Xiumin sighed softly as he watched his father interacting with the other council members. While he normally liked hanging out at council meetings, now he wasn’t sure who he could trust. Just because he had the loyalty of the vampire kids at school didn’t mean he had the loyalty of the vampires around the world. Or even just the ones on the council.

He hated having to be careful about what he said and did. Even in his own home he had to be careful. Just like in the council meeting chamber, he didn’t know who to trust. His father was fine, but what about the cooks and maids and butler? With whom did their loyalty lie? His family or the enemy?

“Don’t frown so much,” whispered Tiffany, one of the vampires he knew from school, “people will ask what’s wrong.”

“Right,” he nodded, “I was just thinking.”

“Don’t think,” she shrugged, “just…..watch. See if you notice anything weird.”

“Right,” he nodded again.

The pair fell silent and just watched the adults interacting with each other. It didn’t seem like anyone had a hidden agenda, nor did they interact with the teens watching from the sidelines. Xiumin wondered if maybe the vampire council was clear of the enemies influence. But then again they might just be really good at hiding. The enemy had to know that Sori was against them and that she was one of his closest friends.

Maybe they had figured out that they had to be careful around him. Maybe they knew not to try recruiting new members or talking business with Xiumin around to watch. Could it be that all their planning was being done behind closed doors? Doors that Xiumin couldn’t get on the other side of?

“Ouch,” Xiumin hissed when something dropped on his foot.

“You’re frowning again,” Tiffany sighed, “maybe you shouldn’t be here.”

“I was thinking that,” he nodded in agreement.

“I could always watch things here,” she suggested, “and you can join the ISBIP. Be with your friends.”

“Can’t do that,” he sighed, “if I join, I can’t sit on the council and, well, I want to fill my dad’s shoes one day.”

“That is a problem,” she patted his shoulder.

Xiumin just nodded, fighting off the urge to frown once more. He wished that he could go join his friends at the ISBIP base, leaving everything in Tiffany’s hands. But he couldn’t. If he joined the ISBIP there was no going back. When everything was over, when they’d won against their enemy, Xiumin wanted to go back to life how it was. But being an agent meant that he couldn’t do that.

It was a horrible position he found himself in. the very definition of ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’. If he wasn’t at the ISBIP base, he might not be able to help his friends. But if he was there he’d end up stuck there for the rest of his life. Well, assuming he survived the big final battle of course. He could very well die in the fight and then it didn’t matter if he could go home or not.

“Don’t worry,” Tiffany reminded him, “everything will work out.”

“How do you know?”

“Well,” she said, looking thoughtful, “didn’t Kris tell you that everything would be fine over the phone? You should trust him.”

“Yeah,” Xiumin said after a moment, a small smile starting to form on his face, “you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right,” she rolled her eyes playfully.

--

Heesun dropped into the empty seat between Chen and Kai, deep scowl on her face.

“Don’t frown so much,” Chen teased, “your face will freeze like that.”

“Shut up,” she hissed before remembering that she was talking to a friend and not a sibling, “sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Kai smiled at her, hoping to make her feel better, “you’re just stressed.”

“My parents don’t want to let me go back to Dark Lake when it reopens,” Heesun explained, playing with the end of her braid as she avoided looking at the shocked looked on her friend’s faces.

“What?” Chen questioned, sure that he’d heard her wrong.

“Don’t worry about it,” she shrugged, arms crossed and eyes locked on the wall, “I’ll end up going back. One way or another I’m not leaving Dark Lake.”

“Good,” Chen sighed, “even if we didn’t need you for what’s going to come, you’re our friend and we can’t lose you.”

“I know,” she nodded, glancing over at him, “don’t worry about me.”

“Have you noticed anything at home?” Kai asked.

“No,” she shook her head, “just the normal stuff.”

“Maybe you’re parents aren’t involved,” Chen suggested, not sure that that would make Heesun feel better or not.

“Maybe,” she nodded, “but that would kind of make things……I don’t know. Better? Easier? I honestly don’t know.”

“It doesn’t make things better,” Chen told her, looking away from the other two, “I didn’t think it would make things so hard, but…….what do you know? It makes things harder than I ever thought.”

“Sorry,” she patted his shoulder lightly, hoping to make him feel a little better.

“Don’t worry about it,” Chen shrugged, “it isn’t your fault.”

Kai just sat there silently. Chen was right. Knowing that their father was evil didn’t make anything easy. They still hated him for everything he had done to them over the years, but knowing that their father was evil and had a part in the attacks that had almost killed two of their friends and hurt another…….

“Wonder how the others are doing,” Chen wondered out loud, deciding that a change of topic was in order if they wanted to rid themselves of the depressing atmosphere that had fallen around them.

--

Jessica sat in the window seat in her room, looking outside at her uncle and aunt’s house. This was always what she hated most about being at home. Every time she looked out her window, she was reminded of what had happened to her beloved cousin. She couldn’t understand why her aunt and uncle did what she did. How could they give up their child just because she was powerful?

 To make things worse, she had to watch as Sori’s little brother had the kind of life that Sori had never gotten. She didn’t think the boy knew Sori existed, the family making a point of never mentioning his big sister’s name while he was around. Jessica hadn’t told Sori about him either, knowing that it would only upset the other to learn that not only did her parents have another child but they had never told him about her.

It looked and sounded like they had wiped any trace of Sori’s existence from their lives. Knowing that would kill Sori even if she’d publicly stated that she wanted nothing to do with her parents. Despite everything, Sori still loved them even if that love was hidden deep within her heart where no one could see it. If she thought for even a second that the love wasn’t returned, that they really didn’t care about her………

Jessica wasn’t going to be the one to tell Sori about her brother and bring her that kind of realization.

“Hey,” Krystal said, joining Jessica in the window seat.

“Hey,” Jessica nodded slightly, still watching her uncle playing with his son.

“One of these days we have to tell her,” Krystal pointed out.

“No we don’t,” Jessica replied, “it will kill her. Shatter her.”

“But it will hurt her more if she realizes that we’ve kept this from her,” the younger girl reminded the older, “and don’t you think that will hurt her more?”

“Yeah,” Jessica sighed, “after everything is done, we’ll tell her.”

“Wonder if we should tell him, too,” Krystal said, a small smirk on her face.

“Why?” Jessica blinked.

“Doesn’t he deserve to know about his sister?” Krystal shrugged, “and it’s not like they can hide it from him forever. Didn’t he ask to attend Dark Lake with us when we go back? Isn’t going to take him long to figure out that Sori is family.”

“True,” Jessica’s face started to twist into a smirk that mirrored her sister’s.

“How much longer do you think it will take before he realizes he has a big sister?”

“With us around?” Jessica laughed, “not very long.”

A/N: our poor werewolves. At least Xiumin is mostly fine. And Sori has a brother? Well, this is going to an experience for her, huh? Now for some important news. From the 20^th of December until the 3^rd (more like 2^nd ‘cuz I’ll be posting a chapter on the 3^rd) of January, I’m going to be taking time off. It’s Christmas and I’m going to be doing a lot of family things (like a lot). I want my family to be my main focus during this time period, so writing is going to play second fiddle for a while. I will be back on the 3^rd with a new chapter, promise.