Ryan-Ashley's hands were shaking so much, she could barely manage to raise a tea cup to her lips. She almost dropped the piece of chine trying to set it back down. Marci could see herself in her, having painful flashbacks to when she'd lost Felix. The two women sat quietly in the drawing room while waiting on Felix to return.

Marci tensed up when she heard Jasper's cane against the hardwoods. She didn't bother to even look at him. The only time he made her uncomfortable was situations like this. There was obviously something gravely wrong, and it's never good when he feels the need to involve himself. 

"Ma'am, my name is Jasper Knight. I'm the head of this estate and the warden of the asylum. My apologies you didn't receive the warmest of welcomes, but the hunters were just doing their job. They didn't know any better. Your family will be out soon. My deepest sympathies are with you. I'm sorry for your loss."

She tightened her hand around the arm of the chair, "How do you know?"

"Marci, would you excuse us?" He asked of the young lady. She had no other choice than to obey him, removing herself from the room. He sat down in a seat across from Ryan-Ashley. "I know everything. It can be unfortunate at times. There's some things I wish I didn't know. The others are unaware, though. I just found out a few hours ago myself and thought it more appropriate to wait until morning."

As much as Felix wanted to be involved in this conversation, he knew better. When he led his parents and uncle to the room, he was just as quick to excuse himself. Ricky, Ryan, and Ghost were pretty tired, but they could never be too tired for their family. She stood up and received tight hugs from all of them. It'd been almost two years since they'd seen her in person.

"What happened?" Ricky asked as they settled into their seats, "Where's Josh?"

Her silver hair fell in front of her face as she lowered her head. She felt the tears threatening her eyes as she answered, "Josh is dead." Her words took the life right out of them, "We were attacked by this- Well, I don't know what the fuck he was. All I know is he beat the shit out of me and killed Josh. He kept asking us about some stone."

"I... I don't even know what to say." Ricky sighed, "I'm so sorry, Ryan. I thought, being on Earth, you two would've been safe. Sebastian and Maria were both murdered recently, over the same thing."

"I'd bargain to guess they left you behind for a reason. They wanted you to come here and tell us, so they could scare us. They're taunting us." Jasper said.

"Who exactly is "they"?" Ryan asked, "I'm sick of your cryptic shit. This has gone too far. I want some fucking answers out of you."

He lowered his head, taking a moment to compose himself. "I know. I'm getting there. Ma'am, I know this is hard on you, but can you describe your attacker in any way?"

Ryan-Ashley sniffled, "Tomorrow, when I'm not so shaken up, I'll try to draw a sketch of him. He had dark hair, about the same length as Ricky's. He was pretty big, and he had an accent. I... I couldn't place it. It sounded sharp, middle eastern, maybe."

"That son of a bitch." Jasper's names tightened around his cane, "I was afraid of this. Before I get ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning. Many, many centuries ago, when creatures were allowed to roam the earth in peace, we were treated like Gods. Then, around the time the Ottoman Empire came to power, dark creatures were suddenly being treated like trash. They were hunting us like mad and we were forced to go into hiding. This lead many creatures down the wrong paths and our world became utter chaos.

At the time, I was one of the most powerful demons on the planet. The Gods sought me out and ordered me to create the Society of the Fallen. I was appointed the living guardian of the afterlife and the watcher of the underworld. They tasked me with finding creatures capable enough to join the society. Over the years, members have passed and been replaced. The only original members left would be myself and the elves. 

However, we're not the only living members left. One of the founding members was corrupt and expelled the second he tried to pull bullshit. His name is Christian Tesla. He's a light elf, but he's the evilest light elf you'd ever fucking meet. He created his own league that was meant to be our rivals. For years, they caused us grief. I thought they'd finally gone away, but cockroaches never truly die."

"Why haven't you killed them? If they're your biggest threat, it seems like a good fucking idea to kill them!" Ricky barked.

"I've tried!" He yelled back, frustrated. "Unfortunately, in the past, the society hasn't been strong enough to bring them to death. That was before the manor was built. Now, I have confidence we can beat them easily. To my knowledge, there are currently six of them. They all come with their concerns. The man who attacked Ryan-Ashley, his name is Jarin Bakari. 

As far as brute strength and endurance goes, he's the strongest. He was a demon created with the sole purpose of protecting the tombs of Egypt's royalty. However, he abandoned his duties in order to join Tesla's legion. His son, Drake, is another member. He's not as strong as his farther, but much more intelligent. 

They have a wizard as well. He specilizes in water magic, which is fitting considering he once was the protector of the Hawian islands. His name is Kiapolo Kai. He and Ashley have had a few run ins with each other before. They both have won against the other in the past, but that was before she had familiars to fight with her. They also have an angel, named Alda Fairbairn. She once was a great fighter in their army, until she betrayed her own kind."

"So, she's fallen?" Ryan asked.

"Not exactly. A true fallen angel becomes a crow. She's simply a bitch. The final member is the reason I sought out Croc, actually. I figured the best person to kill Apollo was his own brother. The pact I made with Croc was this; I would help him devour the souls of his brothers, kill any remaining family, and destroy their criminal empire. He is destined to erase his family's evil legacy from the planet. I need Apollo dead just as much as he does. He's the oldest brother of the family. Much like how Croc represents a crocodile, Apollo takes on the characteristics of a spider."

"We've all been pawns in your games this entire time." Ghost muttered.

"No, you weren't. You were always meant to become the ones to help me move my pawns, but Chris' death was so sudden. I had no way of knowing if he was ready to introduce any of you into the society. From the sounds of it, he had been preparing Ricky before he died. Which leads me to tell you something that you may want to kill me for keeping from you, but I hope you understand why I kept this private. 

Being the guardian of the afterlife, I am the only one who knows how to access it. In one of the underground levels, there is a sanctuary that allows members of the society to project their soul back into our world for meetings. Even when one of us dies, we will always belong to the society." 

"So, you're telling me you had access to the afterlife, to Chris, this entire fucking time and you didn't say a goddamn word?" Ricky bitterly questioned.

"Well, in a way, yes. I have no way of calling on the other side. So, even if I wanted to, I couldn't just magically bring Chris through at any moment. He has to be the one to initiate it." Jasper replied, "I spoke with earlier in the night. It was the first time we'd actually spoken since his passing. He informed me of Josh's passing and he wasn't too happy. We've organized to have a meeting tomorrow." He stood up slowly with a groan, "Which is why we should all get some sleep."

Ricky's hand tightened around the arm of his chair so much, the wood suddenly exploded into bits. He couldn't contain his anger well. It wasn't exactly lies, as much as it was hiding the truth. Regardless, he had every right to be angry. Jasper muttered his disappointments about a perfectly good chair being ruined. Then, continued to walk himself to his bedroom.

"I don't want to sleep alone." Ryan-Ashley murmured.

Ryan sighed, "Neither do I."

| | |

By now, Ryan had been given his own key to access the forbidden ward. He's been intending to speak with Jasper about getting patients signed over to him officially, but obviously some things have been in the way. It's been a few days since he'd seen any patients in Rest Point. Somehow, he was just as disappointed about that as they were.

Maybe it's just because some demons have the ability to seduce their prey easily, but he was stll angered with the way Asher had gotten under his skin. Part of him wanted so desprately to get rid of this urge. Yet, he had a small voice in the back of his head screaming at him to give in. For tonight, he decided it was best to leave the demon be. He didn't strike Ryan as the cuddly type anyways.

There was one person that needed attention more than him. After events earlier in the night, Dusk was feeling pretty used and drained. It was a damn good coincidence that they both were in need of having someone to fall asleep next to. She'd spent hours tossing and turning in bed. The thoughts of her abuse continued to flash in her delicate mind. 

She squeezed her eyes shut when she heard the door open. If she pretended to be asleep, maybe whomever it was would leave her alone. When Ryan got closer, she could smell his distinct cologne. It made her wake up, getting this strange feeling of happiness rushing over her.

"Hey." He softly greeted her as her wide eyes peered up at him.

"Hi." She muttered shyly.

He sat down on the side of her bed, running his hand along her leg. "I was thinking, I'm not in the mood to sleep alone tonight. Would you mind if I joined you in bed?"

Dusk managed a genuine smile, "Not at all. Won't you get in trouble?" 

"Nah, Jasper has bigger things to worry about." He set his hand on her thin side, closing the space between them. 

She didn't protest when his lips connected to hers. There was a spark. Nothing too amazing, but it was enough they could manage to care for one another. Their bodies became twisted up in one another in efforts to forget their stress and trauma as of recent.