"I want a happy ending! I really do. And that's why I can't do this with you. Not anymore. It's over. My happy ending is somewhere else." His eyes filled with tears, sadness overcame him like the way a tidal wave fell over cities. He was practically shaking.

"Please... please don't do this." He muttered out to the girl, reaching up to touch her face. "I love you."

Colin through a piece of popcorn at his TV as the girl walked away, her heels clicking on the sidewalk in the movie. "This is malarkey! He loves her!" I laughed as Colin got absorbed into the movie, mad over the breakup between the two main characters. "I'd stay with him." He declared.

I raised one eyebrow. "Are you gunna start playing for the other team now?" I asked, joy in my eyes.

He licked his lips as he watched the TV, too intrigued for his own good. "Have you seen Zac Efron? He's a good looking guy, I'd be the entirety of the other team ." I swatted his chest and he pulled me up onto his lap, holding my hips in his hands. "But only if you weren't in my life, and you are so... no need to worry."

I leaned forward, pressing my forehead against his. "I can't blame you. I'd hop on the Zac Efron train too."

He pulled me closer to him, kissing my lips slowly. "I never expected to be here." He whispered. "But I'm glad you went to kill me that day."

I kissed the tip of his nose. "Yeah me too."

His lips trailed my jawline, leaving little kisses. "I never thought I'd say that." He laughed, his breath minty and fresh.

I chuckled, running my hand through his hair. "Yeah, well me neither." I slid off his lap and smirked at his whimper of emptiness.

I glanced at my watch and sighed. It was four in the morning. I wasn't the least bit tired, I've been days without sleep, but I was ruining my sleeping schedule that I worked so hard to fix. "I think I'm going to hit the hay."

I stood up and padded lightly across the room to the TV and turned it off (he lost his remote). It was dark in his room, there were no streetlights like there were on my road, so his room was just an endless abyss. I loved it, sleeping in pitch was my favorite way to sleep.

"I'm not a horse, and neither are you." Colin laughed as I slipped under the covers, blanketed by not only silk, but Colin's arm as he wrapped it around me. "So really, hitting the hay isn't something either of us should do." He rolled over and held his body in a push up position over me.

"Okay, no. I'm not making out with you, I'm tired." I said, and pushed him off, turning away from him. I wasn't tired, he probably knew I was lying considering the fact that he was a vampire, but he didn't push the subject any further.

His hand found mine and held it lightly, the comfort warming me up like the sun in winter. "Goodnight."

I didn't reply besides squeezing his hand and closing my eyes, falling into a blissful darkness.

***

"You would like the darkness." A chilling voice chuckled from next to my ear, freezing air blowing against my neck.

I whined, squirmed but I couldn't move. My hands were tied down in chains so strong I couldn't even break them. They smelled like Lotus Flower, the weakness to all Supernatural species. I had broken chains before, but these? These wouldn't even bend. Fear rose in my chest but I buckled it down. Fear led to weakness and weakness led to death, I would not falter or break.

"You can't... you can't leave." The voice said, laughing, and I finally recognized the voice, but it was... older.

I shut my eyes. "Becker, what are you doing?" I growled out, pinpointing that voice.

The voice cackled out a horrid sound, that sounded more like a weak cough than a laugh. "Becker? I'm not Becker, Becker is too weak to do this. I'll kill him, I'll kill you and Colin, Arlis, Constance... " A guy that looked nothing like Becker appeared in front of me. His hair was deep red and gelled back, he wore a black suit that made him look disgustingly attractive.

"Konrad." I seethed, thinking of the only person who it could possibly be. Only one person would think Becker was weak, only one person would want to attempt to kill him. And that was his father.

"Look at you, you're not as dumb as Constance... although, I guess a rock could outsmart her sometimes." He smiled, his teeth gleaming white and perfectly straight.  His eyes weren't human, they were more like ghost eyes, a pale white with too little black.

I didn't want to say anything, I should have just kept my mouth shut, but was I really one to not retort? "If she's so dumb, then you must really have a low IQ considering she killed you."

He snarled at me, putting a hand behind me, next to my head. He smelled like something died and hand't been cleaned up, like it was just basking in the hot sun. It made me gag, and I didn't hide my disgust.

"She didn't kill me! Becker did because I was foolish enough to not kill Alpha Arlis right away! This time, I won't fail." He growled. "Maybe I'll carry you around on chains, just to flaunt. Isn't that what you Dawns do? Flaunt?"

I nodded. "Yes. Among other things, like be known for killing you." I spit in his face and he closed his eyes, pissed beyond my wildest imagination.

He wiped it off and wiped it on my thigh. "You people disgust me. Eventually, you and your family, and all of your species will bow down at my feet."

So it was confirmed, we knew what was happening. Konrad was raising more Hunters. Why? Well judging from me and Colin, I felt a war coming. I felt in my Old-Soul bones. The way the prophesy wound around us like vines.

"We'd never fight for you." I growled out, thinking of him trying to get Uncle Kasp to bow. His ringtone in my phone was, "I Will Not Bow" for a reason. "We fight for Salem Of The Old Witches, not some Britney Spears wanna-be."

He smiled genuinely and a laugh fluttered through the room like butterflies. If he wasn't hell-bent on ruling the world, I'd think he might be an attractive guy that I'd set up with my sister.

He put his hand on my jaw tightly, probably leaving a bruise. I didn't care. I just cared that he was touching me. I pulled my chin up but it didn't do anything. "I am a Salem Of The Old Witch."

I snarled at him, tensing my body. "You're a fake. You killed your wife and you took her powers, that doesn't make you some Salem Of The Old Witch, Becker is the last true one." I tried to move my legs, do something instead of sitting here helplessly. "You are a dead man!" I screamed. "A piece of trash left over from ancient times!"

He nodded, taking a step back. "I'm true. I'm everywhere. You can't hide from me. When I rise, you and Colin will be the first to die. I don't need some little runts getting in my way." He disappeared in the shadows and suddenly I was alone with darkness.

Deep in the darkness I saw a pair of red eyes watching me. A face emerged from the darkness, but it wasn't the sweet one I was used too. Colin's face was morphed into his Atrax, black bubbling goop seeping between his fangs.

I screamed out his name, hoping, praying, that he did something. But he just watched me, licking his lips hungrily.

"I have found so much beauty in shadows, in darkness. That now, when I see the light, all I see are the lies and the ugly truths. Darkness is more beautiful, Everly, join us." Fiona walked out of the shadows, her blonde hair matted with blood. Her fully milky white eyes were bleeding and black smoke poured from her mouth. She held a hand up, her nails had grown and blood seeped from them. A lotus flower grew from the side of her neck, burning her skin, but she didn't notice.

A hunter's Atrax, I realized.

I thrashed in my seat as they stood side by side, watching me. "COLIN!" I yelled as he watched me with a soulless expression. "PLEASE! IT'S ME!" I cried out, thrashing as the shadows held me down.

"Everly!" Colin yelled as he took slow steps too me. "EVERLY!" He opened his mouth to drain me, kill me.

"EVERLY!" I jumped out of the chair and landed hard on cold floors.

Tears ran down my eyes as I buried my head in my knees, shaking and rocking back and forth.

"Everly, it's me." Someone tried to pull my hand and I lashed out with my fists, my right hook smacking into someone's face.

I jumped up and ran in the darkness until hands pulled me back. The light flipped on and I saw Alexzandria and Clay standing in a door frame, their expressions fearful. I struggled against the person's grip on my waist, screaming and kicking, but they were relentless.

"Shh... Eve, it's just me." Colin kissed my templed and I relaxed, dropping to the floor so unexpectedly, that even Colin fell. "Shhh... it was just a nightmare. I'm right here. I'm right here." He ran a hand through my hair.

I cried into his chest, my body still feeling like it collapsed, my heart didn't even seem to still be beating. "He was there." I cried out.

"Who, honey?" Alexzandria took a step next to me. "Who?"

I closed my eyes and faced her. "Konrad."

The room froze like every atom was at absolute zero. Suddenly the house that was warming up to me was a glacier once again.

Clay coughed, bending down and shaking his head. "I fucking hate him. One thing everyone can agree on." He ran a hand through his hair just like Colin did and sighed heavily. "Alex, can you go-"

"Already on it." She zoomed away, the faint smell of strawberries left in the air like her personal after-thought.

Colin continued to run his hand through my hair, his arms protectively wrapped around me. I refused to look at his face though, knowing that the way his mouth bled black and his eyes went red would never leave. It was an idea imprinted on my mind like screen-printing an image onto a shirt.

And Fiona. God, Fiona was there. And for the first time I saw just how ugly Hunters were in their Atrax. We weren't any better than a Hunted. We were maybe even worse. Because we were stronger than them and we knew it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Colin asked, brushing a strand of hair out my face. I still didn't meet his eyes.

I shook my head, watching the floor like it held all the answers. "Konrad just confirmed us. He's rising up Hunters."

Clay cursed loudly, smashing into the wall with one fist. "Well see this is where we're at a cross-road here, Everly. The more he makes, the more I attempt to kill, I'm going to do everything I can do to stop him."

I shrugged, standing up and taking a deep breath. "The way he's doing it isn't a good way, I'll help." I didn't know how I possibly could, but I... I remember Constance talking about her nightmarish visits from Konrad. And in the end she helped kill him... so maybe I was the next Constance?

Alexzandria came back up and handed me a mug of something warm. I hesitantly took it, not knowing what it was. I hated coffee, and it kind of smelled like coffee. "It's a kind of hot chocolate, it'll keep you from having dreams for about... a week."

I thanked her and took a sip. It tasted like cinnamon and peppermint, a hint of chocolate buried underneath the whip cream. I felt my head getting heavier and heavier, my eyes weighing down.

I fell, asleep before Colin caught me in his arms.

I had a dreamless sleep.

***

When I woke up, I wasn't alone. I was alone in the bed, but not in the room. Colin was asleep on the chair next to me, his hand holding mine innocently. His eyes were shut and his mouth was parted slightly, allowing a soft snore to come out every once in a while. No black blood, no fangs.

I was fine. He was was. We were fine. Hopefully.

Special hot chocolate or not, I wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. I didn't need it, so I wouldn't have it. I didn't want it, so I wouldn't take it. Easy. Just... stay awake.

As soon as I let go of Colin's hand he woke up, shooting out of the chair and not relaxing until he saw me. His heart was beating so loud I could hear it, and his body was tense.

I sighed softly and offered a small smile. "Morning." I said.

He bent over and kissed my hand, nodding. His eyes had bags under them, his skin was pale, his hair a mess. But he was still the most attractive person I had ever met. "Morning."

I brushed my hand through my hair and untangled what I could. "What time is it?" I asked, giving in to the side of me that got anxiety if I didn't know the time. Weird how someone who was trained to kill gets anxiety over not knowing the time.

"Oh...uh..." He pulled out his phone, the picture of him and Sophia in the background made me smile. He wasn't the darkness of my nightmares. Not in reality. He was the light of my shadows. "Six A.M." He said easily. He yawned and then all of a sudden checked his phone again. "SIX AM!? I do not get up this early. Scoot over, I'm going back to bed." He groaned and I scooted out from under the covers.

"Early bird gets the worm." I replied, robotically saying something my dad told me every day.

He sneezed lightly, and it was so small it reminded me of a kitten. He sneezed again, shaking his head. "Sorry." He said, blinking tightly. "The worm is in this bed." He sloppily smiled.

It took me a moment to get what he meant, but when I did, I flipped him off. "I'm going to go check on my family." I said instead of retaliating and adding fuel to the fire.

He raised his thumb up. "Come back!" He yelled into his pillow.

I scoffed. "We'll see." I winked at his angry and surprised face. "I'm kidding, god you're a child. I'll be back... sometime. I don't know. Probably after Kora chews my ass for not coming home last night." I smirked and walked out of his house, starting my walk back to my house.

***

I unlocked the door and walked in. Kora was sitting at the table, her hands folded in front of her face with an angry expression.

Someone cried silently and when I looked up it was Noah. He was clutching something in his hand, a baby bottle.

That was when I noticed the house. The sliding glass door was smashed open, the TV was thrown onto the floor. The kitchen table was in pieces on the floor.

Holes were smashed into the wall and the floor had blood all over it. Three bodies were up against the wall, blood seeping from their hearts.

I gulped as I looked around for anyone else, but I didn't see anybody. "Kora?" I prodded and she stood up, slamming her chair into the table and smashing it. She cussed so loud I'm sure her home country heard her.

"WHERE IN BLOODY HELL WERE YOU, EH!? OFF SCREWING SOME GUY!?" She screamed at me, tapping her dagger lightly against her head. It was drenched in blood but she didn't care. "THEY ARE GONE!" She yelled, throwing her dagger, it embedded itself into the door next to my head. "GONE!"

I closed my eyes, refusing to say anything until she was done.

"Kora," Noah sat his hand on Kora's shoulder but she pushed it off violently. "It's not her fault."

She glared at her reflection in the window and punched it, the glass falling away. "Zachariah and Zali are gone. They took my baby." She fell to her knees and my chest constricted.

I grabbed my phone and dialed Becker, deciding that nothing in this moment was going to help me except him. He had to have something. Anything at this moment would help. My heart wrecked as I sobbed, gripping my hair.

He answered tiredly, his voice dripping with stress. "Eve?"

"THEY TOOK ZACHARIAH!" I screamed into the phone, louder than I should have but who cares? Nothing mattered anymore except finding Zachariah and Zali. "THEY TOOK HIM, BECKER!" I cried, so sick of crying already. "I- I left and when I came back..."

I should've been here. I should've been at home.

"Put me on speaker." He ordered softly and I did as I was told. "Is Kora there?" He asked.

"Yeah." I said weakly.

He took a deep breath. "What happened?" He asked politely and Noah softly took my phone from my hands.

"Dallas and Everly were talking to Clay Gold at their place, and I left to get some food... when I came back to the house, Kora had killed 3 guys and the kids were gone." Noah wasn't done crying, but he sucked it up to talk to Becker.

Becker was silent for a moment. "We're on our way back now. Kaspar, Terrance, and I... we'll be there sometimes tonight... we'll figure this out, Noah. I promise."

Is that what he told my mom? Is that what he told my father? "Becker... I had a nightmare last night. Konrad he-"

"I know. I had it too. It's okay, Everly. Just stay tight guys. We'll make it through this. I'm going to see Arlis and we can... we can take him down again." Becker probably wasn't trying to lie, but I knew he didn't believe what he said. "Let's just hope he makes the same mistakes he made last time."

He hung up and we were in silence until Dallas silently came in, defeated, and walked up the stairs, his knuckles wet with someone else's blood.

Too many things were happening at once for me, I wasn't used to this. I was supposed to become a Hunter. I was supposed to travel the world and protect the humans and the Witches. That's what my job was.

But no, now my little brother was gone, an evil witch was apparently rising from the ground, I was with a guy who would be killed if anyone found out, and a war was coming.

I sat down at the kitchen table, watching the distant sun shine brightly despite the darkness that was my life.