"Fuck," Ricky nearly moaned, "I forgot how good coffee tastes. How have we lived three years without it?"

"You don't need it in the dark elves realm. There's enough dark energy to keep you balanced. When you're stuck in a light realm like this, coffee replenishes your dark energy. Not a lot of people realize that." Deacon explained. His back was leaned against the tall bed post at the end of their mattress. He made sure to keep an eye out the window to watch the distance. 

"It's working wonders for me. That's for sure." Ghost replied, "I do think there's someone evil here but I'm not sure if it's Jasper. He might seem a little snake-y, but he is trying to protect the greater good. Never thought I'd say that about a demon. He explained to me that he has a demon soul, but over the years he's been transferring bodies to stay alive. That's why he's in a vampire's body."

"Where's he get the bodies? A soul transfer can only happen if the host of the new body is willing." Deacon said.

"He told me he makes pacts with creatures. He'll grant them some kind of wish and in return, when his current body starts dying, he gets theirs." 

"All the servants are contracted to him. It could be any one of them." Ryan responded, "Croc told me he can translate the pact if he can see it up close."

Ricky growled to himself, "That fucking idiot! I'm going to kick his fucking ass!"

"Who?" His wife questioned.

"Our son." He groaned, "He is one of the servants, after all. He admitted he made a pact with Jasper to stay with Marci. I swear, if he's the one that agreed to give his body to Jasper, I'm going to kill him so neither of them can have it!"

"You?! No, no, I'm the one that gave birth to him. I'm the one that gave life to him, I get to be the one that takes it away." Ghost added, even more angered than his husband.

Ryan sighed, "Calm down, you two. We don't know if it's him or not. Shae could've very well have done it to stay with Yuki as well. The other three, though, I have yet to figure out why they've come here. I have a theory about Micah though. This morning, Paris mentioned to me that he was Cajun."

"A vampire from the bayou." Deacon set his thin fingers on his chin in thought, "He very easily could've gotten himself mixed up with voodoo and would need a demon's help."

"Exactly. He's also made some bizarre comments about how he couldn't love Paris, even if he wanted to. Maybe that's because he's the one meant to be Jasper's next body." 

The eldest vampire took a drink of his coffee, then replied, "Logically, he'd chose the youngest body he could find. It would help if we could access the employee files and find out his birth date."

"I'm afraid those could be useless too. The doctor, Finch, he told me he had his body and soul separated from each other for five hundred years. According to his record, he was born in the eighteen hundreds when he's actually been around silence the twelve hundreds." Ricky said.

"That explains why he's still alive, and why Angelo thought he was dead." Ghost responded, "If Chris was apart of this society, though, he would've known that. The only reason he'd keep anything from us, and from Angelo especially, would be to protect us."

Ricky directed his attention to Deacon, asking, "You've always been very good at seeing people's true intentions. Do you think we can trust Jasper?"

"Strangely, yes, I believe we can. I've known him many, many years and he's never led us astray. For the three elves to trust him as well speaks in volumes. Anyone contracted to him would be trustworthy as well, considering they cannot go against his wishes. The doctors though, I'm not quite sure how I feel about them."

"Angelo trusted Finch a lot. At least, he made it sound that way when he talked about him." Ghost said.

Ricky set his coffee down on the nightstand. He got out of bed, pulling on a shirt that was thrown over a chair. "That was over seven hundred years ago, though. People can change in that amount of time. Plus, who knows how it could've effected him to have his body and soul disconnected."

"Then it's settled. Keep your guard up around them. As far as the society goes, that only leaves Ashley, whom we know very well that we can trust. What about the patients?" He glanced over at Ryan, "You've been the closest to them."

"He has them all branded, except for a few." Ryan spoke, "There's this sex crazed psychotic killer in Rest Point. His name is Asher. Then, this woman named Joan in the main ward. She's a witch that can't control her powers. And Ripper. Well, and I guess now Croc too. He told me he thinks Jasper may use the patients as a form of security. They may be unstable but good chunk of them are pretty fucking powerful, and this is their only home."

"Being branded doesn't make them trustworthy, though. Kuza was branded to Croc for years before he started to be loyal to him." Ricky swiped his coffee mug off the table and started to head for the door.

"Where are you going?" Ryan asked.

"To kick my son's ass." He replied, then started to grumble to himself, "I can't believe he'd be so fucking stupid, and for what? For a psycho girl?!..."

"I believe I should be going, as well. I could use some rest." Deacon said.

Ghost fell back into his pillow, muttering, "Same."

Ryan took a moment to pull the drapes shut again. Then he hurried to catch up with Deacon. In the past, that would've been hard. Now, though, he was shocked to see he hadn't gotten very far. Ryan never thought he'd see a day he'd be able to keep up with him.

"Are you okay? You don't look like you're doing very well."

He seeped a sigh, "I'm not. I'm afraid my age is started to catch up with me. Please, do not mention it to the others, though. Keep it between us."

"At least let me speak with one of the aids and see if they can do something to help you. I'm sure they have some kind of medication on stock that would help." Ryan responded.

Deacon reached his door, nearly falling into the wall as he did. "Very well, then." He managed to muster up one of his signature smirks, "If you insist."

He shook his head with a laugh, "You never change. Go get some rest."

"I am." He patronized Ryan.

The younger of the two rolled his eyes humorously and turned back down the hall. Ryan headed back to the kitchen to finally get himself some breakfast. Deacon managed to get himself in his room. He nearly collapsed on the ground, catching himself on the edge of the nightstand beside the bed. Looking down at his hands, he saw blood he'd coughed up.

In the silence only consumed by his heavy breathing, he heard a whisper, "My, how the mighty have fallen." Deacon's eyes darted up. He scanned the entire room, unable to sense a soul or see anyone. Maybe the illness consuming his dying body was finally reaching his brain. He chalked it up to hearing things, but he wanted to be safe. 

Deacon grabbed a cane he's so far been reluctant to use. He reopened his door and made the difficult trek to the other opposite hallway. By the time he reached Jasper's office, he felt like he was ready for a coffin. It came and went, thankfully. In a few hours he'd be somewhat better. This couldn't wait a few more hours, though. 

He knocked on the door, the warden answering a moment later. "You should be in bed," Jasper spoke, knowing very well his old friend was deteriorating, "What do you need?"

"I would like guard of some sort to monitor my room, if it isn't too much trouble. I've become rather concerned we're nearing the end. It is not to protect my life, but others." He explained.

His eyes were wide with concern. In the past, Deacon's gut feelings had never been wrong. Jasper, however, was not as prepared as he'd hoped. "My servants are spread thin at the moment, but I will make a call. It's about time I did anyways." His eyes lit up as he continued, "Angela, come to my office this instance."

It seemed like only a second was able to tick by before the girl was there. "Yes, Master?"

"Help Deacon back to his room. Then find Marci and Felix. Tell them I need them to come to my office as soon as possible." He ordered her.

She curtsied to him, "Yes, Master."

The maid helped Deacon wobble back to his bedroom to rest. There comes a time for any being, supernatural or not, where they have to face the end. They say no one wants to die alone, but it seems it's much harder for the loved to die. When you have someone or something you're leaving behind, you're not going to want to go down without a fight.

With the thunder booking on the horizon, it seems Deacon will get to see one last battle before his time is at an end. This one could prove to be the toughest yet. When trust, history, and family are thrown into the mix, the battlefield shifts. It becomes confusing, like trying to find in Wonderland on an acid trip.