The manor was so big, each day Ryan felt like he was finding new areas. Behind every door there was a surprise. Some were so hidden, he didn't even get to realize they were there until someone told him. One of those unseen gems happened to be the entrance to the mansion's library. Knox showed him the door that was easy to miss.

"They don't like when I come here because they can't find me." He muttered as they walked in, "But I really don't care." 

"What'd they do to you when you get in trouble around here?" Ryan asked, taking a good look around.

Knox shrugged, "Depends on what you did and who caught you. Colton and Shae are hard asses, Finch and Micah are pushovers, and Beau's right between." There was a table sat in the middle of the room. He pulled back one of the chairs, continuing as he sat down, "Jasper is just... Crude. Usually when I disappear or mouth off I just get a slap on the wrists. Something like when Kettil throws his fits, he'll get whipped a few times and they'll take away his dinner for the night."

He looked out the big picture window, seeing the crops outside. "And when Ripper attacked me? When he tried to kill me, they dragged him off to be punished."

His fists tightened, thinking of all the times he heard screams from beyond that iron gate. "I don't know. The only people that go that far usually are the ones in Rest Point, and we have no clue what happens to them." He replied.

"Usually?" Ryan questioned.

Knox glanced up at him, "Huh?"

"You said usually it's only the ones in Rest Point. That means someone else has." He sauntered over to the table, taking a seat across from his nephew. "Someone else did?"

"Yeah, two. Before Tokyo came here, London was a mess. He was constantly angry and he nearly killed Shae multiple times. Once the twins were reunited, it was like he was another person." He explained.

"Funny, Tokyo was the exact opposite. Instead of being angry, he was always depressed and scared. Those two are like the sun and the moon, but they need each other. Maybe it was that equilibrium that kept them from going off the rails like the rest of you. The second London was killed, though, Tokyo ran just like you."

"I know why Ripper and I ran, but why did Felix and Cecil?" 

"The reasons have changed over the years. Later on, when Cecil ran, it was for a girl. The first time, though, I think it's because they were sick of playing a role. Your parents really enjoyed being in the public eye and being socialites, but they hated it. They hated pretending to be someone they weren't. That's what made Ghost become so overprotective of you two. He figured if he kept you a secret, no one could influence your decisions. It only made you feel like prisoners. 

He tried to find some middle ground with Eva and Thana. That probably would've worked too, if they hadn't been killed. Then the twins came along and you know how that ended up. What was the last thing you remember, before you... you know-" 

"Died?" He sharply asked, to which Ryan nodded. "I... I was living in Shrines. Ripper and I had gone our separate ways for awhile. I still knew where he was, and we saw each other everyone once and awhile, but we were focusing on ourselves. I was working at a nice little gift shop on main street, I had a decent apartment and someone I was seeing.

In the middle of the night one night, two of Carmella's men broken into my apartment and took me. For a few months she used me as a slave and something to show off to people. It was a big bragging point to her to be able to say she captured one of us. She would tell me constantly how she killed Ripper. I didn't want to believe it. She had a bad habit of torturing me, so when it happened one day, I didn't think much of it. She kept going though, more than she ever had before. The last thing I remember was her pointing a gun at me, then it all went black."

"Guns shouldn't be able to kill you. The bullet had to have been blessed or something, but she couldn't have ever gotten her hands on that. I'd bargain to guess she used something that took away your healing abilities instead." Ryan explained, "After Vepar passed, we all left. We ran and hid in the mountains. Even though we were living like cavemen pretty much, we were at least safe. They found out where we were, though, and decided to torture us first.

One day we woke up to Ghost just screaming and crying out front. She'd had one of her men drop Ripper's dead body in our camp. Ghost was a mess forever. Granted, we hadn't seen him or you in nearly two hundred years, but he still loved you two so damn much. We buried Ripper's body, then moved somewhere else. We thought there was no way she could find us twice, but she did. 

I know you feel like they don't love you, but I wish you could've seen what I did. I wish I could show you how fucked up Ricky and Ghost were. We were hiding out in some woods, and well, the same thing happened. Ghost was usually the first one up but I wish he weren't. I wish I could've gotten a chance to at least have... Changed the way he saw your body. They crucified you on a tree outside our camp. It was horrific. 

Losing one child was hard enough, but two? And to have to see, see that? It fucking killed Ghost. He bawled his eyes out. It was one of the few times even the twins couldn't even get him to turn around. Ricky's not much on showing emotions but I caught him crying later that night. If you could've seen them that day, you wouldn't ever doubt that they love you."

Knox remained quiet for a moment. He did believe his uncle, since Ryan had no reason to lie to him. Some things are harder to accept than others. Why would they have just let him go in the first place? When he left all those years ago, they never chased after him. They'd been at the mansion for several days now and still had yet to visit him. That doesn't feel like love, but he couldn't deny what Ryan was telling him.

The library door opened quietly. Ryan glanced over, seeing the maid step inside. She carried a silver platter of tea in her hands, setting it down between them on the table. "I thought you might like something to drink."

"Thank you, love." He smiled charmingly, "Would you please go get Ghost and Ricky for me?"

Angela nodded, "I will be right back."

As she left the room, he noted the worry on Knox's face, "Don't worry. They'll be happy to see you." 

| | |

The room was as still as a pond. Their relationship had by no means ever been healthy, but it wasn't boring either. That word, they dreaded it. "Boring" and "Normal" were two phrases they'd warned their kids to stay away from. Ghost had noticed it long before his husband but he didn't say a damn word. He continued to do his makeup in silence while Ricky skimmed through a book.

"Boring." He scoffed, tossing the book down, "We're not boring, are we?"

Ghost set down his eyeliner with a sigh, "What was the last exciting thing we did?"

"Well, we..." He sighed, "I... I can't remember, honestly, but we'd never let our relationship get dull."

"Really? Because I've been standing in my underwear in front of you for an hour and you haven't even looked at me." His voice wasn't getting raised like it usually does when he was angry. Leading Ricky to believe Ghost was more disappointed than anything. The vixen was only in his tight underwear, a bra, and thigh highs. Normally a site like that would having Ricky drooling over his figure. "I can't even remember the last time we had sex." He muttered, "Let alone the last time it was good."

He got up from his bed, walking over to his wife. "What're you trying to say?" Ricky placed his hands on the vanity before Ghost, pinning him between the furniture and his body.

"You don't have passion anymore. I understand it's harder for us to find free time with a toddler around, but I miss the thrills we used to chase. You might still be my husband but you're not my Daddy anymore." Ghost raised his knee along his hip, "I miss my Daddy. I miss when we used to kill things, and bathe in their blood. I miss when you'd take me to a graveyard and fuck me in a crypt. I miss being a fucking freak."

"I thought you wanted to settle down." He replied.

"I thought so to, but... Baby, this is who we are. The past two years we've lived a suburban life running an art gallery together. That's not us. We're not boring. We're meant to be dysfunctional killers, always on the run from something. I miss the danger, and maybe that's part of the reason I slept with Jasper. Yeah, I did it for the answers, but it also made me feel alive for the first time in fucking ever." Ghost pulled on his shirt, bringing him closer, "I can see it in you, that you're starting to hate it too. Last night, you got angry. I miss seeing you pissed. It's so fucking sexy."

"My little whore," He mused, squeezing his ass, "Daddy's missed you."

He wrapped his arms around Ricky's neck, interlocking their lips. His dominant's fangs pricked his lips but he couldn't care less. The pain enticed the both of them, as a matter of fact. "I've missed you, too, Daddy." Ghost replied in a sugary tone. 

Ricky sighed to hear a knock at the door, "Of course. The second we go back at it, someone interrupts."

He snickered, "We'll have plenty of time later. I should go get dressed."

Ghost slipped out of his grasp. He grabbed a black dress from the closet that was tight fitting. Ricky went to go answer the door, seeing the maid on the other side. She informed him of Ryan's request to join him in the library. 

"We'll be right there." He told her.

"It's a little tricky to find. The door is sort of hidden, but it's at the end of the main ward. There's a door in the back corner that's labeled 'library'. If you have any trouble finding it, come and get me." She replied.

"Alright, thank you." He closed the door again as she walked away, "Ryan needs to talk to us."

Ghost sighed dramatically, "Of course he does. Will you zip me up, Baby?"

"As long as I get to unzip you later." Ricky responded, helping his wife into his dress, "Wonder what he wants."

"At this point, it could be literally anything." 

That was the unfortunate truth. They expected whatever he did want had to do with the house and it's many secrets. The last thing the love birds expected was to be greeted with one of the things they were painfully trying to avoid.