"They say we are what we are/ But we don't have to be/ I'm bad behavioured but I do it in the best way/ I'll be the watcher of the eternal flame/ I'll be the guard dog of all your fever dreams/ 'Cause we could be immortals/Just not for long, for long/ Live with me forever now/ Pull the blackout curtains down/ Just not for long, for long/ We could be immortals//

-Immortals

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"Daddy, look!" Olalla chuckled, pointing to the gap in between her teeth. "My tooth fell out". Dance spun around, leaving the various documents sitting on his desk, and smiled.

"That's my girl! Never know the tooth fairy might come, so put it on your pillow tonight, okay?" Dance answered, and Olalla nodded profusely back at his question. Such was the life of a five year old, believing in imaginary creatures, when the only monsters were the ideals of man. And though Dance didn't believe in fairies or rabbits that brought you chocolate, he found great amusement in his daughter's excitement over them, and went out of his way to encourage her. He was sure that he could find some shapeshifter to be a tooth fairy for the night, as Keres would probably decline. Olalla suddenly stopped, her face dropping into a look of almost despair, then looked at Dance with worried eyes.

"But what if she doesn't come?"

"And why wouldn't she?"

"The man outside said I was a m-mon..." Olalla started, and Dance growled under his breath. She didn't have to finish for him to know what had happened. She had seen a human outside the borders of Tenebrae, and he had said that she was a monster. Planted seeds of doubt in her head. "Is that bad, Daddy? Am I... bad?"

"You're the best one around, sweetheart. And people who claim that they're evil are usually no worse than anyone else. It's people who claim that they're good, or any way better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of. So don't be scared of being bad. Because humankind may go about their everyday lives thinking we are what's wrong with the world, but however much they believe in their light, their pureness, there will always be shadows. And there will always be jealously. So never let anyone say you are bad, Olalla, because you are better than all of them".

"Thank you, Daddy", Olalla murmured, going up to hug Dance, but only managing to reach his leg. "Love oo". Dance chuckled, reaching to hug her back, and turned his head to the side with a small smile.

That's when Olalla woke up, still covered in lilac coloured bedsheets, her blonde hair cascading over the bed frame. The clock on the wall read ten o'clock in the morning and the dully shining sun flickered through the window. Turning to get out of bed, the cold draught that escaped from under the door bit at her ankles, so she decided to take the bedcovers with her, slung across her shoulders. She noticed the wounds on her arms had now faded to faint silvery scars. Tip-toeing on the oak wood of her bedroom floor, she opened the door with a loud squeak and went to walk down the stairs. Well, she got to the first step, and then almost tripped over Ravi, who was sitting there.

"Oh, you're awake. Finally", he exclaimed, turning around to face her.

"How long was I out?" Olalla asked back, walking down the stairs towards the living room. Ravi followed her, taking care not to trip over the trailing duvet cover that covered the stairs in an ocean of purple.

"Two days flat", Ravi replied, and Olalla nodded. It was less than last time. Taking the decanter off the table, she filled a glass up with gin, only to have it plucked from her hands by Ravi.

"I think you're underage, buzzkill", Olalla commented, lifting an eyebrow.

"I'm under strict instructions by Garson not to let you touch alcohol".

"Do you think I'm an alcoholic or something? 'Cause Garson and Maggie swing the stuff back".

"Not at ten o'clock in the morning, they don't", Ravi muttered, noticing how much he sounded like Garson. He guessed he must be rubbing off on him. "And anyway, they're not in, so I have to keep my promise to look after you".

"Where are there?"

"They're... in MIO". Olalla pondered it for a moment, then it dawned on her why they were there.

"Bella".

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The crumpled body of Bella Charming lay resting on a stone alter. Various inscriptions were carved onto the side of it in some ancient language - Latin perhaps? The only two representatives of MIO there were Sackler and Lily. Bulstrode had decided against going, just due to the fact Joshua Silverlight would keep asking him for payment. Besides, he had sent his two best agents; what would he have to worry about? Maggie and Garson stood to the side of them, looking rather blissful, with Joshua Silverlight, an almost god-like presence in the room. He wore skinny pinstriped trousers, a long, dark violet, trench coat, and black dress shoes. On his wrists were cast-iron bracelets and he wore long pendents engraved with swirling patterns. His black hair was gelled back in waves and on every finger was a scaly, silver ring. Eyes gold and slit down the middle like a lizard's, they shot around the room, casting glances at the other people.

"Shall I begin?" he asked in a low tone. Maggie nodded slightly with a small smile, along with Lily. Closing his fingers into a fist, it ignited with a cyan flame, and he traced a nail around the alter. It left a deep gash in the wood flooring and Lily faltered slightly when she saw the damage he was doing to the building.

"You are sure about this now, aren't you?" Sackler asked quietly to Lily. She didn't take her eyes off the warlock who was now starting to trace symbols. She didn't do it out of desire or infatuation, why, it was the opposite in fact. If Bulstrode heard they had let a monster loose in London, she knew who would be blamed - and it wasn't going to be Sackler.

"I believe he is able to do it, but I don't trust him one bit", she murmured a reply. "If he tries to escape, shoot him dead. And that's an order". Sackler didn't answer. Joshua then paused, hands hovering by his sides, then began chanting some foreign language. The gashes in the floor then started glowing a bright red, like lava, and flames began to flicker against the sides of the alter. Eyes a bright gilded colour, he looked rather stern for a moment, eyebrows furrowed into concentration, then turned towards Lily.

"It is done", he said simply, a small smile crossing his face. "Ma'am".

"I hate to be a non-believer, as such, but she doesn't look very... resurrected", Lily replied to him, shooting a doubtful look. Joshua just laughed.

"You take me for a fool, Miss Carew. You think I would walk into a place where I am not wanted and not give myself a safety net? I am not some simple magician that you can dispose of so easily, though that would make your life so much easier, wouldn't it?"

"Name your price, Silverlight. What is it you want so desperately?"

"The moment I walked in here I was a dead man. I risked a lot to save your little friend here, and I'm surprised that the demon council hasn't had my head for using magic for human reasons-"

"Hold on, 'demon council'?" Sackler repeated, gripping his shotgun a little tighter.

"A warlock is a child of a mortal and a greater demon. It's unsurprising that they live under their own kind's rules", Lily explained, not taking her eyes off Joshua for one second.

"Explain to me then why a mortal, a human just like you, is forced to perform an illegal resurrection spell and then is to be shot for their trouble", the warlock argued, spying the shine of the shotgun barrel near Sackler's leg "So, yes, I put myself a safety net down. Miss Charming will only awaken when I am outside of the building and happy that I've had my payment".

"We've given you what you asked for", Sackler replied. Maggie looked on, rather disturbed at the sudden change in events and the fact that her hopes of getting her grandson back may be scuppered prematurely.

"Oh, please, you think yourself so big with your Home Secretary father, and your pistol. But you know nothing, Lily Carew. I can find jewels, women, whatever I want anywhere. I want something a little more valuable".

"Name your price".

"The Jekyll Ring. It has... ancestral value".

"As in?"

"Do you really not know?" Joshua lulled, his tone of voice dropping very darkly. Everyone just looked at him blank-faced and he chuckled. "Its real name is the Veneficus Sanguinem, and it is made from every last drop of the high warlock of London's blood".

"But... that's you", Maggie commented, noticing a small stir from Bella.

"That was my father, Oscar Silverlight, a great man. Who gave his life for a MIO plaything", Joshua said grimly. He looked downwards, slowly clenching his fingers together. "I don't want to end up the same way. I'm seen as a monster and, if I really am, I want to die among monsters".

"What will you do with it?"

"I don't know. Bury it, I suppose. Perhaps give my father the dignity he deserves".

"It's yours", Maggie exclaimed, and didn't notice Olalla slip in behind Sackler, closely followed by Ravi.

"That may be a problem", Olalla lulled, making Lily jump slightly.

"And why's that?" Joshua asked her, wondering why the woman in front of her was covered in blood, but had no wounds. The only thought that came to him was that she was some serial murderer, fresh off the streets from her latest kill, until he could smell vampire all of a sudden, and it all made sense.

"It's... been taken. By my brother".

"What!" Joshua shouted, and for in a moment, lost control of his hold on Bella, unable to recapture it. He then recognised who this girl actually was; he had heard about her from someone. Olalla Hyde, Captain Dance's adopted daughter. He knew he had to walk carefully. "You let a Hyde take it?"

"Hey, that's what I am", Olalla answered, and soon enough, the whole room descended into almost an argument between kinds. Nobody noticed Bella's emerald eyes shooting open for the first time in a month, the look of confusion as she saw the decorative black and white ceiling, then the life returning to her limbs one at a time. Sitting up, the argument quietened to almost silence, and she just darted from person to person, not quite finding the words to express her puzzlement.

"What the f-?"

"Miss Charming", Sackler interrupted, before she could finish her sentence, which he suspected would end blasphemously. "Welcome to the real world".

"Sorry, I have just one question", Bella started, straightening out the fabric of her red cocktail dress. "Who is he?" she asked, pointing to Joshua in front of her. "Who are you? Where am I and what the 'ell is going on?"

"You may experience some tumult during your recovery", Sackler replied.

"No, no. I don't want to 'ear it from you. Garson?" she said, pointing her attention towards the said associate.

"Um, there's no other way of saying this", he started, dipping his head slightly. "You've been dead for four weeks". Bella just chuckled.

"You're joking me, right?"

"I- uh".

"I mean the last thing I remember was that I was on the balcony with Robert, and..." Bella replied, pondering the night, then the sudden realisation dawning on her. "Oh Christ. I'm dead. Why aren't I dead?"

"We need you, Bella. One last bout", Garson exclaimed. "It's Hyde. He's missing". Bella didn't answer, just looked on, and it was almost like you see her heart breaking inside her chest.

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