Screams.

That was all Genesis could hear as she stepped out of the jeep and into a familiar forest. A very familiar forest. One she'd hoped she'd never set foot in. Not after that day.

Evidently, though, the screams were only in her mind.

In her memories.

She gritted her teeth, her hands shaking slightly as Finn pulled her through the woods.

They were heading towards that place.

The one place she'd never wanted to return to.

The City of Flirit.

Or, more aptly, the ruins of the City of Flirit.

That's all that was left of the sprawling city which had thrived up until sixteen years ago. She could still remember the bustling bright markets... the sound of car horns and bicycle bells as people hurried by, ignoring the small three-year-old Genesis on the street side, dressed in rags.

She shook her head as the city came into view, it seeming surprisingly overgrown considering it'd only been sixteen years since that incident.

***

It had started like any other day.

Genesis had woken up, cold and hungry, as per usual. People were already bustling through the streets, hurrying to their jobs.

It wasn't until the middle of the day that things diverged from her normal routine.

Genesis's world suddenly turned an alarming shade of red, a sickly-sweet smell filling the air.

Two sharp objects had dropped down over her lip, her feet carrying her towards the source of that delicious scent.

She soon found out exactly what that source was, though, and the sight had made her stomach twist.

Pools of blood.

Streaming from bullet holes in the half-dead bodies littering the ground.

Genesis soon spied the source of those bullets, too.

It was quite hard to miss the gunman in between the long walls of mirrored glass.

After all, he was pointing his gun at her at that moment in time.

Blood rose in streams around her, like tendrils of seaweed floating in water, ready to act.

But they didn't need to.

Instead, footsteps broke through the odd silence ringing in the small girl's ears, her head turning just in time to spy the red-haired figure sprinting through the field of blood, fangs extended as she skilfully dodged all of the bullets fired her way, said fangs tearing into the man's throat in the next second.

***

"Genesis?" Finn's voice pulled her out of her thoughts as she stared around the ivy-covered walls in front of her. "Are you alright?"

She shook him off. "I'm fine."

"Keep on your guard." The Alpha warned, his grey gaze scanning every inch of the horizon as they trawled through the wreckage of the place Genesis had once called home. "There's a very high likelihood that Omega Taurus and the Knights of the Apocalypse are operating out of this area."

"I know."

"Come on. We've got this whole area to search." He strode ahead, his eyes picking through the rubble, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Genesis chased after him, not wanting to be left alone in the last place she wanted to be in the world.

"Not much of a second date, is it?" She smiled, weaving her fingers through his as they stared out across the ruined city.

"I know." Finn said, squeezing her hand ever so slightly. "But after we're done here, I'll take you out for dinner again."

"You sure do know how to motivate a girl."

"I try." He grinned.

"OY! LOVEBIRDS!" Alpha Blaze's voice rang out through the city.

"Which ones?!" Juniper yelled back.

"ALL OF YOU!"

"Are we being summoned back?" Genesis turned to her mate.

"Probably." He sighed, hefting her up onto his back. "Hold on."

"Wha-?!"

Fire burst out from his legs, propelling the two of them up into the air, the flames crackling around his hands keeping them steady as they flew back towards the assigned meeting place.

"Flashy entrance as always." The green-eyed blonde smirked, just as Lyra arrived in a flash of red lightning, Rylan bundled up in her arms.

"And here comes Princess Rylan." Blaine, his partner in crime, chimed in, earning himself a glare from the Alpha King.

Juniper chose that moment to emerge from the shadows, her mate in tow, and then they were all back.

Well, aside from the assassin.

Something Genesis was grateful for.

"Why did you call us back?" Rylan asked, his eyes narrowed.

Blaze held up his phone. "Arrow's located their bases... all three of them."

Rylan whistled. "I have to hand it to that man, he doesn't mess about..."

"So there wasn't a base here to begin with..." Finn scowled.

"Apparently not." Blaze shrugged. "But it would've been a good location for one – you can't deny that."

Russet arms folded, an exasperated voice sounding. "Let's just get out of here."

"Well..." Alpha Blaine shifted awkwardly on his feet. "We did bring flowers..."

"Oh." Finn blinked.

"Do you want us to come with you?"

"If you want to... though someone probably ought to stay here to make sure nothing happens to the jeep..." Finn closed his eyes, pulling Genesis behind him as he strode towards the centre of the ruins, towards where the gigantic slab of granite or dome other hard rock wall had been placed.

Genesis soon found out the reason for it.

It was a memorial.

"Don't tell me..." She whispered, staring at the two engraved names Finn was running his hand over.

Eunice Garraway.

Fredrick Garraway.

"My parents."

There was no other way to describe it.

Genesis's heart shattered.

"They lived here..." He sighed, spinning around to face her...

There was just one problem.

Genesis was gone.

"Genesis?!"

"She ran off..." Rylan mumbled, confusion written across his face.

"We can find her in a minute." Blaze sighed, pulling ivy from the grey stone, freezing as he spotted what was engraved at the top of the huge slab of granite. "Actually, Rylan... You might want to take Finn back to the car..."

"What about my mate?!"

"I'll find her." Blaze said, his blonde brows knotted together.

"I think we should do as he says." The Alpha King said, having spied the horrified look on his face.

"But-"

His pleas fell on deaf ears, Rylan dragging him back to the car without much trouble, leaving Blaze staring at the inscription in shock.

In memory of the people who died in the Flirit Massacre.

That wasn't what had made Blaze freeze, though.

It was the four characters that came before the word people.

A number.

1471.

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