"Lawrence." Xander greeted.

"Where have you two been?" He repeated, more sternly this time.

"We were at the rooftop." Xander replied.

Lawrence glanced at me and I felt myself shrink with his intimidating aura.

"Do you know how risky that is, Xander?" Lawrence asked, focusing his attention back to him.

Xander scoffed, "Oh come on, is she a vampire that needs to be locked inside?"

I nodded in agreement, but quickly regretted it as Lawrence hardened his gaze on us.

"Xander. We're dealing with gangs that have top technology. Drones are just a cheap toy to them." Lawrence told him, "There's a chance that they could have seen Dayana."

"We can take them." He replied.

Lawrence laughed. It wasn't a playful laugh or humorous laugh, it was a scornful laugh, "What do you know, rookie?"

Xander's eye twitched, "I'm currently this gang's ace. You don't get to call me a rookie."

"You're the ace? Well I'm the leader, Bryer." Lawrence spat.

Knowing he was right, Xander hung his head down.

"What do you say to your leader, rookie?"

"My fangs are dulled for you, boss." Xander gritted out.

Lawrence nodded, "Now scram. Dayana, stay here."

Xander looked at me one last time and flashed me a smile before leaving.

"His fangs are dulled?" I questioned, looking at Lawrence.

He smiled that familiar smile of his when I first met him, "It's CBG code. It means he's sorry for acting like he's superior."

"You guys have a code?"

"Yeah. I mean, it wasn't really necessary but why not, am I right?" He said playfully.

I chuckled.

"So what are 'hounds'?" I asked, making air quotations.

His smiled widened, "It's a term we use for either members of other gangs or just the wild animals we keep."

"You keep wild animals?"

"Yeah, in fact the— wait, how did you find out about hounds?"

I shrugged nonchalantly, "When we were at the rooftop, we saw some animals being let out and Xander told me there were hounds."

"Do you know why they're out?" He asked, taking a step closer.

"No." I replied.

He started taking steps towards me, and I cautiously took a step back each time.

"You really should be thanking us." He told me, tilting his head to the side.

I gulped as my back hit the wall. He was still standing there, his long brown hair falling down to cover his eyes but didn't do well in hiding his ear piercing that sparkled in the dark.

"Wh-why should I?" I stammered.

In an instant, a hand slammed to the wall, right next to my head.

I yelped in surprise as I was forced to stare into his dull hazel eyes that looked beyond tired.

"If not for us..." His face came closer to mine, "You wouldn't be safe and sound right now."

"I don't feel safe." I mumbled.

He chuckled darkly, "Oh, Dayana, why did you think we waited until now to get you?"

"Wh-what?" I asked, absolutely horrified.

"I already knew your whereabouts about a month ago, but I refused to order them to get you. You wanna know why?"

I stayed quiet, silently hoping that he would go back to that cheery and sweet guy I know.

"It's because I wanted you to find us first." He told me, "But when you came into the limelight and started appearing publicly, it dawned to me that you wouldn't be looking for us any sooner, which meant other gangs were going to be after you."

I gulped nervously and opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out.

"We took you the moment we found out that other gangs were already trying to get you. Surprisingly, before we even got to you, some couple of hound already backed away when they saw you, albeit they outnumbered you. I wonder why." He continued.

"What are you trying to imply?" I asked.

He gave me a cheery smile and backed away, "Oh, well I can't possibly jump to conclusions now."

I stood up straighter, "What's your hypothesis, Lawrence?"

He chuckled and whispered it to my ear.

My eyes widened at what he said.

"Well, it's just a guess. Don't get so worked up." He said, ruffling my hair, "Goodnight Dayana."

With that, he left.

-

"Hey, Kylie." I greeted her as I went in our room.

I rubbed my eyes, "I'm sleepy."

Realizing that no one was answering me, I looked around. Kylie wasn't here.

"Kylie?" I called out.

No answer.

I heard the door open behind me. I quickly spun around, only to hit my head on a... wall?

Oh, it's just Leon.

"Dayana. I've been looking all over for you, where have you been?" He asked.

"Rooftop." I replied.

What is it with these siblings and asking where I've been?

"Oh... you're probably looking for Kylie." He stated.

"Well, yeah. Where'd she go?"

"Training. Everyone is."

"Really? What about you?"

"Don't need to." He replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, because you're the co-leader and your brother is the leader, is that it?" I hissed, "That's unfair."

"You're making us sound like we're dictators or something." He told me, "We're not training because we're patrolling around the area, along with Adi and Alex."

"Then why are the others training? You guy seem pretty guarded this lovely evening."

"We're doing this for you."

"Should I feel flattered?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

"No, you should feel threatened." He replied, holding my shoulders.

"Wh-why should I-I?" I stammered.

Damn these siblings are weird.

"Feel scared that gangs are fighting for you. Feel scared that others are gonna come get you. Feel scared that once we let you out of our sight..." His eyes darkened, "You'll be out of this world, too."

"You're scaring me." I said softly.

"Me? You should be afraid of the other gangs, Dayana! Us? We'll protect you. The only reason I'm telling you to be afraid is so that you'll stay with us." He told me, "You can trust us. We won't hurt you because we love you."

I shut up and stared at him.

"Everyone here is family, and you've given me so much to remember, Dayana. You've given us so much to cherish. You may not remember but we do, we all do."

"I... I sound so important." I mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

He smiled charmingly at me, "Because you are important, you psycho."

I smiled back at him.

What uppp! Another update, man I'm on a roll ×∆×

If you guys can recall from the first book, there was also a chapter with the same title as this one! I saw the opportunity and took it, just for old time's sake.

Anyways, what did you guys think Lawrence told Dayana that got her so s h o o k t?

That's all for now, 'til the next update!

♡~Yelly