for handling Miss Sorenson's sister for us." Mr. Blackbourne asked.

Doc nodded in agreement, humming happily.

We sat in silence in the car the rest of the way to Mr. Blackbourne's house until something compelled me to speak.

"I think we should adopt her."

Mr. Blackbourne's steel gaze met mine through the rearview mirror. "Excuse me, Mr. Lee? Did you say something?"

I lifted my chin and met his gaze head on, "You heard me fine, I think we should put a request to the academy for a closed adoption."

Dr. Roberts smiled quietly, his gaze on the street outside of his window.

Mr. Blackbourne grunted and then said, "I hope you know what you are doing, Mr. Lee."

~Victor's POV~

Dr. Green had insisted in ridding with me in my car.

I think he was worried I would have a panic attack after the whole commotion and world-changing revelations that happened in that tower, but I felt strangely calm.

Maybe I was in shock.

We drove through the streets of Charleston, the sun going down in the horizon, a calming piece playing on the car's radio which miraculously Sean hadn't exchanged for a rock song.

The young doctor sat beside me while I drove, his fingers tapping rapidly against his thigh.

"There is some sheets of music in the console, you can fold if you want." I told him.

He silently grabbed the papers and tore them apart into separate pages and began folding one of them, the paper coming to life on his hands, taking shape.

"It is all so crazy." He suddenly mumbled as he dropped a paper rose into the car's floor and began folding another page.

I thought so too, but then again...

"Does it feel... I don't know, natural, for you to be around her?" I asked him uncertainly and he paused in his folding to look at me from under his blond bangs.

His green eyes narrowed in thought and I could practically see that surprisingly bright brain of his considering what I said.

He was a lot like Kota when he was like this, thinking through all the possibilities with focused determination.

"Yes," He answered slowly, "...almost like I've known her my whole life." He smiled suddenly mischievously, "Maybe we are destiny babies."

I snorted; muscles that I didn't realize were tense before began relaxing at his playfulness.

If Dr. Green could play about this situation then we would all be okay, he wasn't as inconsequential as some people thought even if he had a tendency for being impulsive.

~Sang's POV~

We arrived at Mr. Blackbourne's residence and parked right beside his car in the garage.

The others were right behind us I noticed as I got out of the car with Silas' help.

The whole ride had been made in silence, the boys quiet allowing me to observe the streets and houses we passed by, the people, the cars the world with all its changes.

I felt oddly displaced, like I had entered an alternate reality. This was my city, I knew its streets and its buildings and yet it all seemed different.

The boys led me up the stairs of the garage that led to the inside of the house, Silas and North behind me, Luke at my front.

My nose told me that Mr. Blackbourne, Kota and Dr. Roberts had already arrived and were in the kitchen, talking quietly.

The old wolf was aware I could hear them but didn't tell the boys anything.

Luke stepped into the room and went straight to the cabinets pulling ingredients out of them saying that he'd prepare some "chocolate chip pancakes" for me to try.

North was right at his heel, grumbling about healthy food and other things.

The rest of the boys soon filled in, Mr. Blackbourne's kitchen was a big one with an open floor plan that led to the dining room where there was a table big enough to fit twenty people.

The boys tried to act as if everything was alright, smiling and bantering but the tension in the air was palpable.

Gabriel, Luke and Silas seemed to be the only ones completely comfortable with my presence but even them were picking up their brothers tension and moving closer to me protectively.

I waited until they were all distracted and slipped out of the room quietly, unnoticed by all except for the wolf who followed after me after a few seconds.

I kept walking through the house until I found a library in the first floor.

Mr. Blackbourne's house had two stories of beautiful, albeit unknown to me, architecture.

"They will adjust eventually." The wolf said from behind me.

I didn't bother to turn around to face him, choosing to remain by the window where I could see the street and the setting sun.

"I don't expect them to simply accept me the moment I fall into their lives, Doctor." I told him and listened as he walked farther into the room, sitting at one of the armchairs displayed there.

"No," he agreed, "But the fact that they didn't still hurts you. I can smell your pain, you know." He said with a sad tone of voice.

I gazed at him from over my shoulder, "I might have spent a long time sleeping, but before my imprisonment I lived a long life, long enough to be older than your grandmother, Doctor. There is nothing about wolves that you can tell me which I already don't know."

He smiled at me, that kind smile that reflected his good nature and the reason why I didn't mind turning my back to him.

"I forget. You look so young and observe the world around you with such wonder, a bit like a newborn baby."

I glanced down at my palms, palms that had been stained red with the blood from my enemies and the bad creatures that haunted the night.

"I am not a newborn, but I suppose you could say I was reborn into a new era." I told him.

"Living such a long life must not be easy," he mused more to himself than as a way of communication. He pulled out something sweet-smelling from his pocket and offered it to me, "Do you want some candy?"

I hesitated, not knowing whether to accept or not.

"Take it," he said coaxingly, "It's just a little candy to make life sweeter."

I accepted the candy from him, letting its sugary sweetness melt in my tongue before I turned back to my window and sat at the windowsill.

"I've raised these boys as if they were my own, Miss Sang." He said.

"I will take care of them. You don't need to worry about a thing." I answered, knowing it was what he wanted to hear.

"Why?" he asked, "Why do you care? I know you do." He said.

I remembered the markings on the arms of Luke, Gabriel and then Kota; the symbol of my magic.

It wasn't just my cat that had claimed them, my magic recognized them too.

I just wasn't sure what it meant in the long run.

"They are mine." I told him simply because that was all the answer I had in that moment. This situation wasn't like anything I had dealt with before, I felt like I was stumbling in the dark with these boys.

We stayed silent for a moment before he said a simple "Okay" seemingly satisfied and stood up, leaving the library and me alone in the darkening room.

I stood there for a long time, in the darkness that was as much a part of me as the magic that ran in my veins and the cat that prowled in my subconscious.

It was there, sitting in the dark, where he eventually found me.

I had lived for hundreds of years, fought, killed and suffered a great deal all alone. The years of my existence weighed in my shoulders to the point where I didn't know what hurt more.

Eternal solitude or watching the inevitable death of those I cared for. All I knew was pain. Sweet pain, bitter pain.

And darkness.

He was a creature from the light, one of those who I fought to protect.

To me he was young and innocent, not having seen the horrors that I had and I wished to keep it that way.

I wanted to put them all into a protective bubble but I had a strange feeling that they weren't going to allow me to do that, thought.

"Sang?" He called uncertainly.

They had all been acting a little uncertain around me since they found out what I was.

Except for Luke and Gabriel. Those two seemed to be taking things on stride.

"Yes, Kota?" I asked while inclining my back against the wall and stretching my legs before me, trying to look unthreatening.

I could easily jump from where I was and rip his throat out before he did so much as blink, but he didn't need to know that.

I didn't want these boys to fear me. I was growing attached to them.

He took a step into the room, another one and then other.

Soon he was standing before me, looking out the same window I was before.

"What are you doing in here alone?" He questioned quietly.

I considered telling him a lie, but chose honesty in the end.

"You guys seemed a little tense. I thought you would relax if I weren't around for a while."

He turned his face to me, his hand rising to push his glasses up on his nose.

"You didn't have to do that. We are... A little shocked at the situation but we would like to get to know you better."

I raised an eyebrow at him, not showing my delight at them wanting anything to do with me.

"Would you now?" I asked in a slightly dry tone, trying to control my unruly heart.

He blushed a little but kept his gaze firmly on mine, refusing to be cowed by my sarcasm. "You know, I make a halfway decent friend, if you give me a chance."

A friend...

How long had it been since I allowed myself one of those?

Probably too long. Did I still know how to act with a friend? My social skills were likely rusty if not totally outdated.

I couldn't answer him through a suspicious lump in my throat, so I just nodded my head and indicated the space on the windowsill where he could sit at.

It was a small space which meant out thighs were touching and our arms bumped into each other with movement.

He was warm, warmer than I was and I had missed this feeling as well. The feeling of another body close to yours, reminding you that you could feel something other than pain and loneliness.

I wanted more, I wanted to befriend all these boys, I wanted them to like me.

Kota and I talked for a while, he told me a bit about how science was advanced nowadays before I told him it was late and we both headed for bed.

After he was gone I headed to my room, knowing where it was after having heard Gabriel's thoughts about how they would need to decorate it later.

I walked into the guest room and went straight to the bed, removing my dress until I was only in my chemise.

Pulling the covers aside I sat down on the bed and quickly laid myself on my side, feeling the soft cushion give under my weight and pulled the comforter over me.

As the weight of the blanket settled over me I began to feel nauseous, my body remaining chilled even thought I was completely covered in the sheets and a thick comforter.

The pillow under my head was so soft it seemed to swallow me.

My body began to shake as I felt like I was trapped once more, my breath coming faster and faster as memories of darkness and helplessness took over my mind.

The cat inside my mind whimpered and growled in warning at the phantoms that haunted my mind.

Sweat broke over my brown and I finally managed to get a hold of myself enough that I was able to push the sheets and comfort away and jump out of the bed, body still shaky, heart thundering inside my chest.

Gulping I could barely believe what had just happened.

I was afraid of a bed. A bed!

My cheeks burned in embarrassment.

If my enemies could see me now they would laugh in merriment. Marie would be proud of herself.

The flush in my cheeks changed from embarrassed to furious, then. I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction!

Marching out of my room I took in a deep breath, my senses finding its prey as my cat began purring, completely in agreement with my thoughts.

Stopping before a door I could sense that the boy on the other side of it was already asleep.

Pausing for a moment in indecision, I pushed all feelings of embarrassment and rules about the proper behavior of a lady aside before opening the door and stepping inside the room, my eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness.

Walking silently to the bed, eyes focused on the figure that lay quietly asleep, I unceremoniously lifted the sheets and promptly jumped on Luke.

He let out a whoosh as the breath left his lungs from my landing on top of him, his chocolate brown eyes flying open, startled.

I had managed to land with my legs to each side of his hips, my head over his chest, my arms crossed under my chin to prop my head up as I studied him and made an effort not to blush.

Our connection was carefully closed as I was feeling too shy to read what he was really thinking right now.

"Hi, Luke." I murmured quietly.

He blinked at me in astonishment, before smiling up at me, his eyes amused. "Hi Cupcake, miss me?" he asked in an amused tone of voice.

Letting our link open a little I caught that he felt curious and happy at seeing me, also, there was a hint of interest that caused the blush I was fighting to win the battle and stain my cheeks a flaming red.

"Can I sleep here with you?" I asked him quietly, hoping he wouldn't ask why.

He looked at me curiously and I could feel a hint of concern enter his mind before he wrapped his arms around me and gave me a reassuring smile.

It was incredible how easily these boys were getting a sense for my emotions, I had noted before how he and Gabriel always seemed to know when I was uncomfortable and needed them, even before I had taken their blood.

Squeezing me to him he said a simple "Sure." Before rolling us both in our sides, tucking my body close to his before he practically wrapped himself around me.

His arms and legs held me more securely than my sheets had before, but somehow I felt safer, freer on his arms than I ever had in my life.

I smiled to myself and sighed in contentment, closing my eyes and falling promptly asleep.