An empty house could never really be a home. With each season that passed, it seemed things were changing faster and faster. One thing stayed the same though; The feeling of emptiness, as if things would never be the same, remained. The thought of missing how things once were stained in Ryan's mind.

Every time he tried to continue working, he just didn't feel like it. He'd get as far as getting to his workshop and picking up his tools. Then, staring down at a piece of wood, he'd feel drained. He'd turn his back away and head home. With that type of pattern, it was no shock he ended up selling the house and moving in with Ghost and Ricky.

Ryan carefully set the plates in his hand on the table. The sound of a child's laughter and sweet music was simple noise in his ears. Anymore, he just felt like he was floating through like. Nothing was keeping him grounded, but nothing was allowing him to continue upward. One thing that did manage to catch his attention was a door slamming.

He raised his head, seeing Maxine storming out of Felix's bedroom. She was in the midst of pulling on her shirt as she rushed to get out of the house. Her boyfriend quickly emerged from his room in only his jeans. To try to be decent around his family, he pulled on his button down while he talked.

"Babe, please, I'm sorry!" He pleaded for her forgiveness, "I didn't mean it!" Felix grabbed her coat off the wrack before she could. "Please, don't go."

Maxine was prepared to rip his head off but reminded herself she was in front of his family. She grabbed her coat from him with a yank. "I'm done talking about this. It's obvious you still love her. Why else would you keep her pictures? I'm not mad that you love someone else. I'm mad you keep trying to force our relationship and refuse to admit it. I'm done."

With that, she slammed the door behind her. The whole room stared, which only made it worse. It was insult to injury. He looked across the room, seeing his parents, little sister, and sister-in-law in the living room. Then, his older brother and uncle back in the kitchen. Great, the whole family got to see him get dumped. As if this whole situation wasn't awful enough. Embarrassed, he rushed back into his room.

Ghost stood up from the couch slowly, "Maybe I should go talk to him."

"Honey, stay out of his business." Ricky replied as sweetly as he could, "He wouldn't talk to us anyways. Maybe..." He glanced back at Ryan.

He sighed, "Yeah, I will, if someone else finishes setting the table."

"I will." Kitty replied, glancing down at the toddler beside her, "You want to help me?"

Of course the baby blood sucker agreed. She absolutely adored Kitty, as any young girl would. The two walked over to finish what Ryan had started, while he was sent to do damage control. Age can't change the fact that teenagers are teenagers. Yeah, obviously Felix isn't in his teen years anymore, but he still faces young struggles.

Ryan opened the door quietly, closing it behind him gently. "You know," He started out, "I don't know why they sent me to talk to you because I'm hopeless with women."

Felix sat up on his bed, quirking an eyebrow, "Seriously? You just look at women and you can get them in bed."

"I've slept with a lot of women but that's hunting. Actual dating? I haven't been on a date that was intended to lead to a relationship in a very, very long time." He took the desk chair and turned it around, slowly sitting down. "So, what'd you do wrong?"

"I called her the wrong name during sex. It's not the first time I accidentally called her... that."

"Called her what?" He asked.

He hesitated, considering it'd be a very long time since he dared to say that name out loud. "Marci." He muttered.

"That's the girl, then? The one you left behind in Vanaheim?"

"How'd you know about that?"

Ryan snickered under his breath as he leaned back, "I've got my ways. An old friend of Chris' is a native there. She told us about it the last time we saw her. I heard the story from her, but I'd much rather like to hear your version."

"It's not an easy story for me to tell." Felix replied.

"I may not have lost the love of my life, but I've lost three of my brothers. I know what it feels like to lose a loved one. It feels like your fucking insides got ripped out." He said, "I understand, okay?"

He sighed, pulling his knees up to his chest. Felix relaxed his back against the wall behind his bed as he continued, "Marci had a lot to be angry about. She never knew her mother, her father locked her away from the world. When she was sixteen, she ran away with the circus. People treated her like filth there. So it wasn't really a surprise when she became what she did. She was murdered when she was nineteen, and she manifested into a poltergeist.

She realized she couldn't control herself and isolated herself in a small house on a mountain in Jotunheim. When Cecil got us kicked out of Kitty's village, she suggested we go live with Marci. Her and Kitty were old friends and Kitty was worried about her being alone. When I met her, I honestly couldn't tell there was anything wrong with her. She had a few quirks but she didn't seem like the super dangerous evil spirit people made her out to be."

"And you fell in love with a ticking time bomb." Ryan spoke, a smirk playing at his lips, "You are your father's son."

"Marci was a lot worse than my mom. I could help her keep herself together enough, but she still needed a Hell of a lot more help. Back then, Cecil was a real fucking asshole and him and Kitty fought a lot. Obviously they're better now, but at the time, Marci couldn't handle having that much negative energy around her. I hated it too, so I decided to take her somewhere she could finally get some help. This was after the war, so I couldn't bring her to Hell. There was only one place I had a chance of helping her; Qrow Manor.

Vanaheim typically don't let in dark creatures, but there were a few that slipped through the cracks. This old vampire, probably older than Deacon even, offered to build a place for them. He said he'd pay for it out of his own pocket just so long as they gave him the okay to do it. So, he built an asylum for dark creatures that couldn't be trusted in the general public. They were more than willing to help Marci and offered me a job there so I could stay with her.

We were fine. We were happy," His frown deepened, "We were finally away from all the bullshit and she was finally able to be herself. Then one of the wildebeest somehow broke in. He did a lot of damage in trying to take me. The natives didn't want to take any chances and they banned me from ever entering the dimension again. My parents finally found me because Carmella had kidnapped me, and you know the story from there."

"If she really means that much to you, why haven't you tried to appeal the banishment?" He asked.

"I know it'd be useless. I'm a vampire. Even demons don't want us. It'd be one thing if it was a light creature trying to get unbanished, but not a dark creature. You get one chance up there and mine's gone."

Ryan sighed as he stood up, "For being the 'good' guys, light creatures can be dicks sometimes. There's gotta be a way to get you back there. I think better when I'm not hungry, though, so what'd you say we go get some dinner?"

Felix wasn't in the mood to eat but he knew better than to argue with his uncle. His parents taught him respect, of which has gotten him rather far in life. There are some things that are unpreventable. No matter how many good things we do, no matter how straight our ducks are in their little rows, life will always throw shit in our face.

That's a lesson it seems kids are learning younger and younger these days. Even little Annabelle, she probably only has a few years until she realizes how much the world hates her and her family. Ryan couldn't help himself from smiling just a little bit when he saw the little munchkin in her high chair. She was always happy. He was counting the days he had left until that disappeared.

| | |

A hum mused from Emerson's mouth as he tidied up his office. He ever so gently pushed the edge of a frame on the wall the straighten it. Scooping up some books off his desk, he began to place them on the shelf one by one. His back was turned to the door and it was rather quiet this afternoon. No matter how silence you were, you couldn't get past an elf.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Sitkowski." He cheerfully spoke as Ryan stood in the doorway, "It's been awhile."

"Sorry, I've just been under the weather, and just... Not really in the mood for people." He responded.

Emerson jumped up on his desk, crossing his ankles. "That's understandable. You've gone through a lot of change in the last two years. Change, it isn't that good for us as people think it is. But, you're not the kind to come to the doctor's for a consult. So, to what do I owe this visit?"

"I was hoping you could tell me a little bit about a place in Vanaheim called Qrow Manor." He replied.

His smile flattened upon the words Ryan had spoken. It was rare Emerson could ever be silenced or shocked. Shock wasn't the right word for it. He was more so... Displaced by the mention.

"And why would you like to know about Qrow Manor?" He curiously questioned.

"It's where Felix was hiding out after the war for awhile. He left someone behind there that he can't live without. He's banished from Vanaheim, so I'm going to go back for him and get this girl. I just need to know what I'm walking into and I figured you of all people would know."

"Even I do not know much about it. It's relatively new. They started to build it in 2010, but it was not completed and opened until 2012. The man who built it had originally intended for it to be a safe house for vampires after the war, but it quickly became a dumping ground for creatures who were mentally unstable. He accepted this change and transformed it into an asylum."

"Felix mentioned that the guy who founded the place was a vampire. He said he was probably older than Deacon." He responded.

"I wouldn't put it past him. His name is Jasper Knight. I've had the pleasure of meeting him a few times. He looks a lot more terrifying than he actually is. He's the warden of the asylum. There's doctors there too, and aids, but I don't know much about them. There's been plenty of rumors about the place but none that will stick. Supposedly there's murderers locked up in there, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. I can't imagine the natives would allow that."

"If they kicked out Felix because he attracted a little unwanted attention, I'm sure they certainly wouldn't let killers stay. Unless they treat it as a prison."

"I believe they may." Emerson said, "From what I've heard, there are a good amount of patients that most likely will never leave that place. There's plenty that have been discharged as well, but none killers, that I know of. I wouldn't worry too much. Jasper is a very reasonable gentleman. You'd have to be, in his line of work. Be careful of the natives, though. They do not like people like you and I."

"Dark creatures, you mean?"

He grinned devilishly, "No, no. Intelligent dark creatures, ones they can't manipulate. That'd be why they aren't too fond of Jasper. He's a smart son of a bitch."

"I hope he's as good of creature as you say he is. I'll need his help if I'm going to pull this off. Thank you for the help." Ryan replied.

"Anytime, my friend." Emerson hopped down from his desk. "And, when you return from your trip, please come and visit more. Ever since what happened, I never see any of you anymore."

"Ghost and Ricky have been busy with the baby, Cecil and Felix have been working a lot, and like I said before, I've been under the weather." Ryan spoke as he walked towards the front door.

The elf leaned on his office door frame, crossing his arms, "I understand. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"You too." He softly smiled, the bell above the door ringing as he pushed it open.

Emerson tried his best to stay positive for his friend. Once Ryan was gone, he let his smile fall with a sigh. Things did change a lot in the last two years, and not for the better. At least the others still had their spouses, but Ryan? He had no one to lean on. Maybe a trip away for a little while is just what he could use.