Wyatt took them through streets filled with houses that looked almost the same. They passed by a couple of small shops packed with people, men and women on horses galloping to where they needed to be. Benji had even seen someone pass him riding a Minos. A demon bull with a spiked ball at its tail and spikes on its hooves. The beast's pair of eyes gleamed a familiar silver, staring right at Benji before it snorted and the light dimmed from its eyes.

     After having been to three cities, Benji had noticed the lack of vehicles. There weren't any cars or motorcycles - although he had seen bicycles. As far as transport went, there were mostly horses and beasts.

"You people walk a lot here," Silas said as he watched the minos go with its owner. "Or you ride scary animals."

"Yeah. You guys have those car things right?" Wyatt gave Silas a look before leading them down a corner into a place that looked an awful lot like an alleyway. "We can't use machinery that might be harmful to the atmosphere because it will weaken the white witch and if that happens, everyone will suffer the consequences."

"So, everyone is connected to her or...?" Benji came to a halt when the man in front of him did.

"In a way we are but in a way we aren't," he answered vaguely, then gestured with his hand for them to remain put. He continued in a hushed tone as he reached for his firearms underneath his white T-shirt, "This world is filled with Magic. It's in the air, it's on the earth, it's everywhere. But for that to happen, my mother must be in this world."

     The alley was eerily silent except for the occasional drips from a split pipe Benji had seen when they had turned and Edgar's oddly loud breathing. Wyatt took a step forward, and Edgar asked before he could say a word, "What's going on?"

     Wyatt glanced at him with a look but kept a finger to his lips, warning them to be quiet and Benji frowned in confusion, though, he didn't say anything and played along, following closely behind Wyatt as he kept the gun he held at a distance from his body.

"If she's not here, the world might die. The key word there is might. Honestly, no one knows what would happen if she were to leave. However, she is the key to power. And not just these tats on your body, I mean ultimate power."

"And you're telling us this because?"

Silas' question was exactly what Benji had been thinking; since he had been bitten by the fang, he had been wondering why the witch had given them the runes. The reason everyone said out loud was protection, but Benji had a feeling there was more to it than that. There was something they were hiding. Something that meant that the witch had to give them the runes before disappearing. And that something, Benji was going to get it out of Wyatt.

"Because I want you to know." Then he turned to look at the three of them. "And I hope you get that twisted idea that all you are going to have here is fun out your head because the moment you start adjusting with your beast, it's going to be a reality."

Wyatt rushed into the next corner before any of the boys could move and when Benji took to his feet, a breeze brushed passed him and he heard someone scream behind him.

"Silas!" Edgar shouted just as something pushed the curly haired boy against a wall. Silas' head smacked against it and he gave out a helpless grunt.

Benji stopped in his spot and his heart sped up when he heard a couple of gunshots echoing in the corner Wyatt had entered.

"What is going on?" Benji asked himself out loud as he turned to see the thing that had run past him and was currently holding Silas against a wall.

     It was still bright afternoon, yet the shades from the rooftops of the tall apartments made the alleyway look dark and frightening. Benji hadn't even bothered to ask why Wyatt had taken them through that route. Sadly, now wasn't the time to be thinking about that.

     The 'thing' was a buff man with smooth black hair and he snarled at Silas, who paled, flashing his long fangs at him.

A Vampire.

"Vampire," Benji repeated the word that echoed in his head.

The buff man met Benji's eyes and he snarled louder, tightening his grip on Silas' neck. "Tell your friend not to hurt mine and this little guy won't die."

     There was nothing about the way he dressed that would have indicated that he was a vampire, but the way his eyes glowed red, similar to the ones he had seen on the Fang and the way his skin had become ashen confirmed it.

"Let him go!" Edgar took a step towards him and the man quickly looked away from Benji to glare at him. But his eyes didn't stay on him long.

     Those weird red eyes came back on Benji and he instantly felt the hostility, as if the man thought him more dangerous than Edgar. Benji frowned, taking a step back and the man snarled.

"Give us our friend back. We've got nothing to do with you," Edgar said again as he went closer and Benji wondered if he was really going to attack the vampire.

You're a vampire too. You should be the one attacking.

Benji took another step away from the men. He was feeling something...something weird. Something didn't feel right, and it wasn't because of the situation. This was about him.

That's right. You can feel it, can't you?

     A couple more shots rang and Edgar continued to negotiate with the Vampire as if he was going to listen. Benji knew the man wouldn't. He could feel it, sense it. The vampire didn't want to bargain for his friend's life anymore. The way he stared coldly at Silas said it all. He was going to bite Silas. He wanted to kill Silas.

     A strong smell hit Benji and he froze, glancing at the pathway Wyatt had passed through. There were two men on the floor bleeding with their hands tied behind their backs by a zip rope. The path led out to the street, but the people walking down the road didn't dare glance in. Something wasn't right. What was going on?

Benji looked back at his friends just when Wyatt passed through the building's wall in front of them. He pressed the gun to the Vampire's head and pulled the trigger without a warning. The shot echoed in the empty alleyway making Benji clutch his ears.

     Watching the Vampire fall to the ground, Benji saw Wyatt check over Silas to see if he was okay before squatting to get a necklace from around the monster's neck.

Edgar quickly rushed to hold Silas, his brows furrowing worriedly at the red mark around his neck. Edgar placed a hand on the curly haired boy's back as he coughed loudly then said to Wyatt when he had calmed down, "Please start explaining."

Wyatt huffed and stood up. He raised a finger at Edgar and Silas, asking them to give him a minute then walked past Benji to the two undead men in the other alley. He heaved them over his shoulder with no problem then brought the bodies to drop beside the other dead one. Wyatt opened his hand and another white zip rope appeared on it. He tied up the last vampire before sighing and turning to them.

"These are vampires."

"We noticed that. Why were they here? Why did you kill them? And did you just pass through the wall?" Edgar asked curiously.

"First off, Vampires aren't allowed this far east. They've got a bad reputation and the ones that do get this far, are rogues. Secondly, Xavier and I have a wanted sign on our backs because of a vampire clan that wants to use us to get to my mother. Remember what I told you about my mom and ultimate power? ...Yeah." He nodded and wiped the blood from his hands onto his jeans. "And yes, I can pass through walls. I am a stealth. A ghost panther. You know what that is right?"

Benji did. A stealth was a black panther said to be able to move through walls and three tails that could extend at will. Benji hadn't seen him with his tail so he could never have guessed. Stealths were one of the few beings that could easily shift from their human forms to their animal forms.

Benji would have loved to respond to that since he had been doing some reading from the beast book Reina had given them but a sudden heat rushed through his body, and it only grew hotter as he perceived the smell of the undead's blood. His throat closed up and he choked, not able to breathe or even call for help.

"Benji? Are you okay?"

The boy could only reply with a desperate attempt to say he wasn't. He gripped his throat and choked as he tried to claw his throat open. He was losing air and his body burned with a heat he had never felt before.

"Whoa! Whoa Whoa! What's going on?"

"Just drag one of the bodies towards him," Wyatt yelled.

Benji couldn't look up, he had dropped to his knees as he tried to breathe through his mouth. What was going on? What was wrong with him?

I did warn you to get blood, didn't I?

Benji couldn't tell who was talking. His own subconscious or Wyatt or Edgar or Silas. They all sounded the same and he cursed mentally as he slowly grew lightheaded. The ground was hard as Benji fell on it, his head bouncing on the cold concrete. It was as if time slowed as Benji laid there wondering if he was going to die. There was noise in the background, but he couldn't focus on anything other than the heavy footsteps.

Loud. That was all he could make of them.

The next time Benji's eyes opened, he wasn't lying on the cold hard ground but standing in his mirror house, and the Fang was staring right back at him. The perfect form of himself the beast had was annoying yet, he was glad to see those red eyes hadn't turned brown like his.

The Fang sneered, eyeing Benji before he spoke, "How do you like how it feels to starve?"

"Stop saying that with my voice. I won't know the difference." Benji was surprised he could speak normally, and he touched his throat just to feel smooth skin as if a few minutes ago, he hadn't been clawing on it.

"I cannot. I look how you look. I speak how you speak. I know what you know." The beast hummed at the end then shook his head. "Nah, maybe I know a bit more than you since I live in this world."

That caught his interest. This world. Benji wanted to know about it, wanted to know why he was there. Why he had a feeling his existence in their world mattered.

Walking closer to the beast, he asked, "Why am I here?"

"Which part of 'here' are you talking about? Your subconscious or this realm?"

"This realm. Is this normally how they treat people who slip through the portal?"

The Fang cocked his head at that. "Not really. The old witch usually hunts them down and imprisons them in the mansion until a month passes. That is five months in the human world, right?"

"What?"

The Fang looked away from the nail he was admiring and smirked. "Wait, you didn't know about the time gap."

"I did but..."

"You didn't apply it to your length of stay in Domus?"

"I didn't realize..."

Benji took a step back, realization hitting him like an arrow. The people in Domus were five years younger. Like Xavier who was supposed to be 18 in the human world was 13. No wonder Benji knew nothing of the great war Silas always went on about. It happened almost 500 years ago.

"Oh my God."

"And look at you, thinking your existence was significant," the beast sneered, moving closer to the mirror until he could press a finger against the glass. "It would have been safer for you if you had remained in that mansion. If the witch has given you runes, then you are going to be one of her tools. Like her sons and her mage."

Benji ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't think properly again. The realization of the situation was making his world spin. Or could it be the lack of blood, making it turn? Benji didn't know and he fell to his knees as he felt the suffocation he had gone through earlier.

"Am I dying now?" He surprised himself when he spoke, but the pain was still there. The heat.

"Nope. You're just becoming conscious. By the way, drink a lot of what they give you. Less and you'll get hungry faster."

As Benji tried to look up at the Fang, a blinding light struck him and he choked as something liquid slid passed his lips to his jaw. His mouth suddenly overflowed with a liquid that tasted weird but good. He gripped the object that poured the tasty treat into his mouth and sucked on it, his heated body cooling quickly as it flowed through him.

"Easy there, Benji."

Someone ran their hand through his hair and he opened his eyes up at Wyatt whose green eyes stared intensely at him. Benji's eyes then fell on the pale hand in his grip and he turned to see the body of the buff man Wyatt had shot.

His blood ran cold at the thought of what he was doing and he jumped out of Wyatt's lap, pushing the undead body away from him. He scrambled away until he was at a safe distance from Wyatt, Edgar, Silas and the dead bodies.

His stomach twisted, desperate for another good taste of the blood but he was frozen scared. What was happening to him? Why did he like it?

"Benji?" Wyatt called calmly, lifting himself off the ground but Benji couldn't move. He wanted to run, run away from there but his eyes couldn't leave the bodies that laid on the floor. The bodies with the tasty blood.

Wyatt stopped moving halfway then turned to Edgar and Silas. "You guys, head back to the tower. I'll bring him back."

Edgar's forehead wrinkled worriedly, and he gave Benji a look before taking Silas' hand and leading him out the alleyway. When they were out of sight, Wyatt looked back at Benji, looking oddly amused and squatted before him saying, "I'm sorry for your first bite you had to take these guys. There's a Siren shop on the second step with blood that would make you drool. Don't look at me like I'm trying to make it worse, though. Have you seen your eyes?"

"What's wrong with my eyes?"

"They are red."