Faint rustles reach my ears, followed by some barks and cries. They're becoming louder. I open my eyes in distress - it must be the chasing party! 

It's still dead midnight hour, yet some light touches the branches of our shelter from afar - the firelight. Outside of our shelter, some people, or rather animals, are sniffing around. Soon, I indeed recognize Clara's and Terry's voices:

"The smell stops here!" Clara says. She's the one lighting the area.

"Ugh, continue searching! They must be around!" Terry snarls.

"We've lost the scent!" Clara retorts.

"Look for it!" Terry snaps.

Their multiple lapdogs - werewolves, weredogs, foxes, hyenas, coyotes - are here too, looking for our trails as hard as they can. 

"When we find them, we're going to burn them to bits for all they've done!" Terry growls. "I always knew one shouldn't trust those cats!"

"Relax, we'll find them," Clara says. "They wouldn't have gone far."

Shudders run down my spine. They're here, so close to us, and Dagur's still unconscious! If they find us, we won't survive... I will fight to the death, I know, but it will be all to naught - I cannot beat Clara, a fire-fox deviant, and so many canines all at the same time. To add that the fairies are buzzing in the air and the angels too are nearby. Every administrator who remained in the prison and survived is on our tail. Thankfully, though, the bat-vampires aren't among them. That still leaves some chances for us to remain unnoticed.

Instinctively, I clutch Dagur's injured arm, as if asking for support. I've poured some water onto his wounds before I'd go to sleep, but he's still far from recovery. I guess, Dagur's organism works oppositely to that of Knut's - if Knut's regenerative abilities help cure his wounds faster, Dagur's instead take a lot of time on his own body but help others' wounds right away, as they did mine. This is bad - without Dagur's massive firepower, we won't be able to beat these guys. And now, as he's injured, he won't be able to utilize the firepower at all.

Still, as if seeking a mighty one's help, I stick to Dagur's arm. He's still unconscious, but I can hear his steady breath. He's so calm and collected when asleep... as if he's gone off the world into some peaceful land. I wish I could sleep like that. 

"When you feel alone or scared,

Remember, your daddy's nearby.

My little angel, noble and fair,

Sleep, for I'm always by your side..."

I flinch - my dad's voice rings vividly in my ears. That's how he used to put me to sleep when I cried for whatever reason. Mainly it was the thunder that scared me back then, and he'd always sing his lullaby to me to calm me down. He'd lie beside me and caress my hair with his hand, while I'd snuggle with his arm, big and sturdy, that always promised shelter and support... Now, the thunder sounds are substituted by those of the cries and the barks of our pursuers, and that mighty hand I'm clinging onto is not that of my father but the one of Dagur, who's still asleep. I listen to his monotonous breath, and it pacifies my heart just like dad's one used to, when I'd wake up in the middle of the night, only to feel him beside me. 

Dad... Please, help me...

I can't really understand why I'm repeating those words in my mind now. Dagur truly resembles my dad so much, with his physique, age, appearance, even sleeping habits! Talk about coincidences...

"They're not here. Let's move on!"

Terry growls to Clara and his underlings. They begin to leave. The buzzes of the fairies and the squeals of the angels grow fainter and fainter until they disappear completely. Now, only the stomps of the canines' feet reach my ears since I'm lying on the ground and it transmits sound vibrations better than the air does. Soon, even those faint sounds die out. They're gone.

Indeed, talk about the coincidences - I asked my late father for help, and there our pursuers go, leaving us in peace. This world truly works in miraculous ways... Or it might've just been the unicorn blood that did the trick.

Yeah, more like the latter one. But still, thanking my dad in the heavens wouldn't hurt.

Thank you, dad...

A sturdy hand caresses my hair. I start (because, to be honest, the touch is like that of my dad's and after all that's happened I begin to think it's some ghost) and turn back, only to see Dagur's feline eyes shimmer ghastly green in the darkness as he watches me.

"D-Dag?" 

Goodness, he looks so creepy with those shimmering eyes and that Gwynplaine smile! One would think I'm lying beside some predator who's about to devour me! 

I guess he feels my shudders, for his smile turns into a grin fully exposing his fangs (which makes him even creepier).

"What's wrong? Did I frighten you, little birdie? Sorry."

Why did he wake up in the middle of the night? Knut did mention many times in the past that whenever his brother was hurt, he'd sleep all days, not only nights... But no, he meant that Dagur slept when he'd give him his medicine. Otherwise, he'd wake up and kill whatever was in his sight. I guess now that he's hurt and I'm in his sight... Curse it.

"D-Does it hurt, Dag?" I ask with my shaky voice. 

"Meh, a bit..." 

He tries to get up. His faint snarls reach my ears.

"Do we have food and wat_ Oh, it seems we do."

He reaches for the water I've piled up in hand-made wooden bottles nearby and takes deep draughts. He finishes four bottles all by himself (I knew he was a lover of water so I made sure to pile up over twenty bottles for our supply) and then guzzles upon the fresh unicorn meat. Blood streams down his burn-scarred jaw. Goodness, that I call a leopard...

Seeing the blood, though, I too begin to crave for some. I crawl up to the flesh of the unicorn and feast upon its blood with the greatest pleasure. 

There are several good things about being a vampire - I have night vision and I can eat raw meat or even drink blood, so neither Dagur nor I need to start any fire (which would attract unnecessary attention). Survival instincts run in deviants' blood because they're children of nature just like animals. Hence, they need no tools like fire to get by in the wild. Their abilities are quite enough for them. Some, like Dagur, are even fire elementals by birth. 

When I finish my supper, I take a seat near Dagur and begin to watch him with the greatest curiosity as he bites the meat. He apparently feels my gaze upon him, because he looks at me in wonder:

"What is it?"

"No, nothing," I reply. "It's just, you seem so intimidating... I mean, the way your eyes sparkle..."

"Hmph, you've never seen a cat in the darkness?" He chuckles.

"Hey, rude!" I pout. 

Dagur does have a light-hearted attitude like Knut, sometimes. The way he lifts your spirits so that you think you're in good hands... I guess he too has a way with youngsters. Maybe that is why Knut is so fond of him. And, that is why he reminds me of my father so much.

"Good job on killing the unicorn, though." Dagur smiles, "They're not that easy to hunt, but their meat sure is delicious."

"Yeah, I know," I reply. "Knut has taught me how to hunt them. I was really bad at first, back in the prison."

"Haha!" he laughs. "Yeah, Knut is a good hunter."

"You were the one to teach him, right?" I ask. 

"Yes. I taught him everything he knows. But he perfected it all and became better than me in all aspects... like he was supposed to."

"What do you mean?"

"Knut was a 'perfect' hybrid, to quote my bastard father." He shrugs. "He indeed proved one, though. He manipulates all the three elements in a perfect manner, interchangeably or all at the same time, while I can't even utilize my firepower, snow leopard physique, and plant organism without injuring myself every damn time."

"Wait, don't tell me you're jealous of him?!" I widen my eyes.

"Nah, not that, no. I just feel I want those powers too, sometimes. At other times, I only want peace. It's a complicated feeling, really. But I sure am proud of him - my little cub. He grows so fast..."

"You talk like a father." I laugh.

"Well, I am the only one he's ever had... save for our nurse, Hailee. She was a spotted leopard deviant - a prisoner. Our mother's close friend. When mother was sick and incapable, she took care of me, in my infant years. Then, when I was ten, I entrusted her with Knut since our parents were dead. But Bob killed her shortly afterwards..."

"Oh, I... I'm sorry, Dag."

I place a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. I guess all those sad memories are pressing on his heart.

"Nah, no issue. I didn't care that much. Knut loved her, though... She was like a mother to him. I could never forgive Bob for hurting his feelings in such a way."

"But... wasn't she like a mother to you too?"

If Hailee cared for them both in their infant years, shouldn't his feelings too, be the same?

"I did know my true mother. She thought I was a monster and trembled every time she caught sight of me. You think I'd ever want any 'mother' after that?"

"Oh, okay... Then, I must also assume you don't regret having killed your father?"

"He wanted to kill me. That duel was 'kill or be killed'. I chose to kill."

I'm beginning to feel my heart throb. I understand, though - their father was indeed a bastard and he deserved to be killed if he wished to end his son's life simply because he was of no use to him. But, there's something else I want to ask, now.

"How about all those others you've killed?"

"Huh?" He looks at me.

"All those prisoners you've killed... You did kill them, didn't you?" I pierce his eyes with my own. "Is there anything you feel towards them, or those they've left behind - their loved ones who miss them, day and night? How do you feel about them?"

His feline eyes glare into my soul. I feel his cold claws rub my cheek as he touches my chin with his scarred hand. He raises my head and looks me in the eyes, with a faint, ironic smile on his face:

"You want me to say what you want to hear, or the truth?"

No, I guess I was wrong all along: back in those days when I first met Dagur in the library, or later in the dining hall, or even when I befriended him - in none of those times did I see the true face of the warden, the horror of the prisoners. That face, I see only now - the predatory eyes glaring at me in the darkness, and the smile so creepy that it sends me shudders.

"The t-truth..." I mumble.

His smile turns bitter.

"I feel nothing."