WE HAVE A NEW COVER!!! Abyss-of-Crazy MADE IT AND ISN'T IT JUST LOVELY!!??? Anyways, carry on.

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"JUST LISTEN TO ME!" The man screamed in his ear. "I just need you to do this one thing for me son."

The son shook his head, his eyes as dark as the shadows bending to him. "I can't. I can't do that. Not to her."

"Please." The man scoffed, his voice muffled from the barrier of life and death between them. "You don't actually care about her."

The portal flowed in a circle the size of a small nightstand on the wall. The electricity of it lighting the dark room in an eerie blue. The gray souls of the damned were traveling with it, moaning and groaning.

But the son could still hear his father on the other end. Sadly.

"I'm supposed to protect her. She's mine. She's a part of me, I can't just give her to you!" The son yelled.

The dad growled out in annoyance. "It's either her, or you kill your brother yourself."

The son stayed silent for a moment as he thought. He couldn't take down his brother. His brother was too powerful, everyone knew that. "Neither." He said sternly.

"It is not wise to be foolish, boy." The Dad said, and the son could imagine his dad glaring. It had been a good, freeing time, without his dad's glares.

"What correlation do my brother and her have anyways!? Plus we all know you want the honor of killing him." The son snarled, his teeth bared. He did not want to bring the girl in. She was too special to him.

"Because, if you have enough underage blood, you can make someone invincible with Leslie's help, and if used on the dead, they can awaken. Of course, if you used the blade I gave you, you could absorb your brother's power and we could skip this altogether so pick one. Give me the girl, or kill your brother." His father cackled out a laugh that chilled his son's bones.

The son nodded slowly. "I'll bring her to you."

His brother could end him in a second. The son knew the true powers of his brother, along with the side that his brother never brought out. And if for some reason he did start beating his brother in a battle, his brother could easily go Atrax. And he did not want to face his brother in Atrax mode.

So, handing his father the girl would be the next best thing, no matter how much he cared about her.

EVERLY
I didn't like garlic, and as cliche as I found it, neither did Colin. Something else we had in common? Both of our little siblings were missing.

He pushed his slice of garlic bread away from him, his parents not at the dinner table. I showed up to an empty house, a quiet house. They had been busy all day fixing the door and then they tried to make dinner and suddenly... suddenly Sophia wasn't there.

It was just him. Colin's parents were out looking for her, somewhere out of the state probably. They could be in Florida by now for all I knew.

Colin wiped his eyes, sighing heavily. "Maybe if I had paid more attention. Or went looking for Konrad. Talked to my dad. Did something... anything... different. She'd still be here." He ran his hands through his hair continually, tears running down his face. Everyone strong was breaking down during these times. Everyone seems to have lost something already, and Konrad hasn't even awoken yet.

"There was nothing you could have done. Nothing either of us could've done." I replied, pulling my chair closer to him.

He shook his head slowly, he was trembling, his body shaking with sobs. "That's the problem! I couldn't do anything. Do you know how terrifying that is?" He looked up and his eyes burned with grief. His face was sunken, his skin was glinting with tears. "She counted on me. And I... I let her down."

I knew exactly how he felt. Zachariah... Zach was there before I left. And then I came back and he was... gone. It was a scary feeling to not be able to save the ones you cared about, to take care of the people you loved.

"Becker, Arlis, and Constance are looking for him. They'll hunt him down like they did the first time." I stated, running my hands through his hair soothingly.

He sunk forward. "How many underages were found alive at the end of the first time?"

I didn't want to shrug, that felt too disrespectful at the moment. So I just stayed silent, hoping that my presence was enough. I had never been very good at consoling people, I was always around people who never cried.

"I've read the stories, the records that Becker himself wrote. They found the missing kids. The ones that were still alive. Four. That's the number." He said, turning away from me and standing up weakly from the kitchen table. "4 of the 32."

I decided that if anything was going to make him feel better, it would be this. "Do you trust Becker and them to find them? Konrad hasn't exactly risen yet..."

He gave me a confused look. "I trust that they'll find him. Just not in time. He's going to be smarter this time. He won't just take Arlis, he'll kill him. He's not just going to let Becker walk around. And I'm sorry, but he's got a bunch of reasons to hate Constance, she's not going to be breathing much longer."

Maybe he was right. Maybe he was wrong. "What if we tracked down the missing kids? I love Becker and Connie, but they aren't geniuses. They'd need someone who knows the ins and outs of the world.  The first time they got lucky. What if we tracked the kids down."

Colin snorted. "It doesn't work like that, Eve. They can only find them because they have a witch. Plus Arlis's sniffer is really good at sniffing." I don't know if the last part of what he said was a joke or not, but I took it as that way, maybe he was finding some humor in my idea.

But I was completely serious, no joke to it, however. "We can do it! We're smart."

"I'm smart, you're just scary." Colin said, and I could tell his mood was already lifting by the smile he was trying to hide. "But I'm not that smart. We can't just find a group of magically kidnapped kids, can we?"

If a normal person were in the room, they'd be confused. Good thing I wasn't normal. "Colin, we'll only feel worse if we don't try anything." I was trying to help. I knew how he felt. "Don't you want to at least try?"

Worthless. Helpless. Trapped. Scared. Alone.

I couldn't let him feel that way without at least trying to help him. But my only idea seemed to be shot down as soon as it came out of my mouth.

"Don't you think we've done enough?" He snapped, no longer sad but indeed angry. "Isn't it our fault that this is happening!? Leslie clearly warned everyone what would happen if two people from the opposite species fell in love. There would be a war. And look what's coming! Everly... I hate not doing anything but the best way to help right now is staying out of their way. Please. I don't want to hunt down Konrad." His voice cracked. "I want to kill him, I do, but sometimes you have to accept the fact that things are broken and you can't do anything about it."

I set my hand on his arm, my heart cracking a little bit, only a fissure. I knew he was upset, but I couldn't take what he said to heart right now. Still, what hurt was the truth behind it.

"Okay. We won't. Are you going to sit here and pout though?" I asked.

He gave me a disgusted look, and something about it sent my heart haywire. "Pout? The only person in my family that I actually like is missing! I couldn't care less if my dad or my mom disappeared, but Sophia? Sophia is my life, Everly. You wouldn't understand." He threw his hands up, his face red.

"I wouldn't understand!?" I screamed back at him. "Me? The girl who's little brother disappeared? No. No I have no clue. And how could yo say that about your parents? They seem like good people. They actually care."

He widened his eyes and took an angry step too me. "You don't know them like I do. As soon as you leave it's glares and insults and "why can't you be better". My parents hate me. And since when did you care about your family?"

I slapped him hard across the face, my jaw clenched and my anger flared to life like a V8 engine. "I've always cared about my family. I don't agree with them sometimes but at least I know they love me."

He grabbed his cheek, his eyes round and scared. He was like a puppy that had never seen light, a child who had never seen yellow. I almost felt bad for a moment, but then his words sunk in my skin a little deeper.

I turned around and started to head to the door. I might not be able to bring myself to kill him, but I sure as hell could hold myself back from seeing him for a couple centuries.

"Wait!" He grabbed my arm and I ripped it from his grasp.

"No. No I'm gone. Bye, Colin." I continued walking forward but he vamp sped in front of me, standing in front of the door.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm just... I'm just stressed, okay? Plus... that thing we read. The whole... mood swing thing." His chest was rising and falling visibly and he was breathing heavily. "Can we just... forget what we said."

I narrowed my eyes at him, already feeling myself deflate. I couldn't just let him off easy, but at the same time, I understood that people went through things differently.

His was angrily and sadly, a traumatizing kind of horror that he let take over his body. Mine was forgetting about it, distracting myself with other problems. We just dealt with this differently.

I nodded and he wrapped me into a hug, his tall form covering me as I pressed myself to his chest. My body fit like the perfect puzzle piece to him.

***

We ended up watching Finding Nemo because, "I don't care if it's a little kid's movie, it's amazing."

And for a little kid's movie, he was right, it was amazing. But it also seemed to be something more than that.

Sophia's name was written in bad handwriting on the cover, and I smiled softly as Colin put it into the DVD player and snuggled up on the couch next to me, throwing the small blanket over us.

Somehow, for the first time, I could relate to a children's movie. Nemo was missing and Marlin was panicking, searching the seas for his child. I'd do that for Zach. I wanted to do that for Zach.

But I wasn't a little fish who ran into vegetarian sharks, I'm a Hunter who would be faced with real threats the moment I went out into the world.

My town was like the Great Barrier Reef, and the outside world was the deep blue. Maybe Kora could find some Australian humor in that.

I slowly drifted off to sleep as Marlin and Dory ran into a bunch of turtles. I was in a state of delirium, and when someone knocked on the door, I jumped off the couch, my dagger in the attack position.

"Holy Jesus!" Colin jumped, shaking. "Oh my god." He rubbed his temples. "Eve, it's the door. Calm down." He paused the movie.

I put my dagger away, my nerves calming down. "I'll answer it." I said, already walking.

"Uh, no." Colin shook his head at me, stopping me. "What if it's a supernatural?"

I let my body go slack as I gave him a dumb look. "I'm stronger than you, remember?"

He gave me a dumb look right on back, his head tilted and his dark eyes lighting with amusement. "You're a hunter in a Vampire's house." He whispered.

"Fine." I grumbled, leaning against the couch. "Answer the door Mr. I-Can-Handle-It."

He strolled to the door and opened it slowly, the chain still latched. "Can I help you?" He asked.

"Are mom and dad home?" It was a male's voice, a deep one that sounded unfamiliar.

I could imagine Colin putting on a cutely confused face. He wasn't confused very often, but when he was he did this cute thing with his nose where it wrinkled and his eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry... who are you?" Colin asked.

The guy cleared his throat. "You think mom and dad have been alive for two hundred plus years and they just only recently had kids?"

Colin shrugged. "You could be lying. A lot of supernaturals wait a long time to have kids. What are you—"

"Look, dad called me and told me to come here. Something about Sorina going mis—"

"Sophia." Colin corrected angrily. He slammed the door and unlatched the chain, opening up the door fully to reveal a man in a suit and tie.

Colin looked like Clay, Sophia looked like Alex, but he... He looked like a combo.

He had jet black raven hair that went with his tan skin. His eyes were dark like shadows and his lips were a natural red. He was taller than Colin by a couple inches and he held a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"And who are you." He asked, leaning back and checking me out as I walked to them.

Colin put a hand on his "brother's" chest. "That is my girlfriend E—"

"Elizia." I replied sticking out my hand a smiling. "Nice to meet you. Are you in town for the holidays?" I asked casually.

Didn't need him knowing I was a Hunter. Please don't notice. Please don't notice.

He laughed at Colin. "Okay, hot chick in the house and you look like you haven't ate." He faced back to me. "I hope you know my brother and I are vampires and we're about to rip your throat out."

He grew fangs an inch long and before Colin could blink he was lunging.

I didn't even flinch as I brought my dagger up and caught him in a choke hold, pressing the blade into his neck. "Try that again and it won't be my neck that's bleeding." I whispered into his ear and he gulped, nodding.

I pushed him away from me and he dusted off his suit. "Colin, little bro, you have a hot ass Hunter girlfriend. Where'd you pick up that little toy?"

I didn't give Colin enough time to answer. "From Terrance and Marinda Dawn, I'm their daughter."

His brother was no longer smiling. "I'm sorry... you're a who?"

"Everly Dawn, in your presence." I fake bowed and glared at him. "So, are you really Colin's brother?"

Colin sighed out heavily. "Yeah... I remember him now. Konnor, right?"

Konnor nodded suspiciously. "Do mom and dad know about her, she's a Dawn?"

Colin nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

Konnor glared at the space between me and Colin. "Because I wasn't allowed to have a girlfriend until Cassidy. And you get to have a Dawn girlfriend?"

Cassidy?

"Now Cassy I remember. I always thought she was just some friend of mom's though." Colin said, tilting his head. "And I thought you were just one of dad's friends, why haven't you come around?"

Konnor made a disgusted face at the family photo on the TV stand, a photo that he wasn't in. "Because mom and I had a bit of a... disagreement back in 1945. I haven't been back since. Cassy has, she comes around on Holidays." He walked over to the TV stand and pushed the picture over so the photo was hidden. "Mom refuses to even say my name."

It was probably none of my business, but I asked, "Why?"

He looked to me and pursed his lips. "Eh, I had a group of like... 7 or eight strippers in here and I drank them all to empty. Big mess. Stained the carpet, that's why everything is hardwood floor now. Mom didn't agree with my decision so I did it again, this time with her best friend and she flipped her shit and kicked me out. Long story short, I'm back because Dad wants eyes on you? Honestly I'm just here to drain some people and stain the couch."

I looked at the couch that I was sitting on just moments ago. "You do realize I'll have to kill you the moment you drain someone to death?"

He shrugged. "Please do. I'm sick of this place." He swiped his finger over the dusty TV stand and then clapped his hands together. "Oh, by the way, Dad says him and mom have a lead. They talked to Leslie, something about—" He turned to me and looked me up at down. "I'll tell you later, little bro. But right now I have a strip club to get to and people to drain almost to death." He walks to the front door, muttering, "Hunters take the fun out of everything." He strolled out the door, leaving it open.

"HEY! Shut the door!" Colin yelled, but Konnor ignored him, leaving it open.

I walked to the door and shut it, not missing the small snowflakes falling outside. A couple weeks until Christmas, and in Montana, snow came early. In fact, I was surprised that it hadn't snowed already.

I threw myself onto the couch. "I'm so glad you don't act like your brother." I laughed.

He agreed, smuggling back up to me on the couch. "But I mean... me and him can agree on one thing." He said, poking my nose and pressing play on the movie.

"Oh yeah?" I studied him. It better be a good thing, because everything his brother said made me want to punch him. "And whats that?"

He looked up at me. "I have a hot girlfriend."

My face flushed red and I looked to the movie, a smile on my face. "You're a dork." I chuckled.

He kissed my cheek slowly, his lips lingering. "Only around you." He covered us in the blanket and together we watched Dory bounce through the jellyfish.