Angela pressed out her skirt with her hand for the hundredth time. The importance the warden had placed upon tonight had made her nervous. She was already a perfectionist as is, which made her the ideal maid. The unfortunate downfall of that was she was in constant worry that nothing was as good as it could be.

"You look lovely tonight." Ryan commented as he walked into the entry way.

She turned around to face him, "Thank you, but I don't have time for games tonight. Someone very important is coming to visit."

"Or so I've heard." He replied with a sigh, "Fine, I'll stay out of your way."

A knock at the door peaked his interest while it only skyrocketed her nerves. Angela opened the door slowly and greeted their guests with a smile. Ryan ducked into the nearest hallway to spy. He was very curious as to who this super important visitor was. Imagine his surprise, and honestly disappointment, when he laid his eyes on someone who'd lacked esteem in his eyes. It's not that he didn't respect the guest, but he'd lost the ability to be starry eyed. 

"Ricky," He spoke as he walked towards the front, "What are you doing here and why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"It was a very last minute decision." He sneered, glaring at Deacon, "And asshole here won't tell me why he dragged me along. All he told me was since Chris left his position to me when he died, I was responsible for carrying out his duties. Yadda yadda. I miss Chris terribly but even from the grave he's finding ways to be a pain in my ass."

Ryan laughed lightheartedly, "That's our Chris, though."

"I guess so." He sighed.

"We'll talk more later. I'd love to catch up, but the two of us have a meeting we're due at." Deacon said.

"You said it yourself, Chris was a very great man with a position that wasn't easy to fill. Wouldn't you agree he was noble enough to need two people to take on his responsibilities?" Ricky smirked.

He narrowed his eyes, "I believe you're going to prove to me more of a nuisance to me than Chris was. You're a necessary nuisance but still a fucking nuisance." Deacon sighed, "Very well, you may join us for the meeting."

"Thank you." He smiled cockily, "And why is it that when I come here they put me to work, but when you come they kiss your ass and roll out the red carpet?" 

"I guess that's one of the few good things of being head of our family." Ricky replied, snickering.

"Right this way." Angela spoke as she began to walk down the left hall.

Of course Ryan watched her ass as she walked. He did also take note of the fact that they were headed in the direction of Rest Point. So, that's what one of the rooms is used for, then? For super top secret meetings? He took note of that fact but he was still curious to know what else was in these walls.

"By the way, remember when you said two days?" Ryan quietly said to his best friend.

"Yeah?" Ricky inquired, looking the maid up and down.

"Try more like two hours." He whispered.

He rolled his eyes playfully, "What an idiot I was, thinking you'd be a little rusty."

Ryan laughed under his breath. They continued into the meeting room, of which was yet to be occupied. Paris, dressed in his good clothes as apposed to his more relaxed attire he usually dawned, poured fresh tea for their guests. He mixed in blood to each tea cup and set them down in front of the vampires as they took their seats. Angela left the room quickly to go wait on the final guest. 

"Devin wasn't happy I got to come here and he didn't." Ricky stated, "I know he will eventually but trust me, I'll be hearing about this one for a long time. How are my boys?"

"Better than great. The only true reason they're here is because they have unstable souls, so they have to be monitored. Other than that, they're fine, so they help out around here a lot. Tokyo is just as spry as always." He laughed, but let it fall quickly, "Ricky, there was something I didn't tell you. I didn't think it was right to say it over the phone."

"I knew there had to be a catch. We wouldn't be lucky enough to get our kids back without there being an issue." He replied.

"It's nothing wrong with London and Tokyo. They're fine, but they weren't the only ones to be born with the defect that kept them from moving on. Ripper and Knox were too, and they're here too, but I didn't tell Ghost because their conditions aren't nearly as good. In fact, you'd probably have trouble recognizing them now."

"Oh, God," Ricky rested his hand over his mouth. He closed his eyes, murmuring, "Thank you for not telling him. It'd destroy him."

The sound of the door opening forced him to straighten out. Ricky returned to a proper posture as the very respected warden entered the room. The three doctors followed him and took their seats at the grand table. Shae and Micah were now dressed as servants should, with their own flair of course. The two stayed posted on either side of Jasper's chair at the head of the table.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Deacon. It's been so long." He respectfully said.

"That, it has, old friend. I'm sure you're already well acquainted with Ryan, but please allow me to introduce the new head of the Cerulli family, Ricky. He served as Chris' right hand man for many, many years and he will be taking Chris' place. And now, Ryan serves as his aid."

"It is a pleasure. I must know, did Chris ever mention a word of any of this to you?"

Ricky snit, "Well, I still don't really know what "this" is, so I'll go with no."

"He was a man of many secrets." Beau commented.

"We all are, Beau." Finch said softly.

Jasper disregarded their talk, continuing on to an explanation, "We are a secret society dedicated to protecting certain hidden matters. We once were more diverse but following many unfortunate events, we've become purely vampires, along with a few stray acceptations." He tapped his ring finger on the table, "Speaking of, where is that damn elf?"

Angela reopened the door to allow their final guests in. His ears must've been burning after Jasper's remark. With his maniac smile plastered on his face, Emerson entered the room, flamboyant as ever. Before Paris could set his tea down at his place, he swiped it away. Emerson wasn't ever one for formality. He ignored where he should've been sitting and jumped up to the mantel of the fire place. 

Trailing in behind him was the witch who brought him here. After all, he couldn't have teleported across realms without a little help. Regardless, she too was a member of the society and a familiar face to Ricky and Ryan.

Jasper sighed, "You continue to be... Very unique, Emerson."

The elf swung his legs, sipping his tea. "Why, thank you! Now, where's Maria?"

"That is, unfortunately, the reason we've held this meeting so suddenly and urgently. As of yesterday afternoon, Mrs. Brink has been murdered." He solemnly said. 

A few gasps filled the room, but leave it up to Ryan to be the one to break the silence. "I'm sorry to be disrespectful, but what's so important about it? It seems a little drastic to call this huge meeting just for that."

"This is why I don't like new people." Colton muttered.

"Colton, please." Jasper scorned, "Show some respect. It was Chris' choice to keep this aspect of his life secret and it is our choice to honor and respect his decision. Many, many centuries ago there was a massive war between the nine realms. It was catastrophic. Even the Gods feared it would only end in the extrication of our existence. Somehow, through victories and settlements, there was a peaceful end, but it cast fear into the titans.

They believed if it were to happen again, the only way to end it would be with help from the other side. So, using their power, they created four gems. When these gems are combined they will open a portal to the afterlife. They entrusted the gems to us to hide and protect. It was so drastic that we agreed to not even tell each other the locations we'd chosen from fear of corruption among our own. Maria was one of the keepers and I fear this has everything to do with the gems."

"Who are the other keepers?" Ricky asked.

"Emerson and his brothers protect the lightening stone. Finch was the original keeper of the wind stone, but when he was nearly killed, it went missing. A demon prince once protected the rain stone and following his death, Chris was able to locate it and take it. Unfortunately when he died, we have no idea what he did with the damn thing." Ash explained. 

"Great. So you have the keys to the afterlife and you only know where one of them is!" Ryan sarcastically remarked. Then he glanced over at the giggly elf, "You do know where it is, don't you?"

"Yes, of course! I have put a lot of effort into finding the rain stone. I searched through your house thoroughly but could never locate it." 

Ricky's eyes doubled in size, "When did you search our house?"

He waved a hand dismissively, "Oh, well, that's not important." 

"You're being rather quite." Colton told his brother.

"Just thinking, that's all." Finch replied in his delicate voice, "It came as a coincidence that Chris and Emerson ended up so close to each other. Maybe the gems are drawn to each other's power."

"What are you getting at?" Beau asked.

"The wind stone, maybe it could've been drawn near to the others. Maybe they're all close to one another." He suggested.

"It would help if we knew what they looked like. Maybe we know where Chris' is and we just haven't realized it." Ricky replied.

Emerson hopped down from his post on top of the fireplace. He pulled his assorted pearls out from beneath his shirt and showed the black coffin shaped jewel. 

"I have seen this before," Ricky spoke as he looked over to Ryan, "His coffin ring."

He studied the gem their elf friend held, muttering, "I've seen this before too, somewhere else..." 

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A/N: Any guesses as to where Ryan's seem the stone?