OKAY look at her room? This is Everly's btw. So I had to take 2 pictures because the room was too small to fit in one? If that makes sense? Again, I made this room on line. It even has the halfway naked girl that'll be talked about later in the book... *smirk*. ANYWAYS in the first pic, there's a pile of blankets and pillows and to make you all sad I'd like to remind you that those are Zachariah's and Dallas's. *smirk*. Ignore the floating boxes on the dresser in the 2nd pic.
ALSO— I POSTED 1837!!! ITS A PREQUEL to THATH and The Wolf And The Natural! It's about Constance, Becker, and Alpa Arlis defeating Konrad the first time and their story of how they met and things. I think it'll be shorter than this book and The Wolf And The Natural, but it should still be lengthy. Hope you all have a good day! Here's the next chapter.

Who wasn't holding their breath at this moment? I certainly was. The dogs weren't making a noise, Arlis and Chleo were quiet, my dad and Dallas were trying to make sense of what they were seeing. The only source of volume came from the grunt of Becker as Fiona punched him in the face, knocking him out in a single shot.

"Love you Becker, but stay on the ground." She smiled sweetly and then looked up at everyone. She really was gorgeous, an angel with the eyes of the devil. The perfect girl. Unless you counted the assassin skills and language... nope... still perfect even with those.

Konrad clapped his hands together. "My my my. Look who showed up. How long have you been here?" He brushed his hair back, trying to fix his appearance.

She looked him up and down, malice in her sharp gaze. "Couple days. I've been here since Felix fell and they took Moira. I escaped and contacted Uncle Kasparov. He brought me to a warehouse in Ireland while our parents were asleep. I didn't know who I could trust, considering the people who attacked me were Hunters, so Uncle Kas was the only one who knew I was even alive. He hid me in a warehouse surrounded my magic until finally I decided I had had enough. I flew here on the terms of wanting help from Leslie. I would've called you dad, I really would have. But I had to stay gone, stay missing, from him." She took a deep breath and bared her teeth. "Of course, Leslie knocked me out and was going to present me to Konrad like a token. But now, I'm presenting myself... as a weapon."

Konrad licked his lips greedily. "You're both, my dear."

Colin and Sophia slinked back into the shadows of the hallway. They had to stay safe.

Fiona popped a dagger out from her hand, revealing that she was hiding it. "You're not wrong. This is for everything you've done to me and my family. For Felix." She pushed me to the side and went to punch Konrad.

He interpreted it though, waited for it. She had other plans.

She slid underneath him and cut the back of his leg. The cut didn't phase him, and I couldn't for sure say it even went through skin.

Fiona kicked his back and he fell forward.

She turned and stabbed Arlis in the side, causing a growl. She didn't care, and quite frankly neither did anyone else.

Her dagger glowed and lit up like a cartoon sword. She smiled and rolled her shoulder's back, prepared for a fight.

Konrad tried some latin but I covered his mouth up with my hand, making sure he didn't say a single word. "DO IT, SIS!" I screamed, hoping to end all of this.

Someone crashed into her. Clay Gold.

She tried to stab him, get him off of her, but nothing was working. He was strong and he was fighting.

Konrad threw me over his shoulder and onto the floor, smacking me against the worn out, yellow, shag, carpet. I groaned, the dagger in my side moving. I needed too pull it out but distractions and violence kept me from doing so.

A wolf leaped over me, Arlis. But Konrad was quick, quicker than Arlis. He turned to the side, like a matador, and Arlis missed him. Blood oozed from Arlis's side, poison probably running through his system already. It affected him like a fly would, not at all.

I stood up and finally ripped the dagger from my side. The pain nearly brought me to the floor again, but Colin caught me. "C'mon, Eve, we have to get out of here."

"You're not going anywhere." My dad grabbed my arm. I turned and whined. "Dad. Please. Let us go."

I looked behind him and saw the two wolves, Fiona, and Dallas fighting Clay and Konrad. Becker was leaned up against the wall. He opened his eyes and winked at me, pretending to fall back to sleep.

I wanted to chuckle but my body wouldn't allow it. How Arlis was fighting was a miracle. I was only stabbed, he was stabbed and poisoned.

"Sir, Konrad is in the room with us. Shouldn't..." Colin was trying to put sane thoughts into my father's head, but my dad was having none of it.

"My daughter, and Konrad ending the world are two different things." He ripped me from Colin's arms and tossed me onto the couch.

I coughed, blood flowing from my mouth. "Dad... please." I begged.

My dad grabbed the blade that was once dug in my side. He rushed at Colin and together, they tangled on the ground for power. The only reason my dad hadn't already overpowered Colin was because Sophia was holding him back, a cloud of grey magic wrapped around his arm.

"What is this?" He yelled and tried to stab Colin.

Colin grabbed the blade from my dad and pointed it at him.

"Colin NO!" I tried to yell for him to stop but he couldn't hear me. Not over the breaking walls and bones snapping. My voice was too quiet anyways.

Colin pressed the dagger to my dad's chest. "I could kill you. But I won't. I love Everly with all my heart, sir. I would die before something happened to her. If she died today because you won't trust me to bring her to a doctor, will you live with yourself?"

My dad struggled in the magic's grip. He pulled extra hard and the magic broke. My dad fell towards the dagger but luckily Colin pulled back fast enough so it didn't stab him. He wrestled for the dagger and eventually got control. "If you hurt my daughter, this blade will pierce your neck with the finesse of a dancer."

My dad held the silver in his hand, a power move. I know the lotus and silver is burning him. "Take care of my daughter."

"Dad." I muttered as Becker slinked over to me, pressing his hand over my side wound.

The area glowed blue until I felt the pain leave me. Becker opened his eyes. "They're going to fail. They can't kill him. Get out of here."

A particular noise caught my attention. I screamed as Konrad plunged his hand into my dad's chest and ripped it out, his heart in his hand.

He slumped forward onto the ground, not even getting a last word.

Becker yelled and lunged at Konrad.

A light lit them up until they both disappeared, a bright white cloud replaced them. The cloud blinded me, making me recoil deep into the couch. Even my closed eyes couldn't stop the light.

It shrank into itself and exploded, rays of luminescence heating my skin up to a near burn.

When it finally went away, the only thing in my view was my fathers red body, a gaping hole in his chest. Becker, Konrad, Clay, and Fiona were gone from the room.

"Dad... no no no." I fell to my knees and cradled his head in my lap, whispering "dad" over and over again, aching out for him to be okay. But there was no recovering from that. There was no coming back.

I screamed into his chest and held him tighter.

Dallas and Colin were on either side of me, as broken as I had ever seen them.

It felt like the world had begun to move in slow motion. Hand reached over my body, trying to stage me back. My scream was so defeated it was nearly silent. They finally managed to pull me away from his body, all my tears and screams doing nothing to deter them from the task.

"We have to go Everly, we have to go." Dallas cooed but I was 20. I didn't have to listen to him. I back handed him, regretting it immediately. I didn't say I was sorry, it wouldn't have mattered, but I did regret it.

I thought he was going to hit me back, he always did, but instead he wrapped me into a hug, crushing my arms in between us. I cried into his shoulder. "Dallas, he's gone. He's really gone."

Dallas let out a shaky breath, one hand on the back of my head.

I wanted to do something, try anything, but there was nothing to try.

This was my fault. I brought him here and the worst went wrong. It always went wrong for me. I set myself up for pain. I set my family up for pain.

Colin ran his hand through his hair as I slowed down my tears.

"Everly... we have to go." Colin stood up and held his hand out.

I moved out of Dallas's arms, immediately going back to my father. I couldn't leave him here. I couldn't leave him here.

I put my forehead on my dad's chest. "I can't leave him Colin, I can't." The tears felt like they would never stop, like this endless circle of torment would blaze through my life for infinity.

And the worst part was... I led him to this fate, I led myself to this fate. It was all my fault. "It's all my fault. It's all my fault." I repeated over and over again, my head and mind shattering.

It was so silent you could hear a fly hit the wall. Once again, the room was reduced to not breathing. Whether it was shock that silenced the loud or anguish.

"Sis, we have to go." Dallas was drenched in depression just as I, but he was a master of façades. His mouth trying to form sentences showed that he was angry and wretched, but every other part of him still looked strong.

"YOU KEEP SAYING THAT!" I screamed. "BUT WHY!? WHAT ARE WE RUNNING TO? Or more precisely, running from?" I didn't have to do anything except find some way to have solace in my father's death.

Dallas took a step back in embarrassment. But I wasn't done. "Everyone keeps saying that! We need to go. Everly run. Everly, leave. We need to get out of here. I'M SICK OF RUNNING! I'm sick of TELEPORTING! I'm sick of it, Dallas." My body was limp as I stood, weighed down by everything negative in my life. "I'm sick of running. I'm sick of leaving my problems behind. THEY'RE STARTING TO PILE UP! And they're catching my tail."

He pursed his lips, thinking over what he was going to say. He had to be careful. "Sometimes running is all you can do."

I bit down on my tongue and slapped the wall, my hand going through the dry wall. "Dammit." I looked down at dad's body. "If we're running again, Dad is getting a burial." I stated, looking up. If I spent too long looking at his body, I'd go insane. I'd lose more than I already have.

"Well of course, sis. But right now—" He tried to reason with me but there was no reasoning with my chaos.

"Right now is the only time to do it." I stood up and pushed him back. "Don't you get it, we're losing!"

"Daddy!" A little girl ran from next to Gracie and Colin and tackled herself into Arlis's arms, crying. "Don't let her take me again."

They must have carried around extra clothes, because both Chleo and Arlis were back to fully dressed humans.

Arlis held the little girl close, tears escaping his eyes. He kissed her forehead, full of alleviation and comfort. "You're not going anywhere, Princess. I'm right here." At least one of us had something good come out of today.

"Dallas, she's right. Your dad deserves a burial." Colin pointed out, grabbing a blanket and respectfully spreading it over his body.

"You don't know ANYTHING, Hunted!" Dallas went to attack Colin but Chleo and Arlis held him back.

"Take it from me, Dallas, the last thing you want to do is fill yourself with hate over your parent's death." Arlis said, releasing his hold on Dallas. "It will ruin your life. Right now, we're winning."

Dallas covered his eyes with his palms. "How are we WINNING!?" He shouted. "My Dad is dead. My sister is gone. You got your kid back and that's great, but he still has Becker."

"Your Dad is gone, I know it hurts. Especially when you could have stopped it if you were just stronger or you had made a different move. But we killed Leslie! We have Colin's little sister and my daughter who can tell us where Konrad is hiding. We—" Arlis paused and looked to Gracie. "We are going to win this."

I gulped and realized that now was the time to come clean with everything I had learned.

"I've figured some things out." I said, popping my knuckles. "And if I learned anything from today, it's that we need to work together. We have to be completely honest." Maybe if we all worked together in the first place... my dad would still... would still be here.

"My mate is a human and its my fault Konrad is rising." He said, pursing his lips. "I contacted Becker and I think he's gunna come back to us." He thought he was some big shot, didn't he?

Well my life was far more fucked over than his was.

"My boyfriend is a vampire, the Prophesy isn't real, Konrad is stationed at Becker's house in Canada, and Becker is staying there because his presence means releasing the kids on Christmas. Sophia, the little girl over there, is a Salem Of The Old Witch because she's Konrad's granddaughter. How? Because before Becker, way before Becker, Polyphema and Konrad had another child named Clay Gold. Konrad wants a war of the species again so people can kill each other off and he can rise to power easier." And to think he was like 200 years older than me.

Arlis's face sank. "So are you part witch?" He asked Colin. He was trying to not be happy around us, since we just lost our father, but he couldn't hide it. This trip gave him a lot more than it gave me.

Colin shook his head. "Of course not. My dad turned me to a vampire before I was able to develop powers. Underages who are Salem develop powers before 20." Colin rubbed his hands on his legs. "My Dad was protecting me."

A girl walked into the house, shaking her head. "Arlis wha— Gracie?"

"QUEEN!" Grace ran from Arlis and jumped into the girl's arms.

I knew her name, I totally knew her name. "Hey, Kat." This was Arlis's mate. I knew that much. But she was human. Didn't know that.

She rolled her eyes at me. "It's Kate. For the millionth time."

I shrugged, uncaring. "I live a busy life."

She frowned at the body. "Who—"

"Konrad killed my father." I said sadly, choking on the words. It almost didn't feel real. But the tear spots on my shirt told me that it happened.

Kate's face fell. "I'm sorry, Everly." She sat the girl down and walked to Arlis, setting a hand on his shoulder.

I nodded at her, tired. "Yeah me too. But I'm a Hunter. I'm not going to let this stop me from doing what I need to do. Grievance comes after war." And they did. I couldn't hold myself up a room while the world outside burned. The last thing my father would want would be for me to let the flames lick my skin while I mourned.

I stood up and walked to Leslie's headless body. Kate would get a kick out of this. "Arlis, you really had to rip her head off?"

Kate's mouth dropped.

Arlis limped over to me, smiling. "No. I didn't have too. I just really felt like it."

Kate looked like she was going to pass out.

"Hey, can you guys build a cross?" I asked the boys, my sunken eyes looking up at Colin and Dallas.

Dallas huffed out. "There's no changing your mind is there?"

I shook my head slowly. "No." I turned to Kate. "Wanna help me drag this body out there?"

She winced, nearly puking in her mouth. "No thanks."

She walked to the side as I pulled Leslie's body forward. She was heavy. "Maybe I should chop her to bits ya know? Make it lighter."

Kate stubbornly walked over. "This is not how I wanted to spend Christmas Eve." She covered her mouth with her shirt as we carried Leslie's body outside, throwing it in the grass.

She finally puked and I laughed at her, finding a little amusement through my numbed body. I rolled my eyes and walked back inside.

The boys were a lot more handy than I thought. They ditched their problems and their differences and worked together to use shelf sides to make a cross.

The Hunter tradition was simple. When burned on a cross that is right side up, we believed that you should be sent to heaven. It's a symbol of respect. However, when burned on a cross that's upside down, we believe that you have dishonored the species and you therefor don't deserve heaven.

"Konrad burned Kasparov on an upside down cross." Arlis said and sat on the armrest of a couch. "Everly you were right. Now is the time to do this."

Dallas and Colin removed the blanket over my father and laid him on he cross. A tear fell on my dad's face from Dallas, making it look like my father was crying.

"I'll avenge you, Dad." Dallas said and took a step back.

"There's no one else here right?" I asked. I looked around the room. Gracie and Sophia, Arlis and Kate, Dallas, Chleo, me and Colin. This was everyone left.

Arlis nodded. "We don't have a bow and arrow and some fire do we?"

He was trying to make a joke but I didn't laugh. "No."

"We can go out with dramatic flair." Dallas laughed sadly. It almost wasn't even a laugh. "Leave the stove on and blow this place."

Dad would've like the dramatic flair. "Let's do it."

Dallas went and turned the stove on, letting the gas run without the flames. "Dad always said he wanted to go out with a bang."

I remembered that. He did always say that. "Yeah. Who's lighting the match?" I asked.

Dallas shrugged. "Colin. Flames won't kill you."

Colin shook his head. "I'll still feel the pain, Jesus. No offense, but I'm not doing that."

"Here." Chleo dug in his pants pocket and took out an older style lighter. On it were the initials X.Q. "It opens and stays lit. We can leave and then have Arlis throw it since he's the strongest one here"

Arlis set his hand on Chleo's hand. "Chleo... this is Xavier's. You shouldn't—"

"It's time I let go of Xavier." He took a deep breath and slapped the lighter into Arlis's hand. "He'd want me to use this for a good cause."

We left the house and walked away until we knew the explosion wouldn't hurt us.

"Thank you, Chleo." I grabbed onto his shoulder, sure that this was a big deal for him. I didn't know who Xavier was, but he obviously meant a lot to him.

Chleo nodded back.

Arlis drew his arm back and threw the lighter harder than any man could have. It passed through the open door and the house exploded, the flames rising higher and higher.

"You're not burning Leslie's body?" Kate asked.

I scoffed. "Hell no. I said it earlier. She can rot."

Arlis nodded, agreeing.

The flames lit the house up quickly, a mushroom exploding up. The sky above it turned nearly black and it made a slight smile quirk up on my face.

Red was scorching across my vision in so many ways. The fire in my eyes, the vengeance in my soul. Konrad would get what's coming to him. Eventually these flames would rise up and drag him back down to Hell. Eventually he'd fall.

No matter how long it took, I'd wait. One day, i
I'd watch the light leave his eyes. I'd watch his world crumble. And I'd laugh.

"We can stay in contact but I need to get home." Arlis said.

I smiled softly to him. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Arlis?" I asked.

He looked to Kate who nodded, shooting me an evil eye. If I was in a better mood I would have scoffed at her. But I had had enough drama for the day.

Me and Arlis walked a little ways away until I was for sure the others couldn't hear us.

"Listen... you're Becker's best friend. I know that. But leave him there." I hated saying it, it killed me.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Fuck that. No. He saved me all those years ago and I'm repaying him." He tried to walk away but I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

"I hate saying it. Becker is my family. But I have a question for you. Is Constance your friend?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yes. I'd lay down my life for Constance. Don't tell her I said that. What does she have to do with anything. I know she's working for him, but Becker is there unwillingly. She killed her dad."

I took a deep breath and shuffled my foot. "That's what I thought. Constance and her dad had a deal. She was spying for her dad. And he told her that if Konrad were to take him, that she was to kill him. And she did. I was with Konrad when I woke up this morning, okay? You didnt see what I saw. Constance was trying to help me and Colin escape, and she asked help from Becker. And Constance isn't here because—"

"No no no. No you're lying!" Arlis shouted and began crying. The others looked to us but didn't walk towards us. "She's not dead! She's not dead."

"No! I don't think she is. If you'd let me finish, I was trying to say that Becker betrayed us and we got away while Constance stayed behind. Becker is there willingly, but for a good reason. Constance... she's not. So if you're going to save someone... make it Connie." I forced Arlis to look at me. "They are two strong people, and I know you are too. Please save my cousin. Because I can't."

Arlis smacked my hands away and looked up at the sky. "If she's going through anything that I went through, she knows it's okay to give up. I'm sorry Everly, she's probably already... gone."

He wiped his eyes and walked away. Kate ran and caught up to him, hugging him.

I already lost my dad and uncle. I wasn't losing anyone else. Not today. He was wrong. Constance wouldn't give up. She's still fighting.

CONSTANCE
Constance couldn't scream any more. She lost her voice. She had other means of making noise though.

She slammed her chains on the concrete floor, angrily running at the door and banging on it.

Eventually Becker came and sat in the room with her. He had an invisible shield around him that Constance was trying to take down.

He wouldn't let her.

Her dead voice mangled out cusses and threats, pleads and cries. Becker just sat there. Every once in a while he would say, "you're not alone." But it was more to himself than it was to her.

Constance was beginning to think he was stuck on autopilot while listening to her.

She finally sat down criss cross applesauce in front of him and cried, laying on the concrete floor in a fetal position. She slammed the ground, the concrete cracking under her.

She looked at her cut up arms. "You let this happen to me." She cried.

Konrad didn't give her chains at first. She didn't have that pleasure. It started with strong thorny vines holding her back that dug and cut, scratching and tearing.

She had never been as badly tortured by Konrad as Arlis. But she remembered what it did to Arlis. How he turned out.

She remembered one night that she checked on him

"Arlis?" She knocked on the door and walked into his room. She shook him awake from his screaming dream. "Arlis." She said softly.

He widened his eyes, breathing heavily as he shot out of bed, his dark hair glistening with sweat. He had soaked his sheets with it too.

"It's just a dream." She whispered, crawling into the bed with him and cradling his head in her lap. "It was just a nightmare."

He took a deep breath. "But that's the thing Constance."

She tilted her head at him.

"That wasn't a nightmare. That was a memory. A memory filled with only ghosts of pain." He shuddered and wiped his face. "You can't feel pain in dreams. So I didn't feel that pain but I remembered it." He cried.

Becker came into the room and sat on the other side of Arlis. "I can help you forget, Arlis."

Arlis shook his head. "I don't want to forget. I want to remember. I want to remember and deal with my pain because otherwise my scars mean nothing and I've let him win."

Constance knew where he was coming from. She had her own battle scars. But she was trained to deal with those... Arlis wasn't. "Arlis it's okay to take the Dream potion. You're not sleeping like this."

He sat up from Constance's lap. "You guys don't understand. I buried my parent's death in me everyday except for one day of the year. I will not hide from this. This is who I am. If I bury this... if I run from it... I'm hiding from myself."

Constance felt the scars on her stomach, the ones Konrad gave her when he... Constance shook it from her mind. "Okay." She said. "Okay." She laid down on the bed and Becker followed suit.

"Promise me something, guys." Arlis asked.

Constance turned up to look at him. "What?" A knot twisted in her stomach, untying and retying itself.

"If any of us get taken again, we won't blame each other if we... if we give up." Arlis cried. "I was so close to giving up. And I don't think I'd blame you guys if you did."

Constance moved her hand over her stomach thinking about the memory. "Becker. I love you. And I'm sorry."

Becker nodded back to her. "I'm sorry too, Connie." He muttered. "I know... it's hard to be here. I know what memory you're thinking of because the same one is running through my head. But Arlis was wrong. We don't need to give up."

"I can't, Becker." Constance cried. "You don't understand. He killed my unborn child last time he rose. He's already killed my dad this time and he's only been risen for like a week."

Becker took a deep breath and Constance felt the invisible shield's presence vanish.

"He killed Terrance two hours ago." Becker breathed out lightly.

He opened his arms and Constance scrambled up to him, holding him tightly. She cried for a while, thinking about everything she's losing and what's at risk for her. "That was my child, Beck."

Becker sucked in a deep breath. "The scars on your stomach?"

Constance nodded. "I tried fighting. He fought harder and I lost my child. I have to get out of here, Beck. Please. I will give up. I can't be here."

She knew Becker gave in to her. She knew.

Becker opened up a portal, all its purples and blues spiraling together. "Don't tell anyone you've left. Not even Arlis."

She didn't question why. She could trust Beck. She knew she could.

She kissed his cheek. "Do you remember when we almost kissed that night." She laughed and Becker did too, hugging her tightly.

"Don't remind me, Connie!" He wiped his eyes. "Leave."

Constance jumped through the portal, landing on her ass in a small Irish cottage. A woman stood in the kitchen, making Boxty.

"Aunt Marinda?" Constance asked.

The girl jumped and faced Constance.

"Connie!?" She ran to Constance, catching her in a hug.