It’s time. I’ve fought against it for so long, and I knew it was time for me to get back up and continue on with the fight that meant life or death. Yet, I was losing hope, and I was beginning to lose grasp of reality. I’ve begun to fall deep into the darkness. But more so than going further into the darkness, far deeper into the cold. I prayed and I hoped that someone would come and save me, but who would? Is there someone that’ll even be able to save me from this misery? Or was I just doomed for good to slip away to Death in my own puddle of blood? Dying like this isn’t something that I neither want nor need.

Someone! Anyone!

Please! Come save me! I don’t want to leave this world without being able to see his face at least one last time!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“June 20, 3021 DDA,” an electronic female voice stated in its usual soft, yet stern voice as the buzzing of the alarm clock began to go off. “Eight AM.”

Groaning, I croaked from the dry throat, “Alarm, off.” I had to admit that I sounded more snappy than usual.

DDA. After all this time, it was still During Dark Ages era.

“Good morning, Miss Mahlendorf,” greeted the electronic woman’s voice.

As I dragged myself out of the bed, I walked over to my wardrobe, ordering, “Open up the wardrobe, and reveal mirror.” When the doors of the wardrobe flung open, I reached for the hairbrush that lay on the middle shelf on the left half of the stainless steel closet. “Good morning, Adriana,” I finally replied to the computer that had been installed in my home, and I caught my own voice having softened up from earlier. “What’s the schedule for today?”

“At nine this morning,” Adriana replied, “you have a meeting with the Area Eighteen’s mayor, Trace Dilnot, in his office. Once the meeting is over, you have to head over to Quantum Drinks Bar down in the Square to do your share of work behind the counter. And at one in the afternoon, you must head over to the Square for the draw of the names.”

Once I was done fixing my hair and putting them up into a bun, I ran my fingertips along my clothes before choosing out a simple red dress and, changing into it, I asked in a hushed tone, “Have you found out what the drawing of the name this year is for, Adriana?”

Every year, I asked, and every year I got the same answer. I hoped for a different answer, even though it was hopeless. My hope was let down as expected when the computer replied, “My apologies, Miss Mahlendorf, but I could not.”

A deep inward sigh escaped from the depths of my chest, and all I could mutter was, “No need to apologize.” I turned on my heels and headed over to the bed to lay out the sheet as clean as possible, ordering, “Close the wardrobe.” The stainless steel doors slammed themselves shut and in matter of minutes, I was done making the overly large bed and soon began heading towards the front door. I felt my stomach churn and turn as it began to tie itself into a knot in the pit of my stomach as I suddenly began to feel at unease about how the day would go. Stepping out in hopes that I would be wrong about how the day would turn out, I softly demanded before closing the door, “Security system on.” I knew that I had to look at everything as positively as I possibly could, but it just didn’t seem to be happening for me today.

“Have a nice day, Miss Mahlendorf,” the computer greeted. And the moment I had closed the door, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated knowing the fact that the people, the so called government, only have designed these programs to keep an eye on everyone. This world started off with countries, such as South and North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, United States, so on and so forth, but as soon as the warlocks decided to reveal themselves to the mere human beings, the world only began to go down the road of destruction. And it all started when the world was separated into different Areas, and there used to be total of forty-eight different Areas – twenty four in total on both Northern and Southern hemisphere, and each all determined by the time zone itself.

I never gave off the secret that I was a warlock, but that’s the secret identity I’m living with now, all so people that I’ve become quite good friends with, those that I’ve grown fond of, won’t hate me for what I truly am. But that’s only what others will call ‘unreasonable fear’ if anything, I supposed, but what does it matter? After all, it’s one risk that I’m not willing take, is it not? Or is it just something that I’m over thinking?

“Where are you heading today, Mahlendorf,” a well-built male warlock with dark blonde hair, nearly sandy brown, with blue eyes questioned. Dark navy suit, white collar shirt, and black tie. Hair slicked back and shining brightly in the sunlight, perhaps due to overuse of hair gel. Six foot ten inches. Approximately two hundred pounds, and if not, more. That was my best guess, but I could have been wrong. There was a part of me that felt bad for him for not having been allowed to dress like the other warlocks in fancy, rich silk cloak, but the part of me that despised my own race was mocking him with a victorious smile on the inside. How could I truly feel bad for him when even he had treated me like trash, believing I was a mere mortal?

One thing for certain, I was glad there was no real way to tell a difference between a mere mortal and a warlock unless if the warlock was to show off their powers, or abilities rather, in the area that they were trained. And never having seen this man in action, I couldn’t have guessed which area he was specifically trained in, but as for myself, I was trained to be a Healer warlock. I was advanced as a small child that I have managed to go from Medic class to Healer class and all the way into advanced Priest class.

But this man didn’t know, and neither did rest of the warlocks. The last people to know were my family members, whom all the warlocks killed when my family tried to protect the mortals. Of course, that’s a story for another day, and anyone that knows me quite well minus the warlock part would be able to tell that to another any given day.

With a blank look, I replied coolly, “I’m going out to meet with Area Eighteen’s mayor, sir. I really have to get going to make sure I make it for the nine o’clock meeting before getting to the square for this specific town.”

“You realize that that’s in about an hour, correct?” the male warlock asked, and there was a familiar bitter taste in my mouth that most of the warlocks nowadays left as an aftertaste with their behaviors.

Looking at him square in the eye, I dryly replied, “I’m a human, sir, meaning there’ll be at least one warlock coming to escort me soon to make sure I don’t make a run for it. As well as to make sure I get to the mayor in time. No need to worry on whether I’ll be late or not, sir.”

Before the man could open his mouth to bark at me, a cheery female voice called, “There you are, Jo! I’ve been waiting for you, girl!” A female in her early twenties came running into the building and linked arms with me. Bright red hair to match her feisty, yet peppy personality, and unusually bright golden eyes. Well, more caramel golden brown, but close enough to be just bright golden eyes. And unusually beautiful, slim woman.

If she were a warlock, she would have done far better than anyone I know in terms of getting men – warlock or a mere human. It was a great shame, I have to admit, that she was born a human. And out of all the ironic things in the world, she was wearing white shirt with black lining around the neck and around the shoulders on the sleeveless shirt, with a cute school uniform like black skirt. Black and white. What every living being would say this world was – In black and white, and no in between of gloomy gray.

“Sorry, Tricia,” I softly replied with a smile. “You know how warlocks get with humans like us when we try to leave our apartments.”

The man seemed disgruntled as he growled, “Alright. Get out of my building. And I do mean both of you.”

We walked out of there as we both tried our hardest to stifle our laughter, and Tricia had waited until we were out of the earshot range before she burst into laughter. “JoBeth Mahlendorf! What on earth did you do to upset one of the warlocks of Area Eighteen? Never in my life that we both have been alive have I seen one as upset as him!”

“Don’t know what you mean, Tricia,” I smirked.

Tricia Kaufman. One human I trusted with my life, but couldn’t bring myself to trust her with my secret. How could I when she hated warlocks like any mortal humans? After all, if she were to find out I was a warlock as well, I would lose my one and only friend. And even though there was a part of me deep inside that she wouldn’t care considering I was nothing more than a Healer, an advanced Priest class to be more exact, she despised warlocks with all her life.

It was a tradeoff I made for myself, I supposed. After all, generation after generation, my family had been trained to be nothing more than Healers with my parents breaking the tradition by adding on other types of sorcery into their portfolios, and I was the last one in my family standing. They all died trying to protect the secret of us being warlocks, all so we could live in harmony with humans. One thing I couldn’t let my parents down on was revealing the family secret to even Tricia all so I could test our friendship. All so I could see if their theory on the mere mortals and warlocks being able to live in peace in one another’s presence. Another reason was because warlocks already put the humans in fear – made themselves fearful beings with great amount of power.

“Earth to Jo!” Tricia’s voice called, breaking my train of thoughts that seemed to run in a circle without a moment of rest.

Snapping my attention to her, I sad, “Oh, sorry. What were you saying?”

“What’s eating you?” she questioned. “You seem so distant today. It’s not like you, Jo.”

I shook my head as I quietly told her, “It’s nothing.” After a moment of thinking and a bit of hesitation, I admitted, “Well, if anything’s bothering me, it’s the time of the year.” If anything, Tricia seemed dumbfounded by my words and I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh. “Time for drawing of the names. For Survival Among the Weakest.”

Her lips formed a round O as her eyes widened. Lowering her head, Tricia began to lose herself in her own train own of thoughts. “Your name’s going in this year, isn’t it?”

“Hasn’t it always?” I sighed. “Everyone knows that among the humans, it’s always the ones with the worst paying jobs that’ll be put into six months of fighting. Six months of surviving in the wild life. I’m one of the people with the lowest paying jobs, and you know full well that you’re lucky for being a surgeon, the highest paying job for the humans. Truth be told, to know that one of my young childhood dreams didn’t come true for me is kinda saddening.”

It was always those with top thirty-nine lowest paying jobs that were always chosen for the fight, and I fell into one of the categories. To name a few of the lowest paying jobs? Cooks for fast food restaurants. Dishwashers. Cashiers. Nursery workers. Waiters and waitresses. Maids and housekeeping cleaners. Nannies. Bartenders. Nonfarm animal caretakers. Manicurists and pedicurists. And pharmacy aides.

Which one of those categories did I fall into? I juggled three different jobs to try and make as much of a living as possible – I was nothing more than a cashier, a waitress, and a bartender. The jobs all rotated around the schedule that was set out for me each day, and all the warlocks were the ones to run all the businesses in the world.

In some strange logic warlocks have created to make themselves seem far more powerful than they are, there really was no such thing as first class, middle class, and low class. In fact, it was all separated by just warlocks and humans – warlocks being the first class citizens; no middle class citizens for the middle ground; and then straight down to the humans as the low class, kind of like the below the poverty line to sort of speak.

“It’s a shame that your name will be going in,” Tricia sorrowfully reminded me just as I always had to remind myself every passing moment. It was worse knowing that my name would be entered three times – name entered once for every one of the lowest paying jobs worked at.

Scratching back of my head with one hand and holding my arm with the other, I quietly told her, “Don’t remind me. It’s bad enough knowing my name will be entered three times. Just like all the other years past twelve years.”

Age twelve. That’s when all humans begin to get entered into the tournament, and once the kids all reach eighteen years of age, that’s when the people get picked out in terms of who must continue on with entering and who gets excused. I chose terrible jobs for the sake of hoping my secret will go down to the grave with me, and so far, I have been unsuccessful. And to some degree, I couldn’t be happier knowing I would have to compete in the treacherous tournament, especially since it was never predictable what kind of wild the chosen ones were given seeing it always changed. There were always mixes of various things from the past as well.

When it came to the competition, one tradition always remained. Every year, there were always total of two hundred forty contestants in total, five from each Area. The odd numbered areas had three male and two female contestants. The even numbers had two male and three female competitors.

“Attention,” a computerized male voice boomed throughout the place, and I’m sure it was broadcasted worldwide. “Breaking news. All of the odd numbered Areas in the northern hemisphere have been destroyed. Only the even numbered Areas stand. Again, only the even numbered Areas stand. For the southern hemisphere, all the even have been destroyed, and only the odd numbered Areas remain standing. Northern hemisphere’s even numbered Areas, and the southern hemisphere’s odd numbered Areas continue standing. Let this be a warning and a lesson to any that try to oppose the warlocks to start up a war. Have a nice day, and when the names are drawn today, have a pleasant time. There will also be some change in the rules for Survival Among the Weakest. And due to the changes that were made, the drawing of the names this year will be moved on up ahead to noon. Thank you for your cooperation.”

I felt my body freeze up as a bone chilling shiver ran down my spine. I felt blood drain completely from my face. What was all this supposed to mean for those of us that had names in and ready to be drawn? More so than what would happen to those of us that have our names in the ballot list, not much by choice since the warlocks wants to make sure that all jobs were taken by equal amount of people, one question remained standing.

Was there a specific reason that they have destroyed pretty much half the world?

Or was that another piece of information that the warlocks wanted to keep for themselves?

“What’s that supposed to mean for the rest of us humans?” Tricia’s voice trembled. “Did they have a reason for finishing off the amount of people that they did? I mean, c’mon! By doing what they did, they pretty much got rid of nearly half of the world population!”

My mouth felt dry as the words came rolling off my lips in a near hushed voice. “I’ll try to find out when I see that scum of a mayor today. I promise. And half of the population is only if they killed off the warlocks as well, which I highly doubt, Trish.”

Three warlocks all dressed in royal purple colored robes made of rich satin and fairly large staffs all carved in the same way, almost like the ones that children from long ago saw in their picture books, came up. Their faces were hooded, and face far too deep into the shadows to even see what they look like. Just the way they walked and the way their bodies were held up, there was a sense that they weren’t small and scrawny ones either, but rather large and brawny warlocks. The one that walked front and center had a deep and rather captivating voice when he asked, “Are either of you JoBeth Mahlendorf?” When neither of us replied, the three men looked back and forth at us expectantly.

“I am,” I croaked with a bit of fear once I managed to find my voice, and cleared my throat before repeating in more confident voice, “I am she.” Looking around at the three men, only one explanation came into mind, and that was they were the ones to bring me into the mayor. Slowly inhaling and exhaling to keep steady breathing, I remarked, “Correct me if I’m wrong since I’m merely taking a stab in the dark here, but if I’m not mistaken, you three are here to collect me to see Mayor Dilnot, are you not?”

The men seemed a little taken aback, perhaps because I hit the bull’s eye in just one shot, but the man who spoke seemed to give a small nod by the faint movement of at least his visible chin. “Come with us, please, Miss Mahlendorf,” the man’s deep voice said as he held out his hand to me.

Glancing over at Tricia, who had nothing more than worry written all over her face, there was something that came over me that caused me to take hold of her hands and give them a small, gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry,” I quietly told her with a weak yet soft smile. “I’ll be fine. Worse comes to worst, the mayor tries to kill me with his own spell. I’ll let you know what happened if he even gives me permission to talk about it when I get out, alright?”

She threw her arms around my neck and I heard her voice trickle into my ear, “Just come back to me alive if possible, JoBeth.” When Tricia took a step back and turned away to head for her own work, there was a glint in her eyes saying there was something she was holding herself back from saying in front of these people. Something she didn’t want the three warlocks to know.

When the warlock in the front cleared his throat, almost as a reminder that he was there, I turned to face him as I muttered, “I’m terribly sorry for having to keep you waiting like this.” With those words, I took his hand and the surrounding of my town, or city rather, all disappeared in blink of an eye. We were being warped into the darkness, and I felt myself begin to spin, spiraling upward, in an uncontrollable manner.

Beginning to feel nauseated, I closed my eyes and hoped that the disgusting feeling in the stomach would just subside. Having to undergo the spiral took longer than I had hoped, or could have asked for, and just when I was about to lose all that were in my stomach, all the food that I had the day before, we came to a stomach. Taking in few deep breaths slowly, my eyelids lifted themselves in cautious manner before my head followed my instructions to move from side to side, allowing me to take a look at the new setting.

Glass windows. Those were what were surrounding me in the room – glass windows. In fact, the entire wall structure was made of glass material. As I went beyond with looking around the room I was brought to, I realized that behind me was a door, which caused me to realize that out of all the walls, that was one wall which was made anything but of the transparent material. And across from the doorway, by the largest glass wall, sat an office desk made of mahogany and a fairly large black office chair behind the desk itself. When I observed the chair more closely, I realized that the back of the office chair was facing me.

“Three of you,” a chilling male voice ordered. “Leave me and the young lady in peace.” As the three warlocks bowed before exiting the room, the voice called in a sweeter yet still bone chilling tone, “Would you like anything to drink, Miss Mahlendorf?”

Gulping, I muttered loud enough for him to hear in response, “Just a peppermint tea will be fine, sir.”

When the man turned in his chair to face me, I found a slightly well-built man with black hair slicked back with a bit of a shine, almost as though from having been gelled, and sea green eyes. His features was what almost any woman would, I supposed, have said the ideal man – buff, good looking, squared off chin, great smile, and even looking all so professional. Not to forget to mention that he actually did seem quite stunning in the navy blue suit, white button down shirt, and blood red tie, but I was never into a man that gave off the hateful vibe such as this man. With a small nod, he typed a few things in a keyboard incorporated into his desk as the holographic computer screen appeared in the midair.

As he hit Enter key, he caught me completely off-guard as his voice had turned soft. “I’m terribly sorry for having asked you to come all the way out here, Miss Mahlendorf. There are things that I’ve been meaning to talk to you about, such as your situation on the submission for the SAW.” The man quickly corrected himself as he said, “Survival Among the Weakest, I mean. I’ve noticed that you’re the only one among all Areas that you are the only one who has their name entered three times.” He paused for a moment and there was a look on his near stone cold face that said he had something going through his mind. Soon, holding out his hand, he shook his head with a smile, saying, “Where are my manners? My name is Trace Dilnot, the mayor of the entire Area Eighteen. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

I shook his hand as I replied, “JoBeth Mahlendorf. Of course, you already know that by the looks of it, it seems.” As I withdrew my hand, I remarked, “Well, there must be some reason why you have called me out to see you, Mayor Dilnot. But before you get to that, there was an announcement that my friend and I heard before few of the warlocks that works for you that half of the Areas around the world have been destructed. I know what I’ve heard, but is the Areas that survived really the only Areas that are now in existence?”

The mayor motioned for me to sit as he sat back down himself. “It’s true,” he informed me without much hesitation. “Currently, the remaining Areas that stands are 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, of course, obviously enough, 18, 20, 22, and 24 from up here in the Northern Hemisphere. Down in the Southern Hemisphere, of course, is a different story. Unlike the northern half of the globe, the southern half’s Areas that remain standing are 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, and 47.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, sir,” I slowly said with bit of disbelief, “and I don’t mean to be rude, but if in terms of Areas that were rid of and the Areas that were kept are put in color of black and white, wouldn’t it just look like teeth of very uneducated people? Teeth knocked out alternatively? Not just from side to side, but above and below? If so, then why has the main head of the warlocks gone to the extremes to make it that way?”

With a slightly forced smile on his face, the mayor replied, “That’s really not my place to question him myself, even if I’m one of the most highly considered warlocks around the world. Not that you mere humans would understand even if I knew the reason.” When I finally sat down in a chair that had formed and come up from the ground when he had motioned for me to take a seat earlier, the mayor looked as though he was lost in his thoughts. Every second that passed felt like an eternity in the silence that dreaded along in the room. “I’ve been observing all those with jobs that have the lowest pays, Miss Mahlendorf. And out of all those people, I must admit that I have been keeping my eyes far more closely on you. You’re quite the interesting lady, especially for someone with no family members.”

“What for, sir?” I calmly asked as the doors opened behind me. A woman with auburn hair and hazel eyes came in and placed two cups on the desk, and the sweet yet fresh scent of the early morning arose from my cup of peppermint tea, and the aroma was something I never would never have been able to get tired of. When the woman went back out, I spoke once more. “There must be a reason why I have to be kept a close eye on out of all people.”

A grave look came across his face as the mayor told me, “You’re hiding something. From everyone. And I want to know what that something is.”

“I have nothing to hide, sir,” I replied calmly.

A lie. Nothing but a lie. My heart was pounding out of control, and at the rate that it was pounding, I felt as though my heart could burst out of my chest any time soon. If anyone, there was only one person in this world that would have been able to tell that I was lying, and that was none other than my friend Tricia Kaufman.

“From that bright orange hair to the unusual light purple eyes,” the mayor remarked. “I’d say it’s not just your appearance that stands out from rest of the mortals. There’s just something about you that makes you stand out from everyone else, but I can’t just seem to put my finger on what that something is.”

A cold chill ran down my spine and I felt my body shiver a bit. Out of all things I wish I was in control, trying to keep my body strained from shivering didn’t seem to be one thing that was out of reach. And there was a strange smile that crept across face, almost senile. It was almost as though he was enjoying himself at the reaction that I gave.

With a small gulp, words came rolling off my lips in a bare mutter, “Are you trying to say that out of flattery, or as an intimidation, sir? It seems quite unclear in which direction you’re trying to go in.”

“As both, I supposed,” he replied, “but it can always be taken both ways. If anything, the one thing that will be the main question for your case at all times is what is it that you’re trying oh so hard to hide from everyone?”

Taking deep breath in, I kept bitterness to myself as I remarked, “If there is anything that I have to hide, then that’s for me to know and for you to find out. I guarantee that it won’t be an easy task in any way if that was to be the case, Mayor Dilnot.” The mayor’s face hardened, and his eyes began to fill with hatred, which immediately froze up into a cold gaze. His eyes started to become clouded and I saw wheels begin to turn in his head, and I knew it had to do something with how to get my warlock secret come rolling off my lips. Not wanting to give him the chance to fully think things through, I got up to excuse myself as I quietly asked, “Can I just leave, sir?”

“Not yet,” the mayor replied, and I could hear the faint sound of the heavy inward sigh. “I was sent a mortal by one of my Transport Warlocks from a different Area. Since he seemed so desperate to join in by the looks of how he’s tried so hard to succeed to get at least here alive, I wanted to assign him to you seeing how your name has been entered multiple times.”

Raising a brow, I repeated, “Assign him? To me? If you do not mind me asking, Mayor Dilnot, for what reason?”

“I have my own reasons,” the man remarked, and an eerie cold smile like a serpent spread across his face as he threw my own words back in my face without missing a beat. “If there is anything that I have to hide, then that’s for me to know and for you to find out. I guarantee that it won’t be an easy task in any way if that was to be the case, Miss Mahlendorf. Besides, what fun would it be if even I don’t get to play cat and mouse when you’re refusing to tell what exactly is going through that pretty little head of yours?”

Sighing inwardly, I regretfully asked in a near mutter, “Who do I have to watch over, sir?”

The cruel man’s fingertips skimmed across the deep, rich brown colored desk of cool, waxed mahogany before pressing down on a barely noticeable red button that lay on the edge of the table. The door flung behind me as my seat declined back into the ground, and two warlocks wearing fiery red robes made of the finest silk came marching in as they shoved a male mortal in. At their final shove, the man skidded across the floor and slowed to a stop by my feet.

“That man,” the mayor told me, and his ice cold voice brought chills down my spine. “He seemed to think he was a match for my Elemental Warlocks that were followed by Imprisonment Warlocks.” At the sight of me dropping to my knees and my arms quickly wrapping around the fallen mortal’s body, a dark chuckle escaped from the brutal man’s throat as he told me, “What I find amusing is that he thought he even had a chance. I only allowed him to live so that if he gets chosen for SAW, he will at least be given the chance to fight for his life against other humans. Of course, the jobs I will be assigning him are the same jobs as you, another reason why I wanted you to be the one assigned to him to keep an eye on him for me. Otherwise, it’ll be similar consequences that you shall face. Is that clear, Miss Mahlendorf?”

I did my best to help the helpless man up as I sorrowfully replied, “Understood, sir.” I put one of the arms of the limp man’s body as I murmured to him, “Let’s go. I’m getting you out of here before it’s too late.”

I managed to get the nameless man out the door, and past the entrance waited the three warlocks that collected me. The main one from earlier came up to us and offered his hand, but when I didn’t take his hand but merely looked at the injured, the warlock placed an unexpectedly gentle hand on my shoulder. Within moments, we were hurled into spiral of darkness and lasted for nearly as long as it took us to get to this very city where the dimwitted mayor’s office was located. My stomach began to churn once more, and just as I felt as though I was just about to empty out my insides, the ride came to an end and the area was back to being my town. But to be more precise, the injured man and I were brought to the front of the apartment that I resided in.

“Do you need to assistance in bringing him in?” the warlock asked in his deep voice.

Shaking my head, I reassured him, “No. Thank you for the offer, though.” I headed inside with the injured mortal and the man began to groan. Whether it was in pain or close to waking up, I could not tell, but I hoped for the later than the earlier that I found myself muttering without much thought, “Who are you, where are you from, and what have you come to this Area for?”

When I entered my own place, the female computerized voice greeted, “Welcome back, Miss Mahlendorf.”

I half dragged the limp body to my bed and nearly dropped the man across it before going back to the door. Slamming it shut, I knelt down and opened a little hatch that every household had on the ground right by the entrance that barely anyone knew about. I was one of the few exceptions that found out, but it was unintentional. I never meant to find out, but I did, and out of all the tricks to learn in the world, turning off the computer in the apartment was one thing that I learned. And it was all to make sure that my secret would never leak to any warlock all due to the warlocks hacking onto the technology they created to keep an eye on all humans.

Sitting at the edge of the bed next to the nameless man, I turned him over onto his back. Asian. That’s what the history books that managed to survive called people that looked like him. Or at least the comparison I could make out of the pictures that I recalled seeing in those books. He looked just like an Asian, but he had slightly round face. He was slightly well built, but at the same time, he didn’t seem to be in all that fit of a shape. It was more like in-between if anything. But what did it matter? His hair was slightly grown out, and beard grew around his chin. It must have been days to weeks since he last shaved by the looks of how grown out his beard was. Out of curiosity, I lifted his eyelid a bit, and instead of the dark brown eyes I expected to see, I saw light hazel eyes. The clothes he were a button down shirt, red tie, black sleeveless waiter jacket, and nice black suit pants. If I were to let guard down completely, and allowed myself fall for just anyone, then it may have been him. At the same time, only at the cost of if he was truly a decent of a man he appeared to be.

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I undressed top half of his body to see how bad his wounds on at least upper part were. Carefully running my hands along his slightly cold yet smooth skin, I began the healing process and I felt warmth from my own body flow through to my hands and transfer into the man’s body. A faint moan escaped from the man’s throat and as much as I wanted to withdraw my hands, I couldn’t do so until he was fully healed. I couldn’t be heartless, especially not when I knew I had the chance to do right, and leave this man to be as injured as he was.

After a few minutes of healing him this way had passed, energy began to drain out of me and I began to feel clammy – all around me far too cold for my taste. And just when I thought I was going to pass out, a pair of large hands took hold of mine as they remained hovering over the man’s chest, and the hands brought mine down to be in direct contact with his body. “Stop it,” a hoarse, yet husky male voice escaped from the nameless man’s lips. As he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at me, he angrily said, “Just stop it. Don’t act like you care about a human. You’re a warlock. You’re just like them all. You only pretend to care when you don’t!”

Fear took over my body and I tried to withdraw my hand, but his hands held mine down to his chest firmly. In a wide panic, I whispered, “Please let me go! I’m not like the others! I’ve tried for so long to blend in with humans! I don’t see you mortals as those lower than those of us that are warlocks! I see you as our equal!”

The man sat up as he furiously bellowed, “Don’t lie to me! You’re a warlock, are you not? You lot are keeping my family somewhere as captives just so I’ll cooperate!”

“I’m not like the other damn warlocks!” I screeched before I could have stopped myself. Tears began to well in my eyes as I snapped at him, “I don’t look at you humans as those lower than us warlocks just because you lot don’t have sorcery powers, alright? I see you as our damn equals! It’s the corrupted ones that see you all as nothing but dirt! All my family members died in trying to stand up for the rights of you mortals, and I’m the last one in my family standing to try and stand up for the equal rights once more when the time for me is right!” Surprised, the man slowly loosened his grip on my hands as I got up on my feet to go over to the kitchen area. Splashing water on my face, I hoarsely whispered, “Have they injured your legs as well? I can heal them up for you if you’d like seeing there aren’t that many advanced Priests that would be willing to help you like I.”

Silence lingered over the room, almost as though he didn’t even know what to say, but words sooner or later came out of his mouth. “No, they’re perfectly fine. Maybe a little bruised in the back, but fine.” I grabbed a cup and poured some water into it to bring over, but it was the moment I turned to face him that made me freeze. It wasn’t that he was a warlock himself casting some simple spell that all warlocks, no matter what type, could cast. No. But it was rather for the mere fact he was holding a gun straight at me all the way from the bed. “Explain yourself. Why have you brought me here? What are you exactly to look over me?”

“I’m an advanced Priest, which no other warlocks no about,” I replied. “Not even just the mere mortals know about it with exception of you, of course, but still an advanced Priest no less. I blended myself in with the humans so that I may live peacefully among you humans because I, unlike majority, if not all, warlocks, don’t believe we are high above you. I have no intentions in making myself inferior like they do. I brought you with me to my place so that I may be able to give you proper treatment in terms of healing, which, if I do say so myself, I have done quite exceptional job on considering not many advanced Priests are able to heal within few minutes. It would take even the other advanced Priests at least half an hour, and it’ll take at least half a dozen to a dozen of them to do the amount of healing that I have in the time that I did.”

The man didn’t seem to entirely believe me as he asked, “Why do you live like this?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” I replied with a small shrug. I closed my eyes when tears threatened at the eyes once more.

It was as if I could see them all again.

My parents.

My two older sisters and my big brother.

My parents were advanced Priests while my mother was a Flame Elementalist and my dad a Wind Elementalist. My eldest sister a Water Elementalist. My big brother a Lightening Warlock. And my other older sister an Earth Elementalist.

My second older sister picked me up in her arms when I was just at age of five, when I still understood nothing of the wars that would erupt every now and then. My parents did their best to fight the warlocks off as my sisters and my brother took me to run for our lives. When our parents fell, I still can recall them being trapped in the ball of sphere of water, drowning to their death, as my eldest sister instructed our two siblings to take me someplace far and safe before she went heads on with the warlocks.

It was when she fell against lightning strikes, causing her to electrocute herself to her death when she got soaking wet from her own elemental power, that my brother took charge and tried to bring the warlocks down. Our only remaining sister continued on running with me in her arms and never once looked back – all to try and protect me. And as she did just that, our brother fell like all the others when fire, water, and wind were all used against him when the warlocks used those three to create some form of a hurricane.

It was then that it dawned on me that my only remaining sister and I were the only ones left standing in our family. Of course, she fell like the rest when she hid me away in our secret hide out within a cave, one place that barely anyone knew about, and she made me promise to not come out until all was over. It didn’t matter how curious I was, and I knew it must have been important to her if she was urging me to promise. I watched her die as she let out a piercing scream of agony as flames engulfed her and lightning struck down upon her from the sky.

CLASH.

The glass shattered into small pieces as water that was contained within flooded the floor, and all I could do was kneel on the ground as I clutched onto my head with eyes shut tight.

Memories.

That’s all they were – Memories.

Yet, it all still seemed too real. It has been far after fifteen years since the happening, and I still couldn’t get it all out of my head. It didn’t matter how hard I tried – the memories just refused to go away.

A pair of hands gently rested on my shoulders as the man’s warm voice, suddenly filled with worry, asked, “Are you alright?”

“Define ‘alright,’” I demanded in a hushed voice, and I heard myself choking back on the tears in my voice as the tears that were flowing freely down my cheek. For the years I’ve found myself struggling, not once has anyone bothered to ask that one question. Until him.

The man didn’t seem to know what to do with himself before he finally began cleaning up the mess in my place. After a few minutes of silence, he began finishing up with the cleaning before helping me up onto my feet and bringing me over to my bed to sit me down. Sitting down next to me and leaning forward into his legs, he quietly told me, “Carlo Suarez.”

“What?” I blinked with confusion as I averted my eyes to him. Not knowing where that came from all so abruptly, my mind immediately tried to connect the name to something else.

His eyes darted to me for a brief moment before quickly telling me, “Carlo Suarez. My name’s Carlo Suarez.”

“JoBeth Mahlendorf,” I told him in return, but something must’ve possessed me to say to this complete stranger, “No. That’s a lie. It’s actually Zoey. Zoey Yukimura.”

I saw a pleasant smile creep onto his face as he noted, “Originally a Japanese heritage, then. Interesting.” When Carlo caught my curious look, he explained, “Snowy village. That’s what your surname means. ‘Yuki’ means ‘snow’ where as ‘mura’ stands for ‘village.’” He thought for a moment before giving me a weak smile as he said, “And I probably sound like a bit of a freak now, don’t I? Studying all the languages from long ago.”

“No, it’s not weird,” I reassured him as I shook my head. “It’s actually interesting. I had no idea what my heritage originally was considering how young I was when my entire family died to explain it to me.”

He looked at me with a curious look in his eyes, and I couldn’t quite figure out exactly what it was that he was trying to connect in that mind of his. One moment, he was furious with me for some reason and was ready to shoot me to my death with a gun that he must have had in his pants pocket, and then the next, he was sweet, almost as though he wouldn’t even hurt a fly. Then the least expected question came from his lips. “What happened to your family?”

I couldn’t help but look away from him as I mumbled, “That’s off the topic. Sorry. Not really a subject I’d like to cover.” Looking at him, I remarked, “How about yours? You said that the warlocks took your family, didn’t you? What exactly happened to them?”

“I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to,” Carlo replied in a bare whisper. “My place was trashed when I got there, and there was a note left on the fridge saying I’ll have to cooperate if I ever want to see them alive again. And it wasn’t just my family they took. Out of all people to target, they targeted my girlfriend and took her with my family.”

I felt my heart sink a bit at the word ‘girlfriend,’ and I didn’t even know why. Was there part of me that was actually expecting him to be single? For me to even have a chance with some complete stranger? Or was it that I was hoping I could first befriend him before trying to become his girlfriend overtime, and I wasn’t even conscious of it? Whatever the reason, I couldn’t allow myself to ponder upon it for long.

“At least you can keep up with the hope that your family and your girlfriend are all still alive for the time being,” I reassured him with a soft smile. “For now, don’t worry too much about them, alright? Let’s focus on the now and hope for the better future.” Getting up to go back over to where the controls for the computer was by the entrance, I pleaded, “And please don’t tell anyone about me being a warlock. Not a single peep even in this house, whether you’re with only me or all alone.”

He seemed puzzled, but nodded. “Alright. Not a single word.” His voice was filled with curiosity, and wanted to ask a few questions, but I never gave him the chance to do so.

When I turned the entire system around the house back on, the voice of computerized female greeted, “Welcome back, Miss Mahlendorf.”

“Thank you, Adriana,” I replied as I pushed myself off from the ground. “Sorry about the system shutting off. There must have been a bug going around for you to shut off so abruptly.”

“Do not worry, Miss Mahlendorf,” Adriana replied in its usual technologic voice. “It will happen every now and then whether we like it or not.”

As I walked over to my closet, I ordered, “Open wardrobe.”

As the doors flung open, I looked through the drawers that were inside as the computer informed me, “Miss Mahlendorf, you have to make sure you get yourself to work in time if possible to get your bartender job done for at least a bit before today’s ceremony.”

“Inform my work for me that the new worker, Carlo Suarez, and I won’t be making it in today, Adriana,” I instructed the computer. “I have to make sure that he’s fully healed before I do any work at any of the three jobs.”

In a respectful way, the computer responded, “Will do, Miss Mahelndorf. Also, one of your acquaintances, Tricia Kaufman, will be making a visit shortly. She asks for a meeting with you as soon as possible. She claims she wishes to speak to you on an important matter.”

Groaning, I muttered, “Why do you have to do this to me today out of all days, Tricia?” Returning my attention back to the drawer and finally taking out a slightly faded picture of me and my family before closing the drawer shut, I sighed, “Thank you, Adriana. Close wardrobe.”

“Who’s Tricia?” Carlo asked the moment the stainless steel doors closed themselves shut, and I caught his eyes darting to the picture that I held in my hand.

Raising the small paper slightly, I told him, “Just an old family picture. And Tricia’s an old time friend of mine. A mortal just like you to be exact.” Just as he opened his mouth, I sat down next to him as I quickly cried, “If you’re about to ask why she’s on her way here, the only reasonable explanation I can give you is that I was supposed to see the Area Eighteen’s mayor for some reason, and I didn’t know it had anything to do with you when I went to see that man!”

Just then, there was a knock on the door with a cheerful call of Tricia’s voice came from the other side of the door. “Jo! You home yet, dear? Well, of course you are! What am I saying? Open the door, Jo, before I try and get the warlock to open the door for me by having to lie to him that I think you escaped and ran for your life to Area Nineteen!”

“Area Nineteen doesn’t exist anymore, Trish!” I called back in singsong voice, but with a bit of bitterness in the voice. I got up on my feet as I put the picture away in the cleavage area of my dress and walked over to the entrance to open up my place to her. “It’s destroyed, remember? There’s nowhere to run no matter how much we want to!” When I opened the door, Tricia came stumbling in and she was in a fit of giggles as I asked her, “What time is it?”

“About half an hour after noon,” she chimed with a bright smile. Tricia took a look at my place like a new born puppy in a brand new space before her eyes landed on Carlo, which then her curious look turned into a look of a predator spotting its prey. But it wasn’t in the same way that she wanted to attack, but rather wanted to pounce on him to try and seduce him if possible. “Who’s the cutie?” Tricia asked loud enough for only me to hear as she leaned in towards me. “Never seen him before.”

Rolling my eyes as I slammed the door shut, I warningly told her, “Forget it, Tricia. He’s off limits.” I walked over to the kitchen and before she could say anything, I snapped, “For your information, I’m not the one dating him. He already has a girlfriend, so just lay off. You’re not allowed to pounce on him, let alone try and seduce the man, as long as he’s in a relationship. I really rather not start acting like your mother, Trish, so please try and behave yourself, won’t you?” Letting out a small sigh, I asked more softly, “But did you eat lunch yet? You must be starving if you took off from your work without warning.”

“After the operation of that overly large man I had as my first patient of the day?” Tricia snorted. “Don’t think I can keep anything down.” A sudden bright smile came over her like a small child that saw a large lollipop. “But if it’s you that’s cooking, mommy JoBeth, cook up something good. I think I’ll be able to keep down whatever you throw at me even after seeing someone’s insides.” As I took off a shoe and threw it at her, Tricia let out a laugh as it hit her in the smack middle of back of her head. Holding out a hand to Carlo, she giggled, “My name’s Tricia. Tricia Kaufman. Nice to meet you.”

“Carlo Suarez,” he replied after warming up his hands a bit and taking on her offer of shaking hands. “Pleasure.”

Rolling my eyes as I organized all the ingredients to make spaghetti, I couldn’t help but ask, “How the bloody hell are you so cheerful, Tricia? For crying out loud, this year could be the year your own best friend goes out into the wild to fight for her life!”

“Oh, I’m worried alright,” Tricia told me rather seriously. “Don’t get me wrong about that, but it doesn’t mean I won’t try to be optimistic, Jo.” Her attention turned back to Carlo and her tone turned cheerful once more. “Which part of Area Eighteen are you originally of?”

Startled, I cried, “Tricia! Don’t go around asking questions like that, won’t you? Besides, he’s not even of Area Eighteen!”

“Who says I’m not, Zoey?” Carlo asked. “I actually am of this Area. There happens to be more than one mayor, actually, but all depending on which area of state each town or city was part of. My city’s located far more closer to where New York would have been, but your mayor and mine should be the same. Trace Dilnot, or am I wrong? That being asides the point, if your mayor’s the same mayor as mine, he may have just lied to you that I’m of different Area, or at least something along that line just so you wouldn’t question him too much.”

Out of all things for Tricia to focus on, she just had to focus on my real name over all the other details Carlo had to give. “Zoey?” she remarked. “How on earth did he come with that for you, Jo? It’s not even remotely close to your name!”

With a nervous laughter, I told her, “He was in a pretty bad shape when the warlocks brought him into the mayor’s office, Trish. He must be getting mixed my name up with someone named Zoey.” I gave him a look of warning, and when Tricia looked in his direction, I mouthed to him, “Only when we’re alone. Don’t use my real name in front of others.” Just as Carlo rolled his eyes at me, Tricia looked back over to me and I immediately put on a smile to put on a show. “So, do you two want meatballs in your spaghetti as well? Or do you guys just want it with sauce and nothing else?”

“With,” Tricia exclaimed just as Carlo replied, “You don’t have to go through so much trouble by doing extra stuff.”

With roll of my eyes, I said, “With meatballs it is, then.”

“Why do you even bother asking?” Tricia giggled.

I made a face at as I replied, “To see how much of a child is still left in you, Dopey, since no matter how much time passes by, you never seem to grow up.”

“Whatever.” As Tricia looked back and forth between me and Carlo, she chimed more at me, “So, Jo, guess what my coworkers were saying just today before the operation.”

“What’s the gossip around for you surgeons now? There’s got to be something interesting seeing we bartenders, waiters and waitresses, and cashiers don’t get any rumors.” I couldn’t help but sigh. For a group of highest paying workers, there sure seemed to be some sort of rumor going around.

Tricia waved her hand dismissively at me as she informed me in a near singsong tone, “It may not just be warlocks that exists in this world! The reason that all the odd numbered Areas in the Northern Hemisphere and all the even numbered Areas in the Southern Hemisphere got destroyed may be because those were mostly vampire population, not human population! Those warlocks just couldn’t seem to find a way to get rid of the vampires without burning down and bombing all those places! I mean, think about it! Vampires are known to be roamers of the night! Even our Area could be crawling with them!”

As I began cooking up the pasta once making sure that the meatballs had gone inside the oven at the right temperature, I couldn’t help but sigh at such a ridiculous statement, but Carlo seemed quite intrigued, yet amused at what Tricia had to offer. “Where on earth do you surgeons get all these ridiculous information?” I couldn’t help but ask, and it was a moment too late to stop myself from asking such things. Out of all the things that I asked, if I could take back any, one would have been that exact question.

“It seemed outrageous of an idea for such things as magic to exist before the Dark Ages began, Zoey,” Carlo said before quickly correcting himself, “I mean, JoBeth. Why would it be impossible for blood sucking creatures to exist?”

With a heavy inward sigh, I told him, “Because it just seems like a childish idea. That’s all. I mean, really? Vampires? It’s bad enough that for the time being, we know that nearly half the population is warlocks. If vampires exist, then how would we even been able to tell the difference between all the classes? Go overboard and classify all those that work in dark areas or during the night as vampires, the ones wearing those cloaks made of rich silk as warlocks, and the rest as mortal humans? Seems farfetched if you ask me.”

“You’re always thinking what we surgeons have to say to each other at work are childish and farfetched,” Tricia pouted.

Giving her a bit of a sarcastic smile, I told her, “Maybe I wouldn’t if you all started to think more like adults. I’m twenty, Tricia. And you’re twenty-six. Perhaps it’s time for you to think more like a disciplined adult instead of a small child.”

“Says the girl that still loves reading those old Japanese mangas, watching the animes, and playing video games,” Tricia grumbled.

The pasta finished up rather quickly, and the sauce with it, and that’s one thing to have to love about the technologies these days – no matter how short of a time, the food always cooked faster than it normally would have compared to what people used to call the A.D. years before the D.D.A. years came into play.

Scooping some spaghetti onto three different plates, I remarked, “Yeah, says me, who, if you have forgotten, actually acts more mature than you for someone working far more lowly paying job, Trish.” Looking over to Carlo with a smile, I said, “Come on over and dig in, Carlo. You must be starving by now considering you seemed to have been beaten since at least last night. Or early this morning with nothing to eat.” Stepping over and leaning down towards the oven to get the meatballs, I apologetically said, “Sorry if it’s not really good, but had to make it all in bit of a rush.”

“Hoping to have your name drawn today?” Tricia sighed, and as much as I heard the bit of sarcasm in her voice, there was also hint of sorrow.

“You’re hoping for your name to be drawn?” Carlo sounded rather surprised. “What for? It’s pretty much a war among humans to try and make it to the end, and all for the amusement of the warlocks.”

Tricia whispered in a sing song tone loud enough for even me to hear, “She’s crazy!”

With a small shrug as I placed three meatballs for each Tricia and Carlo, I ignored Tricia’s words as I quietly replied, “If I have to get chosen before I die, why not get it done and over with while still young? Besides, the challenges are always getting changed every year, so who knows if it’ll even be in the wild like it has been past several years.”

“Well, it’s better you don’t get chosen,” Tricia said as she poured spaghetti sauce for herself from the pot that lay on the stove. She took one bite before beginning to shove the food down her throat like a wild animal. It was almost as though if she skipped even one meal or didn’t finish at least one more plate of food, she would cease to exist from this world. With her mouth filed with food, she barely managed to say, “By the way, great food as always, Jo.”

Carlo hesitated as I snapped, “Slow down, or you’re gonna either choke on your food or throw them up later! For crying out loud, I’m not your mother, so why do I have to act like one?”

“Why do you think I call you ‘mommy Jo,’ huh?” Tricia teasingly replied as she gulped down her mouthful. Turning her attention to Carlo as she tilted her head a bit to the side, she said, “You should eat up while you have the chance, you know. We’re all going to have to leave soon for the drawing of the names for this year’s Survival Among the Weakest.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes, and the second Tricia caught me, she cried out, “What? He should!”

“Ignore her,” I sighed as I moved around pasta on my own plate. “But, please, do eat up, Carlo. The three of us will need to head to the gathering place as soon as we’re done with our meal here for the drawing of the names.”

With Tricia full of curiosity, she went on ahead at full steam and began asking questions as she and Carlo ate while my mind wandered off to elsewhere. I heard half the things that were said, but the other half that didn’t hear a single word – it was off in its own little world full of possibilities. After what seemed like such a short period of time, which turned out to be a mere half an hour, both of them were done, and half of my plate was full.

I hadn’t even noticed that it was the case until Carlo placed a gentle hand over mine as his gentle voice whispered, “Zoey? Are you alright?”

I looked up at him absentmindedly and gave him a blank look for a moment or two. Mind coming back to the present, I looked at both his and Tricia’s plates before looking up at Tricia’s confused face and over to Carlo’s worrisome look. Withdrawing my hand from him to put my plate away in the fridge, I mumbled, “Yeah, I’m fine. No need to worry about me.”

Once putting my half-finished plate away in the fridge, I nearly bumped into Carlo as I turned around and, out of all the least expected, he placed his warm hands on my shoulders and studied my face oh so carefully. “What’s wrong?” he finally whispered after what seemed like an eternity. I pushed past him with every ounce of strength I had in my body, and it was times like this that I couldn’t be happier about having to work in a bar where I learned to be nearly as rough as men to match up to their strength. When I didn’t respond as I reached for the empty plates, he huffed in rather stubborn matter. “You’re gonna have to talk sometime, Zoey.”

“No, I don’t,” I told him through gritted teeth. “And stop calling me Zoey.”

“Whatever,” he muttered and took the plates out of my hands. “You’ve done the cooking, so I’ll do the cleaning.” Just as I opened my mouth to argue, he made a face at me as he ordered, “Go sit down. I got the plates covered. It’s the least I could do. You’ll have to get used to having to split some of the chores around here if you’re going to be willing to let me stay here.”

This was new. Treatments like this wasn’t something I was used to. I was always finding my own ways around to get things done. He must have known, especially with me having told him that my entire family was long gone from this world. And even Tricia saw the awkwardness that came out of me when I sat down next to her. “What’s going on between you two?” she whispered as soon as Carlo turned the water on at the kitchen sink. “Are you sure you two aren’t in a relationship? Looks like you are. How long have you two been going out? Were you keeping this a hush hush from me? For how long?”

Glaring, I warningly growled, “Zip it, Tricia. I met him only today, and I don’t need to go diving into every chance of relationship I’ve got. It’s not like he’s an available man, anyway, so enough with that topic already!”

“Miss Mahlendorf,” the computer finally spoke up. “It’s about time to head down to the Square if you want to make sure you get to the Name Drawing event with a bit of a time to spare.”

Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I softly called to Carlo, “You don’t have to do the dishes right now. Those can wait.”

“It’s better to get these done and over with now than later,” Carlo countered, and just that one statement alone was enough to make me get up on my feet and walk over to turn the kitchen sink off.

Taking the plate out of his hand and placing it in the sink, I took hold of his wrist and began dragging towards the door, saying, “Trish, let’s get going. I want to get this year’s drawing done and over with as soon as possible.”

“Eager as usual.” Getting up as she followed us, more so me as Carlo got pulled along, she huffed, “Why are you always so eager to get this entire thing done and over with every year?”

Coming to a halt as I turned to look at her as though she was out of her mind, I snorted, “You’re joking, right? Every year, my name gets entered. Not once. Not twice. But three times. Ever since turning eighteen. Your name stopped getting entered when you turned eighteen because of the dream profession you wanted to get. Unlike me, who got something complete opposite, Tricia. Like all the other years, this year pretty much is the deciding factor on whether I live a peaceful life, or try to earn my right to live by fighting for it.” Glancing at Carlo before heading for the door again, I muttered, “And it’s not like Carlo won’t want to get it done and over with starting this year either seeing his name will be entered three times as well.”

Just as I reached my hand out to the doorknob, Carlo sharply pulled his arm out of my grip as he nervously asked, “You don’t happen to have a large hoodie, do you? I don’t do so well in the sunlight if it’ll be for more than two hours.”

I had to strain myself from rolling my eyes at him before grabbing a round straw hat that lay on the table by the door and placed it on his head. “Will this work for you?” I asked, and with seriousness escaped a bit of sarcasm.

He shot back, “Why not just give me a wig and dress while at it?”

I took out pair of gloves from one of my jackets that hung by the door and shoved them into his hands before taking the scarf that hung next to the jacket and shoved that into his chest as well. With a glare, I tried to say as calmly as possible through my gritted teeth, “These will do fine for now, right? Trying to act like the mythical creature vampires will do you no good in terms of getting yourself covered fairly well around here. You’ll get noticed sooner or later since you’re pretty much the fresh meat in town. Anything else that you want to make yourself look fashionable? Or are you ready to go now?”

Tricia murmured, “Both like children.” She took the gloves, hat, and scarf from Carlo to put them away in her bag as she asked, “Can we just get going if you’re both going to behave like this? I rather get this done and over with to get away from you both more so than to know you’ll be safe for another year, Jo.” She was the first to walk out the doors, and Carlo followed without much hesitation. I waked out after them with a heavy sigh and, even without giving the computer the chance to greet its farewell, I slammed the door shut behind the three of us.

Outside the building with the sun now high in the sky, Tricia tossed a folded up board to me. “A hovercraft? Really?” I remarked questionably with a raised brow.

Tricia raised a brow at me in exchange, saying, “Got any better ideas to get to the general meeting area, genius?” As I unfolded what looked like a large snowboard from all the countless of centuries ago, Tricia apologetically told me, “You and your guest will have to fly together on that one InstaFlight Board since I brought only one extra with me. Mine will hold only one person at a time, and that one’s big enough to fit two. Hope you don’t mind.” I opened my mouth to argue, but she simply smiled a broad smile at me, chiming, “Well! See you at the event, Jo! Get yourselves there safely!”

With those words, she was gone. Tricia never even gave me the chance to argue, or even just to make a deal. I groaned as I looked over to Carlo, and we both knew as much as we hated to admit that we were stuck with one another no matter how much neither of us wanted to admit it. Getting on the back half of the board, Carlo asked uncertainly, “Shall we get going, then?”

I got on the front half and tapped the boards twice to strap myself and Carlo on by the foot, warningly saying, “Keep your balance and don’t let go of me if you’re going to hold on.” When I got up on my feet, the first thing he did, out of fear or uncertain, that I couldn’t tell, was latch onto me. Without a moment of hesitation, I muttered, “Fly.”

The board levitated us off from the ground on command and shot us forward, and I was soon weaving through the crowd with my knees slightly bent and arms out to the side a bit to keep my balance. There was that sense of feeling where I felt like I was free. I felt as though I was in a universe without worry. Where I could just be in a world where I could be carefree all I wanted to be, and there was no one to stop me. And just for the few minutes that I would have been able to fly on the board, I had completely forgotten about even Carlo, who continued to hold on as though his life depended on it. For some strange reason, I could have cared less if he held tighter onto me. It wasn’t really that I wanted him to, but rather it felt nice to feel his arms around my waist for some strange reason, but I put that thought off to the side as I felt the wind rush between my fingers. All I wanted to do was soar through the sky, and put my mind only on that one small task.

Before I knew it, we arrived at the overly large park, which was partially used as a downtown area for businesses, only to find it completely packed. It would have been an unusual sight on daily occasion, but for Drawing of the Names every once a year, like today, it seemed far too natural. More than this damned event, I wanted for the flight last longer. Just few minutes of it seemed like a mere few milliseconds, and that wasn’t good enough. At least for me it weren’t. But I had to get that thought out of my head if I wanted to live. To be more precise, if I wanted to survive in this world.

When I shifted my feet to the best ability and tapped the board with my heels, the InstaFlight Board brought me and Carlo safely down onto the ground before releasing us. I took a quick look around, hoping to find Tricia, but knew that it would only be a failure in a crowd such as this before I took a quick hold of a small child nearby. “Sorry, kid,” I told the small red headed child with large green eyes and freckles tracing along her cheeks and even across her nose. Looking around to see if I could get a glimpse of where Tricia was, I hurriedly said to the small child, “Quick question before you go back to your parents. Could you tell us how much longer it’ll be before the drawing begins?”

“They just went over the changes, lady,” the little girl replied in her squeaky voice. “They should start drawing names soon.”

With a small gulp, I asked with a slight frown, “What are the changes?”

“Four people in total from all Areas are to participate,” the girl replied with no delay. It was as if she wasn’t afraid of strangers at all. In fact, she sounded far too confident as she went on with saying, “Two females and two males.” Her following words matched her menacing smile and a cold chill ran down my spine, causing me to shiver. “If you’re a human, then I can’t wait to see if it’ll be you or someone you’re close to that has to compete this year. I heard the humans will be put into where Area 42 used to exist to fight for their lives!”

I felt blood drain from my face as Carlo asked, “What else did they say, kid?”

“That from each Area, only two survivors will be allowed to live – a male and a female each,” the kid replied with a shrug. “But that’s only if they can manage to live to see the end of SAW. Oh, and there are seven people from more upper part of this Area being held as prizes to sort of speak. If the survivors want to keep them alive, then they’ll be free to go. If the survivors don’t care much about them, then to the death they’ll plunge. At the end of it all, who cares if those people live or die? You guys are here just to entertain us!”

I heard Carlo gulp slightly and, in an unwilling way, he asked another question. “Do you know what gender each of those people are by any chance?”

For a while, the child thought as she tried to recall each of the seven people. “When they came up on the screen for a bit, it seemed as though three of them were kids. Two girls and one boy. One of the girls and the boy were wee little kids, way below me, and the older girl looked like she was in her teens. The rest were three women and a man,” the girl informed him. “Two of the women and the man all seemed all around the same age. Almost as though they were all in their twenties maybe going onto their thirties.”

The little girl gave us one last broad smile before turning on her heels and skipped away. When I looked up at Carlo, the blood had slowly returned to my face, but blood was draining from his. It was almost as if he’s heard one of the worst news of all times. Never taking eyes off of him as I straightened up, I slowly reached a hand out a hand to him as I slowly said, “Carlo? Is something the matter?”

“The seven people,” Carlo barely managed to breath. “I think that kid was describing my family and my girlfriend.”

I blinked. “You never said there were three kids in your family.”

“Two of the kids, the nearly same aged ones, they’re my niece and nephew,” he groaned as he closed his eyes. “The teenage girl’s my little sister and the man is my brother. He’s already married with two kids, and they’ve all been taken for involvement in the game before two of them are even ready for it. But that’s only if it was them that the girl was describing.”

This time, it wasn’t Carlo that gulped. Instead, I heard the saliva going down my own throat out of fear for him. For his family. My head turned towards the largest building around as the large windows all turned into one large screen. The all so arrogant mayor, Trace Dilnot, appeared as he greeted with a broad, bone chilling grin, “Hello to all those of Area Eighteen! Few of the councilmen that work under me in various areas of this lovely Area have all gathered around with me today for this year’s drawing! As stated earlier, there are seven people that the victors at the end of SAW will get to decide whether the captured victims will live or die. And this year’s SAW will take place at where Area Forty-Two used to stand. Instead of just surviving in the wild without any dangerous animals, it’ll get changed up so that there’ll be various types of animals such as bears and mountain lions on land and sharks in the oceans involved in this game. Furthermore, for each of the people participating in this year’s tournament will be given weapons on top of a bit of food to start off with. And with the bit of starting food will be small necessities, such as water, five lighters, ten packets of matches, and many more! Or at least as much as a hiking bag will allow inside. Not just to hunt animals for survival, but also to kill off one another if wishing to end the games far more quickly.”

I breathed in deeply as steadily as possible, and murmurs soon spread across the place like wildfire. All the humans that were terrified out of their minds whereas all the warlocks sounded far too excited for their own good. All I knew was that if I was chosen, I was going to do whatever it takes to try and survive to talk the other victors into letting the seven people live. I would have taken down my secret to the grave with me no matter what, but trying to save Carlo’s family was what mattered to me for the time being. At least it was far more than my secret for now.

As the murmurs continued, the mayor cruelly said, “Now, let’s get started on drawing out the names, shall we not?” The entire place fell in silence as there were whispers going around in the background of where Mayor Dilnot for at least half a minute before he announced, “Among the men, the two chosen are the following! Kevin Tong and Carlo Suarez!”

A picture of an Asian male who was on the slightly chubby side and with squinty eyes, almost like what the books referred to as Chinese in the old days, showed up on the top left of the screen. Next to it appeared Carlo’s picture. All those around me and Carlo turned to stare at Carlo as they pointed their fingers at him, and there were a few that seemed to feel bad for the new face around the town having to be chosen. Most seemed to relieved that it was anyone but them, and couldn’t be happier that it had to be Carlo and this Kevin over them.

When I turned my attention back over to the screen, the mayor spoke up once more. “And among the women are Justine Johnson and JoBeth Mahlendorf!”

On the top right corner of the screen appeared a picture of an extremely obese woman that was a mix of a European and an Asian on the right side, and to the left of her picture was a picture of me. All those around turned once more to stare just as they all stared at Carlo, but this time, all the eyes were on me. Out of all things, this was least expected – not just from me, I’m sure, but for all that knew me quite well personally. Especially this year out of all years, and as much as I despised how the results came out to be, there was a part of me that was relieved that out of all years, this year was mine to call. It was that very thought that cause my breath to get stuck in my throat, becoming harder and harder to breath by every passing second.

“Good luck to our four contestants!” the mayor said in the sweetest tone he could pull off, but hidden in his statement was the message, “Let’s see what you and Mr. Suarez has up your sleeves to pull off for us warlocks, Miss Mahlendorf. Wishing you both the best of luck for his family’s sake seeing you two may be the last hope for his family to live.” With one final cruel smile towards the crowd, the screen went blank and had returned to being plain windows.

As all began to flood out of the place, my knees gave away as I collapsed onto the ground. Out of all things, what was this feeling that was growing deep in my chest? Hatred? Pain? Regret? Anger? Sorrow? Relief? Or was it a feeling that was somewhere in between of them all? With my chest starting feel as though it was going numb, I couldn’t even tell what my own feelings were. All at the same time, confusion crept up into my chest. I didn’t expect to be chosen out for the game. I thought I would be the last to be chosen. Yet, here I was. Announced to go marching in on the live broadcast. It hit me like a blow to the face and in the stomach, only to leave me in a complete daze. I didn’t even know how to react as I felt an unfamiliar feeling beating down on me mercilessly.

A pair of arms wrapped around my shoulders and among the crowd, there was a familiar voice cry out in the mist of the noisy crowd, “Jo! Where are you, JoBeth Mahlendorf? Answer me, Jo! Jo! JoBeth!” I saw Tricia push past through the crowd and fall onto her knees in front of me, but my mind was at another far off place. Tricia saw the daze in my eyes and, as she gently stroked my cheeks with back of her hand, she panted with her voice full of worry, “Jo! I’m so sorry about the results! I’m real terribly sorry! Are you going to be alright?”

I finally broke down into tears. After all this time, I finally caved as tears poured down my cheeks as I began to wail loudly, and for some strange reason, I could have cared less if those passing by were staring down at me. Carlo’s arms wrapped tighter around my shoulders in rather comforting way, and I didn’t think twice about leaning into his body and crying into his shoulder. All sorts of feelings were mixed, and I couldn’t tell from which feelings these tears were coming so suddenly from. I was finally chosen, and no one with exception of Carlo knew of my secret. I finally had the chance to bring it to the grave with me, so I should’ve been happy. But there was that unusual sense of pain deep in my chest. Was it regret? Sadness? Anger? What was it? What was it that I was missing that the tears abruptly came flooding down my cheeks?

2: Chapter 02

“Are you sure about wanting to stick with me?” Carlo asked rather quietly.

About a week passed by since the day our names were drawn, and I found myself zipping up the one slightly large bag where I packed all the small necessities that we needed – four pairs of pants, two long sleeves and two short sleeves, and two warm jackets, all coming down to two pants and two different types of shirts along with a jacket for each of us. Other necessities such as toothbrush and toothpaste weren’t something to worry too much over knowing that the warlocks would pack those in to give to us.

Looking over to Carlo, I gave him a soft smile as I gently replied, “I’m sure. Not to forget to mention that it’ll be better advantage for us if we were to stick together than separate and hope that we can bring down the other two separately just so we can try and get out alive from among the four people of Area Eighteen. Besides, I’m sure we’ll be able to recruit people from other Areas along the way so we can all try and get out together. If we’re lucky enough, I’m sure we can talk them into saving your family and your girlfriend along the way.” Carlo warmly smiled, and there was far more than a thankful look in his eyes – a little bit more than what I could have handled from someone that I’ve known for only a short period of time. I quickly tore my eyes away from him as I asked, “Was there anything else that you wanted to bring with you? Because once we’re out of this place when the warlocks come to get us, there’s no coming back for anything.”

“A cloak, if that’s alright with you,” he simply replied. “But I can always wear that into the destroyed Area.”

I thought for a moment replying, “I’m sure we can fit that in no problem, but we’ll have to go out and buy it before the warlocks collect us to bring us in by one of the hovercrafts.”

“Meaning we may not have much time on our hands,” Carlo interrupted me before I was able to continue. He came over and threw the bag over his shoulder with ease. “Let’s get going and grab two so we both can have one for extra layer of clothing for just in case at night.”

We headed towards where all the big businesses were held and every person we passed, I noticed that they all stopped one by one to turn their attention to us. Feeling uneasy, I stepped closer to Carlo and in order to take my mind off all the people, I asked, “I never really got to ask, but when’s your birthday?”

“June 20,” he replied. I heard a bit of hesitation in his voice, but I couldn’t tell if it was because he wanted to lie, wanted to say that it didn’t matter, or just simply didn’t want to answer. But another thing that surprised me was that he and I shared the same birthday. Glancing down at me, Carlo asked, “Well? Wouldn’t it only be fair if you told me when your birthday was as well?”

“It’s the same day,” I found myself mumbling in response.

Now I had his full attention. “What year?” he asked.

“3001 DDA.”

Carlo looked around the stores and all that I got out of him to say with that mere reply was, “Hmm. Nine years.” He must have caught my confused yet curious look when glancing around, because the next words to leave his mouth were, “Younger. You’re nine years younger than me.” Coming to a halt, he stared at me as he exclaimed, “Wait! You’re twenty?”

“Yeah,” I snorted as I turned to look at him. “What? Is it really that surprising even after I stated the obvious to Tricia about her and my age difference in front of you about a week ago?”

“No, it’s not that.” Carlo didn’t seem to know how to phrase what he had in his mind into words. “You just seem so young. Too young, even, to get put into this game.”

Scratching back of my head, I quietly told him, “Yeah, well, I’ve seen twelve year olds around here get put into the SAW once every few years. I’m not that young getting put into the game compared to them.”

“I’m going to make sure you remain safe while we’re in there,” Carlo swore and not even giving me a chance to argue, he sternly said, “And no complaining. I’ll be making sure I watch your back just as I’m sure you’ll be trying to watch mine. Don’t try to argue with me about me trying to keep you safe, alright?”

Furious, I muttered, “You’ll be hearing lots of complaining once we’re in, so you don’t have to worry your little head about that.”

Whether he heard me or not, Carlo returned to wandering around a bit before stopping at a shop and pulling me in with him. It didn’t take him long to grab two large flaming red shawls that went all the way down to our knees, if not past, and hoods attached to them. Holding one up to me, he asked, “What color do you like?”

Lost at his question, I merely blinked up at him. “Um, sky blue?” I couldn’t tell if he was trying to ask a trick question, or if he was trying to decide something for himself.

Putting down the one he held up in front of me, he picked up the light sky blue one to hold up. Just as I opened my mouth, Carlo had turned to head to the cashier, soon paying for the two hooded shawls. Just as he handed the money to the woman behind the counter, I saw his lips faintly moving before the woman handed him two slightly large bottles as he paid her a few extra, soon coming over to me with a smile as he said, “Let’s get going. They should be coming around to collect us soon, no?”

“Please tell me you didn’t buy one of those for me!” I exclaimed as he led me back out into the street.

With a shrug, he calmly said, “Okay. I didn’t.” He remained calm and collected as he glanced down at me for a brief moment before forcing one on me as he quickly said, “But I did. Only for the cold weathers if the jackets alone won’t do much for us to keep us warm! Just thinking ahead like you did when packing few extra clothing for us back in your place!”

I wanted to argue. I wanted to complain. But the part of me that kept my mouth shut told me to just be grateful to this man that I have barely known for long. He was simply doing this out of kindness, or as a thank you, for having provided him hospitality. Or at least that’s what I wanted to believe for now, and the only thing I wanted to hold onto instead of letting my reality shatter like that broken glass if that weren’t to be the case. Who was I to argue for him trying to cover for me when I were already thinking over what to do and all the possibilities of what could be done once the warlocks had come to get us for SAW?

The entire street full of people immediately stepped aside and formed a large crowd around the two of us, half staring Carlo’s and my way and the other half staring down the opposite direction. To be more precise, everyone stepped aside with exception of six people wearing vibrant purple cloaks made of rich silk that were walking toward us. Their formation was an upside down pyramid – one in the front, two in the middle row, and three all the way in the back row. It was when the six warlocks halted in front of us that Carlo and I understood what our fate was sealed for certain, and was to come true.

“You’ve come to collect us for the game?” were the first words to roll off my tongue as though it were nothing. As the man in the front gave a small nod, the two directly behind him stepped around and held out their hands. I unsteadily took a deep breath in and when Carlo took hold of my hand, without any explanation and for some unexplainable strange reason, my body relaxed as I looked up at his calm, steady caramel eyes. We took the hands of the two warlocks, and we were soon swept up in the spiral of what seemed like a tunnel of endless darkness. Unnerving, but at least it was to get all this done and over with – hopefully surviving by end of it all.

About a minute.

That’s how long we were surrounded by the pitch black tunnel. And it was just that long of a period of time that I needed to realize one thing and ask just one question:

Since when did Carlo Suarez have caramel eyes instead of hazel?

But there was no time to ask anything aloud to get answers. Not when it was also all that time that seemed to be needed by the warlocks to bring us to what seemed to be the center of a deserted town. Well, nearly deserted if it weren’t for the fact that there were nearly hundred people there already.

“You two are the last that were needed among the ninety-six people from the twenty-four Areas to arrive for SAW to officially begin,” the warlock that was up in the front earlier informed us. Soon his voice boomed for all that were gathered to hear, and I without having to be told that this was being televised all around the world. “Now that all ninety-six contestants have gathered, best of luck to you all, and may the best forty-eight at most, two from each Area, come out alive!”

By all our feet, hiking bags appeared and as, I took my now smaller bag from home off of Carlo’s shoulders, all of us competing threw our bags over our shoulders and I took my weapons, a small hand gun in the side pocket and a hunting shotgun from the main pocket, out from their locations. Putting the hand gun away in the back pocket of my pants as I held the shotgun close to my body with both hands, Carlo put something away in his own back pocket. In his eyes were nervousness, and it was clear as day when he eyed the guns.

I couldn’t let his uneasiness get to me, and before the six warlocks disappeared, the head warlock among the six that spoke before boomed, “May you all have best of luck over the next few months!”

No one moved, but that didn’t stop me from moving my feet to turn and move forward without hesitation. This seemed to cause a bit of panic among anyone I was walking towards, all because of the plain sight of the gun in my hands, and Carlo immediately moved his own feet to keep pace with me. “What on earth are you thinking?” he hissed.

Without looking at him as I moved my eyes side to side, hoping to catch at least the a bit of sight on the Kevin Tong and Justine Johnson people among the crowd, I replied, “Doing what I can to find us a safe shelter to stay for next few months, and seeing if I can spot the two others from our Area.”

“You’re really going to kill them?” he asked.

In his voice, I could hear the surprise and his voice nearly testing me. It almost sounded as though he wanted to see if I was just completely losing it, or just gone plain insane. Speaking frankly and truthfully so, I personally couldn’t blame him since I was the very person that broke down into tears last week when my name was drawn. The very same person that didn’t want to have to go around fighting others over life, but would if I had to defend my own life and simply for those around me if I had to.

I came to a halt just a few yards away from the edge of what it would seem as though the business area to turn and face Carlo, all so I could give him a piece of my mind as a response, but there was one thing that stopped me. A familiar face. No. Not a familiar face. A face that I saw up on the screen at the event for Area Eighteen. Kevin Tong, who appeared to be a mere teenager if anything. Perhaps seventeen at the very least. At most, he must have been my age. And he was silently running up with a kitchen knife in hand. With a freezing cold stare as I bore my teeth, I swiftly raised the gun and aimed past Carlo, and out of all things I didn’t intend to do, I had done it – scare Carlo nearly half to death by making him think I was going to shoot him out of all people.

One thing for certain, Kevin Tong froze just a few feet away from us as his eyes grew wide with fear, and that was all I needed to growl at him. “Stay away from my partner if you know what’s best for you. I could shoot you down right on the spot if it weren’t for the fact that I’d rather let you live to see another day just to make sure all we have to worry about is bringing just one more person down among Area Eighteen people. But this is just the first day and we still have few more months to go before the warlocks decide they’re fed up with us during their on and off broadcast of the Survival Among the Weakest once there’s forty-eight or less of us left. You understand what I’m telling you?” When Tong nodded viciously, his eyes focused on the gun, I snapped, “If you see Justine Johnson girl and decide not to kill her yourself, give her a warning for me, which you actually should take as a warning as well yourself. Tell her that if she plans on surviving, she better be real careful about how to take me and my partner down. Especially me. I’m not to be taken lightly.”

I pushed Carlo behind me roughly and began pushing his back to force him into start walking. All the people seem to take a bit of a scare at my action, and it took a moment for my mind to process that by the time I was done making a huge commotion, a bit more than half the people cleared. That didn’t stop me from keeping my eyes on Tong until the young Asian was out of sight and we were on our way to find a shelter to stay in for who knows how long.

Just when I realized what I had said and done, I felt my heart race with a bit of horror. Not just at what actually happened, but at what I did itself. Out of all things, that was the last I had expected to do – no matter how rough my life had been. No matter how brave I was, I wasn’t so foolish to do something like that, and I couldn’t help but wonder what came over me to even say such things. Let alone what had possessed me to say such words.

My knees nearly gave away, but a pair of firm hands held me by my arms and kept my trembling body steady. The words I least expected had soon reached my ears from Carlo’s soft spoken lips. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” I barely breathed. “I think so.”

He let out a sigh of relief and he collected himself to yell, “What the hell’s the matter with you? What’s going through that head of yours to pull of such stunt and scare that guy?”

“What the hell’s wrong with you with being so calm about him having just tried to kill you with the damn weapon that the damn warlocks put in his bag? He could’ve killed you if it weren’t for me stopping and turning around to face you in time!” I yelled back, and I didn’t need to be told to know that my voice sounded all shaken up.

However I got myself into this situation, I didn’t know, but I was determined to keep my word and watch his back no matter what it cost me. Even if he had some crazy idea up his sleeve, who was I to say no and go against him? I just had to make sure he didn’t do anything irrational to get himself killed. Or at least make sure I didn’t die until close to the end if anything to make sure he didn’t do anything foolish.

“What did I do to get myself into this situation?” Carlo muttered.

I couldn’t help but snort at his question. “You’re joking, right? That’s what I should be asking. Not you.” When we began passing by a small yet practical house, I grabbed Carlo by his arm and pulled him along, mumbling, “We’re staying in there. It should have enough rooms for both of us to use.”

We struggled a bit with the front door, but when we finally pried it open and got inside, we immediately locked the door shut. Going around the house to make sure that any windows that could have been used as entrances were locked as well, Carlo remarked, “Three bedrooms, a kitchen joint with dining room, a common room, and two bathrooms. A bit more than enough room for us, don’t you think?”

“It’s actually perfect in case we get people from other Areas to join us if anything,” I told him. “We just have to be cautious if we were to bring others in when having to recruit.”

“I actually had an idea during the week building up to today,” Carlo began to say, but soon shook his head after giving what was on his mind a moment of thought. “On the second thought, never mind. It’ll probably sound crazy.”

I looked over to him with a brow raised, saying, “Crazier than you having tried to shoot me with a gun that day I brought you back to my place from the mayor’s office? And crazier than me having to have had look over you, and the two of us practically living under the same roof when I don’t even know when the next time you’ll try to kill me again will be? I’m already living under a weird circumstance here, Carlo. C’mon. Spill it. What’s going through that head of yours that could possibly be crazier than the situation we’re put in right now?”

Hesitation. The dreaded hesitation lingered in the room, and the longer he kept quiet, the more my stomach began to churn and knot on the inside. Just when I didn’t think I could take it any longer, Carlo asked, “What if I said we may be able to start something new with all the other ninety-four people gathered here? Like a new community? Start a revolt against the warlocks.” I caught his eyes glancing over to me for a split second, coughing, “The ones that aren’t like you, I mean. You know, the ones that think they’re higher above us humans?”

I let it sink in and let it all process, and it didn’t take long for me to burst into laughter of disbelief. “Yeah, you’re right,” I told him. “That’s crazy. Who’s going to listen to us and follow? It’s going to be a bit tricky as it is to save the seven people whose lives are at stake all because the warlocks that are seated high up think it’s brilliant to play around with innocent lives.”

“I told you!” Carlo exclaimed. “I told you it was going to be a crazy idea! But you just had to go and insist that I tell you!”

I tried to hold back the laughter, but it was no use. “You were serious? About trying to start a revolt against the warlocks?”

“Well, sure. There’s got to be a few other warlocks asides from you that believes in the equality among us humans and you warlocks.” Turning to face me fully as he leaned against the wall, Carlo remarked, “Besides, there must be at least a few survivors in at least Area 42 that we were never told about, and if we find them, then I’m sure we can get them on our side. And you must be a strong warlock as well, and should be able to lead the warlocks that have the same ideals as us.”

I began to cough nervously when he had complimented me without much knowledge of my class background. Uncertainly but surely, I corrected him. “Sorry, but you’re mistaken about my class within the warlock race. And as much as I hate to disappoint, I’m not even a fighting type or an elementalist. Only a Healer in the advanced Priest class.”

“A Healer?” Carlo sounded rather surprised. “You guys are actually classified by what you all do, and have only one title assigned per warlock?”

I couldn’t help but stare at him curiously as I felt my head tilt towards the left. “Don’t tell me you really didn’t know,” I nearly chimed. “If a warlock specializes in more than one area, then the class for them is known as Specials. My parents never had the chance to train me to be a Special before their death.”

He blinked. “Specials? So that’s what they’re called? What kind of Specials were your parents?”

“They were both Healers like my entire family has been until my parents decided to stray away from the tradition by adding another type of sorcery onto their Healer job,” I replied. “My mother was a Flame Elementalist and my dad a Wind Elementalist.” With a small shrug, I found myself telling Carlo without him even having to ask, “I was the youngest of the four children in my family, and none of us were Specials like our parents were. My two older sisters were Water and Earth Elementalists. And my big brother was a Lightening Warlock. I’m the only one who stuck with the family tradition and went with just plain Healer, landing in the advanced Priest class just like my parents.”

The memories all came flooding back once more and I fell onto my knees as I clutched onto my head, dropping the gun along the way. Tears began to flood my eyes, and I did whatever I could in my own power to hold them back, but it seemed nearly impossible. Carlo having rushed over and kneeling down in front of me, putting one arm around me and his free hand on my cheek, didn’t help one bit. What made it worse and caused the tears to stream down was his gentle voice asking in a hush, “What is it? What’s bothering you?”

When I shook my head, refusing to answer, he sat in front of me in silence. It was as though he was running through all the possibilities in his mind as he simply studied my face and, most importantly, my posture. And, when he spoke once again, he had hit the bull’s eye.

“Does it have something to do with your family? How they died, perhaps?” Carlo practically breathed the question, and his voice dropped even lower to a bare whisper.

My body took over as I heard myself screech, “Stop it! Just stop it! Stop bringing all the memories of how each of them got murdered flooding back to me!”

For the moment he put both arms around my trembling body, Carlo rested his chin gently on top of my head. “You can always tell me when you’re ready to talk about it,” he quietly told me after a few minutes of silence, and his voice contained nothing but sincerity. “It’s not going to be healthy for you to hold everything in.” When I shook my head, he questioned, “Does that friend of yours at least know? Did you at least tell her what really happened? What you truly are?”

Before I could reply, there was a hard knock on the door, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the interruption as a panicked child’s voice called, “Hello? I know there’s someone in there already! Let me in! Please let me in!”

Pushing myself away from Carlo as I got up on my feet, I reached to my back to get the handgun ready. Standing by the door as I got ready to turn the lock, I demanded, “Name and the Area you’re of!”

When I glanced over at Carlo, who was looking out the window, he hissed, “Let the kid in! He’s all alone! What harm can he do, Zoey?”

“Alex!” the child cried, and he sounded as though he was close to tears. “Alex Hernendez of the Area Twenty! Please let me in, lady!”

I quickly opened the door and once certain that there was no one near, I sharply pulled the child inside and slammed the door shut. When the lock sounded, I looked down to see a small boy. Fairly dark toned skin, dark brown eyes, and shaggy black hair. If I recalled what the books had categorized him as correctly, this child was a Latino descendent.

Carlo immediately rushed to the kitchen and I stared down at the child, who simply stared back at me as he panted from being completely out of breath. “Any reason why you were in such a rush that you’re trying to catch a breath?”

“Few people were chasing me,” the boy replied. “Including that one guy you threatened.”

I couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. “And I assume you came running here hoping you’ll survive to the end as long as you stay with me and Carlo?” When the boy, Alex, nodded rather vigorously in response, I breathed in sharply before asking, “How old are you? And where’s the bag that was given to you when this Survival game started?”

“I’m thirteen,” Alex replied, and his eyes averted to Carlo when he came back out with a cup of something that was steaming from the inside. “And they stole my bag from me, not that I don’t think the baseball bat that was given as the supposed weapon will do much good.”

As Carlo gave the small boy the cup, I raised my brow at him and that caused him to cry, “What? The things in the house are barely touched! You saw it yourself! Besides, teas can do some good when it comes to calming the nerves!”

I rolled my eyes and, upon seeing the child uncertain about taking the tea, I reassured him, “Take it. During the amount of time I’ve known this guy, kinda predictable of a man that he’s not the type to try and kill anyone unnecessarily.” Walking over to a window and looking out before lowering the curtains, I asked, “What do you think the chances are that we’ll make it out of this alive and convince the people to either save the seven people? Or even go along with your idea of starting a new community by fighting against the warlocks?”

“What do you think the chances are of you becoming one of the Specials?” Carlo asked in return. I didn’t even know whether to take it seriously or as a joke, especially in front of the thirteen year old child. Staring at him with a questioning look, but scolding at the same time, he shrugged as he said, “Look, I’m just saying. What will be the chances?”

Looking back out the window, I breathed, “Who knows? It all depends on if I’d be able to practice anything at all.”

“What’s a ‘special’?” Alex asked as he flopped down on the couch that was in middle of the common room.

When Carlo and I turned to look at the child, we saw him flailing his legs just like any small child that couldn’t sit still would. Carlo seemed uncertain about answering the child, and even when I had found the right words, I couldn’t bring myself to tell the child the truth about what I was. Not when I didn’t even know if we were the ones to be on the spotlight for all the warlocks to see. “When the right time comes,” I told Alex, “we’ll tell you. For now, it’s nothing for you to be concerned with.” Looking up at Carlo, it was his turn to get my answer as a deep, inward sigh escaped. “As for you, Carlo, how serious are you about setting your plan into action and following through with it to the end?”

“As long as I have some support, very serious. I want a place where people don’t have to worry about what race they are and can live peacefully, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t at least try something impossible to make it possible,” Carlo replied.

I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose as I went into deep thoughts. “Alright,” I told him after a minute or two of thought. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.” Looking down at Alex, I asked the child, “Do you want to live in a society where no mortals have to live in fear under the rule of warlocks, Alex? Where everyone is equal?”

“Is that a trick question, lady?” Alex shot back. “Of course I want to live in that kind of world! But I can’t because it’s nearly impossible!”

As I smiled slightly over to Carlo, I remarked, “Well, we’re going to make the impossible be possible. That is, if you’re willing to help us out in revolting against the warlocks.”

“The warlocks can probably see and hear you,” Alex pointed out, but I could have cared less. The boy must have been nearly as keen as Carlo because his eyes soon grew wide as he began looking back and forth between us. “Are there warlocks that will even cooperate? Did you guys already start recruiting warlocks? I mean, there must be barely any warlocks, if any, that’d even be willing to help.”

“No warlocks know,” Carlo and I replied at the same time.

There obviously was a lot of questions that the child wanted to ask, but limited it to just one at a time. “Then how are you guys plan on doing this? There are far too many different types of warlocks in the world.”

I couldn’t help but smirk. “That’s the point. There must be at least one among each type among the warlocks that must believe in equal rights, but didn’t bother doing or saying anything. All we need is a few to start persuading others to lend a hand, and the mortals won’t be so hard to convince if it’s freedom that they wish for.”

Carlo took a step over to me to grab me by the wrist before giving me a small pull, almost as though telling me to follow. I didn’t bother asking any questions. After all, what was the point when I had just agreed to go along with some crazy idea by a man I have barely gotten to know over the week I had him stay with me at my house. When we were alone in the kitchen, he leaned on the counter as he asked me in a hushed tone, “Do you really intend on becoming a Special like your parents?”

“As long as you’re serious about starting up a revolt against the warlocks starting with the mortals that have gathered here, then of course I am,” I replied. “But it doesn’t mean I won’t hesitate to kill Kevin Tong and Justine Johnson people if they try to bring harm to you all for this ridiculous SAW game.”

Closing his eyes, Carlo asked, “But what area of sorcery can you possibly go into at this point? Have you been taught anything by your family asides from healing?”

I couldn’t help but frown deeply at his words as I looked up at him. “My entire family got killed off by the warlocks when I was five. I taught myself all the healing spells from the books I found when a neighbor of mine working as a librarian managed to sneak a lot of spell books for Healers for me when I partially lied to her that I was just curious what at least that one line of warlocks studied to become advanced Priests. I don’t really think my family had time to teach me anything if they died fifteen years ago, Carlo, but letting me teach myself growing up.”

“I’m sorry,” he breathed with great surprise. “I didn’t know. When you first told me that they had died, I thought it was after you fully grasped the meaning of death. Not at that young stage of life.”

I shook my head as I told him, “It’s fine. I didn’t tell you, so you’re not the one at fault for not having known such information. The main question in hand if I want to be a Special is what direction of another sorcery is best fit to go with Healer class.”

“Do the Necromancers really exist?” Alex’s voice asked from the doorway of the kitchen. “My parents say that it’s a complete nonsense, but I think they’re just saying that because they don’t know if there are any Necromancers among the warlocks all around the world.”

As we both sharply turned to look at the unexpected welcome, I couldn’t help but stare at the boy in fear. And all that ran through my mind was the question of how much he had heard, and for how long he had been standing at the entrance, listening, as Carlo and I exchanged words. Out of all the things, the last thing I needed was for the mortals to find out that I was a warlock. If there were any put into the game that knew, then it would have been my head that they all would have gone for immediately before going after one another to get out alive.

Then it registered in my head – If he had overheard me and Carlo speaking to one another, Alex Hernendez, the boy who stood by the entrance of the kitchen, staring, wasn’t questioning if I myself was a warlock or not. I carefully studied the child’s face, and when it became clearer by the second at his curious look on the question that shone in his eyes darting back and forth between the two of us, there was a sigh of relief escaping from my lips.

Furthermore, Alex, a mere thirteen year old child, triggered an idea in my head that no warlock probably haven’t even bothered to take a step towards when it came to just a sorcerer or a Special. Not because it wasn’t interesting enough or captivating, but because it was hard and extraneous work to pull off such class as Necromancer. And I was going to be one of the extremely few, one of the rare warlocks if anything, to accomplish being a Special through both Healer and Necromancer classes.

When I looked up at Carlo, I could tell he saw the glint in my eyes because he cried, “No! Bad idea! That’s a bad idea! That’s said to be one of the hardest classes!”

Laughing, I ran over to and around Alex to hug the child from behind. “You’re a bright young man, Alex!” I exclaimed and planted a kiss on top of the boy’s head, causing his face to burn up all too abruptly as it turned beet red.

“What’d I say?” Alex asked with rather confused look.

Carlo shook his head dismissively as he hurriedly told the boy, “Never mind, Alex.” As he strode over to me, he took firm hold of my arm before yanking me away from Alex and out of the room, he hissed in slightly angered tone, “Are you insane? Necromancy? How on earth are you planning on pulling off sorcery of that sort, Zoey?”

“You’re joking,” I snorted and searched his eyes only to find nothing but seriousness. A laughter of disbelief escaped as I cried out, “This is Area 42! I think I can deal!”

Carlo began laughing as though I had completely lost it. “Deal? You actually believe you can deal with it just because we’re in Area 42?” I raised a brow at him as a crossed my arms and leaned my weight into my left leg. When he grasped I was being serious, Carlo cleared his throat as he said, “Alright, then. Explain.”

As I began to pace, I excitedly told him, “Well, think about it, Carlo! Area 42 was one of the twenty-four Areas that got completely destroyed! They must have been buried in the ground! Worst case scenario, their bodies all dumped in the ocean, but who knows? Any who! Just like any town of any Area, there has to be at least one graveyard!”

“You’re going to get caught!” Carlo exclaimed.

I shot back, “Not if it’s practiced at night! Who’s going to be keeping their eyes, let alone a camera, on the graveyard in middle of the night?”

“You’re crazy.”

“And so are you,” I shot back, “but I’m not stopping you from trying to start a new place for all the mortals and the sorcerers to live as equals, now am I? Instead, what am I doing? That’s right! I’ve agreed to help you! Now why on earth would I do that? It can’t be because I’ve been thrown into this SAW game!”

Alex’s voice threw me off guard when he squeaked with horror from behind me, “You’re a warlock, lady?”

“And then I became the immediate target,” I groaned. Turning around to face him with a heavy sigh, I asked, “Are you going to turn me in over to the other mortals to have me killed off, Alex? Or would you still be willing to aid us in creating a better place for all?”

I saw tears brimming at his eyes as he yelled, “Why should I trust you? Your kind killed my mom and my big brother!”

“They killed my entire family off when I was five, Alex,” I tried to reason with the child. “You have to understand I didn’t come here as an undercover agent to make sure there’ll be no revolt going on. I’m here to start one.”

It was clear that Alex didn’t want to listen. That had seemed, or at least it had appeared to be, the last thing on his mind as he tried to run for the door as he yelled, “I’m not letting you kill me like you did my family!”

Just as Alex ran past me, I grabbed him by his arm and pulled him sharply into my arms. I dropped down to my knees as I held Alex in my embrace and I felt a few tears roll down my cheeks as I barely whispered, “Alex, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what the other sorcerers did to you. I really am. If I could change anything, it would be making sure that your family was kept safe instead of letting them get murdered like mine.”

“Liar!” he screamed into my ear, and I felt his body trembling under my arms. “You’re nothing but a liar!”

I leaned back slightly to look at Alex as I told him, “My parents were advanced Priests in the Healers class, as well as two different types of Elementalists. My two sisters and my brother were all Elementalists. I’m the last one in my family standing because my siblings decided to hide me away for my own good to make sure I grew up to see another day. And hopefully another night. They were all murdered by a specific type of,” and something clicked in my head just then. Elementalist. With exception of the case where my parents were murdered, each of my family members was killed off by the element that the members of my family had mastered. Looking up at Carlo with wide eyes, I barely managed to say, “I think I know exactly who went and murdered my entire family.” Looking at Alex, I demanded, “How did you escape? How did your mother and your brother die?”

“Hurricane made up of fire, water, and wind.” The boy suddenly seemed terrified at my sudden change of personality from sincere and caring to demanding and slightly furious. “And there were lightening striking everywhere with earth to trap them to make sure they didn’t get away. My brother hid me away in a secret room with a tunnel leading out to an alleyway under my bed.”

Recalling all the facts I knew about all the warlocks I knew around the world that I had studied up on, I asked, “Is he around in your Area all the time?”

Alex thought for a moment or two before he answered, “On February, fourteen or fifteen days. Other moths, fifteen or sixteen days.”

“Who’s the mayor of your Area?” I hurriedly asked. “Uh, Area Twenty, did you say?”

“It’s Trace Dilnot,” Alex replied, and I began to feel anger boil up inside me.

Getting up, I walked past Alex and tried to keep my posture. I had walked all the way into the kitchen, and without even thinking, I punched the table and nearly broke it in half. Carlo came rushing into the kitchen as I began pacing around the room, and with his eyes locked on me, he demanded, “What’s going on? What’s going through that head of yours?”

“Dilnot!” I yelled. “That’s what’s on my mind! I didn’t think the mayors were actually in charge of two or three Areas at one time, but I guess I was wrong! He’s the damn murderer! He’s one of the warlocks that’s able to manipulate the elemental powers! Very rare, but existing! And those that master it are very well known, just like Dilnot!” Carlo blinked, and I could tell that he wanted to say something, but no words came from him. “Elemental Manipulantalist. Elemental Temptest. Elemental Contractor. Elemental Mimicist. Any of those are usually used for warlocks like him,” I told him quickly, and I began to be filled with nothing more than frustration more than before. “But that’s asides the point. He can control elements, but not because he’s an Elementalist.”

“How are you saying that he’s able to control the elements, then?” Carlo questioned. In his mind, as weird and hectic as it was, it was apparent that he was trying to figure it all out with great amount of struggle. But how could I blame him for his thinking process being odd? He may not have had the basic logic, which he admitted himself, but at least he had some smarts that could become useful later on somewhere down the road.

The more I tried to put it into words to explain, the harder I found it to do so. With a bit of a sigh, I told him, “Let’s put it this way. As long as an elemental attack is encountered, he can manipulate it to sort of speak. The stronger the attack, just as strong he will seem. That’s how his classification of sorcerers work. The catch with his type is that he can’t mimic any type of spells that are non-elementals, such as necromancy, teleportation, and healing.”

“But how do you know that he was the one that murdered that boy’s family?” Carlo all so abruptly exclaimed. “Let alone your own, Zoey!”

Closing my eyes, I told him, “He’s the only one alive in his family. He’s the last one in the Dilnot bloodline.”

“Is that supposed to mean anything?” he scoffed.

I opened my eyes as sadness welled up in my chest. “My entire family was full of Healers until my parents decided to become Specials by being Elementalists at the same time as being of the Priest class. My sisters and brother were supposed to take up my parents being Elementalists as the new family tradition while I stuck with the old one. We sorcerers always do what our family’s done generation after generation. I guess in some sense, what our ancestors have done is like family business that the next set of generation goes into. Dilnot Clan was the last standing clan to mimic the elements, and in that clan, Trace Dilnot is the last one standing. He’s in his forties, Carlo. Fifteen years ago, he was still the last one to stand. I’ve done all my research, and narrowed down who it could have been over the years. It just never occurred to me until now that it actually was him.”

Carlo closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Opening his eyes once more after a moment or two had passed, he asked, “You’re going to be more eager to do this for the boy and not just for yourself, aren’t you?”

“What other choice do I have?” I softly asked. “You know I want to live in a place where everyone is equal as well. And I’ll do whatever it takes to help you in making that goal a dream come true.” Carlo began to open his mouth and I silenced him as I said, “Look, it’s not for just your sake, alright? I’m doing this for myself, too. And once I get trained to be a Special, then we should have a higher chance in getting your family and girlfriend back to safety.”

With a huff, he questioned, “How do you plan on teaching yourself the type of magic that the damned Necromancers do? We don’t have any books for you to learn the spells from!”

“Library,” I chimed. “This place has got to have a library somewhere.” Walking over to the doorway, I called, “Alex? How would you like to see the dead people being brought back to life? I promise they won’t hurt you!”

“Or she gets hurt in exchange for pulling off anything stupid if something does end up going wrong!” Carlo called in addition, and as I threw a glare at him, he shrugged as an innocent look came across his face. He whispered, “What? He’s a kid. He’s gonna have to trust me more than you seeing you’re a warlock and I’m just a mortal like him.”

Alex came in after awhile and he had a blank look on his face. “Were you guys serious in trying to make a peaceful place where humans can be equals of warlocks like it has been several thousands of years ago?” he asked after giving a lot of thought. To say the least, I was glad to see that he had seemed to have calmed down greatly.

“Yeah,” Carlo hesitantly replied. “But we just need to figure out how to bring others in on it and go along with the plan.”

“Tougher than that would be bringing in everyone from all the Areas,” I added in a bare mutter. “We have to figure out how to broadcast it in a way where all would hear the message so that not only the warlocks will receive it as a threat, but as a recruitment announcement for the mortals and any warlocks that believe in equal rights to join in on the revolt all around the world.”

Alex looked at me and, with fear clouding his eyes, he asked, “Why are you so willing to help us humans? You’re a witch.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “Witch? Wrong term, kid. I’m not what those old fairy tale stories call a witch. Make sure to use either warlock or sorcerer when talking to me or anyone of my kind. The men may love being called wizard every now and then, but for our race, the terms ‘witch’ and ‘wizard’ are the wrong words to go with.” Rubbing the side of my temple, I chose my words out carefully. “And I want to help humans because, as I told you, I’ve lived like one of the mortals majority of my life. And my entire family was murdered by my own kind. And once I become one of the Specials, I can be one of the most feared around and if we succeed, I can help keep the other warlocks in line. I don’t see why I shouldn’t help when I know I can be of a great advantage to the mortals when it comes to making sure that my race won’t take over and give unfair treatment to the others just because of not being like us. Just because we have special abilities doesn’t mean that we have the rights to abuse it, and I’m one of those warlocks that believes powers shouldn’t be used to drive people to insanity, but rather be put to good use.”

“I heard that at least one-third of the people entered in this year’s game are all around my age,” Alex informed us. “If you guys are serious about it, I’m sure I can go around looking for them and talking them into helping us, and recruit other adults along the way.”

Carlo and I exchanged glances before he told me, “The kids should be recruited at night seeing it’ll be easier to get to them without being killed by the adults, and we can go look for a graveyard for you to practice before we jump into trying and talking other adults into it. It’s our best shot in recruiting people, especially once you get the hang of basic use of necromancy.”

“But the kids can try and attack to kill if searched out for in middle of the night, so we’ll have to come up with something to work around that,” I pointed out. “Besides, it all depends on if they’re going to be willing to jump in and help us with getting rid of the rankings between the two classes. And if we’re going to be sending Alex in, it’ll make more sense that one of us go in with him. I’d say you’d be the safer bet, but how good are you with combat?” Carlo opened his mouth several times, but when he didn’t respond, I grumbled, “Fine. I’ll go in myself with Alex. Could you at least man up and find at least one cemetery? Please?” Arguing back was written all over Carlo’s face as I exclaimed, “Oh, c’mon! It’s the least you could do! I need a place to start practicing necromancy, Carlo! If you’re not going to watch the kid, searching for a place where I can begin my studies is the least you could do!”

With a groan, he replied, “Fine. But just do me a favor, then, and leave me alone until the sun goes down. I need some sleep.”

Turning on his heels, Carlo went into one of the rooms and closed the door shut. Without missing a beat, Alex looked up at me as he asked, “What’s wrong with him?”

“Trying to act like a vampire if you ask me,” I remarked. “And he’s doing a terrible job at it, too.” With a deep sigh, I smiled down at him, asking, “Are you hungry? We can try and see what we can cook up if you want.”

Alex didn’t seem to trust me, and it was clear in his eyes, but at least he didn’t say no. He simply kept me at bay, and I didn’t blame him. For hours that I sat by, reading and keeping my eye closely on the doors and windows to keep those that meant harm away, I kept a close eye on Alex, studying his every move to figure out exactly what kind of a mortal he was.

Calm and collected.

Full of thoughts and curiosity.

Patient, yet antsy.

Quiet, but outspoken.

Alex never once seemed afraid to speak his mind whenever he wanted to talk to me, but at the same time, it was clear he was no ordinary kid. When he stopped himself from saying something, it was almost as though he only held his tongue upon decision that it may not have even been the best idea to speak. It was almost as though that when he decided to speak, he had chosen out his words rather carefully.

I hadn’t even noticed that I had been studying the child for hours and haven’t once turned a single page of the book that lay wide open in my lap. Only did I snap back into the present time when Alex asked, “Lady? The sun’s setting. Shouldn’t we wake up that Carlo guy?”

“Hmm?” Shaking my head to snap myself back into reality, I blinked my eyes at the boy a few times before getting up to stretch my arms out. “Oh, right. I’ll wake him up in a few. Don’t worry your little head about that guy.” Alex stared at me cautiously, almost as though he wasn’t certain about having to open his mouth, and the longer he kept his eyes focsed on my face, the more I felt my stomach begin to churn with unease. “What?” I finally snapped when I couldn’t take it any longer. “Why are you keep staring? What do you want to say or ask?”

“You just never told me your name, lady,” Alex pointed out. “I just didn’t want to seem rude by asking straight out for your name.”

I blinked at him with confusion. Stifling a laughter not too long after, I told him, “Seeing Carlo’ll be keep calling me by my old name, feel free to call me Zoey. Zoey Yukimura. Alex, I’ll make something for you and Carlo for dinner soon, so why don’t you go wait in the kitchen? As soon as I wake that man up, we’ll be right in, okay?”

“I still don’t trust you, you know,” Alex told me before he ran into the kitchen.

With an inward sigh, I muttered under my breath, “One of these days, the he’ll just have to change his mind.” I walked over to the room that Carlo had gone into in the late morning to early afternoon, and knocked a few times, calling, “Carlo? May I come in?” When there was no response, I slowly opened the door uncertainly as I softly called, “Carlo?”

There was a groan that came from what looked like a bed in the dark, and I saw a figure lying on the bed, shifting, as I walked over. I found what seemed like Carlo in the darkness fast asleep and I couldn’t help but just stare for a few moments at his peaceful face. Carefully sitting down on the edge of the bed next to him, I slowly reached my hand out to move a lock of his hair away from his eyes, but quickly withdrew. He already had someone, yet there was a small part of me that longed for him. At the same time, there was something that was keeping me from even wanting to be with this man, and I couldn’t quite seem to figure out exactly what that was.

I stared at the man for just a little longer before gently placing a hand on his shoulder to gently shake him awake. “Carlo,” I softly scowled. “Wake up. You’ve been asleep all afternoon.”

Without warning, his large hand gripped around my wrist, half throwing and half shoving me onto my back. I felt his teeth graze along my neck with his breathing heavily brushing along my skin, and I felt something beginning to penetrate my skin, but stopped short.

Drawing back, Carlo whispered, “You shouldn’t be in here. At least not alone when I’m asleep, and without a weapon in hand ready to kill me off.”

“Why not?” I demanded. Carlo simply shook his head in response, as if to tell me off, and I asked, “Why should I be ready to attack you, huh? You’ve done no wrong to me! I don’t have any reasons to stay the hell away from you!”

Carlo’s body shook in the dark. Whether it was from being cold or out of anger, it was hard to tell, but his body shaking was visible in the dead of the darkness that now fell completely over the room. He didn’t want to answer, let alone explain himself, and it was apparent that he wasn’t ready to answer. Even if he was and wanted to keep the answer from me, I was determined to get the information out of him.

“Tell me, Carlo,” I demanded once more. When he shook his head once more, I yelled, “I deserve to know! I told you about my secret of being a warlock, so why can’t you at least trust me and tell me what’s going through that head of yours! You’re not alone!”

He finally snapped. “You’re not alone either, but you’re not telling me what happened to your family!”

Honestly speaking, I had no response to his comment. What was there to say? After all, it was true – I didn’t trust myself to tell him exactly how my family was killed off by the warlocks. Or by Trace Dilnot, rather, if it truly was him that had killed my family.

“Sorry,” Carlo breathed. “Didn’t mean to yell. It’s just I don’t even know if you’ll even be willing to be by my side and help me to the end if you knew what I truly was.” He took in a short breath before saying, “I mean, if I told you what my race was. I can’t try and create a new community all alone, and you’re all I have here to help me. Not just to make a new community where everyone’s equal, but also to save my family and my girlfriend.”

I couldn’t help but scoff at his words. “Carlo, I’m not going anywhere. And what’s that supposed to mean? By what you really are in terms of race? You can’t be a warlock.”

“I’m not,” Carlo quietly confirmed, “but I’m also not a human.”

I couldn’t quite seem to grasp what he was trying to say. If he was neither a warlock nor a mortal, what was he? He couldn’t have been a vampire. I may have made fun of him and teased him a bit, saying he was a blood sucker, but it was all a joke. Everyone knew that vampires truly didn’t exist.

“You’re confused, aren’t you, Zoe?” he weakly laughed. “Let me take a wild stab in the dark. You’re trying to figure out what I meant when I said I’m not a warlock, but not a human as well?” He must’ve figured out that I was surprised because the first words to come out of his mouth were, “Now you’re surprised. I don’t even have to look at your face to know that much. My kind all shares one mutual ability, if you will, of being able to sense emotions of others. Some mortals I’m sure are able to sense others’ emotions as well, but not until they get to know the other person on the personal level. My race is able to sense it right off the bat. It’s like our sixth sense. That is, if that makes any sense at all. However, one thing we share in common among ourselves is being able to communicate telepathically, but it only works on our kind and our kind only.”

Baffled, I muttered loud enough for him to hear, “You speak as though you’re actually of a completely different race that no one knows exists in this world.”

“Because no one knows,” Carlo sighed as he leaned his face into his face as he crouched forward. “Because anyone that’s a mortal or a warlock always says that we vampires don’t exist. All because we vampires decided to keep our mouths shut and keep quiet for as long as we have. Here’s something that you all didn’t know that we vampires have been more than thrilled to keep track of. Only one-third of this world population is made up of you warlocks. Another one-third is made up of just mortals like that Alex boy. The last one-third is formed of vampires, such as myself. We vampires could have taken part thousands of years ago with the warlocks to take over the world and make the humans lowest ranked class. If we were to do that, it would have been an apparent thing that the vampires and warlocks would have gone into a war on who gets the first class citizenship and who gets that middle class citizenship. It was one of the two main reasons why vampires had stayed out of the way all those years ago. Or so the records in the history of vampires say that we have kept in our libraries all around the world. At least the ones that are managed to be kept in secret and in hiding that you warlocks haven’t managed to find and destroy due to thinking that it was all to give you lot a scare and the mortals hope. As well as out of hope that the existence of vampires is nothing but a lie.”

“Is that why you’re so cautious about what you wear and when you sleep?” I asked once I began processing all the information.

Nodding, he replied, “We vampires can stay out in the sun, but only for a limited time. Two hours is usually our limit, but there are very few vampires that are special exceptions. To us, the day is like the night, which is why I was asleep most of the day today.”

“What do you do about blood?” I questioned.

With a small shrug, he explained, “Our jobs, Zoey. I mean, think about it. It’s the easiest ways. We usually tend to take the nightshifts at any job, so we have the sorcerers and mortals pass out with some sleeping pills and take their blood when asleep. Of course, we’ll usually tell them that they must have cut themselves with a paper or a steak knife if they find a cut somewhere on their hand or arm. The ones that have Surgeon jobs are different seeing they can take the blood from the patient that they’re taking care of right then and there, and as much as they need.” Curiosity. Thirst for knowledge. I couldn’t help but be filled with wonders, and Carlo didn’t even hesitate to urge me to talk the moment he picked up my curious feeling. “What’s on your mind? Is there something more you want to know about vampires, or about me?”

“You guys can work in the daytime as well, right?” I blurted out, and I felt my face heat up with embarrassment. One thing for certain, I couldn’t have been happier knowing that it was too dark to see my face burning bright red, but that didn’t seem to stop Carlo from chuckling.

“Yeah. Yeah, we can. But, as I said, we have two hour limit to be out in the sun, meaning it’s really all matter of if it’s on the inside or outside we’re working.” He paused to try and work out how to explain in his mind before telling me, “If we vampires ever want to wander out in the sun, we can’t have our skin exposed in the sun for more than two hours a day. Even if we don’t’ go out in the sun for one day, those two hours won’t transfer over to the next day, and some of my kind learned that the hard way. But if we keep ourselves fully clothed, not even the smallest portion of our skin, then we can wander in the sun as long as we want. Downside to roaming in the daytime, however, is that we get vicious just as we will become dangerous if we don’t drink.” He abruptly leaned in as he traced tip of his nose along my neck, breathing, “Like now. It’s quite the risk you’re taking by sitting here with me. Especially when your blood smells so sweet and oh so inviting, Zoey.”

“I trust you enough to know you won’t do anything to me,” I quietly replied, and as I did, I felt my breath getting caught in my throat. My heart picked up speed and began thumping hard against my chest, and I knew somewhere deep inside that I was merely trying to put up a brave front. I didn’t want to show that there was a small portion of me that was truly afraid.

Carlo drew back after what seemed like an eternity as he told me, “You’re lying. Our five senses are far more heightened than warlocks and humans, you know. I felt and heard your heart pounding wildly, and it’s so easy to sense your fear through that strong front you’re trying to put up. But you should believe in your words more often. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, you know. At least not intentionally. Only by mistake if anything.” Abruptly shooting up on his feet, he growled, “Do you have that gun on you?”

“Yeah,” I replied back with a startle. “Why?”

As Carlo took out a small pocket knife from his pocket and flipped the blade out, he told me, “Get it ready. That gun’s designed to kill both humans and vampires. You’re gonna need it when we try to get Alex away from the intruder.”

“An intruder? What do you mean by that?” I demanded as I took my handgun out from my back pocket.

Carlo’s speed was faster than I had imagined as he hissed, “We were too busy talking for me to even hear the intruder come in, but there’s someone in the house right now! They managed to unlock the backdoor, and holding the little kid a hostage until we get out!”

“How do you know if he’s being held hostage?” I yelled. “Tell me!”

“Because I hear him whimpering with fear!” he roared. “And it’s not a human that’s with him! It’s a vampire! They’re ordering if there’s another one like her in the house right now, we should come out and surrender!” Striding over to me, Carlo firmly grabbed my shoulders as he calmly told me in a whisper, “Which is why I need you to get the gun ready. To get ready to kill her if I can’t, but only if she won’t listen to reason.”

With a faint nod, I got up onto my feet and waked past him to the door. Opening the door and cautiously heading towards the kitchen, I called warningly, “We know you’re inside! And if it’s a vampire that you’re after, why not let the boy go? Alex isn’t the one you want in this house, I’m sure, but my partner.”

“Zoey!” Carlo exclaimed. “Seriously?”

Throwing him a glare over my shoulder, I snapped, “You’re the one that admitted you’re a vampire to me! Besides, it’s not like I’m going to give you up all that easily as well, Carlo.”

When we slowly entered the kitchen, there was a beautiful woman, an Asian woman, to be exact, that seemed to be of the same race as Carlo – a Philippine. This woman, however, had scorching red eyes, and they were filled with anger as she glared more at Carlo than at me. As I raised my gun and aimed it at her head at the sight of one hand over Alex’s mouth and a knife to his throat, Carlo asked with great surprise, “Maria? Is that you?”

“Who’s the girl, Carlo?” the female snarled.

Carlo quickly stepped over to me and placed a hand over the gun to lower it, replying, “I want to ask you a few things first before telling you anything, Maria. Why are you here?”

“Like where your family is?” she laughed. “Oh, they’re still being held hostages, but the warlocks decided they wanted to have a little more fun by sending me in to see you. So, who’s the girl? A prey for me, or your mistress?”

Carlo quickly wrapped his arms around my waist and held me back as I lunged for the girl, laughing with disbelief. “His mistress? Say that to my face! Like I would even want to be with a guy who claims to be a blood sucker! And I’m no one’s prey!”

Ignoring my words, Carlo calmly spoke. “Maria, let the boy go. Alex has done no wrong.” When the woman didn’t move a muscle, he let out a deep sigh as he asked, “Zoey, can you take Alex with you right now? I’ll have dinner ready by the time you two get back from recruiting at least as many kids you guys can get hold of, and finding at least one cemetery for you two begin your practices.”

I stopped struggling as I let out a deep huff of a sigh, but Carlo didn’t loosen his grip. As I held my hand out toward Alex, I grumbled, “Alex, come over here. I’ll take you out to get the kids and help you get them to join us. Afterwards, you can help me find a graveyard or two.”

Maria harshly shoved Alex towards us and Carlo let me go in return as I pulled Alex into my arms. Beginning to lead the boy away, Carlo grabbed my arm and leaned into my ear a bit as he whispered, “I’m sorry, Zoe. I’ll make sure to get her out of the house to guarantee the safety for both you and Alex.” When I looked up at him, Carlo shook his head at me. “Don’t. Don’t say anything to try and make me feel better. She’s here because of me, and I’ve put you guys in danger from a vampire that obviously haven’t drank for awhile. She’s a danger to you both, and I’m the sole reason to it. Just make sure you two don’t return for a few hours.” He loosened his grip on my arm and let me be on my way as he turned his full gaze back to the woman that never broke her vicious gaze away from me.

3: Chapter 03

Two hours. And thirty-two kids. Exactly one-third of the people that had come in for the Survival Among the Weakest game. Four people from each Area, and twenty-four Areas in total, making it ninety-six contestants. And from those ninety-six, exactly one-third was formed of the kids. And it took two hours to gather all the children ranging from twelve years of age all the way up to seventeen years.

I had to admit that convincing the fourteen and up kids were harder to convince than the twelve and thirteen year olds. However, by the time I was done with going over what would have been done if they were to assist, they all seemed to be thrilled with the idea with helping.

“You said you’re one of them, though,” a young blonde haired girl with clear blue eyes pointed out as the kids and I all sat around the campfire in the front yard of one of the houses. All eyes were on me as the girl continued, “So why should be actually trust you? It was your kind that attacked the humans thousands of years ago, and made it seem as though you guys were the ones that were all high and mighty. Now you want us powerless humans to assist you? Are you trying to play some sort of sick joke on us?”

Belinda D’Angelo, fifteen year old girl from Area Twenty, the same Area as Alex. She had jet sandy brown hair, and dark chocolaty brown eyes, and just the way she and Alex sat close to each other, side by side, they could have passed as siblings although Belinda already had a twin brother.

Taking in a deep breath, I told her, “Belinda, I’m not going to force you into trusting me. I’m only going to give it time, and only hope that one day you’ll see that I’m not here to harm you all. Only to help in any way possible. I don’t have the same beliefs as majority of my race does, and I’m sure that I’m not the only warlock that wants to give humans like you guys equal rights. Since we’re all here, we have to first figure out a way to talk the adults into joining us to put up a fight against the warlocks. And announce that there’s a warlock in the game as well. I’m your puppet, pretty much, seeing once those that are like me hears of it, they’ll be more likely to rise up and aid us in a fight for equal rights. It all starts here. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?”

“How about the two people from your district?” a light chocolaty skinned boy with dark brown eyes that sat across from me asked. Demetri Johnson, a seventeen year old boy of Area Sixteen, and next to him was his twelve year old sister, Cornellia Johnson. “Aren’t they still after your heads?”

Kevin Tong and Justine Johnson. I nearly had forgotten about those two, and would most likely have been for the better if he hadn’t brought the two up. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were to come for me and my partner, Carlo, who you will all meet hopefully tomorrow,” I told everyone as I replied to the question at the same time. “But those two will be pretty much be as good as goners if they don’t want to cooperate with us.”

Cornellia stayed tucked under her brother’s arm as she squeaked, “Are vampires real?”

“Nelly!” Demetri hissed as he nudged his sister. He seemed rather irritated, and if I had to take a wild guess, it would have to be due to the fact that she may have asked the same question to him countless of times before.

“Of course not, Cornellia,” I lied. “If there are any vampires, they can stay after and see me if they want to prove that they’re real.” Looking around at the kids, I asked, “Do you think you guys can handle the job of talking the adults of your Areas to join in? Or at least convincing them to do so? It would be a great amount of help, and a big step forward to retrieving equality between the two races once more.” When they all nodded, I softly said, “Good. Now, go. When you all have recruited those of your Areas, come and find me and Carlo Suarez. We’ll move on from there.”

From the thirty-two kids, Alex and the other fifteen kids remained seated while the other sixteen children went back to their respective places in the abandoned Area. Fifteen of the kids all stared at me before one of them finally spoke up, asking, “So. You really believe that vampire race doesn’t exist?”

“That’s for me to know and for you guys to find out,” I hesitantly said the familiar words.

Snorting, one of the girls exclaimed, “She’s gotta be joking! She’s scared! It’s practically rising off her like the flames sparking off of this large pile of damned flames!” Through the light radiating from the flames, I saw it was a red headed boy with orange eyes who seemed to find all this amusing. Travis Hawthorn, age thirteen of Area Twenty-Seven. He was wiser than most kids his age. “What? You think we’re going to attack you and suck you dry?”

“If you must know, Yukimura,” a jet black haired girl with green eyes and freckles, Leah Kim at age of fifteen from Area 47, snapped, “we vampires aren’t taught to kill people. We’re taught to take only the amount of blood that we need to survive for at least a few days, but not enough to leave people dead. We may seem like a cruel race that humans and warlocks seem to think, but we’re not all that bad of a kind of a group.”

“First, don’t call me by my fake name or by my old last name. Feel free to call me just Zoey. Second, if you guys feel so strongly about tired of vampire race being pushed down to the point where it seems as though you guys are pretty much nonexistent, then you kids in specific better be prepared to work closely with Carlo if I can talk him into it,” I informed the kids with a mischievous grin. “That is, if you guys don’t mind working closely with an adult who’s a vampire himself.”

The kids all seemed taken aback as they stared at me with bewilderment. Belinda looked around at everyone for quite some time, and it was as though she gathered what they all wanted to say into one thought when she finally spoke, “As one of the oldest of the vampires that are here for the time being, and most outspoken one while at it, I’m sure I have the right to speak for us all. Do you actually expect us to believe that you’re working with one of our kind?”

“Look,” I sternly told them. “I’m pretty sure he’s a vampire. He’s told me what I need to know in terms of your ability to talk to one another telepathically. And I’m sure as hell that his precious girlfriend’s a vampire, too. Not to forget to mention that her eyes were blood red, which I’m sure that mortals don’t have, and positive as hell that none of my kind has red eyes. And if that’s not good enough,” I pulled down the collar of my jacket to reveal a bare wound that was left by Carlo’s teeth that I hadn’t noticed until hitting the cold night’s wind. “Would me having almost been bitten by the man I decided to partner up with a good enough of a reason for you all?”

Alex began to tremble as the other children’s eyes began to turn blood red as they tried to stay put in their seats. Leah growled, “Cover up your neck. The blood smells far too good to us.”

Raising my brow, I asked in a testing manner, “And if I don’t?”

“If you don’t in the dead of night around us,” Belinda growled, “then you’re as good as asking for a death wish.”

I barely managed to cover my laugher with coughs as I released my collar. “Do we have an agreement in terms of having to team up or no? I’m not entirely sure if it’ll be a guarantee that Carlo will be working with you full time since he’s pretty much the brains between the two of us, but are you all in or no?” There was a long silence as they all exchanged looks with one another. It was hard to tell if they were all waiting for someone else to speak.

“What’s in it for us?” Travis finally asked in a low growl. Sitting up straight, he laughed weakly as he said, “I mean, c’mon. Let’s face it. We’re all putting our lives at risk here.”

With a serious look, I growled back, “Like you’re not putting your lives at risk by playing this game? I’m sure that even though the warlocks don’t watch SAW in middle of the night, it’s still aired for anyone who’s interested in seeing what may happen. If the other vampires saw you draining blood from others, which I’m sure has happened multiple times in the past, they’ll look down upon you. And what if you guys get chosen again sometime in the future? You guys will be putting your lives at stake again. This can happen countless of times. If you actually do decide to do something about it now instead of backing out, then you guys will be helping fight for justice. If we succeed in this war and you guys get away with it with your lives, then you guys get to live to see the new beginning with Dark Ages behind us all.”

“How can we trust you?” few kids asked in unison rather quietly.

Closing my eyes, I asked, “Let me ask you all this. How many Necromancers have you heard of it that’s a Special?”

“There are no Necromancers alive,” one of the boys laughed. “They’re practically extinct group of sorcerers!”

I couldn’t help but deeply sigh inwardly. So they truly didn’t understand that even though choosing to be a certain class of warlock that one’s parents were are to be in greater favor, but that a sorcerer was always free to choose a different path for themselves. As I rested my chin into my hand and leaning my elbow on my leg, I explained, “There’s actually extremely few alive. It just so happens that Necromancer class is one of the hardest classes to get into, but has its own greatest advantages. Especially for someone such as myself that’s a Healer that also comes from a family that was once filled with Elementalists.”

All the kids seemed hesitant as they all arched their brows at me. “Care to fill us in? We would like to know exactly what you mean with all that gibberish,” Leah grunted.

With a heavy sigh, I quickly said, “Necromancy’s a hard magic to master. What’s really needed to succeeding in terms of being a Necromancer is be willing to never give up, no matter how tough it gets, and be willing to use it wisely. In my case, to help those that want to fight for freedom by creating a new army of the dead with a mix of elemental from what I can remember of my family members using when they were still alive and well. If I combine Necromancy with a bit of element, then it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

The kids all remained quiet, almost as though they were trying to process everything that was said or just communicating with one another without letting me into the loop. After what felt like an eternity, Leah asked, “How are you planning on drawing people in? To fight? To be on our side?”

“I still have to talk to Carlo about this,” I replied, “but what I have in mind is once we get majority if not all the people in SAW recruited, we all announce that there’s a warlock playing in the game. That the warlocks reached the lowest point of their dark humor that they saw it fit to throw in one of their kinds for the laughs. The ones that are all for the mortals being below them will deny it. The warlocks that are like me, seeing all as equal, won’t deny it if they know what’s right. If they’re smart enough, that is. They’ll admit that they have flaws and support us in any way. I’m sure whatever warlocks we get to be on our side, we’ll be able to find a place for them in the fight to bring the so-called almighty warlocks down, and bring peace to this world if we win the war for equal rights.”

Alex tugged on the edge of my sleeve as he whispered, “Lady, we have to get going and find a cemetery or two so you can start practicing if possible before we go back to get that guy. And what if he’s hurt? We have to help him from that psychotic lady, don’t we? She told me that she was a vampire, too, when we were waiting for you two to come out to the kitchen.”

I wanted to start running to make sure Carlo was still alive. That he was fine, and that no harm was brought to him. But he wanted to keep me and Alex away to make sure nothing horrid happened to us. But why? Why did he want to keep us alive? If we died in that woman’s hands, then it merely meant that he could just go out and easily find replacements. But that wasn’t the case. He wanted to keep us alive for some unknown reason.

“I wonder,” a young boy to my right muttered. Dark brown hair, hazel eyes, fair skin tone, and only seventeen years old. Brandon McNamara of Area 33. He was one of the few, if not the only one, that came in with either one or both of their parents. I looked at him quizzically, but didn’t ask until he was ready to speak. Looking up at me, he quickly explained, “My father was in this game at least three times before. Every time he entered, there was always at least a couple of people brought in that seemed to have completely lost it. Before I snuck away from my dad, he told me that there was a woman with a fair skin tone that looked around your partner’s and your age.”

Arching a brow at him, I said, “You’ll have to be more specific on which of us her age seems closer to, Brandon. His or mine. I’m nine years younger than him.” Brandon looked rather surprised, but I quickly shook my head to shake it all off. “No matter. Go on. What was it about the woman that you were informed of?”

“My dad said she was a vampire,” he told me once he recovered from his speechless state of mind. “She was using telepathy to get in contact with all the vampires in the area to see if some guy named Carlo Suarez will show himself. Claimed she was having trouble pin pointing him by his specific scent. Once she was brought closer to the building you two and that kid Alex are staying in, my dad and I kinda lost her, um, signal, shall we say?”

With a deep frown, I added, “I’ll assume that it was around at the same time that Carlo picked up the signal, and heard her demanding for any vampire that was around to show themselves. And that actually now explains the cause of him to suddenly become edgy and ordering me to get my gun ready to shoot and kill when necessary.” Looking around, I asked the kids, “How hard would it be for you kids to get the adults of your kind to jump aboard and join in on the revelation against my kind?”

“It really all depends on which vampires we talk to and how open minded they are,” Leah replied for all after the children all silently looked at one another for a minute or so. “But with McNamara Clan being of Area 33, and even his father being in the game, it shouldn’t be hard. It all just depends on how easily we will be able to bring him in with his assistance. Most vampires have respect for McNamara Clan for how long they’ve been around.”

Belinda added as she closed her eyes, “More so than being one of the most respected in the world, they’re one of the forty-eight only pure blood Clans left. Pure breeds are far above us mixed bloods and the bitten.”

“That being said, my dad and I will start on what we can do with help of the ones gathered around here tonight,” Brandon smirked confidently. “As long as I can talk my dad into it, we shouldn’t have too much trouble getting others on our side.”

Giving them all a small nod, I softly ordered, “Now, go. Go recruit other vampires. When all are on our side, come look for me, Alex, or Carlo. Recruit even humans if possible, since that will bring us to greater advantage to recruiting people sooner, and faster. Understood?”

Nodding, all but Belinda and her twin brother, Daniel, left the area. They remained silent until all the vampires were out of ear reach, but the first words to come out of the words, “Does he have to stay around? If you don’t mind, we would like to speak to you.” Daniel’s stone cold eyes narrowed as he growled in a low voice, “Alone.” He had a jet black hair just like his sister, but it seemed as though instead of the dark brown like Belinda, his eyes were the color of blood red.

I was afraid of what this child could do to me, but I couldn’t let my fear take over me just because of one vampire. Not now, and not ever. Especially not in front of these children if I wanted to help Carlo lead them and all the others that we would recruit into victory. “Sorry, but he stays with me,” I sternly told him. “I may be just a Healer in high Priest ranking, but I can’t let him out of my sight. Not when Alex needs to be under my full protection seeing he can’t be left all alone and completely defenseless.”

Disgruntled, Daniel snapped, “Fine. Be that way, warlock. Let me ask you this since my sister seems too afraid to even go along with her doubts. What makes you so certain that this will succeed? This could just as easily fail when the time to face your kind comes.”

“I can’t say I’m hundred percent sure,” I admitted with a calm smile, “but I can’t say this won’t succeed either. We have to try as a team. You guys want your freedom as well, do you not? We have to hold onto that hope and fight against my race that actually believes you vampires and mortals are nothing but trash. I just don’t happen to think like those warlocks, and even though I decided to live like a mortal like you vampires have, I’m sure I’m not the only one of my kind that believes in equality among all the races. We have to fight for what we believe and hope for the best until the end. If we succeed, then we go full steam ahead and make sure that the world stays the way it did before the During Dark Ages era. If we fail, we must continue on by going full steam ahead with hopes that we’ll all one day succeed and get out with freedom. I’m pretty sure that if anything, the higher ups in the warlock chain will come for me and Carlo before they go after any of you, so you really don’t have anything to worry about.”

Belinda placed a hand on her brother’s hand as she shook her head just as Daniel began to snap at me, almost as though he was going to bite my head off with venomous words. The two were silent for what felt like an eternity as they tossed glares at one another. If I didn’t know any better, it was clear to me that they were in an argument of some sort just by the looks in their eyes and changing of their eye colors varying from blood red to light blue, and even as far as being as bright of a yellow as the flames, perhaps even the sun.

Finally, Belinda turned her gaze to me as her eyes changed colors to light caramel brown from flaming red, she calmly smiled at me as she said, “Terribly sorry about this sort of behavior from my brother, Miss Yukimura. He’s rarely like this. But when we manage to gather people as well, we’ll come looking for you. Leave all the recruiting to us, and focus on finding any and all cemeteries you need to practice and improve your Necromancy.” Getting up with her brother, she bowed as she said, “I hope the best for you. Until next time, have a good night and farewell.” She smiled sweetly down at Alex and patted his head as she told him, “See you around, Alex. I’ll be keeping my eyes on you to make sure nothing happens.”

Belinda clung onto Daniel’s arm in a rather abrupt manner as she walked away with the young man. As I watched the two walk away, I couldn’t help but I admit to myself that for a pair of fifteen year olds, they seemed quite mature for their age, and I wondered if there was any sort of cause to that. Or if it was more so Belinda that led the example to be mature that Daniel seemed to be at least a little behind on keeping his cool. After all, Belinda seemed to be the one who was far more mature than any fifteen year old I’ve seen growing up, and there was something about her that reminded me of myself from when I was around her age. Some sort of tragedy, perhaps, but there could also have been some sort of family issues that I didn’t know about. Whatever the case was for any of the kids that were put into this game that seemed more mature for their age, I had no doubt somewhere in the back of my mind that they all would tell either me or Carlo, perhaps both of us, of their background stories.

Of course, there just as well as may be a price to pay, and my price would most likely be for me to tell them the reason for having lived like a mortal all these years when I could have led a luxurious life. Why I’m greatly against my own race to the point where I want to rebel against the warlocks to bring equality in this world among the warlocks and mortals. Now knowing the truth of the existence of vampires, equality for even them to live peacefully and without having to be pushed away into the shadows. They didn’t want to live in fear that they would be rejected, and it was easy to tell just by looking at the faces of all the children that eagerly came out tonight that being rejected and feared by the humans just the way the mortals feared my kind. The same kind of fear that my kind seemed to have towards the vampires. It was just another one thing on my list that I wanted to bring an end to by end of it all.

I must have been lost deep in my thoughts for far too long because Alex harshly tugged on my arm as he asked with chattering teeth, “Can we go now? The flame’s almost extinguished, and I’m getting really, really cold.”

With a gentle smile, I turned my back to him as I instructed, “C’mon. Get on my back.” I never thought I’d see him smile, but there it was. A happy smile crept onto his face as Alex got up on his feet and quickly put his arms around my neck. Lifting him onto my back as I got up on my feet myself, I asked, “How long was I dazed out for?”

“I don’t know,” he replied with what felt like a shrug above my shoulders. As I began walking once managing to find my balance with Alex on my back, he told me, “Half an hour? An hour tops, maybe? You looked like you were in a complete daze.” For nearly half the walk, Alex was quiet and I could nearly hear the wheels turning in his head, debating whether he should say something or not. When he finally decided to speak, it was the one question I didn’t expect to hear from him. Not when it seemed as though he was afraid of me when he found out that I was a warlock earlier during the day. “You’re not going to let anything happen to me if you can help it, right? You’re really going to do whatever it takes to bring peace and equality back to this world? Where we humans can live as your equals instead of being considered lower than you guys?”

At first, I didn’t know how to answer it. How could I when I thought he wouldn’t trust me this soon? Once I finally found my voice, I sincerely told him, “Of course not, Alex. Believe me. The last thing I would want for anyone is to be seen as some low class citizen. What you are and what you look like shouldn’t matter. It should be all about who you are that you should be accepted for, and that’s another reason for me to strive to bring peace among all three races.”

I meant every word I said, and I would rather have died than lie to someone as innocent as this child. Out of all the things, however, I did fear the vampires. I would have admitted it if it weren’t for the fact I didn’t want to appear weak when I had to help Carlo lead these people – Especially since he was a vampire as well. If I fell to my knees now, then who knew how strong I would ever be to stand up and face my fears? I was the one who told Tricia that vampires weren’t real. Perhaps it was partially because I was afraid that it would have been true, but now that I knew this was truly happening and wasn’t all in my head, I had to put my cowardly feelings aside.

Tricia. Suddenly Tricia Kaufman came into my mind. Along with her were her words of how a rumor of vampires existing that apparently had gone around among the surgeons in her work area. How did they receive the rumor, and how did they know of the vampires? Was there one working in her hospital that leaked out the words of his or her existence by making it sound as though it was nothing more than a lie? Or were the words of vampires just something that they happened to hear around and about by chance? Most importantly, was having to work majorly on the inside of a building the reason why she chose and aimed to be a surgeon? Because she was a vampire herself and needed a fairly good reason to stay inside an enclosed building where she could stay out of the sun as long as possible?

All sorts of questions ran through my head, and only more came flooding in by the time I reached the front door with Alex. I knocked on the door as I called, “Carlo? It’s me, Zoey! Alex and I are back!” I glanced around cautiously and waited patiently for Carlo to answer the door as I placed Alex back down on the ground. When the door finally opened, I looked up as I began to ask, “Is she,” but I never got the word ‘gone’ when Carlo sharply pulled me in by the arms and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. “Carlo?” I breathed. “Something happen?”

Through the corner of my eyes, I saw Carlo barely shake his head as he whispered into my ear, “No. The warlocks came to collect her, but she just left an uneasy feeling behind by the time she left. That’s all.” I hesitated about returning his hug, but by the time I began raising my arms to rest my hands on his back, it was too late. Carlo had taken a small step back and grasped my shoulders rather firmly as he carefully studied my face, asking, “You didn’t run into her on your way back here with Alex, did you?”

I shook my head at the question. “Did that lady say anything?” Alex asked the very thing that was on my mind.

There was something on Carlo’s face that said he wasn’t entirely sure about telling the child. “Nothing you should concern yourself with,” Carlo replied after a moment of thought. It was almost as though Carlo was trying to protect Alex from what could possibly harm him in any way or form. Looking at me, he said, “Something that you might be interested in, though.” I gave him a quizzical look, but he tried to avoid the topic from there on as he asked, “How did the recruitment go? And did you find any cemeteries that you could possibly use for practice?”

“We couldn’t go looking for the cemetery,” I admitted, “but we did recruit all the kids. I may have told half of them that I’ll see if you’ll be willing to work closely with them.”

Carlo blinked with confusion as he cried, “Wait a minute! Me? Work with them? What’s going through that head of yours?”

“A lot,” I shrugged. “I mean, c’mon, Carlo! Nearly half those kids were vampires! One of them is here with his father!”

Taking a step back, he cried, “No! I’m not working with them personally!”

Alex and I exchanged glances before I shrugged and sighed heavily to make it seem as though I was giving in. “Fine,” I told Carlo. “Don’t. That means that this so-called McNamara Clan will be very disappointed in you. A father and a son from McNamara Clan’s here among us, but I guess for you as a vampire, that means absolutely nothing.”

Carlo’s eyes widened as he breathed, “McNamara Clan? One of the highest standing pure bloods around?” He began pacing as he said, “Who would’ve thought they’d be chosen to take part in the games? I didn’t think I’d be able to meet them in this lifetime!” Looking at Alex, he thought for a moment before asking, “She’s lying, isn’t she? About two McNamara members being here?”

“We met a guy named Brandon McNamara when he and other vampire kids stuck around to talk to Zoey lady,” Alex replied. “The other vampires were saying that as long as Brandon can get his dad to agree on jumping in the boat, the McNamara Clan members can be of big help recruiting adult vampires.”

Laughing rather happily, Carlo cried, “Brilliant! So we’ve got the one Clan with great amount of power among the vampires!”

Crossing my arms as I arched a brow at him, Alex and I asked in unison, “Which ranking are you and this ‘clan’ of yours?”

“Majority including me and my family, but excluding my niece, nephew, and my sister-in-law, are all pure bloods,” Carlo hurriedly replied. “The rest that are married into the family are either mixed bloods or bitten into becoming a vampire. Of course, my clan’s not as high held of a clan as McNamara is. We’re more on the lower rank of the remaining pure blood clans.” Carlo gave me an abrupt hug as he breathed, “You’ve done great in getting the kids. Especially getting the one family I thought I’d have hard time convincing if none of the members were here.”

Looking down at Alex, I softly told him, “Why don’t I tuck you in? You’ve had a bit of a rough start with a crazy woman and bunch of vampire children on the first day of SAW.”

Alex immediately took my hand and lightly pulled me along to one of the rooms, leaving Carlo behind all alone in the living room area. When we were in one of the three rooms, Alex told me, “Daniel means well, you know.” When he saw the confused look on my face in the stream of moonlight coming through the window, he said, “You know. Daniel, Belinda’s brother. The other guy from my Area? He meant well when he was questioning you. Both of the D’Angelo children lost their parents when they were ten, and been living with my family up until my family got murdered. They just worry for me after a few years of thinking of me as part of their family and trying to protect me to their best abilities from afar.”

“You seem quite calm about the vampires compared to us warlocks,” I mused. Ruffling his hair, I made sure he was well tucked under the cover as I softly told him, “Know that if you need anything, Carlo and I are in other two rooms.”

Once I closed the curtains shut and headed towards the door, Alex yawned, “You’re not as bad as most warlocks I’ve met. You’re really nice, Zoey.”

I stepped out of the room and closed the door behind me, and, trying to process his words, I leaned against the words. I suddenly felt fingers brushing across my neck as Carlo’s voice came in a near whisper, “You okay, Zoe?”

His hand slid up onto my cheek and something came over me when I placed my hand on Carlo’s with a small nod. “Just not entirely sure if I’m doing the right thing. That’s all.” Smiling, I told him, “I’ll be by your side no matter what, though, if that’s what you’re concerned about.” Pushing myself off the door, I waked past Carlo as I asked him, “Who was that woman earlier? The one who held a knife to Alex’s throat, I mean.”

“She’s my girlfriend,” Carlo hesitantly told me. “The warlocks apparently brought her in to see if they could get some information out of me through her.”

I was a little surprised, but I managed to keep my composure as I asked, “No offense, but she seemed a bit crazy, Carlo. A bit too crazy for someone like you to be with, at least.”

“What can I say?” he said a bit too casually. “I actually happen to like crazy women.” As Carlo grabbed my wrist and forced me to turn and face him, he promised, “I won’t let her harm any of you, Zoey.”

I broke eye contacts with him as I asked, “What if I was to raise a gun at her if I had to defend myself from her? If she was to try and attack me?”

“Don’t kill her,” he sternly replied. “I’ll take care of things like that myself if I must. Just know that I won’t let her do anything to neither you nor Alex. She has to understand that what I must do here is important to me. Well, not just me, but for you and everyone else in the world. This isn’t something I can give up, but I’m sure you know that well. Don’t you?”

A groan escaped from my throat. “Any reason why I should back out opposed to sticking around to see through this?” I couldn’t help but ask.

With a chuckle, Carlo told me, “Just don’t engage with my girlfriend if she comes back to get you. I’ll deal with her myself, alright?” He led me to the living room area, and his gaze had gone from gentle to serious rather abruptly as he had be sit down on a couch. Plopping himself down next to me, he murmured, “Talk to me.”

I blinked at him. “Talk?” I repeated. “About what? You’re going to have to be more clear than just tell me to ‘talk’. Or rather more specific.”

“About your family,” he sighed. “I don’t really want to have to force you to talk about it if you don’t want to, but it’s something that you’re going to have to tell me sooner or later.”

Out of all the things I didn’t wish to discuss on, he just had to keep striving on my family issue. Closing my eyes, I debated inwardly on whether to turn him away or to talk as he wanted me to. And the more I thought upon it, the harder it seemed to decide between the two choices. I had put away my past for good as long as I have, because I didn’t want anyone to know more than I thought was good for them. But more so for the safety of others, for my own safety. Or was I just being far too selfish by keeping myself away with all my secrets in my own Pandora Box in back of my head?

Carlo softly urged me, “You have to tell me. If others found out that you’re a warlock the hard way, then it’ll take them a long time to trust you. If you tell me and you’re not ready to tell others, I can try and come up with something to cover you for at least a little while.”

Taking in deep breath, I quietly asked, “Can’t I just go to sleep? I’m not a creature of the night like you.”

He gently took hold of my hand as he scolded, “You’re going to have to talk if you want others to be on our side a little easier. Adults are not going to be as easy as the kids to convince, and you know it.”

I looked away as I withdrew my hand from his, saying, “I was the youngest of the four Yukimura children. For generations, my family always have been full of Healers, and as I have told you before, my parents decided to break that tradition when they became Specials. Both my parents decided to become Elementalists. While my mother focused on Flames for being feisty like the fire, my father went with the Winds to keep the flames going and grow stronger by the passing moment. As for my siblings, they all thought being Healers were ludicrous, so they stuck with Elemental aspect of sorcery. My eldest sister, Violet, was Water Elementalist since she was always seemed so free in terms of her movements and personality. My brother, Hogosha, was a Lightening user since he was always so sharp, painful at times, and always far too quick. I also recall our father always calling him ‘Protector,’ but I never understood why. It may have been because of my father always calling Hogosha by his nickname that he began acting protective over me and our sisters. And finally, my second oldest sister, Maria, was an Earth Elementalist. She was always so down to earth, and she was always about nature. There was a great age gap between me and my second oldest sister alone, but all my siblings always took care of me with no complaint. They always seemed to be happy to help take care of me.”

I stopped talking as memories of their faces all came flooding back to me. Their bright, loving smiles shone brightly, but they all disappeared one by one as the painful memories of their deaths came back in the order of how they died. It wasn’t just in the order of how they died, but the final looks on their faces of when they died. Manipulantalist was in charge of Area 18, yet I overlooked it all these years. An Elemental Manipulantalist, no less. But more so than me having overseen it, my parents and my siblings, whom never hand the chance to warn me of his powers to warn me of what I’m up against. It was easy for an Elemental Manipulantalist to copy nearly any move of those that had blood of an Elementalist flowing through their veins, but not if it was Necromancy. Yet, I never had the chance to be ready to fight against him. Not until now, and who knew how late I was to even master it in time?

Time.

Just like the remembrance of Tricia’s words hit me, this came to me and left a sickening feeling in my stomach. And with the sickening feeling, a question remained. How much time did I really have to master the hardest type of sorcery that this world could offer before having to go directly heads on with the warlocks? More so, would I still be able to recall the elemental moves that my family all once used to use to combine them with Necromancy? Or was those a bit too much of a task? Even if it meant becoming a Special?

“Zoey?” Carlo’s voice called me back to the reality. Back to the now. Giving my hand a gentle squeeze when I looked up at him, he encouraged, “Go on. Tell me what happened.”

I withdrew my hand away once more and gripped my pants as I placed my hands on my lap. “Maria picked me up as she, Violet, and Hogosha all began running. My parents stayed once giving instructions for us to leave, and they fought to their last breath.” Tears threatened at my eyes as I shakily went on. “When they lost their fight, Violet stayed and ordered for Hogosha and Maria that if anything was to happen to the family, that I should at least be the sole survivor of the family. She fought her battle, and gave it all that she had as Water Elementalist. When she fell, Hogosha was up next. He told Maria to run for her life, and make sure that if it had to come down to it, to do just as Violet instructed them to. As strong of a Lightening warlock he may have been, he still fell, and all that remained were me, a weak beginner Healer, and Maria, an advanced Earth Elementalist.”

My breath got stuck in my throat, and I felt as though I could no longer breath. I couldn’t even get another word out. How could I? I witnessed them all getting murdered. I didn’t have the nerves to tell Carlo exactly what was used against them for each of my family members to fall, and I was grateful that he at least didn’t push his lucks to ask. Especially not now when I barely could breath, let alone tell of my last sister’s falling.

Piercing scream of agony.

The flames engulfing Maria’s body.

Her body burning down to ashes.

The lightening striking down upon her.

Her perfect skin all fried.

Pitch black from the lightning strike.

Scream.

Piercing scream.

And sharp pain from my head rang throughout my body as I felt my own hair beginning to get tugged at by the root.

It wasn’t that I was being attacked. I merely saw my sister’s death all over again. Hear her agonizing scream from the flames. Hear the loud explosion from the lightening. It was so vivid, so clear, after all these years, and I couldn’t help but finally let out all my scream of terror out. No matter how much I would have loved to stop, I had already lost control of my body. I lost control of myself, and my mouth refused to shut close. My screams refused to stop as I began screeching, “Maria! Get out! Save yourself, Maria! Save yourself, damn it!”

Carlo sharply pulled me into his arms and forced me to bury my face into his shoulders as he soothingly began stroking my hair. My screams slowly began turning into uncontrollable sobs as I clutched onto his shirt with one hand and beat him weakly with the other. Why didn’t I just let it go all these years? Why didn’t I at least gather up the courage to tell at least Tricia? Even if it meant sacrificing her trust in me? Out of all the people I could tell, it had to be the one man that I never thought I saw myself telling. Not considering how short period of time I’ve known him.

What was it about Carlo that made me trust him so much?

What was it about Carlo that made him so trustworthy for me to tell something that I have never told anyone before?

I couldn’t seem to tell Tricia any of what I had just told him. I couldn’t tell him exactly how they died with those being the biggest punch to the face for me, but I was able to tell him something I was never able to tell anyone else. How could I have given in so easily to this man?

I had drifted off into the darkness as my dreams began filling up with familiar sounds of laughter of my deceased family members. There was that small portion of me that couldn’t have been more happier to hear it, but their faces were nothing but a blur for some strange reason. Of course it was all a dream. How could it not be, when they all slowly began turning on me one by one as they mockingly sneered, “It’s all your fault, Zoey. You’re the reason why we’re all dead. Because we were trying to protect a weakling of a warlock like you. You will fail, so give up. Give it all up now before you disappoint yourself.”

I opened my eyes with a startle, only to find myself lying in a bed with my head resting against what felt like a leg or two, and my arms wrapped around what felt like a waist. The mid-morning sunlight streamed from the window and through the crack of the curtains. When I looked up to see who it exactly was that I was leaning on us, I saw Carlo’s peaceful face asleep with one arm around my shoulders. He was in a sitting position, and it was only when I looked around that I realized that he had brought me into one of the bedrooms.

Sitting up, I cautiously raised one hand to his cheek as I breathed, “Carlo? Are you asleep already?”

Yawning, he placed a hand over mine, but his eyes didn’t open as I had expected them to. “I’m a light sleeper,” Caro informed me, “but for you, I think I can deal without having to attack.” Tiredly opening his eyes with a weak, but meaningful smile, he asked, “You feeling better now? Or still feel like crying and try beating me again?”

I felt my face burn up, and I didn’t have to be told to know that my face was beet red as I slapped his hand away and turned away from him. “Sorry about crying like that last night, alright? I just don’t like to remember how my family died,” I snapped, but there was a small part of me that was finally relieved to get at least something about my family off my chest. The only thing that I truly had to hold onto for suffering was exactly how they had died.

“Are they the reason that you decided to live as a mortal instead of a warlock that you are, Zoe?” Carlo softly asked.

With a nod, I told him, “Yeah. It’s a promise I made for myself when they died. And the day my family was attacked, I swore to myself as they began to fall one by one that I’d take my identity to the grave if I had to. Mostly in order to make sure that if I had any distant relatives, they would be kept out harm’s way if the warlocks were to go after them for the possibility of having the knowledge of my location.”

With a snort, he grunted, “Now they’re going to know.” Carlo yawned tiredly once more as he asked, “Will you be alright on your own today? I need to sleep, and I don’t think me being outside during the day time will be too helpful. You can recruit in the day and practice before going to bed while I recruit by night and work with the vampires. We’ll be working nonstop and around the clock that way, and can join the two groups in the evenings until you and the mortals have to go to sleep. And perhaps a little in the dawn if the mortals are willing to wake up early on in the morning.”

Rolling my eyes, I sarcastically told him, “Oh, sure. Thanks a lot for leaving the harder part of recruitment all up to me. It’s not like the warlocks and the humans aren’t wide awake and watching during the day.”

Carlo sheepishly smiled at me as he said, “I’ll make it up to you someday and somehow for putting you through all the trouble, alright? Just do as I ask for now.”

Shoving him, I grumbled, “I’m really starting to hate your guts right now.” I got up on my feet with a heave of sigh as I told him, “Fine. You just get some sleep while I go out and look for some people and check on the children.” I handed him my hand gun that was still in my back pocket along with a hand knife that was given to him, asking, “Mind if I took your other hand knife?” When Carlo raised a brow at me, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him in return. “I just want to keep it around with me in case the Johnson woman and that Kevin Tong guy tries to jump me. You’ve heard of self-protection, haven’t you?”

“There must be a spell or two that all warlocks must know for basic protection,” he joked, but he partially sounded as though he was being dead serious with his words.

I couldn’t help but remark, “And get myself caught before we can recruit at least most if not all of the participants of this Survival game? I have other agendas on how to unravel my warlock identity to the world so that those that are like me can decide afterwards on whether they want to join in on our side or the opposing when the war truly begins.” When he handed me the knife I had requested from under the pillow, I blinked at him with confusion before exclaiming, “You actually kept it under the pillow?”

“Easy access,” Carlo shrugged as he handed it to me. “You want to take it with you or not? It’s your only chance into me agreeing as easily as this.” With a sigh, I leaned over and took the offer from him with a muttered thank you. Carlo grabbed my wrist with his free hand and, with a serious look on his face, he whispered, “Come back safely.”

As Carlo slid down the bed and curled up, I pulled the cover over him as I faintly smiled down at him. “Just stay safe with Alex while I’m out and recruiting,” I softly told him with a hint of scolding tone.

I grabbed the hunting gun on my way out of the room, and even as far as out of the house without another word, leaving Alex all alone behind with Carlo. And when I stepped out of the house, all the mortals that were wandering began to turn their gaze onto me. I managed to ignore the eyes, but it all began to feel uneasy majority of the time I tried to find at least one graveyard of the Area. The more I headed towards what was apparent to be the edge of the town or city or whatever this portion of Area was, the more it began to become apparent to me that I was being followed by at least a three or so people.

When I finally found a cemetery after approximately half an hour had passed, I took the gun that hung over my shoulders and turned sharply, pointing at those that had followed me all the way through.

Five.

There had been five people that followed me, one who I recognized to be Justine Johnson. Narrowing my eyes, I growled at them, “What do you all want? Why are you following me?”

“I’ve managed to get them onto my side to kill at least you off before you become a big of a threat to me and one of the two others I’ll be running into,” Johnson growled in response as she took a step towards me. Taking an arrow out from the quiver that hung on her back by the shoulder, she took the bow that slung over her right and began to aim the arrow at me. “I’ll make sure that I get the higher chances of survival among the Area 18’s contestants, Mahlendorf,” she growled, and fully nocked the arrow before drawing it back.

Aiming right for her head, I growled, “Release that arrow, Johnson, and I’ll fire this gun.” I took the safety off the gun, adding, “And believe me. When the bullet goes through that ugly head of yours, it won’t be a pretty sight for anyone here. Especially not for you.”

Before the other Area 18’s female contestant had the chance to release the arrow, one of the men moved forward and grabbed her wrist as he twisted her arm up behind her. Sandy brown hair, orange eyes, and at least six foot eight inches tall. If I had to guess, he seemed to be well into his twenties. His body structure itself was on the slightly well-built side, and if I had to say so myself and admit, he was actually a good looking man.

“You’re in no place to attack a Yukimura,” the man growled at Johnson. “Not when you are in the presence of a member of any convent that has remained loyal to the Yukimura Convent generation after generation.” With the other hand, he snapped the arrow that Johnson tried to oh so dearly hold on to in half before he turned to face me. He and the other three all kneeled on one knee with their heads bowed like they were knights bowing to an all-powerful ruler, and it was clear just by looking at Johnson’s face that she was just as confused as I was at the sight of this. The man said, “It’s finally an honor to meet you face to face, Miss Yukimura, even if it’s under this terrible of a circumstance that we are currently under.”

“Who are you all?” I demanded in a cautious manner. “I don’t even go by that name!”

The man that had stopped Johnson looked up at me as he asked, “But your real name is Zoey Yukimura, is it not?” The others stared at me, expecting me to reply, but when I gave no response at all, they all seemed to take it as a ‘yes’ as he said, “My name is Martin Endres of the Endres Convent. I am one of the four chosen to come from Area 22.”

The next one to speak was a young girl, who appeared to me couldn’t have been older than 17, but I haven’t seen last night. She had flaming auburn hair and caramel brown eyes with freckles streaming across her fair skinned face looked up next. With a serious look on her face, she said, “And I am from Area 8. I go by the name of Annie Hyde from the Hyde Convent.”

The man that was kneeling to her right with grass green hair and clear blue eyes looked as though he was in his fifties, and the one thing that stood out to me more than his age range was his deep voice when he spoke. It was as though it wasn’t just his looks that said he was filled with unimaginable amount of knowledge, but his tone of voice as well. “I come from Area 37, and my name is Stephen Bilyeo of the Bilyeo Convent.”

“And I am Deborah Chang,” a young woman to Annie’s left said, “coming from the Chang Convent. From among the remaining twenty-four Areas, I come from Area 47.” She looked as though she was only a few years older than me, and her voice was just simply melodic. Not only was her voice beautiful, but it matched her beautiful fair skin, beautifully shaped brown eyes, and short, yet beautiful, black hair. If I didn’t know any better, she originally came from Asian ancestry as well.

When I finally recalled that Johnson was among them, I turned my attention back to her, but she was frozen like a statue. Whether it was out of fear or due to some sort of spell, I did not know, but if it was a spell, I knew for certain that it was not my doing, meaning it was the doing among one of the other four. But I was in no place to skip to conclusions that they were warlocks and not a mere group of mortals. At the same time, I couldn’t have been too cautious in whether they were truly against me, or for me, but who was I to say that they were truly against me when they seemed willing to protect me from Johnson’s attack?

“What do you all want with me?” I demanded.

The four that had introduced themselves all exchanged looks as they slowly got back up on their feet. “Lady Yukimura,” Stephen slowly said, “surely your father, Lord Jacob Yukimura, must have told you. If not him, your mother, Lady Emily Gilbert, at the very least.”

My parents’ names like a blow to the stomach as I tried to blink away the tears that began to threaten at my eyes. “How do you know my parents?” I hoarsely asked. “Stephen Bilyeo, was it? How do you know their names?”

“Bilyeo Convent is the one of the oldest Convents around among the warlocks,” Deborah explained. “Stephen happens to be one of your parents’ oldest friends, and his Convent has been the longest to have worked under yours.”

Martin informed me, “In the records, the Yukimura and the Gilbert Convents were two of the most feared Convents among our race. At first, the two butted heads until your parents got together to join the two Convents to call truce. Once peace was made, all the Convents that worked under the two as their guardians to sort of speak, it simply grew larger. Bringing your family down was the best way for the warlocks to take over the world, lowering the mortals to below our rankings.”

“It’s one thing both Convents of your family has been against for centuries, Lady Zoey,” Annie informed me. “And when your family fell, there was no one to stand against those that believed humans should be put down as dogs. Of course, the rumor was that all in your family had died. Even you.”

With a serious look in his eyes, Stephen told me, “Of course, I knew that there were four children in total in your family, and when there were only total of five bodies found when taking your parents’ bodies into considerations, and the sixth body nowhere to be found, I hoped all these years that the youngest child of the Yukimura Convent survived. I still do recall both your parents’ faces clearly, and I must say that you’ve turned out to look just like your mother when she was your age, Lady Yukimura.”

I slowly lowered my gun as I tried process all this. “Then you guys are warlocks as well,” I quietly remarked. “How did you guys manage to get into the game? You guys seem to all be of high standing families among the warlocks.”

“Right you are about us being part of high ranked Convents,” Deborah replied, “but so are you. You are supposed to be of the most powerful Convents, so the main question is how did you manage to get in?”

I looked around at the other three warlocks and Johnson, and hesitated about telling them in front of a mere mortal. After giving it a hard and long thought, I ordered, “One of you, put her to sleep and erase memories of this. I don’t want to have to explain myself to her in front of her when she’s fully awake and conscious. Replace the erased memories with something pleasant.”

Stephen immediately got on the given order and proceeded to execute it. Johnson’s body turned limp as she passed out cold, and Martin ordered in exchange, “Now tell us. What did you do to get yourself involved in this game?”

“I’ve lived in a mortal ever since witnessing my family’s murder,” I replied as I had fully lowered my gun at last. “I have three jobs. Waitressing, bartending, and cash register positions. Every day, I rotate those three jobs around. And every year, my name gets put in three times due to the jobs I have. This year, I just happened to be unfortunate to have my name drawn even if the odds were against me more so than others.”

The others seemed bewildered at this. “But why?” Deborah exclaimed. When I stared at her quizzically, she hurriedly said, “I mean, why do you choose to live like that? You have such a good chance of being more than just an everyday average Special! Both of your parents come from the bloodline with extremely rare type of blood for any sorcerer!”

“My bloodlines aren’t all that special,” I scoffed as I looked around at the four warlocks. When they all had the same look that said Deborah’s words were nothing but the truth, I looked over to Stephen pleadingly. I took a few steps back as I nearly begged, “Please tell me it’s all a lie, Stephen! That you guys are just mortals pretending to be warlocks!”

Shaking his head, Stephen told me, “Annie comes from the Convent that was filled with famous Illusionists. Martin comes from the Convent that have been filled with mainly Fire and Water Elementalists, and a few Specials that had also been Earth, Wind, Lightening, and Sound Elementalists. Deborah comes from Sound Elemental specialized Convent with her specialized technique being more focused on melodic type of wavelengths.” Closing his eyes, he told me, “My Convent was bound to yours upon finding out that our types of blood was similar. Both our Convents, Lady Yukimura, have the ability to master all types of sorcery. We are the hardest one to bring down as long as we bring ourselves to the top.”

“And if we don’t?” I hoarsely asked.

Looking at me seriously, Annie replied in Stephen’s place, “If you don’t, then those that see the mortals as nothing but trash will continue to rule this world. For eternity will there be nothing but misery as we warlocks continue to struggle without those like you two to lead us.”

“More so than you two,” Martin added, “you far more than him. The Yukimura and the Gilbert Convents are the biggest symbol of hope for peace and equality. If even you are to die and disappear from this world for good, and there’s no more left in either of the two lines, then not even Stephen will be able to do anything. Bilyeo Convent may have quite the respect, but not enough to give the warlocks that believe in equal rights hope that peace will fall upon this world like it did far over three thousand years ago.”

Deborah’s voice was soft as she told me, “Meaning you’re the last symbol of hope alive in this world, Lady Yukimura. But you have to step out into the light in order for the warlocks that still have belief left in them finally get up to make a stand.”

I closed my eyes, and tried to process all the information that was dumped on me. Out of all things, how could this have been the one thing that I didn’t know about my own family? Was I really that neglectful? Or was I just careless and focused far too much on other bloodlines of warlocks to even think to look into my own?

“You didn’t know you could master them all, did you?” Deborah gasped, finally seeming to understand my silence. “Which areas have you mastered, then?”

With a scrunched up face, I told her, “I’m a Healer. An advanced Priest to be precise.”

“Why on earth did you come looking for a cemetery then?” Martin asked. It was as if he couldn’t quite grasp it. “There’s nothing for a Healer to be here. There’s no way for even a Priest, no matter how advanced, to revive the dead.”

When I opened my eyes to explain myself, Stephen’s eyes grew wide as he explained in my place, “Unless if she wants to accomplish one area that no one has bothered to boldly go and achieve.” I looked over to Stephen to see if he would hit the bull’s eye as the others looked at him in a testing manner. “It’s true that no Healer has managed to revive the dead so far, but the closest group of warlocks that’s succeeded are the Necromancers. They’re the closest group of people to bring the dead back to life. However, just as bones seeing how they were so far unable to recover flesh and blood. Not even the last Necromancer alive has been able to master flesh and blood regeneration portion of Necromancy, but someone coming from as high of a Convent as this young lady before us, who knows? We may have our first ever to find a way and master the techniques.” As he turend his attention to me, he asked, “That’s the reason why you’re here, are you not? To learn Necromancy at the very least?”

I nodded at his question, and I couldn’t help but suddenly be curious about all that was being said. For all I knew, this could have been all broadcasted. “Are the warlocks around the world able to see and hear all this?” I asked before I could stop the words from come rolling off my lips.

Annie shook her head as she assured me, “I’ve already taken care of that. There’s been an illusion casted over us so that the focus is taken off of the real us as the mere illusions that I’ve created are currently wandering around the cemetery. Only to make it seem as though we were looking at all the tombstones, of course, to appear as though we are showing pity to the ones that had passed away before this Area met its utter destruction.”

I sighed deeply an inward sigh of relief. “How hard would it be for you four to recruit at least the warlocks that are participating in this year’s Survival Among the Weakest?” I asked. A small part of me couldn’t help but be uncertain of the entire idea of having to ask others to help me recruit, but I had no choice in the matter. I had to get whatever help I could possibly get, even if it was by asking a few people from each race at a time to lend me a hand.

“Recruit?” Martin repeated as his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Recruit for what?”

With a heavy sigh and a groan, my stomach began to knot on the inside as I focused hard on the source of all my powers into my center. Chanting a few words over and over under my breath, I waited until all the powers had built up to the point I could barely contain it any longer, and turned sharply to Johnson. Sending all the gathered energy blasting towards her limp body, she disappeared in a flash of light.

Cold sweat rolled down the side of my face and down the nape of my neck, and Annie’s voice got past my focus once Johnson disappeared. “Impressive. Not really easy to use any type of Transportation sorcery for someone who never once used spells from that area.” Her voice had turned serious all too abruptly as he said, “Now, tell us. Recruit us for what?”

I glanced around before suggesting, “Why don’t we all sit down? This may take awhile to explain in one shot.”

Once they sat themselves down on the ground, I joined them and gave it a moment of thought before beginning to explain what Carlo and I had been planning. As well as the way I was planning to expose myself to the world in order to start recruiting warlocks outside of the Survival Among the Weakest game. Compared to the children, I had to admit that explaining to these four seemed easier. Not because they were warlocks like myself, and not because they were adults. It was because they all seemed to understand where I was coming from.

“You can’t,” Annie said once I was done talking for about an hour or so.

Looking at her curiously, I asked, “I can’t what?”

“You can’t succeed in this,” Martin slowly told me. “I mean, it’s nearly impossible of a plan. A world of peace like over three thousand years ago? You can’t possibly succeed.”

Closing my eyes, I slowly inhaled deeply as I muttered, “There are so many people out there who will tell you that you can’t. What you’ve got to do is turn around and say, ‘Watch me.’”

“Did you say something?” Deborah asked.

Opening my eyes once more with determination, I said, “There’s something I remember hearing around here and there, and I never fully understood what it meant. Until now.” I repeated, “There are so many people out there that will tell you that you can’t. What you’ve got to do is turn around and say, ‘Watch me.’” Looking at Annie and Martin, I told them, “So I have only two words for you two. Watch me. I can do this, and I will. It’s matter of whether the four of you are willing to take the risk as well and jump in on the boat.” Now addressing even Deborah and Stephen, I continued, “If you guys decide to aid me and my partner, then we’re gonna need all the help we can get. For now, with recruitment, as well as support, more than anything. So, one question remains. Are you guys in, or no?”

4: Chapter 04

Nearly two months have passed since the recruitment of warlocks, vampires, and mortals in the games, and when both the mortals and other warlocks learned of the existence of vampires, they managed to adapt to it to the best of their abilities. When the mortals and vampires learned that there were warlocks among them taking parts in the game, it seemed to take a huge toll on them. At least for the adults not as much as the children since the word of my secret slowly went around in their circle ever since the night I told them of my secret.

During the time Carlo and I worked with all those of Survival Among the Weakest, there was one thing that it didn’t hit me until the two months mark was right around the corner – Not once had Kevin Tong nor Justine Johnson showed their faces to try and kill me and Carlo. They haven’t even been seen anywhere near us.

“Carlo?” I called as I waked through the house as I glanced out the window to see Alex playing with other kids around his age. “Do you know what ever happened to Tong and Johnson by any chance?”

When I reached the kitchen, I found Jason Mendez, a 28 year old vampire from Area 24 with milk chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes, seated at the table with Carlo leaning against the counter, lost deep in his thoughts.

A little surprised to see Jason, I told him, “Oh, sorry. Didn’t hear you come in, Jason. Did I intrude on something?”

“No, it’s fine,” Jason yawned as he got up on his feet. “I needed to get back to the house I vouched for to get some sleep, anyway.” Leaning over to Carlo and giving his shoulder a light pat, Jason said, “You should get some sleep, too. Stop worrying about her so much. Besides, it’s time you broke everything off with her.” Jason smiled tiredly down at me as he waked past, saying, “Take care of yourself, Mahlendorf.”

I felt Carlo’s eyes boring into me as I looked towards the front door until Jason had gone out and slammed the door shut behind him. Looking at Carlo once more, I asked, “Well?”

“Well what?” Carlo sleepily asked.

Rolling my eyes, I asked once more, “Do you know what happened to Tong and Johnson? Or at least heard anything on those two. I’ve asked other warlocks countless of times and they all refuse to answer. At every training session with Stephen over in the cemetery, the moment those two are brought up, the only thing he ever tells me is that we have nothing to worry over any more. That those two are taken care of already.”

“Well, you could say Stephen’s right,” Carlo remarked. “Those two are not among us any longer. They were a big threat to those that are willing to go into war. And let’s just say that the ones most displeased were the vampires. Jason was telling me that he had few of the vampires take care of them for good. The killing of the two weren’t concealed a bit with illusions of any sort, so those two killings were done in a clean manner. That and we vampires got good source of blood to last us for quite awhile thanks to the two deciding to continuously go for our necks.”

Twenty-four Areas, and four contestant from each. It all started with gathering in total of ninety-six people, and we were now down to ninety-four. But there must have been a small part of me that didn’t want to believe, because I asked in a hushed tone, “So you had those two pretty much killed?”

“Not on my order,” Carlo replied. “It was more of under Jason’s and Stephen’s orders.” I could see wheels turning in his head as he tried to figure out how to exactly word the following thoughts into phrases. “You know, during my time of observation of all that we’re working with, that Stephen fellow seems to have a keen eye for you. Well, at least more so him than other warlocks that have been stopping by to work with you or to discuss on some situations with you. If you don’t mind me asking, do you know the reason to why that may be?”

“He knew my parents well,” I quietly replied. “That’s all. And old family friend. Or so he and few others claim. His and my Convents have similar powers, if you will. Both our convents are able to master all the possible powers out there that any class is able to learn. My family just happened to be more powerful than his. By how much? Who knows, but as the next and the final one in line of the Yukimura Convent, he’s determined to make me a greater warlock than he by helping me train in Necromancy, one of the few classes he’s fully mastered.”

Carlo listened to all the words that came out of my lips carefully before he gave himself a small pushed away from the counter, and strode across the room. Coming to a halt by my side as he placed a hand on my shoulder as he leaned in, his teeth just barely grazing across my neck and sending a chill down my entire body. His warm breath brushed across as he whispered, “Promise me this, then. Be careful when out with others and training. Especially in the dead of night. Otherwise, no one that’s gathered here to make the world think we’re competing for our lives will be pleased have an extremely unhappy creature of the night. And make sure to keep your neck covered as well if possible. Even I’m getting tempted to bite in and take a sip of your blood. Such an inviting scent, and harder by the moment to resist.” Carlo straightened himself up before he allowed himself to do anything, and continued to walk on as he added in a mutter loud enough for me to hear, “For us vampires, at least.”

“You going to get some sleep now?” I asked.

My body remained unresponsive, frozen in place, as even my head refused to turn to look at Carlo. And it was either me or the room itself, but I felt my entire body growing warm all over, and it was my face that was burning up the most. I didn’t have to take a look at myself to know that my face was probably bright red, and if I was asked why, I knew deep inside that I wouldn’t have been able to answer.

“Well, of course,” came his voice from down the hall. “It’s night time for us vampires.” His following words sounded sincere through the exhaustion. “When you’re out today, training, stay safe, alright? Make sure Stephen gets you back here safely, too. And if you run into trouble you can’t handle on your own, scream for help. I’ll come running.”

I couldn’t help but smile at his words as I heard the faint sound of the door closing, and only then was I able to move my limbs once more. With a warm feeling blossoming somewhere deep in my stomach and spreading like wild fire down to my stomach, I headed outside. “Hey, kid, want to come with me and watch me practice Necromancy today?” I called over to Alex once outside. “I’m getting the hang of bringing even the skeletons out of the grounds, and controlling both the ones with and without flesh fully!”

“Really? You’ll really let me come along with you and watch today?” Alex excitedly asked. His eyes were sparkling with uncontainable joy, even a hint of curiosity, filled his eyes, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the expression that was pasted even across his face.

With a nod, I told him, “If I succeed bringing what looks like flesh and blood today to the skeletons, you get to be the first to witness it. That is, only if you want to come along with me.”

The young teenage boy hurriedly got up on his feet and left his friends behind as he came rushing up to me. When I held out my hand to him with a warm smile, Alex eagerly took it, and I knew right there and then, and only then, that he had fully had come to accept that it wasn’t just cruel hearted warlocks that existed in this world. There were those of us that were kind and oh so willing to reach out as well. The ones that wanted nothing more than peace just like his race oh so dearly desired. And just to see him warming up to me more and more as the days went by, I couldn’t help but feel happier knowing I was able to earn trust of the mortals with my secret of being a warlock being in the wide open. Just to see what I thought would bring me to nothing but utter destruction in life simply brought me an encouraging build up in life as what I thought was a harmful thing gave people hope was a life changer for me. All this gave me another reason to go heads on with those that believed warlocks should be at the top of the food chain, and all the others belonging beneath them.

As Alex and I walked down the road together, Stephen came up to us from behind as he calmly asked, “What’s the child think he’s doing, Lady Yukimura?”

“He’s going to come with us today and watch me practice, Stephen,” I replied in as much of a calm tone I can muster up. “Why? Do you see a problem in that?”

“Well, it’s not so much of a fact that I see a problem in it,” the older gentleman told me. In his voice was nothing but full of hesitation, almost as though he was either fearful to tell me what was truly going through his mind, or because he wasn’t certain how to phrase what was going through his mind. “He’s a small child. Don’t you think this is a bit of an extreme measure? Allowing someone like him to watch even just the practice of Necromancy?”

“Aw, man!” Alex cried in a nearly a whine. Looking up at me, he begged, “You’re not going to make me go back, are you, Zoey? I want to watch Necromancy being performed! I’ve never seen it done live! Only read about it during history in classes when we’re forced to learn about all sorts of magicians!”

Looking down at him, I softly told him, “You’re not going anywhere, Alex. I told you that I’ll let you see it firsthand, and that’s exactly what I’m going to let you do.” Looking up at Stephen with a serious look, I told him, “One, stop calling me ‘ma’am’ or ‘Lady Yukimura.’ In fact, don’t even call me ‘Lady Zoey.’ You said you’re my parents old friends, so just call me by my name if that’s true. It’ll put me more at ease instead of having to feel so uncomfortable all the time. And, two, if I say that this kid’s coming with us, then this kid’s coming with us. If I make a promise to someone, I want to make sure that I keep it. Understood, Stephen?”

It was clearly written all over his face that he wanted to argue, but there seemed to be something inside of him that was holding him back from doing so. Letting out a heave of sigh as he finally caved in, Stephen muttered in response, “Of course, ma’am. As you wish.” A sudden curious look came over his face as he asked, “And if I may be honest, do you honestly expect a 57 year old man to abandon his ways of calling those he honor and respect the title a person that truly deserves it?”

Rolling my eyes at him, I didn’t answer the question as I looked down at Alex, brightly asking the child, “Shall we get going, then?” Alex and I had begun walking towards the cemetery once more, and I hoped that Stephen would take that as, ‘Yes, I do expect you to abandon your ways of calling at least me that ridiculous title.’ If he hadn’t picked up at least the smallest hint of it, it only meant I had to be straight forward with him.

Stephen followed not too far behind, and not even a peep had come out of him. If putting Alex talking on and on about what his new friends had said and what they had done together off to the side, the walk was a dread as every passing second only seemed to stretch out to a never ending eternity. “Zoey!” Alex’s whine penetrated my ears and broke off my train of thought. As I turned my gaze towards him, he was nearly pouting, and I had to do whatever possible to stifle the laughter that tried to come rolling off my lips at the sight of this small child. “I asked you if you really think this’ll all go well! If we’ll all really get our freedom back from those like you! I mean, it’s not that I think we’re going to fail, but there are some kids saying that this is all bogus!”

As I ruffled his hair, I told him, “If we succeed and end up coming out as victors, then yeah, we all get to have our freedom back. Even if we fail, doesn’t mean the fight will have to end with those of us that fought and fell, does it? There’s always hope for succession in the future, Alex, so don’t listen to anything that seems so negative. You have to hold your head high and look to a brighter future, no matter how far away that may seem.”

“Do you always try to have this positive attitude, Lady Yukimura?” Stephen asked.

As I controlled myself just so I wouldn’t throw a glare at him as I calmly said, “I’ve told you countless of times to just call me Zoey, Stephen. And why? Should I be a pessimist rather than an optimist?”

“Of course not,” he answered my question with a heavy sigh at my order. “I was just wondering with that being one of the things running through my mind for quite some time now. That’s all.”

Glancing at him sideways as the cemetery finally came into full view, “I admit it’s not really easy of a task, but it defiantly is one thing I try to work on. Not really bad if you try to see everything in its brightest of lights. What’s the point to always think so negatively?”

It was the very moment that we stepped through the large rusty metal gates of the graveyard that I began to feel uneasy. The dead. The dead were everywhere, left and right, and it didn’t matter if it was for just one person and one person only, as couples, or even extending all the way out to having been buried as families.

Families.

My family.

They were like these people buried in the ground. And I didn’t even know if any of my extended family members were still alive. That is, if I had any. I never got a chance to hear if so. And if there were any, then I knew that it was nearly impossible to track them down seeing I didn’t know any of their names.

A large hand firmly grasped my shoulder, pulling me back into the focus, just as the deep vibrant voice of Stephen asked, “Are you ready for today’s training? Your skills on forming all the blood and flesh back onto the skeletons are shaky, but I’m betting on you that you’ll succeed today, Lady Zoey.”

I was close to giving up on asking him to stop calling me ‘Lady’ as glanced around to see which distance had the minimum distance that I could put between us and Alex before finding a tombstone that could have been used as a table as well. Pointing towards a few tombstones that was at least twenty yards away, I instructed to the child, “Alex, go wait by their or anywhere about the same distance between that tombstone and here where Stephen and I will be. At least twenty yards or so away. I don’t want you getting injured in any way from the dead during the practice.”

Alex didn’t hesitate to follow my instructions as he ran towards where pointed, and the training had immediately been put into session. My necromancy had grown a great deal in course of two months, and I had been able to control as many as I had wanted within twenty yard radius so far. If I had tried harder, it wouldn’t have been much of a surprise if I didn’t run into much of a trouble bringing back more bodies back to life and use them at my will.

I still remember most people calling technique of this sorcery the Dark Art, but whether it was truly dark or not, I didn’t care. There was something about it that soothed me to the core of my soul. It was almost as if there was something about it that had extremely calming effects on me when this would all normally have had chilling and dreadful effects on most. For the two months I’ve been learning the so-called Dark Magic, I’ve grown to love it just as much as I loved being a Healer. And it hit me the moment I saw a body of a dead girl that may have hit her teens not too long before her death why it all may have had such a calming effect on me – I deserved to be buried in the grounds with them. I deserved to have been killed off fifteen years ago instead of being the sole survivor of the Yukimura Convent.

Yet, here I was. Practicing Necromancy. Spreading hope to the warlocks a chance of winning after believing all these years that Yukimura Convent was forever gone. And giving hope to the mortals in coming to understanding that they weren’t truly alone in this world. That there were warlocks that believed in equality just as much as they did. And among the members of whichever convents that have gathered in the warlock community, I was relieved that those that served closely under my family was what I was relieved with the most.

More so than the ones that worked closely, Stephen seeing he was from the one convent that was closest to my family. Not just in terms of friendship and relation to one another as though nearly like family, but also close in trace of blood of what can be mastered in all three Yukimura, Gilbert, and Bilyeo Convents. He was the one person that could train me in Necromancy, giving those that wanted freedom and equal rights even higher hopes since it was one class no warlock had easy time bringing down once mastered to even a certain point.

“Alright, Lady Zoey,” Stephen said as he strode over to stand behind me. Sliding back of his hands down my arms and had me place my palms above his, he began moving his arms and guided my hand along in a near elegant movement. Move with the course of the wind. That was one of the things that he always wanted to try and get through my head. “Remember to keep the steady beat, Lady Zoey, and you’ll have no trouble controlling them when you want to keep them in a steady motion. It’s only when you want to get them to act fast that you must think and act accordingly.”

With a smirk as I gave him a small shove back and made a swift movement of appearing to smooth out a large pile of soil before lifting it all up from below, asking, “Like this?”

When I pulled my right arm sharply and made a pushing movement with my left hand, Stephen yelped with surprise as four of the dead, two fully out of the ground and two only halfway out, grabbed him by both his arms and ankles. But more so than grabbing him, the four dead under my spell had pulled him sharply and pinned him down to the ground once he had harshly fallen before they raised one fist each to get ready to attack.

Turning around to face Stephen, I placed my hands on my hip as I scolded, “Stephen, we have gone this over countless of times. Teach me something I don’t know, won’t ya? Like, oh, I don’t know, forming what looks like flesh and blood on the skeletons?”

It was hard to believe I was learning all this only two months ago, but here I was, able to control the bodies without having to move my arms. It was as though they were all connected to me on a mental level that I had no use of even having to verbally carry out a command. It was clear that Stephen was pleasantly surprised when he saw to it that the two that were still in the ground released him to come out while the other two helped him back up onto his feet before backing away from him.

“How good are you with Earth Elemental?” Stephen asked as he looked at the four dead and more that were rising from their graves. It was hard to tell if he was impressed with at the long way that my Necromancy had come, or if he was just whatever about it as he usually was with nearly any of the Convents we had run into.

With a small shrug, I informed him, “I know how to do the basic stuffs, such as causing a minor earthquake, and a couple of flowers popping out of the ground. But the harder things that I’ve seen my sister do, those may take some time for me to get down to even look good.”

Stephen looked as though he was in deep thought. “How about forcing clumps of dirt to come up high in the air to just above your head?” he asked. “Or is that a bit too hard to ask for?”

Making the same movements as I had to nearly give life back into the dead, I brought my right foot down harshly to the ground as I brought my hands up. With my hands came a huge chunk of the ground, and as I turned my hands by the wrist in circular motion, I brought my hands close to my chest before pushing forward, palms facing away from me. The clump of dirt scattered as small as dust specks and grains of sand as it blew all around Stephen like a gust of sandstorm.

As the man tried to calm the storm down, I huffed, “If you’re thinking that two simple elemental spells put together is going to be a challenge for me instead of just one, you should think again, Stephen. That’s one of the easiest things that can be done by nearly any warlock that’s watched their family members perform majority of the elements and study them in a rather thorough manner as a little kid. Now tell me how to make the skeletons look like they have flesh and blood if you’re not going to teach me how to do so!”

“If you think that combining two elements is so simple,” Stephen remarked as he forced the elements to die down around him, “then forming water using only the air surrounding you shouldn’t be hard, either, to combine it with the soil upon making contact with skeletons.” When I gave him a questioning look, he explained, “Just the right amount of moisture into the soil, then you’ll get the nice skin feeling. Put in just the right amount of fluid between the bones and the soil, and you’ll get what feels like a real body with skin and blood.”

Heavily sighing, I set all the bodies back to their individual graves, I raised a skeleton from the grounds that lay about twenty-five yards away. Once the skeletal body came over and just barely five yards away, I began to focus wind and ground elementals to create a near sandstorm, but not as big as I had used to Stephen, just as I formed water particles all around it. Swirling it all around the skeleton, water on both sides of the small particles of the soil, I began to form structure of what looked like actual body of flesh around it.

By the time I was done, there were flaws.

Great amount of flaws.

From shoulder down, for my first attempt, it looked nearly flawless, but the neck up? The face looked slightly deformed, and was far more than clear that even though it looked fairly good for first attempt, more work was needed.

“Not bad for a beginner,” Stephen remarked, “but improvements surely need to be made. How about we work on it for a while?”

A lighthearted voice of a man said from behind me, “Sorry, but her Necromancy practice will have to be put on hold.”

When I turned around, I found someone who appeared to be the older version of Brandon McNamara standing behind me. Same eyes, nearly the same hair, but slightly shorter, and nearly the same facial structure. Connecting something inside my head, I asked, “I don’t mean to seem as though I’m being rude, but are you Timothy McNamara by any chance? From the McNamara Clan, one of the highly respected vampire clans to still exist for being one of the few remaining pureblood clans left?”

“So you’ve heard of me,” the vampire chuckled as he ran his slightly pale skinned fingers through his hair. His smile was warm compared to most of the vampires I’ve encountered in the game, but at the same time, who could say that I could trust him fully just yet? “That man from the Suarez Clan has asked me to come and collect you. The warlocks have gathered, and the ones that they saw die through the illusions have currently gone into hiding, so in terms of that aspect, you should be safe. But if turning it all into a bad lighting, the warlocks have requested that they see at least one or two people that have the most authorities within this Survival Among the Weakest competition.”

“Did they give any reasons to why?” Stephen questioned as he got in between the two of us rather protectively.

The vampire looked at Stephen with disgust as he replied, “No, they wouldn’t say. And if I were you, warlock, I’d act as kind as that young lady. Especially since I don’t want to have to disgrace my Clan by attacking you. And I’d hate to even disgrace the remaining purebloods of this world by taking an action I don’t want to have to take seeing having to attack seems far too out of line.” Reaching his hand out to me rather abruptly, Timothy cooed, “Do me the honors by coming with me, Zoey. It’d be a great pleasure to be able to walk with and speak to a member of the infamous Yukimura Convent.”

“You have no rights to be alone with someone of a great standing as her, blood sucker,” Stephen growled warningly. “Not around I, the last member of Bilyeo Convent. The remaining guard of the Yukimura Convent, and personal guard and trainer of Lady Zoey Yukimura.”

Just as Timothy bared his teeth at Stephen, I snapped, “Enough, Stephen! I’m full aware that you’re my elder, but as the only child of Jacob Yukimura and Emily Gilbert to have survived, I order you to stand down! Especially against a member of one of the highest standing vampire clans! You are not to try and pick fights with any vampires in any way whatsoever! Understood?” Stephen seemed far taken aback by my abrupt words, and I shrugged off his look of surprise as I walked past him and took Timothy’s stretched out hand. “Shall we get going, then, sir?” I calmly asked Timothy, who was smirking victoriously towards Stephen.

Timothy led the way as he took my hand in the other hand, lightly bringing my hand over to his forearm, and he smiled over his shoulder as he called over to Stephen, “Stay put, warlock. It’ll be awhile before I bring this nice young lady back, and it’d be a great shame if you showed up when you’re supposed to be dead.”

I looked over to Alex as I called to him, “Stay close to Stephen, alright, Alex? I’ll come back for you as soon as possible!” Alex jumped off the tombstone he was sitting on and ran over to where Stephen stood by and watched us go. Once we were near the entrance, I softly asked, “Do you greatly dislike all the warlocks, Mr. McNamara, sir?”

“Not all,” Timothy answered truthfully. “I’ve done my fair share of studies on different warlock clans, or convents I should really say, and there actually are a few amount that, if I must be truthful with you, I do greatly admire. Such as your convent.” I was quite surprised at his words and, without even looking at me, he let out a small chuckle. “You shouldn’t be surprised. I simply speak the truth, Miss Yukimura, and I honestly mean it when I say that you come from a very admirable family.”

I didn’t know what to say other than mutter the words, “Thank you.”

“Seems like you weren’t really expecting to hear that of your family, Miss Yukimura,” he commented. “I thought you’d at least know about your family backgrounds to know that it’s not just a compliment, but rather out of full sincerity.”

I shook my head as I told him, “The one thing that the books will be missing is that at age of five, I became a sole survivor. No one in my family had time to explain anything about how high standing our convent was before they all died. If they ever did, then I don’t think I never comprehended what they were saying at the time and forgot what was said.”

“Terribly sorry,” Timothy remarked in a sincere manner. “That was the one information I didn’t mean to let escape from my mind.” There was a group in rich silks of various colors up ahead when we neared the main area where most buildings were occupied by what the viewers believed to be competitors. A few warlocks, vampires, and mortals that were allied with us were gathered around not too far from our visitors, and once Timothy and I reached the large group, the well admired vampire calmly said, “I’ve brought one of two main considered heads among majority of us that still remains standing. Where did you send our other main head?”

“Carlo?” I defensively said. Glaring at the warlocks in rich silk cloaks, I growled, “What have you done to my partner? Have you done something harsh to him?”

Carlo’s voice came weakly from the mist of the crowd, “I’m still breathing if that’s where you’re trying to get at.” Timothy and I turned sharply towards his voice as Carlo came forward with a bit of help from one of the vampires and one of the warlocks. I rushed forward and threw my arms around his neck with a bit of relief, but I must have hit him a bit roughly because he let out a rough grunt in pain. “They didn’t kill me, Zoe,” he whispered hoarsely in my ear as he took the arm that was around the vampire’s neck to hug me comfortingly. “They only beat me to try and get information on if there was anything we were hiding. That’s all.”

“What do you mean?” I croaked. “Which information?”

Carlo’s eyes darted to the warlocks for a split second before he replied rather cautiously in a bare whisper, “Vampire and warlock.” All he had to say were those three words, and I knew he was trying to protect even my secret. He didn’t want to let anyone know until I was ready to reveal it myself, and he was willing to give me a chance to tell the world personally.

I finally turned to face the wretched sorcerers as I supported Carlo as I waved the other warlock away. Bitterly, I questioned, “What do you all want from us now that you have the two main leaders here?”

“We want to know exactly why you all have teamed up the way you have and been going after even those that aren’t of your own Area,” one of the Transportation warlocks, the ones in royal purple cloaks made of rich satin, told me. She lowered her hood and she looked a lot like someone I knew. No, not a lot like. Nearly exactly alike. She looked just like my sister Violet with flaming red hair and oceanic, clear blue eyes. She had fair skin, and a gentle look in her eyes, but her facial features said anything but. If it weren’t for her eyes, one would have assumed that she was all business and strict rules. “Tell us what’s going on,” the woman demanded.

I didn’t allow her to cause me to become afraid of her as I growled, “Why should I? None of us here have to tell any of you what’s going on around here that we’re watching out for one another, even if it’s in rather a strange manner.”

The woman didn’t turn to look at any of the other warlocks as she ordered, “We’re going with the sixth plan. Put it into immediate affect!” A few charged forward right for me as a few cast a few quick spells. A bright spark rang throughout the sky, and the birds that were flying by from above had come to a still and the warlocks had come charging at me with their fists raised came to a halt moments before their knuckles came into a contact with my face. When the two warlocks that had come charging at me lowered their fists and stepped off to the side, the woman came up to me as she asked with her voice filled with pain, “You’re Zoey, aren’t you? Please tell me I didn’t come all the way out here for no reason, young lady.”

“I’m not Zoey Yukimura,” I barely managed to lie through my teeth. “You must have me confused with someone else, ma’am.”

The woman shut her eyes tight as she screeched, “I’ll kill them if they managed to get out alive as well fifteen years ago for not following through with my instructions! I told them to keep her alive no matter what, even if it meant making sure she was the sole survivor of the Yukimura Convent!” One of the warlocks began to reach their hand out to her, but even before being able to touch her, she screamed at them furiously, “Don’t you dare touch me! You know how long I have been in search for my baby sister! You know out of all people, she was the one warlock that I believed would solely be able to master the one thing that no one was able to accomplish if she chose to stick with the path of a Healer! Until the day we find Zoey Yukimura, no one is allowed to touch me! Not even comfort me! You hear?”

Baby sister.

Sole survivor of the Yukimura Convemt.

Search for.

Zoey Yukimura.

Fifteen years ago.

Instructions.

It all were the only things to be stuck with me, and I didn’t know if there had been a class that I had missed for the warlocks, or if she simply done her research with my family to try and mess with my head if possible. And if she truly was the one sister that I had thought she was, I couldn’t have been more happier to see her once again after all these years. At the same time, I couldn’t take the risks of getting murdered for what Trace Dilnot has failed all those years ago when he had brought a few warlocks with him, if there were more than just him that had come along on the day my family got slaughtered as I recalled there were, with him.

“Who exactly are you?” I cautiously questioned.

The woman glared at me as she snapped, “Why should I tell you, a mere mortal, what my name is? My family got slaughtered trying to protect your kind.”

“So has my family,” I sneered in return.

Carlo warningly said, “JoBeth, back down.”

“Don’t use that name on me, Carlo Suarez!” I yelled at Carlo before mockingly sneering at the woman, “You think your family’s the only family that’s fallen to their knees and lost their lives to the warlocks because they’ve tried to protect the mortals? I’ve got news for you, and any warlock that’s watching world wide right now! There’s a Yukimura in the game! There’s a sole surviving member of Yukimura Convent fighting for her life in the Survival Among the Weakest game! The world didn’t know that there was a sole survival, but now they will all know! Her name is Zoey Yukimura, and when she finally steps out into the light, she won’t be in just simple advanced Priest class! She shall be a Special! A Special that’s in both classes of the Healer and the Necromancer with a bit of elemental mixed in the necromancy! Deliver a message! Tell those that are above you the following warning! ‘Want to play games? Then let’s play games! Ready? Get set! GO! Games will soon become Wars!’ When all hell breaks loose from the war that will come from this, it will be more than just one warlock against you all!”

“So she’s alive still?” the woman asked. Without waiting for a response, she had begun to laugh rather happily as she said, “Lowey Zoey survived! She actually managed to survive and in the game! Hogosha and Maria managed to follow through with their given instruction by keeping her alive, then, as the only other remaining survivor of our Convent!” She strode over and took one of my hands between her own, her eyes sparkling brightly with happiness, “I’ll be sure to deliver the message while making it appear as though I see you mortals nothing lower than dirt! In exchange, please deliver a message to Zoey Yukimura if you see her! Please! Tell her that her eldest sister, Violet Yukimura, has survived thanks to a Special that’s specialized in Elemental and Teleportation! Tell her that I will be doing whatever needed to gather as many warlocks as needed to bring down the warlocks that rule over the mortals! And tell her that she’s always been loved oh so dearly, and that I hope to see her again soon!”

Without another word, the woman and the warlocks were gone. I stood there, eyes wide, and it took awhile for me to even mutter, “Violet? It’s really you, Violet?” The woman had gone already, and I soon ran to the spot she was once standing at, tears rolled down my cheeks, and left Carlo to be supported by others rather quickly. Before I knew it, I heard my voice screeching through the air, “Violet! Come back! Come back to me right this instant, Violet Yukimura!”

My body began to tremble as I covered my eyes with one hand to try and stop the tears from falling to my best of abilities. If she was truly Violet, how could I have not recognized her? How could I have not known my own sister just by her looks, just by her voice, when she was before my eyes? She was the one that had given orders to our siblings to protect me to the end if possible, and now that I had the chance to see her once more, to catch up with her and bring her into my plans, how could I have let her go?

“Zoey?” Carlo’s voice softly asked as he stumbled over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you alright?”

His voice was full of worry, but I couldn’t stop myself from shrugging his hand off of me. Turning on my heels, I shakily growled through gritted teeth for anyone that was near, “Any of you that are warlocks gathered here! Collect the others, and head to the cemetery that Stephen is training me at right away! I want some information, any information I can get, from all of you as soon as possible!”

I glanced up at the sky for a brief moment, and it was then and only then that I came to a realization that the birds and the sky was in motion once more. Time Space Continuum warlocks. The two warlocks that cast spells had frozen up the time itself, to the continuum in time and space had been disrupted for the time that we spoke. So did that mean she was truly the Violet I knew all those years ago? Was she really alive all these years, and in hiding as she continued to live as a warlock? Had she really started to gather warlocks all these years to start up a war as well from the inside?

There were so many questions I wanted to ask her, but no way to ask. For now, all I could do was gather any information I can get on this woman from the other warlocks. Being as lost in my own thoughts as I was the entire way to the cemetery, I hadn’t even notice that Carlo had followed me all the way until Alex’s voice asked, “Hey, mister! Zoey! What’s going on? Is there something wrong?”

I roughly grabbed Alex’s wrist and gave him a small shove towards Carlo as I turned to face him, growling, “Take him back, and just leave me alone with the warlocks. I have things to discuss with the other warlocks, and I don’t want Alex to hear any of it until I tell even you later when I get back.”

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” Carlo questioned me as calmly as possible as the warlocks began to show.

I couldn’t help but laugh with disbelief. “What’s gotten into me all of a sudden? Did you really just ask what’s gotten into me all of a sudden? That woman had those warlocks beat you up! She then claims that she’s Violet! Violet Yukimura of the Yukimura Convent! My Violet Yukimura! The Violet Yukimura that died fifteen years ago! That woman was searching for me, Carlo! Probably to finish me off under the orders of the warlocks ranked above the ones assigned to various Areas as mayors! If they found out that there was a Yukimura that survived all those years ago, then they would most likely than not go at any costs to finish me off to make sure most of the hope for a chance at equality that even the warlocks hold are gone! And you ask what’s gotten into me all of a sudden? When I meet a woman who claims to be my sister? I have a lot of things going through my mind, and the slaughtering of my family is one of them!”

Carlo’s eyes darted around my face, almost as though he was searching for answers of his own, but after a few moments had passed, he let out a deep sigh inwardly. Drawing Alex close to himself, he told me, “Come back on your own time when you’re done with your business among the warlocks, then. That and filling me in on what you find out is all I ask for out of you.”

As much as I didn’t want to, I at least gave it a thought before nodding at his request as I barely audibly told him, “Fine. I’ll fill you in later if I feel like talking.”

Carlo gave me a small smile as he turned around and began walking with Alex. I knew he was trying to be supportive, and it was more than I could ever ask for. More than I deserved.

“Carlo?” I quickly called before he was too far, or too late, rather, for me to say anything. When he turned to look at me, I ran up and threw my arms around his neck, whispering, “Thank you. And sorry that I have to push you away like this on something like this.”

Returning my hug, he told me, “Don’t worry about it. As long as you don’t do anything foolish, it’s fine. Just know I’m willing to listen if you ever need someone to talk to, Zoey.” With a soft smile, Carlo released his arms around my waist as he led Alex away, saying, “Let’s leave the warlocks in peace, Alex.”

I waited until all the warlocks arrived and for both Carlo and Alex to be out of earshot to ask, “Did anyone recognize that woman that seemed to be in charge among the warlocks that were gathered?”

Silence.

Not a single sound was heard, and not even a single movement made. It was almost as if they were afraid to even answer. One thing that they didn’t seem to take into consideration was that the longer this silence dragged on, the more antsy I got, and the harder it got for me to sit still, I got angered more and more by the passing moment.

“Did anyone recognize that woman or not?” I roared, and everyone had flinched. “There must be at least one person that recognized her, so answer the question!”

That’s when I saw her shift. Belinda Park. Another 25 year old warlock from Area 47 and best friends with Deborah Chang, not to forget to mention looking as though of the same heritage background as Deborah. Belinda just had a little more mature look to her. Nervously shifting from one leg to another a few times, Belinda told me, “That was Caroline Rivers. She’s one of the highest standing warlocks, master of all the Water Elementalists, and a Special through the Transportation warlock class.”

Turning to look at her, I walked over as I tried to regain my posture, trying to be as calm as possible, but it was clear to all those around me that I was fuming. Not at Belinda, but at the fact that I knew nothing of this. In other words, I was furious with myself more than anything, and I couldn’t afford to take it out at these warlocks. “What can you tell me about her, Belinda?” I asked as steadily as possible.

Belinda exchanged glances with Deborah for a brief moment before answering, “No one knows where she originally came from, but it is said that she appeared out of nowhere where all the bodies of dead warlocks are kept in the highest of the highest warlock governmental building, completely soaked and her left arm slightly burnt. But that’s just about what anyone will be able to tell you. No one knows if her name is even Caroline Rivers as she claims. She may have been given a different name at birth. One thing we do know is that fifteen years ago is when she had mysteriously appeared and began her work as a high standing warlock.”

As I paced around the area, I questioned loud enough for all to hear, “Is there anything else about this woman that I should know about? Family members? Age? Any specific type of sorcery her convent specializes in? Anything?”

A young girl with light purple hair and bright blue eyes came up to me as she held what appeared to be a sheet of paper as she told me, “That lady dropped this earlier before she and the other warlocks disappeared.”

I took the small paper from the child and looked down to see what was on the paper.

A picture. Not of one person, but of four. In the picture were three girls and one boy. The young boy was standing in the middle with two older girls on either side of him. The oldest girl, the one on the left side of the picture, was hugging the boy by around his shoulders as the second oldest girl was clinging onto the boy’s left arm on the right side of the picture. The youngest girl, smallest of them all, was all the way in the front. The boy was holding her up in his arms as the small child had her arms wrapped around the older child’s neck as she looked towards whoever it was that was taking the picture. The four children all looked so happy in the picture.

I stared at the four familiar faces in the picture, and it took me five full minutes of having to study the picture to realize who those people were. The small child in the boy’s arms was me. The two girls on either side of him were my sisters, Violet and Maria. And the boy was Hogosha. It was one of the last pictures that we all took together, and, for our own amusement, in black and white colors.

My visions blurred as I felt something wet streaming down my cheeks as I turned the old picture over. On the back read:

Property of ~

Violet Oliver Yukimura

~June 20, 3004 DDA~

Baby “Lowey” Zoey’s

3^rd birthday

“Violet,” I choked. I looked up at the girl who gave me the picture as I hoarsely asked her, “You said that the woman who was in charge dropped this?” When the girl nodded in response, I quietly ordered everyone, “All of you, get out of my face for now. Leave me in peace.” When no one followed my instructions, I roared furiously, “Leave me alone! All of you!” As the warlocks evacuated the area rather hurriedly, I fell onto my knees and tried to keep my tears from falling as I held myself tight in hopes that my body would stop trembling.

A large hand slid onto my back as Stephen’s deep voice worriedly said in a near hush, “Lady Zoey? Is this what you truly want? For all to leave you when you called them in?”

“Get away from me, Stephen,” I warned barely above a whisper. “Don’t think to comfort me. Don’t even think to give me word of advice. Please, just leave me in peace. I don’t want to be in any contact with anyone today.”

Stephen hesitated, but he had left. He had granted my wish. Out of all the things that he was told, he seemed to take this into comprehension far faster than anything I’ve told him before. Nonetheless, I couldn’t have been more relieved when I already had so much to deal with.

All these years, I believed that I was the only survivor of my family.

All these years, I lived day in and day out believing my entire family had been murdered before my eyes.

Yet, Violet survived. But she never came searching for me. She never once came looking until today. But why today? Was there a reason for having chosen today out of all days? Or was it just purely out of coincidence? Did she know I was in the games this year? Or has checking in on the competitors year after year something she always did? And if it was something she had always done, was she doing it on order, in secret, or out of free will due to some sort of request that was given by the high ranked warlocks? Whichever of the three it was, was she using it as a chance to give the warlocks and humans hopes that there was a chance of freedom and equality for all? Or was it to give everyone a false hope to laugh in the face of all that had high hopes out of cruelty?

“Excuse me, ma’am,” a familiar woman’s voice from earlier called not too far behind me. “I’ve seemed to have dropped something earlier and was wondering if you had seen it.” When I sharply turned to face the one who spoke, I saw that it was the same Transportation warlock with flaming red hair and oceanic, clear blue eyes. She seemed pleasantly happy to see me as she chimed, “Oh, it’s you. Have you seen a picture left behind by any chance?”

Rising abruptly as I shoved her back with great force of wind, the woman hit against one of the tombstones harshly. She looked more surprised than taken aback as I stormed over to her as I used the earth elemental spells to trap her, to keep her down, as I roared, “Who the hell are you? Who are you to claim yourself Violet Yukimura? Every last member of Yukimura Convent but one got slaughtered left and right, and you claiming yourself to be Violet, the first born of the four children, the first daughter of the family, only brings a great dishonor to my family’s name!”

“You’re not even a Yukimura!” she roared back as she managed to use water elemental to soak up the soil to free herself. I quickly hardened the ground as she furiously demanded, “Do you realize what you’re doing? If you’re a warlock, why are you in this game? Don’t you know that SAW is designed to keep you warlocks entertained? This is all being televised!”

The soil flew everywhere, almost as though there had been an eruption of some sort as the woman rose up into the air. As she and I engaged into a fight, I growled, “You’re mistaken about the broadcast, you worthless warlock. All of us here have been fooling you all as we were and still are preparing for a war we will be starting from here! Sorry to disappoint, but even a member of one of the oldest convents, a Bilyeo Convent member, has been training me the past two months this game’s been happening while all the killings have been nothing but illusions!” At every strike I tried to land, but clashed with the other sorcerer’s blocks, I growled, “So why don’t you go and deliver the word that the games will soon become war?”

“You all will fall without the help of us that are working secretly in the high up places!” she roared. “Do you think having to live under an alias name when a Yukimura is easy, you fool?”

I screeched, “My parents died in sphere of water! They were drowned to their death just before my sister Violet was struck down to her death by lightening when she got soaked from her own water elemental moves! My brother Hogosha died when going heads on against the warlocks using fire, wind, and water elementals when he tried to use his Lightening against them! My last sister Maria was the last one to stand when she tried to protect me by hiding me away before fighting to her last breath using Earth Elemental! Is it easy to live under a fake name after all that when still a Yukimura all in the end? Turn time back fifteen years to the day my family had all been murdered, and wait until I’m the only one to remain standing as a five year old! Then ask me the question! Not fifteen years of blending myself in under a fake name! I, Zoey Yukimura of the Yukimura Convent, refuse to back down to any warlock that sees the mortals as weaklings any longer!”

The woman stared at me with wide eyes as she asked, “What did you say your brother’s and sisters’ names were?”

“Why do you care?” I hissed angrily. “They were all killed those like you!”

Shaking her head, she told me hurriedly, “No. That’s not it. My brother and one of my sisters’ names were Hogosha and Maria Yukimura. I had given them an order to protect our baby sister who we called Lowey Zoey. That no matter what had happened, and if it even meant going as far as hiding Lowey Zoey, that she should be kept alive no matter what the cost. I had always hoped that she would become not just an advanced Priest, but a Necromancer. That’s why I’m asking you what you said your brother’s and siblings names were.”

When she saw that I didn’t believe her, she let out a small sigh before taking out a locket that hung around her neck below her robe. On the necklace was what appeared to be sea shell, and when the woman opened the charm, a hologram appeared above it. My brother Hogosha. His gentle, loving smile and heartfelt laughter, his what seemed like a large pair of hands holding a small child’s hands that were almost as small as a toddler’s.

“C’mon, Zoey!” Hogosha’s lighthearted laughter rang merrily. “Dance with me! Dad said he’s busy, so your big brother Hogo has to do for now!”

A familiar voice exclaimed, “She doesn’t like you, Hogosha! She likes her big sisters better! Don’t you, Lowey Zoey? Yes she does! She loves her big sisters Violet and Maria, but never ever her meanie big brother Hogosha!”

“She likes me, too!” Hogosha huffed, and the small child he held giggled.

Me.

That small child was me.

I growled tearfully over the talking, “How’d you get that locket?”

“Excuse me?” the woman asked.

“How’d you get that locket?” I repeated furiously. “That was the last Christmas gift given to my sister Violet! How’d you get hold of my sister’s locket?”

The woman closed the locket as she rushed forward. Without warning, she had wrapped her arms around my shoulders as she tearfully whispered, “It was you before me this entire time, Lowey Zoey? How could I not have recognized you? You’ve grown up so much! Mom and dad would be so proud of you if they were to see you doing so well with elementals!”

I wanted to believe she truly was Violet, but how could I when I had believed her to be dead all these years? I saw her getting struck down by lightning, and that’s what I had come to know and believe past decade and a half. This knowledge was something I could not let go of no matter how much I wanted to believe otherwise.

Shoving the woman away, I hissed tearfully, “You’re not my sister. You’re not the eldest child of Jacob Yukimura and Emily Gilbert. Not even the eldest sister of the other Yukimura children, Hogosha, Maria, and I. If you were, you would have come looking for me years ago instead of being in hiding all these years, Caroline Rivers.” The name came rolling off my lips all too bitterly, and it left a sour taste in my mouth. It felt as though I had just gulped down a carton of spoiled milk where the aftermath taste would refuse to go away.

Surprise washed over her face like the wave crashing onto the shore, but when my words finally seemed to sink down into her mind like a dog’s sharp teeth would into the skin, she allowed herself a few moments to think over what I had said, as well as to pick out the right words to say to me in return. “I supposed I can’t blame you for hating me so much if it’s truly anger that’s rushing through you,” she whispered. “I’ve waited far too long to come looking for you, so what is there to place blame on you for that miserable feeling you hold in your heart?” A smile came onto her face, but it was almost as though it was a smile of pity. A smile of sorrow. Or even perhaps a smile of guilt. Whatever it was, it wasn’t out of cold heart as she told me, “I’ll deliver the message for you, Lowey Zoey. Just know that when you and your recruits engage in a war, the warlocks I’ve gathered and I will be around as your backups. You’re not alone in this fight.” Turning, she softly sang, “Hand in hand, we’ll run together. Hand in hand, we’ll make new paths. Hand in hand, we’ll stick together. Hand in hand, every test we will pass.” Water had appeared around her, surrounding her in what appeared to be water rising up into a tornado. By the time the water had disappeared, she was gone with it.

I fell onto my knees at the tune. That tune was a tune she always sang for me to calm me down. It was the one tune that Violet always sang to comfort me when I was young. No one but she knew of the song, and it was never recorded anywhere – neither the written nor recorded on any sort of recorder.

I didn’t notice that there were a few warlocks and vampires come running with Carlo, Timothy, and Stephen leading the crowd. Falling next to me on his knees as his arms wrapped around my shoulders, Carlo panted, “Zoey? What happened? What’s going on? What was all the ruckus about?”

I didn’t even look at him. All his words entered one ear and went out the other. I wasn’t even able to bring myself to look up at the crowd as the tears freely began to fall as I looked up towards the sky, screeching, “I hate you, Violet! You hear me? I hate you with all my life, Violet Yukimura! I’ll never forgive you for waiting fifteen years! You hear me, Violet? You hear?”

5: Chapter 05

Decisions, decisions, decisions. After all these months, it all had come down to decisions on what needed to be done for the sake of all. Four months in total had passed since the Survival game had started, and we were already beginning to hit December.

December 25, 3012 DDA. It was merely just a few more days away, and there was still not a single snowflake in sight. Year after year, I was used to seeing snow for Christmas, but this year was going to be different. Well, it was different and everything had changed the day names had been drawn.

“Miss Yukimura,” Timothy’s voice asked rather smoothly. “When do you actually plan on telling the world that you’re a warlock and going to make a move against your kind?”

The sun was setting low and no one has bothered to turn on the lights still. All eyes of the vampires have been on me I’m assuming majority of the time I’ve remained silent and lost deep in my own thoughts. Slumped back rather comfortably in the blood red sofa for a single seating, I didn’t look up at anyone of the blood drinking race and kept my eyes focused on my feet that were stretched out on the ground before me. My mind was still half wandering off in the thought process of what to do as I replied, “In time. Now’s not the right time.”

“When is?” Daniel growled. “It’s never a perfect time for you!”

His sister Belinda sternly said, “Daniel, behave yourself.”

“Who knows?” Carlo replied in my place to Daniel’s question as we both shrugged off Belinda’s words of warning to her brother. “Only time will tell, but it also all depends on how quickly I can finish up mastering a class I’m going under training for to become a Special. Carlo and I also have to figure out exactly what we’re going to do in terms of with the people that the world thinks are dead. Where we’re going to keep them. How we’re going to keep them safe. How we’ll keep in contact with them to make sure they’re continuing onto train and get ready for the upcoming war. When it’ll be best time to bring them out. Even as far as how we’ll do just that when the right time comes. It’s all in matter of the timing, and for the right moment to come, so to answer your question, Daniel, who knows exactly when it’ll be the right time. But as for right this moment to reveal the secret? Completely a wrong time to do so unless if she feels she’s ready to broadcast it worldwide and set off a panic across the warlocks that wants to keep all of us vampires and the mortals continuously under their control.”

“Be patient, D’Angelo, m’son,” Timothy mused as he ran his fingers through his hair. “It should not be something that needs to be rushed. This is all an important matter that needs to be approached in a cautious matter, or we’ll only dig ourselves into a deep hole that will quickly become our grave that we will never be able to get ourselves out of. Through all the studies that my family and I have done on the Suarez Clan, and gathering all my intelligence on Yukimura Convent, I believe it’s safe enough to say that these two know exactly what they are doing. And if they seem to be going off doing something foolish, as the head of McNamara Clan and as one of the most well respected vampires, I should be able to step in and help these two youngsters in any way possible.”

“Why are you so willing to stand by these two?” came a growl of a light male voice from somewhere to my right.

Martin Endrez, a 28 year old vampire of Area 22. Slightly tan skin, jet black hair and dark eyes. If I had to take a wild stab in the dark, he was originally of a Latino descendent. There were other vampires ages of 18 and up that seemed to be in agreement with Martin’s suspicion, and if I had to speak honestly for myself, I couldn’t really blame them. After all, it was Carlo that they had worked with all this time, and to ask them to trust a warlock like myself abruptly may have been a bit too much to ask for. Even if they had been given a few months to work side by side with the warlocks during the four months we’ve all be gathered together in one place.

Finally looking up as I turned my attention to Timothy, I asked, “Why are you so willing? I’ve done nothing for you, and Carlo’s told me his family’s among the lower ranked pureblood clans. You’re not expecting anything from us, are you?”

“Of course not, Miss Yukimura,” Timothy chuckled. “Support is one thing I simply wish to give. In this fight, you’ll need as much of it as you can get, and coming from a high standing Clan among the vampires, gaining support from my kind shouldn’t be something that would be much of a trouble.”

His gaze moved to Carlo, who soon began to look at unease as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other occasionally. Timothy’s gaze began to turn rather intense as I saw within the dark that his bright caramel golden brown eyes turned pitch black in matter of seconds. Whatever it was that Timothy was saying to Carlo, if anything at all, it seemed to be bothering my partner rather greatly.

“Stop integrating me, won’t you?” Carlo finally snapped under pressure. “I really rather not speak on that subject with anyone, Tim, whether they have a keen eye or have rather a high standing. Or even both.”

Just as I turned to look at him, Timothy laughed as he told me, “I’ll consider telling you when the right time comes, Miss Yukimura. If you don’t mind, however, would it be alright for me to ask of you to perform Necromancy for the few of us here to see how powerful you have become in that area? It would be nice to see for once under who among the greatest of Clans we’ll be working under. Or was it called ‘Convent’ for you warlocks?”

“You want to take her blood, don’t you?” Carlo growled warningly. “You know full well that of all warlocks and mortals, I want her blood to be fully off limits.”

Timothy’s eyes changed back and forth between black and maroon red as he remarked, “I do recall that very well, so no need to worry yourself over it, Mr. Suarez. As long as she’s with me, she’ll be in good hands.”

Carlo took a few wide steps forward and began to reach his hands out to grab Timothy by his shirt, but I quickly took his hand between my hands. “Carlo,” I softly scolded, “don’t. I don’t mind if he came with me to the cemetery so he can try and figure out what to do in order to assist the warlocks in any way. I’m so close to combining the Necromancy with Elemental, and I’m sure the sooner at least one of the high standing vampires sees what’s been accomplished, at least they’ll be able to figure out how to work around it in order to avoid what can be of harm during the fight.”

Leaning down slightly to rest his forehead against mine, he breathed, “Do you want me to come with? To make sure you remain safe?”

“Would you actually go up against him if he really was to try and take my blood, Carlo?” I softly asked as my eyes averted upwards to look at him.

Carlo ran his fingers of his free hand through my hair before pulling it back to his side rather abruptly with the reply, “Of course I would. And it’s only because I’ll get a bit uneasy if I left you all alone with a vampire like any mortal or warlock like yourself with one of my kinds. Who knows how much of a self-control each of us has, and who has as high of one like myself and my family.” There was a bit of a hesitation before he said, “And I’d hate to lose you, Zoey.”

I felt as though there was something more that he was keeping from me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. And when he ran his fingers through my hair that brief moment, I felt as though my heart had skipped a beat, nearly jumping out of my chest, and I couldn’t seem to explain why. I wasn’t even sure if it was just figment of my imagination, or the situation of the games turning into a war at hand that was brewing things up in my chest, but it was almost as though I was in love with this man. My heart yearned for him and I couldn’t say anything. Not to him, at least, without making a fool of myself in case he didn’t like me in return. In case I was being completely delusional.

I had to protect myself from being hurt, and my mind had immediately assigned as my big brother, in place of Hogosha if anything, before I even knew what was happening. And if my mind had not assigned him to be like a protective older brother, then it had assigned him to be at least a father figure that I never truly had growing up.

Giving Carlo a gentle smile, I quietly told him, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be alright. If anything, I’ll defend myself with any of the Elementals. I may not be as good as my family was, but I do know how to use the ones that they had used, Carlo.” I got up on my feet as I slowly released Carlo’s hand and said to Timothy, “Whenever you’re ready to leave, sir.”

Timothy got up rather calmly as he motioned at his son to follow, and the two followed as I gave Carlo one last smile before leaving the house. None of us talked the whole way, and if the silence was due to me being alone, it would have been fine. But the fact that there was at least one other individual, the silence was slowly eating me away on the inside. Out of all things, silence among myself and few others was the one thing that made my inside twist and turn to the most unbearable point.

The strange part of it was that not a single word had been exchanged until reaching the edge of the actual town area and beginning to enter where the cemetery was located. “So,” came Timothy’s voice in the sudden darkness of the night from behind me to my right. “What are your true intentions with us vampires, Miss Yukimura? For a warlock coming from a very high standing convent, it seems awfully strange and extremely hard to believe that you truly want to assist us vampires and mortals in gaining our freedom.”

“I’ve told you and the other adults, as well as children, countless of times that my heart’s in a good place,” I sighed. “My family’s been murdered with exception of my sister, who I really had no idea was alive all these years, and I truly hate the way your race and the humans have been treated for countless of years. I want to return the freedom that you all deserve while I gain my own freedom back.”

Both Brandon and Timothy grabbed me by the shoulders rather harshly and gave me one hard shove, causing me to nearly trip over my own foot and skid forward across the cemented ground. My skin on my face peeled off and I felt the blood trickling down both of my cheeks along with from a bit of my forehead, and I had scraped both of my palms pretty harshly when I tried to skid myself to a stop. Or at least when I tried to catch myself in time from falling.

Brandon’s voice harshly ordered, “Why do you continue to put on a mask, warlock? It’s so obvious that you’ve been doing nothing but put on an act for everyone since gathering us kids the first night here.”

“I haven’t been fooling anyone,” I barely managed to say above a whisper. I was barely managing to hold back a tear as I said the words, and no matter with what kind of eyes they were looking at me with, I knew deep inside that I was telling nothing but the truth. “I’ve been doing and saying nothing but having to be honest with all of you. I truly do want freedom for you all. I want to bring my kind down and have them see that warlocks can’t do the ruling on their own. That there needs to be equivalency, or it’ll just be nothing but destruction. Disorder. Malfunction in the society.”

There was a strong blow to my stomach followed a blow to the face not too long after I curled up into a ball from the kick in the stomach. “You’re a disgrace like the other warlocks,” Timothy’s voice growled. “Your fear is radiating off of you like the heat from the flames, Miss Yukimura. You really should be more careful on who you lie to.”

I spat the blood out of my mouth as my voice trembled when I spoke, “But I’m not lying to you! I really want to help! I mean no harm, damn it!”

I didn’t even need the light to tell that there were others approaching. Blood. It was the smell of the blood, and it was so apparent just by having to hear a great amount of rather heavy breathing as figures of people were seen in approaching in the darkness in all directions. I began to chant an old incantation to strike endless bolts of lightning strikes, but my focuses were continuously broken at every kick and the punch to my body as I felt warm breath skimming across and stinging my scrapes on the cheek, Brandon’s voice hissed, “Again, what do you want from us, warlock? What are you trying to use us for? Trying to kill us all from the inside out? Was this all some sort of volunteer work for you, or were you warlocks chosen to come in to finish us all off?”

With a bit of effort, I managed to trap their feet under the ground as I conjured up a gust of strong wind to knock them back, but the other vampires came at me. They all came at me at the scent of my blood and I couldn’t seem to fight them off. Not when Timothy managed to free his feet from the ground as he picked me up by the neck, growling, “Your blood has smelled so sweet to us for so long, Miss Yukimura. And yet, you have no idea how hard we had to try to hold ourselves back to drink from a member of an extremely high standing warlock clan.”

I was losing a lot of blood rather quickly as I began to feel grasp of reality slipping away through my fingertips. Everything began to feel colder, and all that was around me appeared to be darker than I remembered.

Only then did I regret not allowing Carlo to come with me.

Only then did I regret having allowed my thoughts of the unwanted scarred feeling get in the way to let my mind take over and force myself to see him as family.

If anything, I wished that Carlo was with me so that I would at least receive some help. What I thought was something I could handle all by myself turned out to be something that was something more than what I could chew. Something that I couldn’t handle all on my own. But it was too late to ask him to be with me.

“What does that nice young man see in you, Miss Yukimura?” Timothy’s voice asked in a bone chilling yet such a warming tone. “I don’t seem to comprehend why he’s so fond of you when he comes from a high standing clan. Nearly as high ranked as the McNamara Clan.”

I heard a loud thud, followed by a large sound of what sounded like bones breaking, and I was dropped rather abruptly. Once my body hit the ground harshly, Carlo’s voice boomed in the cold dark night, “What do you think you’re doing to my partner, McNamara? I’m pretty sure I made it crystal clear to all the vampires that she is not to get harmed by anyone! That she was completely off limits!” I felt a pair of arms picking me up and I felt the chest vibrate as Carlo’s voice growled, “Anyone who dares bringing harm to my partner, Zoey Yukimura, will die in my hands! She’s here to help me aid you all in bringing you freedom, and this is how you treat her?” I could tell by the slight up and down movement that Carlo had already begun walking, never once letting me go, as he breathed, “Are you alright, Zoey?”

“Why did you follow?” I hoarsely asked. “I thought I told you I could defend myself if anything was to happen, Carlo.” I barely could speak, let alone barely open my eyes, as I shifted my head a bit on his shoulder. I felt grateful, but at the same time, I couldn’t have been happier about having to be in his arms. Even if it meant nothing to him, I couldn’t allow myself to look over something like this. I didn’t care if I was grateful to him because of the way I think I may have felt towards him, or because I thought of him as a family member. All that mattered at that moment was he cared enough to follow from a distance. Enough to keep an eye on me to make sure nothing happened.

Carlo’s voice was full of concern as he quietly asked, “Do you really have to ask? You should take a look at yourself in the mirror before you ask such things, Zoe.”

“But you didn’t have to come,” I weakly protested.

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, however, I regretted even having thought it. Only thing that made me feel worse was when Carlo came to a halt as he shakily asked, “Zoey, if I hadn’t come following you, who knows what could’ve happened to you by now? They were ready to take your life at any given second if Timothy had set down an order to finish you off.”

I couldn’t help but give him a weak smile as I weakly clutched his shirt by the shoulder, mumbling, “Thank you.” I felt Carlo’s body stiffen up slightly as I shifted my head closer to his neck to my best abilities. “Thank you for coming after me,” I whispered when he didn’t respond, and the next thing I could recall was passing out cold and slipping away into the darkness.

When I finally gained my consciousness, I was lying in a bed, on my right side, with covers pulled over me in the darkness. And in the late of the night was an arm wrapped around and over my waist, and I felt a body lying rather close to mine right behind me with what felt like a face buried into my back. Even though the arm was wrapped around me with the blanket to come between my waist line and whosever arm it was that held me close, I felt fingers gently stroking my stomach. I couldn’t help but turn my head at least by the slightest to get a look to see who it was I was in the bed with.

Through the corner of my eyes, I thought I saw Carlo in the darkness and couldn’t help but feel surprised. Quickly, I turned my head away to look straight ahead of me as I felt his head move, almost as to rub his nose against either the mattress or the pillow, before he became still once more. His fingers at least become still, but I couldn’t afford to move. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to wake him. I could have to make sure he moved his arm away from me if I wanted to, but there was a small part of me on the inside that wanted to stay like this for a long time. I couldn’t quite seem to figure out why it felt so nice to be under his arms either.

It took me a long time before I managed to fall back asleep, but I wasn’t sure how long I was asleep before I woke up yet again to the feeling of being stroked across my stomach. When I turned my head towards Carlo once more, the same thing had happened. He stopped stroking my stomach as he rubbed his face in the mattress or the pillow once more, and I couldn’t fall back asleep again like before. At least not as quickly as before, but when I finally did, Carlo woke me up the same way as he did two times before.

This time, instead of keeping his arms above the sheet, Carlo had moved his arms under, making direct contact with me. I felt my body stiffen up against his body as I, unconscious about my own actions, leaned into him. This time, I couldn’t bring myself to turn just my head to look at him. Instead, when I gained my full consciousness, I turned my entire body to try and get a better look at him. I hoped that I wouldn’t wake him as I tried to be as careful as possible, but it was a complete failure as I heard him mumble in his half asleep state, “Sorry. Did I wake you?”

Carlo didn’t move his arms for what seemed for like a long time, but when he finally did, he seemed to be taking his sweet old time doing so. There was a small part of me that felt bad if it were me that had woke him up, but there was nothing I could do now. I fully turned over onto my left side to face him as I tiredly asked, “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

I could almost hear a smile when he replied, “Don’t worry about having to wake me. It’s not like I won’t be able to stay awake later during the day with having stayed asleep with you most of the nights.” When he went silent, I could nearly hear his smile slowly turn into a frown. It became more obvious that he wasn’t so happy when he asked, “How are you feeling, though? Any degree of headaches? Any pounding up there? Any sore in your body from several nights ago?”

Several nights ago?

How long had I been out?

Every time I felt fingertips stroking across my stomach, was that by a few minutes to a couple of hours? Or had it been by at least one night and one day having passed by every time I awoke from my sleep?

“What do you mean from several nights ago?” I breathed with confusion.

I could feel Carlo’s hand hovering over my face for a brief moment before he brought it down to his side as he told me, “Three nights ago. You were passed out since then, and I’ve been bringing you water to drink every time your mouth seemed to go dry.”

My vision finally came into full focus in the darkness and saw the moonlight streaming through the window as his eyes sparkled a bit in its glow. When seeing his eyes reflect through the moonlight, there was nothing but full of worry from what I was able to see. I wanted to say something to try and comfort him, but no matter what came into mind for me to say to him, there were no word that would come past my lips.

“You don’t remember passing out when I was bringing you back once I caught the others trying to beat you up for your blood? Starting with the McNamara Clan?” Carlo questioned.

I shook my head a bit as I told him, “I remember passing out, but I just didn’t know for how long until you told me just now.”

With a deep inward sigh, he repeated the question in a mutter, “How are you feeling?”

“My body aches a bit, but nothing too bad,” I replied with a small chuckle.

Carlo shifted a bit as he rested his head on top of mine for just a bit. Finally getting up, he whispered, “Promise me you’ll stay put until at least morning comes around. I’ve had a few guests in the house to keep the two McNamara members out.” He must’ve sensed that I wanted to protest because he immediately interjected with words, “For extra safety measures in case he tried to come for you again. I just want to make sure that anyone who’s serious about going into war for their freedom, they’re not to lay a single finger on you to bring you harm. And that goes to anyone who actually are extremely serious about the game turning into a war.”

“Oh, very cute,” I sarcastically told him as I tried to sound as sweet as possible. “You, a vampire, being overprotective over me, a mere warlock? What’s the occasion?”

I didn’t have to get a good look at his face to know he had rolled his eyes at me, and once he had moved away and went over to the door of the bedroom, I tried to sit up with a bit of failure when I fell back into the bed. I couldn’t help wincing as I scrunched up with great effort as I held onto my painful stomach, and moving my arms alone was nothing but a struggle. It was almost as though I was beat down mercilessly with baseball bats and bricks, and exercising for rather excessive amount of hours. It would have made sense if this were several months back when I first began training for Necromancy, but to be sore all over the body now out of all times?

Carlo came back over to me and helped me sit up, scolding, “Are you trying to make it worse for yourself? You’ve got pretty bad bruises, and need to lay off on moving around too much. It’s bad enough that Stephen’s been coming around quite a bit to try and heal you up whenever he gets the chance even though he’s not much of a Healer.”

He didn’t sound too pleased with what he had to say about Stephen, and I couldn’t help but smile in a bit of devious manner as he plopped himself right back down on the bed next to me as he kept his arms around my body to keep me supported. “What’s the matter?” I teased. “Can’t handle another guy having to come in and heal me up? Were you hoping that you’d be the one to get me fixed up yourself personally, Carlo?”

As I let out a laugh when he pinched my nose, I could’ve cared less that my side hurt as Carlo scolded, “Oh, shush, you. You need to get some rest, and that’s that.”

“Can’t I at least go out for some fresh air and get some practice in? Please?” I asked as I rested my head by his neck. It almost felt far too comfortable and natural when I did so. It felt almost as though I belonged right there in his arms with my head resting on his shoulder.

A deep sigh escaped from Carlo’s throat as he remained silent for what seemed like an eternity. It was as if he was lost deep in thoughts before he said, “Not sure if I should, but under one condition.” He fell silent, almost as if he was asking me for a reply, but when I didn’t answer, he went onto say, “If you’ll let me come with you. I want to make sure I can keep a close eye on you to make sure that nothing happens like three nights ago.”

I gave him a shove to best of my abilities, but flinched greatly in pain as I did so. “Do I really have to?” I groaned. “I’m not gonna do anything stupid!”

“It’s for your own good,” he told me. “To make sure that no harm comes your way. And c’mon, Zoe. Be reasonable. You’re hurt pretty bad.”

I knew I had no choice but to cave in and agree. “Can we go out tonight, then?” It wasn’t all that hard to tell that he was being hesitant about agreeing to the idea, and I had to at least try and push my luck. “Oh, please?” I pleaded. “Please, Carlo? I really want to get some fresh air! And I really need to stretch my legs!”

Carlo tried to hold himself back from agreeing, but he must’ve known that I would refuse to back down. This was one thing that I couldn’t bring myself to turn my back on, and I really did need to get some fresh air. He must’ve known it himself deep inside, because he cried, “Fine! Fine! We’ll go out tonight! But not until we get you washed up first!”

I struggled to get out of the bed and stumbled across the room to turn on the lights. Just as I turned around to face him, I hurriedly said, “Wait out in the living room area, then, until I come back out, then.” When my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw dark circles under Carlo’s eyes and I couldn’t help but walk back towards him. Sliding my hands onto his cheeks when I was back at his side, I murmured, “Were you up majority of the time?”

He shook his head ‘no’ in response, and he kept his eyes locked to mine.

Blood red.

Carlo’s eyes were blood red.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen his eyes blood red, either, and I knew deep inside that something was up. I took a look over his face as I quietly asked, “What’s wrong? Why are your eyes blood red again?”

“I haven’t had the chance to drink any blood in about a week,” Carlo replied. “Don’t go worrying your head over me. I’ll be fine once I can get my hands on some blood.”

That’s when it clicked in my mind that none of the vampires must have had access to any blood in quite some time, and if it was blood that Timothy had wanted. And if not having had access to it was his problem, it somewhat explained why he and his son had attacked me. It really didn’t fully click with me if that was a true reason for being so rough on me, though. And even if that was the case, it must have not been good enough of an excuse for Carlo to overlook it. We’d agreed to watch each other’s backs, but I hoped that there was something more to it than that.

I don’t know what came over me all of a sudden, but before I could even stop myself, the words came smoothly rolling off my lips, “You know you can take some of my blood, Carlo, if you need the blood.”

“No,” Carlo growled. “Never offer your blood to me ever again, Zoey. No matter how many offers of help you put on the table, that’s one thing I refuse to accept from you. Once I take one drink of your blood, with the way it smells, I won’t be able to stop drinking. I’ll only leave you dead and dry. You understand?”

Returning the same scolding gaze, I huffed, “I’m only offering help because I want to! I can’t keep going accepting your offer of protection from your race, Carlo, while pretending to believe that everything’s just dandy and that I don’t notice it! Your eyes are not brown or blue or green! They’re red! Bloody red! You need blood to drink, don’t you? I’m offering you some of mine so that you don’t have to go around suffering and lusting for it!”

“It’s not going to be safe for you if I took a drink!” Carlo snapped. “I’m doing this for your own good! I’m very tempted to, but I can’t! Not if it means the chance of bringing you harm, Zoey!” Getting up, he leaned in close to my lips and I felt his hot breath skimming across my skin. There was a part of me that longed to lean in and meet his lips with my own, but the part of me that was afraid of the rejection and another part of me that had already accepted him as a family stopped me from doing so. I heard him swallow as he quietly ordered, “Just come on out once you’re done taking a shower. I’ll be with few other vampires and a warlock or two.”

When Carlo went past me and walked out the room, closing the door behind him, I could still smell his scent that lingered behind. I’ve smelled a scent quite like his a lot before, but I just couldn’t put my finger quite on where and what it was. Some sort of gum, perhaps. One of the Trident White or Trident Splash if the gum was to be the case. And if it weren’t the gums, then I wasn’t sure what, but I knew it had to be something familiar to me for him to smell so familiar. Detergent, perhaps? Clothes fresh out of the dryer? Or it perhaps was just me simply getting used to his scent every time he was near.

Without pondering much more upon it, I grabbed the one pair of clothes I brought as an extra for myself before entering the territory for the games, and headed inside to the bathroom attached to the room to take a shower. The water ran hot for the good portion of the shower, and once I was all clean and out of the bathroom, I quickly got my body dried up and dressed.

I was stepping out of the room just as I was drying my hair with the towel when I came to an abrupt stop at hearing the words, “Don’t tell Lady Yukimura. Please. She’s most likely upset as it is already with finding out that her sister’s been alive all these years. I mean, it did come as a great shock to all of us warlocks that Lady Violet Yukimura’s been alive all these years, so we can’t quite imagine how terrible of a surprise it must have been for the young Lady Yukimura to see her sister in flesh.”

Deborah Chang.

There was no doubt that the voice belonged to Deborah Chang.

“Why didn’t you tell me that we’ve been accepting blood from that woman all this time?” Carlo’s voice asked quietly, and as soft as voice was, there was hint of bitterness inside. “I can’t keep secrets all that well from Zoey. You know that! I’m practically living with her considering the housing situation we’re all in, and I’m a terrible liar! What am I supposed to tell her when she offered me her own blood before I came out here to check up on you all?”

Silence lingered over the place before Belinda Park’s voice quietly said, “We’re sorry, alright? We just thought that if we were to at least help you all out by giving the blood that Lady Violet had graciously sent, then it wouldn’t matter.”

“Not if it meant that you all were getting your thirsts quenched and keeping everyone else safe before you all got out of hand from being driven mad for blood,” Deborah finished for her friend. “We just thought it was the safest way to go. Without getting ourselves into trouble, at least. And, besides, who could it have hurt if you guys were to know? At least you have all the rights to know seeing you have the leadership among your kind, Carlo. I couldn’t simply allow at least this piece of information to be overlooked by you.”

I threw the towel over my head to ruffle my hair dry as I spoke from within the shadows, “Why couldn’t any of you tell me that Violet was sending blood for the vampires?” All heads turned, and with it came no answer. Everyone seemed to be hesitating about telling me. At least all but Carlo, who knew nothing of this either, and I didn’t even have to take a good look at his face to know he was innocent. Hating the no response I was receiving, anger began to boil up deep in my chest as I repeated in a growl, “Why couldn’t any of you tell me that my supposedly dead sister was sending blood for the vampires?”

“We’re sorry, but seeing how upset you were with her, how could we bring ourselves to tell you that she was showing at least some support by sending supplies that vampires needed?” Stephen’s husky voice asked.

I was still sore all over to try and storm out of there the way I could have at full strength, but the anger gave me enough of a strength to at least walk past them all and out the front door. Carlo had followed me out, and as much as I expected him to yell at me, to scold me, no words were heard coming out past his lips. Instead, he kept silent, which was all that I could ask of him for the time being.

Once I began to feel calmer as we neared the cemetery a few minutes later, Carlo’s voice whispered through the night, “Sorry, Zoey. I really didn’t know about who was sending us the blood, and I didn’t want to alarm you about the outside help. They never told me that it was this Caroline Rivers person sending us all the supply.”

“I know you didn’t,” I quietly replied. “I would’ve been one of the first few that you most likely would have told if you did. How could you have known when they were keeping the secret from you of all vampires gathered here?” I came to a halt and thought over the words that I’ve spoken aloud. Turning to look at him, I asked, “You would have told me if you knew, right?”

For some strange reason, I felt pain in my chest. It felt almost as though there was a near compression inside to make me feel as though I could barely breathe. As though my heart would crumple like a paper at any given moment.

“Of course I would’ve told you, Zoey. You know I can’t afford to leave you out in the darkness,” Carlo sighed, and I could hear nothing but the truth in his voice. There was something about him that made me believe him so easily. It was almost as though as long as I was with him, anything bad of this world could never reach us. That was the one comfort I never wanted to vanish for as long as I lived.

Without another word, I immediately brought all the dead out of the grounds and created what appeared to be flesh to the skeletal ones without second thought. It all had come to me all too easily at this point, and I wanted to believe it was because I worked hard for it. Because I had practiced with near all end. But it was hard to tell if it was as simple as working hard or from all the stress I was put under that I wanted to take all my anger out by channeling it all into the one thing that I worked so hard for.

Without losing my concentration, I muttered in order, “Lightening. Water. Earth. Fire. Air.” Each element came over all the dead resurrected from various bodies, and each element had been scattered evenly through them all. It was more than what I could have thought. More than I thought I could ever accomplish. Yet, here I was, being able to conjure up more dead than I ever thought was possible. I’ve finally earned the right to call myself a Special. Necromancer, Healer, and Elementalist. It may have been more than I could chew, but it would be just the right amount of what I would have been able to handle. Or at least I hoped I would be able to handle it all and get through it peacefully. Honestly, as long as I would be able to help the people out in gaining their freedom, I think it was all something it was all something that was worthwhile.

I slowly worked my way around to making it appear as though it were the dead that was performing the Elementals, and as much energy as it all took out of me, I had to try. Try and fail, try and fail. That’s all it was for two hours, and as much as the balancing out the Necromancy and Elemental came easily, making it seem as though having the dead perform Elementals just seemed to be nearly an impossible task.”

Two hours of trying, and just when I was about to give up after the failure of trying to focus more on Elementals more than on Necromancy, I gave it all one last shot. I put myself in the shoes of the dead and had them move the way I would if I were the one to be using all the wanted elements. I closed my eyes as I moved in unison with the deceased, and chanted what would normally sounded like a gibberish to normal ears, but an ancient words that I recalled seeing in an old text.

Out of all the tasks that Stephen has put me up against to improve my skills, the one thing that I had decided to assign as my personal test was the hardest one of all. Once I put my mind to it, however, and when I tried the one last thing that I thought would backfire on me like the rest countless number of attempts, it failed to prove me right. In fact, the one thing that I had least of hopes in had succeeded. The Elemental attacks in the resurrected were nothing but a complete success.

I lost focus for a brief moment, but I kept my excitement under control as I tried it out once more. All the elementals mixed at once thrown up into the air looked like wild fireworks blasting and colliding in the air, and I couldn’t help but hurriedly bury all the dead back under once all the elementals disappeared off into the shroud of darkness. I paced around the cemetery for at least good five minutes before conjuring five dead back up onto the surface and combined them with the five elements I knew how to use to make sure I wasn’t going mentally insane.

The combination worked, and it looked as though a small firework had been set off into the air, causing me to go into a fit of screams in excitement. Once I set the dead back to their respective graves, I had completely forgotten how sore my body was as I jumped up and down, screaming, “It’s done! It’s finally done! Necromancy and Elementals combo is finally set and ready to be put in use!”

“That looked great!” Carlo laughed as he rushed forward and hugged me. Lifting me in the air and spinning around a few times, he seemed rather happy for my success in becoming an official Special. Setting me down, he smiled warmly down at me as he murmured, “You truly did improve, Zoey. But I’m sure you realized that already.”

“It’s not improvement,” I snorted. “It’s just an obstacle I had to overcome as a Special.” I had wrapped my arms around his neck from when he picked me up, and as much as I hated to admit, I must have done so with an unconscious mind. As I unwrapped my arms from around his neck slowly, I slid my hands down to his shoulders and stayed close to his body, unable to move away from him, as I quietly breathed, “And Stephen did his part of the job in keeping a close eye on me and training me as he said he would. Also as a promise he’s made to my parents when the two were still alive and well.” I suddenly felt my heart skip a beat, almost pounding hard against my chest and nearly begging to be let out. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was due to how close we were standing. Who would if they saw what kind of a great man that Carlo was? How sweet and caring, let alone so selfless?

Suddenly, there was that feeling that began to settle deep in my heart and sinking deep into my stomach. There was something deep inside me that was tugging at my chest to reach up and kiss him. To at least try and make him mine. But there was something that was stopping me as I felt myself tremble greatly on the inside. It was almost as though I was terrified. Of rejection. Of being pushed away. As though I was afraid Carlo would never look at me ever again, and he was the one person I didn’t want to lose in my life.

Carlo began to lean his head in towards mine until his lips were barely an inch away, and he allowed his lips to hover over mine for what seemed like an eternity before he turned his head away. “Do you know how to dance?” he finally asked to break the silence, clearing his throat.

For some strange reason, there was that gaping hole of great disappointment in my chest, and I couldn’t understand why. Barely nodding, I mumbled, “I’ve learned a few dances. Cha Cha. Fox Trot. Waltz. Tango. Maybe a few more, but those for certain.”

“Would you like to dance?” I could hear a smile in his voice, and it was either teasing or nervousness that had seeped through, but it was hard to tell if I was simply imagining things.

I couldn’t help but laugh quietly as I lowered my head and rested my forehead against his shoulder. “I’m a bit rusty with my ballroom and Latin dances, Carlo. I’m not sure how good of a dance partner I’d be for you.” Looking up at him questioningly, I curiously asked, “You actually know how to dance?”

I could see him nod in the darkness of the night. “My grandmother’s idea. She thought it would do me good to get dance lessons.”

Without another word, Carlo took my right hand in his left and waited for me to rest my left hand correctly on his shoulder before he took off dancing with me in his arms. I was having a bit of trouble keeping up with him, but a laughter escaped from my lips as I lightly clung onto him as I tried to keep up with his steps. I heard a chuckle escape from his throat, and with it was a smile that I thought I saw creep onto his face in the moonlight’s gleam.

When he came to a stop not even a minute later, Carlo’s gentle voice trickled into my ear, “You barely know how to dance, do you?”

“I know how,” I replied. “I just need the right kind of music, and need to know which dance we’re doing. Otherwise, kinda slow and lost without feeling the beat in my body.”

I felt Carlo’s hand that rested on my back clench into a fist, and I felt the feeling of great uncertainty coming off of him. It was almost as though he didn’t know what to do with himself, but when he finally moved his hand away from my back. Clearing his throat once more, he asked, “How are your bruises? Are you aching all over still?”

His hand slowly released my right hand, and I felt my heart clench rather painfully as it dropped to the pit of my stomach like an anchor into the deep sea. At first, I’d forgotten all about Carlo’s question. All I could focus on was the closeness of his body, and the way he held me as we had danced. Or at least when we had attempted to dance. Now, Carlo was slowly releasing me from his grip, and there was something about it that was putting me in an uneasy mood. It wasn’t the uneasy feeling where the situation of being danger would give off, but rather it was the uneasy feeling where I felt upset. Almost sad at the idea that he actually may not like me the way I liked him.

Finally recalling his question, I quietly remarked, “I’ve completely forgotten all about it until you brought it up.”

“You must’ve been under a hell lot of stress, then,” he teasingly chuckled.

I gave him a small shove as I exclaimed, “You’re the one that didn’t tell me that you were getting blood! You know how worried I was to see you with your eyes color of murderous red?” Silence lingered over us as Carlo leaned down a bit to rest his head on my shoulder, and there was a part of me that had regretted ever having said anything in the first place.

“Were you truly willing to give me your blood?” he softly asked. As much as I feared of being scolded, I had to tell the truth. And the very moment I gave him a small nod in response and nothing more, I could hear a weak laughter escaping from his lips as he begged in a whisper, “Please don’t ever offer your blood to someone like me again. I’m just a crazy man, Zoey. You really shouldn’t be offering blood to someone like me.”

“Perhaps I’m a bit crazy, too,” I huffed. I don’t know what possessed me to gently nuzzle his neck as I whispered, “Let’s go back. It would do you some good to get some blood in you if you haven’t drank the blood yet that the stupid woman sent you.”

Carlo slowly lifted his head from my shoulder and looked down at me with uncertainty. I couldn’t bring myself to tear my eyes from his. It was almost as though the entire world came to a halt. With the world, it felt as though the time had frozen over as Carlo managed to hold my gaze.

“Zoey,” Carlo quietly sad, “let me ask you something. Do you like me?” I stared at him, caught completely off guard and dumbfounded at his question, and even before I had a chance to say a word, he quickly said, “You know what? Never mind. Forget I ever said anything.” Carlo brought his arms down to his sides before putting his hands away in his pockets, and, uneasily rocking back and forth on his feet, he nervously asked as he looked down at the ground, “So, you ready to go back to the house? Might be best to rest up those bruised arms and legs.”

Just when I had hoped for something more than the close ranged hold, to see if I was just being a delusional idiot or had my head screwed on straight, he had to draw back. Carlo just had to make it seem as though it was all nothing but a great big tease.

Not wanting to think too much on all this, I walked past him in a near limp. The one thing that I couldn’t seem to bring myself to do was look up at him, let alone speak, as I took the head start towards the building we used as our shelter. The snow was falling, and it was only when I realized that there were white stuff falling from the sky half way that I came to realize something – I didn’t get to say Merry Christmas to Tricia.

In fact, I never even got to give her, or send, rather, a Christmas gift to her, and that was the one thing I never truly dared to forget. But what did it matter? She didn’t send me anything in return, and that was something she had sworn she would do if I was still supposedly alive in this Survival Among the Weakest game. But I got nothing from her. Christmas had been three days ago, and there was no word on any packages for me having arrived. In my case, it only made sense that I wasn’t able to get her anything with the limited source, but I expected at least a letter. Even if it was just one sentence, I expected something, but nothing. Nothing had come in.

Carlo followed not too far behind and, as the moment he had sensed that something was wrong, quietly asked, “Something the matter?”

“Tricia,” I told him. “She hasn’t sent anything.” Looking at him, I explained, “It’s just people that are entered in this game are allowed to receive things from their family and friends. Christmas was a few days ago, and I thought that Tricia would at least send a letter. She and I have never missed a single Christmas gift exchange. And with me being in the games this year, I just thought that maybe, just maybe, she would wait for me to get back for me to give her a late present and her at least send a letter to let me know how she’s doing. She knows, or at least she thinks it, that I’m fighting to death, so I thought she would at least try and send a cheerful letter.”

He blinked a few times before he asked, “Why didn’t you ask if there was anything that came in for you when you woke up then? I didn’t think you’d want to take a look at it right away considering your health situation.” This time, Carlo was the one to take the lead as he motioned at me to come along. I didn’t feel as though I was in the place to even question, and really had no rights to be against his request as I willingly followed him not too far behind. And as I did, he asked, “How close are you and Tricia?”

“Pretty close,” I replied. “She and I tell each other pretty much everything. Who we like. Who we’re dating. What’s happened at places we work. What we’ve heard. What we’ve seen. You name it, and it’s most likely we’ve told each other anything about whatever comes to our minds that we’ve seen and heard. We’re as close as any friends can get. Almost like sisters more than anything else. If anyone, she’s the one person I would be willing to die for.”

I heard a frown in Carlo’s voice. “But you don’t trust her enough to tell her that you’re a warlock, correct? Or even let in on your family secret?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out.

What was I supposed to say? It was true, after all.

I couldn’t tell her.

How could I? I always lived with fear of losing my one and only friend.

When I was going through the hardest of times, she was the one that was always there.

For every moment I wanted to commit suicide, the thought of her was what had stopped me from taking that one actual step to doing just that.

Yet, out of all secrets, me having been a warlock living a life of a mortal was the one thing I couldn’t bring myself to tell her.

Tricia having saved me countless of times without her even knowing was what made me grateful to her, and the one thing that didn’t want me to leave her in pain. It was the one thing that didn’t want me to have her lose all her trust and faith in me.

Carlo spoke rather quietly, “You’re afraid of something, aren’t you? Afraid to either let go of or to lose something.”

“I’m not afraid,” I quietly lied. “What do I have to lose?”

Carlo came to a halt to turn and face me. “What do you have to lose? Your friend. That’s one thing that you can lose, Zoey. I’m pretty sure that even if you don’t say it out loud to me, I’m pretty sure that the Tricia Kaufman girl’s still in your life. Or am I just plain old wrong and she’s not part of your life any longer?”

I opened my mouth to protest, but no words came out. That was one of my biggest flaws, but something even he seemed to know that I couldn’t bring myself to deny. And to point that out was like an enormous blow to the face.

Stretching his hand out towards me, Carlo gave me a small soft smile through the night that was beginning to be penetrated by the rising sun. His gentle voice rang throughout the break of dawn, “I promise that when all else seem to be going down the drain, you’ll have at least me by your side.” I didn’t want to believe his words. I wasn’t ready to fully trust him, yet there was something about him that said I could trust him. Whether he sensed it or not, Carlo took a step towards me as he said, “Let me tell you something I barely tell anyone. I can’t really lie, Zoe. It’s too troublesome to keep track of all the lies. Especially to someone I’m with countless amount of times, let alone countless number of hours. Someone like you. Believe me when I say you will never once lose me.”

Whatever it was that had come over me, my hand had stretched out towards his and took hold of it without hesitation. Carlo gently wrapped his hand around mine as he pulled me in close to himself. Soon, he ran his fingertips of his free hand across my forehead as he moved lock of my hair out of my eyes. For some strange reason, I couldn’t bring myself to look away from his eyes.

Golden caramel.

His eyes were golden caramel once again.

“Your eyes,” I breathed. “Why do they keep changing colors?”

As he sharply drew his fingers away from my hair, Carlo answered, “It all changes with my mood. Red means need for blood. Golden color means calm. Or even when in the mood of longing. Blue means relaxed and lost deep in my own thoughts. Dark brown usually meaning something such as me being serious.” Tilting his head to the side with a curious look in his eyes, he asked, “Why do you suddenly ask?”

Calm, or in the mood of longing.

When he said ‘longing,’ perhaps it was in the similar way of lust, but I could have been wrong. It could just simply have been something in back of my mind of desperately wanting to be with him that was causing me to think that way. Whatever the reason, I pushed the thought out of my head as quickly as possible.

But before I could fully put the thought of wanting to be with him out of my head, I put one arm around Carlo’s neck and reached up towards his lips. Just before our lips met, I felt my breath getting caught in my throat as our noses lightly brushed against each other. As he shifted his chin, it was as if he seemed hesitant about leaning his lips all the way into mine just as I was about leaning rest of the way to him.

All too quietly, Carlo’s voice whispered, “Do you like me, Zoey?”

I felt my throat close up as Carlo’s hand slid over onto the side of my neck and his fingers soon around to the nape. I wanted to reply with a ‘yes,’ but no words came out. It was as if my body had a mind of its own as it refused to let me find my voice to speak. To let me at least give him a nod in response.

I took too long to answer. The more I tried, the more the response refused to come. The more I made him wait, the more impatient he seemed to get with me. It got to the point where Carlo finally let me go as he turned his head away from me. And just as he did so, my arm limply slid off from around his neck and down his shoulder.

Clearing his throat, Carlo murmured, “Sorry, Zoe. Forget I asked you anything in the first place.” Turning on his heels, he whispered loud enough for me to hear, “Let’s get going before Alex wakes up. I don’t want to see the kid set off in a panic.”

I watched him begin to walk away, and the further he got away from me, the more guilty I felt for not having answered his question. The more I looked at Carlo’s back, I couldn’t help but feel as though I should’ve at least given him the answer. That was the least he deserved after having stood by my side all these months. When he barely had barely known me, he was willing to stand by my side. Carlo was the one person I was willing to spill my deepest, darkest secrets to, yet I was afraid to tell him that one small answer.

Before I did anything else that I would regret, I ran after him and gently took hold of and held gently onto Carlo’s arm. I was surprised at my own actions, but at the same time, I couldn’t seem to bring myself to withdraw my hands away from him. Staying close to him, I could feel the corners of my lips turning up ever so slightly into a smile as I asked, “You promise?”

“Promise?” Carlo repeated in a confused tone. “Promise what?”

Rolling my eyes at him, I replied, “To be by my side no matter what. Even if Tricia’s to abandon me.”

Carlo stared at me with blank look on his face for what seemed like a long time, almost as though I had gone mentally insane. The blank look, however, turned into a heartfelt laughter as he remarked, “That’s a promise. No matter what happens, you’ll always have me by your side. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, alright?”

His words brought an unexplainable comfort over me, and with it came a broader smile of happiness and relief. Being with Carlo was almost as if I knew why I was alive. What it really was that I was exactly living for. It was almost as if after all these years of trying to figure out exactly who I was, I knew without having to wait for the answer. It was as if to all the questions I had, the answers were right in my hands all that time, and I didn’t have to wait. All the answers had been right in front of me and knew everything without anyone having to explain it to me as long as Carlo was around.

I didn’t notice at first from the moment we had left the graveyard and into the more social grounds, but when we were nearing the housing we were using, I glanced around to see few others still out. Not only were they out, but it was as if the two of us were being greeted by eyes of few vampires that stayed up for what they considered to be late, and of the warlocks and humans that were early risers staring at us. There was something written in all their eyes that said they wanted to know the answers. Answers to what? That was one thing even I would have loved to know.

Timothy came over with rather calm look on his face, and around him were a few number of warlocks and vampires, almost as if they were acting as guards to keep him in line or to keep him safe. It was hard to tell which of the two it was, and for the time being, all that seemed to matter for the time was that Stephen seemed to be in charge of the group that was keeping one of the main vampires guarded.

“Lady Zoey, the time’s running out on us,” Stephen told me in a low voice. “The nut job of a vampire may have made a mistake on trying to attack you, but you have to broadcast to the world that the games will slowly turn into war. That we’ll be the starting point of it all.”

Carlo’s head turned towards me as he whispered to me, “You don’t have to, Zoey. It’s all really your call on if it’s the right time to make the announcement or not.”

I closed my eyes as I tried to process this. I couldn’t jump into making decisions without being certain about it fully.

Was it truly the right time?

Was it really time to just announce it?

Or would it have been wiser to wait it all out?

All so I could try and buy at least myself more time to practice combination of Necromancy and Elementals?

Could I actually go and publicly announce that I was a warlock?

Go as far as telling a white lie if Violet was truly alive by saying I’m the sole survivor of Yukimura Convent, and have all the warlocks that were strongly against the humans gaining their freedom come after me?

“What’ll your choice be, Lady Zoey?” Stephen’s voice asked in a testing manner. “We need your answer now.

I looked up at the group and over to Carlo as the questions ran through my mind like the wheels of a machine that couldn’t seem to be stopped. I didn’t know answers to any of those, and I couldn’t go with my fears and say one thing over the other. I couldn’t give the answer out of fear, but rather out of what I knew was right deep inside. With all the eyes on me, however, I had to give an answer as quickly as possible. I had to play all this out right to make sure that I had this game in the bag. I had to make sure that I was playing all my pieces right in this hypothetical game of chess.

Finally shaking my head, I heavily sighed through my nose as I remarked, “Not yet. In a month or two would be the best time. I’ve only begun to master combining two different types of sorcery.”

“We don’t have time to just lounge around,” Timothy warningly growled, and the others gave him a cold look warning in exchange.

With a venomous smile, I told him as sweetly as possible in a cold tone, “One of those two classes is the hardest of them all to even get into, and I need more time to master this type of Special class, and I want to make sure that other warlocks gets the chance to master their own classes to the fullest of his or her abilities. And we have to decide who will lead the new group that comes in the few months’ time after we leave this place. To keep the leaders behind to gather more recruits was one of the main reasons why I wanted the illusion to be kept up. To guarantee that the ones left behind are the ones to lead the rest and help others get prepared. And I also want to make sure that there’s a place to start up a new life for everyone. This place will be the start, and I want it to spread like an infection. Just like a virus. But I can’t start it right away when even I’m not fully ready to go heads on in this war. And I’m to help Carlo lead you all, I have to make sure I’m fit enough of a leader. Do you have problems with that, Timothy sir?”

When Timothy couldn’t seem to get a single word out of his mouth, Carlo looked around at the group as he instructed, “Well, you heard what she had to say on what she wants to do in terms of broadcasting. If thinking about what needs to be done, it does seem logical, so let’s get to it, shall we not? Do it all in a month or two? Even though we’ll still have our names entered in the future games to come when we get out of here, at least we’ll have a chance to say something on camera. We can take that to our advantage that there’s a war that’ll break out. We can start that broadcast when the warlocks come to get us by end of SAW. Are you in or no? You guys are our strongest leaders among all those that have gathered for this game so far.”

“Let’s get others prepared further,” Deborah’s voice softly said. The motherly side came over both her and her dearest friend Belinda in matter of moments as she said, “We won’t get the chance to practice when we all go back, so might as well dedicate our times to practice while we still have the chance the way Lady Yukimura is.”

Stephen was quiet for awhile before he and Timothy gave a small nod to one another. “It just may as well as be the best offer that’s put on a silver platter for us,” Timothy murmured. “Let’s go tell others to prepare in the one to two months’ time limit we have left.”

6: Chapter 06

Another few months had passed by, and it was getting harder to keep track of the day and the month. Perhaps it was January. Or was it February? Whichever it was, everyone knew that the Survival Among the Weakest was close to being called to an end. Needless to say, it was just the vampires and warlocks that were ready to engage into war – Even the mortals were ready to fight with any weapons, ranging from firearms to crossbows and arrows to as far as knives and kunai, that were given to them on the first day.

“You’ve improved quite a lot, Zoey,” Carlo commented as I entered the kitchen an hour or so before the sunrise. Motioning me to sit, he asked, “Tea?” Nodding tiredly, I stared at Carlo with a bit of confusion at his comment. As he poured a freshly brewed tea into a cup, there was a small smile creeping up onto his face as he remarked, “Your Necromancy. I’ve made sure that Stephen kept me updated on it. Even went to see you practice yesterday about an hour and a half before the sunset. It’s looking real good, and powerful with elemental mixed into it.”

I felt a blush creep onto my face as he handed me the cup of tea as I mumbled with a small yawn, “Oh, thank you.” As he took a seat down next to me, I asked him, “I supposed you’ll be heading to bed soon?”

“Not tonight,” he replied as he took a sip from his cup. “Or this morning, I should really say. But if you’re not ready to broadcast that there are warlocks in the games still, then I may go get some rest once giving some instructions to the Illusionists to create some confusion just to keep the broadcast of the Survival going.”

Leaning back in my seat, I quietly told him, “I may need a little more time to master the arts of Raise of the Dead. I want to see if I can possibly combine both Healing and Necromancy sorceries to fully resurrect the dead.”

“What do you mean?”

His voice was filled with concern, but the way he had said the words made it sound far more strict and harsher than he may have originally intended them to be. It may have been how I perceived it all that I couldn’t bring myself to look at him right in the eyes. I couldn’t even show him that I had my own reasons behind wanting to accomplish it as I looked down at the cup to avoid eye contact as I kept my fingers wrapped around the cup. I couldn’t even tear my hands away when the tea inside was keeping my hands oh so warm in the cold room in the early morning.

When I finally opened my mouth, I heard my voice drop down to a near whisper. “I want to see if I can bring them fully back to life. Fully resurrect them from the grave. I want to know I can be something far greater than any Necromancers to have existed.”

That was the only reason I can give him. At least, for now it was all I could afford to say. I didn’t want him to know the true reason behind it all, and even if he was to ask for anything on what I meant and what my intentions were, that was strictly for me to know and for him to find out. There were things that were better kept secret.

Thuds. Loud thuds. Sound rang throughout the house from the front door as Stephen’s voice called, “Lady Zoey, time for your final practice!”

Groaning, I muttered, “I really don’t want to go out today.” Tiredly rubbing the bridge of my nose, I asked, “You want to go out in my place?”

“The main question is if you’d mind if I tagged along or not to watch rather than if I were to go and practice in your place,” he teased. “If I may be honest with you, I actually want to see if you’ve mastered what your kind considers to be Dark Magic. You came so far and I’m curious to see your mastery level so far. I’ve seen that man practice after you’re gone from the graveyard, and even though he is quite good, gotta say you seem to be beating him in terms of timing of the resurrection, you’re far more skilled than he is. Not to forget to mention you seem to be at very close level of mastery as he is, but with a slight difference between your skills.”

There were few more knocks on the door before I heard a scurrying around. It took only a few more minutes before Stephen entered, carrying Alex, who was half asleep, in his arms. “You really like to take your sweet old time to answer the door,” Stephen grunted.

I half sarcastically told him, “And I’m totally loving that sarcastic tone in your voice.” As I scratched back of my head for a brief moment, I rested my head down on the table as I quietly asked, “So, what’s the plan for today’s training?”

“You have to get trained against illusions just a bit more,” Stephen informed me. “You’re doing quite well against other classes, but that one area? You still need just a bit more work in it even though you’re almost there. Don’t blame you if you can’t tell the difference of what’s real and what’s not since it can be very tricky.”

I thought about it long and hard. What would have been the best move with the Survival game drawing so close to its end. We came in during July. If anything, it was already February at the latest, meaning I barely would have time to practice with ease. And all our Illusionists were going to be left behind to keep everyone in the developing society to make sure it was kept under the covers.

“Are there anyways that we can figure out if an illusion is truly one or not?” I asked. “I mean, is there any way to cancel it out with another Illusionist’s sorcery?”

Stephen gave a small nod as he informed me, “There is, but that really all depends on the strength of the warlock, and how much of it has been mastered. It’s pretty much at advanced mastery level. Was there something on your mind on it?”

“No,” I sighed. “I was just thinking if it was possible, we could possibly try and use it to our advantage as best as possible to cancel out the opposing side’s spells.”

Carlo lowered his voice as the words escaped from his lips, “Do you really think that’d be a wise choice to go with?”

“It’s the best chance we’ll have right now,” I shrugged. “I mean we can’t really fight off the illusion if we think it’s real. It’s hard to tell the difference between what’s cast around us for us to see and what’s actually there before our eyes. If we can’t tell the difference, what chance do we have unless if have help from that specific type of casters?”

“How about we try and get you to learn that class as well, then?” Stephen suggested.

I shook my head in response. “No. I’m already in mist of fully mastering Necromancy and Elementals. I still have room to improve in those two areas, and I can’t afford to stress out further by learning another type of sorcery. It’ll just be too much at this rate. And I won’t have any chance to practice once we get out of here given I’m working three different jobs all week, every day of the week.” Sitting up straight as I stretched my back out, I grunted, “Gather all the warlocks with exception of at least three Illusionists. Have the Illusionists take turns putting up the fortress to put on a show for the world while the ones that are gathered practice take down the illusions casted on one another. And have the others try to figure out for themselves exactly what is real or which are lies.”

As I looked out the window to see the sun already streaming into the kitchen, Stephen asked, “Are you certain?”

“I’m sure,” I quietly told him. “I need to make sure that everyone’s well prepared. We all need to step up in this game.” Finally turning my full attention to Carlo once more, I slowly slid my hand across the table and gently onto his hand. With a small frown and giving him as much of a gentle look as possible, I softly told Carlo, “Why don’t you go get some sleep now? You’ve been working with other vampires all night, haven’t you? It’s time you got well rested up.”

“I’m not sure about letting you go off again by yourself,” Carlo warningly remarked. “If you’ve forgotten, the last time you told me that you’ll be fine, you nearly got beat to death.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him as the words came out without much thought, “I’m still alive, aren’t I? Go get some rest.”

Carlo looked up at Stephen. “Can I keep her here with me for today? It would actually help me to put my mind at ease.”

“Carlo!” I exclaimed in protest.

Before I had a chance to say anything, Carlo gave me a scolding look. With a stern voice, he said, “I want you to stay with me, Zoey, and that’s that. I’d really feel more comfortable if you were by my side today.” Leaning in, he bore his teeth and grazed it across my neck, almost as if he was about to bite into my neck, as his warm breath trickled along my skin. As a shiver ran down my spine, Carlo nearly pleaded in a whisper, “Please? Just amuse me and keep me company, Zoe.”

“Carlo, please don’t,” I barely could whisper as I lost control of my eyes when they had half closed on their own. My heart began to pound wildly against my chest, and it felt as though it was becoming harder to breath by the second.

When I barely turned my head to look at him, my entire body froze up as Carlo looked up at me as he slyly said, “Do as I say, Zoe, and perhaps I’ll reconsider trying to find other ways to force you to stay in with me. And I do mean in ways by making you weak from lack of blood.”

“Just stay seeing he’s willing to threaten you to draining of your blood,” Stephen told me. “I’ll take the child with me to keep him out of your hair if you wish.”

I looked up at Stephen as I quietly replied, “Leave him with kids around his age. If you’re going to take him with you and have him watch the warlocks practice for the day, at least allow him to be left with the younger group. I’m sure they’ll get along better with him than you and the other older folks.” When he raised a brow questioningly, I cried, “I’m only thinking in a way to make sure he doesn’t get bored easily! Trying to keep him and other kids entertained somehow, even if it means during a day of training!”

Stephen rolled his eyes at me as he gave a small bow. “Well, you know where to find us if anything comes up.”

As he turned on his heels and walked away with Alex, I waited until I heard the front door open and close shut to look at Carlo, who had then sat up straight in his own seat. “Were you seriously going to drain me of my blood if I left with Stephen to train?” I asked.

Carlo let out a snort as he told me, “Of course. I was going to drain you, but not enough to kill you. But only just enough to make you weak to your knees. Although, truth be told, I would have had to control myself if I were to start drinking.” As he got up on his feet with a yawn, he held out a hand to me as he asked, “Since you actually did decide to stay, why don’t you just keep me company as promised?”

“Are you trying to make things impossible for me?”

A mischievous grin escaped across his face. “No, not exactly. I’m just trying to make it at least a little bit entertaining for more so than making it impossible for you.”

As I got up myself, I sighed, “Let me at least get a few books to read first. Going to need something to keep myself entertained while you sleep.”

“Are there even any books in this house?” Carlo questioned.

“I’ve snooped around when I got bored, and found a small cellar like place in the ground,” I informed him. “Almost like a secret hiding place. If I had to take a wild guess, this house was originally occupied by warlocks and mortals. Maybe even vampires. A few died out packs with few blood stains, a few fictional books from extremely long time ago, a few spell books, so on and so forth.”

I walked out the room and began looking for that one spot where that door was well hidden away on the ground. Where the secret hiding place for all those books were kept. For some strange reason, I couldn’t seem to quite remember exactly where I had found that hidden room.

Following me around, Carlo sighed inwardly, “Are you sure about having found those old books? You could be having places all mixed up.”

“I’m sure. I don’t think I can stay put without getting bored unless if I keep occupied one way or another. Even if it means going as far as reading some old book.” I recalled a carpet with rich, deep red color and golden brown color that had left a beautiful design all around it lying in middle of the room that I normally used.

I took off running and began pulling on the rug that lay by the foot of the bed. As soon as I managed to get the rug out of the way, I opened the door that was installed into the ground to find various books, old treasures such as jewelries, old Chinas, and old dried up blood packets lying around in the underground storage.

“How’d you find out about this?” Carlo questioned with bewilderment as he watched me rummage through the pile that lay inside.

Without looking up at him as I finally took out an old book titled Cirque Du Freak: Saga of Darren Shan – A Living Nightmare by some guy named Darren Shan. If I had to guess, it was the first book of the Cirque du Freak series. “I was trying to clear my thoughts in the room, and as I was pacing and tapping my feet here and there, I noticed that there was a hollow sound in the ground.” I looked up at him as I finally gave a small shrug. “Naturally, curiosity took over and I began snooping to figure out why there was a hollow sound coming from the ground.” As I got back up on my feet, I held the book close to my chest in one arm and linked the other with his. Smiling brightly up at him, I chimed, “Let’s just get you to bed for you to get some rest.”

I pulled him along towards his room, and he didn’t seem to hesitate for even one moment about following. Instead, it seemed as though he was more than willing. “You’re actually willing to stay with me while I sleep?” he questioned.

Blinking, I asked, “Why wouldn’t I? You’re the one that practically blackmailed me, and who knows if you would actually done it if I went with Stephen.”

When we got in his room, Carlo immediately plopped himself down on the bed and, with not much hesitation, pulled me down with him by the wrist. Lying down on his back as he closed his eyes, he heavily let out a sigh, saying, “I wouldn’t actually have dug my teeth into you, you know. Would’ve been too risky to do so without injecting some venom into you while at it.” Just as he opened his eyes once more, he turned his head to look over to me, slowly saying with a bit of doubt in his voice, “Zoe, tell me the truth. You really don’t want to be a vampire, do you?”

I never once thought about whether being of a different race was possible. Or if it would have been better. Yet, here was Carlo asking questions that I would never have pondered on. Did I really want to be a vampire? Or was it something that would be impossible? Was it possible for warlocks and humans to even become vampires? And was it truly done through being bitten?

Looking down at Carlo, I asked, “What’s with the sudden question? And is it really possible to even turn others into a vampire just by biting?”

“Well, of course it’s possible,” Carlo snorted. Closing his eyes as he turned over onto his side, he yawned, “And that book Cirque du Freak? It has the wrong idea on how vampires are made, and slightly wrong idea on how fast the vampires age. Just saying. And there aren’t two separate groups of vampires, and no secret hiding place for vampires, so don’t go around asking me weird questions about us vampires later when I wake back up.”

Rolling my eyes at him, I turned over to lie flat on my stomach and began reading. What made him say all those? Who knew, but it was matter of time before I found out. And matter of time before he passed out cold and I could sneak out of the building to get some training in. And the moment I opened the book to read, I’ve been engrossed into it until half way through the book.

I couldn’t afford to keep myself to stay still, and my body was itching to get outside. One thing was keeping me from leaving and that was Carlo, who had his arms wrapped around me some time while I was reading. Strange part was that I hadn’t even noticed that he had wrapped his arms around my waist, let alone he exactly had fallen asleep. And as much as I wanted to get out of the house, when I looked at his peaceful sleeping face, there was that small part of me that didn’t want to leave. A part of me that just wanted to stay there in his arms refused to let me move even a bit of my muscle.

Something took over me as I leaned my head down to his and gently pressed my lips up against his warm lips. The last thing I expected was for him to kiss me back, but that’s just what had happened. His lips had clasped around mine. It wasn’t firm, but if anything, that was at least expected from a sleeping person.

Why did I have to kiss him while he was still asleep?

When he didn’t even know full well of the action he was taking?

When for all I knew he was kissing someone else in his sleep?

When for all I knew if he was awake and fully aware of what he was doing, he could just as well as reject me? Never to look at me the same way ever again?

I shook all the useless questions out of my head since there didn’t seem to be much point in keeping those running through my mind. Pulling away from his lips unwillingly, I carefully wiggled out of Carlo’s grasp and got up from the bed as I stretched my arms and legs. Before I even began walking, I looked down at Carlo’s peaceful face once more and couldn’t help but lean down to kiss his temple, whispering, “I’ll be back once done with training, Carlo. I promise.”

I quietly walked out the door, and soon out the front before I began running down the street towards the old martial arts dojo. The only dojo that seemed to remain standing in this specific town of Area 42 that stood just barely a block away from what appeared to be heart of the place. When I reached a set of grand mahogany doors, I swung it wide open and stepped inside, only to find myself greeted by eyes all turning to me. More so with full of surprise than with warm welcome.

As I huffed and puffed, trying to catch my breath, I asked with a bright smile, “So, any room for this Special?”

“I thought you’d be staying with Mr. Suarez all day today, Lady Zoey,” Stephen spoke up in mist of the crowd, and if I had to take a wild stab in the dark, it seemed as though it was on behalf of everyone else in the room.

As my breathing calmed down finally, I remarked, “I was, but I can’t stay cooped up inside all day long. He’s asleep, so I didn’t see any harm in coming out to train for a few hours. At least until about two hours before sundown.” Looking around, I asked, “Anyone need some help for when time to go up against Elementalists come? I’m not much of an Elementalist, but I’m sure I can whip up a storm if I tried hard enough.” Some of the younger warlocks, without much hesitation, came rushing over rather excitedly as they all took hold of my arms.

As the kids pulled me along with bright laughter towards a corner, I couldn’t help but laugh with them. It was far too contagious for it not to catch onto me, and at least the kids would get better sense of what it would have been like to go up against older warlocks, even if it was one of the many that were hiding away in secret. There just seemed to be something there about the kids, not just these but rather kids in general, that I couldn’t say ‘no’ to. Something about them made me fall in love with them more and more by every second that went by.

The more I practiced with these kids, the more I felt as though I was falling in love with these kids as well. And it must have been due to the fact that I was having far too much fun that I didn’t even notice the time going by, and by the time I recalled where I was supposed to be, a mild gust of wind reached where the young group of warlocks and I were from the front doors. Carlo’s voice rang throughout the dojo, “Zoe, where are you? Don’t try running either! I can track you down by your scent!”

I quickly pulled two kids in close and put them in a headlock as I called back, “C’mon, Carlo! Admit it! You know I would have been able to stay cooped up just reading! I had to get out sooner or later to stretch my legs and get some practice in!” As Carlo came striding over with the warlocks splitting like the Red Sea, making a way for him, I exclaimed, “Woah! Slow down there, cowboy! Don’t try and pull the old I-Only-Want-To-Keep-You-Safe card on me! I ain’t gonna buy that story now! Not when I can help these kids train!”

“Look, Tim’s out looking for you again,” Carlo warned me in a low voice for only me and those standing close around me would hear. “And he came knocking at our building first. He woke me up to demand where you were since he had hard time tracking you down. You’re lucky that the older warlocks around here have stronger scent than you to keep you covered well enough from those that actually may mean you harm.”

With a small frown, I questioned, “Did he say why he was out looking?”

“Says he still has suspicions about you,” Carlo informed me. “It’s in case you went off and put yourself in the wide open that I was trying to keep you close by. My clan is one of the few that he’ll be willing to step back from and listen. Maybe go as far as trying to reason with if it means making sure that his suspicions doesn’t prove him to be right. In this case, it means killing you off. Not just to make sure you do nothing foolish to betray us all, but also to use your blood as a bit of a supply for the vampires. I’m trying to keep you safe because I know you mean well for others. Otherwise, I’m sure you wouldn’t have come out here to train with others of your kind to get them prepared for even the ones we’ll have to face.”

I thought for a bit with a heavy sigh. I finally loosened my grip on the two kids and let them go as I tried to figure out how to put my thoughts into words. Scratching back of my head, I quietly asked, “So you think he really may be after me? To attack if I were to be alone?”

“Look, Zoe, you should know at this point that my mind works in a very strange way,” he murmured as he took a step closer to me. “I can remember what barely anyone would. And it’s because of my memories that I was able to pick your scent out from even in this massive crowd. It was hard, I admit, but it was all matter of remembering your scent and trying hard to locate you by it. As wise as that man may be, he hasn’t tried hard enough to find you by the scent. He’s still out there trying to track you down, you know, and he probably won’t rest until he can get you alone. When you’re most vulnerable. All so he can finish you off to make sure you don’t mean any harm to the vampires.” Glancing around, Carlo said, “I’m just trying to make sure he doesn’t try and do anything foolish to try and attack you.”

Stephen came up behind Carlo with his arms crossed, firmly saying, “I think we can provide her the protection she needs from your kind, so why don’t you leave her in peace?”

“Stephen,” I growled, “step down. You of all warlocks here should know Carlo is only saying all this out of best interest for safeties of others around him.”

His eyes averted over to me as he calmly said, “I didn’t want to have to say this earlier, but most of us gathered here are far well experienced to provide you protection. Far more than a mere vampire like him.”

“Enough!” I roared. Furiously glaring at him, I snapped, “You are starting to speak like those that believe for the mortals to be below us warlocks! Vampires and mortals are all in the same rank as us, so do not speak of any vampires as though they are beneath us! Understood?” Stephen stared at me with surprise as I walked past him, roaring at everyone, “And I mean that about you all! Never speak so lowly of vampires and humans! We are all here because we are trying to fight for one another’s equality! Do I make myself clear?”

“But, Lady Yukimura,” Stephen began to say, but no words followed. Instead, he simply stood where he was, staring with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Turning sharply to face him, I snarled, “I don’t want to hear any ‘but’ around here. That’s the last thing I want to hear. Especially from you, Stephen. I don’t know how my parents allowed you to speak on those that aren’t like us, but I refuse to allow you speak on them in such ways.” I didn’t look around at the room as I ordered, “On those that agree with Stephen if it’s alright to speak on the mortals and vampires the way he has, get behind him. Those to that don’t agree with his way of thought, behind me. Whichever side you get on, you won’t be in trouble. Maybe a little lecture or two here and there, but no major trouble.” When no one moved, I roared once more, “Immediately!”

The kids acted first as they got behind me, and the eighteen and up slowly began to move their feet. Soon, all but Stephen were behind me, with exception of Carlo, who stood by my side. Carlo sighed inwardly as he said, “Look, Stephen, it’s not like I’m trying to be a threat to anyone. In fact, I’m only trying to get my race prepared for the upcoming war like she’s trying to prepare you all. We’re all in this together whether you like it or not. It just so happens that some of my kind doesn’t seem to find you all favorable, which is why I’m trying to keep her safe more than rest of you since she’s the main target of the vampires.”

“Get your act straight, Stephen, because I’m starting to get sick and tired of you thinking that Carlo’s one of the vampires that’s here to bring me harm,” I snapped. “Not all vampires are all that bad, and I expected you to know that during the several months we’ve all been stuck here together. I admit that there may be a few vampires that still have their doubts, but it doesn’t mean that all mean to bring us harm.” Stephen opened his mouth to say something, but I stopped him short. “Stop it! Just stop it! I get it! You’re older and wiser than me, but that doesn’t mean you know everything! When it comes to the territory of the vampires, I think I know better in terms of what kind of people they truly are on the inside! I have my head on straight! Do you?”

Stephen was silent for awhile. His eyes were hard to read, and it was even harder to try and figure out exactly what was actually going through his mind. Finally, when he spoke, the first words to come out of his lips were, “Do you really think you know what you speak of?”

“Are you a spy for the higher ups?” I shot back without a second thought. I didn’t have to look around at the others to know that they were thinking the same thing. “Because when we first met, you claimed that you pretty much worked under my convent faithfully. The way you treat me as a fool, like I don’t’ know what I’m doing, I begin to wonder if that’s even true. I wonder if you even trust the decisions I have to make for everyone.”

Stephen heavily let out a sigh as he began to cloud himself deep in thought. “You really trust this race, don’t you?”

“Just as much as Carlo trusts me,” I answered as calmly as possible, but it seemed nearly impossible with the way I was fuming.

Stephen took a few hesitant steps towards me, but stopped as he turned towards the front entrance, saying, “You know where to find me later on. Before the warlocks come and collect us.”

“I hope you’re on your way out to clear your mind, Stephen,” I warningly told him. “It would be a great shame if it was me to break the tie between our convents.”

Not once did Stephen reply, and not once did he look back. There was something in the back of my mind that told me not to trust him. The part of me that believed him on the story of Bilyeo Convent and Yukimura Convent being like old family friends, however, said turning him away would’ve been one of the worst mistakes I’ll ever make. But right now, having to protect the vampires was as high of a priority as gaining back the freedom and equal rights for the mortals. If I had to make it back up to Stephen later on, that was to be my own problems to deal with on my own time, but not now. Not when I had work to take care of for the upcoming war.

With a heavy inward sigh, I hesitantly turned and, once getting a full smile plastered onto my face rather cheerfully. Once finding my voice, I cleared my throat as I asked, “So, who’s up for more training? Anyone feel like bringing in vampires so that they may get some experience in fully going up against our kind?”

“Are you sure about combining the training?” Carlo asked.

With a small nod, I quietly responded, “It’s either now or never for those of us that’ll be going back in a few days’ time. Who knows when they’ll ever get a chance ever again. Anyways, you know just as well as I do that if it’s not in a few days, then it’ll be in just two weeks at the very minimum. I want to make sure that the vampires will be prepared.”

“But Timothy’s a great threat,” Carlo shot at me in a low voice.

Without missing a beat, I shot back, “These warlocks have been training their butts off to get to the point where they are. They are at the level of master in each of their classes. As trained and buffed up in each and every one of their own classes as I am in advanced Priest class, Carlo. I couldn’t defend myself because I’m not an advanced Elementalist. Only an amateur at the very least. An intermediate at most, and you know it.”

Carlo closed his eyes and went into deep thoughts. After what seemed like a long dreaded silence looming over the place, he finally decided to speak up as he looked around, “Who’s the oldest among you all? The oldest after Stephen?”

A 29 year old woman with chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes, Rhonda Feldman, from Area 4, and a 26 year old young man with jet black hair and bright blue eyes, Mark Delrosario, from Area 35 stepped up. “That 29 year old lady, Rhonda of the Feldman Convent, is the oldest among the entire group, but also among the female warlocks,” Mark informed. “I’m the second oldest among the group, but when putting Stephen of Bilyeo Convent aside, the oldest among the male warlocks.”

Carlo’s head tilted slightly to the side, looking almost as though he was carefully looking over both Mark and Rhonda as if to study them carefully. “And you are?” he asked almost as if it were completely out of habit.

Looking over to Mark with a small smile, I said, “Mark Delrosario. He’s from one of the most well respected convents in the world of warlocks, but the Delrosario Convent’s pretty much divided into three at this point. One that’s all for warlocks being in full power, one that’s against it all, and the third that refuses to side with either one of the two sides. He’s from the part that’s fully against warlocks having to be in power, but his part of the convent not once gave up on being Specials of mix of Elemental and other classes of sorcery.”

Corners of Mark’s lips twitched as he cooed, “Someone’s been doing their research on all sorts of convents, I assume?”

“Should I not when there have been various notes left all around the place?” I questioned. “If I’m going to be working with you all, I have to know all your backgrounds to certain degree. It just so happens that with one of the most interesting backgrounds I’ve seen around for first time in a long, long time that I guess it helps me to remember your family’s background history a lot better.” Looking back and forth between him and Rhonda, I asked, “How well do you know other warlocks’ backgrounds that are gathered here?”

Rhonda and Mark exchanged looks as Rhonda answered, “Fairly well. We don’t have all types of classes gathered, but I think we can cover at least some of the main basics for any sort of trainings here.”

With a small nod, I looked over to Carlo as I asked, “You think the vampires will agree to gather here? By telling them that I want to put them through training to get some experience of fighting off various types of classes.”

“They should agree with no problem,” Carlo remarked thoughtfully. “I had a bit of a hard time going up against few of the warlocks, but we can defiantly put up a bit of an immunity to a few types of classes, but extremely few and very specific types.”

Rhonda questioned, “Mind informing us exactly what you guys can build up immunities to so we can help out to the best of our abilities?”

“No one’s really become fully immune to any, so it’s hard to say,” Carlo replied, “but one I’m sure we can fully become immune to is mind control.”

I thought for awhile before I asked, “Which warlocks here specialize specifically in any aspect related to mind or body control?”

As both Belinda Park and Deborah Chang stepped up, they remarked in unison, “Both of our Convents specialize in having influence in others’ thoughts and movements.”

Both Carlo and I were surprised as he asked even in my place, “Do you two possibly think you’ll be able to handle all the vampires in terms of training all by yourselves? Or are there more than just you two?”

Deborah and Belinda exchanged looks as Belinda slowly said, “Well, the thing is that we’re the only ones that have been gathered so far that knows how to use the techniques.”

“And we’re also the only advanced Controllers so far,” Deborah added. “Asides from our family members, of course, but if there are any more Controllers, advanced or not, then it just means that we’ll have to see if they’ll be brought into next Survival Among the Weakest.”

Smiling, Belinda offered, “But it shouldn’t be much trouble training the vampires all by ourselves. I mean, sure, it’ll be a bit of a challenge, but we’ve both been able to control at least ten at a time all on our lonesome.”

They both seemed a bit too confident for their own good, but there was a glint in both of their eyes that said that it wasn’t because they were being cocky. Not because they didn’t want to make themselves look like they were better than the rest. And it defiantly had nothing to do with the two thinking that they were better than everyone else. If I hadn’t known any better, I would say it was because they knew exactly what they were doing. Where they stood in terms of their advancement levels.

“So you guys would be down for training all the vampires that’s gathered so far?” I asked. “And slowly start building up on training others that come in?”

Nodding, Belinda confirmed, “Of course. If it means raising our chances of having at least the vampires get the upper hand in fighting against at least our class.”

“But what are we going to do about other classes?” Deborah asked. “The vampires will have to get prepared and we need to know which they can fight off for certain.”

Carlo remarked, “I can see if I can try and get my name drawn again and come back to work with you all. You all can use me as a test subject if anything to see if we can figure out exactly which sorcery we vampires can build up immunity against.” When he caught me arching a brow up at him, Carlo hurriedly said, “I rather do the grunt work than put everyone through it all. Only reason to come back to be more of help to those fighting for freedom.”

With a stone cold look, I remarked, “If you return, then I’m finding a way to come back with you.” Looking at the two female warlocks, I questioned, “How soon are you two willing to start working”

“Sooner the better,” Deborah replied, and both her and Belinda’s eyes were filled with look of curiosity.

Scratching back of my head with a deep sigh, I looked down at my feet for a moment or two before looking up at Carlo once more. “How soon do you think you can get the vampires to gather?”

“You know it’s risky to leave these two alone with bunch of vampires,” Carlo warned me.

Shrugging slightly, I commented, “Tsk! Well, I never said I was going to leave these two all alone with them! Most vampires here are very well trained and extremely capable to bind up at least two vampires at a time, Carlo. And that’s only at beginner level. All the warlocks will be gathered here to make sure that no one steps out of line. If any vampires are to, then up they go into a bind that they’ll have hard time getting out of. Unless if you’re telling me that you guys are immune to that as well.”

“And if the warlocks step out of line?” Carlo questioned.

With a serious look, I told him, “Then my race has me to deal with. I’ve been meaning to test out my distant range and how quickly I can get the deceased gathered to one place. And if I have to use it on my kind to make sure they stay in line, then I will.”

“If that’s the case, let me go get them right away,” Carlo quietly told me just as he turned on his heels and went on his way to collect the others of his kind.

As I kept my eyes on Carlo, I felt as though my heart was clenching on the inside, almost as though I was in pain. Just to have to push him away was heartbreaking, and I didn’t know why. But there was something about having to watch from even afar that brought peace over me in ways I couldn’t explain. With a heavy sigh, I muttered, “What on earth did I get myself into?” I shook the thought out of my head as I turned to face Deborah and Belinda, asking, “Explain to me exactly how the Controller Class’s spells work. I’ve read about it here and there, but never really had the chance to fully grasp what the books were saying.”

“The mind control part isn’t exactly mind control,” Belinda explained. “It’s more that we cloud their minds, nearly putting them to sleep mentally all so we can control how they behave. But at the same time, that allows us to control their movements, which is where pretty much the controlling of the physical body movements comes into play.”

Deborah’s face cringed a bit as she said, “So it’s not really mind control per say. We only cloud their minds and numb it enough for them to pretty much get drunk. Just without any use of alcohol. But it’s because we Controllers are able to control them physically in that sense that any that are to witness the use of it claims it to be mind control. Since none of us in the class we are in likes to say that we use mind control, we simply decided to partially please them while putting ourselves to ease by having given ourselves the name Controllers long ago. The closest I can put it is television remote controls, shall we say?”

Processing all this, I asked, “Do you two mind if I drew some blood from you both when you all are done training with the vampires? I want to get some blood tested to see if it’s true that vampires are immune to your class’s ability, if there’s any big difference between the blood of the vampires compared to the ones of the mortals and us warlocks.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to test out the brain functions instead?” Belinda asked.

Nodding slightly, I replied, “I’m going to be looking for any records of the races’ brain functions later in the hospitals, as well as any records that the vampires may have hidden away. Hospitals are our best bet to finding any sort of records.”

Giving me a weird look, Deborah asked, “Did you work in hospital as a surgeon?”

“Oh, goodness sakes, no!” I exclaimed. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise! I just happen to have the basic knowledge of how to work the basics of all the technologies in the hospitals because of a good old friend of mine. She’s a surgeon, and I used to follow her once in a blue moon, and watched her work every time going in with her. Just all matter of how much I recall from having followed her in when it comes to the functioning of brain wavelengths and such.”

I didn’t get a chance to put another word in when a gust of wind blew in as the doors flung wide open. When we warlocks all looked over to the entrance, Alex came running over to my side as the vampires came striding in with casual looks, almost as though everything was just dandy and as though we still had all the times we wanted in the world that they could spend. It was almost as if they were forgetting that even after getting out of here, it would mean sure war for each and every one of them, meaning it could mean life or death just as it would have been if we weren’t to start preparing at the beginning of this year’s Survival game.

I motioned the vampires to come on in all the way as I raised my voice for all to hear, “Any vampires eighteen and up, decide which half of you are going to train for immunization up against Controllers! The other half will go off to train with those are seventeen and younger against other types of classes! This is to start preparing you all for the upcoming war! By end of it, I want two adults of each warlocks and vampires and two children from each of the two races to come to me to offer some of their blood for some research that I’ll be doing that is mandatory for the fight! Now get to practice, everyone! For those of us that the world believes to be alive have extremely limited set amount of days to train and be prepared since we don’t know when we’ll next be able to train freely the way we are able to here! We have no time to lose! C’mon, people! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

The vampires didn’t bother to waste time as they immediately got to work. The group split in half when the children took the first step by partnering up with the warlocks around their own age to practice with. Those that were older among the vampires had gone discussing among themselves to try and figure out which half of them were going get the first dibs in going up against Deborah and Belinda.

Putting one arm around Alex’s shoulders, I gently looked down at the child as I quietly asked, “Are you okay, Alex? We really haven’t had the chance to talk lately.”

The child looked back up at me as he hesitantly told me, “Well, I’ve been fourteen for a couple of weeks now. If that counts for anything, that is.”

I couldn’t help but take this as a surprise. The first time I saw him, he was a mere thirteen year old. Now, out of the blue, without warning of any sort, he was fourteen. Where was I when this happened? When did this exactly go down? How could I have missed it? Did he tell me when his birthday was, yet I let it slip my mind without notice?

“Happy belated birthday,” I told him. I couldn’t quite seem to cover up my surprised tone when I found my voice yet again. “When was your birthday?”

With a small shrug, Alex replied, “December 12. I didn’t say anything because you were held up with training, and it didn’t seem all that important compared to what we’ll be facing once getting out of here.”

Ruffling his hair with a small smile, I told him, “Don’t say that. Everyone here, which just happens to include you the last time I had checked, are important. Got that, kid?” Turning all my attention to Carlo when I saw him approaching through the corner of my eyes, I felt a serious frown falling over my face. “Everything prepared and set to go for training even for yourself?”

“I want to make sure everyone starts first and fine before I jump in with any of the groups. How about you? You going to make sure everyone’s doing fine or jump in with the any of the groups?” Carlo’s voice was low when he spoke, almost as though it was meant for my ears and mine alone.

Looking around, I replied, “I need to go around and see the mortals first. It’s been awhile since I was able to see anyone asides from Stephen, and it’s about time I gave them at least a bit of reassurance and to see if the ones that are staying behind will want to be the mentors for the new mortals to come in for the shooting range. We’re going to need more gunmen and archers, and having mentors would defiantly help quite a bit on this side.”

“I thought you wanted to stay to make sure no one steps out of line.”

“I do, but I also have to make sure I let the humans know that they’re not forgotten. Just make sure to send one of the Transporters to me if anyone gets injured. I’ll be back before you know it.” Taking Alex by the arm firmly, I said, “Let’s go, Alex. There’s no chance in hell that I’m leaving you here without any protection during the training.”

I saw Carlo’s hand twitch just as Alex and I began walking, and few of the vampires gave me a warm smile as they greeted me rather warmly. More warmly than I had ever expected. If I didn’t know any better, it was as if they were all in favor of me, which the McNamara father and son duo still didn’t seem to approve of still.

“Do you two like each other or something?” Alex asked once we were out of the dojo and walking down the street towards the batting cages.

Looking down at the child with confusion, I asked, “Hm? Who are you talking about?”

“You and Carlo,” Alex replied with a roll of his eyes. “Do you two like each other?”

I felt my face burning up, almost as if my face was becoming completely flushed. I had nothing to hide from anyone of this gathering, but my feelings were something that I had to keep in check and in line. The one that I had to go the extra mile and keep myself in line for was Carlo more so than anyone else. But why was it that when I knew I had to keep myself in line, that one question got to me more than anything else?

“That’s nonsense,” I told him as I looked straight ahead. “If anything, I can only see that man as a brother. At most that’s what I can see him as to say the least. Besides, he truly is like a family to me.” Looking down at the kid with bewilderment, I cried out, “Why am I talking to you about this? You’re just a kid!”

A coy smile spread across Alex’s face as he said in a sing song tone, “Admit it! You like him!”

I bonked him on the head, and just two, or perhaps it had been three, had clamped Alex’s mouth right up. As I looked straight ahead once more, I sternly told him, “Don’t think about spreading any sort of rumors. That’s the last thing we need, especially considering the situation we’re all already in.”

What other answer was there to give?

When times like this was most critical as well?

And as much as I didn’t want to deny it to even myself, I saw no other choice if I was to keep my full focus on all the fights that were up ahead of me.

I had to stand strong with my head held high if it meant leading a large group of people into an upcoming war, and I wasn’t ready to back down from my position just yet.

Not when the important times were just up ahead of us all.

Not when there were people counting on me to lead them.

And especially not during the time when Carlo needed me the most to be by his side to help him out as much as possible in leading these people to as close of a victory as possible if all of this was to be nothing but a failure.

If I didn’t at least try to see through this, then that would have been, at least how I saw it, the worst type of failure within any type or degree of failures itself. I had to try to know for sure to see what would be or could have been no matter which direction this had gone in.

BANG.

RAT-A-TAT.

PHT.

SCHWAF. SCHWAF. SCHWAF.

TUFF. TUFF. TUFF.

THWACK. THWACK. THWACK.

CLASH.

Weapons were being fired, shot, and hit against either woods or against other steels. And it was when the sounds began to ring and reach our ears that both Alex and I knew we weren’t too far from the batting cages where all the mortals were practicing.

I glanced down at Alex as I asked without second thought, “By the way, why aren’t you practicing at least archery and sword fighting skills with other kids? You could use the skills, too, Alex, since you may end up having to go into the front lines. And it wouldn’t hurt to practice if that time was to truly come for you since we adults can’t always be around to protect you kids at all times during the fight against my race.”

Alex gave a small shrug in response as his smile turned upside down into a deep frown. “I was really never fond of even shooting arrows. Let alone sword fighting or gun shooting. With spells flying around and killing people, I thought that was bad enough as it is. Now, with a war coming, just the thought of bloodshed kind of irks me, I guess.”

How Alex thought was so simple, yet more broad, but thoughtful, in a sense I would have never thought it as long as I was help leading the fight for freedom. Did the kids truly want to learn how to shoot arrows, fire guns, and learn the skills of a swordsmanship? Or were Carlo and I, along with all the other adults, just simply putting them through these trainings by force? Did they think the way Alex did, or were their thought processes on this topic opposed to his?

The one thing in back of my mind that really bothered me now more than before was how could I have not thought to ask the kids on their thoughts on this issue? What answers would they have given me? What would they have said if they were asked? What would their reactions have been? Why hadn’t it occurred to me to ask them sooner on their opinions to be put through trainings sooner?

So many questions that I’m sure no one could answer had entered my mind. Yet, I just couldn’t seem to form answers for myself. Even if I wanted come up with excuses, with lies, nothing. My mind simply went blank at all the questions that came into mind, and something deep within my chest felt as empty. While empty, heavy, almost as though I had heavy anchor weighing down on me again. I wasn’t sure if it was because I cared about the kids and loved them too much that I didn’t want to second guess myself sooner, or if it was because I’d been lying to myself that the kids won’t think much of it. That they’d look the other way and think of it all as nothing but a game, but that could have been out of too high of a hope that the kids would never think negatively of me.

Now, there was no escape from the truth of it all. It was almost as though as soon as Alex had said those words, a light bulb went off in my head and cleared my thoughts, causing me see things to the right perspective on how the kids may view it all. And there was a pang of guilt suddenly hitting me hard deep in my heart, nearly piercing and painful. And, it wasn’t that I knew what it exactly felt like but if I had to choose and put it into any words, it felt almost as though a bullet had been shot and pierced straight through it.

When I looked down by my side, I noticed that Alex was already gone. He was off with kids around his own age, learning how to shoot arrows against his own will as he forced himself into it. With a deep heavy sigh, I tried my best to shrug off all the questions. Of course, it was all nothing but a huge failure. How could I shrug off a thought such as that when I’ve been telling myself all this time that I cared for and loved these children with all my life and soul?

I walked over to one group that was working on shooting with handguns, asking one of the people, “Let me work with you guys for at least half an hour? I haven’t had much chance to work with any of you, and it’s about time to do so.”

Steven Hathcock, a Caucasian 22 year old from Area 10, looked over as his shaggy dirty blond hair blew in the slight breeze and his crystal blue eyes shone in the now fully risen full moon. With a warm smile spreading across what the people meeting him for first time would see as a near menacing face of his, Steven motioned for me to come over with left hand as he raised his right a bit to show the handgun in his hand.

“You know how to shoot?” he asked when I neared him.

I shook my head in response. “Never have, but willing to learn.” I thought for a moment before quickly adding, “That is if you’re willing to help. No pressure. You don’t have to if you’d rather practice than help some warlock out with shooting weapons.”

Steven blinked a few times before a roar of laughter escaped from deep within his throat. “I thought you’d know how to shoot considering you had two guns with you when the Survival game all started!” he admitted.

Laughing nervously with a weak smile, I confessed, “I know somewhat how to aim, but I may not be much of a shooter. Never shot a gun in my life before. Never even went to a shooting range in my life. And just aiming at those standing close to me, yeah, hard to miss. But far away targets? Who knows how terrible I am.”

Smiling, he asked, “Alrighty, then. First thing’s first. Are you a lefty or a righty?”

“Righty,” I replied. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

His chuckle that vibrated off of him was warm, and Steven said as he scratched top of his head, “That’s more for me to remember when I start teaching you archery if need be later on.” He abruptly grabbed my wrist and pulled me in to have me stand in front of him to face the target of rings, almost like the target used for the archery. Having me wrap my right hand around the gun with my left supporting from the bottom, he told me, “There are a couple stances, but the one you’ll want to use is the one called the Weaver. It’s the ones that’s commonly used when people are walking around. Also said to be used by those like police officers long ago. Make sure that your left shoulder, the support shoulder, angled towards the target. Both your elbows should be bent, too, with your support elbow pointing towards the ground. And remember to keep your knees slightly bent, legs spread shoulder length apart, and lean your weight slightly forward and make sure to keep it there.” I could almost hear a serious frown in his voice as he told me all this, but could tell it had soon turned into a bright smile as he let go of me, warmly saying, “Now, try shooting the target. I’ll be here to help and correct you in anything that may be wrong along the way.”

I followed the exact instructions of holding up the handgun before aiming straight for the bull’s eye. Once I had the focus, and hoping with all my heart that I had the right aim, I pulled the safety off and slowly pulled the trigger back. Soon, without warning, the loud sound went off and reached into what felt like the deep end of my eardrums.

BANG.

7: Chapter 07

A few weeks had passed, and the warlocks had made the announcement of stopping by to collect the so-called survivors. About an hour before their arrival, I called for a meeting for all in the now abandoned movie theater. The walls were torn down to make a bigger room out of the place, and the stage was built on to make it bigger that it originally had been. To say the least, at least the place was more fitting for a meeting more so now than before, especially for a group as large as this.

When everyone had gathered, neither Carlo nor I spoke for awhile as Jason stood behind Carlo. Jason seemed a bit too antsy, unable to stay still, as he rushed us with the words, “Hurry it up! We can’t linger around forever! The warlocks are coming to collect whoever they think they saw survive to the end, and we’re losing time!”

“Shut up, Jason!” I snapped. “Don’t think we haven’t realized that!”

I was under a lot of stress as it is, and I didn’t have time to apologize. Not with all the things that I was trying to get processed through my mind. I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose as a deep inward sigh escaped from deep within my chest just as Carlo rested his hand on my shoulder and gave a small squeeze. “Keep your cool, Zoe,” he softly murmured to me. “I can’t have you begin going downhill on me now.” When I didn’t respond, he quietly pleaded, “For me?”

A groan escaped through my lips as I exclaimed, “Damn it, Carlo! Fine! Just know I’m holding you responsible for keeping me in line!” I walked over to the edge of the stage, roaring over the loud chatter, “Be quiet, and we’ll get this show on the road!”

When everyone in the room quieted down, I looked over to Carlo and gave him a small nod, leading him into clearing his throat. “As you all know, just over half of us will be leaving this place with the title Survivors while the other half us will be remaining behind and continuing on with the training,” Carlo reminded everyone in the auditorium as I jumped off the stage. “But it doesn’t mean that those of us leaving will be stopping the training altogether! We’ll have to continue our training, but just in secret and more cautiously to the point where we don’t raise suspicions among the warlocks to who’s already begun the rebel.”

Before Carlo continued, if he had anything else to say, of course, I spoke loud enough for all to hear as I walked down the center aisle, “In approximately a month’s time, all of us going back as the so-called Survivors will have a chance to gather to remember one another’s faces. So that if we end up coming back, we may recall who fought during which year and which of us survived exactly which SAW game. It’ll be then that I’ll announce that I, a Yukimura Convent member, survived as a sole survivor. Of course, the catch to it will be that I won’t be revealing that I am that survivor, and I expect no one to reveal it either until we fully engage in the war. It will be the one thing I will be paying price on behalf of all of you, and when the announcement that there’s a Yukimura Convent member that survived is made, I expect all of you to take a step forward to show that you all are the core leaders in this revelation! To have the warlocks that believe in suppressing all of us vampires, humans, and the warlocks that believe in equal rights into fear to give them something to fear over in exchange! The war starts with us, and let’s do whatever we can to make sure that it ends with us to the best of our abilities! By bringing victory into our favor!”

Excited murmurs spread throughout the room like wildfire, and it was matter of minutes, perhaps matter of moments, before everyone began to rise, chanting the word, “Freedom!” Only one was heard like the bell chiming from the church. Like the wedding bells in the sunny day. And if there were any other words being chanted through the mist of the loud noise, then it just wasn’t reaching my ears.

Carlo jumped off the stage with a broad smile and waked over to me, but when he was close, his smile immediately fell into a deep frown. Leaning in, he said into my ear over the loud noise, “We have to talk about Stephen Bilyeo!”

No one around us heard his words for it was too loud, but if Carlo wanted to talk, I knew it must have been something serious. I didn’t lose a beat as I gave him a small nod as I felt the corner of my lips fall into a deep frown, and it was right then that Carlo grabbed my wrist and pulled me along as he hurriedly rushed outside.

“Carlo!” I exclaimed. “What’s up with you suddenly dragging me out? Who’s supposed to watch over and talk to the others?”

Turning around to face me as he pushed me up against the wall, Carlo hurriedly said, “Don’t worry about the group. I’ve already talked to Jason about it when Timothy McNamara came to see us about an hour or so after few warlocks have. He said he’ll take care of it while I talked to you.” He briefly glanced towards the now shut door, and there was something written all over his face that said there was something big weighing heavily on his mind. “I don’t know how to break it to you about Stephen, Zoe, since he’s the one that trained you and helped all these months.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” I asked. “What about Stephen? What was it that was exactly said about him?”

Swallowing a bit, Carlo slowly said, “From what I can piece together on what your kind had to say when few of them came to see me, Stephen’s trying to turn them up against my kind. He’s been telling them that Timothy’s been after your neck, which isn’t a complete lie. And with Timothy and his son having attacked you that one night, causing the vampires to long for a taste of your blood, the warlocks aren’t all that happy. Some of them came up to me to confess that they have been tempted to actually plot against me and other vampires. Said they would’ve gone to talk to you if they knew that you’d actually be calm about it all. At the same time, there’s also a rumor going around about you being a spy for the higher ups. That you’re put in here to see who the traitors are. And they said they heard it from the vampires, so there may be a few that just as well as may have doubts in you.”

“What did Tim tell you?” I shakily asked.

Deep inside my chest, there was anger that was beginning to boil up on the inside. It felt as though it would eventually become something more than what I’d been able to handle. More than what I could control, and I was afraid of just what I would end up becoming. And for some strange reason that I couldn’t quite explain, with having to be with Carlo, there was something in the back of my mind that told me everything will be alright. That no wrong would happen and nothing would go downhill as long as he was with me. It was as if there was something about this man that was able to put my mind at ease without even having to try.

When Carlo’s eyes came back to meet mine, I saw nothing but pain in his eyes as he tried his best to comfort me. “Timothy’s been saying that Stephen’s been saying nothing but cruel things about you. That you mean nothing but true harm to mortals and us vampires. While at it, Timothy’s informed me that Stephen’s been trying to make himself look like the saint. Stephen’s been going around telling the vampires that you’re secretly working for the warlocks that want to keep us all under their power to make sure they’re in the ruling. That’s the reason for him and his son having tried to attack you because they bought Stephen’s words as the truth. They actually thought you were a spy until they began to feel as though you were truly being sincere with us all. When I told him of all that the warlocks have said on what Stephen’s told them, we’ve come to believe that Stephen’s not truly on our side. I think he wants you dead. If not as far as dead, then at least give you a solid reason to turn against us all to finish up to keep all of us under the ruling of your race.”

I began to feel Carlo’s hands slipping away from my shoulders as I began sliding down the wall until I hit the ground. I was trembling all over and in matter of seconds, I began to feel my breath shortening. I knew it couldn’t have been just shortening of breath – I knew that out of all things to happen now of all times, I was beginning to hyperventilate. Why had I become the sudden target? What price was put over my head for others to actually come after me? Did that man truly want me to either be killed or for me to assist the warlocks that were in full control?

Carlo knelt down in front of me with a bit of a panicked look in his eyes as he searched my eyes, asking, “Zoe? You going to be alright?”

“What do I do?” I asked. My voice was trembling, and I couldn’t seem to quite control it. “What should I do, Carlo? I trusted him! All these damn months, I trusted that man to help me! And he goes off and does this?” Just then, the doors swung open as Stephen stepped out. And it was the very moment when he came into my view that I shot up on my feet, screeching, “I swear I’ll kill you even if that’s the last thing I do, Stephen Bilyeo!”

Carlo took quick hold of me and put me in a lock from under my arms and around my shoulders, making sure that I didn’t jump on Stephen to actually murder him. “What did I do?” were the first words to come out of Stephen’s mouth, and he sounded as though he was filled with nothing but surprise.

“What did you do?” I laughed like a mentally insane person. I began to shriek, “What did you do? It’s more like what you said! You try to have other warlocks go against me by making them believe I’m here to turn against them! You have the vampires believe that I’m a secret spy just like you’re trying to have the warlocks view me! I get beat and looked down on by others because of, and you’re asking me what you did? Do you really take me for a fool, Stephen?”

Stephen tried to look confused, but the corners of his lips twitching upward into a smile gave him away. Laughing, he said, “Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I’m the spy. I get out, I can rat you out, meaning you’ll get killed off by the higher ups. I guess I should let you know at least before you die. I’m the one that betrayed your family. My convent has betrayed yours for generations, and I honestly didn’t intend to stop just because I became fond of both your father and gained interest in your mother. If you agree to join us and keep these fools in line, I’m sure my higher ups would reconsider killing you off, Lady Zoey.”

Without warning, Stephen fell to his knees, and soon falling onto his stomach just as the doors open with three warlocks holding both hands stretched out in front of them. Lock Down. He was held down by one of the few types of Lock Down spells, and he was struggling to try and free himself from it. As the vampires and other warlocks came out, Timothy and his son in the lead, the man growled, “I wasn’t sure if it was your blood that was foul or if I was just getting old. I should’ve gone with my instincts instead of listening to you.”

“But you fell for my words,” Stephen laughed. “It was so hard making you believe that Lady Zoey and I were in swapped positions in terms of the spy and the rebel, too! It still baffles me that you actually believed my words! All because I’m far older than that young Priest!”

Carlo harshly grabbed my shoulders and forced me to turn around to face him. As he held me close with one arm and firmly planting a hand on the back of my head, Carlo softly ordered, “Finish him off. She’s been through a lot as it is with her family, and she at least deserves a life without her family’s murderer in it.” I heard what sounded like a vicious attack of biting and scratching behind me, almost like the sound of something like a punching bag being torn into pieces, and I suddenly began to sob uncontrollably. I lightly clutched onto his shirt as I tried to control my sobbing, and Carlo stroked my hair as he tried to calm me back down.

Why the tears decided to start coming down like the waterfalls now? I had no clue, but of all things, I couldn’t believe I had trusted someone who wanted me dead all these months. More so than that, the one thing that bothered me even further was the fact that I allowed myself to trust someone so easily. Carlo may have been a special exception, but how? What had caused me to trust Stephen so easily, allowing myself to put myself in the situation where my life was put at high risk?

As he tried to keep me facing away from what now must have been Stephen’s dead body, Carlo led me back inside. I saw through the corner of my eyes that at least one arm was torn off and lying around a few feet away from the body. “Guys, put the body away somewhere where all the remaining vampires will have easy access to for drinking whenever needed. And, Illusionists, please set up some sort of a scene for the world to see to show a different version of Stephen’s death, please?” Carlo waited until he took me inside the auditorium and sat me down in one of the seats all the way in the back. Kneeling down on the ground next to me, he remained quiet for what seemed like a long while, but when he finally spoke, the first words to come out of his mouth were, “Are you going to be alright, Zoey?”

Shaking my head, I tried to stop the tears as I shut my eyes tight and turned my head away from him. “Did they really kill of Stephen?” I barely managed to ask as my throat closed up on me. “Did you really have them kill him off?”

“You had to be kept safe one way or another,” Carlo apologetically told me. “You have to understand for the sake of your safety, I had to have him be finished off. I couldn’t allow you to be killed off, Zoe.”

All the vampires and warlocks had come back inside with any trace of blood that were left on them completely cleaned off. Where and how did they go off to get washed? Who knew, and I honestly could care less for answers. At least for now I could care less for one. Jason got off the stage and strode over to us as most mortals remained seated, talking to one another, and a few got up and came over as well.

“Smell of Bilyeo’s blood’s lingering around, but it’s stronger than I’ve ever smelt,” Jason remarked. “I assume he’s been killed off, now?” He didn’t give neither me nor Carlo a chance to answer as he said with just one look at me, “Oh, wow! Someone’s looking real pale! You see any ghosts around lately, Mahlendorf?”

Carlo shook his head as he said, “Please don’t try and crack jokes now of all times, Jason. Stephen spilled all his beans that he has betrayed her family like his convent always backstabbed hers generation after generation. I don’t think she needs any sort of jokes cracked on her right now.” He gently placed a hand on my knee as he softly asked, “Zoe? Answer me. Are you going to be alright?”

I got back up on my feet and began taking steps rather shakily, almost tripping over my own two feet at every step I took forward on my trembling legs. I tried to shake off any and all the negative thoughts off my shoulders as I tried to keep my voice steady when calling out to all gathered in the auditorium, “The warlocks will be here soon to gather the Survivors. Illusionists, keep everyone safe and in hiding. And I expect everyone here to continue on with your trainings here to make sure that all of you are well prepared for your own fights against the warlocks!”

I didn’t have to hear my own voice to know how I sounded. Just how much I truly was terrified. Exactly how much I was trying to sound brave. The last thing I needed to leave behind with all these people were that one of the few people that had a great desire to bring them victory, bring them peace, was afraid. The one thing I wanted to show them before we all split was that I was willing to lead. That I had no fear in leading them to the furthest corner of victory, to their rights, that I possibly could.

Carlo put an arm around my shoulders to help me stay up on my feet. To help me keep my uncontrollably shaking body as steady as possible. And the very moment he placed his arms around me, I began to feel at ease and it felt far too comfortable for even my own good. It felt almost as though nothing bad come get to me. Not even harm, no matter how bad of a degree it was. It was almost as if as long as I was in his arms, everything was going to be alright. That I’d forever be safe, and I couldn’t quite seem to put my finger on the reason why.

Deborah and Belinda came up to us as the two sister-like friends both gave me a hug in a near unison. Deborah had released me, but Belinda held on as she leaned back slightly, saying, “Don’t ever hesitate to contact us if possible. We’ll try and figure out a way to our best abilities to somehow get back to you to let you know how everything here’s going.”

“Just stay strong, little lady,” Deborah chimed with a warm, encouraging smile.

As Carlo gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze, he called, “All the Survivors, grab whatever was given to you with exception of your weapons, and let’s get going to the starting point of this game! It’s time to go back home and get prepared for our next meet in few weeks to make our announcement of the fight!” Once I gave Belinda and Deborah a quick hug each, Carlo led me outside as he kept his arm around my shoulders to keep me steady. I could hear a hopeful smile in his voice when he asked the words, “Would I still be able to crash with you when we get back, Zoe? Or is that off limits now that we’re done with this fake game?”

Looking up at him, I barely managed to answer in whisper, “You’re more than welcome to stay at my place. I can help you look for a place as well if you’d like. If not, I can just try and find a new place for myself as times passes and you keep the one that I have if you don’t want any trouble looking for a place of your own.”

“You don’t have to do all that,” Carlo quietly told me, “but you sure? About me staying at your place until I find a place of my own, that is.”

I gave him a small nod. “Don’t complain, and just accept the offer, won’t you, Carlo? Remember when I first brought you in, you aimed a gun at me? I still let you stay afterwards, didn’t I? It’s not like I’m going to kill you in your sleep when we get back.”

When we got to the starting point, the heart of the town we were originally brought to months ago that now seemed infinite amount of years ago. Others that were thought to be Survivors by all around the world who believed to have witnessed everything on their television gathered as well not too long after Carlo and I had arrived. But instead of forty-eight as it was of us being there as originally planned, it was now down to forty-seven. Stephen was supposed to be our lucky forty-eight, but I guess that all changed when having to bring him down to his death.

Alex came up to us when he arrived, and at first, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he just simply stared at us, but when he finally did speak, the words to come out were, “I’ll see you guys again, right?”

“Of course, Alex,” I softly replied with a smile. I knelt down in front of the young boy as Carlo released me from his grip. “If you ever need someone to contact, remember this address. 1460 Forest Street, East Field Sector, Area 18. Just write letters to that address, and if lucky, you just may get a letter or two back. I promise.”

Twenty-four warlocks appeared all around the place, just behind the either one or two people of each Area, as the one in apparent charge that stood behind me and Carlo loudly said, “Congratulations to all that survived after all these months! For those of you that have lost track of dates, it’s currently February 10, 3022 DDA. We warlocks will be bringing you all back to your respective homes, and don’t forget to keep your fingers crossed in hopes you won’t have to come back to participate in the SAW ever again! Remember, just because you won this time does not guarantee your safety from it in the future!”

A large hand was placed on my shoulder and pulled me back sharply, away from Alex, and there was a blinding white light that soon surrounded me without warning. Before I knew it, I was kneeling in my own home with Carlo standing by my side, and I couldn’t help but look up at the advanced leveled Transportation warlock, snapping, “I wasn’t done talking to that kid!”

The warlock lowered his rich silk violet hood, revealing his shaggy silvery white hair that partially covered his blood red eyes. Warningly, he told us, “I’ve been asked to bring warnings to the two called Carlo Suarez and JoBeth Mahlendorf. You two are they, correct?”

Carlo helped me back up on my feet as he kept me slightly behind himself in a defensive manner, cautiously saying, “What if we are?”

“Just tell me if you two are Carlo Suarez and JoBeth Mahlendorf,” the warlock ordered.

Standing my ground as I lightly gripped Carlo’s upper arm, I growled, “If you want your damn answer, tell us your damn reason. Simple as that.”

The warlock sighed heavily as he grunted, “You’re not that easy of a pair, are you? I was asked to deliver a message by an insider. Caroline Rivers. That name mean anything to either of you?”

I felt my face harden as I asked through gritted teeth, “Does the name Stephen Bilyeo by any chance mean anything to you?”

“That man’s assisted the higher ups decade after decade,” the unnamed male replied. “He always entered voluntarily every year since about seven years ago. I heard that it was because there was a Yukimura Convent member on the loose, and didn’t start entering him to find her until she turned age of twelve with belief she was living a life of a mortal. And it’s a shame for those higher standing warlocks that he was killed off after all these years. And he did such fine work for the others for so long to kill the ones that were believed to believe in equal rights for the mortals. Why do you ask?”

“What does he mean to you is what I asked!” I yelled.

Just as angry as I was, the warlock yelled back, “He means nothing to me if the truth is what you’re looking for! He was nothing but a scumbag! My entire family fell because of that man, and I’m the only one left standing!” His voice dropped low as he growled, “And I’m one of the few that works to lead the rebellion from the inside. When we find the ones that have entered the games and come out as survivors, I see them as fit to fight and begin to recruit. You two are quite the interesting ones, but my biggest priority at the moment aren’t you, but Carlo Suarez and JoBeth Mahlendorf. Now tell me if you know them or not.”

“We are they,” Carlo said as he got between us slightly. “What do you want with us?”

Looking directly at me, the warlock said, “Lowey Zoey Yukimura, your sister Violet has requested that the message should be more directed towards you than to Suarez. In a few months, when the Drawing of the Names approaches once again, expect your name to be drawn. This past one was not a mistake, and this upcoming one shall be no different. It’s not certain if Suarez’s name having been drawn was on purpose or not, but Violet Yukimura has no doubts in her mind, and I have no doubt in my mind either, that your name was purposely drawn. Prepare yourself to face wild animals. Panthers. Lions. Mountain bears. You name it. Any wild animals you can imagine, and any wild fruits that grows out there. Study them all. If you know all the animals that are to exist in the wild, both in and out of jungle, up and down the mountains, and all the creatures of the ocean and the sky, then you’ll do well to fight for your life. Know all the berries and herbs that grow in the wild, all the grasses and leaves, any plant that is to thrive in the wild, then you’ll know what to eat to live. What to avoid to keep yourself from being killed. Take this as a fair warning from Violet Yukimura, Zoey Yukimura, and you shall do well in the wild when being chosen once more.”

“You’re giving me instructions as if you know exactly what is planned for the next SAW,” I remarked suspiciously.

With a small nod, he informed me, “Edward Balsamo, the Alpha Warlock, has instructed he wanted to see something more wild. To have more thrill be put into play. And in exchange, Michael Fackleman was the one to come up with the crazy stunt of putting wild animals, all from threatening to harmless creatures all alike, to be put into play. All was being recorded all the way in his office due to a quill being under a spell to write down anything that was being said in the meeting of what is to be discussed. It’s discussed for all of the Organizers to write it down and discuss upon it, but Michael Fackleman went the extra mile to write extra set of notes.”

“What does that have anything to do with Caroline Rivers?” Carlo questioned before I had the chance to do so myself.

Turning his attention to Carlo, the male warlock replied, “Michael Fackleman slipped the notes into her stack of paperwork. He bumped into her, and her theory is that he purposely made her drop all her work on the ground so that he could slip the notes in as he helped her gather all her work back up. Those of us working secretly to organize a rebellion from within that are the most well trusted have secret codes, and she slipped a paper with a note asking me to pass on the message.”

“So you’re telling me that I’m going back in?” I had barely managed to get those words alone past my lips barely above a whisper.

When the warlock nodded in response, Carlo demanded, “Get me in, too, then. She’s not going in alone.”

“Carlo, no!” I growled at him. “You’re not getting yourself back in there!”

Glaring down, he snapped, “Yes, I am, and that’s final! You’re not going back in all by yourself! Not when I know that there will be wild animals that will be on the loose! Meaning I’m going to do whatever it takes to go back in with you! I left Brandon McNamara in there, and I need to make sure that he’s not leading the vampires down the wrong path! I don’t know exactly how worried you are about the warlocks and the mortals, but I sure as hell am worried about their safety just as much as I am worried about the vampires keeping their head straight in the game. All to make sure that the others are kept safe from harm’s way of my kind. Just as much as you want your race to release us vampires and humans from captivity.”

I opened my mouth to argue back, but no words came out.

What was there to say? I couldn’t say that wasn’t what he truly wanted for himself.

What could I possibly have said to make Carlo change his mind? Perhaps he was serious about wanting to return for the reasons he gave.

How could I possibly deny everything that he had said to be true? For all I knew, Carlo could have wanted to go back for the sole purpose of making sure he kept me safe, but there was no possible way to prove that to be the truth over the words that came out of his own mouth.

Looking back at the silvery white haired male, Carlo asked, “So, what can you do to help me get back in with her? I have unfinished business during this last SAW.” I swore I could have seen his eyes averting to me for a brief moment as he added, “And she needs someone who’ll watch her back in the game. I don’t trust anyone to get the job done properly, and I rather see it done right. Who would be better than me? If even this Violet Yukimura is truly alive as you say she is, then even she would be more than willing to help me get back in on purpose.”

The blood red eyes move back and forth, nearly as though scanning the ground to look for something, but his eyes were clouded. He was lost deep in his thoughts for a long while, but when he finally spoke, the words that came rolling off his lips were, “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll go as far as sending a secret message to Violet Yukimura since she’s one of the warlocks whose words will be taken into highest considerations.” As he pulled the hood back over his head, he softly told us, “Look after yourselves. Both of you. And I mean it from the bottom of my heart when I say I wish you both best of luck. Especially if both your names are drawn once more for the next Survival Among the Weakest game. You’re going to need all the luck you can get.”

Just as the warlock turned his back against us, I asked, “Could I get your name? In case I ever need to get hold of you.”

“No point, but we’ll be in touch, I’m sure,” the man replied. “It’ll be no problem tracking either of you down if we ever need to talk.”

No more words were exchanged.

To be more precise, there was no chance to exchange even another.

The other warlock disappeared into the thin air, and even though I was uncertain about if it were the same situation for Carlo, I knew that for me personally, I knew for certain I had more questions to ask.

Questions that were left unanswered.

But even if I had the chance to ask that man even one question that I had on my mind, I’m sure that he wouldn’t have been able to give me answers to any of them.

The lights to the place flickered on, and an electronic female voice that sounded all too familiar greeted, “Welcome back, Miss JoBeth Mahlendorf and Mr. Carlo Suarez. It’s nice to finally have you back months of your absences. Is there anything I can do for you?”

I turned my gaze to Carlo questioningly, but he shook his head. “Nothing comes to mind that I need to get done,” he quietly informed me.

Tricia Kaufman. Out of all people, she was the first to come back into my mind, and there was an abrupt urge of need to go over to her place to see her. If it wasn’t now, I knew I wouldn’t have the nerves to see her myself until she came charging over, and who knew how far off in the future that was or how long that would have taken.

Closing my eyes as I lowered my head, I ordered, “What’s Tricia Kaufman’s location at the current time, Adrianna?”

“She’s currently at her work, Miss Mahlendorf,” Adrianna replied. “She’s recently begun a heart surgery, which will turn into a spinal surgery the moment the heart surgery is done, as we speak.”

Turning on my heels as I headed towards the door, I stated, “I’ll be on my way, then. For the time being, leave a message on her pad that I’ll be at the hospital waiting for her. Let my work places know I’ll be starting to come in again in tomorrow.”

Carlo immediately followed me and, as the computer greeted a farewell, he sounded a bit hesitant as he asked, “Tricia? That was the girl that you were close friends with, right? The girl that stopped by when our names were drawn talking of vampires?”

“Yeah. I have to see her now or I’ll never be able to gather my nerves to see her until she comes to find me herself.” Looking at him, I asked, “Why? Are you against the idea of me going off to see my own friend?”

He shook his head. “It’s not that. It’s just there’s something a little off about her. There’s something about her that tells me that she’s not really who she claims to be.”

“How would you know? I’m the one that’s known her since we were little kids. Nearly two decades, I think? And you’ve known her for how long? Few weeks before we had to take our leave for the SAW game?”

Carlo seemed unconcerned as he told me, “I don’t know, Zoe. It’s just there’s something about her. Everyone has a different scent, not just from their body and hair, but also from their blood. There’s something familiar about her scent, almost as though I smelt it somewhere before. I don’t know exactly where though, and if it’s from a bad place, then I don’t want you to be put into a mess of a situation. That’s all.”

“If she’s a bad person,” I teased, “I think she would’ve harmed me in about fifteen or so past years she and I have known each other, Carlo. Stop worrying, won’t you? If you’re going to ignore at least that statement, then just keep me company.”

An all too familiar male voice grunted, “Oh, look. You two are back, and still alive and kicking, I see. Where are you off to now that you’re back, Mahlendorf?”

“Off to see an old friend,” I grunted in response to the warlock in black suit. “Hope you got a pretty good show of this past year’s Survival Among the Weakest, you lousy warlock.” Not bothering to wait for a response from him, I quickly linked arms with Carlo with one arm and placed my free hand by his shoulders, almost as though we were a couple. Looking up at him, I said, “Let’s go. I’m dying to see her again, Carlo, and I don’t think it’ll be smart to have her kept waiting either.”

Carlo eyed the other male rather cautiously as he hurriedly led me out of the building, and soon down the street. He didn’t seem too thrilled with the idea of me going to see Tricia, but that was clear just by the expression worn on his face. My eagerness to see my old time friend was the only thing that seemed to be stopping him from, going against my will as he told me with an inward sigh, “Lead the way. You should be the one to know how to get to the hospital where Tricia’s at.”

With a broad smile, I immediately began to half pull him along as I weaved through the shortcuts in what most would have considered to be nothing but bunch of sketchy streets. It was because it all looked so shady that no one wanted to go near, and it was because there was not a single soul that would’ve dared to go through those streets that made it better to go through them unnoticed to pretty much save time to go pretty much anywhere from any place.

It normally would have taken at least an hour to get to Eastern Field Sector Hospital, but with the shortcuts around the town, it took us barely fifteen minutes to reach the front door. If I had anything to be glad about when it came to stepping through the front door was the mortals that I knew far too well through Tricia and became somewhat close with.

“It’s so nice to see you back among us, JoBeth!” one of the male nurses warmly called over from somewhere off to Carlo’s and my and right when we went inside.

A female doctor to our left called as we walked down the hall, “We were all betting if you’d make it back out alive or not! Most of us bet on that you’d come back, and that includes me for Tricia’s sake, hon!”

The two of us heard more than enough callings from various doctors and nurses, and it wasn’t hard to guess that they were all far more than thrilled to see the me more so than their other ‘Survivor.’ I wasn’t sure about Carlo, but I could have cared less for what most of them had to call over, but I couldn’t bring myself to completely ignore them as I gave them all a small wave of a hello with bright smiles.

Looking around the first floor, I muttered, “First floor’s cafeteria and lobby. Second floor specializes in labors. Third floor is surgeries. Fourth floor is those for recoveries. Fifth floor’s the psychiatric.” I soon began pulling him towards the elevators to go up to the third floor and, as we waited for the door to open, I asked a group of doctors walking by, “Quick question for you guys. Is Tricia Kaufman still in process of performing surgeries?”

One of the doctors checked his clipboard before answering, “She started just over half an hour ago, so she should be done and out in at least fifteen minutes.” With a broad grin, he gave me a wink as he told me, “It’s good to see you out again, JoBeth. You look like you could gain a little more weight seeing how thin you’ve gotten from having been thrown into Survival.”

I looked more closely at the sandy brown haired Caucasian with hazelnut brown eyes in the shape of almonds. Squared off chin. Broad shoulders. Muscular body. At least six foot two inches in height. If I had to take a wild stab in the dark, he was originally of an Irish decent. Or at least something close to it. Even his milky smooth voice sounded so familiar from somewhere, along with that wink of his, but I couldn’t quite seem to put my finger on it. After thinking for a long period of time, it finally clicked in my head.

“Michael Mueller?” I laughed happily as I finally released Carlo’s arm and rushed over to the doctor, who finally smiled in a goofy manner at me. “Is that you?”

I threw my arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around mine. His laughter was warm to the ears as he answered, “Of course it’s me, JoBeth! Who else would it be?” Mike tried to get a better look at me as he leaned back a bit, saying with a broad smile, “It’s so good to see you again! Back alive, no less!”

“You saw the entire broadcast, I assume?” I asked as I crinkled my nose.

Mike gave a small nod as a small frown formed across his face. “I didn’t think you’d be the type to actually go shoot someone square in the forehead. But guess that was expected sooner or later when that guy from Area 43 tried to kill you. You’ve got pretty good aim and shot for a girl who doesn’t go to shooting range at all at a long distance range.”

“I killed someone?” I asked with surprise, and it was when Mike gave me a weird look that I knew I had to go along with the story and start pulling lies out my ass. “I mean, of course. Of course I shot someone to save myself. My mind’s been busy, busy, busy! Hard to keep track of everything. Know what I mean? So, how have you been? I didn’t know you decided to take up being a doctor as your career! Which area?”

Smiling once more, he told me, “Doing fairly well, and there’s no need to ask about you seeing where you’ve last been for past several months. And I’m with the Psychiatric Ward. And working as assistant for various surgeons, but namely for heart surgeons. How do you know Tricia Kaufman?”

“An old time friend,” I explained hurriedly. “She and I go way back since around the time my family died.” Carlo cleared his throat, and if he hadn’t done so, I would have completely forgotten I had come with him. I gave the vampire a small apologetic smile before telling my old time friend, “I completely forgot to introduce you guys, didn’t I? That’s Carlo. Carlo Suarez, also of Area 18. He and I partnered up at least a week or two before we were thrown into the Survival game.” Looking over to Carlo, I told him with a bright smile as I linked arms with Mike, “And this is Mike Mueller, an old time friend from back when we were just kids.” Looking up at Mike, I asked, “How old were we when we first met?”

Mike gave it a hard thought as he slowly said, “Around thirteen? Fourteen? Yeah, that sounds about right. We knew one another since we were thirteen or fourteen years old.” Smiling down at me, Mike placed a hand on my cheek and leaned down to kiss the other, saying, “I have to get going. Need to make a round and check up on all my patients. It was real nice to see you again, JoBeth.” He wrote something down on the corner of a paper before ripping the written portion off and handed it to me. “We should get together some time. Don’t hesitate to call me or come looking at either my place or here.” Looking at Carlo, Mike gave him a small nod with a small frown, saying, “It was a pleasure.”

Turning on his heels, Mike left with the other two that he was with, leaving me all alone to go up to the third floor with Carlo. As we stepped into the elevator, Carlo asked, “I assume you’re still close to that guy?”

“Who? Michael? I guess you can say that.” With a faint line of smile, I admitted, “He and I went to school together when we were little. And let’s just say that I may have had a little crush on him back when we were kids. Now that I think about it, he always had a great sense of humor. Always knew how to make me laugh. I’ve wondered how good of a life he built for himself since we turned eighteen, and it’s good to see he’s another one who managed to get away with his life spared thanks to his job.” The doors opened when we reached the third floor and, stepping out into the halls, I looked up as I ordered, “Surgeon Tricia Kaufman’s location.”

“Emergency Room Number Three,” a female electronic voice greeted. “Down the hall to your left. Have a nice day.”

Carlo and I headed down the hall, and the entire time, he was silent. Not another question had come out of his mouth and I wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t want to know anything more about Michael or because there was nothing more he wanted to know about. All that really seemed to matter at the moment was that we would both be able to see Tricia again. Or at least he seemed to be glad for me that I’d be seeing her again.

When we reached outside the Emergency Room Number Three, the silence seemed to be killing Carlo on the inside. It only had become more apparent when he couldn’t quite seem to remain still as we waited on the bench just outside the room. “Do you still like that guy?” When I looked up at him with a bit of confused look, Carlo quickly said, “It’s probably not my place to ask. I know. But I just want to know if you still have a thing for that Michael Mueller guy or not.”

Giving the vampire a strange look, I exclaimed, “No! Of course not! I mean, when we were just kids, yeah, I thought that maybe something could happen, but now? Let’s face it, Carlo! One, he’s out of my league! Two, nothing could happen us! Three, I’m completely over that boy! What could possibly happen at this point and time, anyway?”

“Would a guy as weird as me have chance with you, then?”

Carlo had a goofy smile, but it wasn’t something that I could easily allow myself to look over in case he actually was being dead serious about his question. “Maybe,” I replied. “Not sure. I never really gave it much thought before.” Looking at him as my eyes narrowed, I asked, “Why? What’s with the sudden question?”

“No reason,” was all I got as an answer, and the doors to the emergency room opened.

I shot up onto my feet as few surgeons came walking out, fully covered in scrubs and masks, as I barely breathed, “Tricia?”

“Alright,” a familiar cheery voice said behind the mask from the person all the way up in the front. “Good job, everyone! Call in the nurses to take the patient back to his room! Tell the warlock’s family that he’ll have to be kept hospitalized for two to four weeks, and that he should be allowed to go once he’s two weeks five weeks into his physical therapy depending on how quickly he’s able to make progress in being able to walk again!”

The one in the lead removed her gloves and threw them into a trashcan right by the door. And just as she removed her mask and looked up, her lips formed a deep frown as she stared with a bit of shock at the sight of us. She removed her cap and it was when all her facial features and hair was completely let down and revealed that my suspicions on who this woman was proven to be correct.

Tricia Kaufman.

It was unmistakably her, and I found myself stepping forward and flung my arms around her neck before I could stop myself or knew what I was doing. I didn’t care that she had blood splattered all over her from the surgery. All I knew was that I couldn’t have been happier seeing my old friend.

“It’s so good to see you again, Tricia!” I breathed as I took a small step back from her.

SLAP.

I found myself staring down on the ground off to my right side as my left cheek stung like hell. “You bitch,” Tricia tearfully hissed. “How dare you show your face here!” She threw her arms around my neck and I heard her wailing like a baby, yelling, “Do you realize how worried I was about you all these months, you idiot? I sent you a few packages! Few letters! But you never wrote back, you jerk!”

“What packages and letters?” I questioned with utter confusion. “I got nothing!”

Sniffling, she whined, “The ones that I tried to send to you, you moron, but wasn’t able to. Those packages and letters.”

I grabbed Tricia by her shoulders and forced her to take a few steps back. Tilting her head to the side curiously, she kept her eyes on me. It was almost as though she was curious to what I had to say or was going to do, but was left in shock the moment my right hand struck harshly across her left cheek.

Shaking my hand as pang of pain rang throughout my palm, “That was for the slap across my face.” I slapped her across back of her head and made her stumble forward. “And that was for you being the idiot that you are.” Looking around at the other surgeons that began to pounce on me, I roared, “All of you back off and back to your own work if you know what’s best for you! I may be this year’s survivor, but it doesn’t mean I’m the very same weakling that left all those months ago!”

The surgeons all followed my orders and they had all scattered to go and do their own things. Tricia was quiet until they had all left, and once all were out of their earshot range, her soft voice commented, “You’ve changed a great deal, Jo.”

“I haven’t changed,” I huffed. “The game just happened to make me far gutsier in ways I never thought I’d able to be.”

Turning on her heels, she quietly told me, “Go wait for me in my office. I have something to give you, but I want to grab some food and checkup on the blood packets before going in.”

Carlo waited until she was gone and completely out of sight before he spoke up again. “I say we follow her.”

“What? No!” I exclaimed. “We’re not going to follow her!”

Rolling his eyes, Carlo told me, “C’mon. I really need to find out exactly what it is about her that doesn’t seem right compared to other humans. I’m telling you that something about her isn’t sitting quite right with me, Zoe.”

I didn’t want to go with his idea. I wanted to say no. But there was something stopping me as I groaned, “I’m going to end up regretting this later on, aren’t I?” Turning on my heels and walking down the hall, I regretfully told him, “C’mon. Let’s get going before we completely lose her.” We hurried down the hall and turned around the corner in time to see a door open and close with someone sliding through the entrance.

As we cautiously walked towards the door, he teasingly asked, “Feeling stupid about having agreed to suggestion yet? All you had to do was try a bit more in trying to reason with me. Not that I would’ve given in so easily, but still. She’s your friend, and it’s not like you have to agree to spy on her with me to try and figure out what it is that she’s keeping from everyone. If there’s anything she’s hiding, that is.”

“You got me curious to think if there’s anything she’s keeping a secret, too,” I grunted. “What was I supposed to say when my curiosity’s getting the better of me?”

When Carlo and I reached the door that had closed, I looked over to him to see the male vampire giving me a small nod, as if to tell me that he was willing to stay quiet. I slowly opened the door and let him through first before following, closing the door as quietly as possible behind us, and began up and down first few aisles until I heard someone drinking out of what sounded like packets.

I motioned at Carlo to follow, and when we slowly reached the aisle where the sound was coming from. Heavy breathing was heard just around the corner from the aisle we stood at the edge of as another packet was seen being grabbed from one of the shelves and being torn open. When I slowly went around, I saw Tricia standing in middle of it, drinking blood straight out of its packet. I couldn’t have been more shocked to see the sight, and I couldn’t turn my attention to Carlo to even see what his reaction was.

Straightening up with shock, I called, “Tricia? What on earth are you doing with all those blood packets? Those are for the patients that need blood transfusions! For the patients that need more blood as they recover!”

Tricia’s attention snapped towards us as trail of blood began to drip from the corners of her lips. Her eyes grew wide as she whispered, “You two aren’t supposed to see this.” It didn’t take her long to screech, “Get out! You two aren’t supposed to see this! Get out of here!”

Carlo warningly growled to me, “One of my kind. She’s one of my kind! Put her down, Zoe!” Tricia began to lunge at us and, under panic, Carlo yelled, “Immediately! Put her down!”

Without missing a beat, I raised my hands and quickly wrapped my fingers around the air as if to hold invisible cups and brought my hands down harshly. With the air, Tricia was brought down to her knees before I threw her across the floor away from me and Carlo, causing her to hit the wall harshly. As we rushed towards her, I used one of the most severe forms of Lock Down spells, but not to the point where she would have been suffocated.

Tears formed at my eyes and a few drops trickled down my cheeks regretfully as I found myself hoarsely saying, “I’m sorry, Tricia. I’m terribly sorry for having to use these two types of Lock Down spells on you. I didn’t want to have to use Push Away, and Near Suffocation ones, but you twisted my arms up behind my back.”

“You’re a warlock?” Tricia breathed. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she screamed, “You’re a damn warlock and you didn’t tell me?”

Before Carlo could have stopped me, I yelled back, “What was I supposed to do? Go on and tell you, causing me to lose my one and only friend? You’re the only friend I’ve ever had that I could trust with all my life, and you expect me to risk our friendship for something I’ve been hiding away for so long? Something that I’ve been trying to ignore for so long? And what about you? You kept your damn trap shut about being a vampire! You should know fairly well that you don’t exactly have the rights going around pointing fingers!”

“Because I’m not a vampire! I’m a human!” Tricia screeched as tears streamed down her cheeks, but it was clear she was uncertain of her own words. She wasn’t even sure if she believed what she was telling herself when she was drinking blood. She must have known somewhere deep down in her heart that something was wrong with her to be drinking blood if she were truly a full mortal. If I learned anything from having to hear at least the young vampires speak, it was that no matter if a half blood, a natural born, or bitten into a vampire race, a vampire would and always be a vampire. They would always thirst for blood just like Tricia had as I had witnessed her doing so.

Carlo knelt down next to her and leaned in, taking in her scent by her neck. Staying down on the ground as he straightened his back, he closed his eyes, almost as if to think things through, but when he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. “She’s a half blood, Zoe. She didn’t really keep it hidden from you about the fact she’s a mortal, because she is. She just didn’t bother telling you that she’s a vampire. Well, she did indirectly when she told you of the so-called rumors of our race going around among the people here in the hospital. Guess it went right over your head, though.” Opening his eyes as he looked at Tricia with full of curiosity, he questioned, “Tell me. What Clan are you of? If my memories serve me correct, Kaufman Clan doesn’t exist, and I’m curious to which of the vampire clans went and mixed their blood with mortals. As a member from one of the few pure blood clans to remain standing, I find it intriguing to find out these kind of things.”

“Clan? What do you mean?” Tricia asked with a bit of fear in her eyes.

Rolling my eyes, I exclaimed, “Oh, give it up, Tricia! You’re a vampire! It’s so obvious! You wouldn’t drink blood otherwise! Which of your parent is the mortal, and which of them is the vampire?”

Wheels in Carlo’s head turned rather quickly, and after having known him for as long as I have thanks to being thrown into Survival Among the Weakest with him, he didn’t have to say for me to know. “What’s your mother’s surname, Tricia?” he asked.

“Schofield,” Tricia replied. “What does that have to do with anything?”

With a deep frown, Carlo muttered, “The Schofield Clan?” He shook his head, clearing whatever was on his mind out, before asking, “Do you have a family member that goes by the name Jason by any chance? Jason Schofield?”

“He’s my uncle,” Tricia answered. “Why? Why do you ask? How do you know my uncle? You don’t even know who I am!”

He ignored Tricia’s words as he muttered, “The Schofield Clan’s finally broke down and part of them went astray from keeping their clan one of the pure bloods around, then.” Carlo got up on his feet as he told me, “We need to bring her back with us to your place. If you want me to be in charge of vampires, then I’m going to need to get to know her a bit better. How strong her communication skill is. How strong her immunity can be. If her strength is closer to a vampire’s than to a human’s.” I was about to ask him about the last statement, but he cut me off as he told me rather quickly, “We vampires tend to have just a bit more strength than the average warlocks and humans. I need to see if it’s Tricia’s human side or her vampire side that overpowers the other ability in terms of strength.”

I released her from the Lock Down spells and Carlo grasped Tricia by her arms, helping her up. His grasp around her arms was almost as if to make sure she didn’t attempt to attack me. “Where do you recommend we take her for you to test her strength out?” I quietly asked.

Tricia spat before Carlo could respond, “You stay away from me, you damn warlock!”

“And you keep quiet if you know what’s good for you, Tricia!” I venomously spat back. “It’s not like I’m happy with finding out that you’re a vampire this way just like I’m sure you’re not too pleased finding out I’m a warlock either!” It was then that I wish I hadn’t sounded so nasty, but at the same time, I felt as though I had no choice. It was all out of self-defense, and I had to do or say something at the very least. Or at least that’s what I had to tell myself before I completely lost all my marbles.

Carlo closed his eyes as he calmly told me, “I’d love to have her tested out someplace where barely anyone goes to. Let alone is barely under surveillance. Doing it a place like at a home would be too risky of a move in case the securities installed are to give us away. Especially if we’re to lead others in the rebellion.”

“The alleyway behind the bar I work at,” I told him without missing a beat. “But only at night time at least three hours after the sun falls. And the graveyard once evening hits, darkness with it. The most deserted areas due to even the warlocks usually fearing to go anywhere near those two places, and if there’s any place to safely practice, it’s those two locations. Even if the humans are to see, then as long as we get the word across just right, then we should be able to recruit them along the way.”

Tricia growled at Carlo rather defensively, “How do I know you’re not a warlock?”

“If I were, I would’ve used a spell to put you down immediately myself rather than have Zoey go through the trouble of doing so for me,” he calmly replied. “And I would pierce through your neck to take some blood from you to prove I’m a vampire myself if it weren’t for the fact that your blood’ll actually poison me and have me die in matter of seconds. I’m sure you don’t want to try and explain that a vampire’s blood can kill another vampire. Meaning I’m quite sure you don’t want to have to explain yourself on why you have a puncture on the side of your neck and a man dead on the floor for no apparent reason. Now, tell me, Tricia. Are you done with performing surgeries for the day? I would love to take you back and explain exactly what’s going on and what Zoey’s doing with me and what we’ve been up to past several months. Would love to chat here, but I really rather not at a place where people would intrude on us without stop to eavesdrop on what she and I want to discuss with you.”

The fact that Tricia still hasn’t stopped us from talking was a clear sign to both me and Carlo that there was no surveillance on the room. And it was when she was staring at me with confused eyes that I knew I had to explain myself.

“JoBeth Mahlendorf isn’t my name. Only an alias to keep myself off the grid from all the warlocks,” I told her with roll of my eyes. “I’ll explain when we get you out of here.” When she didn’t reply, I sternly told her, “Come with us quietly, and I won’t use Lock Down followed by Silencer on you to force you into cooperating, Trish. And after all these years of having known one another, you should know very well that the last thing I want to do is forcing you into doing something, but will if I must.”

Tricia knew she had no choice and began walking. “Let’s get going to any place that both of you would prefer being at, then,” she said in a near hushed voice. Carlo and I stayed close to her as I stayed a step ahead of them both, and Tricia didn’t speak until we had stepped out of the hospital, “Where are you going to take me?”

I thought for a moment or two to try and figure out what may have been the safest place. The alleyways were sure to be surrounded by those that meant to deal drugs or try and earn at least some living through prostitution related things. Or even going as far as being patrolled by the warlocks as long as it was during the time that the sun was high in the sky.

Then it finally had clicked in my head. The only safest place that we could have gone to that came to mind was my place, where I knew exactly the on and off switch for the computer system was located. The one place I knew for certain those that wanted to pry would have hard time accessing once the system was shut down to try and find out any information that they wanted to get their hands on.

“To my place,” I replied in a mutter loud enough for both Tricia and Carlo to hear. “It’s the only place that we can consider to be safe for the time being. Not a single word of JoBeth being my fake name, let alone any sort of information on me being a warlock, while we’re in the wide open from either of you. Not even when we’re in my house until I say otherwise. I don’t want to have to cause a huge scene while we’re out in the public.”

Tricia sounded irritated as she snapped angrily, “Why? Why not before you give us the word? It’s not like you won’t gain any respect from the warlocks.”

“She has her reasons,” Carlo snapped at her in return. I didn’t have to look at him to tell that he regretted having to sound so harsh with her. And if I had to be honest, I would have done the same. What choices did we have if we wanted to keep our cover for as long as possible to see if Tricia would agree into at least keeping quiet about my true race? “It’ll all be explained in time, Tricia, so just give her some credit for now for not going to the extremes with you.”

I led them back through the shortcut, weaving through the sketchy looking streets and avoiding as many bad conflicts as possible that lay around the area. It took half an hour to get back due to trying to avoid as many possible bad news as I could avert Carlo and Tricia away from, but at least I got them back to my place in one piece. Safe and sound. And to me, that’s all that really mattered.

Now that I got Tricia to come back to my place with me and Carlo, it was all matter of having to talk to her to see if she’d accept the facts that I had to lay out for her and face the truth. If she would have been willing to join me and Carlo in the revolt we wanted to lead, or just stand on the sidelines and stay out of the way to her best of abilities.

The warlock that was supposed to be acting as a guard at the front of my building was long gone, most likely off on his brief lunch break without much thought. It was only luck for the three of us because it meant we didn’t necessarily have to put up a charades to make it look as though it was a complete merry reunion. “C’mon,” I quickly said as I picked up my pace to get back upstairs to my place as quickly as possible. “Before that damned warlock gets back from who knows where.”

Tricia and Carlo followed without hesitation, and Carlo had remained all the way in the back to make sure that Tricia didn’t try to make a run for it. And she knew that there was no means of escape for her now that we were near my place. Once I opened my door and let the two in, I shut the door behind me and began tugging on the rug to shut down any and all computer system that was programed into my house. As I did, I noticed something that I had never seen before – A small switch for backup generator with the reset button next to it. If this was the work of Dilnot as well, then I must’ve known that man far too well to know that he had arranged to have the backups set up. All in the hopes that he would have the systems up secretly to find out whatever information that wasn’t spilt publicly through eavesdropping.

“Pathetic old man,” I laughed under my breath as I shut off the backup generator as well. As I got up on my feet, I asked as casually as possible, “Either of you want some tea?”

Carlo shook his head ‘no’ as Tricia snapped, “Why don’t you just start spilling the beans?”

I thought through all the words carefully, trying to decide which were the best way to say what I had in mind, and where would be the best ways to start things off. I motioned Tricia to sit at either the table or on my bed before I could begin as I processed all my thoughts for just a little longer.

“As I told you,” I began with a small inward sigh, “my name isn’t JoBeth Mahlendorf. That’s only my alias name. To be kept off the grid to make sure no warlocks are to come after me. My true name’s Zoey Yukimura of the Yukimura Convent. I come from one of the most feared, yet most respected, convents in the world of warlocks. Fifteen to sixteen years ago, when I was found as an orphan, the warlocks had finished off my family in hopes that there would be no one left to try and bring back peace and equality throughout the world. With the Yukimura Convent believed to be gone, there’s no head figure, no great influence, to bring back righteousness. My family got killed off because the head of all the warlocks ordered for us Yukimura Convent to be finished off. To have what the warlocks that crave for power believe to be a big threat gone from the face of the earth. The one thing that they overlooked was me, the sole survivor of the Yukimura Convent. At least I thought I was the sole survivor until I saw my eldest sister about a month or two before Survival Among the Weakest was supposed to end.”

Laughing weakly with disbelief, Tricia said, “You’re lying. You got to be. Please tell me this isn’t true.” She snapped her attention to Carlo as she cried, “Tell me she’s lying! That she’s simply messing with my head!”

As Carlo shook his head, I ignored her words of plea as I continued on with saying, “She told me one of the warlocks that had come looking for our family had sent her to someplace safe. Along the process, replacing her body with a deceased one at the last second before the lightning actually struck her body to make it seem the already deceased that got completely fried and unidentifiable as her lifeless one. Right now, there are only two of us Yukimura members alive that still strive for bringing equality. That’s been raised with the right morals to bring you and all the others that have been carelessly neglected justice. To bring you guys freedom. Because for generations, that’s all we Yukimura Convent members ever believed in. Equality for all that live in the world. I’ve had the same belief ingrained deep within my heart as a small child until my family was murdered, and haven’t stopped believing growing up. Nor have I forgotten what my parents had taught me all those years ago when they were still alive and well, Tricia.”

It was written all over Tricia’s face like a crystal ball that she was in a great amount of shock as she stared up at me with her mouth hanging open. She tried to speak, ask questions, but no matter how hard she tried, for at least a good minute or two, it was almost as if there were just no words that had come past her lips.

“Tricia, we have a proposition for you,” Carlo told her. “Well, it’s more of that I have a proposition more so than Zoey does. We need more people to fight against the warlocks. All that was broadcasted wasn’t really a broadcast.”

Her eyes grew wide at Carlo’s words as she looked up at me, hoarsely asking, “What’s he talking about? Not a broadcast? If it weren’t you and the others killing one another like savages, what was it then?”

“Illusions,” I told her. “We had few Illusionists that were put into the games just as few other types of classes were, and they had set up a show to the world while we trained. There has been only three true deaths. Kevin Tong and Justine Johnson of our Area, and Stephen Bilyeo of Area 37. Other than those three, anyone else from this past year’s game that everyone around the world believes to be dead due to what they believe to have seen on the television are actually alive. The mortals that stayed behind are continuing to practice their gunshots, archery, and swordsmanship. The warlocks are continuing with their sorcery mastery to become the best of the best as they possibly can be. The vampires are working on going heads on up against the warlocks to build up immunity against few different types of classes. It’s practically a boot camp that never ends, but one that’s set up specifically for going up against those of my kind that sees others as nothing but garbage.”

“And you want me to team up with you?”

Tricia’s voice was trembling, almost as though she was afraid.

Of Carlo? Perhaps, but he was far closer to what she truly was than I ever would be. The only thing that seemed to bring us as close to being the same was the fact that we were both had beating hearts, and that we were both breathing, living creatures that were able to walk and talk. So to be afraid of Carlo that wasn’t likely.

Of me? That sounded more reasonable considering what my race truly was.

If it truly was me that she was fearful of, I guess I couldn’t blame her. Especially if it was mostly due to having lost her trust. How could I when I’ve kept the secret from her for so long?

Yet again, how could I say I could fully trust her when she hadn’t told me she was a half vampire, not a full human? It’s not as if I could honestly tell if she was telling me truth or lying to protect herself when she said she didn’t know she was at least a half blood. She couldn’t fully deny it since she must have known somewhere deep inside her heart that it wasn’t normal to just drink blood. To just want and long for it to the point where she felt as though it was necessary to go as far as looking for and land a job as a surgeon, all just to obtain the amount of blood needed for her to take in any time of any day that she would need it.

“How are you getting the necessary blood for the vampires that actually are alive, then?” Tricia finally asked. She sounded a bit shaky, but was managing to form the words out of her lips. “You can’t be killing people off in there just to get some blood.”

“The two people we had to kill off actually were sufficient for the vampires in there for a couple of months,” Carlo admitted. “Stephen should last them at least a month or two. Asides from the fact that we had blood supply from those three, we’ve had an insider supplying us with all the blood that we needed. A bit of an unwanted insider, but still an insider.”

Tricia suddenly looked curious at the mention of having an insider, and it was almost as though she couldn’t hold back her curiosity. I knew that the saying, ‘Curiosity killed the cat,’ just as well as may apply to her.

“An insider?” she questioned. “Who’s the insider? How many insiders do you have?”

With disgust, I told her, “My eldest sister Violet. She’s the insider. That she-devil of a warlock’s been sending any supplies that we would originally have hard time getting hold of.”

“Why do you detest your sister so much?” Carlo sighed heavily. “Hasn’t it occurred to you that if it weren’t for her sending even me some of blood supplies, you’d be dead in my hands by now?” Getting up on his feet as he walked over to me, he calmly said, “She was sending all that she did because she was informed by one of the warlocks that you were practically sharing a shelter with a pure blood vampire. If I had to take a wild guess, she’s done all the research that’s necessary because it appeared to me as though she knew that if I didn’t have proper amount of blood, your life would be put into danger. If she’s just as I am in terms of being the eldest sibling, then I think it’s safe for me to say on her behalf that she was doing it out of your best interest at heart. She cares a hell lot for you.” When he saw that I didn’t believe him, Carlo stood close to me as he rested his forehead against mine, whispering, “Trust me. She cares for you. If she didn’t, she would have come looking for you sooner to bring you to your death like rest of your family far sooner that what any of us would probably have expected instead of trying to keep you in the shadows and out of reach.”

My eyes closed involuntarily as I slowly breathed in through nose. I honestly didn’t know if I was doing this intentionally or not since it felt as though my body had a mind of its own at least half the time, but as I inhaled his scent with the intake of the air. There was something about having to stand this close to him that put me at ease. There was something about hearing those words from him that comforted me. That made me believe. There was just something about him that told me that all the words that had, were, and will be coming out of his mouth were the truth and nothing but the truth. And if I had to keep my sanity intact with at least that one hope, then that was exactly what I knew I had to do.

“Why do you always have to do this to me?” I breathed. “Always having the calm effect. Making me listen to you without much effort.”

With a small smile and a gentle kiss on my forehead, he asked, “Does this mean you’ll let her off the hook for once, then?” When I gave a small nod in response, Carlo murmured, “Good.” As he turned to look at Tricia, Carlo told her, “Things such as our blood supplier and what we’ve been doing nearly past half a year, anything else that you’d like to know? Or would you prefer just jumping in and join us in against the fight against the warlocks that have the belief that they are in higher power?”

Tricia sat still, thinking as she remained as quiet as a rabbit, before she began to look at us in rather cautious manner. After having known her for so long, I knew far too well that there was something that she wanted to ask, but held her tongue. I knew her far too well to know that the question she asked was not what she truly desired to know. “What would I have to do if I were to tell you that I would want to join?”

“You’d be put under me just as any other vampires would be,” Carlo informed her. “I’ll work with you more than I will with any other vampires. You will, however, have someone other than me to help you with your vampire side more than I will since I do have others to look over.”

Looking off to the side, I softly added, “And when the time for the actual war comes, you have to be willing to be one of the many that’ll be up in the front line with us.”

Silence loomed over the place, and the longer it played out, the more it felt as though my stomach was knotting deep inside. To say the very least, it was clearly written all over Tricia’s face that she wasn’t all too certain about which choice to go with. One choice was that she was to agree to join up with me and Carlo with a shot in being killed. The other was she chose not join with choice of ratting us out and never receiving her freedom or keep her mouth shut to allow us to try and gain her freedom for her with others’ equalities.

She looked up as she asked, “What’s in it for me, though?”

“Your freedom,” I replied without missing a beat. “If we win, which we’ll try our best to the end, you get your freedom. But we need as much support as we possibly can get.”

Tricia had a little bit more of an internal debate before she finally said, “Fine. I’m in.”

With a deep inward sigh, I looked at Carlo as I asked, “Well? We can’t both go back into the game. Or at least you can’t. You have to stay and train her in secret while I go back into the little boot camp.”

“What do you mean go back in?” Tricia sounded rather alarmed. “You two don’t know if you’re going to go back or not! Besides, it’s nearly impossible to have names drawn out! I mean, the population’s in at least tens of thousands!

Carlo and I exchanged uneasy glances as he explained, “Well, we’re not entirely sure if I was chosen out on purpose, but for this past year’s SAW, Zoey wasn’t a random pick. She was handpicked personally by the higher ups.”

“And it’s most likely that they’ll throw me back in for this upcoming one because they didn’t get their filthy hands on my dirty little secret that they seemed to have been desperate to get,” I added. “We were informed as soon as we were brought back here earlier today that I may just as well as know that they’re planning to throw me back in. And Carlo over here, being the idiot that he is every now and then, demanded that if I get thrown back in, then he goes, too.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she hoarsely whispered. Her body began to tremble, almost as though she was cold or out of fear. She went as far as hanging her head low to avoid eye contact, but I could see her eyes tightly shut as tears began to glisten, and Tricia must have known that I was looking at her curiously because her voice soon rose to a screech. “Why didn’t you tell me what you really were?”

I began to feel anger boil up inside of me all over again. “Because I thought I was going to lose you!” I screeched back. “I told you that I thought I was going to lose you if I told you what I truly was! You hate my kind, so what difference would it have made if I told you sooner! You hate me already as it is because I’m a warlock, right? Am I right or am I wrong? Are you trying to tell me that you still can look at me the same?”

Tricia looked up at me tearfully as she shakily replied, “No, I can’t. I can’t look at you all in the same way as I once used to. But I thought we were friends, Jo! I thought that if anything, our friendship at the very least would be a good enough of a reason to take the risk!”

“Just like you drinking blood would have been something you should have told me?” I bitterly shot back at her. “Because I’m thinking that if I should have told you me being a vampire sooner just because we’re friends, you telling me that you drink blood sooner would’ve gotten me to tell and risk it all sooner.”

There was a part of me that regretted ever saying anything to her. The pang of pain look on her face brought on the pain at heart, but reminding myself that she was just as much at fault eased the hurt away.

“I supposed you were training kids how to kill, too?” Tricia sneered. “I thought you had a soft spot for the children.”

I growled, “They’ve practically been put into the game to kill in the past as well, so don’t be surprised that I had to have the others help us train children in how to at least do self-defense.” Looking at Carlo with a bit of concern now taking me over, “Carlo, can I talk to you later on that issue? Training the kids to use the weapons, that is. There’s something that Alex brought to my attention that didn’t occur to me until a few weeks before we left that Area.”

He gave a small nod. “Of course,” his voice was low but audible. Looking back at Tricia, he warned her, “Not a word of what we’re planning, let alone working on, or I’ll make sure that you regret ever having been told of anything. Understood?” There was a bit of fear in her eyes, but she nodded in agreement nonetheless. Turning to face me, he murmured, “Anything coming to your mind that we may need to cover?”

“Tricia, amuse me. What do you prefer working with?” I asked as I tilted my head to the side with curiosity. “In terms of weapons, I mean. Guns? Bow and arrows? Swords? Or perhaps learning a new set of skills to bring out your vampire side while training with one of the weapons?”

“Guns,” Tricia’s voice was quiet when she answered, but it was still audible. “Guns are preferable, I supposed.”

Rubbing my temple as I closed my eyes, I muttered, “I need to get hold of him somehow and get him to train both of us.” Carlo gave me a funny look, almost as if to ask silently who or what I was talking about, I shook my head as I told him, “Steven. Steven Hathcock of Area 10. He was last teaching me how to shoot a hunting gun, and I was trying to figure out how we can get him to teach us. I’m not even sure if he was one of the people that we had the world think got killed off or survived.”

His eyes suddenly lit up as he snapped his fingers. “Oh, that guy! He was one of the Survivors,” Carlo informed me. “He may be the best with weapons, but he didn’t really want to stick around with teaching others. From what I’ve heard, you just happened to be a special exception. Said of all vampires and warlocks he had to work with, you were the only one that he really didn’t mind too much having to train himself. I’m surprised you didn’t notice that you were the only person he was working closely with. And if I didn’t know any better for when we were in that dreaded place, that’s if you don’t mind me telling you the straight out truth of my personal opinion, he was practically hitting on you.”

Rolling my eyes at Carlo, I exclaimed, “No, he wasn’t!”

“Yeah, he was,” he told me in a as a matter of fact tone. “He was completely hitting on you. Not that hard to tell.”

Tricia muttered, “She wouldn’t know if there was a guy that was giving her the look that practically screams he wants to pound her away into the night even if she saw it.”

I felt my face flush as I yelled, “Cut it out, Trish!”

“Look,” Tricia sighed. “We’ve known each other for nearly fifteen years, right? Let’s be honest. When guys hit on you, you never noticed. When guys were coming onto you strongly in sense that they were actually hitting on you by coming onto you strongly, those were the only times you actually noticed.” When I rolled my eyes at her, an evil grin spread across her face as she asked, “What about Sean De Han? Remember that AJ kid? And what about that black guy? Oh, what was his name? Miguel? Or was it Nigel? You had guys practically lined up for you.”

The African descent, whatever his name was. My twelve year old past that lasted through until sometime after I turned thirteen.

The blonde haired boy with eyes as blue as the ocean named AJ. My past back when I was still a mere fourteen year old.

And then there was the Asian decent named Sean Han. My fourteen through eighteen year old past, and the most recent headache that I had to deal with.

The three were the only ones that I could recall that has and ever were to be the ones to actually hit on me. And all three, as I still recall to this day, were the very same that I had turned down. They were all annoying to certain degree, yes. But all at the same time, I just couldn’t see myself being in a relationship with any of them.

And then there were three others that were my possible partners, but turned down out of pure fear that I would only do myself harm and inflict pain by being with them. It wasn’t that the three others were bad people. No. It was that I didn’t trust myself enough to be with them. And each of them also had a glint in their eyes that told me somewhere deep in my heart that those three really weren’t meant for me.

I turned away from both Tricia and Carlo as I warned, “Don’t bring those three up to me. Those three don’t count seeing how much of an idiot they were, thinking that I would fall for them as long as they forced their feelings onto me.” I walked back over to the power circuit as I quietly asked, “Anything you want to cover, Carlo? If we’re being kept under surveillance, I have to turn the system back on before the warlocks come looking out of suspicion.”

Yawning, Carlo barely managed to reply. “No, nothing comes to mind. Honestly, there’s really nothing to cover. If we have to explain to her in great details what we’re doing, that can be done some other time if she doesn’t get it herself along the way.”

With a small nod, I turned the system back on, and Adriana’s computerized voice greeted, “Welcome back, Miss JoBeth Mahlendorf.”

“Thank you, Adriana,” I replied in as much of a calm manner as possible. Straightening myself back up as I walked over to Tricia and Carlo, I ordered, “Please make sure that no one is to try and appoint to see neither me nor Carlo Suarez today, Adriana. We don’t want any visitors with the exception of close friends, such as Tricia Kaufman and Michael Mueller. Is that clear?”

“Of course, Miss Mahlendorf,” the computer replied.

When I reached Carlo, I stepped close to him and placed a hand on his upper arm, close to his shoulder, whispering, “You want to get some rest? It’s supposed to pretty much be night time for you, isn’t it?”

With a tired smile, he put his arm around my waist and gave me a small pull to bring me closer to him. “Don’t worry about it,” Carlo reassured me. “Missing one night of sleep won’t do much harm.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him as I ordered, “Get to bed. You’re tired, and I don’t need you collapsing. Let alone doing anything stupid.” I gave him a small push towards the bed just as Tricia shot up onto her feet, and headed for the kitchen. “If you’re not going to go to bed right away, then at least tell me what you want to eat. Something light, preferably. I want to make sure you get your proper rest.”

“Zoe, it’s fine,” Carlo scolded me gently. “I drank a bit before we left, so don’t worry about making me any food. I still have a few packets left, anyhow.”

“You’re not going to go too far without eating actual food between drinking, Carlo. Don’t think Jason hasn’t said anything about your eating situation,” I scolded. “You’ve gotten thinner than I remember.”

I could almost hear Carlo making a face at me behind my back as he told me, “Fine. I’ll take a bowl of salad if anything.”

Tricia came over as I began taking out the bowls and silverwares, and just as I began to run cold water from the sink, she told me, “You’re lucky I kept the place together while you were away. Kept the place tidy for you, and went grocery shopping in your place just last week.”

Although there was still a bit of bitterness left somewhere deep inside, I couldn’t help but smile gratefully at her. “Thanks, Trish,” I gratefully muttered. “You’re a life saver.”

“Mm-hmm,” Tricia was all she gave as a response. Looking over her shoulder as she and I began shredding and chopping some of the vegetables, she quietly asked, “So, about that Carlo fellow.”

I looked over my shoulder towards him, I saw Carlo lost deep in thoughts, almost as though he was trying to plan out something or figure something out. He didn’t even seem to notice that Tricia and I had begun talking once more, and I waited just a few more moments before turning my attention back to the vegetables to ask, “Yeah? What about him?”

“Didn’t you say he was in a relationship?”

I gave a small nod in response. “Yeah. Had the pleasure of meeting the psycho, too. She’s quite a beauty, mind you. It’s a shame that they broke up, but I kinda can see why after she tried to kill a kid with a knife just to get Carlo to talk to her when the warlocks brought her in for a couple of hours.”

“They broke up?” Tricia sounded rather surprised. “Why? When?”

With a small shrug, I remarked, “I’ve lost track of time, so I can’t say when. One thing I do know is that it was a few months into the game when I accidentally overheard one of, um, his friends from another Area about it in Carlo’s and my shelter.”

I emphasized the word ‘friend’ more than anything else as I purposely gave myself a small cut on the wrist before putting my lips to the wound as I looked over to Carlo. All I could hope was that Tricia would get the hint I was talking of one of their kinds. Tricia may not have said a peep, but there was something in her eyes that told me she got the hint.

“So, what’s going on between you two?” Tricia curiously asked.

The question slowly began to dawn on me. I never asked myself that question, yet, not a moment has passed in the past few months since the day he aimed his gun at me that there just as well as may have been anything going on between us. I didn’t even know how to answer Tricia’s question, and although every being in my body screamed out to tell that I should tell her that there was something going on between us, but my mind took over my lips with the words, “No. Nothing’s going on between us. Why are you asking that all of a sudden? On the day I actually get back home?”

I noticed a slight sad look on her face when she gave a small shrug. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s just that you two seem so close. Almost like you guys are a couple. That’s all.”

Without a warning, I found myself exclaiming, “We’re so not together!” I barely had time to look over to Carlo as I quickly cleared my throat and lowered my voice to say, “I mean, me? In a relationship? Do you honestly think that I could do something like that?”

“How about I introduce you to Michael Mueller?” Tricia hopefully asked. “He’s quite the funny guy. And maybe you can help me get hooked up with Carlo. He’s quite the cute one.”

Crinkling my nose, I asked, “Mike? Really? You’re talking about the guy with well-built body, practically squared off jaw, smooth smile, brown hair, and practically hazel eyes, right? If so, then no, thanks. I already know the guy. And yeah, I admit, he was a funny guy even back when I knew him as kids. Always cracking jokes. Always knew how to make me laugh. But I just don’t think he’s my type. Or at least I don’t think I can see myself dating him careless of him having been my childhood crush and all.”

“You know Mueller?” Tricia asked with surprise. “He never said anything about knowing you in the past!”

Rolling my eyes, I explained, “He and I go way back to when we were around thirteen or fourteen. We’re just good friends, Tricia, so don’t think about trying to hook us up. I don’t need anyone to try and get me set up with anyone.”

“He’s never really been fond of any girls as far as I’ve known him,” Tricia told me.

I couldn’t help but snort. “For as long as you’ve known him, you mean. He’s been quite the guy with the girls when we were kids, mind you. I’d be surprised if he’s actually changed.”

I felt a hand grab my wrist abruptly and just as I looked up, beginning to protest, Carlo had a dark look on his face with his eyes in the shade of deep blood red. His eyes held my gaze, and no matter how hard I tried to look away, he only held it more intently. “I told you that it’s hard for me to control myself when I smell your blood, didn’t I, Zoey?” Carlo growled under his breath in rather a malicious way.

I felt my body freeze up as my eyes refused to move away from his, every bit of being in my body refusing to move as he brought the cut on my arm up to his lips. As his lips softly pressed around the cut as his tongue gently brushed against my skin, licking off the blood that was already rolling down my skin. It was long before I felt two of his teeth sharpening up, almost as though turning into fangs, and I felt my heartbeat pick up pace.

My mind began to race as fear took me over completely, and with my breath beginning to become shallow, I whispered, “Carlo, don’t.” I quickly placed my free hand on his cheek, breathing, “Don’t. Try to control yourself. Please?”

Just when I thought his teeth would pierce through my skin, Carlo’s sharpened teeth had smoothed out as his tongue brushed across the cut on my wrist once more as he sucked some blood out of it. Forcing his lips away, Carlo rested his head on my shoulder as he held onto my wrist, bringing both hands to back of his head. He breathed rather heavily, “Don’t do things like that ever again to me. It was pure luck I was lost deep in thoughts before I began to notice the scent of your blood. Even a greater luck that I was able to hold myself back from attacking you and turning you into a vampire. Or worse. Draining you dry of your blood from your body.”

I honestly was surprised to hear those words coming out of his lips, and for a moment, I had completely forgotten that Tricia was there with us. Even when I had recalled, I could have cared less at the time and moment what she thought and how she would have reacted. All that mattered now to me was that I was able to hold Carlo close to me like this, even if it meant that I would never be able to do so again.

Even if it meant that he had no feelings for me in any way, and that I would forever be in this one sided love. With him.

With the man that seemed a bit over the top.

The man that had crazy ideas of starting something new.

The man that wanted to start revolution against my kind.

Above all else, with the man that was willing to take a warlock in under his wings and to keep by his side when I knew that the one thing he hated the most in this world was my race.

Carlo despised my race every being in his body and probably would have to his last breath. There was something in his eyes, however, that told me that I would have been that one special exception. The only problem on my part was that it was most likely in the sense that it was nothing more than in the way that I would be his assistant. Someone to help him reach the goals of bringing my kind down. Beyond that, there was no hope for me left in ever being with him.

Yet, for some strange reason, I couldn’t have been happier to at least be his side, even if it meant that he would never be in love with me. As long as he was willing to keep me by his side like this, I couldn’t have been happier. At least for now, that was all I would need. I just had to hope for the best and for someone else to come along to sweep me off my feet. For someone to come and have me fall out of love with this vampire. At the same time, there was a small part of me that screamed for him to notice me as someone more than a girl who would be fighting by his side and help him guide the warlocks that had same view as I did.

With a faint line of smile as I held lightly pressed my hands against the back of his head, I soothingly whispered, “It’s not a guarantee, but I promise I’ll do my best not to do something like again.”

His warm breath grazed against my neck for a brief moment as he lifted his head, asking, “Where do you keep the bandages? I want to make sure the wound’s covered up before I try and get some shut eye.”

“In the left half of the closet. There should be a first aid kit towards the front all the way on the left side,” I replied as I waved my hand dismissively towards the stainless steel closet.

Giving me a small nod, Carlo walked over before muttering a command under his breath for the computer to open the large cold doors for him. And as I went back to chopping up some red bell peppers, I could feel Tricia’s cold gaze boring into my skin like the hot molten lava plummeting out of the volcano and streaming down the helpless village that lay at the foot of the mountain.

Just when I couldn’t take it any longer, Tricia’s eerie cold voice hissed, “Tell me the truth, Jo. Is there anything going on between you two?”

My hand that held the knife stopped moving and all I could do was stare at the vegetable as I thought through the possibilities what would happen to each answer. If I told her the truth and said, ‘No,’ there was a good chance that she wouldn’t have believed me. But if I phrased it right with the truth, then maybe, just maybe, she would actually listen.

At the same time, if I told her a lie and said, ‘Yes,’ she could have ended up devastated. For all I knew, she actually was in love with him just as I was. How was I to tell her that I was in a relationship with him when that was a lie? How would I even bring myself to break my own friend’s heart? I couldn’t. That was it. I just couldn’t bring myself to lie to her. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her feelings. And by lying to her that he had already confessed to me was one of the last things that I wanted to do when I knew there was a good chance that she would go up to Carlo and ask, causing him in return to come to me to question why I lied such a terrible lie. Ask me what on earth had possessed my mind to tell Tricia that. To lie to her that he had confessed to me when he had no interest in me whatsoever.

After what felt like an eternity to me of thinking things through, I finally put down the knife and looked up at Tricia. Soon, I calmly replied, “As far as I’m concerned, there isn’t. If you want my personal opinion, Trish, I wish there was something more than just friendship between me and Carlo. I wish that I didn’t have to set up a family of my own in my head to make it seem less dysfunctional than it really is if I were to say it out loud, all to make sure I don’t confess to him. I wish that I could tell Carlo how I really feel about him, but I’m afraid to do just that. All because I’m afraid that he’ll simply reject me. That I’ll only get hurt in the process. And since he hasn’t said anything about liking me, if he does at all, just as I haven’t told him, my honest answer is no, Tricia. No. Nothing’s going on between the two of us.”

Suddenly, deep in my heart, I wished that that was all a lie.

I wished that Carlo had confessed to me. But he didn’t.

I wished that I wasn’t afraid to tell him how I truly felt. But I was.

I wished that I didn’t have to create such a messed up family in my own mind. But I had.

I wished that there truly was something going on between us. But there wasn’t.

I wished that I never had met him in the first place. But I had.

It was true that Carlo never confessed to me, and it was most likely that he never will, and it was all probably because he doesn’t like me the way I like him.

It was an honest fact that I was afraid to tell him how I felt because I couldn’t help but fear rejection.

It truly was an insane idea for me to create a dysfunctional family, but it was protecting me from receiving a deep wound in my heart.

I hoped that there would be something to happen between the two of us, but only time would have told that story.

And as much as I didn’t want to meet Carlo when I did and have all these ridiculous ideas and thoughts running through my mind that maybe, just maybe, something could happen between the two of us, I couldn’t have been happier to finally know what it’s like to be in love.

Even if just one sided love, at least it was something.

Something was better than nothing.

At least for this man, it was completely worth it for me.

8: Chapter 08

Nearly a month had gone by and I’ve lost track of time of what day of the month it was already. Perhaps it was habit from being in that treacherous Area 42. Or perhaps it was because my body just didn’t want to remember and dive straight into training as it was used to. Whatever the reason may have been, one thing for certain, as much as I wanted to see the old faces from the Survival Among the Weakest game once more, I couldn’t have been more happier being back in the bar, making drinks for others and slipping a few in for myself.

“A Pineaptini,” a young female warlock with light lavender hair and golden brown eyes who couldn’t have been much older than me ordered as she sat down at the bar.

Smiling as sweetly as possible, I remarked, “Coming right up.” Looking over to the end where Carlo was working, I called, “Suarez!” Without having to wait for a request of which drink, Carlo swiftly tossed the martini bottle over his head a few times for a show before gently tossing it over as he went back to attending the people he had himself. Making the pineapple martini for the warlock as swiftly as possible, I said, “Let me guess. Not much of a good night tonight?”

“Try having idiots in your office hitting on you constantly and being put into a position of not being able to do anything about it,” the woman snorted.

Bars. This was one of the greatest things about having to be a warlock living a life of a mortal when working in a bar. Those of us working at the bar got to hear all the nonsense that others have to go through, and it was all out of the fact that these people that walk into a bar for a drink think it’s one of the safest places to yack, not to have a single word go past the doors. It was practically the confession stand countless of centuries ago in what people used to call the Catholic churches.

If I had to speak honestly, I saw great advantages to this now that Carlo and I were planning a head on fight against my kind. We would have been able to gather more information on what sort of classes we’d be up against, first line to the last. This was one of the moments that I couldn’t pass up on. Not if it meant I got to find out what kind of sorcerers I’d have to learn to fight against.

“Start talking,” I thoughtfully told the woman. “No place like the bar to talk about all the problems, I say.”

The woman snorted as she grumbled, “Ain’t that true majority of the time.” As I handed her drink, she went on to say, “You see, I work with the Attack and Defense Territory. Most of us in that field, or rather all of us since there’s only three different types of classes in that area, are always practicing the ridiculous spells on Lock Downs, Blasters, and Controls.”

Controls.

Of the three different types of spells that they worked on, the one to catch my attention was the Controls. To me, that meant only one thing, and that was that any Convent that majorly focused on becoming the Controllers, such as Chang and Park Convents, then they were most likely to end up in the Attack and Defense Territory.

Tap. Tap. Tap tap tap.

I tapped the bottom of the martini bottle in the musical count of one-two-three-and-four against the counter. After having set up a secret code, I didn’t have to look over to Carlo to know that he got the hint I finally could get my hands on some dirt on at least one of the warlocks to know what we would be up against. Whatever he and I thought we may able to pry out of any warlock to use to our advantage, Carlo and I had agreed that we’d give one another some sort of a sign, alerting the other to listen in. And of all things, using the taps seemed to be the best choice that we had to go with since not another soul that we worked with seemed to be tapping in the pattern we used for one another.

“So,” I commented as I slid the bottle down to Carlo as I kept my eyes on the warlock, “which of the three classes was it? Or was it at least two of the three to try and pull something?”

The woman snorted as she took a sip of her drink from the cup. “Two Lockers and two Controllers. As much as it would suck to be a mortal like you, I gotta say that whenever I have to put up with pigs like them, I prefer to be a mortal like you. Would make my life so much easier.” I remained quiet and waited for her to continue without being asked. Looking up at me, she let out a heavy sigh as she sadly told me, “The Controllers aren’t all that easy to get away from once they put you under their spell. Only those that are in the Mastermind class, or even in advanced level of it to make it better, would be able to break free of it. Let’s just say that having to work with those damn bastards isn’t all that pleasant when all they want to do is sexually harass you.”

“Are there any way to even break out of it?” I questioned. “From the magic cast down by the Controllers, I mean.”

The woman thought for a long while before she told me, “Well, one way is to cancel the spells with spells. The same type only, of course, but still cancellation with two types of sorcery that come from the same classification. Only other way is to have a strong mind. More so than the strong mind, strong will. That’s what the Controllers fear the most of. They’re constantly afraid that the ones they use their spells on will have strong will to break free from their control.”

“And it’s probably none of my business, but how about the other Blasters? Haven’t they tried to help you?” I asked rather curiously.

The woman blinked for a moment or two before she burst out laughing. “I like you, and coming from a warlock like myself, that’s a real compliment.” With a weak smile, the warlock told me, “We Blasters aren’t that useful unless if we’re in an actual fight attacking. If I may be honest with you, I don’t even know why I’m even working for the warlocks when I don’t really believe in keeping you mortals under our control as though you all are lower than us. You guys have feelings. You guys have minds of your own. And I’m sure as hell you guys don’t want to be kept around like slaves, participating in the games as though you were our little toys and puppets.”

I cleaned the tabletop as I coolly told her, “I’m actually one of the two recent survivors of the Survival Among the Weakest game, and if I may speak frankly with you, it wasn’t all that bad having to play this past year’s SAW game.”

I turned to put the tablecloth away in the sink and, when catching Carlo’s eyes, I brushed tips of my fingers of left hand across my neck before giving my left ear a light tuck. He gave me a bare nod and cleaned up his area before taking his sweet old time to walk on over to me, confidently saying, “JoBeth, it’s time for us to go. It’s almost time for a bit of a tour around the world to meet up with rest of the Survivors. I’m sure Steven of Area 10 would be thrilled to see you when we get to his Area, and there must be a few that you want to meet up with.”

At the thought of seeing Alex again brought a smile to my face as I chimed without much thought, “We’re stopping by Area 20 first, right? Oh, it would be so good to see Alex and that D’Angelo girl again!” As I quickly took off my apron and put it all away under the counter, I cried, “Well? What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

With a chuckle, Carlo put an arm around my waist and led me out as the woman called, “Good luck with the tour, mortals!”

We had to weave through the massive amount of warlocks, but when we finally got out onto the streets, Carlo asked in a low voice, “So, what did you find out?”

“She’s a Boomer,” I told him. “Also known as Blasters, but mainly known as Boomers to keep the names of the spells Blasters and the class Blasters separate. She works in the Attack and Defense Territory, where most of the Boomers, Controllers, and Lockers work.” I looked up at Carlo’s face through the corner of my eyes for a brief moment to catch confused look. Without bothering to ask for a reason to his confused look, I told him, “Those that focus on all the Lock Down techniques if the term Lockers is what’s confusing you. That being asides the point, we may have underestimated the warlocks just by a bit. We have to make sure that Belinda Park and Deborah Chang are at the Mastermind class of the Controllers. Either that or they have mastered it completely to be in advanced level to match the Controllers’ powers that are working as those to go into the front to last lines for wars. I imagine front more than anything since the warlocks won’t bother to think twice that those being used for SAW will even be strong enough to get past their Attack and Defense Territory, so all those from the war area will be put into the front lines, leaving all the weak ones in the second to the last lines.”

“Any way to break free from their control?” Carlo asked, and I could hear a deep line of frown in his voice.

I began to shake my head before stopping myself short. Once thinking over all that the woman had said, I replied, “There is one way. Strong mind, and strong will. The one thing that the woman told me is that if there’s anything that the Controllers fear, then it’s that the ones under their spells will break free. That the ones under the control will have strong enough of a will to set themselves free and fight back.”

“Meaning even just normal humans can break free and fight,” Carlo excitedly remarked.

With a small nod, I chirped, “Most likely than not, but we’ll have to test that theory out once I get back into the games.”

A pair of warlocks, a man and a woman, appeared before us in black suits and bright red ties, and as they took off their dark shades, they held out a hand each of us. The woman before me remarked, “We’ve come to take you away for your tour around the world to meet with other Survivors.”

“Once getting you both changed into more proper articles of clothing, of course,” the man next to her added.

Long bright blue hair, nearly the color of the sky, that was tied up into a ponytail and blazing red eyes. Then there were four parallel scars running down her right side of the face that started from just above her brows and all the way down to her chin.

Then there was the man with blazing red hair that was quite messy, and bright green eyes that seemed a bit too playful. It was almost as if he wanted to mess around with mainly me by trying to get me to try on various clothes if giving us new sets were their honest truth.

I took Carlo’s arm rather cautiously as I muttered, “I’ll tell you more later.”

With a bare nod, Carlo drew his arm out of my grasp to wrap it around my shoulders as we took the warlocks’ outstretched hands, and only then did the male warlock frown deeply with distaste. It was almost as if he was disappointed in the fact that I seemed close to Carlo as though we were an actual family that watched over one another, or out of the idea that Carlo and I may be an item that brought him down greatly.

We had barely felt a thing and instead of having to go through what felt like a suction of a long winded tunnel, the transportation was rather quick. We were standing in middle of what appeared to an enormous walk-in closet with the vast amount of clothes that I never thought was possible. It was almost as if clothes of all cultures and all the stores from centuries have been all gathered into one place.

The man bowed as he told Carlo, “If you will, come with me, sir. We need to find you a proper suit to wear for the tour.”

Carlo loosened his grip on me as he softly planted a kiss on my temple, murmuring, “See you in a few, Zoe.” Without waiting for a response, he walked away with the red headed warlock. There was something about his posture that screamed out that he didn’t want to have to leave me all alone, at an unwanted disadvantage if I were to be attacked. Let alone get questioned on what has truly been happening in the game.

The woman made a quick sketch on a pad with a bit of a scribble by the sketch, saying, “My name is Lana Silverman. I’ll be the one to work with you in choosing out outfits.”

Ripping the paper out and handing it to me, the stone cold look in her eyes didn’t change, but the scribble next to the sketch of a dress said something completely different. When I looked down at the paper, there was a message written as clear as day in small writing, almost as if to be kept hidden from any camera that may be hidden around the place, ‘I know your sister Violet Yukimura.’

I felt the blood drain from my face as I asked, “Was there anything that the so-called Specials wanted to see me in? Or have I heard wrong about Specials when the word of it were going around those like me?”

The woman looked confused for a brief moment, but must’ve caught on that I knew that there must have been some sort of camera or recording devices set up around the place as she shook her head slightly. Picking out a few dresses, she told me, “That sketch I gave you was the one that I had specifically in mind, but no color to bring out your unusual eyes, or emphasize on your hair. And once I gathered more information on you, it occurred to me. Your hair’s orange. Your eyes are purple. Both secondary colors, and the one color that’s missing is green. Too light like your hair and eyes, and it’ll make it seem you’re always far too bright, which might not be entirely true. Far too dark, and it’ll just seem to blah. But just the right amount of shade of green, and it’ll make you seem mysterious.”

Picking out an emerald green dress, strapless, that was a low cut dress on the back, but long and elegant below the waist. It almost looked like a ball gown, something that I would never have actually have afforded, let alone would have ever used.

Holding up the dress over me, she thoughtfully asked, “How about this? Or do you prefer something with at least one strap?” With a smile, she told me, “I asked the other warlock to make sure that he picked out something emerald green for the other Survivor. But if you prefer this dress in sapphire blue or ruby red, I can always ask for the change to be made in your partner’s tuxedo.”

“The emerald green’s fine,” I replied, and I just couldn’t quite see past the beauty of it. At the same time, I knew that having to wear this was a risky move, knowing that this dress just may as well have been wired to listen in on conversations. “Anything about the dress in specific I should know about?”

“It’s personally made by me,” Lana mused. “And so has majority of the clothing lines here. That man you were with? Most of the clothes that he will see are designed and made by me as well. Oh, and I really shouldn’t forget to mention that it was all out of the courtesy from the request made by Miss Caroline Rivers, a Special through Water Elemental and Transportation classes.”

There was that name again.

Caroline Rivers.

The name I wanted to hear the least.

A bitter taste suddenly overwhelmed me as I felt my lips thin with hatred, and I heard my own voice turn icy cold when I asked, “Did she put you up to this? To help me?”

“Technically speaking, yes,” the woman chuckled with amusement. “During the Survival game, she seemed to grow quite fond of you. And as one of her many assistants, it’s my duty to fulfill her wishes to best of my abilities.” She took the paper from my hand and made another quick sketch, this time of a jacket that would have barely made it below the chest line if actually in existence and worn, before making a quick scribble of a note on the side. Only when she was making the quick scribble did I realize that this would have been the only way that she most likely would have been able to communicate freely without much worry. And only when thad had clicked in my head did I bother looking down to see the writing, ‘And it’s a great honor to be able to protect you and Carlo Suarez to best of my abilities, Miss Yukimura.’

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath shakily. “If you don’t mind me asking, what about his family? Is Carlo’s family still alive and well? Or has harm been brought to them?”

Deep in my heart, I pleaded and I hoped that they were still all alive and well. Or at least alive if they were beaten to the harshest of the extent. The last thing I wanted to see on Carlo’s face was look of pain, and the last thing I wanted for him was for the complete opposite of what had happened to me – Losing all his family members. Leaving him alive to think that he was all alone, and making him feel as though he had no one to turn to.

“If you’re speaking of the three children, the two girls and one boy, along with the three adults, two women and one man,” the warlock chimed, “then the last I heard of them, let alone seen them, they were fine. Or at least still alive. Their eyes were unusual, though. Deep blood red. And they were nearly going mad, nearly to the point of insanity, whenever we warlocks were to get anywhere near them. They are one of the main reasons why you Survivors are meeting today. To set down the decision on what to do with them in terms of freeing them or finishing them off for good.”

“What about the fourth adult?” I asked. “A woman that the few warlocks brought in to see Carlo a few months into the game.”

Lana looked at me strangely as she informed me, “I recall it being the day of if not few days into the game that a woman was brought over to the game for at least an hour. And the moment she got back, she was locked away in an abandoned psychiatric asylum for good with a few mortals in the psychiatric department being assigned to look after her. But anyone that was brought afterwards? There were none except the warlocks that had gone in with Miss Rivers to see the survivors to exchange few words with them.”

A deep sigh escaped from deep within my chest at knowing that his family was at least safe, and that the woman was at least locked away and unable to bring me harm. That’s when it hit me that I had completely mixed up my own times of what happened when as I processed the words through my mind. It had been the day of or just few days in that the Maria woman was brought in and nearly killed Alex, and not a few months into the game. How many months had it been exactly that I was mixing up all the occurred events? Or was my memories just serving me wrong on certain events happened while in there?

“If you don’t mind my honesty, I didn’t really take much liking to Caroline Rivers when I had the pleasure of meeting her,” I told the woman. “I don’t know what you people see in that woman to place her in the position that she’s in. But are there more like her? In terms of where she and her followers or underlings or whatever you call those behind her stand and are like, I mean. It just seems strange to me that there would be those that would follow her all so blindly, not knowing if she’ll ever end up backstabbing you in the end somehow.”

Lana blinked with a bit of confusion, but the longer she remained silent, the more it had come over me that she was simply processing my words through her mind. Her confused look slowly became a blank one as glint in her eyes told me that she was choosing her words ever so carefully to try and answer me without having to get caught red handed herself.

Once finding the right words, the warlock finally said, “There are. There’s honestly no doubt in mind that there are many like myself that support her in so many ways, and will dare to never question her on whatever decision she makes for herself as well as for others. Anyone that knows that woman as well as I do know that all the decisions she’s made up to this day is in the best of interest for all human kind.” Something in her voice said that she was being dead serious, but when I listened carefully, I heard a false wave in her voice that the words that next came out of her lips weren’t really meaningful. “To keep mortals under us warlocks, frozen and trembling with fear, while we sorcerers continue to rule with fierce power.”

Throwing the beautiful gown over my head and with a flick of a hand, I found the dress wrapped around my body as my white dress shirt, black host vest, and black suit pants fell over my head. The simple Switcheroo trick, but the kind that only eighteen and up would have been able to accomplish after a lot of practice. The kids would have been able to accomplish the spell as well, of course, but for the clothes itself would have been a bit too far advanced for anyone of seventeen years of age and below.

With a warm smile, Lana chimed, “The three secondary colors. I’m not sure what others would say, but I personally think that this green really suits you, Miss Mahlendorf.” There was a faint hissing sound coming from somewhere behind me as she took my clothes, saying, “Here’s your partner making his return now.”

When I turned to face Carlo, I felt my hair getting tugged up, almost as though it were all getting tied into a ponytail on its own, as I saw Carlo and the male warlock making their way back to us. Carlo’s new set of clothes consisted of an emerald green dress shirt, striped black and green tie, a sleek black vest, and a set of black pants. Even his clothes were something neither of us could have afforded, even if we were to combine our pays together.

The moment they reached us, Carlo’s large hand slid onto my cheek as he breathed, “You look beautiful, Zoe.”

“It’s Jo, not Zoe. Thought you’d have at least my name engraved into that head of yours by now seeing how smart you are,” I told him warningly, but couldn’t help but faintly smile. I honestly didn’t know what was going through my mind when I leaned into his touch over shying away from him. When I did so before I could stop myself, however, there was a warm feeling deep in my stomach as my insides felt as though it were all knotting up. “And you don’t look bad yourself, Mr. Hot Shot.”

I hadn’t noticed that the male warlock had gone over to a shelf filled with shawls, but as he approached us, he held an emerald green one up to me, saying, “This one to go with your dress in case few of the Areas that you’re brought to are far too cold with the way you’re dressed. Would go nicely with that dress of yours.”

When I looked over to Lana, she had a deep frown on her face as she nearly growled, “I’d prefer she didn’t wear the green shawl. Why don’t you go fetch a suit jacket for Mr. Suarez, Dem? For starters, I’ve instructed you that I wanted the jacket as well, not just the vest. And two, we could use that far more than the shawl if they do end up going around the world to meet others and speak a bit when and if asked. I want to have Suarez be portrayed as the gentleman type that he portrayed for the world on the first night when he showed he cared far more for Mahlendorf and that Hernendez child from Area 20 that first night when his ex was brought in to see him.”

“You sure seem to be eager to get me out,” the man growled back.

Lana exclaimed, “Eager? You honestly think that I’m eager to get you out? Get you out for what? You know I’ve designed clothes for years, and that ever since I was a small child, all I ever wanted to do was design clothes for the Survivors! Above all else, what kind of clothes can bring out the best of each person, and you think that I’m eager to get you out? I always analyze all the contestants as carefully as possible so that whoever I’m assigned to, I may be able to get the best of clothing lines out for them! And when I have the best of the best for Suarez and you didn’t follow my instructions on which clothes to add and which to take away that I have to ask you twice to either add and subtract anything for the wardrobe, you dare accuse me of being up to something?”

The male warlock didn’t seem to know what to say as shock came over him. It wasn’t the shock in the sense that he was offended or wanted to attack, but weren’t able to form words.

No. It wasn’t that sort of shock. But rather it was the type that he seemed to oh so dearly want to apologize, but didn’t know how to form it into words. He wanted to ask for forgiveness, but knew didn’t deserve it.

“Get going and fetch the jacket that I worked my butt off having to design and make for him, Demetri,” Lana growled, and the male warlock had taken off running to the other room. The moment he was gone and out of earshot, Lana told us as calmly as possible, “I apologize for his behavior. I’m his mentor, and he never really did taking liking to me for never really letting him in on what Miss Rivers had to share with me and her personal assistants.”

Carlo leaned in as he whispered in my ear, “Rivers?”

“Caroline Rivers,” I whispered back. “The blood supplier.”

The one thing I didn’t want to admit to was her being my sister, and there was no doubt in mind that if anyone, Carlo was the one to know and understand that fairly well. And I didn’t have to say more than what I had for him to know exactly who I had meant, let alone if it was someone who he knew or not. The bitterness in my voice was enough of a giveaway for him to know that it was the one person I had detested with all the being in my body.

“What is it that you actually do?” Carlo asked rather cautiously.

With a small shrug, the woman simply responded, “I’m a designer for all sorts of clothing lines. Survival Among the Weakest game to balls. And even as far as to the biggest meetings for the mayors of all Areas with the Head Sorcerer held every year. But any clothing line that gets designed has to be given to Miss Rivers for her to hand to those above her for approval, and the word of whether it’s accepted or denied gets told to me after whatever the process of approval is done and over. And afterwards, Miss Rivers gathers all the warlocks to work closely with me to design for all the Survivors, as well as for the warlocks all across the globe. Technically speaking, I guess you can say I’m like the head of the Design Committee. There are more designers around, of course, but my designs are usually the ones to get picked more so than the others.”

“How often would you say yours gets chosen?” I thoughtfully asked. When Carlo looked at me with bewilderment, I muttered barely loud enough for him to hear, “I’ll explain later.”

Lana seemed to be giving a long and hard thought about it. “I’d say at least 95-percent of the time,” she admitted. Looking over to Carlo, she remarked before he could get even a single word out, “You’re wondering why that is, correct? It’s due to the fact that the warlocks are familiar with the works that I have to present. Others came to know of me even further upon finding out that I come from the bloodline of those that came up with color coordination and clothing line ideas for different classes. Not to forget to mention for different levels of mastery and specific type of job position and department each warlock have been put into. And because they recognize my art style, as well as finished product of each design made, they tend to choose my works more frequently than expected.”

A tuxedo tailcoat was brought out and Demetri held it up for Carlo to put on, muttering, “This is just getting ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous as in I may have overdone myself with the design?” Lana remarked. “Maybe, but at least he’ll be able to put his coat to good use if Mahlendorf is to get cold.” Looking up at Carlo as she took a step up to him, she remarked, “The vest has thermal woven into it, as well as the jacket, so put them to good use if you are to step into any area with cold climates.” Looking at me, she said, “And sorry to say that doing so with the dress is far trickier, especially with the ones with the same designs and alike of the dress you’re currently wearing, so thermal couldn’t be incorporated. So think wisely in that sense when having to ask him for the jacket as well.”

As the pair held out their hands to us, the male remarked, “Whenever you two are ready, we shall be heading to the main headquarters located just off the main land of Area 17 through 23.”

“Which is located at?” The words came out of my lips before I would have been more than happy to stop myself.

The woman calmly told me, “It’s just a small island that was once part of Area 17. Of all in its territory, that one small island is the only one that has been left untouched. It’s only due to the fact that the only one to inhabit the island is the Head, and only time it’s really used is when the Survivors are starting a tour after a month of getting out and reacquainted with the outside world. As well as for the meetings of all the mayors, of course.”

“You shouldn’t be telling them so much about the island, Silverman,” Dimitri sneered. “It wouldn’t do either of us any good if the damn mortals know too much, let alone anything, about the functioning of the warlocks’ society.”

“And it wouldn’t do you any good if you think it’s smart to keep your damn mouth shut about at least explaining what’s what, Henning,” Lana sneered back. “Don’t tell them at least the most basic things of what’s what, then they start up a rebellion and unnecessary lives are taken away from this world. Tell them, and at least we get the better chance of keeping them under our control even further without much questions asked. I’m thinking logically without having to start up much trouble, so don’t tell me what to do. Not when you’re the lowly dog here and I can have you ordered to be killed off in a snap of my fingers.” Looking back at us, a calm and collected smile came across her face as she told us, “Whenever you two are ready.” She held out both of her hands to us, and Carlo waved off Dimitri’s hand for Lana’s as I took her other hand.

For two minutes or so, we were spinning uncontrollably in a piercing dark tunnel. I felt as though all that were in my stomach would come up, and did all that I could to hold everything down as I tightly held onto back of Carlo’s jacket with my free hand as he held me tighter, drawing me as close to himself as possible, in his arm. The longer we remained in the tunnel, the more sickening things seemed to become. It was only then that it had become apparent to me that I didn’t have a strong stomach when it came to this sort of transportation.

Just when I thought I would lose all that I had eaten in the past few days, the vacuuming sensation had stopped and we were standing still in middle of a large field of grass. Carlo and I turned around to find an overly large white building, the biggest mansion I’ve pretty much seen by far, located at a bit of a distance away. Few figures came rushing towards us from the distance as an all too familiar voice called faintly, “JoBeth! JoBeth!”

When the figure drew closer, I saw Alex’s brightly smiling face and I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the bit of amount that he had grown in the one month we haven’t seen him. When he reached us, he threw his arms around my neck as Carlo let me go at the last second and I hugged the child back without second thought as a laughter escaped my lips. “You’ve grown!” I leaned back as I breathed, “My, look at you, Alex Hernendez! Has it really been just one month? Can’t believe how much you’ve grown in the past weeks we all were sent back home!” I didn’t give much thought to straightening out his suit navy blue suit jacket as I remarked, “And don’t you look like a gentleman in a suit, young man.”

“You look real pretty with your hair braided back and in a dress, Jo,” Alex commented.

Lana told us, “I have to be on my way, but go on ahead to the building. The others should be waiting for you three.” Just when we began to turn to her, she told us, “The child’s clothes are my designs and personally made by me as well. All of the survivors’ clothes for this year are all mine, so you all should be intrusion free from the warlocks if you all feel as though talking amongst yourselves. Just make sure you are nowhere to be near the building when wishing to speak freely, though.”

The woman had vanished into the thin air before we could bid her goodbye, leaving the three of us all alone. As I linked arms with Carlo, we all walked towards the building together as Carlo asked, “How have you been the past few weeks, Alex?

“I’ve been trying to get acquainted with all the kids back home to try and recruit,” Alex replied. “They all are talking to their parents when they’re out of their homes, I think, so I think it’s all going well in terms of beginning to recruit back in Area 20 for you guys.”

It suddenly clicked in my head that I’ve been meaning to talk over about children being put into training with Carlo, but never had the chance or had completely escaped my mind since the day we returned home. “Carlo, about what I wanted to talk to you a few weeks ago,” I told him a bit hurriedly. “I’m not entirely sure about having the kids train with weapons. I mean, the ones that are fifteen and up, maybe if they feel like it, but the younger ones? I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Frowning slightly, Carlo came to a halt as he looked down at me, ordering, “Alex, you go on ahead and tell others we’ll be there in a few. Zoey and I have to talk for a bit.”

It was clearly written all over Alex’s face that he wanted to stay, and I had no choice but to scold him with the words, “Immediately! Go when you’re told, Alex!” Without questioning me, Alex hurriedly went on his way back to the building and I waited until he was out of earshot range to say, “I really don’t think it’s a good idea, Carlo.”

“What do you mean you don’t think it’s a good idea? What do you expect to do with the kids, then?” Carlo sighed.

“What do I expect to do? Well, for starters, not push them into training with weapons! I mean, c’mon, Carlo! For all we know, they may not even want to go through the training to use all the things that are handed to them!”

Running his fingers through his hair with a deep frown, he admitted, “Honestly? I don’t want to have to put the kids through that sort of training. But we don’t have much choice, Zoe. We’ll have to prepare them to fight and defend themselves if most of us adults fall.”

“There’s gotta be other way,” I nearly pleaded, but I knew no matter how much I would have liked, there would be no real way to reason with him.

Shaking his head, Carlo’s voice was full of regret as he told me, “I’ve tried to think of so many things, but it’s always the same conclusion. That’s why I was having even the warlock and vampire kids train with the weapons while you weren’t looking so that if need be, they know how to use the weapons right. We have to keep the kids on their toes if the each adult assigned to four kids each falls, they’ll be prepared to continue on with the fight in the fallen people’s places.”

“But it’s unfair to force the kids into firing weapons!” I protested.

Before I could get another word out, Carlo wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in. Holding my body up against his, he gently pressed his lips against my forehead with a soft murmur, “Sorry, Zoe. If there were any other way to make sure that the kids would have a better self-defense than in this way, I would put them through the different type of training. I know how much children mean to you, so if I could, I would. But there’s no other better ways I can think of. You have to understand where I’m coming from.”

The firm hold in his arms.

His scent radiating from his body.

His firm yet gentle touch to the skin on my bare back.

The warm, caring voice that seemed to echo through the air.

I lightly pressed my lips to his shoulder, and couldn’t help but wonder if we could just be something more than what we had now. To be more than friends. To be more than just partners that watched out for one another. But something deep inside my heart told me that Carlo didn’t care for me the way I did for him. That to him, if anything, I would never be anything more than one like a sister to him.

Taking in his scent one last time, I said just barely above a whisper, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to seem as though I was pushing it.”

“You only have the kids’ best interest at heart,” Carlo chuckled. Slowly releasing his grip around my waist, he suggested, “Why don’t we start heading towards the building and meet the others. I’m sure you’re itching to see all of them again.”

With one arm still wrapped around my back, Carlo and I began walking towards the large mansion. It took us nearly five minutes to reach the place, and when we were just a few yards away from the front door, all that were outside came rushing toward us with bright smiles. With bright laughter rang throughout the place, we all had a chance to briefly checkup on one another.

The one thing that stopped all laughter and turned everyone’s smiles upside down was when Timothy finally reached the front and stood before me and Carlo once pushing his way through the crowd. Smiling warmly, he took my right hand and planted a small kiss on back of my hand, saying, “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Miss Yukimura.”

Forcing a smile, I remarked as sweetly as I could possibly make my voice sound, “It’s a pleasure to see you again as well, Tim. And if I may be honest, that bright red shirt really seems to suit you. And you look quite nice in the chosen out suit and the trench coat. Almost like a bit of mystery having to wrap around your being.”

“I know you’re not pleased with my course of actions during the games, so no need to force yourself to smile. But that being asides the point, Miss Yukimura, why don’t we put all the wrong doings that have occurred on either side behind us and begin with a fresh clean slate?” Timothy remarked. “With Mr. Bilyeo gone, I’m sure there would be no trouble having to haunt us any longer unless another to try and betray us all to turn us against one another is to show his or her face again.”

All eyes were all on me as I felt the corners of my lips fall into a deep frown, and I didn’t have to look around at everyone else to figure that they were all expecting me to say something. I thought over Timothy’s words, and as much as I didn’t want to have to agree to him, I couldn’t turn his offer away. After all, it wasn’t him that had done me true wrong. It was Stephen that had gone and backstabbed me to turn this vampire against me. How could I hold a grudge, as well as hate, against a man that hadn’t truly done me any wrong? Was I even in the place to say that I was in the place to turn Timothy away instead of starting with a fresh slate?

I soon found myself giving in as I held out my hand, grunting, “As much as I don’t want to, I can’t say that you’re at wrong about the bit of uproar having been due to Stephen spreading rumors. If any problems are to rise, do we have an agreement that it’s first discussed with either me or Carlo if not both of us?”

Timothy smiled warmly as he shook my hand on it. “Sounds like a great deal, and to you I give my thanks for understanding.” He gently pulled me out of Carlo’s grip and took my hand that he held in his free one as he had me slide my hand up his arm. “I hope you don’t mind if I were the one to be escorting her in,” he mused.

With a small twitch in his lips, Carlo shook his head as he calmly told me, “No, of course not. Just know that you’re under a close watch to make sure you don’t do anything to bring or cause her any sort of harm, Timothy. Unlike the last incident that involved your son, I guarantee that I won’t hesitate to finish you off. Are we clear?”

Timothy laughed warmly as we walked and, leaning in towards me, he whispered, “He’s quite defensive over you as always. Are you two together yet?”

“Excuse me?” were the first words to escape from my lips.

With an amused look, he remarked, “Oh, you know. Are you two dating?”

“No,” I slowly told him as I gave him a strange look. “We’re not. Why do you suddenly want to know what’s going on between the two of us?”

He curiously looked over to Carlo as he muttered more to himself, “No reason. Thought he would come clean by now. Guess one month wasn’t enough time for that young man.”

As we entered the building, Steven caught up to our side and whispered once walking on the other side of me, “Anything specific you had in mind for today’s broadcast?”

Even Timothy was looking through the corner of his eyes at me with a deep frown, and as much as I would have loved to look around at others to get a good look at their expressions, I had no choice but to look straight ahead and keep my cool. And although I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a look at their faces, it was clear as day to me that it wasn’t just Steven and Timothy that wanted to know exactly what I had in store for the world.

Once I processed the question and chose out my words ever so carefully, I answered in a barely audible voice, “Today, I’ll be revealing that there’s a sole survivor to have escaped the little massacre of the Yukimura Convent that the warlocks have failed to overlook and kill off. A member that they have dared to throw into the games. To set off anger across the world among warlocks that had high respects for my convent. And I was thinking of letting today be the day we revealed that there will be an up rise happening in the course of next year or two to alarm the warlocks, and have all those in the warlock community show their true colors to see which side they truly stand on.”

I could feel all those right around me quite surprised, but didn’t hear any movements to give away their reaction apart from continuing the walk. “You’re certain that you want to reveal it today?” Timothy murmured to me rather cautiously.

With the slightest nod I could possibly give, I remarked, “I can’t truly say I know where Carlo stands on it, but for me personally, I think it may be best to start up havoc now among all the Areas. At least it’ll show even the truest colors of all the warlocks when we see who tries to attack the mortals and your kind, and who tries to stand up and fights back to their best of their abilities.”

A silence soon fell over the group, and it all began to become dreadful as my I began to feel as though my stomach was beginning to tie into a knot. Steven lightly gripped my shoulder, and only when he gave it a gentle squeeze had it occurred to me that he must’ve sensed I was at a bit of unease. When I looked up at him, Steven gave me the soft smile I recalled from all those weeks, perhaps a couple of months, ago that he first gave me when he was helping me train on how to shoot what seemed like a simple handgun.

“Everything’ll be fine,” Steven’s gentle voice echoed, and for some strange reason, I felt wave of relief wash up over me.

Everything will be fine.

That’s all I really needed to hear, it seemed. But something else in back of my mind also told me that I shouldn’t have trusted others so easily. Last I did so, it was with Stephen and that nearly drove me to my death. Whether it be in hands of vampires and mortals, or death by those of my own kind, perhaps even far as by Stephen himself, it didn’t matter. I trusted him a bit too easily because he offered to train me. To help me become the proper warlock that my family was well known to be. And I took that for granted by a bit, and caused me to lose my sight to what may be right or wrong. If I allowed myself to fall for someone’s charms, even if it was of those that were simple humans, then there was just as a good of a chance of putting myself in grave danger once more.

As I placed my free hand on his arm and the hand that was already holding linked with his arm, Timothy placed his clammy hand on my hands as he mused quietly, “Funny how you two seem to stand on completely opposite sides in terms of starting up an uproar, Miss Yukimura. The young Suarez says he doesn’t want to start up an uproar among the Areas just yet, even if it means that there are warlocks that’ll be more than willing to stand up for those mistreated for countless amount of centuries.”

“Tell him for me that there’s no other option that I can see so far? And that it should be something that the warlocks that want to keep us all under their ruling could use to try and kill off as many people as possible in one shot,” I quietly told him in return as calmly as possible.

Timothy chuckled. “You have quite the unusual style of thinking just as Suarez? It almost seems as if you have your own drummers that you two are marching to. Of course, that’s only from observing the way you two speak.”

I tried to speak to question, but whenever I had opened my mouth, it had only become a gaping stare at the vampire.

No words had come past my lips.

Instead, all I could do was stare at this man with bewilderment until I was able to close my mouth again to stare up ahead and down the hall. There was a large set of grand oak doors drawing near, waiting for us at the end of the hall. And for every step that we took as a group, the halls only seemed to narrow and more long winded than it actually was. It was almost as if the hall was stretching itself out, and if others weren’t feeling the same as I was, then it only would have meant that anxiety was building up inside me.

Anxiety for what?

Question to that even I would have loved to know.

When we finally reached the set of large doors, it flung open for us so-called Survivors to enter, and inside stood an extremely well dressed warlock. Sleek sapphire blue dress shirt. What appeared to be ruby red vest usually worn by bartenders and waiters. And to top it all off, dark navy suit, nearly black, and a ruby red bow tie to match his vest.

His shoulders were broad with his body seemed to have been well built under his clothes. It was almost as though he had worked out constantly during whenever he managed to get free time in his hands. His chin was fairly squared off as his cheekbones were clearly defined, almost as if it were done on purpose with makeup. But when I observed his face more carefully, I couldn’t seem to find any signs that he had put any on. He had the warmest hazel eyes I have ever seen, nearly as round as a child’s that was so rare to find in adults. And then there was his sandy brown hair that was gelled back with his hair parted to the right, almost as though he was a businessman of some sort.

With a snap of his fingers, his jacket had vanished into the thin air. And just as I expected from the warlock before us, his voice was deep. The one thing I hadn’t expected was his voice to be warm, smooth, and, if I hadn’t known any better, nearly all so caring, as the man said, “After nearly a month or so of passing, it’s finally a pleasure to have meet you all in person. Above all else, I would like to congratulate you, not just on behalf of all the warlocks below me, but from me personally for having made it out of this past year’s game of survival alive.” As he motioned to the table large enough to seat at least sixty people with exactly forty-eight, including the man, chairs and silverwares set around the table. “Please,” the warlock offered. “Let’s all take a seat. It shouldn’t be long before your lunch comes out, everyone.”

When we neared the table, all of us in rather a cautious manner, I noticed that for each seat, there was a specific person assigned. And by the looks of it all, it was by Areas as well, and in order. All the northern hemisphere Areas were on one side while all the southern hemisphere Areas were on the other, and the ones to be seated next to me were Carlo, of course, and Alex. A small part of me was relieved that I wouldn’t really have to sit next to some other people, but at the same time, I couldn’t tell what this head warlock was exactly up to.

Once everyone was standing by their seat, the man warmly smiled as he took the first step to sit down, saying, “Sit. I don’t want you all to think I bring out the Survivors here to watch you fight to your deaths all over again.”

As we all took a seat, Carlo put an arm over the back rest of my chair as he rested his hand on my shoulder rather protectively, as I calmly asked, “If I had to guess, you’re not just the Head of all the warlocks, but a Special as well. More than of two classes. Perhaps at least three or more.”

The warlock seemed quite surprised as everyone else at the table, but I didn’t let any look that I received get to me as I kept my posture and continued to keep my calm gaze upon the Head that sat at the end of the table. Soon bursting out into laughter, the warlock told me, “You’re the most keen mortal I’ve seen by far. Yes, I’m a Special. Of four different classes. I’m a Controller, Water Elementalist, Flame Elementalist, and of the Transportation class. I’m sorry if I seem a bit rude when asking, but how’d you find out that I was a Special being in at least three different classes? Books? Media? Talk among the warlocks?”

“I find it far more rude that you haven’t told us your name,” I replied.

Grinning mischievously, he remarked, “So straight forward, are we? If you must know, my name is Luke. Luke Suh.”

Suh. Another person originally of Asian descent. If I had to take a wild stab in the dark, I had to go with Korean as his original heritage over other lines. And the more I thought upon his name, the more I slowly began to recall what Suh Convent exactly was well known for, the more the name had begun to ring oh so familiarly in my head.

“The Suh Convent,” I murmured to myself before looking down the table at the man once more. “Are you related to Christopher Suh, the young legendary warlock that’s made himself to be well known by the world one of the most powerful men in the world, by any chance? Another Special, if I recall correctly, through Healer and Water Elemental classes. He’s made himself well known and successful through military, music industries, and other various types of media industries. In the media, majorly the television shows and the magazine industries. Of course, my memories of having studied up on warlocks could be serving me wrong, which is why I want to confirm it with you to see make sure I have all my information down correctly.”

“What did you say your job is again, miss?” the warlock asked curiously.

With a small smirk, I replied, “Waitress and cashier by day, and bartender by night. And, of course, I’m my own librarian during the free time to study up on any warlocks that may be of great importance.”

“And your name?” Luke asked, and his eyes were full of curiosity.

With a grave look that I knew was drawing over my face, I asked, “Is all of this being on broadcast as well? Or has that not started yet?”

“Whenever and wherever conversations are held, especially when it involves the Survival Among the Weakest and its Survivors, it’s guaranteed that broadcast is happening,” the man told me sincerely. “And you can bet all that you have that this is live on air right this moment. Why do you ask so suddenly?”

“Live? Right this moment?” I questioned.

When the man nodded with curiosity filling up in his eyes, I began to get up on my feet and Carlo quickly grabbed my arm to stop me. He leaned in as his voice hissed into my ear, “Zoe, don’t do it.”

Gently placing my hand on his, I weakly gave him a smile as I whispered, “Sorry, Carlo, but I have to. I have to let those that had high hopes in my family know that those flames really shouldn’t be stomped out just yet. I’m the only remainder of that spark. You have to understand.” He hesitantly let me go as I finally got up on my feet as I looked over to the warlock at the end of the table, growling, “You want my name? My name is Zoey Yukimura of the Yukimura Convent. The fourth child of the family. The youngest to live, and the only survivor of the convent. There were warlocks that work under you that have killed my entire family off, and they have failed to make sure I died with them. Yukimura Convent have believed in equal rights just as my mother’s convent, the Gilbert Convent, has so that all races can live peacefully in this world. No race to overpower one another. No race to say they are better than others. And our kind dares to take all those rights away from the humans? I was raised properly, to make sure that humans are treated the way we warlocks would want to be treated if we were to be in your shoes. I will make sure that I do whatever it takes, even if it costs me my own life, to make sure our kind that believes warlocks should be ruling the earth pays for the sins committed by our ancestors countless of centuries ago. Yukimura continues to live, and mark my words, Luke Suh of the Suh Convent. Your convent isn’t the only convent that holds very special type of Specials. I am the last of the Yukimura Convent to live, and I am oh so very close to accomplishing what no one has accomplished for who knows how many centuries. Necromancy. Have fun trying to bring me down, because I’m sure that of all things, that won’t be an easy task at all.”

“And all these people that are here with you?” the man asked bitterly as his hazel eyes looked around at the table before having to look me over as best as possible from head to toe.

With a deep breath in, I replied, “They are all the so-called Survivors of this past year’s Survival Among the Weakest game, but it’s a guarantee that they are all here to fight against all and any that are fully against them gaining their equal rights back. And believe me, I’m not the only head figure to stand. Yet again, since all here have been in extensive training with me, I guess I can’t really call myself a head figure either.”

The man frowned deeply at me, and asides from having to appear as though he had lost himself in thoughts, I couldn’t quite make out what may have been going through his mind. Even when all the food that seemed all too fancy appeared on the plates before us, he hadn’t taken his eyes off me, not even once, as he called after what seemed like a treacherous eternity, “Off! I want all cameras off as we eat! I don’t want to have to bore the world with the view of bunch of us eating around the table!” As clicking noises began to go off, Luke’s voice soon boomed, “And all of you! Away and out of the hearing range! And I don’t want anyone to be hearing a single word of what’s said in this room from here on!” There were scurrying noises heard just outside the doors, and once few systems were heard shutting down, he calmly told me, “Why don’t you take a seat, Lady Yukimura? I didn’t think any of you were left alive when I heard that all from your Convent fell to their knees and down to ashes.”

As I sat back down, I couldn’t help but continue to growl, “I must admit, Lord Luke, that you’ve got quite the clumsy group of warlocks. I mean, I thought you would have told all that you sent to kill off my family to make sure that we all were dead with not a single soul, let alone a single heir nor heiress, left alive to take over as the next generation Head of the Yukimura and the Gilbert Convents. I admit that I may be the youngest and I may not have had the chance to be taught all that needs to be taught about what it is to rule as the heiress of those two convents. I will, however, refuse to admit that I don’t know what the two ends of my convents desired the most before they were all murdered. Under what I assume was your orders, Lord Luke.”

Luke let out a small laugh, sounding as though it was more forced than anything, as he shook his head with a smile with disbelief. “You honestly think I would have the nerves to have your convent to be finished off, Lady Yukimura? You must have mistaken me for my father. If I may be ever so honest with you, it’s my father that despised your family with uttermost disgust. I, on the other hand, admired your family greatly. The Yukimura and Gilbert Convents, two of the most powerful convents around, believing in the equal rights for the mere mortals? Those who have powers whatsoever, let alone enough strength to actually fight us heads on all alone without the help of the warlocks? If you didn’t know, Lady Yukimura, nearly half the world believed in your convent. They all believed that it would be your convent that brought the world to its peace. Half of those followers still believe that there may be hope even without your convent existing. They just don’t know what to do with themselves without actual head figure. The other half that were followers of your family, they have given up hope. They don’t even know what to believe with all of the Yukimura and Gilbert Convents gone.”

“The other half?” Carlo asked in a testing manner.

Shifting his eyes over to my partner, the warlock calmly replied, “That remaining half believes that what happened over three thousand years ago was right. That you humans deserved to have been brought down to your knees to bow before us warlocks.”

“What about you?” Timothy questioned next. “Where do you stand in all this?”

Luke sighed deeply as he told us, “I’m sure that you all won’t believe me the second I tell you, but no harm in answering, right?”

“Want me to set up a Binder on you?” I bitterly asked with a sweet bitter smile without giving him a chance to continue. Soon beginning to glance around at the others, I offered, “Truth Binder preferable, everyone? Or do you all just want to hear what he has to say for himself first before I set the Binder on him to see if he spoke the truth or the lie?”

The vampires in the room all looked at one another as the humans and the other warlocks around didn’t seem all too certain about how to answer. After passing of a minute or two, silence among the vampires were broken when Timothy said, “Let the man speak for himself first, Miss Yukimura. If it’s just as he says and we don’t believe any of his words, then I think it’d be safe if we were to move onto Binder to check for the truth.” When the mortals and warlocks around gave him a strange look, the vampire simply shrugged. “Better to give him benefit of the doubt then not from the start. Wouldn’t you all like to be given the chance to try and explain yourselves if you were to be in his shoes?”

“Speak,” I demanded as I turned my gaze back over to Luke. Something on my face must have startled him when I looked over, because he had begun to shift rather uneasily in his seat. “I actually would love to hear what you have to say, Lord Luke.”

“I don’t believe what has been brought down upon your family is right, Lady Yukimura,” he told me earnestly. “And I don’t have the same beliefs as my father. The one thing that I’m against with every being in my body is the rights from the humans being taken away from them. To throw them into these Survival games for the amusement of our kind.”

All at the table soon began to grow angry, and I didn’t have to be a vampire to even sense that as Timothy demanded on behalf of everyone else, “Then why do you continue? You’re the Head Warlock, are you not? You have the final say in everything, do you not?”

“I do so, I get sentenced to my death,” Luke replied. “And I could care less for my life. It’s the lives of you humans that I worry for. If I were to get murdered now, then my brother is next in line, and I am certain that he will refuse. If he refuses the seat repeatedly, then all those under me will go far out of hand. The moment that happens, you humans are as good as dead. All of your kind will be killed off for certain, and there will surely be no one to stop those that are slaughtering all the mortals. The one-quarter in the world that has continued to have faith aren’t enough to face the half that has continuously believed for humans to be bellowed them. As for the other one-quarter, they’ll be stuck in between the two worlds that they will get trampled on and killed with ease. I put on a mask of lies, to make it seem as though I have same ideals as my father, so that no deaths occur. So that I may protect as many humans as possible with a few that must be given up as sacrifices for the sake of the world being kept in its place of current peace.”

“And you think having to kill off at minimum of forty-eight people every year is the best way to go?” I furiously roared. Carlo grabbed my wrist warningly to try and get me to back down as I sneered, “You’re still having the lives of the innocent be killed off!”

With a deep frown, he sincerely told me, “My deepest apologies, Lady Yukimura, but I’m doing what I can to try and avoid more than that approximately hundred people from being killed off. If I were to fall, then who honestly would be next in line when all believe for every last members of your convent to be dead to try and protect the humans? I mean, of course, you would be considered to be the next in line now that you have made a public announcement that you have survived the massacre of the Yukimura and Gilbert Convents, but what good would that really do? I’m sure no warlocks that believe strongly in keeping mortals in line would go along with you to the terminations of the games for good willingly.”

“What do you mean she would be next in line?” Carlo asked. If I hadn’t known any better, I would say he sounded a little too calm when he spoke.

With a deep sigh as all eyes were now on him, Luke admitted, “It’s just that those of us in the Suh Convent aren’t exactly the first convent to be in line to be in the ruling. The first priority goes to the Yukimura Convent. And if they fall, it was supposed to go to the Gilbert Convent, but those two convents have merged together. So, if the Gilbert Convent isn’t to take the second place, then Bilyeo Convent would since those two were in close match to see who would rule second. And if all those three are to fall to the pit of their deaths, the Suh Convent. And if all the technicalities are counted for, I am in the right of place to be ruling since everyone had come to believe all those from Yukimura, Gilbert, and Bilyeo Convents were dead.”

The words had sunk into my mind. I was from both the Yukimura and the Gilber Convent. With that being the case, I had the original right to be heir to the seat.

“Care to step down so I can take over as the true heir to the seat?” I growled. “I’m sure no warlock would dare to speak up against me as long as I was to be in the ruling. And if there were another Yukimura alive, I’m sure even they would not allow for such things to continue.”

“Sorry, but I simply can’t allow that,” Luke gravely told me, and his eyes soon began to fill with hate. “If the world was to go into chaos, I would be held responsible, and I refuse to let your decisions inflict great damage on my reputation.”

Without looking around at others, I ordered, “I don’t want any of you to underestimate any of the members of Suh Convent. Now, Lock Down. Immediately.”

I didn’t have to tell which one I wanted to be used, and to say the least, I was at least glad most of them had the same idea of smashing him down to the ground, forcing him to struggle like the fish out of the water. Only difference was that he wasn’t able to move a single muscle in his body. I had to admit that as all of Luke’s food fell to the ground, it was a shame to waste even his creamy, rich, thick mushroom soup as it trickled along the floor.

The other warlocks that were there got up on their feet to make sure their spell held as I got up on my feet and walked over to Luke. Casting a simple Binder spell over him, I asked, “In this entire time we’ve been here, speaking with you, have you been telling us the truth?”

“Yes,” the man grunted

Even though I may have cast the simplest of all Binding spells, mine was one that no warlock could have gotten out of. Not even my parents were able to escape from the spell when I was a child, so unless if I had gotten rusty, I knew that there was no way he could have been lying to me. Casting the strongest of all there were, I asked, “You sure? It’s hard to believe that you’re telling us the truth.”

As I knelt down next to him, Luke exclaimed, “Yes! I’m telling you the truth! I’ve been telling you nothing but the truth this entire time!”

“So,” Carlo calmly asked as he walked over, “why’d you say you’ll have death sentence over your head earlier if you were try to do anything?”

“Because the only ones that would really get away with such things are the members of Yukimura and Gilbert Convents,” Luke growled in a detesting tone. “But only if the member is the Head when they sat down the order.”

Timothy’s icy cold voice demanded, “Kill him. Kill him so that you can take back what truly belongs to you and your family, Miss Yukimura.”

I thought for a long while.

I was tempted to kill the man before me.

I was tempted to take back what truly belonged to me and my family if the Yukimura was, in fact, the true heir to the seat.

More than anything else, I was tempted to take over as the next Head now that the world knew a Yukimura has made a comeback. That I was going to bring threat forward to those that see the humans and vampires as something far lower than themselves.

But something deep inside me brought me to a halt as I breathed, “No. I’m going to let the man live.”

“What?” Steven hissed. “You’re going to let him continue to rule over us?”

“I’m making the choice I am because it’ll continue if I allowed him to die!” I roared. “Do you honestly have so much faith in me to think I won’t let the power get to my head? Don’t let it slip your mind that I’m a tempted human being just like you! Only a different race! If I wanted the seat, I wouldn’t be trying to give my lending hands to you all in the war against my kind!” As I got up, I softly ordered, “Release him.” When Luke was set free, I menacingly growled at him, “Mark my words, Lord Luke. Attack either me or any of those that are here, let alone any that are to stand behind me, I’ll personally make sure you regret the day you messed with Zoey Yukimura, the youngest member and the sole survivor of the Yukimura Convent. Do I make myself clear?”

As Luke nodded, blood began to drain from his face almost as though he was afraid of something. No. Not something. It was more of someone. He was afraid of me. It was written clearly all over in his eyes. I didn’t fully understand why, but he must have known that I was being serious about starting a revolution for the sake of the mortals. But one thing he didn’t know was that there were vampires living among us all, and that I was fighting for their sake as well.

“You know, Lady Yukimura,” Luke’s cold voice hissed. “Your family never truly loved you. Not even a parent truly loves their child. But I guess you’ve already come to that realization, haven’t you? I mean, all your family died. No one was willing to stay alive to watch over you to make sure you were taken care of. If they cared, they would have done have that they could do make sure they got out alive. That they lived. But they all fell to their knees, leaving you to be an orphan.”

The memories of my family’s death, each and every one of their murder, began to flash through my mind. Objects flying around everywhere. Elements being used against my own family. All of them falling one by one to their death. Before I knew it, anger began boiling up behind me and I suddenly lost control of myself as I grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up, slamming the male warlock down on the table.

Luke Suh’s eyes were suddenly filled with fear as he looked up at me as I bore my teeth at him, growling, “How dare you speak of my family as though you know them? How dare you say my parents had no interest in keeping me safe? How dare you speak of my sisters, Violet and Maria, and my brother, Hogosha, as though they didn’t care! My parents ordered Violet to make sure that all of us, Hogosha, Maria and I, were safe! Even if it meant at the cost of her own life! Once they fell after fending the warlocks off, Violet ordered for Hogosha to guard me and Maria to be kept safe to the end! When she had fallen to her death, Hogosha ordered Maria that I live to see the end of the day and the rise of the sun of the next! Once he fell and forced into giving into death, Maria sacrificed herself by hiding me away and fighting to her last breath, refusing to tell where I was hidden! Lying through her gritted teeth that she had killed me off herself! That she stained her own hands with the blood of her own baby sister so that the warlocks wouldn’t come looking for a puny little five year old child! And yet you dare speak of them as though you know how each and every last one of them died? The reason of their death? It’s the filthy pigs like you that think so highly of themselves that disgusts me the most! And don’t you dare speak of others as though you know them when you don’t, you arrogant bastard! And they didn’t just die for me! They died for the sake of equal rights! They sacrificed themselves for me so that I may live to see another day! That I may at least be the last standing hope to the humans, as well as those of our race that believes in equal rights for the mortals, to bring peace to this world just like over three thousand years ago!”

I suddenly began to feel as though I couldn’t breathe. The more it felt as though it was harder to breath, the more it felt as though my chest was closing in. Suddenly, it almost felt as though the room itself was closing in on me as well on top of having it become harder to breath. Every breath I took was short, quick, and a bit too fast paced.

Hyperventilation.

It was hyperventilation.

For first time in my life, I found myself hyperventilating, and I found myself not being able to stand being in that room. I suddenly lost all my appetite for any food that was set out on the table as well, and I found myself running out the door and hurrying off down the hall to find the front entrance. I faintly heard a voice calling after me, but I ignored the call as my allowed my feet to carry me further down.

When I reached the large pair of doors at the end of the hall, I flung them open and I soon found myself running out into the wide open field.

Rain.

Rain was coming down, hard, almost like the waterfall.

What was clear as day sky earlier was now dark and cloudy with cold rain drops falling rather harshly. And all those cold rain drops were coming down and pelting against my skin.

Not too far down running through the field, I had collapsed as I crouched on the ground. I soon began trembling the sudden wave of cold air that hit me, and even though it was still hard to be able to breath normally again, I found myself slowly calming down. It took a couple of minutes but I was over time able to control my breathing yet again. I wasn’t sure if it was due to the fact that I was finally calming down or away from others, but either way, I couldn’t have been happier to be able to breath normally again. Not once did I think I would snap at the very thought of my family’s death. Not once did I think I would be angered as much, but when I ran that Suh Convent member’s words through my head all over again, it only brought anger back once more. Only then did I tell myself that my anger was reasonable. That I had every right to snap and yell at him the way I did.

I felt something droop over my shoulders, causing me to jump with a slight startle, as someone crouched before me, pulling what they dropped over my shoulder over even my head. “What’s going through that head of yours, Zoey?” Carlo’s voice softly asked as he slid his hand under the coat to place on my bare shoulder and soon around to my bare back. Gently pulling me into his arms, he whispered, “What on earth are you thinking? Running out into the rain? Are you trying to get yourself sick?”

It was then that I realized I was trembling. Not just out of the cold weather, but also from crying, and this hug was what I needed to calm me down. Leaning into his arms, I sobbed, “I miss them. I miss them, Carlo. More my brother and my younger of the two sisters more so than my parents and my elder sister.”

Carlo embraced me in his arms just a little tighter as he remained silent. Gently resting his chin on top of my head, he seemed to be losing himself in his own thoughts. “That’s what got you to snap, isn’t it?” His voice was a near hush as he gently stroked top of my head. “What that guy said. That’s what made you snap.”

I clutched onto his side and remained quiet. When he drew yet closer, gently holding me in his arms, it was almost as though I didn’t have to answer. My holding onto him like a small child holding onto their stuffed animal seemed to be a good enough of a reason for him not to hear a response from me. For me to even confirm it, because that alone seemed to be reply alone for him.

“I’m sorry,” I hoarsely whispered after some time had passed.

Getting back up on his feet as he picked me up in his arms, just like that very night when Timothy and his son began to irrationally attack me, Carlo began walking towards the building. As I rested my head close to his neck, I began to feel a little warm, perhaps due to the thermal that had been said to be installed into his jacket. “Have you been outworking yourself?” he softly asked. “Or just been stressing yourself out with unnecessary things? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you hyperventilate as long as we’ve known each other. Let alone hear from that Tricia friend of yours ever speak of you going through it.”

“Which has been only a few months, Carlo” I scolded in a gentle voice. “Barely a year. You don’t even know if I’ve ever hyperventilated before.” I shifted in his arms a bit as I began to try and squirm out of his arms. Sliding my hands onto his shoulders, my hands soon slipping off and putting us both in a situation of surprise where our lips nearly met, I weakly murmured, “You don’t have to carry me back inside. I can walk on my own.”

Ignoring my request to put me back down on my feet, Carlo asked, “Well? Have you ever hyperventilated before?” When I went silent and remained still, uncertain if I should tell him or not that I have, in fact, never hyperventilated before, I saw a smirk washing up onto his face. As he glanced down at me, he said, “Guess I know you a little better than we both think, huh?”

“Will you let me walk on my own?” I huffed.

“When we’re inside,” he replied in a chuckle. There was a slight pause before he added, “And even then I’ll think about it. Prefer you didn’t trip over yourself, let alone slip, when you’re soaking wet from head to toe.”

I couldn’t help but grumble as I looked up at the vampire, “Well, so are you, and I rather you not get hurt because of me. I’m sure I’m not that light, let alone easy, to carry around.”

“Let me worry about how heavy you are,” Carlo laughed. “It’s not like you’re overweight. And if I can manage walking around while carrying you in the rain, I think I’ll manage, Zoe.”

I didn’t think he was serious about carrying me around all the way to the building, even as far as inside, but there he went. He had carried me all the way, and not once had he bothered to place me back down on my feet. As I wrapped my arms around his neck, I nervously asked, “Are you planning on placing me down any time soon?”

“Are you going to start hyperventilating again and run out to get yourself sick?” Not even a single beat had been lost as Carlo shot back his question at me as he smiled his warm smile down at me. It was almost as though he was taunting me, but I knew deep down in my heart that he was only saying it out of best interest for me.

When we neared the end of the hall and reached the grand oak doors, I felt my face flush deeply as Timothy opened the door, musing, “Is it raining outside? The scent of your blood has grown faint, Miss Yukimura.” There were sparks in his eyes, and they were nearly dancing at the sight of finding me in Carlo’s arms. “Something happen that caused you to run out on us oh so abruptly, Miss Yukimura? And reason for you to go running after her, Suarez? I’m sure she could have taken good care of herself and return in her own time.”

“If you must know, I prefer to makes sure that those I keep close at heart are fine instead of leaving them all alone, Tim,” Carlo coolly replied. “And that includes Zoey.” Placing me back down on my feet, Carlo kept an arm around my shoulders, sharply pulling me in close to himself when I tried to take a step away from him, as he looked around at the room. He tucked a lock of wet hair behind my ear as he quietly asked, “Are you going to be alright?”

I gave him a small nod in response as seeing my lips refused to part to give him a reply in words. And as happy as I was in knowing he cared for me, there was that strange pang of pain deep in my heart knowing he didn’t look at me more than as someone he worked closely with. I looked around at the others as I hoarsely asked, “Are we airing live again?”

“We’ve been airing since that Suh bastard made that unnecessary remark about your family,” Steven informed me, and he had a deep frown on his face.

The way he eyed Carlo and the way he had his arm wrapped around my shoulder was almost as if he wasn’t really happy with the sight. Almost as if he got the idea that we were something more than what Carlo and I really were, which was what I wanted for the two of us. But if Steven was keeping quiet about what he thought, if that was what was going through his mind, I couldn’t have been more than thankful about keeping quiet to spread the idea along the others in the group.

Looking towards Luke, I asked as calmly as possible, “Would it be possible to start the tour now than wait a little longer? I think it would do the world best if they got to meet all their survivors for this past year’s Survival Among the Weakest game.”

9: Chapter 09

It took us nearly complete twenty-four hours to go from one Area to the next, and we started off in the Southern hemisphere at Area 41, the Area just below 17 where the building for the gathering was located. As we traveled around, it was almost as if Luke, or even the warlocks that planned out the entire tour, wanted us so-called Survivors to end with Area 18 as they took us from Area 41 to Area 16, followed by Area 39 and moving onto Area 14, so on and so forth.

They had made sure I got completely dried off first, as well as my clothes, before doing any sort of traveling. Carlo stood just outside the restroom at our final pit stop that we made for the tour, waiting for me and the moment I stepped out into the hall, he gently took a hold of my arm and pulled me in. As I looked up at him with a bit of surprise, he softly asked, “How are you feeling?”

“What do you mean?” I found myself barely breathing.

He leaned down to rest his head on my shoulder, whispering, “Headaches? Cold? Alright? What? I want to make sure you’re fine. That you will be as we travel.”

I couldn’t help but smile faintly down at him as I brought a hand up to back of his head to softly run my fingers through his hair. “I’m fine, Carlo,” I reassured the vampire. “Just take care of yourself before worrying about me, alright? You’re the one that came running out after me in the rain and covered me with your jacket.”

Carlo began to say something until Steven’s voice stopped him, saying not too far down the hall, “Suarez, Zoey, we’re all waiting for you guys.

“He likes you a lot, you know,” Carlo whispered into my ear as he straightened up. I saw a deep frown on his face as Carlo placed a hand gently on my back and began to lead me down the hall, calling, “We’re ready. Head on back, Steven.”

Frowning up at him, I snorted, “He doesn’t like me.” When we neared Steven, I gave him a sweet smile, asking, “So, where are we all heading to next?”

“Area 18,” Steven told me as a smile came over his face that had held stone cold look not too long ago. “Your Area. It’s our final stop, so let’s make the best of it, Zoey.”

Just as Steven offered an arm towards me, I looked up at Carlo in time to see him roll his eyes as he threw his jacket back on. Leaning in, he whispered only so that I would hear, “Again, he likes you. If I didn’t know any better, Zoe, I’d say he’s flirting with you.” Straightening up with a small frown, he remarked, “And for a warlock, you’re doing quite the job. I thought you’d be hated by most that we got out with still, but guess you proved me wrong in that area.”

I felt my heart sink deep into the pits of my stomach as Carlo walked on ahead. I didn’t want him to leave. I didn’t want to be away and out of his arms. I didn’t want to have to be apart from him. Yet, there he went. Walking away and leaving me behind with Steven, who, if Carlo was right, had interest in me, but who I knew for a fact that I didn’t have interest in in exchange. The one I had interest in was the man that was walking away and leaving me behind to head back to the group with a mortal that I only wanted help from in terms of training with a gun while I in return intended to lead through the fight towards freedom.

I wanted to show Carlo that it was him I wanted to be with. That it was him I loved.

But the fear that he would reject me held me back. The last thing I needed was to be shot down. After the three relationships I mistakenly got myself into, now I knew better than to get myself involved with anyone. Especially if it meant getting myself hurt through just confession stage. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t want to take the leap. Perhaps it was that I didn’t want to have to fall face flat and humiliate myself. Or perhaps I was just being too simple minded. As much as I wanted to figure out what my own reasoning was for not wanting to at least the take chance and laugh about it later on if it was to be a total failure, I didn’t have much time to think about it now.

Steven’s arm was still raised, waiting for me to take the offer. His eyes were too hopeful, and there was something deep inside me that was nagging at me, gnawing away on the inside, saying to go along with him. Every part of my body screamed at me to turn him down, but there was something that caused me to defy all of it as I raised my hands to take the mortal’s arm with a warm smile, saying, “Let’s get going, Steven.”

As we walked towards the front doors, where everyone awaited, Steven asked, “Have you ever given a thought to dating someone outside of your Area?”

I blinked.

Where had that question come from all of a sudden?

So out of the blue?

“No,” I replied in an honest manner. “Didn’t cross my mind once. Why?”

He gave a small shrug. “Just curious. What if someone from a different Area liked you? Would you consider then?”

“Depends on who it is,” I chuckled halfheartedly, but I knew deep inside that I was only lying to myself. How could I truly consider even seeing others if I knew that I had full interest in Carlo? That my eyes were set upon a vampire that I was so certain hated me to the uttermost? And all because I was a warlock? Would I truly have a chance with him even then, or would I have been better off, or even a better chance, with another? Like Steven, I did have to question, if what Carlo said about him was true.

Steven halted and grabbed my arm with his free hand. Forcing me to turn and face him, Steven asked with a serious look in his eyes, “Would you consider going out with me?”

“Steven,” I muttered. It felt as though my mind had went numb as my thought process came to a halt for who knows how long. I couldn’t seem to find the right words to say, let alone piece together, but when I was able to finally think clearly once more, I said, “Steven, I’m not sure. I mean, it’s not that you aren’t good enough of a guy to be with. It’s just that we don’t even know if it’s going to work out.”

Steven quickly took my hands as he told me, “We can work it out if we tried, Zoey.”

Pulling my hands away, I quietly told him, “Sorry, but we can’t. I admit that with Carlo having been right about you liking me, I’m more than flattered. But I can’t. I can’t agree to being with you even if us trying was to work out.”

“Why not?” he demanded. “Why wouldn’t it work?”

I hesitated. Should I tell him? Would it have been the right move to admit the truth? Or would have been better for me to lie and cover my own tracks to the best possible way? Either I told Steven I had interest in someone else already, or lie by telling him something along the lines of I’m already in a relationship, I knew it was none of his business. But I had to tell him one or the other so he would lose interest in me before it was far too late.

When I closed my eyes and spoke, my voice was nearly a hushed tone. “I’m in love with someone else.” I saw mix of surprise and shock on Steven’s face as I told him a little louder as the group came up to us, “I’m in love with someone else, Steven. That’s why I can’t be with you. That’s why it wouldn’t work out even if we tried. It’d be unfair to you if I were to try and push my feelings aside when I don’t even like you.”

“But you’re not taken, aren’t you?” Steven tried to reason. “You’re single! Aren’t you? You’re still up and available to be with anyone!”

It was then that the group had stopped as they looked at the two of us, almost as if we were acting out some scene from a drama.

It was almost as if we were nothing more than a television show to them.

The group was now staring at me with anticipation, and for some strange reason, all the hateful looks I got from the mortals as we traveled so far seemed so much better than this. All the hateful remarks I had received for being a warlock, but praises at the same time for standing up to fight for their rights and free will seemed far better than this anticipated look I got from everyone.

Giving Steven a sorrowful smile, I admitted, “Yes, Steven. I’m still single. And if I had to speak honestly for myself, with all the things I’ve been through, I’d say I deserve to remain a single for rest of my life. I’m way in over my head for being in love with someone that’s out of my league. I’ll tell you that much. But that doesn’t mean that I can turn my back on my feelings and lie to myself by going out with another. It would only be unfair to you if my heart belonged to another and lied to even you that I like you the way you like me when, in fact, we both know that’s not the case.”

I found myself turning on my heels and walking past the group as I lowered my head. As much as I would have loved to, it just seemed as though there was something deep inside of me that I couldn’t bring myself to meet any of their eyes. Especially not Carlo’s. How could I when I knew that I would only be filled with disappointment the moment I saw that he wouldn’t look at me the same way I looked onto him?

The moment I stepped through the doors, I found myself walking onto a large stage at an all too familiar place. Not too far behind me came the rest with Steven all the way at the end. Of all things, I knew I had done the right thing with having to turn him away, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to look at him. Instead, all I could do was try and figure out which Transportation spell had been cast to bring us from Area 41 straight to Area 18. After running my mind through all types of spells, it hit me after about a minute or so.

Portal.

Portal Transportation.

It was better way of transportation than what the sorcerers had in mind to take us places, and I supposed it made a bit of sense when I thought over it on why this way to take us to our final destination. They were getting worn out, and their powers seemed to have gotten weak at the approximately the fifth time of using it on themselves alone. Meaning that we would have been up at the good advantage against them if to go heads on against those specializing in the Teleportation techniques.

I couldn’t help but wonder what it actually was about keeping my mind on how to go up against my own kind kept me calm and relaxed, worry free, when I knew far too well that I was deeply bothered by so many other things. Such as Steven’s confrontation. Knowing that Carlo wouldn’t look at me the way I viewed him.

As I tried to drown myself deeper into my own thoughts, I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders as Carlo’s voice softly asked, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” I lied as I looked up at him. Without thinking, I found myself resting my head on his shoulder. For some strange reason, I wanted comfort. Not from just anyone. I didn’t want comfort from anyone but Carlo. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Gently squeezing my shoulder, Carlo whispered, “Because half of those gathered here are looking at you filled with hate.” His lips pressed onto the top of my head as he quietly told me, “You know, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to speak here. You don’t have to answer any of the questions thrown out here. Those of us here with you are willing to take any blow that people are willing to throw at you.”

“It’s fine,” I replied tiredly with a weak smile. “I can take the hits. It’s not like I haven’t dealt with it past twenty-three Areas. We have only one more to go through.” Carlo’s eyes were full of concern when I looked up at him and, resting a hand on his chest with a weak chuckle, I reassured him, “Carlo, I’m serious. Don’t worry about me. If I look like I’ll break, then you can try and talk me into handing it over to you guys.”

With a small nod, Carlo took my hand that rested on his chest with as a small smile came over his face. I felt my heart skip a beat upon direct skin to skin contact. Carlo had held me and carried me in his arms at least twice, and held me close probably more than that, but this had for some strange reason made my heart pound harder than it had ever pounded before. It made my heart yearn for him even more.

As Luke stepped to the center of the stage with icy cold feeling towards us radiating off him like the blazing heat from the fire coming off the flames at the newly set bonfire, he raised his arms in the air to silence everyone with a broad smile. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of Area 18! You all are our final Area of the tour for this past year’s Survivors!” Holding a hand out to me and Carlo, Luke said with a sinister smile, “Please welcome the two Survivors of your very Area! Carlo Suarez, the male contestant! And JoBeth Mahlendorf, the female contestant! Or shall I say Zoey Yukimura of the Yukimura Convent! A member of the convent that has been believed to be completely extinct until she, the youngest member of the Yukimura Convent, decided to show her face just less than twenty-four hours ago! After fifteen to sixteen years of having gone away into hiding!”

As Carlo and I stepped forward, he glanced down at me for a brief moment before saying, “As stated, I’m Carlo Suarez.”

“And I’m Zoey Yukimura of the Yukimura Convent,” I shakily announced. Standing just a bit taller with more confidence, I continued, “For those that don’t know, Yukimura Convent was, and I do hope that it still is, one of the most highly respected warlock convents around.”

The words that had begun to come rolling off my lips seemed to anger Luke as he hissed, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I think she’s planning on telling even this Area the plan,” Timothy growled as he and a few other vampires took hold of the warlock by the arms. “So if I were you, I’d stand down, you damned warlock. You have no idea what some of us are truly capable of.”

“You guys are mere mortals,” Luke growled in return. “You all aren’t capable of getting anything done except working for and serving us warlocks.”

As anger began to boil up deep inside me, I had momentarily forgotten that a microphone was on me as I warned, “I wouldn’t say such things if I were you, Lord Luke. I personally have dealt with the so-called Survivors here for about six or so months. And in case you didn’t know, humans are far more capable of doing getting things done than you think. And the Controllers? They aren’t much of threats as long as humans have strong will, as well as strong sense of mind, but I guess you’ve been letting that slip from your mind. And seeing you seem to be so arrogant about how this world truly is, I supposed, it’s about time you and all the other warlocks that had refused all these years to look away out of fear to finally open your damned eyes. This world that we live in? It’s not formed of just two simple races of just normal humans that we call mortals and us warlocks, Lord Luke. This world is also filled with vampires. We’re all divided equally. One-thirds humans. One-thirds sorcerers. And one-thirds vampires.” Looking back to the large crowd that was murmuring, I loudly ordered, “May I have your attention?” Almost immediately, the crowd had quiet down, and all those that hated my guts that were gathered at Area 18 to view all this live and in person now seemed to be in the mist of confusion. It was almost as if they didn’t even know themselves if they should hate me or support my idea of trying to free them from the practical slavery that they were put in due to the empowerment of the warlocks. “Over the years, I’ll admit that we have all become a bit arrogant to true ratios of the race populations that this world has to offer. And I’ll admit that when I had gone into this Survival Among the Weakest game, never to know if I’ll come back to you all alive or buried there, dead, there was someone who brought my attention to what this world truly had to offer in terms of races and exactly how this world was divided up. That man is here with us today, and even though Carlo may be the one in charge of the third race that was keeping themselves in the shadows, he and I would like for you to meet one of the most well respected clan members that’s in high standing just like the Suarez Clan.” Carlo looked down at me with questioning look, almost as if he was asking me if I was making the right move or if I had completely lost my mind, as I turned to look at Timothy, who stood to our right with rest of the group, and held my hand out to the older vampire with a small smile. “Tim? Do you mind stepping out? You’re the only one of McNamara Clan that we have here, and I think it would be a great honor for all to see the face of a McNamara just as they’ll get to see more of a Suarez.”

Just as Timothy began to step out, we heard piercing screams of terror spreading like the wild fire as a loud thud sounded from somewhere to the left. Look of shock came over Timothy’s face as his mouth gaped, eyes looking past me and Carlo. When Carlo and I turned our heads to see what the commotion was about as outraged murmurs were the ones to spread as the screaming began to die down, we saw what it was that had seemed to be the horror to all.

Trace Dilnot.

Trace Dilnot’s lifeless body.

The mayor of Area 18 was lying across the stage, his chest remaining still, almost as if it were nothing. It was almost as if he was asleep with his eyes wide open. Timothy quickly grabbed me by the arm and sharply pulled me back so that he may stand in front of me and had forced even Carlo to take a step behind him. The warlocks that had come back from the game had all taken the few necessary steps forward to stride in front of us, and the mortals and the vampires all took out a small handgun each and stood just behind the warlocks. They all were rather defensive and if I didn’t know any better, I would have guessed that the entire idea of making sure Carlo and I stayed alive were planned behind my back. I wasn’t sure if Carlo was in on the plan, but if he was, he sure did a fine job of keeping me out of the loop. If he didn’t know, then even though he tried to keep a straight face, his surprised expression that came over him for a brief moment had given him away.

Caroline Rivers.

Or was it more proper for me to say Violet Yukimura, my eldest sister?

A furious look had radiated from her eyes as she screeched, “You told the world who you are? You actually told the world about your true identity? Which Convent you’re from? Do you realize how much of a danger you put yourself in, Lowey Zoey? You were supposed to keep your mouth shut about it all! You think you’re ready to stand up to all the warlocks?”

“Oh, and you think you know what’s best, Caroline?” I roared in return. “You’re one of the most well respected warlocks, too! You’re a Special, but not just any Special! I’m not the only one that comes from a Convent that can master all classes!”

Violet looked far too surprised, almost as if she hadn’t expected me to find out about it. “You know about the Yukimura and Gilbert Convents’ sorcery background?” she questioned.

“I would have found out sooner or later, Miss Rivers,” I snarled and made my way past the group to directly face my sister. “Of course, Bilyeo helped quite a bit during the time he was alive, deciding whether it’s best to betray me or to support me depending on my choice of which side to go with. Support of the humans or support of warlocks.”

Violet seemed quite taken aback by my remark as she breathed, “Bilyeo? A member of the Bilyeo Convent was planning on either betraying you or supporting you?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know!” I cried. “You work for them, don’t you? You must be on the plan, too! Stephen Bilyeo! Does the name ring the bell, Rivers? If I went over to the side of supporting the warlocks in terms of keeping all the mortals and vampires under our control, then he would have supported me. Make a way for me to get in! If I were to support the warlocks that are all about supporting mortals, trying to win them back their freedom, he was going to kill me off! He was going to make sure I died, even if it were done with his own hands! He comes from a convent that supported the Yukimuras and the Gilberts! Yet, he was ready to betray like he and his convent has generation after generation! He admitted it with his own lips! But for all we know, you were behind the plan of killing off our entire family, too, or am I wrong, Caroline? Answer me!”

When I said her alias name, I nearly felt bad for being so venomous, so cruel, towards my own elder sister, but when I recalled how I had lived all these years since the death of our family, I felt relieved to finally get it all out my chest. Even if it were all on public broadcast.

And as much as I didn’t want to, I had to be cold hearted towards her. I just couldn’t seem to bring myself to forgive her for leaving me all alone all these years. For never having once come looking for me. For leaving me to believe she was dead all these years.

Carlo pushed past the vampires, warlocks, and humans that were with us just to get to me, whispering loud enough for only me to hear, “Zoey, do you even think you can take her on?”

“I don’t think I know, Carlo,” I replied with a smirk, never once taking my eyes off my sister. “I know so. My sisters and brother trained me to be a semi-advanced Elementalist for two years prior to their death ever since I was able to perform sorcery on my own. I’ve trained to be an advanced Elementalist, as well as now close to being an advanced Necromancer. I think I can take her on right here, right now, and beat her with a hand tied behind my back and blindfolded.”

As Carlo put an arm around my shoulders, I almost could hear him roll his eyes at me as we turned to face the crowd. When we both were facing everyone, the crowd and even to the broadcasting cameras, wherever they may have been placed, Timothy cried for all to hear, “Vampires, purebloods and half-bloods, and even those bitten into our race, I ask that you all hear out what I have to say! My name is Timothy McNamara of the McNamara Clan, one of the most high standing clans in the vampire race! I come to you all today not just as one of the so-called survivors, but as one of you! Even to the mortals I ask that you all lend us a hand in the fight! Carlo Suarez of the Suarez Clan, as well as Zoey Yukimura of one of the most highly respected warlock convents, are here with intents of trying to bring you world peace! To bring you all equal rights! Bring freedom upon us all!”

“We can’t promise that we will win,” Carlo added. “But what we can promise is as long as we all join together, we will have greater chance of winning this fight! This war that we all so want to start to bring you back your freedom that we all once had over three thousand years ago!”

One of the women all the way up in the front demanded, “If we agree, what do we have to do? Do you just expect us to throw ourselves into the fight and die for you?” She sounded rather irritated. Rather upset by the request, and when I took into the consideration that we haven’t exactly told them exactly we expected them to do that would lead up to the war, I knew I was in no place to get irritated.

Smiling, I willingly answered, “Training. That’s all we can ask of you. Anything ranging from gun shooting to martial arts, and even as far as swordsmanship, archery, and hand to hand combat techniques, is all we can ask for now. As well as the willingness to fight.”

“As for the children, fourteen and under will be under the protection of fifteen and older,” Carlo added. “Anyone eighteen and up will be assigned to minimum of five kids from seventeen and under so that they may be in better protection during the war if anything’s to happen to the front lines.”

Gravely, I warned everyone, “And be sure to have strong will and strong mind. If there’s anything that the warlocks haven’t told you, it’s that the Controllers can’t control you if you have determination to stay free and out of the reach. That is the one thing that they fear the most. That they won’t have control over you. That they will be useless due to the fact that you have figured out that with strong will, you will be able to fight back.”

“How dare you tell them that?” Luke roared furiously. “How dare you tell them some of the weakest points? You know you could have done extremely well having to work with us! You know that these people are worthless pieces of trash!”

Sharply turning on my heels to face the man, I roared back, “And I know how hard these people work! These people practically sweat blood to work for their money! To make sure they can support themselves and their family! In hopes that they won’t be the one to be thrown into the Survival game! You and all the other warlocks just sit around doing absolutely nothing! Just watching them fight to the last breath! Watching them slaughter one another! You’re the one that does no good in this world! You and all the other warlocks that believe you guys are in such high standing just because we’re able to perform spells! We’re not that much different from them! From the mortals and the vampires! We are all just of different race just as each of us are unique individuals! So either call off the damned rankings and let the mortals and vampires have their freedom, or I’ll make sure that there’s a revolutionary war for their freedom! And I’ll fight to my last breath if I must in order to make sure that the humans get what they deserve!”

Lana came walking up to us from the side and, with a faint smile, held up my clothes to me. Tossing them up in the air, she blinding flash of light appeared for a split second and before any of us knew it, I was back in my usual clothes and Carlo in his. Once she gently folded the dress, she handed it to me with a small folded note on top. “The dress is yours to remember the start of what you’ve started, Lady Yukimura,” Lana told me softly. Turning to look at Carlo, she gave a small bow as she said, “Your tuxedo is back at your place, sir.” Taking a step back to stay behind Violet, she warmly said, “If today’s to be my last day alive, I think it’s safe to say it’s been a great pleasure having had a chance to work with you both. Even if it weren’t for long.”

Carlo jumped off the stage with a sudden broad smile and reached a hand up and out to me, requesting, “Will you come with me, Zoe?”

In the far off distance, all the way in the back and far across the wave of the crowd from the stage, I saw something dangling from the sky. Shrieks of horror from the distance was heard as Luke growled, “Try and please the crowd even further by trying to claim that you will give them what they want, Lady Zoey, and I’ll make sure that you regret it! Starting off with killing off the Suarez family!”

Without taking my eyes off the family that dangled in the far distance, I ordered, “One of the warlocks, basic Lightening Elemental move on the mayor! The rest of you! On the defense to make sure nothing’s to get pulled on us!”

“What do you think you’re doing, Zoey? You’re actually going to have my family killed!” Carlo roared with outrage.

Baring my teeth angrily, I growled, “Not on my watch.”

I saw small dot falling and even before I knew what I was doing, I found myself shooting forward at full force and towards the sky. I must have been going at the very least seventy mile per hour as a I stretched my arms out to what I realized was a teenage girl. Bringing her down to the safety, I rose the earth and mixed it with a bit of water to make the rock hard ground soft to land it, but not soft enough to go straight through. Making sure that the three adults were caught into the pile of mud, I managed to thrust myself up from the ground and catch the two children before forming a slide back to the ground formed of ice.

Once checking that all three kids and the three adults were perfectly safe, I rose up onto my feet as I roared, “Luke Suh! You have officially crossed the line!” I didn’t know where all the use of all these elementals suddenly came from, but whatever the reason for being able to abruptly use it in these ways, it was working with me. It had surprised me even further as I found myself rising up high in the air and flying forward, yelling, “Using lives of three children? Lives of their parents. And in the case of two of these children’s case, their grandmother! That’s one of the lowest anyone can ever stoop!”

I didn’t even realize that I had the family was with me, let alone that I had used the ground elemental to have them follow me not too far behind. At least not until Carlo pulled his mother, brother, and sister close before checking up on his own nephew and niece, along with his sister-in-law. The other Survivors stepped up rather furiously as I climbed back onto the stage with ease as Luke roared, “You were supposed to leave them to die!”

“Like a heartless person that you are yourself, Lord Luke?” I screeched. “I’m a Yukimura, and you’re a Suh! Let’s not forget that! And let me remind you that I’m a descendent of both the Yukimura and the Gilbert bloodlines! Two of the noblest of the noble bloodlines around when speaking in terms of the warlocks! Two of the highest standing convents! Of two of the most well respected convents that anyone would even expect to see! Even higher of a standing than you and your convent! Did you honestly think, let alone believe, that I would allow you to murder that sort of nobility within the vampire race! In front of all these people? Let alone live on international television?”

As he breathed in and out deeply, Luke coldly hissed, “You make it sound as though you actually care for all these people, Lady Zoey. If I were actually an idiot, then I would actually fall for it.”

“If you were an idiot, which you obviously are, then you wouldn’t believe a single word I would have to say to defend all these people,” I growled. “When I say I’m going to do whatever it takes in my power to make sure everyone in the world gets their freedom, it means I’ll actually be willing to do whatever it takes to do so. Even if it costs me my life. And even then, I’m sure as hell that there’ll always be at least one person willing to rise to take role as the leader to bring justice to this world.”

“You speak as though you’re the humblest person alive,” Luke sneered.

Taking in a deep breath, I said as calmly as possible, “And you think that you are? Look at how you speak, Lord Luke. When you spoke with us privately, you made yourself sound as though you stood on the same side as my family. Now that you’re on television, you speak to me as though my family and I are the most venomous beings to ever have walked across the face of the earth. You may have told the truth when we were all off camera, but this side of you that we’re seeing right now? I say that this may be just as truthful as the part of you claiming to share the same point of view as my family. And if you’re going to be a two faced liar, I honestly don’t think it’d be a good idea to say that you’re the most honest warlock on earth. Let alone humblest one to live, but I supposed you being humble would be in the eyes of those that believe that the mortals and vampires belong under us just because we’re the ones with great amount of powers. Or am I wrong?”

Violet began to raise her hand to slap me across my face with a furious look, but a firm male voice roared, “Stop!” A hand had grabbed Violet’s hand as a young man with shaggy dark blonde hair and hazel brown eyes growled, “Slap Lady Zoey Yukimura, and I’ll make sure that you wish that you had never crossed the path with this specific Suh Convent member.” Turning to face me, he pointed past me as he roared, “And raise your hand to strike any of these Survivors in any way, whether it be through physical touch or through sorcery, I’ll have you finished off for good, Trace Dilnot! Lady Zoey didn’t have to order her own warlocks to put breath back into you by starting up your heart, but she did and has out of kindness in her heart! If you know what’s best for you, you wouldn’t dare to cross my path either!”

I was too surprised, let alone left in shock, to look around at the others that were with me as the man came walking over to me as I stepped in front of Carlo and his family. It may have been just naturally given instinct, but I couldn’t help but defensively raise my arms, getting to ready to attack and defend at any given moment. I think what surprised everyone just as greatly as it surprised me was when he kneeled down before me, almost bowing, with his head hanging low.

“It’s a pleasure to be able to meet you after all these years of thinking your entire convent has been wiped out, Lady Zoey,” the young man said and his firm voice was still intact. Getting back up with a warm smile, he held out his hand towards me, saying, “My name is Christopher Suh of the Suh Convent.”

Lowering my arms, I shook his hand as I asked, “So you’re the infamous Christopher Suh that I’ve been reading about all these years? How old are you really? The books all said you were in your teens, but with meeting you face to face, I can’t be so sure.”

A warm laughter escaped from his lips as Christopher told me, “I’m currently fifteen, but expected to turn sixteen in just a few months.” He raised his hands just as I opened my lips to exclaim about his young age as he told me, “I know, I know. I’m quite young. But I’ve always had great interest in an old Japanese game of Go, as well as things like chess. I supposed you can say anything that strategically thought out games. It’s the main reason why I decided to go into the military to lead and train them, which is what I assume you’re more surprised about.”

“Why do you speak the way you do?” Carlo questioned. “So polite? Warmly? I thought you could care less for the mortals.”

Chris blinked for a moment or two with utter confusion, but soon burst into laughter. “Me? Don’t care for you mortals?” he repeated as though it was the most ridiculous thing that he’s ever heard. “You’ve got to be kidding me, my good sir! The reason why I’ve decided to become the Head of the Military is to see which warlocks were true to wanting true world peace! Who were true followers of the Yukimura and the Gilbert Convents, and who hated the two with the point where they wanted all from the two convents dead! I’m one of the most loyal followers, one of the reasons for my brother having despised me growing up. He was always confused to whether following the two clans was the right thing or not. One minute, Luke believes that the two convents are in the right mind to try and bring freedom back to you mortals. Next, he thinks that we warlocks are the all-powerful, the all-knowing beings and that the mortals should be kept in their place. If you must know, I’m nothing like him.” Looking at me, he admitted, “Growing up, your parents were my idols, Lady Zoey, and it would be a great honor for me to work with you. Any of my warlocks that I trust with all my life, I’m willing to offer them so that they may be able to serve and follow you to the end to see to it that the freedom being brought onto the mortals.”

I stared down at his hand and I couldn’t help but ask myself if I should trust him or not. If I could even trust him with my life. And before I even knew it, let alone be able to stop myself, I questioned, “How can I trust you? I’ve been backstabbed once by a warlock after I put my trust in him. How can you ensure that you won’t betray me?”

“I’ll give you the honor of killing me off with your own hands,” Chris replied. “If it’ll help you put at more ease, I’ll give you full control over the military. But only those that I trust with my life that strongly believes in the equal rights for the last thing I want to see is any of my soldiers planning on trying to take their chances to finish you off. Those that I don’t believe to see fit, meaning they don’t want to bring peace to the world, will remain under my control to make sure that they don’t step out of line to best of my own ability.”

“But that doesn’t mean we can trust you so easily,” Carlo remarked with a grave look. “We’ve already had one that tried to betray her. I can’t allow another to try and do what Stephen Bilyeo had done.”

A deep frown appeared on Chris’s face as he repeated, “Stephen Bilyeo? I thought everyone knew that the Bilyeo Convent was well known for betraying everyone. They live only for themselves, and that was the biggest news for a few months ever since the news of Yukimura and the Gilbert members having been all slaughtered spread like the wildfire.”

“How do you know of this?” I questioned. “My entire family had been slaughtered fifteen to sixteen years ago, just around the time when you were born.”

Murmurs spread throughout the crowd and Chris began to answer before he raised his hand, sending a strong tidal wave past me and Carlo, straight to Trace Dilnot, as he roared, “Did I not warn you not to lay a single finger, let alone attack, Lady Zoey, you lousy weasel? She’s far greater than you will ever be! She put her life at risk for the mortals, and you dare try and attack her? In public where there are still many warlocks that stand strongly behind her and all those of the deceased in her family? I thought I made it clear that I stand strongly behind her, and refuse to let harm be brought to her!”

With a deep frown, Carlo told him, “I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.”

“And be warned that all my own warlocks will be attacking you if they catch you in any act of trying to finish me off,” I warned Chris in addition. “And if you truly are a great threat to the me, even the mortals that I’m fighting for, I’ll make sure that you are killed off. And will do it with my own hands if I must.”

With a broad smile, Chris told me rather eagerly, “Hearing you loud and clear like the bell ringing in the summer’s day. So does that mean we have a deal, Lady Zoey?”

He held out his hand once more and I couldn’t help but smile at him in return. There was something about this child that told me he wouldn’t be my mistake with Stephen. There seemed to be something about this child that said every word that came past his lips was nothing but filled with sincerity as I took his hand and shook it.

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” I told him. “I’m counting on you to not let me down from here on out. And I’m trusting you to help me train my warlocks to make sure they become many of the best warlocks around.”

I could almost hear a smile creep onto Carlo’s face as he added, “Step out of line and try and turn them against our beliefs and even I’ll make sure that you regret it.”

As Chris turned to face the crowd, he raised both his hands in the air as he announced, “For all that have waited for peace, my greatest apologies for having made you wait for as long as you all have! From this day forward, let today be the day that marks the official start of the day we all take a step towards freedom of the mortals and the vampires! I, Christopher Suh, from here on out pledge my loyalty to you all and promise to stand behind the last standing Yukimura to my last breath to make sure you all get your freedom and equal rights back!”

“Christopher!” Luke snapped. “Are you out of your mind? Have you forgotten that you have already made a promise to father that we’ll keep all of them in line?”

Chris turned to face his brother, who was held back by the mortals by the gun point and had a Lock Down spell cast on him by a few warlocks, and his eyes were filled with hate for his own bloodline. “Don’t mention of that empty promise I made to that psycho, Luke.” Even as he spoke, Chris’s voice was shaking slightly from trying to remain calm as best as possible. “Father and I had completely different views, and you knew that fairly well. You even wavered between the two sides because you weren’t sure to side with him or to side with your own baby brother. But to you, I guess father meant more to you more than your own baby brother did. You were the unwanted one, if I recall correctly, because mother had been murdered for trying to teach me that standing up for the mortals is the right thing. Whereas father despised me to the uttermost for the views that have been implanted in me that he tried to enforce his point of view onto you, but with a bit of a failure in his attempt that you became this unwanted child.”

Unwanted child.

Luke was the unwanted child.

And he tried to make it seem to me as though I was the unwanted child as well.

That I was the one that everyone in my family despised.

All to the point where they didn’t even want to take a look at my face that they marched themselves straight into their own death.

Turning to look at Luke, who now gulped with a great look of fear creeping onto his face, I growled, “Is that why you had made all those incredulous remarks earlier that I was so close to beating you up mercilessly? By claiming that no one in my family wanted me? That they died out of the sheer fact that they didn’t want to be seen anywhere near me?” I raised a hand until I could no longer see Luke’s neck and swiftly made a fist after a small pause, and as I raised what was now acting on its own by remaining a fist, I growled, “I can have you killed off right here and now!”

Just watching Luke gasp for air and seeing through the corners of my eyes the look of horror on Dilnot’s face was good enough for me as I slammed Luke back down on the ground. Even Chris seemed to be a bit terrified as he breathed, “You’re quite the merciless character. Are you seriously considering not showing any warlock that stands in your way any mercy to any degree?”

Ignoring his words, I turned to face everyone, saying, “For all that sees us warlocks as nothing but those with cruel hearts, I’ll admit that we all have flaws. There’ll always be some sort of flaw in all of us, but you all must admit to yourselves that you all can be cruel to certain degree as well. But I promise you that even though all the bitterness won’t fully go away, I’ll do whatever it takes to bring it to a halt so that those like Luke Suh will never try and rule over you all again and put you all through misery!” Turning to look at Carlo’s family, I knelt down to the two small children’s eye level with a soft smile and stroked top of their heads, gently asking the entire Suarez family, “Are you all alright? I do hope I wasn’t too rough with catching you all using the elementals when Luke was trying to have you all plunge to your deaths.”

The older of the two women tugged the older of two girls behind her as she ordered, “Stay away from my children and my grandkids!”

She tried to tug Carlo behind her as well, but he freed himself from her grip as he asked with disbelief, “She save your necks for me, and that’s the way you thank her? I could have died even before the SAW started if it weren’t for Zoe, ma! I had the crap beat out of me when you all were taken hostage, and she got herself nearly knocked out just to patch me back up!”

“Carlo,” I softly scolded as I placed a hand on his arm, and gave him a gentle smile when he looked down at me. “You don’t have to stand up for me. It’s just the nature of things. For no one to really like me. For pretty much all to hate my guts with exception of few like you. So, for me, don’t. Don’t stand up for me. You’re just wasting your breath and efforts.” Looking back at his mother, I bowed as a greeting, saying, “My apologies, but staying completely away won’t be possible. However, I do ask that you at least put some trust in me to work with your son during this fight. I’m fighting for my own freedom as well for I don’t see it fair that I live a comfortable life while all the mortals and vampires have to live a life of misery. A life of suffering. A life of hardships and fear. All because those of my race are pushing you all down and refusing to give you all what you truly deserve. I truly mean it when I say that I will fight to my last breath for everyone’s equality. If I’m found guilty in having betrayed even your son even by the slightest, then you may kill me yourself.”

“Zoey Yukimura!” Carlo roared. “Don’t say such things! I’m going to be the that’ll hold the responsibility for your actions!”

I ignore his words as I continued, “If I’m found guilty and go against my own promise of fighting on your side towards freedom, then you may hold it against me and strike me to my death. All I ask is that you trust me. Have at least some faith in me to know I’m not like those that believe you all should be below us with the forsaken sorcery powers. I give you my word that if I truly do against my word, your family will be the first allowed to strike me mercilessly.”

She suddenly seemed to be sparked with interest at my words. It was almost as if she was actually considering having to finish me off with her own hands if I truly were to against my words. After what felt like an eternity as I felt my stomach knotting out of anxiety and nervous feeling beginning to dread on at the wait, the woman held out her hand as she said, “Turn your back on the promise of looking out for my son as well, I’ll make sure that you regret having made that promise on the worldwide broadcast by personally finishing you off.”

I shook her hand on it with a sigh of relief before turning to look at Luke and pointed my finger straight at his face. “Luke Suh, you better get yourself prepared to defend yourself. With even your own flesh and blood of a brother having turned his back on you, I guarantee that you won’t have easy time winning against me with your little army.”

“You must be underestimating my warlocks,” Luke sneered. “After all, you have no clue how skilled they are.”

With a snort and a smirk, I remarked, “Excuse me? Between the two of us, you seem to be the one that’s doing the underestimating. Not just the warlocks, but the mortals and vampires as well. You have no idea how hard they train. You have no idea how strong their will power is. But I do. I know what they want with all their heart. I’ve heard what they have shed their tears for every night. Starting with those as young as age of fourteen.” Turning to look at Alex, I held my hand out to the child and he willingly took it as he came rushing forward. Pulling the boy close into a hug, I told Luke, “All starting with this child. You don’t know how pure hearted even these children are. If it weren’t for this child, Luke, honestly speaking, I would have never had my attention brought to the fact that they may not even want to use weapons. Against others. Not even to warlocks like you. It’s children like these that I want to protect. It’s those that truly deserve freedom that I’m willing to die for. To have those like you finished off for good so that no harm may be brought to them any longer. So that they may live their lives with hopes and dreams. To follow their hearts to truly do what they want to do. Not because they live in fear of being sent into the Survival Among the Weakest. Not so that they can get a reason to have their names taken out from the chance of have their names drawn out. I want to bring them back out into the light. To live freely and not in fear of those like you.”

“You think you’re so honorable,” Luke venomously spat, “all because you have the blood of Yukimura and Gilbert bloodline flowing through your veins. But I have news for you, Lady Zoey. You’re not as honorable as you think.”

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, I replied, “I know I’m not that honorable for I have hidden away in the shadows for as long as I have. But I was a child living in fear that I would be killed off just as my entire family was. But now that I have stepped out of the shadows and into the light, I have eight words for you. Get out of my way and stay away. I’ll make sure you pay for continuing to deprive these people from their freedom. I have found out something while I was in that Area 42 while I was doing my research on Necromancy in an old abandoned library that all among the warlock race seemed to have let slip from their mind.”

“What might that be?” Luke asked slowly as he gulped a bit with fear.

With a smirk as I slowly let Alex go, I informed everyone as I answered Luke, “You all have forgotten that generation after generation, all the Yukimura and Gilbert Convent members have always been slaughtered mercilessly. All except one. And that one survivor was always the youngest child of the convent. I have done my research, Lord Luke, so don’t take me for a fool. I have noticed that of all things, the one things that the warlocks let me slip through their fingers and just like in the past for generations, they made the same mistake by having completely forgetting that they have made the one most common mistake that have been made countless amount of times. Now, the threat of the Yukimura and Gilbert Convents have returned with the youngest child of four children of my convent. All because our kind has been so reckless to check exactly how many children there were in total in my family, as well as exactly how many of those children were killed off. So, check mate, Lord Luke Suh. Your move.”

“Why?” Luke asked after a small pause. “What’s your reason for trying to give all these useless mortals their freedom back?”

I took a deep breath in as I replied with a heavy sigh, “Because I love the children more than you can imagine, Luke. I love them more than life itself. I don’t want them to grow up with corruption all around them, and that’s not possible if they were to grow up in this environment. The warlock breeds believing that humans are below them. The mortal children growing up with fear of our kind installed in them. It’s just not right. And for the love of children, I want to be able to change all that. If that means taking down any and all that gets in my way, then be it. I may not have killed a single soul so far, but I’m not afraid to start now if I must to bring the kids the best of this world. All to go back to over three thousand years when the freedom and equality existed for all.”

Carlo held out a hand toward me and I willingly took his hand without missing a beat. It was at that very moment that I realized that I didn’t care what even his family had to say or think about me. I wanted to work with this man next to me to the end. I wanted to do whatever it took to help him to the end, even if it meant that the price was my own life. As Alex took my other hand, he asked rather eagerly, “Does this mean we won’t have to be separated, Zoey?”

“What about your home?” I asked with surprise.

Alex shook his head as he motioned me to lean in, and as I did so, he whispered into my ear, “I kinda got kicked out of my friend’s house, so I’m pretty much living on the streets back in my Area.” When I straightened up with surprise, he shrugged as he said, “You can’t really blame them when they think I actually murdered a couple of people.”

“But you never,” I began to say with outrage before I cut myself short when recalling Deborah and Belinda duo. I looked up at Carlo as I whispered, “We have to tell them.” He gave me a questioning look as I hissed, “The Illusions. The members of Chang and Park Convents? They set up the entire illusion that each of us here have all killed at least one person, whether it be in groups or all alone.”

Carlo hesitated before asking, “You sure you want to tell them? The warlocks could go after them, and who knows if they’re even fully prepared to fight.” When he saw the hesitation cross my eyes, he nodded as he breathed with a small chuckle, “Exactly. Don’t try and bring it up now of all times, Zoe. We have to keep them safe until we’re hundred percent certain that they’re fully equipped and ready to go.” Looking over to Chris, he asked, “Is it possible for all to be able to travel to different Areas out of free will?”

Christopher gave a small nod in response but had somewhat of a concerned look on his face. “If you two were together, it may be as simply done as said, but for the others? They may need you both if you want to guarantee their safety,” he informed us. “Above all else, you’ll need me seeing I’m the Suh that has equal power as my brother. Just happen to focus on certain field areas more than others.” Looking at me, he raised his hands as the speed of his speech sped up slightly, almost as if panic began to rise deep in his chest was beginning to rise. As if I would have done something cruel to him if he weren’t to try and defend himself. “Of course, with you, Lady Zoey, most won’t question, I’m sure. Even those that don’t believe what you and your family have believed, but with those I do recommend being quite cautious for even I can’t say for certain what may be going through their mind in order to finish you off to end the reign of the Yukimura and the Gilbert Convents.”

I looked down at Alex and, pulling my hand out of Carlo’s, I drew the young boy into a hug as I quietly told him, “Stay at Area 18, then, Alex. Stay with me and Carlo. If not, I’ll always be willing to talk to a few of my friends for you to find you a proper home.”

“We can’t afford to have him here,” Carlo warningly told me. “What if he gets chosen as one of the contestants if the warlocks still plan on continuing on with the plan to do the Survival game? What if he gets chosen to be one of the contestants as well?”

Giving him a scolding look, I replied, “He has just as a good of a chance of being picked out in his own Area, Carlo. And he has no place to call home except the cold outdoor settings.” I straightened up and slid my hands up his arms as I pleaded, “Please? If we back down now from trying to strengthen the unity of various Areas now, then how are we supposed to gain trust of others? How are we supposed to show that helping all those around the world is what we truly want for this fight, Carlo?”

With a heavy sigh, he smiled weakly over to Alex, saying, “Welcome aboard, I guess, Alex. Just like the good times during the Survival Among the Weakest.” I threw my arms around his neck happily, but quickly drew back when he flinched rather violently. With look of pain scrunched up on his face, he was barely able to speak as he said, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to give you a scare.”

“What’s wrong?” I breathed and I glanced over to the other vampires and saw similar looks on their faces as the pained look on Carlo’s. It finally clicked in my head after a moment of thought on what Carlo told me about himself. About his own race. Fear began to take over as I looked over to the others, asking rather hurriedly, “The vampires, do you think you guys still have enough energy to follow me?”

“Most likely than not,” Timothy told me, “but all depending on the distance and time. Why?”

Supporting Carlo to my best of abilities, I replied, “Just follow me.”

As Carlo and I got off the stage and began walking through the crowd, not one had stopped us. Let alone look at us filled with hate or spit poisonous remarks at us. I at least had expected it to be said to me, but the very fact that they had let me off the hook and even looked with a small glint of admiration from them, even if it was a small spark of it, I felt warmth growing through my body. I had to admit that in most of their eyes, there was still that icy glare, almost as if they didn’t trust me at all. And considering I was a warlock, I couldn’t really bring myself to blame them. Who would when they couldn’t quite bring themselves to trust a warlock living a life of a mortal like myself just yet?

I was grateful enough for the very fact that they were willing to at least put some trust, faith, respect, or whatever it was that they had in me for the time being. To take a step back and see if I would go against my word and backstab them, and giving me a chance to deem myself worthy.

“Where are we going?” Carlo quietly asked as we walked through the crowd. He tried his best to try and hold himself up as I kept his arms over and around my shoulders.

Looking up at him with a faint line of smile, I replied, “The hospital. It’s the closest place we can get to in order to keep you guys out of the sunlight, and one of the best places that I can think of to regroup and recruit.”

I hadn’t noticed the entire way to the large building, but there had been a fairly large amount of the crowd that had followed us all the way. But once I managed to get the vampires out of the sun, it had begun to register into my mind that when realizing there were still a crowd with us that they may have as well as wanted or expected something. For something to continue. For something to be said. For some sort of reassurance to be given. But I didn’t know what to give them. What to tell them. I didn’t even know what they wanted or expected out of me.

“How are you expecting us to train?” one of the nearest people asked, and just like nearly everyone else, his sea green eyes were filled with irritation.

Carlo managed to straighten up on his own fully now that he was out of the sun’s way as he answered, “For any warlocks, it’ll all under Zoey. Now that Christopher Suh’s with us and he’s a bit more experienced with training warlocks I’d assume, however, it’ll be mostly under him with supervision from Deborah Chang and Belinda Park to make sure he doesn’t step out of line. Zoey will be around to make sure that fights can be well held together now that we finally have a Necromancer among us. The vampires will all be under me with assistance from Timothy McNamara. The vampires are more of a hand to hand combat trainings. Close combats, if you will. The humans have two choices. The long distance and the short distance combat. For close combats, as said, hand to hand combats. As well as swordsmanship. For the long distance, it’ll all depend on whether interest lies in guns or in archery if not both.”

“All the close and long distance combats are being made available for those interested in actually jumping onboard for the fight towards the same goal,” I found myself adding on.

A few doctors had come pushing their way through as Michael’s voice boomed, “What’s going on here? Why have you gathered here at the hospital of all places?” When he and few others reached the front and saw me, he menacingly bore his teeth at me as he demanded, “What do you think you’re doing, JoBeth?”

I took a few quick steps towards him as I pleaded, “Mike, you have to let us stay! I can’t let the vampires back out in the sun! At least not today! They have to stay out of the sun or they all will end up dead in the streets!”

“There are no such things as vampires, JoBeth!” Michael roared. “Do you realize how mentally insane you sound talking about mythical creatures? Vampires? Really? You can’t come up with better excuse? And you expect me to listen to you when you’ve lied to me all these years about what you truly were? Get out! As one of the head surgeons of this hospital, I order you to get out!”

Tricia’s near tearful voice yelled from somewhere in the back, “Vampires are real, Mike!” The large crowd parted in half like the Red Sea as Tricia came walking down as she shook all over a bit. Few tears fell from her cheeks as she told Michael, “Jo’s telling the truth, Michael. It’s not just some myth. Vampires are real.”

“No, they’re not, Kaufman,” Michael replied as calmly as possible, but there was still that piercing tone in his voice as he turned to look at her. “Vampires aren’t real. You’re only standing up for her because you two have been together since her family died. Or am I wrong?”

Tricia screeched, “Do you hear yourself talking? You’re in complete denial! Even you’ve noticed packets of blood disappearing! You’ve seen me all bloodied up around my face, and you always told yourself that it was because I had recently come out of a surgery! All those missing blood packets have been disappearing because of me! I’ve been taking the damn packets for myself and drinking because I didn’t and still don’t know how to fully control my vampire side! I take those packets and drink it myself once every two weeks because I’m afraid that I’ll actually kill the patient by making it look like an accident or an actual failure! All to drink their blood! I make sure I make all my surgeries an absolute success so that I don’t unintentionally kill them off for their blood! I drink only the blood that’s been stored so that I can be certain I don’t kill anyone! And I’m positive that I’m not the only vampire, whether it be half-blood, a warlock or human turned into one, or someone born into the vampire race, that’s working in this forsaken hospital!”

“Listen to yourself!” Michael exclaimed. “You sound like you’re completely losing it!”

Carlo sighed heavily as he said, “She’s not losing it. She’s a half-blood through her mother’s side, the Schofield Clan. And if I may speak frankly, it seems you’re afraid of having to accept the truth, Mueller.” As Michael sharply turned to face Carlo to snap at him, Carlo quickly said, “I’m simply telling you what’s right and what’s wrong when it comes to factual information because I’m a pure blood. I come from one of the few remaining pure blood clans remaining, the Suarez Clan. One of the most well respected pure blood clans around. Those of us from the pure blood lines are well trained to pick out the scent of races can tell which race each person comes from. Although with warlocks and mortals, it’s a hit or miss since their scents are quite close to one another. Tricia Kaufman’s blood has a scent of a half-blood, although I must admit that it was a bit tricky to actually figure out through the scent of all those blood she drank the day Zoey and I returned back here to Area 18. Tricia may not be as great of a threat as if she were bitten into being a vampire, but the fact that she’s a half-blood doesn’t mean she isn’t dangerous either if she weren’t to drink at all.”

As Timothy stepped up with a sly smile, he mused, “And you of all people should know that you’re one of those that are in denial of our race. Or am I wrong, warlock?”

“I’m not a warlock,” Michael shakily said. Blood began to drain from his face, almost as though he was terrified to death of something. Almost as if Timothy had hit the one secret that Michael had been keeping, or at least wanted to keep, a secret for a long time.

I slowly walked up to Michael as I asked, “Michael? Tell me the truth. Are you or are you not a warlock? And don’t make me put a spell on you just to get you talking to put a bit of a minor test on you for if you speak the truth or not.”

Michael’s hand shot to my neck as he nearly cut my air off from the circulation as anger filled his eyes. As he bore his teeth at me, he sneered, “Don’t try to talk to me, let alone direct any questions, to me as though you understand, JoBeth! You don’t understand me! You don’t even know what I went through to put myself down to the level of the mortals!”

“My parents were murdered by our own kind!” I roared at him to best of my ability with all my sources of air cut off from me. “My parents died trying to stand up for the mortals! They were the true heirs to ruling the world! The true heirs to ruling over the warlocks! If they took their proper seating, then I would be the ruler today!” Michael’s grip loosened at my words, and I saw through the corners of my eyes that everyone that was in alliance with me and Carlo was gathering around, ready to lunge at any given moment if he were to try and harm me. Ignoring them, I continued, “I would have had abolished the inequality right away without question! I’ll admit, Mike, that I’m not happy with the mortals for the pure fact that I lost my entire family! All because of them! But at the same time, you can’t say that I don’t believe in equal rights for them! That I hate them! I’ve lowered myself to be at their level! I’ve lived a life of a lie, tangled myself up in a web of lies, all so I can live among the mortals! I lived like a mortal and behaved like a mortal!” Michael’s grip was fully loosened as he slowly let go of me, and I took a deep breath in. Looking at the man dead square in the eyes, I gathered my thoughts before continuing on with speaking. “I want to carry on my parents’ legacy. My family’s legacy, Mike. I want to be able to continue on their dreams as my own and free the mortals. I didn’t tell anyone that I was a warlock because I believed I would be rejected. By the people around me. By the people that knew me. More importantly, by my own friends. I have nothing left, Michael. Only those I care about. If I were to tell you and anyone else that I care for what I truly was and still am, then that would leave me to be all alone. I know what loneliness is like, and that’s the last thing I need to feel in my life. Especially if it means losing you all from my life.”

“What class are you, then?” Michael’s voice waved, almost as if uncertain if he should be sneering or speaking softly to me as he always have as friends.

Taking in a deep breath in, I replied, “Medic is my main class like my family has been for generations up until my sisters and brother. Since the Survival Among the Weakest? A Special. A Medic with abilities of Necromancer, still in process of learning to revive the dead fully to get into an advanced class as a Necromancer.”

Michael closed his eyes as he took a deep breath in as steadily as he possibly could. If I had to take a wild stab in the dark, it was almost as if the was trying to keep himself calm for the sake of everyone that had gathered in the hospital. It was either he was of a destructive class that he couldn’t fully control his powers or just didn’t know how to react with so many people around. Especially when there were plenty that were willing to attack without question, let alone second thought, if it had meant that either Carlo or I were put into a situation of great danger.

“You expect me to believe all of this?” he finally spoke, but his voice was rather far too quiet too hear him clearly. Slowly opening his eyes as Michael’s voice rose when he continued to speak, “You honestly expect me to take in all this, accept it, and follow your lead in this act of rebellion against the warlocks?”

Calmly looking at him, I replied, “Yes. Of course I do, because it’s the truth, Michael.” I raised a hand at Timothy to stop him from speaking when catching a glimpse of him beginning to part his lips. Gently placing a hand on Michael’s cheek as I took a few steps towards him, I softly said, “I expect you to believe because I know that you know when I’m telling truth and when I’m lying, Michael. And because you know I can’t lie to you of all people, and wasn’t able to since the day I had a crush on you as children.”

Half closing his eyes as his head lowered at my touch, Michael seemed to be in great amount of hesitation. Every time he opened his lips, Michael looked as though he was in pain. As though he wanted to tell me something, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. Wanted to let me know of something, but afraid of rejection. “What if I’ve been trained by my own parents to be the most powerful Manipulator there is in that this world could offer?” Michael’s voice was so hushed that I could barely hear what he had to say. It was barely past audible tone. “That I come from the strongest of the most advanced Controller class convent that this world has? And that I broke away from them the moment I have surpassed all my family members?” Looking up at me with pained eyes, he roared, “I could be controlling you all! I could be using you guys right this given moment!”

“But you’re not,” Carlo calmly replied in my place. “You’re not controlling us. You’re not even trying to use us. You’re afraid that we’ll be able to break free. Because you don’t know how much we exactly know of the Controller Class when it comes to the ability to control. Fear is consuming you far too much to try and even attempt to do so. More so now than before since the existence of vampires has been brought to your attention.”

Michael looked at me, almost pleadingly but with anger still lit in his eyes. When I began to search his eyes, all I could find was that the anger seemed to be more towards himself for beginning to open himself up to what he truly was. That he was willing to let his true race be revealed the way I had opened up to the world. And he was internally debating on what to do with himself as he began to be so uncertain of himself. Not just what he did for living, but in trying to figure out who he was as a person.

“Don’t expect for me to join in on the fight,” Michael told us after what seemed like an eternity. “You can use the auditorium in this building all you like, but don’t expect me to jump in for you guys. I may be one of the co-heads as a doctor, but I refuse to help either of the two sides. The only time I’ll jump in is if those in the hospital are put into danger zone.”

I threw my arms around his neck, whispering into his ear, “For now, Michael, that’s all I could possibly ever ask of you. And as long as you and anyone else that works in this hospital are caught in the mist of the fight, I’ll make sure that I’ll do whatever it takes that you all are kept out from the storm of it all.” Turning to look at Timothy and Carlo, I quickly told them, “If it’s not too much, how about a meeting to divide everyone up to place them at where they would fit the most? We need to get down to training as quickly as possible.”

“It’s not going to be easy to actually place them through trainings, Zoe,” Carlo told me in a warningly. “You have to keep in mind that there are warlocks that will do anything to stop us at any cost from rising up against them.”

Chris stepped up next to me as he confidently replied in my place, “And you’re forgetting that you lot have me by your side. And more than half the warlocks in the government are all for what we try and stand for in terms of bringing equality back to this world. Anyone who dares to stand against Lady Yukimura is declaring themselves my enemy. And anyone that comes clean with me to say that they wish to face me and those that I trust in my army are more or less asking for their death to be brought down onto them as quickly as possible. I don’t let the weak in, and if there are any that aren’t that good of a warlock, then they are trained to become one of the best that this world can offer.”

“Why do you speak so confidently?” Timothy murmured with amusement.

Carlo, on the other hand, seemed far more serious compared to mischievous smile that appeared to be dancing on and around Timothy’s face as his stern voice remarked, “It sounds to me as though you’re so certain that nothing will happen to any of us.”

“Because I’m confident in my military,” Chris calmly replied. “And because I refuse to let any harm come to Lady Yukimura. And if she’s like any other Yukimura and Gilbert Convent members of the past that I’ve read about, I know for a fact that she’s not the type that will allow harm to come to others. Meaning she’d rather get hurt, even die if we were to speak of doing the extremes as well, to make sure others are kept safe. It’s more the reasons for me to make sure she is kept safe as well for I have high respects for her and her convent.”

10: Chapter 10

Few months had passed and I found myself with my birthday having to come rushing at me with full steam ahead. I saw fear rising among the warlocks that decided to stand their ground against those fighting for equal rights whenever they came into the bar and the diner. Fear rose even further among them when they saw me as their host with Carlo as their waiter, and vice versa, in the diners. Even as far as at the sight of us when they sat at the bar, only to be greeted by us as their bartenders.

The warlocks that decide to stand behind us, however, were far more than happy to see us when we waited them. They were far more than happy to hold on to the two of us to talk. To see what they could do to help. And for some strange reason, it warmed my heart to know that there were still those that cared, and a smile was brought up onto my face every time I found myself engaged in conversations with those that truly wanted to help.

“Suarez!” I called as I headed towards Table 12. “Cover 10 for me!” When I reached the table with five male warlocks, I took out a pad and a pen, saying, “Welcome to Diner Dynasty. I am Zoey Yukimura, your waitress for the day. What may I get you folks?”

The warlocks all exchanged looks before the one seated at the edge of the table on my left sneered, “How about you jumping off a bridge and dying?”

Bitterly smiling, I remarked as sweetly as possible, “My apologies, sir, but last I recalled, that’s never been added onto the menu for as long as I have been working in this diner. And, believe me, that’s been an extremely long time. How about drinks? Water? Root Beer? A pop of some sort, perhaps? Coke, maybe? Or how about some of that orange soda? This diner offers one of the best orange and grape sodas that the entire Area 18 could offer.”

“Do we have to tell you to go kill yourself again?” the one sitting to my right on the other end of the table sneered. “Or do we have to kill you off ourselves, you damned Yukimura?”

I bore my teeth at them as I menacingly said in an eerily sweet tone, “If you’re forgetting, sir, you’re speaking to one of the most highly respected convent member. A Special in Elemental, Necromancy, and Healing classes. I suggest you show at least some respect to the workers of this diner before I force the dead to rise to kick you all out and harm you along the way. So, I ask again. What may I get you folks?”

“You wouldn’t be able to get even one dead here in time to help you,” the one seated on my end of the table to the right laughed coldly and I couldn’t help but smirk.

Pointing outside the window, I whispered in a bone chilling manner, “You have no idea how many bodies are buried under every building, do you?” There must have been at least two hundred trying to crowd around just their window, attempting to get reach in over to their table, as I growled at the sight of fear growing on their faces, “Now, show some respect. I’ve done all my damn researches, and I can let them in if I’d like to rip all your heads clean off your bodies. What may I get you folks?”

Blood began to drain from all their faces as one mumbled, “We’ll just take whatever on the lunch specials you have that is the best on the menu.”

“And two cokes, one water, an orange soda, and a root beer, please,” another mumbled.

They made it sound almost as though the ordering was done in the same fashion at almost any other place. Quickly writing down the most expensive things on the menu to throw them off even further later on once writing down the drinks, I said, “Your drinks will be right out. As for the foods, it should be ready to be served in approximately five to ten minutes.” I sent the dead back in their place with a flicker of my wrist and left the warlocks in the booth trembling a bit with fear. I went up to the kitchen window, calling over the sizzling sound, “Hey, Martinez! Five orders up! Will you do me a favor and put some laxatives in the order of five? I don’t think scaring the ones that think are better than you guys is going to set them straight alone!”

The male cook came up with a smile, chuckling, “Who’s pissing my girl off now?”

“Let me worry about that, won’t you? It’s not like I can’t handle the warlocks myself,” I laughed. “Can you put some laxatives in their foods for me or not, Andrew? It would help me out a bit in trying to set them straight on whom not to mess with.”

With a roll of his eyes, the cook replied, “Yeah, yeah. The order will be right out. I’ll just need a few extra minutes on top of preparing the food in order to go through with your request.”

“Take as much time as you need,” I chimed. “Thanks a lot, Andrew.”

As I began to pour drinks into five cups, Carlo’s voice whispered as he rested his gentle hand on my waist, “Everything alright?”

“Hmm?” I looked up at him for a brief moment as I placed all five drinks on the tray and got picked it up to bring it over to the warlocks. “Everything’s fine. I hope you wrote down all the orders down from Table 10.”

Carlo looked me over with concern, almost as if studying me, as he said, “Are you sure? I can take that table from you.”

“Just go and serve your table,” I laughed and began to walk towards Table 12. I soon called over my shoulder, “I can handle myself, so you take care of yourself, Suarez!”

As I placed the drinks down on the table, the one that had given the orders to the drinks growled, “You’ve got us all the wrong drinks!”

“I wrote all of it down, so I suggest you behave yourself before I get angry, sir,” I replied in an eerily sweet tone with a chilling sweet smile. Pointing to each said drink, I recited, “Two cokes, one water, an orange soda, and a root beer.” Smiling coldly in a sweet way at the table, I looked around at the table. “I may look like I have a bit of a bad head, but I’m not some arrogant warlock you all seem to think I am. Anything else before I go to the back to see if your foods are ready?” They all slowly shook their heads in response and I began to turn, saying, “I’ll be back as soon as possible with your foods.”

I hadn’t walked too far from their table when I heard Carlo’s horrific voice call out to me, “Zoe!” His call was all I needed to hear for me to react. And not just for me, for everyone else that had come in for a peaceful meal as well.

Screams of horror rung out through the diner as I furiously raised the ground behind me, just in time to defend myself from any attacks that were thrown. I turned sharply as I returned the floor back to its normal state and caught Carlo’s now relieved look at the sight of me having been left unharmed, all thanks to his cry. And as much as he had seemed to be happy, there was a glint of fear that sparked in his eyes for a brief moment as anger began to boil up deep inside me. Strong gust of wind blew all around and the warlocks at the nearby tables all began to scatter away as quickly as possible like mice running back to their holes to stay out of humans’ sight. I didn’t bother to thin twice as flames began to blaze at my hands and roared violently in every possible directions without burning me nor anything around my surrounding.

Striding over to the five warlocks, I roared, “You dare put even those around you at great danger? I hope you do realize that you’re dealing with a Necromancer! Not an ordinary one at that! A Necromancer that’s gifted in healing due to traditional class that the Yukimura and the Gilbert Convents trains in! A gifted Elementalist due to the entire family having to choose to go down the road in different areas! Not a foolish one to overlook the idea to combine the different types of classes either, no matter how hard it is to do so! Especially considering I do not dare to neglect anyone’s life at unnecessary risks like some foolish warlocks that dare to walk through this very diner!”

“If you think you’re so great,” one of the warlocks sneered, “let’s just see. Why don’t you come at five of the best Attack and Defense Territory warlocks?”

Without looking over, I growled, “Carlo, evacuate all these people immediately! Go to the back and warn Andrew to take the others in the kitchen and get the hell out as quickly as he possibly can, too.”

“Zoey, don’t do this,” Carlo warned.

I don’t know exactly what it was to possess me to ignore his words, but before I knew it, I was booming at him. “I’m not risking any lives unnecessarily, Carlo! Now, just do as I ask and evacuate the diner right this instance!”

Carlo seemed hesitant, but grasped the fact that this all may just as well go down to ashes rather quickly, injuring many around the diner, if he weren’t to follow through with my request as quickly as possible. His feet immediately began to move as he went around as quickly as his feet and words allowed him as the warlock that seemed to be in charge of the group of five got in the front, growling with a menacing grin, “So, you actually think you have what it takes to beat us?”

“I don’t think,” I smirked in reply. “I know. And you stated earlier that you all are in the Attack and Defense Territory, correct?” When they gave no answer, I savagely informed them, “If you did, you picked a fight with the wrong Special.”

They all came at me at once from all directions, and without second thought, I began to grab them by the arms, shoulders, and legs and threw them in every way possible to best of my abilities as I burned their skin and used ground, water, and wind to help me lift them. I threw them around with no mercy, and shocked them with electricity in any way I saw fit to both bring harm to them and as defense for myself.

Nearly all the punches that they threw, I managed to block, but by the time I heard an all too familiar voice cry out, “Lady Yukimura! A Blaster!” I knew it was too late to avoid an attack thrown at me from behind. I turned around to see a ball of bright light with electricity flying all over the place flying straight at me, and due to the lack of time, I got hit right in the chest and flew all the way back to the wall. I crashed through the window, and the moment I hit the ground, I couldn’t remember a single thing.

I had completely blacked out afterwards, and by the time I woke up, the fight had come to a finish as I felt light taps against my cheek as I lay in someone’s firm arms. I could vaguely hear Carlo’s voice cry over and over again, “Zoe! Come back to me! Are you alright? Answer me, Zoey!”

“Ugh,” I groaned. Slowly opening my eyes with a weak smile, I barely managed to croak, “Some leader I am, huh? Unable to take even an attack like a Blaster like that.”

A heavy sigh escaped from Carlo’s lips as Christopher’s face came into view above him. “What were you thinking?” Carlo breathed as he sharply pulled me into his arms. At the embrace, pain shot through my chest, soon spreading down to my waist and even all the way to my back and down my spine.

I guess I had gasped, or at least screamed, in agony because it hadn’t taken long for Carlo to release me with what appeared to be a great startle. He never once let go as he cradled me in his arms instead as Christopher’s voice demanded, “Put her down. We’re going to put her out of the misery.”

Put me out of misery?

I supposed this was where my life had to come to an end. And Carlo must have had the same idea, because he sounded quite outraged when he spoke.

“Put her down?” Carlo roared. “Put her out of her misery and pain? What we should be doing is bringing her to the hospital, not placing her down on the ground and leaving her in pain, Suh! Let alone put her out of her misery! I don’t know what you’ve been taught and raised to do, but I don’t leave anyone behind! Especially if they’re a valuable person and could bring great fortune to the world!”

“If you’ve forgotten what Lady Yukimura has stated when we all first met, I’m a Special just as she and her Convent members are,” Christopher sternly said. “Through Healer and Water Elementalist. She needs an immediate treatment. Don’t you understand that we can’t afford to move her, so I’m the closest that you’ll get to in order to put her out of that pain, Mr. Suarez?”

After a great amount of hesitation, Carlo had finally placed me back down on the ground as gently as he could before Christopher stepped up and levitated me in the air. Cold and warm water soon began to soothingly run around my body, and it almost felt as though the water was massaging all the muscles in my body as I felt all the pain slowly ease away. If I didn’t know any better, I would have allowed myself to slip away into deep sleep, but there was something else in the back of my mind just as much as easy sleep that I had to stay awake. Something in the pits of my stomach told me that if I allowed myself to slip away into that darkness was going to be just as dangerous as death for me.

By the time I was placed back down on the ground, I had hard time breathing, almost as though my throat was closed off to any and all air supply. It may just as well as have been not wanting to let them into my own suffering, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to let either of the two men know the painful feeling, let alone the hard time, from deep within my chest just to breath. On the other hand, even if I had told them, if I could find my voice, neither of them would have cared. If anything, they would have given me sympathy at most. Turned their head away to the other direction at the very least.

As I struggled to push myself up, I felt a pair of arms quickly hold me up. Helping me straighten myself into a sitting position, but even with his help, it didn’t seem as though there was much of any difference since it was still a bit of a hard time just to sit straight up on my own. The arm resting on my back simply felt as though the back of the chair or the head of the bed.

“What happened?” I barely managed to croak.

Christopher knelt down by my side and as I slept his hand away to best of my abilities the moment I felt his hand gently placed on my shoulder, he informed me, “I’ve made sure that the five are held under captivity and out of the administrations to fight. Locked their powers up to be more precise. But more important than that, you need to rest. Recover so that you don’t strain your body beyond its limits.”

A large boom, almost as though a large engine have blown into combustion, sounded in the distance to the left. When looking over, we saw large pillar of clouds rising from the grounds as I found myself ignoring Christopher’s words and struggling up onto my feet as I heard my own voice murmur, “Looks like the war’s only an official official start from here.”

“What do you mean?” Christopher’s voice breathed, almost as though his throat was cut off from the air supply.

I began to walk a bit unsteadily towards the explosion as I muttered in reply, “We’ll see when we get there. Let’s see what happened before actually jumping to final conclusions on the war.” It took us awhile to get within twenty yards reach of where the explosion took place, but upon arrival, there were warlocks from Research Department and Terror Department was keeping everyone out and as far away as they possibly could. They hesitated about what to do with the three of us when they caught glimpse of Christopher’s face, and even though I knew I probably wouldn’t get a straight answer out of them, but I knew I had to try. Looking past them at all the rubble on the ground, I questioned, “What happened here?”

“It’s none of your business, you worthless mortal,” the head of what I assumed to be the Research Department by his royal blue cloak sneered.

Glaring back at the short buzz cut orange haired man with piercing blue eyes, I sneered back, “If you know who I am, you bratty warlock, you should know that it’s every bit of my business. Now talk if you know what’s good for you. If there are many deaths here, I’m sure you don’t want to have any of your men go up against the dead when I summon them through now the rarest power around. Let alone face the rarest class around.”

“You mean those like Mayor Dilnot?” the warlock snorted, and it was clear to me that he wasn’t that bright. That he had to have things literally spelt out for him over having to put the basics out there for him to see.

Carlo somehow had remained calm through all this as he said, “Sorry, but you seem to be letting it slip your mind that she’s a member of the Yukimura Convent. Zoey Yukimura, the sole survivor of her family. And if I may speak frankly, a Special through Elementals, Healer, and Necromancy classes, and over the times I’ve spent with her during Survival Among the Weakest and seeing her improvements through the months, I really don’t think you’d want to face her.”

“And Dilnot can’t even summon the dead, you dimwit,” I sneered. “Now tell us what happened or let us through to see what happened ourselves.”

Perhaps it had become far too apparent that my patience had grown far too thin over the months since SAW was over. If not, perhaps it was the very fact that I was beginning to slowly lose my patience with everyone. But even I wasn’t certain of which of the two it was.

Whatever it was that was slowly causing me to be more snappy with the warlocks than I was before having revealed my identity, at least I was slowly gaining more and more fear of the warlocks that seemed to see my convent as nothing more than disgusting pile of trash. If not fear that was being received, then it was respect and looks of hope by those that once had lost faith in the Gilbert and Yukimura Convents.

A woman’s voice that came from under the lime green hood with her entire body covered under the cloak sounded melodic as she said, “My apologies for the Research Department, Lady Yukimura. Do what you and your Survival partner must do with Lord Suh here. It is, however, highly recommended that you stay out of the boundaries to keep yourselves safe.” The woman lowered her hood, revealing her light lavender hair with beautiful dark oceanic blue eyes and from one cheek to the other and over the bridge of her nose lay a sea of freckles. With a gentle smile, she stretched out a hand to me, softly saying, “I’m Hannah Hays, the head of the Terror Department. How may I be of your assistance today?”

“Information would be nice,” Christopher grunted. “What happened here?”

Hays looked over at him rather calmly as she replied, “A fight between the warlocks and mortals. It seems as though some of the Boomers had come charging into the Research and Tech Center. It’s unclear which side attacked first, but for now, all that can be assumed is that one of the attacks caused by the Boomers and at least one type of chemicals that the building had stored collided to cause the large blast. Presumably a flammable chemical making contact with the spells, but that’s all being looked into by both the Terror and the Research Departments to get all the facts in straight.”

“This is majorly a mortal based work place, correct?” I asked.

Nodding, the woman informed me, “It is. This Research and Tech Center specifically is also partnered up with a few hospitals.” Looking behind her towards the tower of dark cloud of smoke, she hesitantly added, “Which reminds me, I hope this means nothing to you in terms of which people may have been in there, but there were also a few people from the hospital that were have come by to look into some research during the occurrence of the explosion.”

“Tricia and Michael,” I muttered and sprinted forward without second thought as my heart began to race with horror.

Behind me, I ignored Carlo’s desperate cry, “Zoe! Don’t!”

“Lady Yukimura, come back!” Hays’ voice cried out in panic. “It could be harmful in there without proper gears!”

In back of my mind, I knew Hays was right. I knew that the air could do me harmful damage. I knew that any and all the chemicals that have turned into vapor could possibly damage any and all my organs. But as long as my friends may have been in danger were up in the cloud of possibilities, I could care less what happened to me. I just wanted to make sure that I got my friends out if they were in there. Check on others along the way if I had to in order to make sure no serious damages was done.

Left and right, I summoned up strong gust of winds to clear up the smog, which not only helped me to see what was up ahead clearly but others as well to find their way out. Every soul I passed didn’t seem to be in harm asides from the fact that they were all coughing violently, nearly half of them having blood dripping from the corners of their lips. If it was toxic gas that was in the way, then it was too late for me to turn back. I had to make sure I found Tricia and Michael first if they were the ones stationed in the building.

It took me nearly half an hour to search the entire building from the bottom up, and by the time I reached the top floor, I found myself barely able to breath. It wasn’t that I was tired, but rather almost as though I was literally running out of air. More than breathing air itself, but rather the actual air supply itself. And I was on the verge of collapsing when I was nearing the final door at the end of the hall on the fifteenth floor. With shaking hands, I reached out for the handle just as it swung open as someone came rushing out, supporting someone over their shoulders. As much as I would have loved to, I couldn’t get a good look at the person’s face as I fell forward and the last thing I could recall moments before blacking out was hitting the ground hard as it felt as though my head would crack open upon the contact with the ground.

Who knew how long I was out cold for.

Who knew how much of damage I had taken while in the building.

For however long and how much of either was, the first thing I could hear was a familiar male voice roaring, “What do you mean you can’t do more than that for now? You expect me to stand aside and allow her to slowly die if anything?”

“Most of the internal damages are healed up,” a soft voice of a woman pleadingly replied, “but we don’t have enough Healers to heal her any further just yet. We’ll have to wait for reinforcements to come in before proceeding with treatments for her. There are many mortals and warlocks that we need to attend to.”

A sneering male voice growled, “Aren’t you vampires good for anything? Even for when it comes to healing?”

“I could easily do something for her, but I’m not going to be forcing her into becoming a monster like me without her permission.” Carlo’s voice was getting more clear as my conscious came back to me bit by bit. “Yet again, you Research Department seem to be filled with those that more cruel hearted than my kind, you worthless rat.”

“Will both of you knock it out?” Michael’s voice irritably snapped. “Both of you among the warlock and vampire race are being useless! Especially with all the argument! At this rate, we humans seem far more useful than either of you!” Struggling to open my eyes with a groan, his voice sounded full of surprise as he asked, “JoBeth? Can you hear me?”

It was hard, but when I managed to open my eyes, I croaked, “Mike? Are you alright? Where’s Tricia? Is she okay? Were either of you inside when the incident happened?”

“Kaufman’s out of the harm’s way,” Michael reassured me. “We came the moment we received the news of the possibility that few of our staff members may be injured due to the fight that may have started up here.”

I struggled to sit up, and Michael and Carlo helped me as the two supported my back without asking. However, the moment contact between their hands and my back was made, pain rang throughout my body and a loud gasp of agony had escaped from my lips. The pain subsided rather quickly and I found myself asking aloud, “What was it that spread throughout the building? And who got me out of there?”

“Someone from my section of the hospital and one of the Research Department’s warlocks are trying to figure out what gas it is right now,” Michael replied.

Carlo uncertainly stroked my hair as he replied, “I went in after you. I ran into Tricia at the top of the staircase of the fifteenth floor and she was on her way out with someone to try and find some help for you. She said she didn’t want to leave you behind but the guy she was trying to get out was a few minutes away from his death and needed immediate attention in an area with clear air.”

There were so many things that I wanted to say. Yet, I was lost for words. I guess I did expect her to leave me behind to save another. At the same time, there was a part of me that felt betrayed for the pure fact that she actually left me behind, unknowing of what will happen to me and how long I would have been left lying on the cold marble ground in the middle of the hall.

“Are you alright, Zoe?” Carlo’s voice penetrated through my deep cloud of thoughts.

I looked up at him and through the reflection in Carlo’s eyes, I saw my cringed up face filled with nothing but pain and sadness. Managing to tear my eyes away from his and turned my head away with all my might, I barely managed to find my voice in time to ask, “Why are there pains shooting up and down my body?”

All I wanted at the given time was to avoid the topic of why Tricia may have done what she did, and I could only hope that Michael and Carlo would get the hint and go along with it. Silence lingered around us for a while before Michael told me, “Your nerves were damaged. If the Healers are nice enough, then you would be able to get treatment to get you up and running before you can even say, ‘Hocus Pocus.’ If you were treated by the hospital, then it may take a few days to a few weeks before you can walk freely again. Do understand that those in my ward may have to take you in as one of our patients as well, of course, to see how this affected you in whatever ways.”

“I’m not going anywhere near a single hospital to get hospitalized, Mike,” I warned him in a near hush, “so forget it. You’re not even dragging me in there by force if I can help it.” It felt as though needles were poking through all over my body as I struggled up onto my feet as I was barely able to find my voice to ask, “So, do we know which side attacked first? Or is that still up in the air and unknown?”

Carlo kept an arm around my shoulders to keep me balanced as he whispered, “Warlocks were the first to fire. All the warlocks that the two departments could recover, Suh cast a spell on them to keep them tied down so we could get whatever information we possible could get out of each and every one of them. From the ones that talked whether willingly or by force, as well as the mortals and vampires that was working in this building that was involved in some way, all confirmed warlocks attacked first with the mortals and my kind acting in defense. The warlocks that talked told Suh that it were all to stop the war before it started to ensure that they remained in power and control over the world.”

“Meaning they want to start the war as soon as they can and leave those untrained so far at a great disadvantage,” I rephrased.

Although hopeful that I hadn’t misunderstood and had hit the bull’s eye with my words, deep inside, there was a part of me that wished I was wrong.

That the war hadn’t started just yet.

That there would still be some more time to train others and check in with those that were left behind in the last year’s Survival game.

Yet, it all didn’t seem to matter, because people did have a few months to get themselves prepared for a fight. They should have at least geared themselves up and began to train to fight. There was also a bit of relief when Carlo said, “The warlocks are claiming that it wasn’t that way they were going for. Suh’s saying it’s their way of getting the war started as quickly as possible. It’s more of your call on how to go about with their actions.”

“Lord Suh!” a firm female voice called from a distance. By the time Carlo and I turned our attention towards the direction of the voice, a woman in silvery cloak, hood up, was by our side as she whispered something into Christopher’s ear. As a grave look slowly came over the man’s face, the woman looked over to the two of us as she stated, “I need to ask that you two come with me, Lady Yukimura and Mr. Suarez. It’s nothing personal. Just a direct order received from Mayor Trace Dilnot himself. He has asked that I escort you two to his office, and promises no tricks of any sort. If it’ll place both of your minds at ease, Mayor Dilnot says he will not mind at all if you two were to bring few of the warlocks of your own choosing as your personal body guards to help you stand up against any of his own that may try and bring you harm of any sort.”

“How hard do you think it’ll be for you if I asked you to try and get Caroline Rivers for me, Lord Christopher?” The words came past my lips in a near hush

The male warlock’s eyes were clouded with not just trains of thoughts of what may be, but by what his face screamed out nothing but full of frustration and anxiety as well. She didn’t seem certain of what to do or say, but after allowing himself to submerge from pool of thoughts, he calmly replied, “I’ll see what I can do to reach her, but do realize that it’s not a guarantee, Lady Yukimura. It’s not even a guarantee that she’ll be willing to listen since the Suh Convent and the Rivers Convent never truly favored one another even when having worked close together for centuries.”

“Can you at least try?” Carlo questioned.

With a nod, Christopher told him, “It’s not impossible, but I’ll see what I can do.” With a gentle smile, he held a hand out to the cloaked woman as he said, “I hope you don’t mind me asking you for your company to see Lady Rivers. I do not wish to face her alone, and I don’t want to have to trouble Lady Yukimura to accompany me.”

The woman uncertainly looked over to me as she said, “But Mayor Dilnot had requested for her to be brought in immediately with any and all warlocks that she and Mr. Suarez wishes to have with them.”

Closing my eyes, I recommended, “How about we all go get Miss Rivers together, then? Followed by a brief visitation to Area 42? There is something I would like to do before having to go in to see the mayor.” The woman nodded after a moment of hesitation, I asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, Lord Christopher, are the warlocks of the Transport Department also under your control? Or is it just the Attack and Defense under your control?”

“Majority of the Transport Department is under my command,” Christopher informed me almost immediately.

Without missing a heartbeat, Carlo requested, “Could you get enough to teleport at the bare minimum of forty-seven people back here? That’s excluding us in the headcount, of course.”

If anything that I had to be glad about, it was the fact that Carlo got it almost immediately that I wanted to get the ones being trained out as soon as possible and have them prepare themselves while starting to encourage and train those around in their Areas. And if it weren’t that wasn’t the reasoning behind it all, but rather just simply to want to get the others out, at least he seemed to understand where I was coming from as he placed in the request for enough numbers of the Transport Class.

The last thing I expected was for Christopher to agree into it so easily for once he closed his eyes, not too long after had appeared approximately twenty-four warlocks appeared before us. “These amount should suffice for all the accounted numbers, including yourselves,” the warlock informed us. Opening his eyes, he added, “Of course, it’s also assuming that Lady Yukimura isn’t able to use teleportation skills.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, and as Carlo and I took a hand each of a cloaked warlock that held their hands out to us, I remarked, “I hope it’s not too much trouble that it’s asked that we go to the exact location of last year’s Survival Among the Weakest contest.”

The head of the cloaked warlock was seen faintly nodding and I soon found myself being warped into the winding dark tunnel. I don’t know if it was due to the fact that the last meal I had was within the six hour period that my inside was churning violently while at the same time, it had remained still. I wanted to throw up, but I was somehow miraculously keeping everything under full control.

By the time everything had stopped spinning, I had to find my balance and keep still. It was only then that I didn’t care how much of a pain I was going through due to nerve damage. It didn’t matter how much I had to struggle. All that mattered at the given moment was that I had to find peace again and call others out from their hiding.

My eyes came back into focus from having spun so much in the tunnel to find the town so still. Far too silent that it made my stomach churn with unease. The place I once knew that was filled with life seemed to have been all killed off, ceasing to exist. But the town of the Area 42 was defiantly the same one Carlo and I had been in the previous year.

Stepping forward and past all the Transport Warlocks, I nervously called out in hopes that they were all still alive, “Rhonda Feldman? Mark Delrosario? Carlos Maier? Is anyone here?” When no response came, I called tearfully, “Please! Anyone that’s still alive! Just come out! It’s me! Zoey Yukimura! JoBeth Mahlendorf of Area 18! Carlo Suarez of Area 18’s back, too! All these warlocks are here to help us! Please! Please come out if any of you are still alive after all these months!”

Slowly, the doors opened one by one as people stepped out with weapons in hand and joy soon began to wash up over me to see them all alive. I ran to the closest person and threw my arms around their neck without taking a second look to see who it was that I was hugging. “Lady Yukimura, my lady!” Arthur Foret’s voice breathed with surprise as he quickly wrapped his arms around my waist.

Arthur Foret, a 26 old warlock from Area 39. Now I supposed he was 27 year old man since it was around this time that he was chosen to come into this Area to play the game. To compete for his life. He was a man that was still the same as I had left him – A man with curly sandy brown hair and hot pink eyes. I could never forget any of the people’s faces, let alone their voices, careless of how many months I have been away from them. A smile of joy came across my face as few drops of tears fell down onto my cheeks as I let him go. All those that we left as the so-called survivors had left behind were gathered around me rather happily. A few even pulled Carlo in and away from the warlocks that had come with us as they stood defensively between the two of us and the warlocks. It was clearly written in their eyes that they didn’t trust the warlocks one bit. They had been left out of the loops, after all. They had absolutely no access to any broadcast made to the world.

So who was I, then, to blame them for not being able to trust these warlocks?

To get so defensive for the two of us that were in charge of the group that was fighting for freedom of all?

“We’re not here to attack any of you,” Christopher stated as he attempted to step forward, but someone fired their gun at his feet, causing him to come to an immediate halt.

I pushed past the group and got in between the two groups as the warlocks immediately raised their hands to begin any sort of attacks necessary. Raising my arms defensively as I turned my back against the warlocks, I cried out, “Stop! Don’t fire! Any of you! These warlocks are here to help us!”

“They’re getting ready to attack us!” Rhonda’s voice was heard crying out in the mist of the group. “And you expect us to trust them?”

Shutting my eyes tight, I yelled, “Just don’t attack, alright? Lord Suh has agreed to assist me by allowing me to use any and all of his most trusted men to fight in this war for you all! He wants to help us gain our freedom!” When I opened my eyes and looked around at everyone with pain, I saw everyone’s eyes looking back with mix of shock and surprise as Carlo came forward to be by my side. Taking in deep breath, I told them, “I’ve revealed my true identity as Zoey Yukimura and as the sole survivor of my Clan. About a month after the return, when everyone that was acknowledged as the so-called Survivors were on a tour, I informed them that we will be declaring a war against the warlocks that have been oppressing us for thousands of years. The Lord Suh that’s here with us, he’s all for supporting us. His older brother, Luke Suh, that’s the head figure of all the warlocks, however, is against us. He’s determined to keep us from gaining what truly belongs to us. The Attack and Defense Territory are on our side! Lord Christopher Suh has agreed to help us in any way we need their assistance against the warlocks!”

Everyone that was from the competition seemed quite surprised as they slowly lowered their weapons. “Are you trying tell us that you’re betraying us?” Mark hissed with mix of anger, frustration, and confusion as he stepped forward to face me.

Placing a hand on his cheek, I softly told him, “I’m telling you that we have back up now, Mark. It’s not that I don’t have faith in any of you, but rather that we need more help than we realize. If we can get help from the warlocks like Lord Christopher and his military, then it’s to our best of interest for when we fight.”

An all too familiar male voice growled, “How do you know that we can even trust them? The military’s always suppressed us!” Brandon McNamara stepped forward, and I felt as though my heart just dropped to the pit of my stomach. He didn’t know that his own father had already given approval to this idea. That his own father was all for this. Instead, I found myself facing this boy questioning my choices, uncertain if I was thinking of everyone at every choice I made.

“And they are under my control,” Christopher calmly replied in my place. “I won’t deny the fact that my family are greatly against you humans gaining any and all sort of rights. I won’t deny the fact that I may seem untrustworthy because of my family’s background of betraying by turning their backs behind their morals that this world is corrupt to the point where everyone should live as one another’s equal. Even though I’m not like the rest and have managed to keep my head straight with the belief that equal rights should be brought into this world in tact deep down in my heart, as well as in the back of my mind, I know that I can’t prove it all to you. I know I won’t be prove to you right now that my heart’s in the right place, which is to help you all bring justice to this world. However, all I ask is that you guys have faith in me that I will aid you in any way I possibly can. That I will sacrifice myself for you all in any way possible to see that tyranny of warlocks come to an end. And if I go against my promise, then you have my word that you all may end my life the moment I betray you all. I will give any warlock fighting for your rights to hold me down with Lock Down just to make sure I don’t go against my word. My word to allow you all to kill me the moment I go against my word to you all.”

Every eye were now on me and, looking around back at each and every single one of them, I gave a small nod as I pleaded, “Just trust me on this and trust in him. This alliance is one step towards our freedom in this fight. We need every single one of your cooperation. I need all of you in this for us to fight together as one. Please.”

“If this goes wrong, Lady Zoey,” Mark huffed as calmly as possible, “you will be the first that I will come to blame. Is that clear?”

With a deep inward sigh of relief, I nodded in response. “Crystal clear, Mark.” I turned to face Christopher as I asked, “Could you try and see if you can pinpoint Caroline Rivers for me and bring her to Mayor Dilnot’s office for me, Lord Suh? I would prefer to have her with me.”

As Christopher nodded, he put an arm around my shoulders and turned me around as he whispered with disbelief, “These people were all actually alive this entire time?”

“We got Illusionists,” I sheepishly explained. “We had to do something to train all these people to get at least them prepared for the war while making rest of the world think that there was a fight to the death going on in this tournament for life.” Turning to face everyone from the Survival game once more, I ordered, “All of you, two people to a warlock. We’re going to pay a the mayor of Area 18 and Area 20 a little visit due to request made by him to see me and Carlo.”

I felt a hand placed on my shoulder without a single warning, and soon found myself being warped into the dark tunnel that I hated oh so much. The darkness enveloped me as I shut my eyes as tight as possible. My inside felt like it was all turning and twisting, almost as if it were all going to come up. The twists and turns felt endless, and the ride seemed far too out of my comfort zone.

Just when I could take the ride no longer, I felt my feet planted firmly on the ground as Dilnot’s voice said, “Please step out, miss. I would like to speak to Miss Mahlendorf and Mr. Suarez alone.”

“The woman you sent to collect us may leave if she wishes,” I calmly informed him, “but I’m afraid all the people that came with will need to stay to keep us company. As well as Lord Christopher and all the Transport Warlocks that came with us, Mayor Dilnot.” When I opened my eyes, I caught the sight of Dilnot turning in his seat rather abruptly with shock spreading all over his face like wild fire. Not too long after, Christopher appeared next to me with someone on the other side of him and, without looking over, I remarked, “I hope you didn’t let me down, Lord Suh.”

“If you mean getting me, he didn’t,” Caroline’s voice growled. “What’s going through that head of yours, Lowey Zoey? If you do anything stupid here as you did up on the stage for the broadcast, I swear I won’t forgive you.”

I completely ignored her words as I smirked at the mayor, adding in a bit of a cocky tone, “Of course, Miss Rivers is here to make sure I keep her a hostage in any way need be. After all, you asked for Carlo’s and my audience, did you not? Having support of all the warlocks, mortals, and vampires that were thought to be killed off may keep your warlocks at bay if they have any thought of attacking us.”

“You’re going to use me?” Caroline screeched. “You’re going to use your own flesh and blood to hide behind to make sure that you don’t have any harm brought to you and your damn followers? What kind of sister are you?”

“You dare question me what kind of sister I am when you’re the one that abandoned me all these years to work as one of the higher ups among our kind?” I roared in exchange as I turned sharply on my heels to face her. Taking steps towards my sister furiously to be right up in her face, I loudly demanded, “Let me ask you a question, Violet! What kind of Yukimura and Gilbert bloodline are you? What kind of sister are you?” Just as she opened her mouth to protest, I hissed, “And don’t try and pin all of this on me of which convent you’re truly of, Violet! You brought it upon yourself the moment you dared to call me your sister once more!” Facing the mayor once more, I took a deep breath in and slowly let it all out through my nose in attempt to calm myself down. “Your call, Mayor Dilnot. Bring attention to yourself by having Miss Rivers be attacked harshly by us when you attack us, or get straight down to the business and tell us exactly what it is that you wish to discuss with me and Carlo.”

Dilnot tried to clear his mind while with all his might attempted to wipe away any and all signs of surprise away from his face as he straightened himself up behind his desk. “I wished to talk to you two of the S.A.W game, Miss Mahlendorf. I’m sure it’s not necessary to have all of these people involved in our discussion. After all, they’re not even the Survivors for this Area.”

“Don’t try to speak for us on what may be necessary and what may not, mayor,” Velma Barnard, a 50 year old woman with bright red hair and sea green eyes from Area 16, tiredly informed Dilnot. “We’re not the Survivors. We’re the ones that the entire world believes to have been killed off in last year’s game. Not that I want to jump to conclusions, but believe that it may be the reason to why Yukimura and Suarez had it set in their hearts for us to come.”

Fury slowly engulfed Dilnot’s eyes as his face slowly turned purple, almost as if any and all existence of air circulation as cut off from him. Slamming his fists down into his desk with a great amount of force that it shattered into small pieces, he hissed, “All that was staged? That’s impossible!”

“It’s actually quite possible,” Belinda Park of Area 47 remarked with a thoughtful look clouding over her beautiful face as her friend Deborah Chang of the same Area stood next by her with the same look. Both had also crinkled their nose, and if I didn’t know any better, let alone recalled who was related to whom correctly, I would have said that the two were twin sisters. “We’re quite skilled advanced Illusionists, so it wasn’t that hard to create something unseen over the entire place that the fight was taking place to fool everyone all around the world. All we had to do was play a bit of a trick of the light on whatever cameras that there may be.”

Deborah added, “Which I must admit was a little bit tricky. But when taking into deep considerations which three were best said to be killed off, it was all worth the time and energy that were spent. We were just lucky that the cameras weren’t in effect once the game was all said and done. We were getting far too tired putting up a large illusion over that place, and we were lucky that we were able to last as long as we did with it.”

“You have finally lost it haven’t you, Mahlendorf?” Dilnot roared. “You have broken all the rules possible of Survival Among the Weakest! And for what? For a stupid imaginary war?”

As calmly as possible, I rebuked, “You don’t seem to be getting it, Mayor Dilnot. I’m the very member of Yukimura Convent. The only one now, it seems, that’s willing to sticky to and stand by the Yukimura and Gilbert Convents’ beliefs.”

“You honestly believe you can start something up? Against the warlocks?” His voice was full of disbelief as he forced out a laughter. “You’re living in nothing but a pipe dream! You do realize that, don’t you, Miss Mahlendorf?”

I slowly began to lose my patience with the arrogant warlock that stood behind the now shattered desk as I irritably told him, “Why don’t you call me by my proper name, Lord Trace? I’m rather getting tired of my alias name now, and would love to go back to the proper name that my parents gave me. Zoey Yukimura does sound like a better name than JoBeth Mahlendorf, wouldn’t you say?” Stepping up to be right up in his face, I growled, “Put me back into the game this year. I dare you, Lord Trace. Throw a Yukimura Back into the game, and I promise I’ll give you and all those like you that are against the idea of the mortals and vampires gaining their freedom the most interesting time of your lives as you all go back into trying to find a job. And I promise that if we win and succeed in throwing you all back into equality system, you will have the most miserable time of your lives as you guys start with jobs as low as being a janitor.”

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, Lady Zoey,” Dilnot growled. “You don’t even realize what the warlocks have in place for this year’s tournament. You even have the faintest idea what you’re doing by agreeing to put your life at risk for those that are far below our kind!”

Furiously, I roared, “You have no idea what these people are capable of, but I do! You’re the one that has no idea what you’re getting yourself into by agreeing to go and butt heads with me! I dare you to throw me into Survival Among the Weakest so that I may be able to try and accomplish the unfathomable! And for any that dares to oppose us, let alone have doubts that Carlo and I are being serious about this, as well as those that stand behind us, then all I have to say to them is to bring it! To bring their best A-game!”

“And you made the biggest mistake of your life by throwing yourself back into the game voluntarily, Lady Yukimura,” Dilnot growled and snapped his fingers.

We all soon found ourselves in a conference room of some sort as Caroline rushed over to me and grabbed my arm roughly, turning me to face her as she hissed, “Zoey, you’re making a mistake by standing up for these people this way! This isn’t what mother and father wanted!”

“You’re the one who abandoned me and expected me to do great things, Violet,” I found myself snapping at my sister in return. “Hogosha and Maria died trying to protect me, too, and protected me they did. I lost all of you when I was a mere five year old. Or I thought I did until I find out that one of you guys survived? And you expect me to listen to you?”

There was nothing but surprise soon engulfing the woman’s face as she whispered, “Both Protector and Maria? You mean they didn’t reveal to you either that they were alive all this time?”

“They’re dead, Violet,” I laughed with disbelief. “They followed your orders! They died trying to protect me to the end! To make sure I lived to see another day! Don’t pretend like you didn’t know. I’ve been counting all on myself all these years just to make sure that I would at least take the secret of being a warlock to my grave. The only reason I’m stepping up now and doing what our family would have wanted is because Carlo came waltzing into my life.” As I looked over my shoulder at Carlo, who was found talking to the others that we began working with at last year’s contest, I added, “And he opened my eyes to the things unseen. Things I never thought was possible.” I looked back at Caroline with pain as I told her, “But you don’t understand, do you? You changed your name from Violet Yukimura to Caroline Rivers. For what? You tell me, because you’re not the Violet that I loved and remember from when I was the five year old child that you, Hogosha, and Maria all adored and loved. That you guys always played with and cared for. You’ve changed far too greatly from my childhood days before our family went under a massacre.”

“Zoey?” a warm, loving voice that I barely could recognize breathed.

All noise around us immediately fell to utter silence as I looked towards the voice, only to catch the face that I never thought I’d see again.

Hogosha Yukimura.

My brother, who I knew even to this day that I looked most like among all my siblings, and the bright orange hair and light purple eyes were the same as well. He was the only other member in our family that looked a lot like mother more than my father when it came to looks. And the only way I could recall, let alone know, was through the one picture that I had cherished for years.

One thing that I had to admit that hadn’t changed at all in terms of looks. The only thing that was an exception were the scars and the burnt marks. Then there was also his long hair that he had tied up at a high point of his head, allowing the long ponytail flow down rather freely behind him, but I supposed if I had to recall the times from long ago, he always did have long hair that flowed to at least his waist level.

And of all people, Hogosha was the one man in my life asides from my father that showed me unconditional love when I was just a little girl no matter how much I had made it seem as though I despised him.

“It’s you, isn’t it, Zoey? Please tell me it is so,” his soft, loving voice pleaded, and when I barely nodded, he came rushing forward as he allowed his rich turquoise cloak to fall to the ground. Wrapping his arms around me and drawing me close, his voice tickled gently across my neck, “Where have you been hiding all these years, child? Do you realize how long Maria and I have been searching for you as we worked for the warlocks in the Tourney Department by force all these years?”

As much as I hated myself for doing so, I allowed my arms to rise and push him away as harshly as possible as tears threatened to well up in my eyes as I looked at him. “You’re not my brother,” I hissed. “You’re not Hogosha. You only look like him, and nothing more. The other warlocks put you up to this to place me off guard, didn’t they? Actually, don’t answer that. That has to be it. This is just an illusion.”

Looking over to the mayor, the man that stood before me growled, “Get out. I may work as your equal by technicality, but that does not mean I consider you to be my equal. I consider you to be at the same level as trash and I far above you.”

“And if I don’t want to get out?” Dilnot growled back.

The long orange haired man raised his hand, getting ready to snap his fingers, with rather a calm reply of, “You know what I’m capable of. Now get out or scarcely make it out alive with your life.” Dilnot rushed past the group as the man roared, “And take all your damned Illusion warlocks with you!” Once the mayor and all his own warlocks were gone, Hogosha turned to look at our sister as he demanded, “You didn’t tell her that Maria and I were alive? I’ve made sure that by the time you left us thinking you died after mom and dad failed to finish off our attackers! The least you could’ve done when finding out about baby Zoey having been alive all these years was tell her that we were alive as well! The least you could have done was do a small task as such! You know full well that Maria and I can’t really get away from here due to the damn fact that we have to overlook the entire game and force all the returning winners back into the game once choosing out the new forty-eight or so people in with them in the end! You know how hard it is to even get permission to talk to any of the participants!”

“Oh, like you haven’t changed your name as well to make it hard for her to track us down if it were to actually cross her mind in case she wanted to find our fake graves!” Caroline spat back. “It’s not like I had a lot of time on my hands to actually tell her everything!”

Hogosha hissed, “You had far more time than us, Violet. You’re such a coward. And, for your information, at least Maria and I didn’t go to the extremes by changing even our first names. Just our surnames.” Looking back at me, he reassured me, “Zoe, it’s really me, Hogosha. Maria’s dying to see you, too, but is currently being kept behind in the announcement room. We have to go live soon for the broadcasting of this year’s contestants for Area 18, one of the main reasons why she couldn’t come to greet you as well. One of us had to stay behind in the room with the other warlocks. Any who, she asked me to send you all her love and that she misses you so much. She also apologizes for failing to protect you to the end and not having been able to find you sooner.”

“You guys are the ones to choose out the contestants?” I asked with disbelief. I didn’t bother asking for his reply as my voice slowly rose into a screech, “You guys actually had the nerves to put your own baby sister into the damn game? And to think I loved you guys! To think that I thought you guys actually loved me! That you guys loved your baby sister! Just because I favored Maria more than you, how could you send me in there? Of all people, you were the one that I trusted most in the family, Hogosha!”

It was only when the words began to come off my lips rather freely that I had come to fully comprehend that it was only my parents that had truly died. My brother was truly standing before me, and the fact that Carlo and all those that stood behind us as more than moral support were there had completely escaped my mind. Anger simply consumed me just as the darkness simply shrouded the nights. And through all the anger that was completely consuming me, all I wanted were answers to all the questions that had begun to crash up against my chest like violent waves of the sea.

He roughly grabbed me by the shoulders as he yelled back, “You think I wanted to send you in? By the time Maria and I were asked to put you and that Suarez man into the game, only to end up seeing your picture go up, we knew we couldn’t take back what we had submitted to keep you at safety! You think we wanted to send you in? It broke our hearts more than you can imagine to send someone that looked just like mom into the damned game that was designed to force the mortals to fight against one another! To force you to do something that our family had stood against generation after generation!”

Hogosha’s eyes told me that he was telling me nothing more than the truth.

My heart told me to trust him.

Yet, my head told me that he was one of the last people my trust should even go to. That my own siblings were nothing but traitors to me. That if they truly loved me and cared, they would have come looking for me to make sure I was alright sooner than later over leaving me to live out my life all alone as I had myself believe I was an orphan. That I had no one left. That I was a sole survivor of the Yukimura and Gilbert Convents.

“How do I know you’re really Hogosha Yukimura?” were the first words to escape from my lips. “How do I know you’re really my brother? I witnessed him getting murdered.”

“How do you know that she’s really Violet, your eldest sister, when she died before us as well?” Hogosha shot back as he nodded towards Caroline. “When she changed her name to an unrecognizable name?”

With an inward sigh, I replied, “I just know. And she also has the necklace that our sister and brother made for her when helping me for her birthday. The very necklace that contained a video of us playing together with a bit of an argument whether I liked my brother as well or not.”

Hogosha came up to me and lifted his shirt. Showing me his damaged stomach that had faint trace of a six pack, he said, “See the large burnt mark along my stomach and all the way up to my chest? From the flames with the wind having blown from below to move it up.” Pointing to a large three cuts that ran down his right eye, running all the way down his cheek, he explained, “The cuts that the wind left behind as it whipped upon me harshly.” Pointing to what appeared be a large scar left behind from a deep gash across his neck, “From the water that cut across me like a sharp edge of the knife.” Looking at me square in the eyes, Hogosha sighed, “I could go on and on of what that elemental hurricane did to me, Zoey, but the list won’t end for a long time. It’ll go on for a few hours, and all I can hope for and ask out of you is that you just trust me.”

I was suddenly filled with uncertainty. I didn’t know whether to believe him or not, let alone if he was telling me the utmost truth. The only thing that I had to go on by was my instincts, which was that my heart kept tugging towards that his words were filled with nothing but the truth. And after thinking through everything that had been said up to that point, there was only one thing that was left for me to do. Or rather say, even if it meant hurting my siblings to the point of devastation.

“Send me back in,” I demanded. “If you really love me, Hogohsa, let alone still care for your own sister and our family’s beliefs, send me back in.”

“And risk you getting killed again?” Hogosha laughed. “Fat chance, Zoe. There’s no way that Maria and I will be sending you back in there! We’re not risking it for the third time, never knowing if we’ll lose you or if you’ll come back alive to us!”

Without second thought, I found myself demandingly roar, “Send me back into the Survival game, Hogosha! You want to be my protector as dad have always asked you to be? Then send me back in! I want to fight for my life for the sake of the mortals! For the sake of the vampires! What you and Maria are doing are simply for yourselves! For the sake of the warlocks that believe our kind should be above everyone else! You two aren’t doing anything but following the footsteps of Violet! At least I’m willing to be different by following our parents’ footsteps by picking up what they were forced to leave! At least unlike you guys, I’m willing to pick up what our parents left for us! To finally pick up the legacy of Yukimura and Gilbert Convents! All by actually getting off my ass and taking the final step towards freeing the vampires and the humans by leading them into a war! The only one that stepped up immediately to lend a hand was a member of the Suh Convent! When Christopher Suh stepped up and formed an alliance with me, where were you? Where were you when more head figures of Yukimura bloodlines were needed, Hogosha?”

Hogosha opened his mouth multiple of times, but no sound came. Instead, all he could do was stare back at me as he tried to figure out what to say. As he tried to figure out how to answer the questions. It was clear not just to me, but for everyone else as well, that no matter how hard he tried to give me an answer, there were no words. At least there was none to even be able to defend himself. He never did stand up to defend me, and he couldn’t justify why he did what he had, and wouldn’t be able to justify even Maria’s actions for her for she hadn’t done anything as well.

Heavily sighing, I demanded as calmly as possible, “Send me back into Survival Among the Weakest, Hogosha. I’ve survived all these years without any of you protecting me, haven’t I? I want to see for how much longer you guys are willing to stand by on the sidelines as I place my life on risk the way our parents have for not just us, but for the mortals and vampires as well. I want to see when you guys will be willing to step it up and show some guts to prove yourselves. Not just to yourselves and the world, but to me as well. Especially to me.”

Pain flooded his eyes as Hogosha cupped my face between his hands and gently rested his forehead against mine. “Zoey,” he whispered, “you don’t have to do this. Now that the world knows you’re a warlock, you can try and lead the mortals to their freedom comfortably. Behind the lines. As far away from the danger as possible.”

Averting my eyes downward to avoid his eyes, I whispered only loud enough for him and those in ten steps radius of us to hear, “I can’t do that. I just can’t even if I wanted to. Not when I’m in love with someone that’s not of our race. I want to fight by his side. Even if it means I can never bring myself to confront my feelings for him. I want to fight by his side to my death if that’s what it takes for him to realize my presence. If that’s what it takes for me to be with him. Even if it’s just for fighting, Hogosha. I just can’t be like you by taking a step back and live a comfortable life by watching the two races fight against our kind for their freedom. I don’t want to lead them from the sideline, either. I want to be there with them every step of the way.”

“You’re what?” Hogosha hissed with disbelief as he took a step back without warning. His voice slowly rose as he furiously told me, “Zoey, you know full well that you can’t fall in love with those outside of our race! Especially when you’re a member of both Yukimura and Gilbert Convents, and of the bloodline of both! As a bloodline of those two specific convents, you’re allowed to get married to only another warlock! A pureblood warlock at that! Those are the unwritten rules!”

I felt anger boil up deep within my chest as well as I looked up at my brother, snapping, “Says who? Who says that the unwritten rules for purebloods like us are that we can’t fall in love with those outside of our race? Those that are not even purebloods as well? Who says that it’s forbidden for pureblood warlocks like us are not allowed to get married to those outside of our race?”

“The world, Lowey Zoey,” Caroline calmly told me. “It’s the unspoken agreement that the purebloods like us will never allow ourselves to fall in love with those outside of our race. And if within the race as well, those that are mixed. We can allow ourselves to fall in love with only pureblooded warlocks.”

Wanting to do nothing more of what they had to say, I demanded in shaky tone, “If you really want to live to being my protector, Hogosha, as father had always asked you to be, then do me a favor. Send me back into Survival Among the Weakest. I have people to meet. I have those that I need to protect. Our parents had us holding them back from going heads on against the warlocks, but I have nothing. I don’t have anything holding me back. You guys abandoned me, so I’m doing what I know how to do best. Charging heads on into trouble. Even if it costs me my life.”

“If you decide to go down that road, Zoey, you know you will forever be disgraced as a Yukimura,” Caroline gravely told me. “You realize that, don’t you?”

Looking back at her, I sneered, “Not if the world decides to accept me as a true Yukimura, Caroline. If the world decides that they want to take me in and proclaim me the true Yukimura, then it will be you guys that will be shunned away as Yukimura members. You’re the ones that abandoned your post in our family. Not me. It was you that strayed away from all our family’s beliefs. Not me.” I regretted my words not too long after, but the regret wasn’t big enough for me to hold onto it that it was rather easy to brush it off as though it were nothing.

“Don’t forget that you strayed, too,” Hogosha growled. “You’ve abandoned your name as a Yukimura altogether, and if I didn’t know any better, you were planning to die with you being a warlock as a secret. You being even a Yukimura was going to be brought to the grave with you until you came back out of the game alive.”

“That was until I met Carlo!” I roared. “Until you sent me into the damn competition for the survival! I stepped up my game and went heads on by facing my past! By deciding to charge forward with agreeing into putting my life on the line to bring justice for those that are not like us!” Caroline and Hogosha both looked surprised at my outburst, and I allowed the two to take it all in before deciding to give them the true slap to the face. “Do you recall the date that you guys chose out the names for last year’s Survival game, Protector?”

My brother shook his head slowly, uncertain if he should dare to speak.

“It was June 20,” I snapped. “Does that date mean anything to you?”

Once more, he shook his head, and when I looked over to Caroline, she shook her head as well. Their eyes were filled with fear. At the same time, they were filled with curiosity, almost as if they wanted to know what I was talking about. What had been going through my mind.

Closing my eyes as tears of anger trickled down my cheeks, I shakily took a deep breath in to try and calm myself down. I didn’t know exactly how to show happiness for having seen them for first time in so long or angry for the fact they haven’t even tried to find me as I told them in a rather shaky tone, “That’s my birthday. June 20, 3001 DDA, I was born. And on my twentieth birthday, I was chosen to be thrown into pits of hell to fight for my life. I thought it would be pits of hell until I met a young boy. A twelve year old child, and I couldn’t seem to see myself to allow him to actually kill or die trying. I had to do something, and at least it was on the first night there that I realized that I’ve strayed. Realized that it was time for me to come back.” Opening my eyes, only to be greeted by shock spreading all across my siblings’ faces, I glared at Hogosha as I demanded, “So I ask again. Send me back in, Hogosha. Send me back in so that I can continue on with my fight.”

“No,” Hogosha growled. “I’m not risking losing my baby sister again. Not when mother and father both saw great promise in you. Not when we were all given orders to protect you with all our lives.”

Baring my teeth like a defensive dog trained to attack on sight at anyone or anything that mean to cause harm, I sneered, “And you’ve failed to do the one task that mom and dad left for you three to do. Send me back in, or I’ll find a loop hole to go back in myself if I must.”

“There are no loop holes!” Hogosha cried in protest. “Stop thinking that you’re going to be able to do this without any of our help!”

“Actually, there is a technical loophole,” Brandon slowly said. As he stepped up next to me, he informed me, “If you’re heart’s truly set on trying to help us, and if my father trusts you, I’ll be more than willing to tell you what my father did to get into the game last year.”

Anger was slowly seeping through Caroline’s eyes as she warningly told the young boy, “Don’t you dare tell her, you little maggot!”

“And don’t you dare speak to this child that way!” I warningly told her off in exchange. Looking down at the boy, I reassured him, “I can’t say completely on your father’s behalf, but I think it may be safe to say that he trusts me enough to try and fight by all your sides, Brandon. And was he not chosen like any other to take part in the game?”

Brandon shook his head as his shaggy hair flung back and forth loosely. “He volunteered to take place of the man who came back out alive two years ago,” he told me. “My father chose to be in the game, and volunteered himself to be in it. Not because he was chosen, but rather because he wanted to do so.” His eyes were full of curiosity like of a few weeks old puppy being a new home for the first very first time. The boy’s eyes were full of wonders on what he may be questioned next or even the sort of situation that all this may even lead him to.

“But why?” I asked with disbelief. No matter what I tried to think of, the reasoning to why he may want to take part in such gruesome game didn’t click in my head. “Why would he want to take part in Survival Among the Weakest?”

Hogosha roared at the child, “Don’t tell her what happened to your Area, boy!”

Carlo’s voice breathed in a near hush, “Because of his son.” When everyone turned to look at Carlo, he looked straight at me in the eyes as he hurriedly said, “Timothy took place of the male victor from two years ago because of his son. He was going to sacrifice himself. Allow his son to finish him off in the game. And if Brandon wasn’t going to do so, then he most likely had a plan to ask another to do so in Brandon’s place.”

“Father decided to leave me behind to train with those that the world would believe to be dead because once you and Suarez began to start up an official rebellion, he believed the safest place for me was to be left behind to train further and away from danger of being chosen again,” Brandon informed all of us before we had the chance to ask for confirmation. “He didn’t know if the rebellion was going to be put to an end immediately, and if that was so, he didn’t want to risk me getting chosen again. As this man that you call your brother, Miss Yukimura, having stated about the victors having to return to the game for every time they survive is true, then every single one of us here, even all around the world, failed to recognize the pattern. Because sooner or later, for every victor that comes out alive, they’ll end up dying eventually. It’s all to see whom among the victors are weaklings. Whom among the fresh meat thrown in are weak and whom are strong. And for every strong soul, how long they will be able to last.”

“And no one would have a reason to volunteer themselves in place of another for each year that comes and goes,” Carlo remarked. “And if they do have a reason to volunteer, they have to state it as well, or am I wrong?”

With a small nod, Brandon added, “And if you’re to volunteer for your family member, then the request to go in is denied. If it’s to go in for someone outside of your family, but only with a good reason, then there’s a good chance that the request will be accepted. But it all will depend on how valid a reason is, as well as if it’ll be acceptable in the eyes of those that are part of Tournament Department or not. The rumor has it that the vote is taken to see if the person requesting to volunteer will be accepted or denied.”

Looking at Hogosha and Caroline, I told them as calmly as possible, “With even Dilnot wanting to finish me off, I don’t think your chances of getting me out of this year’s game is good, dear Hogosha and Violet. Especially now that I know what the loophole is incase I’m not chosen.” My focus went more towards Hogosha as I remarked, “And correct me if I’m wrong, Hogosha, but I’m sure that even majority of the warlocks from your department aren’t too thrilled with me. Especially with knowing what I want to do for the mortals by making all sorts of alliances here and there with a few warlocks at a time.”

Caroline and Hogosha uneasily exchanged glances, and once Caroline was finally able to bring her eyes back to me, she asked, “You know that once you go in, this will mean we’ll be fighting one another, right? We’ll be facing each other until we decide to step out into the light as well.”

“I know,” I replied regretfully.

Hogosha sounded as though he had hard time speaking as he stated, “We may have to kill you off ourselves. You know that, don’t you?”

“I know,” I remarked. “And it means that I may kill you before you get the chance to kill me off. But I’m sure you already realized that.”

Hogosha began to lose himself in deep sea of thoughts, and just the look that washed over him caught me off guard. It made my heart weak and I knew that when the time to kill them off, especially my brother, was facing me right up close. It caused me heartache, but I knew that things whatever had to be done would be unavoidable. Even if it were pushed off to the side, I knew the time would come charging at me full steam ahead once more, and that’s what killed me on the inside even further. It wasn’t also until that very moment of realization that I realized how much I actually loved Hogosha compared to Violet and Maria. It was him that I loved the most. That it was him that was to understand me on a deeper level than our sisters ever would.

Drawing himself out of thoughts, Hogosha held out a hand as he sighed heavily, “May the best warlock win the race. Try and convince me to step out into the light sooner than I would personally feel necessary.”

None of us in the room would be able to deny that we were all surprised, but we all knew full well that it was Caroline and I that were hit with his words more than others. Taking his hand once the feeling had subsided, I agreed, “May the best warlock win.”

“Hogosha!” Caroline scolded with frustration. “What are you thinking? This is our sister! The one that our parents assigned to protect! The one we’re supposed to talk sense into!”

Turning to face her, he calmly said, “She’s already made up her mind, Violet. There’s no way to change her mind now. Not when she’s as stubborn as our father was. If she’s determined to charge into this like a train that can’t be slowed down, then there’s no point of trying to talk her out of it. Especially if she has her heart set on going through with all this. We’ve done all we could when she was a small child to protect her. To make sure she lived to see another day. And ever since we kept ourselves hidden over sweating blood to pinpoint her exact location, she has all the rights to be angry with us and continue to stand on her own two feet. Look how well Zoey turned out to be. Look how far she’s come all on her own. The least we could do is respect her choices on which road she wants to take. Now more than ever. And all we could hope for now is that she comes out as the true successor of the Yukimura and Gilbert Convents.”

“Nonsense!” Caroline snorted outrageously. “You know full well that I am the true heir of the Gilbert Convent where as you are the true heir to the Yukimura Convent!”

Shaking his head with a broad smile, Hogosha informed our eldest sister, “No, we’re not, Violet. You’ve completely missed our parents’ point when they asked us to protect her with all our lives no matter what happened to them, didn’t you? We’re not the true heirs to either of our bloodlines. Zoey is. She’s the true heir to both lines, and our parents knew that ever since the day she was born. When we were born, as well as Maria, mom and dad knew that we weren’t destined to take the hard road. To take the road less taken. They saw something in her the moment they held her in their arms, and knew she was destined for something very different. For something great. And Zoey’s right about us having failed to protect her. Now, it’s all matter of which one of us wins the race, and I’m going to bet all my money on Zoey to beat us to the punch line. She’s already beat us to revealing her identity to the world. Even to the point of beginning to lead this world back to the road of equality, Violet.”

Turning on his heels with one of the deepest frowns I have ever seen on the most cheerful guy’s face for first time in who knows how long, Hogosha’s eyes were clouded. His face was hard to read to figure out the general idea of what may have been going through his mind. The part of me that was finally put at ease for knowing he would support me in the most unexpected way, even if it was far off on the sidelines, I wish I knew what he was thinking.

It wasn’t long before I found myself wishing I knew what he was going to say beforehand so I could have stopped him in time. Only for the pure fact that Hogosha questioned Carlo the one thing I had least expected to hear in front of the others. “Mr. Suarez, could I trust you to do something those of us in Yukimura Convent has failed to do so all these years we’ve been separated from our dearest baby sister? Could I trust you to protect her as though her life was your very own?” Horror swept over me and I wanted to yell at Hogosha, but no words came. As the silence began to tie my stomach into a knot, I couldn’t seem to find a single word as Hogosha demanded, “Answer me, Mr. Suarez. Will you or will you not do the Yukimura Convent a favor by protecting our baby sister? By protecting the final legacy that our convent left.”

I sharply turned to look at Carlo with slightly wide eyes.

I wanted to tell him that I hadn’t put Hogosha up to it.

Tell him that I truly didn’t know that my siblings had been alive this entire time.

That I never once have lied to him about anything.

Above all things, I wanted to tell Carlo that I truly had nothing to hide from him.

No matter how much I wanted to tell him all these things, I just couldn’t seem to find a single word to say. And it was only when I looked around at the others that I realized they were all murmuring amongst themselves, almost as though they had seen this all along. They were even full of curiosity. It was almost as if they were curious to know if there had been anything that was going on between the two of us.

Taking a deep breath in, Carlo looked at me as he asked, “You’ll be continuing to watch my back, won’t you, Zoe?”

“We got into this together,” I firmly replied. “And whether you like it or not, I’ll make sure that we get out of it together, Carlo. Or I’ll die trying to cover your back. Whichever comes first.”

The vampire gently placing a hand on my shoulder, sending a jolt of pain throughout my body from the damage on the nerves done by the gas. A pain, which I had to admit completely escaped my mind until then, and I didn’t need to look up into Carlo’s eyes to know he was sorry for hurting me, even if it was unintentionally. His voice, however, was a tone of something completely different than what his eyes would have said. When he spoke, Carlo sounded testing, almost as if wanting confirmation, “And I’ve always had your back this entire time. Didn’t I, Zoe? I haven’t once stopped keeping an eye out for you, haven’t I?”

“Oh, so you’re trying to avoid the fact you pulled a gun on me when I brought you into my home to try and heal you up on the day of the drawings?” I questioned as I raised a brow questioningly. Panic arose on Carlo’s face and fear consumed his eyes rather rapidly as I could feel vengeful vibes coming off of my siblings. I couldn’t help but faintly but softly smile at Carlo. “You’ve made it up for it in countless of times during the game last I recall, though. Literally saving my life several times and trying to do whatever you could to keep me out of the harm’s way from your kind. Even after having come out of the Survival Among the Weakest.”

Look of comfort washed up over Carlo’s face as he drew me in close, telling Hogosha as he looked up back at my siblings, “And I plan on sticking to what I’ve been doing all this time and watching out for her. It’s the least I could do after she saved my family. Including my sister-in-law, niece, and nephew.”

I looked back at Hogosha and Caroline as well as I comfortably yet painfully allowed myself to relax into his arm. “Let me go free, Caroline,” I found myself drone on rather tiredly. “And as for you, Hogosha, all I can ask of you is to throw me back into the game. I need to do this. Allowing me to throw myself into deep trouble like this is the only path I know at this point. I’ve always fought for my life all alone. Now, I’m tired of having to fight all alone. I finally have someone I can actually lean on, Hogosha, and I think you know that better than anyone. I think you know me better than anyone.”

“You really trust this guy with your life, don’t you?” Hogosha breathed, and I could see hint of pain in his eyes. When I nodded solemnly, a faint sigh escaped from his lips and, walking over to us, he planted a firm, loving kiss on top of my head as he whispered, “Get to the finish line before I do, baby Zoey. I have faith you just like our parents did. Show the world what we members of Yukimura Convent are truly made of.” Looking at Carlo, he gravely warned, “If I hear of even a single word that my sister’s been harmed because of you, I swear on our parents’ grave that I will come hunting you down myself like a bloodhound and kill you with my own two hands. Do I make myself clear?”

“Of course, I completely understand. She’s your sister, after all,” Carlo agreed. “And speaking as the eldest child and the eldest brother for my two siblings in my clan, for me to say that it’s not clear would be a lie.” Holding out his free hand with a slightly forced smile that had hint of confidence woven into it, he asked, “So do we have a deal? You let her enter back into the competition with me and let her go while I in exchange watch her back as Zoe and I continue to work as partners that we’ve already become?”

Caroline was in full outrage as she screeched, “What do you think you’re doing, Hogosha? Sending her back in? We don’t even know if she’ll be so lucky to get out without a single scratch on her again! We don’t even know if she’ll be able to bring the competition to a full halt like last year as evidenced by these so-called claimed dead that we now know are truly alive and have been in hiding!”

“But I’m doing what I see as best fit for our sister!” Hogosha roared back at Caroline. “You went in and talked to her! Faced her directly and failed to recognize her, Violet! You failed to recognize our own blood! And she did so well all the way until today, and it’s so apparent with all that she went through to get here that she’ll continue to succeed with whatever she sets her mind to! But you don’t have faith in her! You’re the one that’s lacking in faith for her! Not me! Not Maria! Not our parents when they were alive! But you! You’re the one that doesn’t see all that is clearly put in front of you in the wide open! We’re nothing but complete cowards compared to our beloved Zoey! She’s making her own way by facing our kind heads on while we cowardly stand behind our own kind! Keeping the mortals in the oppression as we hide behind our own kind! And all for what? To stay alive! To try and figure out how to go about with this! And it’s because I see how much courage she has compared to us that I’m betting all that I have, even my life, on Zoey, Violet!”

“Do you really have that much faith in her? She’s nothing more than a child, Hogosha!” Caroline hissed, and it was only then that I truly felt betrayed.

More than when they have kept themselves hidden from me.

Far more than my own siblings having lied about their death for fifteen or so years.

Looking over at me, Hogosha seemed rather calmed down as he told her, “No, she’s not, Violet. You’ve failed to recognize that she’s all grown up now. She’s matured far more than any of us expected. It’s most likely that if she haven’t met our parents’ expectations that they had in any of us, then she have surpassed any and all expectations that’s been made for her.” As he held out a hand, Hogosha gently said, “I’ll grant your wish, Zoe, and allow you to go back into the Survival tournament if that’s what your heart truly desires. All that I ask is you walk with me at least one last time, arm in arm. Do me the honors by giving me one last hope that we’ll both make it out alive by end of all this. Not to forget to mention hopes that I’ll be able to walk you down the aisle in father’s place to give you away if you’re ever able to find the one man you can call your husband when and if the day of your marriage comes.”

I painfully pushed myself away from the comforts of being in Carlo’s arms as I took my brother’s for first time in who knows how long with a gentle smile. “Do me the favor, then, of announcing me as one of the contestants,” I requested. I waited until Hogosha nodded, even if it were rather regretfully, I looked over to Christopher as I quietly asked, “Would you be able to make sure that all these people are brought to the location of the next game?”

“Of course,” Christopher replied. “I’ll be back as soon as seeing all them off safely to collect you and Mr. Suarez.” With a snap of his fingers, he and the Transport Warlocks were all gone with those that were announced dead but alive from the game.

As Hogosha and I looked at one another, he softly asked, “Ready to step out and greet the cameras with the mayor, Zoe? Maria’d be thrilled to see you but hysterical with the both of us when she finds out what we’ve agreed on.”

“I’ll deal with her myself when the time comes,” I nearly mumbled, and just by looking into Hogosha’s eyes, I could tell that he didn’t approve. But he simply looked it over with a faint nod as we all began walking as Caroline stepped in front of us with outraged look in her eyes.

Baring his teeth, Hogosha growled, “Step aside, Violet.” An eerie silence fell over the room, and it was only when a minute or two that felt like the eternity that had passed than I came to an understanding that they weren’t just Elementalists any longer. I mean, I knew that Violet was a Special through two classes this entire time, but I never imagined her to be part of another.

They had picked up the talents of Telepathic Class, an extremely rare class and just a bit harder to master, if not harder by greater degree, than Necromancy.

When Caroline finally stepped aside, I had to say that it was intentionally done, all so I could hear, when she growled at him, “Mark my words, Hogosha Yukimura. You’ll regret this. It doesn’t matter if it’s by me directly, or from someone of our higher standing that had respect for our family if any ounce of their respect still remains. You know you’ll have it coming for you sooner or later for this.”

“I think I’ll be more than willing to take my chances for baby Zoe, Violet, so you just make sure that you yourself get out of my way and stay away,” Hogosha sneered in return as he led me out of the room with Carlo right behind us. “I don’t want you interfering with me, nor do I want Zoey to be stopped if this is what she truly wants,” he added when he called over his shoulder to our sister.

Looking up at him, I softly said, “What happened to you guys? I remember you all being so close when we were younger just fifteen years ago.”

“You disappeared,” he softly told me. “Left no trace of where you have gone to. Honestly speaking, you were pretty much the glue of the family careless of you having been just a toddler at the given time.” Hogosha smiled softly down at me as his gentle voice carried on, “Tell me what you’ve been up to all these years, Zoe, since who knows when we’ll ever be able to have a peaceful moment like this together.

As I looked ahead at the remaining half of the hall, I remained silent. Not even Carlo had spoken up. Instead, he let us have our own little moment in the mess of it all. Curiosity lingered over us, and I didn’t make a peep until we reached the door that marked the end of the hall.

“I’d hate to do this to you,” I quietly told Hogosha, “but we’ll have to catch up after the war. I don’t want either of us to think that this is the end for good for us to be able to sit and talk with nothing to trouble our minds.” Looking up at him with a regretful smile, I added, “I really do hope you understand, Hogosha.”

Dilnot looked up and there were eleven other warlocks sitting around him. As he bore his teeth at me, he growled, “Choose wisely, Lady Yukimura. Choose us warlocks, we guarantee you will have the most peaceful and most wonderful experience. Not to forget to mention life of luxury. Choose the damned mortals, and you shall have the most miserable life that we are able to unleash upon you.”

Breathing in slowly but deeply, I replied, “I’ve chosen, Mayor Dilnot. Even if I were to choose our kind, I know you’ll try and find excuses and ways to finish me off the way you did when we so-called survivors arrived here in Area 18 to do our broadcast. In front of a rather big crowd. When my partner’s family was put in danger. You didn’t think of how to negotiate. But you dared to try and put lives in danger. You should know me fairly well by now, especially with having the information that you oh so dearly wanted in your hands, where I stand in terms of which race is the side I’ll be standing with and all for, Mayor Dilnot.”

The man’s face hardened as Christopher appeared without warning nor sound, of course with the exception of a faint sound from transportation spell, as a woman’s voice demanded from somewhere to our right, “Hogosha, what is the meaning of this? Why do you have your arms linked with one of last year’s victors? You know full well we shouldn’t be allowing ourselves to get attached to any mortals!”

“And you heard Dilnot calling her a Yukimura, Maria,” Hogosha growled. “And I didn’t allow myself to get attached to a mortal. I allowed myself to get attached to someone we both held dear to our hearts when we were younger.” Looking down at me, he pushed a lock of hair behind my ear as he whispered, “This is something you truly do want, right? I just want to make sure before the cameras get turned on for broadcast.”

I gave him a small nod. “Protector, you don’t have to question me once I make up my mind. I know what I want, and what I want right now if I can’t have the one I love is to go back in. Announce the two new fighters and place the two of us on national broadcast.” Turning my eyes back to the mayor, I ordered, “Whenever you’re ready to start the broadcast, sir.”

With his eyes filled with hatred, the mayor snapped his fingers and lights in the room had gone off as the headlights went on without missing a beat. Dilnot’s eyes never left mine as he put an eerily cold smile on his face as he stated, “Good day, Area 18. Today is June 20, 3022 DDA. And today being June 20, you all know what that means. Drawing of the names. Here are the names of this year’s contestants for your Area that shall go into Survival Among the Weakest. Trent Gabriel. Tricia Kaufman.” My eyes grew wide with horror as the camera, as I knew, was now on me and Carlo, as the mayor coldly finished with amusement in his eyes, “Carlo Suarez. And, finally, JoBeth Mahlendorf. Or, rather, Zoey Yukimura.”

“You snake!” I roared. “Keep Tricia out of this! She worked hard to guarantee safety for herself from the games! She’s worked hard to become a surgeon!”

“Any words for our viewers, Lady Yukimura?” Dilnot slyly asked with a fox like smile.

Carlo must have sensed that I was ready to blow at any given moment, because he placed an arm around my neck almost immediately and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. He calmly said in my place, “We have no words to give, Mayor Dilnot, but if it’s death that you want to see, especially if it means a fight among friends, that you have chosen the wrong time period. The kills, however, you will get, but not among the Survival competitors. It’ll be between the two sides, so all that at least I can say for even Zoe, which I do hope she agrees on, is that we wish your side the best.” I looked up at Carlo with outrage at his last words, only to catch a smirk on his face as he added, “But, of course, that’s just speaking out of courtesy. We are truly hoping that you all will fall to your knees as we win the war and bring what truly belongs in this world. And turning this world back to the way it was far over three thousand years ago. After all, we’ve been waiting for our freedom for a long while, and it’s about time that we strived forward to gain it all back.”

Dilnot’s eyes began to twitch rather violently as Hogosha ordered, “Cut the broadcast!”

“What’s your problem, Hogosha?” the same female voice from earlier, Maria’s voice, demanded. When we looked over, a woman with flaming red hair and clear blue eyes had gotten up onto her feet from behind the desk, and her eyes were filled with fury. “Why take charge of whether the camera keeps rolling or not? And how dare you say that this insolent child is Zoey Yukimura? Are you trying to insult the Yukimura name by agreeing with the mayor that someone like her can possibly even be of two of the most loyal bloodlines around?”

As calmly as I could, I warned the woman, “Don’t underestimate the Yukimura Convent. And if you have a problem with me now going by my true name, then come find me later on and I’ll be more than happy to speak with you one on one.” Turning my head away to rest it against Carlo’s shoulder, I quietly asked, “Could we get going now, Carlo? I want to go check up on Trish before going home.”

“Would it be too much trouble, Lord Suh?” Carlo’s voice quietly requested.

A gentle hand was placed on my back as Christopher’s voice softly remarked, “I assume you want to get to the hospital before I bring you to the apartment?”

“The square would be more preferable,” I croaked. “Just to get to Tricia’s place faster in case she’s there. Thank you.”

As Christopher took us through the seemingly endless portal, deep in the pit of my stomach, I felt as though I would puke. Not by the nauseated feelings that the transportation feeling gave me, but rather by the thought of having to see the expression on the face of Tricia for the rules seemed to have change once more by going from the lowest paid workers to any and all mortals all across any Area that were left untouched.

11: Chapter 11

A month.

A month since the names have been drawn.

Two weeks since having to be in the games.

And even though it had been approximately just over a year since having to strategize a war had passed, the stress wasn’t reducing. Instead, it was increasing at an alarming rate, almost like rabbits reproducing, and the fact that Tricia was now on my back wasn’t helping much either.

“We shouldn’t even be sending the warlocks first,” Trent remarked as the two of us went through a small stack of papers that lay across the table with the basic groupings of people for the war. “And you know far too well that just sending the mortals in the first line is a bad idea. Even I know better that we should be sending in as a mix. Half and half. Make sure that the races are all mixed in equally so that even the humans and the vampires get the full coverage by the warlocks.”

Trent Gabriel, a warlock who had turned 20 just this past year. A half-blood through warlock and mortals, and half-blood in terms of race when tracing back the ancestry of origins. Latino, according to him when tracing his heritage line, through his father’s side and Caucasian from his mother’s side. Jet black hair and greenish eyes, but more orange towards the pupils. And for someone young, I had to admit he was quite the smart one, especially considering he had lived in secret of being a part warlock, and the secrecy part was a dead giveaway. No warlock was still allowed to be thrown in unless if they were the victors that were demanding to come back into the so-called fight among what the world still thought to be among the mortals.

“Don’t think I don’t understand that, because I do, Trent. What I’m trying to say is that we need to have a good combination of who will be in the front lines,” I told him with a bit of frustration. “And don’t suggest placing all those from the Attack and Defense Department in the front lines. We’ll need at least half of them to be with even children to protect them if all else fails.” I heard the front door slam shut with heavy set of footsteps as I called, “Back from your shooting training, Trish?”

Tricia’s cold voice called back, “Don’t think like you don’t know what’s going on, Jo! I’m still mad at you!”

Trent cleared his throat nervously as he told her in my place, “It’s not Lady Yukimura’s fault that you were dragged into the game, Kaufman. The warlocks in charge of organizing the games are at fault for changing the rules continuously without much of a warning.” Just as Tricia entered the room, both she and I threw him a glare warningly, and the moment he caught our eyes, they were immediately lowered back into paperwork. “Guess it’s not my place to speak. Just ignore me and what I just said, why don’t you? I’ll keep quiet until you two talk out all that needs to be talked out. Even leave the room if I have to until you two are done speaking if that’s what it takes.”

Looking up at Tricia, I calmly told her, “Look, it’s not as if I told Hogosha to place you into the games, so if you’re going to continue to accuse me, why don’t you just back off? Even I wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on, Trish. If you’ve forgotten, I was busy fighting some warlocks off at the diner before rushing over to that building that got blown up thinking you and Michael were in trouble.”

“And you think you’re so mighty, don’t you?” Tricia snapped. “You’re trying to use your true bloodline to your advantage.”

Getting up, I ordered, “Gabriel, will you step out and give the two of us some privacy?”

“Uh, certainly,” Trent replied as he gathered his share of work and shot up onto his feet.

And, without much of a warning, Tricia yelled, “You’re staying, Gabriel!”

“He’s leaving!” I roared at her. “This is between you and me, Tricia Kaufman! Between two friends that apparently are in middle of a fight! One that you’re seemingly willing to start without much of my knowledge!” Turning my head half way towards Trent, I softly requested, “Please give us some space, Trent. Sorry about all the yelling.” I waited until Trent scurried out of the room before hissing, “What’s gotten into you? Ever since I found you with that petrified look on your face, you’ve treated me with a cold shoulder. Like the friendship we had over the years means nothing to you.”

“What about you?” Tricia spat back. “You’ve changed greatly ever since returning from last year’s games! Like you’re all high and mighty compared to other warlocks!”

Closing my eyes as I took a deep breath in, I tried to calm myself down as I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Tricia, I haven’t changed at all. I’m the same person that you knew before I left last year. And I’m not acting as though I’m higher than anyone. My siblings that have lied to me about their existence all these years haven’t done what they’re supposed to. That’s all. I’m simply taking full charge of my life to set it to what it was originally supposed to be. Doing what my family’s failed to do. Taking reigns to what truly belongs to me and my family so that I may try and restore peace in this world.”

Tricia’s cold voice told me as plain as day, “You’re letting your bloodline get to you. From what I can see, you’re trying to overthrow the Suh bloodline just so you can take over as the next ruler.”

“And you’re being plain old arrogant,” I angrily told her. “I don’t want any power in this world! If I do, it’s to make sure that peace is kept! That no warlock is to try and take over the world again! But you don’t even realize that I’m putting my own life on the line here, do you? You have no idea how terrified I am behind the strong front, do you, Tricia?” Glaring at her, I heard my voice rise as I slowly began to yell, “You don’t realize that I’m afraid I’ll die at any given moment for trying to fight in the front lines! You’re on the last line of defense, Tricia, because I want to secure your safety as much as possible! So that if anyone dies, it’s me first! And then everyone else behind me, which I’m hoping doesn’t happen! I was going to die living a life of a mortal, Tricia! But instead, I’m going to be dying with my secret of being a warlock out in the plain sight! I’m the biggest bull’s eye target! Because the humans and vampires that don’t trust me want me dead! Because the warlocks that want to keep you all under their control want me gone for good so that any form of threat is out of the harm’s reach! But you’re failing to realize that behind the strong front I’m trying to put up, I’m nothing more than a terrified person!”

“What is there for you to be terrified of?” Tricia yelled back. “You’ve declared yourself to be a Yukimura and Gilbert Convents’ member countless of times! To you, that’s pretty much your victory cake to getting whatever you want!”

Without second thought, I found myself screeching, “And what you don’t get is that I’m simply using my family’s names to give others of my kind nothing but as big of a scare as I possibly can give! To remind them that I come from one of the most powerful families around! It’s all in their own little heads if they actually believe I’m actually stronger than them without having to test my true strength as a sorcerer, Tricia!” Tricia opened her mouth a few times to say something, but when no words came out, I pushed past her, hissing, “Some friend you are. And to think that all these years, I could trust you with most things in my life. Guess I was right all along about having to lean on no one but myself. And guess I was smart enough in doing so with keeping secrets like my true background.”

“No one but yourself?” Tricia laughed with disbelief. “How about that Carlo Suarez guy? You claim that there’s nothing going on between you two, but check you guys out!” I froze in middle of my tracks as she venomously spat at me, “You guys act as if you two are a set!”

“We’re not a set, Tricia,” I quietly told her warningly. “We’re just friends. Just partners. I watch out for him because I would be dead if he didn’t help me figure out what I wanted to do with my life while in the games last year.” I sharply turned to face her with fierce glare at her. “I would be dead if it weren’t for the fact he helped me realize that I should have been fighting for the equal rights all along instead of hiding within the shadows of fear that I would be killed off, too, just like my family, Tricia! I told you the straight out truth when I said I had no interest in him, so don’t you dare go accusing me of having lied to you. If I lied to you about anything, it was the pure fact that I was a warlock. Everything else? Everything else had been nothing but the truth. Anything else that you’d like to accuse me of?”

Crossing her arms, she demanded, “Why don’t you just tell me the straight out truth that you two are actually dating? It’s so obvious that you two like each other.”

“Why don’t you grow up and get over yourself?” I spat back. “Because if I may speak honestly with you, Tricia, you’re acting like a small bratty child right now. Go ask anyone else that knows me and Carlo well if we’re dating or not. Hell, go ask Carlo directly if you have to. He should be able to tell you himself that we’re not a thing, anyway. And it looks to me as though he cares for me only as if he saw me as his little sister. Not his lover.”

There was a part of me as I turned on my heel and walked towards the front door that wished that my last words weren’t true and that Tricia’s was real. That Carlo truly did care for me the way I did for him, but after having had more guy friends than girlfriends, I couldn’t seem to quite bring myself to do just that. I felt as if Carlo viewed me the same as all my other guy friends did – As one of the guys or as his little sister. There was no other valid explanation that I could think of to why he was treating me with kind heart, so sweetly, if it weren’t for either one of those two reasons.

As I grabbed my coat, Trent’s voice asked from the top of the stairs, “Lady Yukimura, we have to finish up organizing these, remember?”

“I’m going out!” I called over my shoulder. I didn’t dare look over to him as tears began to threaten at my eyes from the deep wound that Tricia’s words left in my chest, and my voice betrayed me as I choked, “I need to get some fresh air. I’ll try to be back in a few minutes.”

My breathing was unsteady as I tried my hardest to hold strong. If Tricia was going to become more distant from me from now on, then I found myself to be truly alone. Of course, there were those like Carlo and Christopher, but even with those that I tried to open up to by my side, I still felt as though I was alone. At the same time, I supposed it was a price that I had to pay for isolating myself for so long. I didn’t allow anyone to get anywhere close enough to me to let them into my personal life. To support me in any way whatsoever. But to have to ask for support after having pushed everyone away was far too much, and I was perhaps simply being selfish for wanting to feel as though I wasn’t alone in this world.

I snapped out of my thoughts the moment I almost fell off a steep cliff. I could have and would have fallen if it weren’t for the fact that there was a hand that grabbed me by the wrist rather harshly and pulled me back. Trent’s voice yelled, “Are you crazy? What’s going through that head of yours?” I turned sharply to face him as I fell into his arms from the tug, and the tears soon began to fall freely before I had the chance to stop them. “Do you realize how upset even that Suarez guy would be if you fell and he received the word of it? How about everyone else? Do you even know how important of a person you are now than ever before?”

“I don’t even know if I want to be part of it all!” I screeched as I tried to push him away. I don’t know what possessed me to suddenly spill all the beans to someone I barely knew, but I found myself blabbering everything to him. “I’m afraid! I’m afraid of losing everyone around me! I’m afraid that I’ll die failing! I’m afraid of letting everyone down! I don’t want to have to be burdened with all the responsibilities! The last thing I need is to see disappointment in everyone’s eyes if I’m to let everyone down! If this all ends up being nothing but a mess!”

Harshly but firmly grabbing my shoulders, Trent scowled, “No one will be blaming you if you fall! We’re choosing to follow you! If you fall, then we all do! Listen carefully to what I have to say! No one will be at blame if our side loses like over three thousand years ago!”

I wanted to believe. I truly did. But the part of me that was beginning to lose all faith that I could possibly hold began to give out on me as I collapsed onto my knees. “How can you say something like that?” I breathed. “You can’t promise that no one will be placing any blames on me if all goes wrong!”

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Trent groaned, “Okay. So the wrong choice of words. It’s not a promise that no one will blame you. Sure. But at least the fault will be on us all for the pure fact that we decided to go heads on with how the world’s functioned for thousands of years.”

“But what does it matter if I take part in all this?” I screeched. “Who cares if I die?”

“It all matters because there are those of us that actually care about you!” Trent yelled in return. “Including that Suarez fellow! But you’re being far too stubborn to actually see it!” As his lips formed a straight line, Trent tried to sound as calm as he possibly could, saying, “Look. I get that you and that surgeon woman’s going through a rough patch, alright? If she has a problem with you now, then that’s her problem. All you’re trying to do is do whatever is right for others before you place yourself on the top priority list. You have to realize that not many would be willing to do that. You’re far more than what you make yourself to be.”

I could feel his eyes burning through me as I looked away from him. It was almost as if he was trying to figure out exactly what it was that was going through my mind as I told myself that all he had to say may just as well as be nothing but lies. It really wouldn’t matter if I actually existed, would it? After all, I could easily be considered as nothing but a pawn piece on the board. Just simply in the front lines leading everyone where as I could just as easily get myself killed off. I didn’t even hold that important of a role to begin with.

But no one had to know that, did they? Not even this half-blood who seemed to see me for me. But after all the years of having lied to myself, what did I know? After all, I have been lying about how strong I can be and fight my own kind heads on ever since my siblings that I believed to be dead had given me that one small push I needed. But now I was starting to wonder if that push was really worth it. Or if it were all a mistake and I should have just turned back around to go on with my life with the way I have for years. After all, if I had begun to shoot Tong man and Johnson woman last year, I probably would have had a good chance of avoiding all these issues that I seemed to building up for myself. At the same time, I felt as though these things I seemed to see as issues were nothing more than just situations that I wanted now avoid now that I found myself knee deep in it.

“Lady Zoey,” Trent quietly breathed with a bit of worry in his eyes. “You’re not planning on backing out all of a sudden, are you?”

His voice and tone.

His words.

His eyes.

And, above all else, his expression.

It all had stuck with me as it became harder and harder by the every passing moment to try and push it all away. To try and get away from it all. To excuse myself as one of the leaders in the new revolution that could be a world changing event for all races.

Before I could even control my own actions, I began beating him by the chest as tears began to fall as I heard my own voice screech, “Why? Why do you guys have to look at me like I’m some God forsaken savior? Why are you guys depending on me so much? I’m nothing more than just another warlock! Just another warlock that lived like a mortal! In secret! And in fear! I have nothing to offer to any of you! Don’t you understand that one simple concept? That I’m nothing more than another useless soul walking amongst you all?”

Trent’s arms wrapped around my shoulders and allowed me to beat him as long as I felt I needed to and it was when I had come to only crying in his shoulders that he rested his chin on my shoulder. For a guy who was about my height, at least he found comfortable enough to lean on me as well. And just when I didn’t think it couldn’t possibly be more soothing than it was as it is, his voice warmly told me, “It’s because we know you understand us that we trust you so much, Zoey. It’s because you actually are willing to understand our situation of how we all have to live. Those of us warlocks that have to live in secret. Those of us that are mortal that are forced to live like slaves. If you didn’t understand, Zoey, we wouldn’t dare trust you as much as we do currently.”

It was when Trent addressed me just by the name that I found myself howling in tears. For first time since coming out as a warlock and ever since Carlo, someone finally acknowledged me as one of them. For some strange reason, I felt comfortable with him. I felt as though Trent, of all people, was one person I could trust with all my life. Turn to and look up to when I was in most troubled places if I couldn’t turn to anyone else. And even though I haven’t known him for that long period of time, he felt like a brother to me.

“Trent,” I quietly called. “Would it be alright to ask of you to stay with me for a little while at some isolated place? Like a park?” When a confused look came over his face, I quickly added, “I want to clear my head outside for just a bit longer, and I would love it if someone I could trust like you would keep me company. I wouldn’t want to be a bother to you if you didn’t want to stick around, so feel free to decline if you wanted.”

A faint smile came across his face as he kept one arm around my shoulders and led me away from the forested area. “Let’s get you over to the actual park and away from here,” Trent softly scolded. “I get the feeling you’ll be nothing more than a danger magnet out here.”

The more we waked, the more I began to think deeply about all sorts of things. Ranging from the upcoming war to the lives of those that would be deeply involved. Whether would it be with me as friends or with me as fighting partners. The more things ran through my mind, the more I began to think of how all this could be affecting Trent. It was bad enough that I already have begun to drag children into this war. I didn’t want to drag those that began to mean a lot to me into this fight. Especially not when even Tricia didn’t want to fight, and she meant the world to me as a friend. Yet again, with the way she’s been treating me ever since we came into this place, I felt more sorry for Trent than I felt for her.

Without much of a second thought, I found myself asking, “Do you have any siblings, Trent? Someone you can go back to?”

“No siblings,” he replied with a bit of confusion in his voice. “But defiantly my parents.”

I felt the corners of my lips pulling my facial structure down into a deep frown at the mention of parents, and I couldn’t help but mutter, “Must be nice to have your parents still alive. Being able to tell them you love them whenever you want.” Looking up at him with a bit of a forced smile, I remarked, “Be glad you don’t have any siblings. Just as well as may be the best thing to happen for warlocks that has completely different point of views. Or even take on how things can get done.”

“You don’t mean that,” Trent hesitantly replied. “Having siblings can’t be that bad.”

At his response, I couldn’t help but snort. “Not that bad? My eldest sister hates my guts. My brother stepped aside and allowing me to put my life in danger when he swore to our parents he would do whatever it takes to keep me alive and away from harm. All because I’m apparently as stubborn as a mule to even listen when he didn’t even try to put all that much effort to talk me out of leading the rebellion. My other sister, who knows what happened to her or if she truly is even alive still. And if she is, then it’s not likely that she even cares enough to even try and stop me to make sure I don’t do anything crazy to get myself killed.”

Even without looking at him, if I didn’t know any better, it was almost as if I could hear a faint smile coming across that stupid, bone skinny face of his. “It doesn’t mean that they’re not watching your back from a distance,” he teased. “It’s not like they’re always going to be in away in hiding. Asides from that woman claiming to be Caroline Rivers, which other two are your siblings?”

“Hogosha and Maria Yukimura,” I answered quietly. “They’re both in the Tournament Department with their birth given first names, but changed last names.” Glancing at him through the corner of my eyes, I quickly said, “And don’t bother asking what their new last names are. Even I don’t know that much seeing I didn’t have much time to question when I last saw them to ask them to send me back in here.”

The clearing soon began to show, and when we hit what we all assumed to be the Square, there were most that had lived on by pretending to be dead in the last competition and all of us that returned, as well as the fresh meats that came with us, wandering around rather happily. Of course, the ones to wander now were just mortals and warlocks, and with the sun now slowly starting to set, vampires slowly began to show their faces as well in the open. “When are we charging out and into actual fight, Mahlendorf?” one woman called over as Trent and I passed by a small group sitting around, drinking, just outside what used to be a pub.

Waving over to the group, I replied with a weak laughter, “Just a little bit more training for everyone. In a few days at the bare minimum, but not for another month or two as just in case so that we’re certain everyone is fully prepared without any regret.”

“We’re really not planning on waging war in just a few days’ time, are we?” Trent asked in a whisper.

His voice was filled with nothing but concern.

It was almost as though he was afraid that I would actually allow people go into a fight unprepared. Especially when not enough time was given to prepare themselves for not even close combats.

Glancing at him through the corner of my eyes, I asked, “Do you honestly believe I’d be that careless? They can’t go in when they have barely had any practice. I mean, sure, it’s been about a month or two, but still. And, anyway, the entire world hasn’t known for long that we’re on our way to a war. They need more time to prepare.”

“And the warlocks that want nothing but power?” Trent questioned. “They have known as long as those of us outside from last year’s competition has.”

It was dangerous –That everyone knew. But that didn’t mean that I would let it be unfair to either or side. And, one thing for certain, I had to trust Christopher to not do us wrong. More importantly, make sure that he didn’t have me trust him for no apparent reason by stabbing me in the back. I gave him my trust, and all I could do was hope that he wasn’t betraying me by playing double agent for both sides. And without knowing exactly which warlocks were truly the ones to share the same vision as my parents, I knew I couldn’t go around trusting just anyone. Not even Trent fully even if I wanted. Yet again, Trent was a special exception careless of him being a half blood. Every other warlock that I encountered, even in the Survival Among the Weakest, though? I knew I had to be cautious. Especially after what had happened with Stephen Bilyeo. That still had left a deep scar in me that I couldn’t seem to shake off no matter how hard I tried to forget it all.

“You really think my siblings are watching out for me from a distance?” I questioned.

Trent blinked at me with confusion. “What?”

“Do you really think my siblings are watching out for me from a distance?” I repeated.

I knew I probably switched the subject back on family rather abruptly, but I wanted to hear his answer. I wanted to know what he really though on family before I decided that I was going to trust the one person I always trusted even as a toddler, even if I didn’t show hint of it before the attack, all depending on Trent’s answer.

By the silence, I felt as though he was trying to figure out if I was being serious with him or not. Trying to see if I finally completely lost my mind after all this time from being here in the Survival game. Two years in a row, no less.

“They’ve come down from the same bloodline as you,” he reasoned. “I don’t see why not. I mean, you have to have at least one person that you got to trust in your family.”

No matter how much I wanted to keep my focus on Violet for she has supplied blood and bullets with so many other supplies last year, as well as this year, for us to use to prepare for war in secret, the only person that kept entering my mind was Hogosha. My brother that willingly let me back in even if he weren’t all for the idea. And some time must have passed when I finally decided to regretfully confess my brother of all people to Trent, a bit off down the street, I saw two familiar figures. One that looked all too like Tricia and the other that looked like Carlo, and it was really the sight of Carlo that brought a smile to my face and I felt my heart begin to race, beginning to pound against my chest as though it would hop out at any given moment, as I began to run up to them.

I started to call out to Carlo with a widely stretched out smile as I began to wave my hand towards them, but just as I was about to a few yards away, I heard Tricia’s voice exclaim, “Don’t you get that I’ve liked you ever since seeing you for the first time?”

The corners of my lips fell almost immediately and heavily, almost as if there were large anchors attached to the corners of my lips, as I saw Tricia wrap her hands around the back of Carlo’s neck and brought his head down to kiss him. I saw his eyes grow wide with surprise, but what happened afterwards, I don’t know. All I knew was that I felt my legs coming to a halt as I stared at them with an aching chest that I couldn’t explain as my eyes began to well up in tears. At first, the tears were tears of pain and sadness, but I soon felt as the tears turning into tears of anger as I turned sharply on my heels and ran the other way.

“Zoe!” Carlo’s voice cried out after me. “Zoey! Wait!”

But not even his call stopped me.

Instead, I kept running.

I didn’t even stop to look back. How could I when I couldn’t even bring myself to face him? It didn’t matter if I had tears in my eyes or not. It didn’t matter if I was upset in any way. I didn’t care if I saw them kissing. All that mattered to me was that I couldn’t face him when I just couldn’t even explain to myself why I was getting upset. Tricia was dragged into this mess with me, so she deserved all the happiness that she could get now, right? Yet, I wanted that as well. I wanted something and I knew what I wanted, but I just couldn’t quite put my finger on exact what that “something” was.

I didn’t even know where my feet were leading me, but before even I knew it, I was already in the empty gun shooting range. A few shotguns were lined up against a wall in a stall and I immediately picked one up and began to aim at the targets far away and began shooting without giving second thoughts. Now, no matter which gun it was, especially the shotgun or the handgun, shooting and aiming came far too naturally for me. It was almost like conjuring up the dead. It was like casting elemental moves. It now felt like mixing the two together, and it felt natural almost just like healing an injured in his or her worst state.

For every shot, I thought of a person I wanted to take down.

For every shot, I thought of a person I wanted to see dead.

For every shot, I thought of each and every one of the warlocks from all those years ago that murdered my parents and those that I grew up believing that killed my parents.

And none of those shots stopped me from pulling the trigger. The one that did, however, bring me to a stop was when I imagined even Tricia dead as I pulled the trigger. I dropped the gun in horror at the thought of wanting even my own friend dead, and after a few moments of silence in staring at the gun, I began screaming at top of my lungs. Everything suddenly began to pile up against me all at once that I’ve been trying so hard to push back. All the frustrations. All the anger. All the feelings of betrayal.

For years, I’ve locked it up for too long. Before, it was just one thing getting to me, and that was wanting to get out from all the pressure and expectation out of everyone else. Now, it was just everything catching up to me from as a child, including the childhood trauma of having to witness my own family members getting murdered in front of my eyes. Even if it were just two out of five that were real and the other three a cover up, it was still a scar finally catching up to me for first time in years. For first time, it was hitting me at full speed like what the people from long ago called a train on those things made of wood and metal called rail with nothing to stop them.

I felt a pair of arms wrapping around me around the arms and the chest after who knows how long I have been letting out all the screams. Those screams soon turned into screeching when I struggled to pry free from the grip as I demanded, “Let me go! Let me go right now!”

Through all the struggling to get away, I felt a chin resting on my shoulder, careless of how much I must’ve hit them with my shoulder and no matter how hard I may have hit whoever it was that took hold of me. They kept their arms around me, and at first, I thought it was Trent. He was always a fool from the moment we met. Always having so much faith in me. Always trying to prove himself worthy by trying to show that he would be there for me by my side. And I had assumed that it was him until I heard Carlo’s voice calmly saying into my ear, “Zoe, please. Please calm down and talk to me.”

I found myself calming down almost immediately upon hearing his voice. Before I even knew it, let alone even realized, there was a sense of peace washing over me. But, at the same time, the rage still remained deep in my heart and continued to resonate throughout my body careless of being calmed by his voice. “Let me go,” I hissed eerily, but calmly. And even though it was hard to even sense Carlo’s feelings or reaction even after having known him for a year, I found myself surprised at my own cold tone towards him. “Don’t try to hold onto me, Carlo. I don’t need to be looked over. Not now. Not with the situation I’m in. That should be clear even for you, isn’t it?” Once I fell silent once more, I waited for Carlo to respond. The very fact that he didn’t say a single word began to boil up my anger deep within again as I found myself screeching once more, “Let me go!”

“I lost a lot and I’m not losing you either!” Carlo yelled back into my ear.

I froze up immediately with surprise, and for once, I longed to hear what he had to say. I didn’t care if it had nothing to do with me. I didn’t care if it had nothing to do with him feeling something for me the way I felt as though my heart would explode whenever I was with him. I just wanted to hear him give me some sort of a reasoning to stay calm.

In his voice, there was a hint of pain when Carlo began his little rant. “I don’t want to lose someone important to me again, Zoey! I already lost my dad! I nearly lost rest of my family! They nearly died in front of me! In public, no less! But you saved them! You gave me a reason last year to fight when you brought me to your house to heal me! To help me see not all of you warlocks are horrid group! So why won’t you let me be by your side when you’re struggling so much now? Why do you have to open up and be more relaxed and laid back around that half-blood warlock?”

“You already have Tricia by the looks of it, so what do I matter to you?” I found myself quietly asking him in a near hiss. Tears began to burn at my eyes once more as I half yelled at him, “What does it matter when you have Tricia? She’s more important and giving you another reason to fight, isn’t it?”

I don’t know how he does it, but the entire time, Carlo remained calm as he asked, “Then what about you? If you’re not fighting because you truly want to partner up with me and help the others by leading with me, why are you staying by my side? And not just following with that Trent Gabriel guy?”

As I slowly turned around to look at him properly, he lifted his chin and slightly loosened his grip around my arms and lowered them to my waist level. “Someone has to watch your back,” I breathed as I carefully looked over his face. “And you may have tried to shoot me when we first met, but that doesn’t mean I don’t trust you. That I don’t want to be there to make sure you’ll succeed. I want to go all out to make sure you’ll be fine. Even if it means working as a leader with you.”

“And what made you think I already have Tricia and that you don’t matter to me?” Carlo scolded. “She means nothing, Zoe. And even though she does to some extent, I only like her as a friend. Besides, here’s something that you should know if you’re really freaking out. In order for me to like someone, a lot, it takes me a real long time. It takes even spending a lot of time with them to even like them. I’ve met her only once or twice before going in last year, haven’t I? And compared to you, I’ve gotten to know her for how long?” When I didn’t respond for some time, Carlo sighed, “I wasn’t given much time to even like her, Zoey, so will you quit worrying? At this rate, you’re only making yourself look like you like me more than as a friend.” My face began to burn up as I tried to shove him away, but he simply let out a laughter at this and I felt his arms only wrapping tighter around me. Resting his head on mine with a smile, he murmured, “Don’t ever think lowly of yourself again, Zoe. You’re important to me, alright?”

I felt the corners of my lips stretch up into a smile as I gave a faint nod. I don’t know what it was about him, but there was just something about staying with Carlo like this that brought me an unexplainable comfort. And even though there was still some frustrations left that I wanted to let out, with the way he was holding me, comforting me, it just felt as though all those were nothing. Felt nearly nonexistent. There was just something about him that I couldn’t quite place my finger on to why it almost always felt like this whenever I was with him. It felt as though around him, I didn’t have to worry about anything. That there was nothing that would ever bother me again. It just felt far too comfortable with him, and as though no wrong could come by being by his side.

Before I knew it, he began to slowly lean his head in towards mine and I felt myself beginning to panic. I didn’t know how to react, let alone how to respond, to his slightly parted lips and his hands beginning to slowly grip at my waist. I wanted to turn and run, but the fact that he began to hold me closer, more tightly into his arms, it made me only stiff up all over as my legs soon began to feel as though they were completely frozen.

I shut my eyes tightly, and just when I began to feel his warm breath stroking across mine, I turned my head away. Pushing him away as I turned completely away from him, I didn’t care for what could have or what couldn’t have been. I just didn’t want to know what it was that he wanted to do to hold it against me for his own use later on in time. But more so than that, I didn’t want him to use anything against me. Not now. Not ever.

“Lady Zoey?” Trent’s voice called from by the entrance. Carlo quickly released me as I took a quick step back, and I began to feel my face burn up almost as though I’ve been out in the burning sun all day long by the beach. When I couldn’t find my voice to respond, I heard his voice echo throughout the near empty building, “Perhaps she’s not here. Where could she be?”

Clearing my throat as I finally found my voice, I called back, “Trent! In here! Grab a gun if you want!” We heard his footsteps echo throughout the place as I uncertainly took the gun in my hands and began walking away from Carlo to put it away back into its proper place. When Trent neared us, I softly said, “Sorry about taking off. Didn’t mean to leave you behind all too abruptly like that.”

“It’s fine,” Trent sighed as he scratched back of his head. “I was just worried about you.” I saw a deep line of a frown appear on his face as he glanced over to Carlo, and, soon, I felt one of his arms wrap around my shoulders as he took the gun from my hand with the other. “C’mon,” he murmured softly into my ear. “Let’s get back you to that house you’re using.”

I could hear a frown in Carlo’s voice when he spoke from behind me, “You can just go back to your own temporary residency, Gabriel. I can take her back myself.”

“Isn’t it you that put her in this state in the first place?” Trent snapped rather angrily at Carlo, almost as if he was ready to bite Carlo’s head off at any given moment. As he gave a gentle tug by around the shoulders, he said almost demandingly in a soft voice, “Let’s go, Zoey. It’s time for you to get rested up.”

I longed for Carlo to stop Trent from taking me.

I longed for him to pull me away and hold me close.

Above all, I longed for Carlo to pull me back into his embrace.

But instead of pulling me away and stopping me from leaving him behind, Carlo allowed Trent to take me and further away from him. And even though I felt comfortable with Carlo, Trent came close as well. I could trust my life with him even though I’ve known this halfer for only a couple of months. And there was just something about being with him like this that put me in as much comfort as being like this with Carlo.

We were only half way to the residency area when I rested my head by Trent’s neck, and it was only then that I realized that I allowed myself to be lost deep in the thoughts. I hadn’t even noticed that we had left, let alone trusted Trent all too much, to actually bring me back safely. And as much as I trusted him, there was a part of me that was uncertain on if I was making the right choice. After all, who knew if I was a making a huge mistake?

Especially after what had happened with Stephen Bilyeo. Oh, how much I regret making that mistake, and how afraid I am to make the same mistake once again.

“Trent?” My voice was barely audible, almost without energy, and even though I felt his head shift to look down at me, I didn’t bother looking up at him in return. “You’re not trying to betray my trust, too, are you?”

I could feel his body flinch with surprise as he exclaimed, “Why would you say that? Do you really think I have that sort of bone in my body? I’d do anything to help out! To bring peace back into the world! What makes you think I’d ever betray you? I’m putting my trust in you and decided to stay by your side all the way!”

I didn’t answer. Not because I didn’t want to have to trouble him with all the talking, let alone mention of the occurrence from the previous competition, but because I didn’t want him to be have another reason to think about betraying me if that was what truly going through his mind. I didn’t want him to think or believe that I was so easy to fool and easy to have taken advantage of. If there was anything that I couldn’t forgive myself for, it was having allowed myself to trust Bilyeo as easily as I trusted Trent even if Trent seemed like far more sincere guy than Bilyeo ever was.

“Thank you,” I muttered as we reached the front door. “You didn’t have to bring me back. I’m sure Carlo wouldn’t have minded coming with me. It’s not like he’s residing in a different building.”

I could sense a great amount of hesitation coming off of him, and he must have known I trusted him whole heartedly. At least enough to know that I can at leave my life in his hands without much worry to whether or not I’ll be betrayed fully by him. And even if he did, I’m sure it would be in the sense that he saw best fit for my wellbeing. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was just something about few selected, especially Trent, that made me trust them whole heartedly. And after the backstabbing incident, even Carlo knew full well that it was hard for me to trust just about anyone. With that, for me to trust even Trent with my life seemed like nothing more than a miracle.

When I had expected the least, when I was lost the most deep in my own thoughts, he lowered his head with a deep frown as shadow began to slowly cast over his eyes. Soon, very soon, Trent asked in a low voice, “What does he mean to you? Aren’t you afraid that he’ll attack you and drain you of your blood? Or even turn you into a creature of the night like him?”

Creature of the night?

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I repeated the words countless of times in my head.

For various races, there were so many names. Yet, people seemed quite picky with their words. With the names that they called another. Exactly what was it about even for those that were half-bloods like Trent that gave them the rights to call those like Carlo names when they themselves had two different types of bloods mixed within their veins?

How did they know that it wasn’t offending the other race?

Yet again, how did I know I wasn’t offending the powerless humans like Tricia when I called them ‘mortals’?

The problem was I didn’t.

I didn’t know if I was offending them or not, because we as warlocks never bothered to question any of them once.

For years, there have been various names thrown around for warlocks and mortals. For the warlocks, the names included witch. Wizard. Sorcerer. Magicians. Illusionist. Psychics. Spell casters. And just as the humans gave us names, we have given them names as well.

For the mortals, oh so many names had come. The cleanest of them all included humans. Mortals. Simplest. But the ones with the most impure hearts gave them names that spread throughout rest of the race over time, and those names included ‘trashant.’ ‘Impuritants.’ ‘Rats.’ ‘Roaches.’ And even as far as ‘swines’ and ‘pigs.’ There were so many others that could be listed, but even for me to know the names that my kind called the mortals behind their backs weighed rather heavily in my heart. And there was always a part of me that wondered if other warlocks that shared the same ideas with me on giving equal rights had the same heavy hearted feeling as well whenever hearing such cruel names.

And it was thoughts as such that made me think if for the vampires, having to be called names such as ‘Creature of the Night’ was to be offensive or not.

“Don’t call him by such name,” I murmured.

Trent blinked down at me, almost rather with a bit of confusion. For someone nearly as intelligent as him, it surprised me tad bit to hear him say, “What do you mean? You know full well he’s just as what I called him. A Creature of the Night.”

“Don’t call him by that name!” my voice began to rise with anger. “Carlo and those of his race aren’t called Creatures of the Night! They’re living beings just like us warlocks and mortals!” Looking up at him with fierce eyes, I questioned, “How do you feel whenever your parent that’s the mortal all the names that the warlocks have given them? In fact, how do even they feel when being called such names? Do they not feel pain? Do you feel pain yourself for them suffering so much because of what the warlocks have put them through? Or is that all in my head because it puts even me through misery to think of what kind of torment that the mortals have to face on top of this ridiculous so-called game that means life or death for them every single year?”

Trent opened his mouth a few times to answer, but every time he did, no sound came out. Instead, his lips kept parting and closing as he continued to fail to give me an answer, but even without a verbal response, his eyes said it all. The look in his eyes told me exactly what I needed to know as I allowed myself to push myself away from him.

Without turning to look at him as I headed for the door, I softly remarked, “Just don’t call his kind by that name. Especially Carlo. He means a lot more to me than any of you can imagine.” Just before I opened the front door, I smiled weakly over my shoulder at Trent. “Like you, Trent. You’re important to me as though you’re my brother. And he’s important to me as though he were someone of high importance as well. Even if not as a family member the way I see you. It’s the main reason why I can’t stand to have people call one another by certain names that may degrade one race or another.”

He had a surprised look on his face, but a pleasant smile soon replaced the expression as I opened the door and stepped through it. Just before I could close the door, Trent quickly asked, “You know I’m always going to be around even after all this to watch your back, right? No matter how far we’re kept away from one another. Let alone for how long.”

“Nothing’s going to keep us apart any longer,” I breathed. “I’m going to make sure that this world gets the peace that it deserves. Even if it means I have to bargain my life for it.”

A deep frown formed on his face as he told me, “You’re not trading up your life just to bring this world harmony, Lady Zoey. We’re all in this together.”

“One,” I remarked, “just call me Zoey. Not that entire ‘Lady Zoey’ ordeal. It’s not like I like having that title, Trent. It means nothing but saying I’m above others when should be seen as an equal to others. Two, I’ll do what it takes to bring equality. It means nothing more to me than to do whatever it takes to bring others peace even if it costs me my own life. Something usually needs to be sacrificed in order to gain something else in return. That’s how this world has always run. On equivalent exchange. My life for the peace, harmony, and equality to be brought back into this world sounds quite fair given the status quo we Yukimura and Gilbert Clan members are given. Wouldn’t you say so, Trent?” I saw a shocked look come across his face, and to me, it was apparent that there were so much to say. So much to try and discuss with me. So much objections to make.

But before I could allow Trent to get another word out as a protest, I closed the door behind me and leaned against it before slowly starting to slide down to the ground. I shakily inhaled deeply and tried to let a deep breath out, but my breath got caught in my throat and refused to come out. In fact, I couldn’t seem to calm myself down to at least try and think straight. To think over everything that I said and what just happened. How others close to me, the ones that I find important, would react if they heard what I just said to Trent.

I finally found a person, I finally got to meet someone like Trent, that I could see as someone like my secret angel to my life. Someone I finally can see as a brother that I never got to have since the day Hogosha disappeared from my life past fifteen to sixteen years. Someone that I could trust someone with my whole life and all my secrets. Yet, I found myself not wanting to allow him to get too involved. At least not enough for him place himself in unnecessary danger the way I would be endangering myself through sacrifice of my own life for rest of the world.

It was very then that it hit me as a light bulb went off in my head as bright as day and as strong as a single beam of a sunshine: Did I really trust Trent if I couldn’t tell him that I will be giving myself up to the opposing side just to gain freedom if too many lives were being lost in the mist of the battle? Or was I simply lying to myself, claiming that I trusted Trent just so I can have some strand of hope to live through it all and see the actual end of it and keep peace in this damned place?

The more I allowed myself to be lost in deep thoughts, the less I became aware of my surroundings. And it was foolish things as such that made me lose track of even time as what was once still somewhat light from the ray of sun beaming through the window from the late afternoon soon turned into pitch black darkness. From the nightfall or from having fallen asleep? I could hardly tell, but when I lazily opened my eyes, I found myself lying in the bed with a wet cloth over my forehead.

I weakly pushed myself up and, pushing the slightly warm towel off to the side when it landed on my lap, I place my feet on the stone cold ground. I found my way around in the darkness and out into the hallway, and from the first floor came an echoing laughter as Carlo’s voice was heard saying, “C’mon, guys. Let’s be serious. You know I can’t keep tabs on you all at every passing second.”

“And I smell blood of a warlock roaming around the place,” a British male voice chimed. “And a weak one, too.” Even I felt the surrounding turn dark and cold moments before the male exclaimed, “What? I meant weak as in terms of state of health! I didn’t mean it as in terms of a prey to feast on to keep ourselves on a survival run! Oh, you guys are so much darker than I am!”

The shadows moved from inside the room that was kept lit and it wasn’t long before a dark figure stepped out to greet me in the halls. It took a short while for my eyes to fully adjust to exactly knowing who I was staring at, but the voice had helped connect the two and two together as Carlo’s voice scolded, “Why are you up and wandering around? You’ve got a fever, Zoe, and you shouldn’t be wandering around. It’s hard enough trying to keep the triplet from Area 47 out and away from the house to keep them from trying to challenge you to a duel or two.”

“Their names?” were the first words to come out of my lips and I could honestly have cared less if I didn’t care for the state of my own health. And even though it sounded loud to me with sudden realization that my head felt like it was pounding away like there was no tomorrow, I knew I sounded as though I was completely drained of energy. If there were that wanted to face me, whether it be for fun or for a serious fight, as long as it was not to the death, I was far more than willing to face any and all challengers. Especially if it means that I would be able to develop my skills even further.

“You’re not facing anyone in any sort of a duel. Whether it be for training or for a serious matter to the death in a war like death match,” Carlo sounded irritated as he took only a few strides towards me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders to keep me supported. Few more vampires took a step out as Carlo turned me around to take me back to my room. As expected, it didn’t even take him long to request, “Tim, could you take over for me? Zoe won’t go back to bed to rest up, I’m sure, if I don’t see to it that she does.” Without waiting for a reply, Carlo had already begun to gently guide me back to the room. “What’s going through that head of yours?” he softly scolded. “You should be resting, Zoe. You had a high fever when I found you lying just inside the door.”

I didn’t want to hear the end of it. In fact, I didn’t want to hear any of it at all. And it was when he brought up the high fever that I realized how cold everything was, and it was only when I was in his arms that it felt a little warm compared to when away. But even then did his touches feel cold against my skin. Not having much strength to look up at him, I asked weakly, “Carlo, could you just let me know who came by to challenge me to a duel? I promise I won’t go into a serious battle.”

“The triplets from Area 47,” Carlo remarked in a rather hurried tone, “but they need to be held off in facing you for as long as possible. Besides, it just seems they want to test out their skills. Been saying they’re the same type of Specials as you.”

“The type of being able to master all classes?” I questioned with surprise. “Did they say of which Convent they’re of?” I could feel great amount of hesitation coming off of him, almost like an uncomfortable vibe radiating as though heat radiating off of the flames. And I knew it was most likely the best of all choices for me to just not even push it, but there was something deep inside of me that wanted to know. That just had to find out who the people that wanted to face me off in a challenge was. When he kept quiet even after we entered my room, I pleaded, “Just tell me, won’t you, Carlo?”

Carlo seemed quite uncertain about telling me, but when he answered, the words came out rather slowly. “They say they’re from the same Convent as you. The Yukimura Convent. Their names are Christine, Kristine, and Christopher.”

As he sat me down, I couldn’t help but notice that the name ‘Christine’ was repeated, but I couldn’t quite tell if that was by mistake or on purpose. And without much though, the question had come rolling off my lips. “Why say a person’s name twice? Who’s the third person?”

“That’s the thing,” Carlo sighed as he sat down next to me and leaned back into his arms. “The girls have the same name, but with different spelling.” Looking at me, I could see a dark frown from even within the darkness, but only as much as the moonlight would show that came streaming through the window. After what seemed like a long period of silence, his voice finally came out in a whisper, “Don’t.”

“What?” Even I knew full well that my voice had come out in a bare whisper, but all I could hope for was that it was at least loud enough to reach Carlo’s ears. All so that I wouldn’t have to repeat myself. Or make my question more clear than it had to be with one simple word.

“Don’t,” he repeated. “Don’t go against them. I’m sure you’re still bitter towards your eldest sister. You seemed to have gained back mutual standing with your brother, although bitter towards him for allowing you to come back over being concerned for your safety. And guess it wouldn’t help if I tried to side with him by saying that I’m certain he has some sort of plan to try and keep you safe still from what I could catch in the glint of his eyes. And as for your other sister, there’s really no way to tell if she’s still alive from what I could get. Meaning it’s hard to tell how you feel about her.” He leaned over and placed both hands on either side of me on the bed as he rested his head on my shoulders, breathing, “And with these three showing up, if they truly are of the Yukimura Convent as they claim, then who knows how you’ll react. Especially after seeing you despising your eldest sister and lashing out on your brother before making amends with him.”

I felt a faint line of smile creep along my face as I placed a hand on back of his head. “I can’t promise anything, Carlo,” I teased. “I still have to meet these people before deciding what to do about the fight.” I knew he was right. And even though the words had come out as lightly as I possibly could, the truth from his words weighed my heart down rather heavily.

He lifted his head and allowed his lips to stay near mine that even before I knew it myself, my breath got caught deep within my throat as his warm breath tickled along my lips. I wanted to allow myself to lean in to meet his lips, but the part of me that feared of him pushing me away kept me from mustering up enough courage to do so. Instead, all I could do was stare back at him with wide eyes. From within the darkness and through the dimly lit moonlight, I saw him close his eyes after what seemed like an eternity before he withdrew himself, scolding, “Go back to sleep. I have a meeting to get back to, and I can’t keep babysitting you to make sure you get the proper rest you need to fully recover.”

Puffing out my cheeks with a huff, I protested, “I can still get around without rest!”

“Tell that to your state of health,” Carlo snorted. “Now get back in bed and please try to get some more rest. Otherwise, I really will be continuing to restrain you from facing the triplets, Zoe. If you want to face them even for fun, I really would feel better if you were well rested and fully recovered before doing anything crazy.” Gently stroking top of my head, Carlo gave me a warm smile and waited until I unwillingly followed his instructions. When my eyes slowly began to droop, Carlo murmured, “I’ll be back before the sunrise to check up on you.”

Before I heard the door close behind him, I was out cold once more. And by the time I gained consciousness once more, I heard three new voices laughing and talking in my room. “Oh, c’mon!” a cheery toned female voice chimed from somewhere near the foot of the bed. “We’re of the Yukimura bloodline! How bad can it be?”

A snort came from by the door and an irritated low male voice soon followed up with the words, “But you heard that bloodsucker. She’s only aware of her immediate family being the last Yukimura Convent members to stand. Let alone Gilbert Convent members.”

Another female voice that spoke sounded like a rather pessimistic type, but tried to sound as optimistic as possible as she snapped, “But that doesn’t mean we should be keeping our traps shut. She’s a Yukimura. Just like us. And it was only up to our parents’ generation that knew that there was minimum one Yukimura member living in each and every single one of the Areas. We only found out because we decided to risk our lives to go back to our old home to see if there was anything that our parents left us when they were murdered. The day they were trying to protect us when the warlocks tried to slaughter off all the Convents that were like and including our family. Or have you forgotten that, Christopher?”

“Will you guys just shut the bloody hell up?” I grunted as I pushed myself up to sit up as straight as possible in the bed. “My head’s still pounding away, I’m having Carlo and few others worry while others crack jokes about being able to smell a weak blood roaming out and about, I still have a lot of practice to get in in terms of both my spells and weapon mastery, and I honestly could go on and on, listing far more than what’s said just now. And the fact that you three, whom I don’t even recall hearing the names of and probably haven’t even met at all, are all in the room and talking away around a person that’s passed out cold due to a fever doesn’t help at all.” Not having much of energy as I looked around at the three others in the room, I scratched back of my head rather tiredly as I gave a bare notice to them crowding around me with wide eyes. I pointed to the guy and thought for awhile before saying, “And never do I ever want hear even you calling the vampires ‘bloodsuckers’ again. Which reminds me, food. You guys don’t happen to have food, do you? I’m feeling a little famished.” Looking around at the three with a confused look at each of the two female and the one male’s faces, I slowly said, “Or perhaps just answers to what you guys did to Carlo and starting with exactly who you guys are.”

“Kristine Yukimura,” the cheerful woman chimed. Nodding towards the other two, she added, “And my two siblings, Christine and Christopher Yukimura. We’re the triplets from the Area 47. The sole three Yukimura Convent members to survive.”

The male, Christopher, grunted, “Didn’t that guy you’re with tell you that we stopped by to challenge you to a duel to see which of us is the best of best warlocks among the Specials?”

The second girl, Christine, pulled on my cheeks with a deep but observant frown, saying, “Strange. I thought Uncle Jacob would at least leave her some sort of knowledge on the rest of us. Especially after he forced our dad into fleeing as far as possible in case anything happened in Area 18. Especially with saying how much he didn’t want to keep it at a high risk of the Yukimura Convent coming to a dead end.”

“And yet, the Suh Convent still managed to get all those of our parents’ generation gone and down into their graves,” Christopher sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed by my feet. He looked me over as he leaned back into his arms and heaved a heavy inward sigh as his already thinned out lips turned into what seemed like nearly impossible of a thinner yet straight line. The air felt as though it was changing, almost as though in an uneasy way, and before I could snap to ask what he was staring so intensely at, Christopher offered a hand out to me. “A Special like any other Yukimura members. A Flaming and Lightening Necromancer.”

Christine straightened herself out, sighing in addition, “I’m the Water Necromancer.”

“And, lastly, Healing Necromancer,” Kristine chirped happily. A concerned look came over such a happy face, but the brightness still remained as she poutfully commented, “Although I don’t know how much of a good that would do in fighting through Necromancy.”

Christopher growled rather angrily, “Haven’t we told you that you should have focused on just Elementals or studied on just becoming an advanced Priest? It would’ve been better if you did Earth or Air, or even both. Or even just Necromancy. But no! You had to be stubborn and go with the weirdest combination! Healer and Necromancer!”

“So?” I couldn’t help but snort. “Who ever said you couldn’t be both a Necromancer and a Priest? I’m in both classes and using a few elemental techniques that I recall my family using to combine with Necromancy like you and whichever of the two between Christine with a K or with C-H are doing.”

“I’m the one with C-H. That idiot’s the one with K, and feel free to call the dumber one, meaning the dumber of the two, just ‘Kris.’ Just like everyone else in our Area.” Christine looked at me as she pressed the tips of her middle and index fingers together up against her thumb, saying, “And what you don’t see is that between you two, that’s the one big difference. You keep the two classes separate. You’re a Priest that also just happens to be a Necromancer.”

Christopher waved a hand towards Kristine, or Kris, rather, as he disgustedly continued, “Where as this one decided to combine Healing and Necromancy classes together like you would put Elemental and Necromancy together as one to boost the Necromancy powers. It’s almost as though she’s asking for trouble. Almost as if she’s screaming that she wants to heal any and all of her opponents. And it’s almost as though in a way that she’s saying she could care less if she were in a serious fight where she actually has to defend herself.”

As much as I tried to make sense of all this, it just didn’t seem to quite fully click in my head who they really were. Let alone why they actually wanted to see me. Looking around at all three of them with bewilderment, I slowly said, “Right. And the reason why you three all came to see me is what exactly? And why are you three in the Survival Among the Weakest game?”

It was only then that it clicked in my head. Caroline Rivers. The government had sent them in to try and reason with me. To desert the mortals while I still had the chance. And Christopher Suh was only placed by my side as an extra protection, or he actually did have a meaningful heart in trying to help the mortals and vampires like I did. And whether Christopher Suh was placed by my side to either assist me or to protect me, even as far as try and change my mind, I’m sure there were more tests to come. And with the tests, various obstacles by its sides and an easy way out of it all.

And it was those thoughts that brought out the nasty side of me as I snarled, “I’m not siding with the government, so get out and scram! Why don’t you three run back to Luke Suh and tell that sorry ass that I’m one warlock that he’ll never be getting on his side! If he actually thinks and believe that having seen my eldest sister and brother won’t stop me that he has to send in triplets claiming to be Yukimura members, all because my other big sister is in hiding as well somewhere within the government, he can think again! You ain’t convincing me to switch sides!”

I shoved myself out of the bed and began to head for the door when a firm hand grabbed my wrist and forced me to turn around. When my eyes locked with Christopher’s, he growled in a low voice, “Look here. I know Christine and I aren’t the smoothest talking Yukimura Convent members around. And I would apologize for the fact that the only one from the three of us that you’ll ever get close to seeing being like your immediate family is Kris, but guess what? We’re not here to talk you out of leading these people. We’re here to challenge you to see who’s the best Necromancer.”

“And to help with the recovery,” Kristine squeaked as she waved a hand high in the air.

As Christine took a step forward but still staying behind her brother, she said with a deep frown, “But we can guarantee you that we’re merely supporting what you’re doing. Our parents had the same morals and ideas as your parents did, and those aren’t going to be changing any time soon. And the other warlocks that are trying to keep the mortals oppressed of their rightful freedom? They need to get the taste of their own medicine. Even if it means through this war, and that Luke Suh fellow getting killed in the mist of all this.”

I couldn’t help but stare at them with mixed emotions. Confusion. Frustration. Joy. Anger. Left and right, those that had said were part of Yukimura Convent were popping up. And it was almost as though there were so much more that I may have known out there that my own blood may have kept from me. It didn’t matter whether it was by telling me verbally face to face or through letters that even they knew they could have done at any given time if they had put in some time. Yet, they didn’t even bother to come in to see me when even Hogosha was in power to do so when taking into considerations what his position was.

“How do I know that I can trust you?” I breathed. “It was hard enough to trust my own brother, and still is hard to trust him careless of having loved him dearly as a child.”

“And you stay hidden for years,” Christopher sneered, “so how do you expect us to trust you? And believe that what you’re doing is truly for and on the behalf of the mortals?”

Taking a few quick steps over as I grabbed him furiously by the collar of his shirt, I could feel anger rise dangerously deep inside me as I sneered, “My family died trying to protect their beliefs. And to protect me while at it. And all my life, I grew up by lying to all the humans that I was one of them. By lying that my name was JoBeth Mahlendorf. I lied to even my own best friend, who, if it’ll make you feel any better, turned against me. To top it all off, my brother just recently thought it would be a brilliant idea to reveal himself to me weeks before this year’s Survival competition started. Do you know what’s more classic? My eldest sister decided that it would be hysterical to reveal herself to me in middle of it last year, and tried to talk me out of attending this year’s as well. Did I mention it looks as if she’s joined the other warlocks that wants to keep the mortals and vampires under their damned control, and may even want me to cross over to that side? Just so she can have me stand by hers? And do you know how hard it is to know that when you’re trying to stay standing on your feet, following through with your parents’ dreams and goals, as well as their ideals because it’s the same as your own, when your own siblings that’s been hiding themselves from you majority of your lives appears all of a sudden? Just to make it appear as though they’re against you? Making you feel that you’re far more alone than ever before? Even before they decided to reveal themselves to you after staying in secret for so long?”

I waited for his answer, but all I got was him just staring back at me in shock with wide eyes. I could sense even his sisters panicking, almost as though unsure of what to do with themselves. As though they didn’t know if they should just pull me away or just let me be to scold him any further. But before any of them could feel more threatened by my anger, I shoved Christopher backward as a warning.

“Don’t tell me that I’m not trustworthy just because you’re a Yukimura just like me,” I sneered. “If there’s one thing that I would never do is betraying those that mean a lot to me. Even those who look up to me enough to follow me with all their support pushing me to the end. And if you can’t accept that enough to trust me as well, then I don’t know what kind of a warlock you are when you claim to be one of those that truly want to help the mortals and vampires out. If you have nothing else to say to me, get out of my face.”

Christina roughly grabbed her brother by the arm as she snarled, “I told you that it was a bad idea to come and see her if you were going to be attacking her! But no! You had to ignore me!” Forcefully, she dragged him out of the room, and even down the hall, I could hear her scolding him angrily. “Even when I told you that Uncle Jacob had instilled the Yukimura ideals into her. And if not Uncle Jacob, then Aunt Emily. You know as well as I do that even those of the Gilbert Convent are highly respected for being just like us Yukimura members. You insulting that girl is like insulting us. Not just as blood, but as an equally respected member of another highly held convent. You’ve shamed all three of us as Yukimura members, Christopher.”

Kristine seemed quite uncertain of herself in terms of what to say as her lips kept opening and closing as her hands moved in uncertainty of what to do. There seemed to be so much on her mind that she wanted to get out, but unsure of where to even start. And the more I watched her struggle, the more I became frustrated with myself in watching her. It wasn’t long before I gave her a way as I snapped, “What the hell is with your brother? Better yet, if you three are truly all Yukimuras, then why keep yourselves from me until now? It’s been far more than a month. Two months? Or has it been three? Why the bloody hell keep yourselves from me? What wrong have I done to you for you guys to keep quiet until now?”

As she took a deep breath in as her teeth as the corners of her lips stretched back in an uncertain manner, she said, “Chris has never been the one that got along too well with others. And he’s always been so defensive about me and Christine, which may be why he’s being hostile towards you. Because he still doesn’t know who you are quite yet. And the three of us are truly of the Yukimura Convent. And the only reason why we didn’t tell you was because I was the only one from us triplets that wanted to tell. Because I thought that maybe you knowing that there are three more like you nearby would help. Especially considering we heard you were trying to master Necromancy as well. It took me a long time to convince them both that you had all the rights to know, which is why it took long as it did for you find out. And by the time it was decided that we should tell you, that vampire guy informed us to stay away. That you were in no condition to even fight.”

The wanted fight.

Or the duel, rather.

It wasn’t until she had brought it up that I recalled Carlo saying something about the triplets from Area 47 coming to look for me. That they had wanted to face me off in a duel. It still wasn’t made clear to me on whether or not they wanted to have just a friendly fight, wanted to just sit and talk to try and understand both sides, or wanted into an actual fight until either of the sides went down into the grave.

“So did you actually want to fight me?” I questioned. “All three of you? Or was that just a cover up story to try and see me?”

Kristine looked down her feet as she fiddled around with her hands, saying, “Y-Yeah.” Looking up, she hurriedly said, “I mean, yeah, we did want to fight you, but just a friendly duel. A light one. But if you didn’t want to fight even after a full recovery, we wouldn’t have pushed it. So it wasn’t a cover up story, but if you don’t want to fight, then we can just say it was all as a cover up to meet you.” Swaying her head from side to side, she heavily sighed, “Of course, that may take a bit of a convincing for those two to agree. Especially since they never fancied with me and my idea of putting Necromancy and Healing classes together into one to be seen as good enough of a technique.”

With a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose as I tried to think things all the way through. I didn’t know what to do or say. I didn’t even know how to react. Not just to the fact that there three people that wanted a friendly fight, but the fact that there were more things about my own family that I didn’t even know about. I wasn’t even entirely sure of how to take all of this in. All of a sudden, it felt like it was my birthday last year all over again. Back at the very moment when my name was drawn. The moment I went into that deep shock moments before bursting into tears out of being uncertain of what to do.

“Zoe? Everything alright? I saw two of the triplets leave,” I heard Carlo’s voice ask, and his voice soon turned into tone of surprise as he said, “And I thought the third one pulled off a weird stunt and left already. How you doing?” He looked back at me and cleared his throat. “Uh, Zoe? Can we talk?” Uncertainly he looked at Kristine as he sharply added, “Alone?”

I motioned the door to Kristine as I quietly told her, “Get out. Come see me alone if you really want to see me and can’t convince your siblings to play nice.” She hurriedly got out before I told Carlo, “They didn’t fire any attacks and I didn’t fire any myself. And I’ll make sure to get some practice in on both spells and weaponry if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Okay. That’s at least good,” Carlo said as he rested his hand on my forehead. “More so since at least you’re nearly fully recovered now. But you’ll have to eat before you decide you’re going to run off to practice.” With a deep frown, he said, “But that’s not what I’m here about. I came in to check up on you to make sure you were alright.” Coughing, he suddenly looked down at his feet as he began to kick the ground. All of a sudden, if I hadn’t known any better, it was as if he almost looked rather slightly nervous. “And because those three were taking their sweet old time with coming back out. It was getting a bit worrisome that they may have done something to you.” He quickly looked up at me as he hurriedly said with a startle, “Not that I was worried that you wouldn’t be able to fight for yourself considering your state of health now! But it’s just you were asleep when I sent them in and had my doubts about it! Wasn’t really sure if they would do something to you or not in your sleep!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle before striding forward and rested a hand on his shoulder. It wasn’t long before I reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek as I told him with a bright smile, “If you’re so worried, then why don’t you just stay by my side at all times, Carlo? Not that you would be able to unless if either I stay indoors all day or you keeping yourself fully covered to come outside when the sun’s shining all day outside.” It was at the sudden realization of how close I allowed myself to get to him that I began to feel my face heat up, almost as if blushing uncontrollably, as I looked off to the side and cleared my throat. And even though I wanted to take a step back, the part of me that knew I was already head over heels for the man standing before me kept my feet from moving me away. “Um, I should get going. I must’ve been out cold for a few days like the last time.”

When I began to walk past him, Carlo grabbed me by the wrist as he gently scolded, “At least eat first. You haven’t eaten in quite some time, and I’m sure you’re more than drained of energy. I’m worried about you, Zoe.”

“I’ll be fine,” I quietly told him. “I have to meet up with Harvey. The guy from Area 27. I told him I’d practice with him so he can improve on his elemental skills while I improve on both elementals and necromancy. It’s already been delayed for awhile because of being sick.”

I managed to get past Carlo and just when I was halfway down the hall, there were rapid footsteps as he called behind me, “You know, you’ve been spending quite some time with him!” Without even knowing myself, I had come to a halt to listen to him, but never did I turn around. Not even by the slightest. Instead, I stayed quiet and waited for his words to come. To see which words would be the ones to hit me with no effect at all and which words would be the ones to make my world crumble down all around me. “It’s almost feels like everyone would believe that you two were dating if we didn’t know any better.”

Clenching my hands into fists, I turned around to face him with hurtful eyes as I told him while keeping my voice as steady as possible, “If I was, don’t you think you would have been the first to know, Carlo? We’re practically living in the same house, and have been for a little over a year. And if people would be saying that, it would be Trent, don’t you think? Seeing he’s my best friend here amongst everyone?” I sharply turned to face him as I breathed, “You really don’t believe that I’m actually out and seeing other people when all of this mess is going on, do you?”

His eyes told me that he didn’t want to believe, but his facial expression and a deep heave of sigh betrayed him. From what I could see, it was written across his face that he truly believed that I was out and dating others over focusing on trying to help out with the rebellion against my own kind that wanted to keep the mortals and vampires down under their control. Shaking my head, I slowly began to take two steps back for every one step Carlo took a step forward as he began to reach his hand out to me, saying, “Zoey, listen.”

“No!” I screamed. “No! You think I’m actually out and dating people, don’t you? Don’t you, Carlo? You think I’m actually out and seeing people instead of training and trying to help out with this entire rebellion!”

“That’s not what I meant, Zoey!” Carlo cried as I turned around sharply and began to take off running like there was no tomorrow. It was in matter of seconds, of course, that I felt a few hot tear drops rolling down my cheeks as he desperately called, “Zoey! Listen to me!” But it was too late for me to turn back. It was too late for me to go back and take my words back. Let alone for him to explain himself to me what I saw written clearly across his face. Of what he had already assumed out of me. It was hard to tell if the sun was rising or setting, but whichever of the two it was, it didn’t help me clear my mind one bit. Instead, it only seemed to set me off in more of a panic as my breathing grew heavier and heavier by every passing second.

And by the time I began to reach the forest area, another warlock by the name of Harvey Minano, also one of an Asian decent and from the same country as Carlo had been if I had to guess, was already found waiting. Waiting for me, and I found myself nearly hyperventilating the entire way. The sad part was that I hadn’t even noticed my own breathing until starting to feel dizzy and faint upon arrival. At the sight of me as I soon began to pace to try and calm myself down, Harvey asked with a nervous laughter, “Are you alright? You look like you’ve completely lost it.”

“You know what it is?” I snapped with frustration. “You know what it is, Harvey? The one guy that I actually like is accusing me of dating you over training and working my ass off for the fight that’s coming up!”

Harvey sounded rather surprised as he quickly told me, “Now, wait a minute. Are you sure you’re not blowing this all up? What did he say?”

But I supposed we both should have known better. For Harvey, he should have known that I wouldn’t listen. On my part, I should have been listening. But neither of us seemed to have enough common sense at the given time to even think logically, because the first words to come out of my mouth in a near scream were, “All I said was I was going to go out to see you and train because the promise made was overdue as it is! You know I was sick, right?” Without waiting for his response, I exclaimed, “Of course you did! I’m sure Carlo and Trent went around telling everyone to just let me rest! For crying out loud, Carlo even told those triplets from Area 47 off when they came looking for me while I was bedridden when the triplets wanted to request just a small friendly duel! I’m sure the word of me being sick spread like wildfire amongst those that are all here! Usually words like that spread rather quickly so that more work is put on them! Why should it be any less different with me?”

“Why are you getting so worked up over one thing he said?” Harvey asked, and his voice had hint of irritation. And maybe even a tint of jealousy as he continued, “Why do you make it sound as though you actually care what he has to say? What he has to think? Almost as though what he says and thinks matters?”

Sharply turning to face him with laugh of disbelief, I exclaimed, “Why? Because it does! It may not to others, but it does to me! I care what he has to say and think about me!”

“But why?” Harvey’s voice began to rise as well, almost as if he was angry. “Why does it matter to you so much?”

“Why do you have to know why it matters so much to me?” I yelled.

Almost furiously, he yelled back, “Because it’s annoying to see you always have your eyes towards someone else when you can’t even seem to realize who actually likes you when even obviously placed in front of you!” When I stared at him as I squinted my eyes towards him, trying to figure out if he was just simply talking about himself or just making some sort of a bad joke, Harvey began to scratch back of his head with a heavy sigh. After a long while of trying to pick out the right words, he finally said, “Haven’t you ever thought about seeing others from different Areas? Like majority of the people that’s been put into this stupid game has? Majority of them have been hooking up for quite some time, and there’s even a word going around that you just have absolutely no interest in seeing guys from different Areas. And it doesn’t even sound that crazy when fully thinking over it in a positive light.”

With a small shrug, I asked, “And where’d you hear that?”

“Just around,” was all I got as an answer. “It’s just there’s been also a word that you’ve been confessed to once before, but you rejected them. Reasons are different depending on which group of people or which Area it’s being said from, but it’s always down to one simple fact of word by mouth that you have no interest in seeing people from other Areas.”

I wasn’t entirely sure how to answer that. I mean, it wasn’t as if it were true, but all at the same time, it wasn’t as if that was entire a false of a statement. It’s not that I cared if I were to date someone from outside Area 18, but rather because I already had interest in Carlo. But at the same time, it wasn’t as if it had never occurred to me that I should just completely ignore my feelings and go out with someone else. Go after another person by forcing my feelings onto them just so I could get away from my true feelings towards Carlo.

On the other hand, however, the thought of two people from two completely different areas seemed a bit absurd. How could it possibly work out? Especially if this rebellion against the warlocks was to fail? Why bother going after something or someone that one knew could never be accomplished when the one thing that would go hand in hand would be the main deciding factor to whether the relationship would succeed or fail?

And that’s just what made the following words to come out of my mouth, and those words were, “Because it could all just fail. It would have to be the outcome of the war that would and should be a deciding factor for me on whether or not I should allow myself to date those of a different Area.”

“But couldn’t you just give it a shot?” Harvey asked rather persistently. He didn’t seem to get that I didn’t have much of an interest. And if he did, he didn’t seem to care. “Majority of the people here are crossing the Area lines to date each other. Including that Don guy from Area 12 and Diana woman from Area 6.”

I had to admit that even for Don and Diana, that was a huge crossover and a huge step, not to forget to mention a big leap of faith, in trying out a relationship. Especially in one that could possibly fail due to the uncertainty of how everything would turn out. But I still had to give them props and an applause for trying something so out of the blue and something that would be full of surprise.

And it was only then that it had occurred to me that Harvey had pointed out to me that it wasn’t just those two, but rather others as well. I couldn’t help but wonder exactly how many in terms of ‘others’ was he talking? And, almost as if to read my mind, Harvey remarked, “Nearly all of them are in a relationship, Zoe. Nearly all of them are dating. It’s only the kids between 12 and 14 years of age that’s not keen on the idea of being with others unless if for playing and training. Couldn’t you just give it a try with someone outside of your Area? Even if for just temporarily?”

Before I could respond, a huge explosion went off somewhere off to both our sides and, when we glanced both ways, there were flames rising and rushing in every direction. I felt panic beginning to rise deep inside me, and I didn’t have time to think twice as I grabbed his hand to begin running as the words came out rather rushed, “If this doesn’t work, don’t say I didn’t tell you so, Harvey.”

I tugged at his hand rather roughly as I felt angered expression coming out and about on my face as anger even boiled deep inside my chest as I felt my legs begin to move on their own into a run. I honestly didn’t know what I had gotten myself into, but now, there was no turning back. I got myself into a relationship that I didn’t really want. At the same time, it was something I had to try out to see if it was really something that was truly worth it, even if my heart, mind and body all told me that it would never work out in a million years. Even before I knew it, let alone even aware of where my feet were leading me, we found ourselves back in the residential area after a bit of a struggle of blowing all the flames away while extinguishing few others out. And it was the moment Harvey and I hit the line that the forest and the town met that my hand had released his hand as I stormed ahead of him as we headed towards the building where Tricia, Carlo, Trent and I used as our shelter.

There were people in the streets with slightly panicked look in their eyes, and nearly half of them were filled with not just fear but also either confusion or complete anger. By the looks of the surrounding growing only darker by each passing second, it couldn’t have been morning but rather dusk slowly turning into the night. And when Harvey and I neared the front doorsteps as Carlo came rushing out himself, he let out a heavy sigh of relief as the words escaped from his lips, “Thank goodness you’re alright. I was about to go out to search for you.”

“You don’t happen to know what caused the abrupt fire in the forest, do you?” I couldn’t help but ask as I looked over my shoulder towards the forest. “Harvey and I barely got out of the forest, and I barely was able to keep the flames away. It was pure luck that I was able to cast up water with all the heat around in the atmosphere to keep majority of the moisture out.”

Looking towards the forest as well, Carlo slowly explained, “May have been a warning shot from the warlocks.” Looking back down at me, he sheepishly said, “I mean, it’s been about a year since approximately two-thirds of the people here have been in training, and the rest of the world have begun to prepare. It could have been a warning shot that they’ll start attacking at any given time without warning to get the war going for good.”

“A warning shot?” I laughed with disbelief, and by the look on Carlo’s face, it was almost all too apparent that my laughter may have come out like one that belonged to a maniac. “Where I happened to be? If I have any say in this, then it was more than a warning shot, Carlo! They were keeping eyes on me and trying to take me out before trying to figure out a way to take you out as well! And once we were both to be out of the equation, if I didn’t know any better, they would try and break the entire plan down little by little! Starting with the ones that have the most influence among each race! Like the McNamara Clan members if we have to start off with the vampires if you were to be finished off! And the Park and Chang Convents for the warlocks for when and if I’m gone! For the mortals, I don’t know who’s the one with the greatest influential powers, but I’m sure that whoever it is, it’ll be him or her along with their family!”

A furious look slowly began to creep into Carlo’s eyes, but it lasted only for few brief seconds before it faded away. He reached a hand out as he said as calmly said, “At least you’re safe. And if it really wasn’t a warning shot, then we have to give everyone a warning.”

“And any idea how to tell rest of the world?” I questioned as I slowly placed my hand in his outstretched hand.

He thought for a moment before saying, “Perhaps we can try and contact that brother of yours. Hogosha, was it? Perhaps he can help us out in one way or another.”

I couldn’t help but smile faintly up at him. Sure, I agreed to Harvey that I’d give it a try in going out with him, no matter how absurd it sounded to me, let alone a long shot in all of this of me being with someone of a different Area working out. But there was a part of me that also said I had made the worst mistake of my life in agreeing when I saw Carlo like this. Even just having to talk to him about something as serious as the topic on war told me that it was Carlo that I should be with and not Harvey. The decision, however, was already made, and it was just too little too late to change my mind and back out on the deal made. I had already chose my path, and even if it meant that I had no choice but to look at Carlo from afar, it was a path I would have been willing to take. After all, if Carlo didn’t look at me the way I thought of him, then it was just better off for me that this unwanted path was the one that I took rather the one that I was sure I would have regretted more by allowing myself to get hurt through an unwanted rejection.

“Promise you’ll see through to the end of this with me?” I asked. “No matter how long or impossible this may be?”

Smiling softly down at me, he asked in exchange, “Do you really think I’m going to be stopping any time soon after starting this up with you? And, just so you know, I highly doubt that even Jason will be abandoning this any time soon, either, so you’re not alone in the mist of all this, Zoe.”

Harvey cleared his throat, almost as if to try and remind me that it wasn’t Carlo that I had become an item with, but rather Harvey. It was almost as though I wasn’t even allowed to stand next to another guy, careless of whether I had interest in another person as just a friend or wanted something more. And if that was the case, then Harvey’s jealousy towards other guys were far more serious than I had hoped to imagine.

Looking up at Carlo before glancing down at our hands where our fingers had already intertwined themselves, I unwillingly pulled my hand away. And in taking my hand away from his, I took a long time out of uncertainty of how to even do so without having to offend his feelings. “And if Hogosha agrees?” I quietly questioned. “What would I ask him to announce? I mean, which words to actually use?”

When I stole a glance up into his eyes, I had done the last thing that I had hoped to do. In his eyes were pain whereas in Harvey’s were a twinkle of a smile in his eyes out of feeling triumphant. It was almost as if Harvey was glad that he managed to claim the spot next to me, and that Carlo was nothing more than someone that I had pushed off to the side, and that alone had struck a deep wound into my heart that I found myself ignoring all too calmly.

Looking away from me and around at everyone else, Carlo replied, “We ask your brother to announce that we’ll go into war. But first, we ask if he can have other warlocks that are on our side to give us as much time as they can try and buy for us to regroup everyone into various groups.”

A pair of hands roughly grabbed our shoulders as Chris’s voice growled rather angrily, “Well, you two better act quick and talk to the Tournament Department the second I get you there.” Just as we began to turn to face the Suh Convent members, he roared over his shoulder with a rather furious look in his eyes, “Retreat with all the people and their weapons!”

Before neither Carlo nor I knew it, we were already going through the portal and away deep into a spinning tunnel. I almost felt as though I would throw up as my stomach began to tie into a tight knot, and the fact that the travel time was long didn’t help out at all. And it was about two to four minutes of transporting from the contest area that we were placed in to get to the main office of the Tournament Department, the exact travel time uncertain, before I felt my feet on the solid ground and finally able to take deep calming breaths to keep my insides down.

Before I could even get to asking, Carlo had already beat me to the punch line as I kept up the calming deep breaths, “What’s going on? Why the sudden rush? It’s been barely two months since we were all sent in for this year’s Survival game.”

“That’s the point exactly,” Hogosha’s voice gravely informed us from by the windows. We turned to face him only to find his turquoise cloak wrapped tightly around his shoulders and dark circles under his eyes as he turned away from the window and came walking as calmly as possible towards us. “I’ve managed to reduce your workload by dividing up the groups as best as possible, if that’s alright with you. I’ve been following your moves very closely and been taking notes while managing to keep those that I’ve been having suspicions about away from any and all of your planning activities. It wasn’t really easy, but all those that were preparing to go up against the warlocks like Dilnot fellow and that arrogant Suh member,” looking at Chris, he quickly added, “no offense to you and only to your brother, by the way, so sorry about that if any misunderstandings in there,” before continuing abruptly, “have been training extremely hard. The children, of course, are trained to certain extent as well, but any and all weaponry sort were tried to kept away from them. And the only ones that we could really bring ourselves to train out here were the children that are warlocks that are desperate enough to help out in the warzone.”

“Then what about that fire in the forest?” I questioned as I began to feel anger burn up deep inside of me. “Who had that attack sent, or was that supposed to be a warning signal?”

A grave frown began to appear on his face as Hogosha demanded, “What are you talking about? What attack or fire of warning?”

“It’s no point to question one another,” a familiar female voice hissed from the entrance, and before any of us knew it, I felt an end of a staff pointed at my back. “I was the one who sent the fire to try and finish you off for good.”

Fear began to fill Hogosha’s eyes as he roared, “What are you doing, Maria? She’s our baby sister!”

“And she’s the one that we all had to protect with our lives!” I saw the red headed woman that I had seen before in this very room roar back. “Do you know how much I prefer to have died back then than to have survived? I dealt with the pain and suffered from that attack long ago! You even saw me in the hospital bed and you know far too well exactly how long I have been bedridden because of trying to protect this arrogant child, Hogosha! She caused both of us to suffer for long enough! She even caused Violet to suffer far more than necessary! And you know as well as I that Zoey is nothing more than a weakling of a Healer!”

I suddenly began to get furious with her words as I raised my arms and formed fists with both hands far too abruptly. It wasn’t long before the ground shook violently and didn’t take much time for the solid cemented ground to split as two dead rose with the dirt surrounding the skeletons to form a near perfect human form of a look. The newly materialized dead pulled themselves out of the ground and pulled themselves up onto their feet before taking a hold of Maria, soon forcing her staff away from her and completely covering her hands with their earthy hands, as she began to struggle with both fear and anger.

I growled rather angrily, “I’m not just a Healer, Maria. Let me correct you on my class. I’m an advanced Priest. I also happen to be an Elementalist. But not just any Elementalist. I’m a Necromancer Elementalist. Now explain what you meant when you said that you were the one who sent the fire crashing down near where Harvey Minano and I were located.”

“I was trying to kill you off for good!” Maria screeched. “But I guess my aim was a bit off if it missed you!” Her eyes were filled with anger and hatred, and it was then that I realized that the Maria Yukimura I once knew, if she was the very same Maria, was completely gone and never to return.

I couldn’t help but feel sorrow overwhelm deep inside me as I painfully asked her, “What happened to you, Maria? You were so loving years ago when we were kids. This isn’t like you.”

“You happened!” Maria hissed. “And I’ll make sure that I kill you off even if it’s the last thing I do. Consider a war now waged and begun, Zoey Yukimura.” And those were words something I couldn’t deny. War defiantly has begun, and Maria had sparked the beginning of it.

12: Chapter 12

It’s funny how this world never turns out to be the way one would hope or think it would.

I found this out the hardest way possible when my own sister, Maria, had turned against me, and it was the day that Chris Suh and his soldiers brought all of us contestants out into the actual warzone and away from the training area. Maria declared her hatred for me, her own flesh and blood of a sister, and Hogosha finished her off, but only into her unconsciousness before we all left her lying passed out cold on the floor. Little did neither Hogosha nor did I know that Maria had secretly studied to become a Flaming Elementalist, but the cat was now out of the bag when she confessed that she had intentionally sent an attack into the forest in hopes of finishing me off.

Of course, for both sides, that was a meaning that the war has officially begun. And this entire world had turned into a great havoc as war was going on now for consistent twenty-four hours for seven days a week without a moment of rest. And most of the place that were possible place of residency was nearly all destroyed, and places like diners and shopping malls were all taken over by various races. Whichever place that was taken over by the warlocks that wanted control, like my sister Maria did, the warlocks that were on the side of the mortals and vampires targeted. And whichever locations that we rebels had taken over, the warlocks that were against us had tried to bring down.

Nearly a month had passed with one battle after another, and it wasn’t long after that I began to find myself barely being able to get any sleep throughout the night. And it was when I began to find myself unable to fall asleep that I had gone out into the safest area at the edge of the town where everyone always said was the line between Area 18 and 19 without truly even knowing if that were true. And if it were, at least it was one area that no one had dared to come by and I had barely found myself noticing that I were being followed. Perhaps I had been sleep deprived for far too long, but that didn’t matter at all when I felt a firm hand placed gently on my shoulder as an all too familiar male voice softly called, “Zoey, you alright? It’s not like you to wander off this late at night every night.”

I conjured up a dead without second thought and without much struggle, and by the time I had turned around to face the one who spoke, I was just about to strike by forming ice with the cold air all around us. The atmosphere was cold enough to create icicles and make them as sharp as knife. To make them so piercing that it could strike through any skins and bones without much problem, and I would have easily done so if not for the fact that the sight of my prey entering my sight and making connections to who it was quickly within my mind.

“Carlo,” I heard my own voice escape from the depths of my throat, and I got rid of the skeletons before flinging my arms around his neck. “What are you doing? I could’ve tried to kill you.”

He didn’t answer my question, but rather repeat, “Are you alright? Why are you out and wandering around this late at night? You know the vampires and I take the night shift and alert the rest of you if they try to ambush us.”

“I just can’t go to sleep,” I barely whispered as I took a small step away from him. I soon brought my hands back down to my side as I looked over my shoulder. “It just seemed better to try and train then waste time flopping around for hours.”

For a moment, there was a hesitation in the air that practically vibrated all around, almost as if Carlo was dying to ask something. Almost as if there was something important that he wanted to say. But whether it was originally the thing that he wanted to say or not, when he had finally parted his lips once more, the first words to be heard coming from him were, “Want some help? I mean, I’m no warlock, but I’d be more than happy to stay and help in any way. And it would also give me some training in facing Elementalists for if and when I have come across one. I don’t really think those triplets would be much of a help considering our situation now when taking into considerations how far away we all are now.”

I started to feel warm all over as excitement grew from deep down within my chest at the thought of being able to spend one-on-one time with Carlo. The only thing that had stopped that feeling and brought me down completely altogether was when Harvey had entered my mind.

His jealous expression.

His envious attitude.

His harsh words about nearly everything.

Especially on how I wasn’t spending much time with him, Harvey, but rather off training on my own. I didn’t want to stir up any more negativity between us, and I was lucky that Chris had agreed to let us stay in my Area rather than separating us as we originally should have been. As much as I wanted to spend time with Carlo, even if it was just through training, I didn’t know what to do when I tried to take Harvey’s feelings into considerations.

And the more I dwelled on this thought, the harder it was for me to decide on what to tell Carlo. It was interrupted, however, when Carlo asked with concern, “Something the matter? Don’t you want me around anymore? Especially when we started all this together? I thought you wanted to help those like me. That equality was what you sought, Zoe.” His voice became nearly hushed as he asked, “Or are you having your doubts about it?”

Shock came over me as I exclaimed, “No! You’ve got it all wrong, Carlo! I still want to fight for this cause! Don’t get me wrong! It’s just I have a lot on my plate, and knowing that Harvey’s the type to get pretty jealous doesn’t help my case when with you, Carlo!”

“Then just train with me,” Carlo sighed rather heavily. “That’s all I’m really asking for, Zoey. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a training. You’ll get to improve on your skills and I’ll be able to gain more knowledge on how to go up against certain classed warlocks. It’s not like I’m asking for you to go out on a date with me.”

How could I say no to the man that’s always been there standing by my side? Always there to watch my back? And if having to train with him was such a crime, then I supposed it was time that I was locked away or killed off for good, because I found myself walking off a good fighting distance and gently tossed my staff over to Carlo. “Don’t go destroying that thing,” I warned. “Hogosha gave it to me as an extremely late birthday present, and I’d really hate for it to get damaged.”

Nodding understandingly, he said, “Reasonable, but quick question. Why does this staff feel so old if he gave it to you? I mean, shouldn’t it be brand new?”

“It’s the first staff ever used by the first few generation warlocks from either the Gilbert side or the Yukimuras,” I explained. “Can’t quite seem to remember which, but never mind that. Just don’t go either ruining or destroy it. The last to ever use that staff were one of my parents, and Hogosha managed to keep it safe and stashed away into secret all this time.” Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and breathed out fiercely through slightly parted lips from deep depths of my diaphragm that I could muster. I haven’t had much time to practice with elements directly for long, but I tried to recall all that I possible could from how I managed to combine both the elements and the necromancy to conjure up the flames, and when I felt a strong blast blowing out and straight forward, I requested, “Just make sure you don’t go destroying it.” Smirking at Carlo when I saw him with a shocked expression when the hot flames were gone, I chirped, “I want to make sure I can hang it up as one of the artifacts from long ago for when and if we win this war. Now, you still up for training? Or do you just want to back out now while you still have the chance?”

Something sparked in Carlo’s eyes as he came charging forward, as if he would never see another day to live once tonight was over once and for her. And through the moonlit light, I saw his eyes go from golden brown to bloody shade of red, and it was when he bore his teeth that I saw fangs appearing, almost as if he wanted to put me down and drain me completely of my blood. Left and right, he threw whatever attacks he could send my way. In return, I gave all I could as an Elementalist, even if not an advanced class, to give him the best opportunity possible to be up against one any time in either the near or the far future.

Who knew how many hours had passed, but when we were both warn out, we both knew that one of us had to stop this before we over exhausted ourselves. The strange part was that the hours that had gone by only felt few minutes in the mist of all the training, which I personally hadn’t minded at all. But what I didn’t mind, or rather flustered with, the most was the moment Carlo had dropped my staff to swiftly grab my wrists when he was close enough and pinned me up against a large tree with my hands over my head. We were both breathing heavily as sweat rolled down both our skins, and I could feel my heartbeat skip faster and faster by the second from its already racing state that it was in from the training. And the more I tried to look away from Carlo, the harder it seemed to become as I felt his heavy breathing tickle across my cheek.

“Why are you with Harvey?” I heard his voice pant in a bare whisper. It was still dark to even see his lips move, but the light was already shining through from the sun, and we both knew that it would be at most an hour before the sun actually began to rise. When I didn’t answer, but simply look up at the vampire with slight confusion, he repeated, “Why are you with Harvey, Zoey? It’s obvious that you don’t even have remote interest that guy.”

“Why do you care?” I shot back in return. “It’s not like you like me, right? I’m sure that I’m nothing more than just a friend to you.” I hated having to push him away like this, but I knew that I had no choice in the matter. I couldn’t go on acknowledging my feelings for another when fully being aware of being with someone else, and I supposed even Carlo knew at least that much, because he soon slowly let me go. Walking over to where he had dropped my staff to pick it up, I asked, “Did you want to get more training in to get a feel for being up against an Elementalist or just wrap it up for the night?”

I couldn’t bring myself to turn around to face him, and just by his voice sounding a bit distant, not just figuratively but literally as well, it was apparent that he didn’t turn around just the same as he breathed, “Let’s wrap it up for the night. You should just go to sleep for tonight, too. You haven’t slept a wink.”

“I’ll be fine, Carlo,” I lied. “It’s not like I’ll fall over dead during any fight I encounter or get myself involved in.” When I looked over my shoulder, I could barely make out a worried look come over his face, but the shadows soon began to move across his face as the sun slowly began to come over the horizon and soon over the trees. Uncertainly, I remarked, “If it’ll make you feel any better, Harvey will be with me. And the triplets that have claimed to my cousins or whatnot from my dad’s side may end up being brought over sooner or later. And they seem to be very confident with their Elemental Necromancy power.” I thought over the last statement a few times before slowly saying, “Well, Christine and Christopher are. Kris can always be our backup Healer seeing she’s combined Healing and Necromancy Classes.”

He walked over and, taking my hands in his, he quietly told me, “It would put me at ease if I were to be the one fighting with you to make sure you don’t get yourself killed. I want to make sure that, even if any harm, not much is inflicted on you. Couldn’t you just let me come along to make sure I can keep an eye on you myself?” When it took me long time to give an answer, he gently pulled on one of my cheeks in a playful manner, questioning, “Please? Or is it far more preferable for you if we I were to just bug you about it every single time we get go right into the fight ourselves, and put both of our lives in danger?”

I couldn’t help but laugh quietly as I looked down towards the ground at our feet. With a smile that I tried oh so hard to hide, I looked at Carlo as I answered, “Fine. Then you had better find a way to stay out in the sun for more than two hours, Carlo. Can’t have you dying on me out on the battlefield abruptly.”

Carlo began to laugh as well, but we both froze when Harvey’s voice growled, “What do you think you’re doing with her, Suarez?” Our heads snapped towards where his voice came from as Harvey asked once more in a roar, “What do you think you’re doing with her?” He came storming over and, upon reaching us, Harvey snatched my left hand away from Carlo and pulled me off to behind himself. “I don’t want to see you around her anymore,” he growled. “I don’t know what you hope to accomplish out of this, but whatever it is, it’s a guarantee that as long as she’s with me, you won’t be able to win her over.”

“And whatever it is that you think I’m trying to do,” Carlo darkly remarked back, “it’s a near guarantee that you’re most likely than not wrong. She and I are just friends, and you should know full well that there’s nothing going on between us. Only that we’ve been residing together and watching out for one another since a month before last year’s competition since it’s been one of the most obvious to all the competitors.”

It was written all over Harvey’s disgusted expression that he didn’t want to hear a single word of it, let alone believe whatever Carlo had to say, as he began to pull me along. I looked over my shoulder and gave Carlo an apologetic look as I mouthed, ‘We’ll talk later,’ to him. I even held myself back from saying anything to Harvey until we were a good distance away from Carlo, and when we finally were, I angrily snapped, “What’s the matter with you, Harv? He was only helping me with training for the night while our kind that wants us killed were too busy sleeping if not busy spying for their best chance in ambush!”

“Why does it look as though you two were actually out on a date all night rather than just training, then?” Harvey asked. His voice sounded as though he was hurt and filled with hatred. Hatred perhaps towards either just Carlo or just at the fact that I was close to someone else. But if at the fact that he was hurt, then the source of it, I couldn’t tell. Whatever it was, it soon turned into jealousy as he demanded, “Why does it seem like you two are more than just friends?”

With disbelief, my own voice began to rise when I spoke. “Why are you behaving this way?” I snapped. “About Carlo? Over the fact that I actually spend time with him for training and at the fact that I’ve let him stay with me at my house when not in the Survival game? Even over the fact that I’ve shared a place to reside in during the game? I was the one who suggested to him that we should team up first, and I’m not going to tell him I don’t want part in it any longer just because you don’t like it! I can’t let a good man like him go when all he ever does is act on something for others before he acts for himself, Harvey!” It wasn’t long before Trent came into my mind. Harvey was almost always cold with Carlo from the beginning, but when it was Trent, Harvey didn’t seem to mind at all. With my eyes narrowing at him, I breathed, “Why are you so against Carlo when you don’t seem to have a single thing against Trent? I spend just about the same amount of time as him as I do with that vampire.”

Harvey began to laugh with disbelief as he exclaimed, “You don’t think I’m not worried about the fact how you and that Trent guy are close? It always gets on my nerves! I just don’t happen to say it, Zoey! I wanted you to be with me because I really liked you when I asked you to give it a chance in dating a guy from a different Area by trying it out with me!”

As he turned his back against me with one hand on his waist and the other over on his forehead, I angrily snapped, “Then what do you want me to do? Cut off all my relations with all the guys? Keep myself from associating with any and all that are guys all the while making you the only exception?”

Quickly turning to look at me as he threw his hands in the air, crying out, “Yes! Just that! That would actually put my mind at a better ease!”

“No!” I exclaimed with disbelief. “I’m not cutting myself from contact with pretty much half the world and avoiding all the men just for you! Especially not with Trent and Carlo when they’re the ones that I train with and ones I hold closest to my heart! You know how much they mean to me, too!”

An angered look slowly came across his face as Harvey said as calmly as he could, “Well, it’s funny how you seem to have so much time for them but not for me.”

“It’s called training, Harvey,” I snapped with frustration. “And even when I’m not with them, if you haven’t noticed, I’m always out and about on the battlefield or training all by myself. It’s not like I can just go out with you whenever we both want to. And if you have a problem with me working my ass off for the equality in the world, then perhaps you should be on the opposing side, up against me. It seems like a better option over being on our side to fight for equality when all you do is stay behind the front lines, doing absolutely nothing.”

A shocked look slowly came over him and replaced the angered look and it took him a long while before he was able to get even a single word out. “Is that what,” he began to say, but he was cut off short when an explosion occurred right by our feet and we flew off to the side by several yards.

Scrambling up onto my feet as I tried to help Harvey up to best of my abilities, I roared, “Run back to the base and warn the others! Now!”

When Harvey didn’t start running immediately, I shot a ball of fire at his feet to get him going before I looked around to see where the attack could have come from. Through the large cloud of dust that the blast had left behind, Maria came walking through it with the far more furious glare that she had before the last time we saw one another. As I got myself ready with my staff pointed at her rather defensively and standing with my feet spread apart to get ready to run in any and all directions whenever time called for it.

“Such a shame that it’s hard to actually kill you off,” Maria snarled.

As anger began to boil up deep inside me, I growled in return, “And it’s such a shame that you’ve completely turned around three-sixty degrees, Maria. Completely against what our parents have believed in, and so willing to try and kill off your own baby sister.” As she and I began to circle one another rather slowly, I remarked, “So, about Hogosha. You two must be quite close if you two have entered the Tourney department together. What would he say if he were here now and saw what you’re trying to do?”

“I’ll take care of Hogosha later on,” Maria sneered,. “Don’t you worry about him, Zoey. It’s not like he would care once I put a good word in for you, dear.”

With a heavy sigh, I asked, “Maria, whatever happened to you? You were such a loving sister when we were kids. Now, you seem to be filled with nothing but hatred.”

“You happened and you know it!” Maria yelled. “Mom and dad gave us the instruction to make sure you survived! To make sure that if anyone, you were the sole survivor! It’s like the rest of us didn’t matter!” Her tone soon turned vicious as she snarled once more, “It’s a surprise that Hogosha has nothing against you. It’d be even bigger surprise to me if Violet isn’t furious with you either.”

Without warning, she raised a hand and shot a strong blast of flame towards me. Out of pure panic, I created a vortex of flames in return and swallowed up the one she had sent. It was a bare miss as I felt the right side of my neck get scorched a bit with the small amount of flame that got past the vortex. Furiously, I swung the staff across with one hand harshly as a strong gust of wind blew towards her as I roared, “You think I wanted it to be like that?” Maria got knocked back rather hard before I stormed over to her and began to attack her with flame after water followed up by earth and lightening. And for each attack I threw her way, Maria had barely managed to counter it with the opposing element. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve awoken every night due to nightmares? Due to memories of you all dying? Or at least thinking that you all had died from what I’ve witnessed as a child, Maria? I’ve lived with trauma all these years!”

Maria soon threw me back by forcing the ground up from under my feet rather abruptly, and forced me to stay down as I felt the soil wrap around my waist line. She tried to attack me with flames by aiming more towards my face and I barely managed to keep up with flames in exchange, every so often with gusts of winds and waters to extinguish the fire. With the hatred came the passion for what she was born as. And with the passion now showed her true colors for what she truly believed in, which was to keep the mortals and vampires under control of our kind. It was almost as if she truly had forgotten what she was raised to believe before having to lie her way through the world about her wellbeing.

One thing for certain, although Maria may have lost her colors, I was glad that her attacks seems to have grown weaker or always have been stuck at the same level as when we were kids. As I slammed my fists down on the ground, I forced a pillar to shoot up from the ground and slam against her chest rather roughly in order to place some distance between us. She had been far too focused on offense that it didn’t seem to occur to her that defense was needed that she had ended up allowing herself to be thrown back. It was only then that I had taken my chance to free myself from her earthly case and pushed myself up. The downside to it was that I supposed I didn’t take really take it into considerations on how harsh I had been with my attack, because just as I began to turn to face her, she had already launched her attacks and it was far too late for me to counter the vicious flames that was spinning towards me like a tornado and the rocks that went flying in every direction eventually all came flying straight for me.

Just as I couldn’t bring myself to raise up defense when I felt my body completely freeze up in fear, I couldn’t help but keep telling myself that I was going to die. That this was finally the end for me. And as I shut my eyes tight, I saw my entire life flash before me. From seeing my entire family die, or at least thought all of them had died, and to growing up with Tricia as her parents pretty much raised me. Michael Mueller as my first crush when we were just children, and seeing how far he had come after all these years. Meeting Carlo and how he had nearly tried to kill me with a gun all due to the fact that he thought I was like any and all warlocks that wanted to keep all those without power like us warlocks under control. Going through all the training during the time of our first Survival game, and even going as far as meeting all the people that were willing to support us in any way possible to bring back peace to this world. And with all of it also came regrets, and the biggest of them all was having to agree with Harvey on having to try out an idea that I wasn’t even too fond of to begin with.

And just when I thought all was over, I heard Chris’s voice roar, “Water into waves and whirlpool! Now!” All became as dark as dead middle of the night, almost as if there were no stars nor moon, and not even any other source of lights such as streetlamps. Not even an already lit torch nor a candle within the lantern. It was completely dark, almost as if it would be death, but a painless one if any. And it didn’t click in my head for a few moments that with the abrupt darkness came a small gust of wind blowing past me from behind.

Once I opened my eyes, I truly did see nothing but utter darkness and that’s when I realized that I may have been encased under what was a near tomb that, according to the ancient history books, Koreans used to do with the soil piled up into a nearly fine half a sphere. I didn’t care if I would be put into immediate danger when I forced the tomb apart. All I wanted was to face Maria, even if it meant it was the last thing I did, and almost immediately, I regretted doing so as I saw Maria came charging straight towards me with a lance made of soil lit brightly on flames pointed right for my chest. Without second thought, I raised a sturdy wall straight from the earth out of pure panic and fear, and it wasn’t long before a loud crackling sound of thunder from the lightening that came striking down echoed throughout the area.

I looked over my shoulders to see Chris with several of his warlocks from Attack and Defense Department standing behind him. And beside Chris were Harvey, Carlo and Hogosha. Whereas Carlo and Harvey had nothing but pure fear clouding their faces, Hogosha and Chris had looks of confidence and anger. More so than Chris, it was Hogosha that was greatly angered as he tiredly brought his hands up into the sky once more and forcefully brought them down as his open hands turned into fists. And with his hands came half a dozen fearsome lightening bolts all around Maria, a few right by her feet, as he roared over the loud crackling sounds, “I told you that I wouldn’t forgive you if you tried to kill, let alone attack, our baby sister, Maria! Mother and father did not raise us up until their deaths to be like this to those that aren’t like us! And they certainly didn’t raise us to hate one another!”

“And we were asked to sacrifice ourselves for her!” Maria roared back. She furiously threw purple flames at us as she screeched, “And we’ve been living in secrets for so long! You may have been searching for her to follow through with our parents’ instructions!” One flame hit my shoulder and scorched my skin harshly as she threw few more ball of flames at us as she sneered, “And I would rather die before I have to save her neck! Had she not been born, you know that none of us would have been held back from reaching our true potential!”

I didn’t give anyone else a chance to attack her as I created two blades out of water with the hilts formed out of the ground to prevent electricity that ran through each blade from finishing me off as well. As a few tears ran down my cheeks, I barely managed to choke, “If I’m such a burden, then perhaps you should’ve just been left to die over being saved in time, Maria.” As I rushed forward, I dropped one sword to grab her shoulder and ran the other through her stomach as I painfully closed my eyes when hearing her let out a gasp and tried to speak. I opened my lips, but no words had come out. And when they did, I barely managed to utter the words, “Or just set me free to get killed over following out our family’s instructions. I’m sorry for having to do this to you, sister.”

Maria tried to keep her life. And through the fight, she hoarsely said barely above a whisper into my ear, “Fight for what you believe. No matter what anyone says, Zoe, fight for what you believe to the end.” After a long struggle to keep alive, she finally let out her last breath into my ear as her body fell limp. It didn’t take me long to drop her body immediately as I dropped the final blade, which both then turned into nothing as though both never had existed to begin with, and I found myself stumbling backwards. Covering my mouth, I began to hear muffled screams as my throats began to scorch as though flames were lit from within. I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders as I was forced to turn around and there soon were arms that wrapped warmly around my shoulders and a large hand soothingly stroked my head. “Quiet, now, Lowey Zoey,” I heard the familiar loving voice of Hogosha murmur softly.

“She didn’t die in your hands!” I screeched, sound nearly muffled with my head pressed up into his shoulder. I didn’t mean to even remotely scream at him, but the frustrations began to rise higher and higher by every passing second. My anger and horror of killing Maria took me over, and it was almost as if I didn’t want to deal with the world any longer in any way. I just wanted to take out my anger at anyone and everyone that came near me.

“Hush. It’s over now, Zoey. Just try to stay calm,” Hogosha soothingly murmured as though my screeching did not matter. Almost as if it didn’t happen. Instead, he simply stood there, holding me the way he used to whenever I cried at night as children, as he tried to bring over comfort in me. “If not for yourself, then for me.”

I soon began to sob uncontrollably, almost as though my tears didn’t want to stay back. Almost as if whatever Hogosha said to me, the words wanted nothing but absolutely the opposite effect. Nonetheless, I knew that the tears were not just for the death of our sister or for the fact that I had to kill her. In fact, it wasn’t for either of those reasons. In fact, it was for the pure fact that I had to see her die for second time in my life time, and having to see the last person that I thought had died in front of me die for the second time. The only difference was that it wasn’t in someone else’s hands, but rather in my own.

And I supposed Hogosha had picked up the pain deep within my chest as he sadly whispered in my ear, “You know you didn’t have to go as far as that. You could’ve let me kill her so you wouldn’t have to carry the burden of having blood on your hands.”

I shoved him away as hard as the strength in my arms would allow me as I glared up at my brother, hissing angrily, “Whose fault do you think it is that I was first forced into getting ready to get my hands bloodied in the first place, Hogosha?”

Before I could even bring myself to apologize, let alone bring myself to calm down, my feet began to move on their own and had me storm away from them all. With each and every step, there was a strong gust of wind that was left behind, almost as though a dangerous storm was on its way. I heard Carlo’s voice faintly saying something to the others, but I didn’t stop to hear what he had to say. Instead, my speed only picked up as I soon found myself breaking into a sprint down the road.

How far into the abandoned city have I run into?

How far away from any contact have I run from?

And more so than anything else, for exactly how long had I really run?

Whatever the answers were, I surely didn’t have any. I hadn’t even pondered too deeply upon any of those as I tried to figure out what had just happened. More so than anything else, I tried to figure out exactly what Maria’s words had meant. During the fight, anger and hate had been clouding her every move. Her entire being seemed to be engulfed in any and all feelings related to the two. Yet, her final words to me said something completely different. Something oh so opposite. Like the love that Hogosha had shown me since the moment we met for first time in who knows how many years that had passed by.

And by the time I began to feel lightheaded with all the running, perhaps from lack of oxygen or lack of energy that I had, I felt a large hand roughly grab my wrist and bring me to a complete halt. Trying to pry my hand away, I began to screech through the tears that I didn't realize were still falling, “Let me go!”

“You really think I'm actually going to allow you to run off in the state that you're in?” Carlo's voice furiously roared. It was the first time I've heard him so angry, and I supposed it was the surprise in itself that caused me to freeze up and stare at him with wide eyes in horror. Closing his eyes and letting out a heavy sigh through his nose, he softly said, “Talk to me, Zoe. I at least owe you that much still for trying to kill you last year when all you were trying to do was heal me.”

I struggled to get out of his grip as I yelled, “You already paid me back as it is with all the kindness and watching my back while taking care of me whenever I fell sick. What more debts would you have to pay? I'm the one who has the debts to pay you! And now that you have paid your debts and so much more, why won't you just leave me alone?”

“Because I care!” Carlo yelled back. It was then that I froze and couldn't bring myself to look up at the vampire. It didn't matter how much I wanted to, because it was almost as if my head had a mind of its own on whether or not it wanted to turn to give him the proper eye contact that he at least deserved. So, instead, all I could do was just listen to what he had to say for no words had come out as my mind had stopped working as well for that one given moment that we found ourselves in. His voice soon became softer as he told me in a gentle yet scolding tone, “Because I care, Zoey. I wouldn't have continued to watch your back if it weren't for that. And I'm sure you care, too, seeing how you didn't chase me out of your place when we were done with last year's game. Seeing how you're still willing to keep your end of the bargain of watching out for me while I cover for you.”

“That's what Violet, Hogosha, and Maria all said before they vanished,” I choked as my throat began to tighten and I felt as if my air supply was getting cut short from me. “That's what they all said before abandoning me. How do I know that you won't do the same as they did, Carlo?” I didn't give him the chance to reply as I screeched up at him tearfully, “How do I know you won't abandon me like my own family did? They were all supposed to be there! Not just for one another but for me as well! But they all left me for dead! They didn't even come looking for me! To see how I was doing! To see if I was still alive! They just sat around in hopes that I would pop up somewhere! And when I do because my stupid brother and sister, who I just killed with my own hands, one decides to turn on me while another tries to protect me! All the while the third just seems to be slowly turning away from the family's standing beliefs! While she's trying to take me down with her! So how do I know you won't abandon me like they did and try and come to my assistance when it's only convenient for you, Carlo?”

I hadn't meant all of it, but with being in the hysterical state that I was in, the words that came out of my mouth were nearly unstoppable. And if I could take back the words and start all over by rephrasing them into something else, I would have. But the part of me that didn't regret one bit still wanted all the answers. I wanted to hear it, but at the same time, I was afraid for myself on what may be said. And the longer the silence dragged on, the more I began to feel as if my heart was clenching harder by every passing second. And the more my heart began to tighten deep within my chest, the harder it became to breath and the more it felt as if my throat had closed itself up.

And just when I felt like I couldn't take it any longer and felt as if I would explode at any given second, Carlo finally spoke. “Because I'm not them.” Four simple words. Yet, they were words that began to bring me comfort as he repeated, “Because I'm not them, Zoey. I mean, fine. I'll admit that the amount of time we've known each other may not be as great as the amount of time that you've known Tricia or that Michael Mueller fellow. But that doesn't matter, does it? It's safe to say that you know me well enough at this point that no matter what happens, I'll make sure I do whatever it takes to make sure I won't be doing something so rash to make you feel like you've been stabbed in the back by someone you hold close to your heart.” As a sheepish smile crept onto his face, he snorted, “Besides, you wouldn't be leaving me without a single word and going up against what you've been fighting for all this time, are you? You've been living like a mortal all these years, and I'm sure as hell that you won't be turning your back on those that you want to fight for abruptly.”

I soon found myself falling down onto my knees as I started to cry uncontrollably. The fact that I wouldn't just up and abandon everything I had grew up to believe all too abruptly was true, but that still didn't give me assurance that Carlo wouldn't leave me to be all alone the way my own family had. And it was that very fact that I was in the mist of the unknown that scared me. But what had frightened me more was that Maria had lied to my face to both protect herself while protecting me, and to test out how far I had come all on my own. To see how strong I have become, and the fact that I was both a Yukimura and a Gilbert didn't help me at all. Just knowing how much power and responsibility came with being a member of two powerful families was a terrifying feeling as it was. Especially when I knew there were so many that had looked up to even my parents while just the same amount despised them greatly.

Even more than that, not even knowing the immense power of influence that my family held was even more bothersome since I had nothing to measure it up to. Not even knowing why people had followed me to guide them into something that may be impossible to obtain once again after the millenniums of how this world had run. People were already going through the same cycle of going into the games as warlocks watched. Mortals, vampires, and the warlocks that lived in secret all fought for their lives. And at this point, it all were nothing but a daily routine to us all, and with one war that I helped lead, it would change everything immensely. That idea alone was terrifying.

Yet, to me, watching my own family die before me was far more fearsome than anything that happened so far or what will become of it. Not once, but twice. And the second time around, I had to witness one of them getting murdered in my own hands. I had bloodied my hands by killing my own sister, who had loved me, and all because she acted oh so cold towards me as she viciously came at me. All to find out that, in the end, it was because she wanted to believe that I would make it to the end. To push me beyond what I thought were my limits.

“Let's go,” Carlo's voice whispered into my ear. And it was only when I heard his voice that I came to a realization that he had his arms wrapped around my shoulders as he soothingly stroked back of my head. “Your brother's worried about you. We should get back to him so at least his mind will be put at ease.”

“Why?” I breathed. My voice soon rose into an angry screaming as I tried push him away, “Why? Why did I have to save your family while killing my own sister? Why did you have to come too late for me to save her? Why couldn't I save my own family when I was able to save others? Why didn't any of you stop me? Why didn't any of you try and save her before I had to see her die twice before my eyes?”

I didn't even realize that I was beating him weakly at his shoulders, but when I began to slow down and just let the tears out, Carlo gently grabbed my wrists with both hands and held onto them. “You saved them because you were willing to,” he quietly answered after who knows how much time had passed. “And you sacrificed your sister because that's what you thought was right at the given time. You're going to come across paths where you'll have to give up one for another, Zoe. You know this won't be the end of it, and that there are so much more worse that may end up coming our way.” As he put his arms around my shoulders once more, Carlo helped me back up onto my feet as he grunted, “C'mon. Let's get you back to your brother before a fight erupts if the warlocks wake up and tries to engage in another round with us.”

On the way back to the camped area, I remained leaning into Carlo's arms to find comfort in him. There was just something about having to just be in his arms alone that was soothing and all too calming that it was hard to pull myself away. Even in the worst of times, it felt just right to be with him, and the fact that he didn't get angry in return was far more than what I could ever ask for, let alone deserved, from a guy like him.

When we neared the camping grounds, Carlo and I heard Harvey's voice say from off to our right, “Hey, Zoey? Can we talk for a bit?”

As I looked over to where Harvey was standing, Carlo whispered, “Hogosha really wants you to come back as soon as possible. He's worried about you, Zoe.” When I hesitated, he quietly insisted, “And I don't trust that guy. Just come back with me to reassure your brother and that Suh fellow.”

“Can you just wait for me?” I weakly asked. “I promise it won't take long.” When a great amount of hesitation appeared in Carlo's eyes, I pleaded, “Please, Carlo? Just wait for me by the entrance of the camp. I promise I'll join you in just a few minutes.” With a deep inward sigh, he gave a small nod before he tore himself away and went ahead to wait right on the edge of the camp. Walking over to Harvey as wiped my cheeks to make sure they were dry, I hoarsely asked, “What is it, Harvey?”

Looking towards Carlo, Harvey grunted, “Why are you spending so much time with him? It seems odd for you to spend so much time with that guy but not with me.”

“You're at this again?” I tiredly snapped. “He's my partner, Harv. Now knock it off with all the jealousy.”

Harvey sounded extremely irritated as he snapped back in return, “You really think that it's only about that guy that it bothers me? You're never spending much time with me any longer. Not after we started to go out with one another.”

“Because I'm trying to focus on my trainings and on the war!” I exclaimed with disbelief. “You know full well how important all of this is to me! All I ever knew growing up was how it was always unfair for the mortals to live under the ruling of our kind! That they deserve to have their rights that were taken away from them back! For them to live a peaceful life and equally by our side!” I blinked a few times as it suddenly hit me that Harvey didn't seem to care one bit that I was in a horrid mood. Looking at him in complete utter confusion, I breathed, “And I bloodied my hands by killing my own sister. And, yet, all you care about is the fact that I don't spend enough time with you for having to put all my focus on the war as I always have even before I agreed to going out with you.”

A furious look started to come across his face as he said as calmly as he could, “One, all those things that you've stated as reasons to why you haven't been seeing me much? Those aren't reasons. Those are excuses. And secondly, you seem to have the comfort from a guy completely covered. With the way you seemed to be enjoying being with that guy, I guess you're just trying to find excuses to have more guys come to your freaking rescue.”

“Oh, so I'm just making up excuses?” I laughed with disbelief. “So me actually focusing on work that really matters to me are nothing but an excuse? And me having to see one of my family members die, not once but twice, is a way for me to get pity from guys like some whore? You are unbelievable, Harvey. You know that? You're unbelievable. And it only makes you look as pathetic as any guy can possibly come.”

Harvey's face began to turn red with anger as he huffed, “What are you saying?”

“I think I'm saying you apparently didn't think all of this through all the way to the end when you asked me to be your girlfriend,” I calmly told him, and I allowed the words to soak in before he started to look furious and confused at the same time. I turned on my heels and headed towards Carlo when Harvey seemed to be completely lost for words, and upon reaching the male vampire, I didn't look up at him as I quietly said, “I told you it wouldn't take long.”

Carlo's feet swiftly began moving and, walking beside me, his confused voice asked, “Did something happen?”

“No,” I lied. “Everything's just jolly. Can we just get going? I thought you said Hogosha was worried.”

Carlo was quiet and I could feel his eyes burning into me, almost as if he were observing my every move. It took him only half a minute at the bare minimum to say, “Talk to me, Zoe. What happened between you two?”

“I rather talk to Trent over you,” I unintentionally snapped, “so could you just stop trying to get an answer out of me? There are things I rather not talk about with you, and this is one of them.”

And it was as true as the words had come – As much as I was comfortable talking to and with Carlo about pretty much anything and nearly everything, what seemed like a breakup wasn't one thing that I had preferred to talk about. And even if it were, it would always change when it felt as if it were due to being over him. And when being with Trent felt as if being with a brother. But with knowing that I actually did have a blood brother alive, I supposed it was all nothing but what I had to go with what my guts told me. I had no one else as close, and felt that if anyone, of all people, Trent would always be willing to cover for me the way I would be willing to die for him if I had to.

When Hogosha and Chris came into view at the fine line between the war field and the camping area, Chris's voice sounded full of worry when he called, “Suarez! Lady Zoey!”

The two came running over as though there were no tomorrow, Hogosha scolded, “Where did you run off to? After I send you back into the games because you're as stubborn as father and leaving me no breathing room to tell you off, you should know full well how much I worry about you constantly! You shouldn't even be doing things like running off by yourself!”

I began looking around as I quietly asked, “Can I just talk to Trent? Or at least have him here with us? I'd feel better knowing he's somewhere near.”

“I don't really trust that guy,” Hogosha uncertainly told me. “I mean, I know nothing of neither side of his families. And if I'm not mistaken, the Gabriel Convent was never a promising convent in the first place. They're almost always turning their back s on the promises they made.”

At his words I began to get angry, and it wasn't long before I snapped, “If you're saying Trent would stab me in the back, just stop. He's like a brother that I never had growing up, and he's someone I know I can trust with my life. I'm not giving up on him just because a brother that actually was never there doesn't trust him.” I knew I crossed the line by throwing the fact that my own blood brother was never there where as someone that I've barely known was, even if it were by only a couple of months. But the part of me that was still furious with Hogosha didn't want to apologize, and it was almost as if it didn't matter how much I wanted to do so. Inhaling deeply through my nose, I tried to calm myself down as I asked, “Can I just have Trent with me? I really would feel better to have him by my side. And I also have to talk to him as soon as you're done with your little checkup on me.”

With a heavy sigh, I heard Chris murmur to Hogosha, “Just let her be with that Gabriel fellow if you know what's best for her. She's a hard headed woman, and that was the first thing to stand out about her even from the first moment I met her. And with her being your sister, I'm sure you know better than I do that she's not going to budge from where she stands.” Hogosha began to open his mouth to protest, but Chris didn't give my brother the chance of the day to get even a single word out as he smiled warmly at me as he said, “I'll be sure to have that Gabriel fellow here as soon as possible.”

In blink of an eye, Chris had disappeared, almost as if he were never here to begin with, and Hogosha waited a few moments for it to all sink before he heaved a heavy sigh. “Why do you trust Chris Suh and Trent Gabriel so much?”

“Why don't you?” I questioned in return. “Why don't you trust them as I do?”

Snorting, Hogosha questioned, “You've met Luke Suh, haven't you? All the members of the Suh Convent are pretty much like him, which is why I don't trust his brother Chris at all. And that Trent Gabriel? I barely know anything about that guy and if his intentions are in a good place! I don't even know much about his family!

“Well, you won't have to worry about Trent because he's a halfer!” I roared. “If that boy wasn't a halfer, I would probably have my doubts if he were to be a full warlock rather than a full human! Just like I have my doubts about most of the pure blood warlocks after the incident that occurred with Stephen Bilyeo! But guess what, Protector! He's a half blood warlock! The other half is being a damn mortal, and he's been raised damn fine! Want to try and convince me any further on how he's one of the people to doubt, because I'm sure right down to every inch of my bones that he wouldn't dare to try and go up against his mother's kind to keep them under the controls of those of our kind!”

“And how do you know he's a halfer?” Hogosha roared back in return. “And don't tell me that he told you himself! If he had, then newsflash, sis! He could be lying to you just so his life can be spared for just a bit longer!”

Carlo's determined voice sternly said, “He can't lie about his race with vampires right around him.” Hogosha's eyes darted to Carlo at the same time as I turned to face him as the man continued, “Each race has different smell. And that goes for mixed race as well, and it's not that hard once trained well enough to pick them out one by one.”

“And how am I supposed to trust you?” Hogosha sneered. “You're a vampire.”

I sneered in return in Carlo's place, “Because I trust him. And if you trust me, Hogosha, you'll trust my judgment on this man.”

Hogosha tried to laugh, but they only came out as forceful exhales through both his lips and nose as he wagged his index finger at me a few times. His eyes darting around on the ground, almost as if he were searching for answers, he said, “And that I wasn't really expecting to hear. Especially not from you, Lowey Zoey.” Looking up at Carlo with rather a stern look and a deep frown practically etching into his skin, Hogosha warningly told him, “Let harm come to her while I'm not around to protect her, I'll make sure that I'm the one to come after your head personally if not our eldest sister. Understood?”

“I don't think it'll ever come to that,” Carlo replied rather too calmly, “but I don't see why not. She's not important to just you, after all.”

A faint popping sound was heard and Trent's relieved voice soon followed up with the words, “Zoey!” When I turned around, Trent came rushing forward and took hold of my arms in his hands as he questioned, “Are you alright? She didn't hurt you much, did she? Anything I can do to help?”

Without a single moment of thought, I threw my arms around his neck as I breathed, “Trent, thank God you're here.” Taking a small step back with a warm smile, I finally answered all his questions. “I'm fine, and what does it matter now if she's brought me harm? It's done and over at this given point. At least Maria's dead and can't hurt me any longer.” Crinkling my nose, I hesitated on asking, but when I finally had the nerves after a few seconds passing by, “And are you any good with healing? I could really use the help if you can heal up bruises.”

Nodding, Trent told me, “I'm not much of a Healer, but I sure can try in any way possible. It's not a guarantee, though. Just letting you know.”

Shaking my head, I softly remarked, “It's fine. All I can ask of you is to try and help me. We have to pass the time somehow while I talk to you about something.” Looking back at my brother, I asked him, “Did you want to hold me back any longer? Before you decide to threaten my partner again? Or rather either of my partners.”

I wanted to take Carlo and Trent as far away as possible since I knew that the first time Hogosha had warned Carlo not to let any harm come to me was just a lighthearted warning. Now, it was getting far too serious for even Hogosha's own good. And the last thing I wanted was for Hogosha to dance into a territory that I didn't want anyone that I held dear to my heart dancing themselves away into.

“Uh, no,” Hogosha said as look of concern slowly crept on his face again. Before I could get one more word out, let alone start walking away from him, Hogosha grabbed me by the arm and sharply pulled me into a hug. Resting a hand on back of my head as he held me close in the other arm, he whispered sadly into my ear, “I'm sorry for everything, Zoey. I really am. From not having to come search for you ever since surviving when you were just a small kid and all the way to Maria turning against our family's standing in beliefs. I should've been there for you at the very least considering not even Violet was considerate enough, let alone caring enough, to go searching for you.” Leaning back, he brought his hand around from back of my head to my cheek with a soft smile. Hogosha was silent for awhile before he softly smiled at me as he told me in a quiet voice, “You know you're a precious sister to me and that I'll never do anything to hurt you intentionally, right?”

As much as I wanted to hate him, Hogosha was still my brother and there was something about him that I couldn't just quite bring myself to remain angry at him for good. Making a face at him between anger and a pout, I grumbled, “And I'm going to hate your guts to the end.”

“I think I can deal with that,” Hogosha laughed. Planting a kiss on top of my head with a broad smile, he teased, “But it doesn't mean that I'm going to stop loving you. You've always been the precious one to me more so than Maria ever was. And I could care less if you always hated me when I was left in charge to take care of you when mom and dad had to leave for work. And even if you're simply following your instincts, it doesn't mean that I'll stop having my doubts about them every now and then. Just know that if that happens, it's all because it's out of worry for you.” Letting me go as he gave me a gently push towards Trent, he shooed me away, saying, “Now, get going. I'm sure you have a few things to get done.”

Turning on my heels and linking arms with Trent, I quietly told Carlo, “I'll see you back at the base. Feel free to get me if something comes up.” Before Carlo had a chance to protest, I quickly dragged Trent along as I urged barely above a whisper, “C'mon. I want to talk to you.”

When we were far off in a distance, Trent said with a smirk, “I heard Harvey went off on his own to look for you once you took off running.” In a near sing song tone and a broad smile, he chirped in Spanish at first followed by back to English, “Pollo picante! What happened?”

When we were a few yards well into the forest, I let his arm go and leaned back against a tree with a deep frown. “I've told you I didn't really have any boyfriends before, right? Only just major crushes and just a lot of guy friends?” Waving a hand up and down at him, I grunted, “Of course, you being one of them seeing how I can only seem to bring myself to see you as nothing more than a brother figure.”

A frown slowly began to replace the grin as Trent's voice turned serious almost far too abruptly even for him,. He knew something wasn't right just by my words and it didn't take him long to compose himself up right as he crossed his arms, saying, “Talk to me. What happened?”

“Let's just say it's over between me and Harvey,” I remarked. “Plain and simple.”

“Again,” Trent demanded, “what happened?”

Scratching back of my head as I tried to figure out exactly what to say, I tried to phrase my words as carefully as possible when saying, “You know how much fighting for the rights of all is important to me. How I got myself tangled up in all of this, with being in the front lines of the war and all, and with training my ass off for it all.”

“And it's not something that you should be giving up since it's extremely important to you,” Trent remarked thoughtfully.

Nodding, I sighed, “And, of course, Harvey seems to think otherwise. With me training and spending a lot of time focusing on all of this, apparently, it's all nothing but an excuse to avoid him. I would tell him that it's reasons, but in his eyes, it'd be nothing but a lie. He doesn't think that me saying to him that I'm doing all that I'm doing to help others is a good enough of a reason. Actually, he doesn't think that's a reason at all. All nothing but an excuse. He even went as far as saying that having even you around as a friend is nothing but a cover up to have more guys to come to my damn rescue as though I'm a damn damsel in distress whenever I'm in a bad place. Like I'm supposed to be some whore that goes sleeping around with guys left and right.”

“You're gonna have to end it with him if you haven't yet,” Trent urged me. “You're doing everything in the means of helping others that don't have power, and he's only accusing you of giving him excuses when you're doing it all out of reasons. And honestly speaking? I'm only thinking for your sake as a friend and as a brother, but you don't deserve a guy like him.”

Looking down at my feet, I couldn't help but laugh weakly as I asked, “You think so, too, huh?” I looked back up at him with a weak, forced smile. “I told him that he didn't seem to have thought it through before asking me out. Maybe it was for the best by telling him off.”

“You're gonna find a better guy,” Trent assured me. “And to the end, I'll always have your back. That's a promise.” Holding out a hand with a broad smile, he said, “C'mon, partner. Let's get going and back to the camp.”

Just as I began to reach my hand out to him, four explosive sounds rang throughout the place from by the camping area. Instinctively, I turned to look towards the sounds in time to see smokes rising and, beginning to run towards the campsite, I cursed under my breath and didn't wait for Trent to follow. By the time we had reached the war zone area, I brought my hands up roughly. As at least fifty skeletal bodies rose covered in various elements, I roared over to Chris, who was ten yards off to my right, “Who fired first, Suh? One of your men or them?”

“Them!” Chris called back as he threw whatever elements he could muster up to the max power that he possibly could. “But we fired back as defense almost immediately!”

Focusing to control all the risen dead, I threw several water typhoons and electric shots one after another as quickly as I could. I didn't stop to think twice. In fact, I didn't even have time to stop and think things over. All I could do at this point was think about all the kids that were in danger. And more so than just the lives of the children, but also the lives in the world and the future that came with it.

Carlo and I had become the face of it all, and Chris had abandoned his name just as he was disgraced by the Suh Convent at the same time when he decided to team up with me. For the actions that he decided to take, I was forever grateful. And not just grateful – Even in debt. He didn't have to go this far, but, yet, here he was. Fighting by our side against his own brother. And more so than just his brother, some of the men that he had worked with in the military. He had abandoned his own flesh and blood just to help those that didn't have as much power as us in terms of strength of sorcery or thirst for blood.

“Leave half your men here,” I ordered. “Leave with the other half immediately, and take the children and at least half the adult warlocks, mortals and vampires with you!”

Chris sounded rather bewildered when he exclaimed, “Have you lost your mind? I'm not leaving the field and leaving this war all to you!”

“I've lost my mind years ago when I watched my family die, and completely lost it when I murdered my own sister, Suh!” I furiously yelled. “Now do as I say and leave! We need another leader somewhere for the war, and you're the next best in line considering I need Carlo with me and I need Trent around to keep my sanity!”

Chris seemed frustrated and I could sense great amount of hesitancy coming from him. It was a long while before he began to take a few steps back as he took a few quick steps back as he roared, “Black! Code Black! Last Resort! NOW!” Before he used his Transportation spell, he hurriedly called to me, “I wish you the best of luck, Lady Zoey! I'll be back once finding them all another safe place!”

Before I could argue back with the man, he was already gone and the fight was now all left in Carlo's, Trent's, and my hands with help from half of Chris's troop. I felt someone's back up against mine and it didn't take long before I heard Carlo's voice laugh as though he's lost it himself as well. “You've finally gone crazy, haven't you?” he asked. As the sound of a gun firing cracked and rang throughout my ear, he said, “You've actually gone and sent that man away and cut down on the people to fight by half if the kids aren't counted for!”

“Got any other brilliant ideas if it means for the sake of keeping the next generation alive if we win this war?” I asked. “The children need to see another day if they can, Carlo. Even if we go down, at least we know there's a whole set of different generation that can continue to train in secret to continue the fight we started.”

Hogosha and Trent came over and not even missing a heartbeat as the two threw several attacks of their own at point blank towards our enemies, Hogosha blasted several plumes of water as he told me, “I have a plan that can kill at least this group of people all off and reduce our opponents' numbers greatly.”

“But it requires evacuating all those from our side first or it'll just become a whole lot of messy,” Trent hurriedly informed me. “At least in the sense that we'll have a lot of dead on our side and not just for our opposing side.”

Not taking a moment of break in keeping up with the Necromancy, I questioned, “And what might that plan be?”

“How good are you with Water Elementals?” Hogosha questioned back almost far too casually. “It really all depends on that on exactly how successful it all would be.”

“It's as good as it can be,” Carlo and I replied in unison.

Hogosha glanced at us questioningly, but his movements never once stopped. I expected him to question on exactly what we had meant and no matter how long he had waited, the longer we had remained quiet as we tried to focus on our own attacks. Trent sounded rather irritated as he told Hogosha, “She's been training as hard as anyone possibly could. And from what I can tell after the amount of hours that I've spent with her, she may not be in the advanced class as a Water Elementalist, but she's quite close in my personal opinion.”

“And that's not exactly the praise I wanted when I still consider myself an amateur,” I added rather quickly. “Now, what is it? What's going through both your minds?”

I could sense both Hogosha and Trent glancing at each other, almost as if uncertain which of the two should be the one to break the idea on both me and Carlo. But when they finally seemed to have decided, or rather agreed, silently on who should talk, Trent informed us, “Well, this entire place will have to be flooded with water first so that everyone in the area gets soaked.”

“Oh, sure,” I sarcastically remarked. “Drown everyone. I'm sure I've got that amount of power over the water.” I soon exclaimed as I glanced at Trent for a brief moment, “You know I'm only as powerful in water as much as I am in Necromancy, Trent! I can only cast so much water, but so limited at the same time!”

Hogosha hurriedly told me, “Gabriel said he's been trained to use Water Elementals to a certain extent, so he can help you out in that area. But it's not really about drowning them in a flood that we had in mind.”

Carlo and I waited in silence, wanting to hear what it was that the two had in store. I guess I shouldn't have underestimated Trent because he seemed to have taken the hint. The hint that we were waiting, because he was the one to speak rather slowly and uncertainly. “The flood will be followed up with another elemental,” came Trent's voice. “Your brother's elemental.”

It was only then and only then that it had occurred to me that they wanted to use a similar method that I had seen being used before. Hogosha and Trent wanted to eliminate our opponents using water electrocution, the way I had come to believe Violet had been murdered all these years. And knowing that we'd be putting ourselves in risk, or I'd be putting us all in great danger, rather, was the one thing that made me want to go up against it all. Against the entire idea that these two maniacs had planned and in store.

“And if I end up aiming a bit off and getting us all soaked during the process?” I couldn't help but question with a deep frown. “You both know far well that I could end up calculating wrong, and if that's to happen, we can all die here the second the lightening strikes.”

Hogosha urgently told me, “And that's a risk that we'll have to take. It's all matter of whether both you and Suarez are willing to put your lives on the line for it. That is if you decide to take part on the water electrocution.”

Carlo, sensing my hesitancy, hurriedly said, “Do it, Zoe. We've already put our lives on the line when we decided to lead the rebellion. What difference would it make now if we decided to put our lives on even greater gamble with this? We'll end up dying sooner or later, and if it's sooner than we hope for, then it's just the way we'll have to face our end, right?”

Trent and I exchanged glances, followed by a small nod, and we counted down from three the moment a nod was exchanged. The moment we both reached zero, Trent and I roared in unison, “NOW!” and poured the water all around us and, by all the possible luck that we could possibly obtain, we had barely managed to avoid ourselves, Carlo and Hogosha from getting drenched in the downfall of the water.

It was only then that Hogosha roared, “Peacekeepers! Evacuate!”

It wasn't a moment too soon that the warlocks that Chris had left behind acted to take all those that were left behind as well off to safety. Within seconds that were far too quick to count, Hogosha had brought down tremendous amount of lightening bolts all around us, and all the area that were soaked soon rang out with electricity. If anyone that was soaked wasn't hit with a lightening strike, then they were surely electrocuted due to the water that ran throughout the place, causing them to be finished off as well during the process.

However, the one thing that I hadn't put much thought into was how it would affect me with all the dead still being left in the wide open. More so than not having thought through it all, it was more of the fact that I didn't even exactly know how Necromancy worked. At least not until not even all of the skeletons were hit with the lightening. I felt all the electricity running through my own bones and my skin began to tingle from top of my scalp all the way down to my toes. Feeling my mouth drop open, I wanted to let out a scream of agony but as much as my body would allow it was feeling my eyes widening. It wasn't long before I felt as if my body would explode into thousands of pieces, almost as if there was a dynamite that somehow had been planted deep down withing my body would go off at any given moment.

When I hit the ground, I didn't feel a single thing, but rather saw the ground bobbing up and down. It was only when I saw the ground move up and down and seeing the line of what people would consider the edge of the earth, and knew I was lying on my side when that line was horizontal. It took passing of at least half a minute before I began to gain my feelings back, shortly followed by my hearing. I hadn't even come to realize it until I saw Carlo's face and it was then when the feelings began to come back as he put an arm under and around my shoulders. It didn't take him long to hold me up to allow me to sit up straight, and the hearing all slowly started out with Trent's voice frantically crying out, “Talk to us, Zoey!” Trent's face soon came into view as well as his worried eyes looked straight into mine as he pleaded, “Can you hear us or not? Just a small movement! Or even just a faint sound will do!”

Carlo's free hand moved past my head and I could sense him grabbing something or someone as he growled furiously, “If she dies, I'll make sure you pay with your own blood! She's your sister, and she may have agreed to follow through with your plans, but you should've at least known how Necromancy Class affects the user!”

I soon began to drift off into the darkness as I heard Hogosha's voice roar, “I knew just as much as you all did! And you guys are at just as much fault for not looking into it either! I've had just as much limited time as you guys did to call free time!”

Suddenly, everything felt so distant. Almost as though I was finally detached from all the worldly worries and the further I found myself drifting off into the deeper darkness, the more I found myself relaxed. I felt as if no more earthly harms could come upon me. But it was when I realized that if I were to let myself go now, I would never get to see all those I truly cared for ever again. And it truly only at that very realization that I sprung up into a sitting position as I gasped sharply for air, and the moment I opened my eyes, I had found myself greeted by utter darkness.

I felt something soft under my hands, let alone my entire body, with something fluffy and warm to cover my body. It may have taken awhile for my mind to process, but slowly but surely, when I began to become more and more alert, it clicked in my mind that I was in a bed. Why was it that I was drawing but nothing but complete blank on everything between falling onto my knees after I felt as though the electricity had rang throughout my body and now? More so than the wondering exactly what happened in those moments of complete blank, I couldn't help but wonder exactly where I was.

My head was lightheaded as I struggled to push the blanket aside and, struggling out of the bed, I weakly called to best of my abilities, “Carlo? Trent?”

I stumbled forward with my hands stretched out forward and the moment I felt the cold stone wall against my bare palms, I managed to find my way towards the door. Opening the door once finding the knob, I swung the door open and stumbled out into the brightly lit hall. I squinted my eyes at the sudden bright light from the light bulbs after being in the dark for who knows how long and without second thought, I took off sprinting down the hall. I nearly fell a few times as I tried to find my balance, and as I ran down the hall, I tried to figure out by my surroundings exactly where I was placed.

Quickly moving over to one of the walls and leaning against it on my side, I desperately called with a bit of fear, “Where are you, Carlo? Trent, come back! Where are you guys?” A few people in both rich light pink silky robes and medical robes came rushing forward, and as fear grew from deep inside of me, I screeched, “Get away from me! Where are my partners? I want my partners!”

I turned to try and run back down the hall, but I felt a pair of arms quickly wrapping around my shoulders as an all too familiar voice exclaimed, “JoBeth! Calm down! They're alive! Your partners are alive! The Game Master made sure they remained alive!” Just hearing the old familiar voice of Mike Mueller was enough to nearly calm me right down.

“Michael,” I breathed as I clung tightly onto his white medical gown. Half closing my eyes as I tried to calm myself down, I murmured in a bit of a panic, “Where am I, Mike? Where's Carlo and Trent? Are they all alright? What about Chris? What happened?”

As he leaned back to look me over, he calmly told me, “Quit your yammering. You're in the hospital right now. That vampire and that Gabriel friend of yours brought you in, and one of the Game Master that's in on the fight was with them. As for the Christopher Suh fellow, he came in not long after you were brought in.”

I couldn't help but look around frantically as I tried to hold myself up to fend off any and all that tried to attack, I demanded, “And these warlocks? Why are they here? I thought you said you didn't want to have to involve anyone of the hospital, or yourself, in the war.”

“They're actually part of the medical staff,” Mike informed me regretfully. “I thought all the staff of the hospital were like us.” There was a short pause before he corrected himself to say, “Like me, I mean. But that being asides the point, I didn't know they were warlocks. In Healing Class at that. I didn't really understand why all the patients were healing a little faster than they should have, until you and the vampire announced that you two will pretty much leading the rebellion. In hopes, they all began to step out into the light one at a time. And we're still not involved directly in the war. It's more of the fact that the hospitals are all mutual ground where no warlock is allowed to fire an attack at the vampires, mortals, and the half-bloods. In exchange, anyone and everyone that's trying to bring the corruption to an end and bring peace to the world isn't allowed to attack any of the vampires on the opposing side.”

I stared up at him from the others with disbelief as I hissed, “You agreed to help the ones that wants to keep you guys suppressed? You're willing to help them and restore their health?”

“It was the only way they would agree to make sure they didn't bring any harm to my staff,” Mike apologetically explained. “I had no choice, JoBeth. My staff has done no wrong and I want to make sure that they are kept at safety. And it's not like they're the only ones to get the benefits of it all. They're also working against their own wills by helping those warlocks.”

I couldn't help but screech up at him with all the energy I had, “And it's having to work for them that we're fighting for, Michael! Can't you see that? We're trying to fight for freedom and equality of all!”

Chris's voice called from down the hall behind me, “Lady Zoey!” I heard several rapid footsteps ringing throughout the place and, just as I turned towards the sound of his voice, Carlo, Trent, Hogosha and Chris all came running up tome. Upon reaching me, Chris asked as he panted slightly, “Are you alright? We heard you yelling.”

“No, I'm not alright!” I screeched at him. “Why don't you just as Michael,” I began to say as I turned sharply to face my friend, but just when I did, he and all those that were with him were gone. And with them the tall clean walls were as well and to replace them were smashed down burnt walls and rooms all around me. I couldn't help but blink with utter confusion before I slowly said, “They were all just here. What happened to this place? Where did they all go? Why is this entire place burnt down and destroyed? It was perfectly fine just a moment ago!”

All four men seemed very hesitant about answering, but when Carlo decided to speak, he started off with the question, “Who, Zoey? Who are you talking about?”

“Michael!” I yelled tearfully. “Michael Mueller! You met him a couple of times, Carlo! He was right here!” Turning to face them, I felt tears streaming down my cheeks. “Mike was right here! Telling me that all of you were alright! That this was a mutual ground between our side and the warlocks that want to keep your kind and mortals under our control! Where is he, Carlo? Tell me where he is! I was just talking to him, and I want to know where he went and what happened here!”

Carlo calmly walked over to me to wrap one arm around my shoulders and his free hand behind my head. With a tinge of regret in his voice, he whispered into my ear, “I'm sorry we weren't able to get here in time to save your friend, Zoe. The others killed him off when finding no more use for him and the hospital when fearing that the hospital will stop giving the warlocks medical treatments.”

As I felt his hold become more firm as Carlo held me tighter against himself, I tried to control my tears as I screeched in a muffle against his chest, “Where is he? Where's Michael?”

“We buried his body for you already in case you wouldn't be able to take it.” Carlo's voice was filled with pain, almost as if he felt sorry for me over the fact that I lost a friend and for the fact that it was only getting tough to lose those close to me left and right.

“How was I able to talk to him as if he were right here, then?” I demanded through the tears. “Why was I able to talk to Mike if he's really dead?”

Chris stepped forward as he uncertainly asked the others, “Can you all give the two of us some space? There are things that I want to explain to her on why no warlock in the past has really attempted to get into Necromancy Class. Seeing even Sir Hogosha didn't seem to be aware of how the class fully functioned, I do believe she deserve to know as a Necromancer. And I'd prefer to inform her in private and try to explain it to her in a way she won't overreact if the rest of you try and say things that may set her off unintentionally.”

Carlo and Trent both looked at me hesitantly as Carlo took a small step aside, and there was a doubtful look on Hogosha's face. It was almost as if none of them were certain about leaving me all alone with Chris. “Go,” I told all Carlo, Trent and Hogosha off in a nearly hushed tone. “I want to hear what he has to say, and I'll call for help if he begins to attack the way Bilyeo did when he turned against me.”

Trent seemed uncertain about leaving me all alone and his tone of voice said it all when he asked, “You sure? One of us can stay with you if you want.”

“Go,” I repeated. “I'll be fine. If not, you guys can come running back at any given time, and I won't complain.”

Trent and Hogosha uncertainly began to walk away, but Carlo continued to remain by my side. As his arm that rested around my shoulders slowly slid down my back to my waist level, he murmured to me, “You sure about this? You're not in good condition, Zoe.”

I couldn't help but smile up at him softly as I replied, “Go, Carlo. If Chris does attack me and I survive it all, you have my full permission to scold and yell at me to whatever necessary extent. Alright?” With great amount of hesitation, Carlo walked away and the last thing I had managed to catch in his eyes were glimpse of doubt, almost as if he didn't want the accident with Bilyeo to happen all over again. When even Carlo had gone out of sight after Hogosha and Trent, I felt the smile upon my face slowly fall. Turning my attention to Chris, I asked, “So exactly what is it about Necromancy Class do you have to tell me about that not even Hogosha seemed to be aware of? The things about the class that even both Carlo and I overlooked when I began to train to become a Special through that area?”

“Necromancy is a bit of a complicated class,” Chris informed me. “Complicated in ways that not many warlocks are willing to do it because of the payments that need to be made at any given times of having to perform the spells. I mean, of course, it surely is a class that's extremely hard to master, but the main reason is due to the risks that need to be made and the chances needing to be taken.” He stretched out a hand to me as he suggested, “Why don't we sit down? It may take awhile for me to explain it all.”

As I took his stretched out hand and walked by his side to wherever Chris would have led me, I asked, “What could we Necromancers possibly sacrifice? I mean, sure, with nearly all classes, there's at least one risk that needs to be taken. But what could Necromancy possibly have as a risk to the user?”

Chris had a frustrated look on his face, almost as if he didn't know which words he should have been putting together to explain. It wasn't until he led me into a room that wasn't nearly as destroyed as majority of the building that he had motioned for me to sit down on the bed in middle of the room. Just like the building, the walls were nearly all burnt, but at least it was in better condition than majority of the building seemed to be in.

After pacing around for a bit, Chris slowly told me, “Necromancy is a complicated work. Whenever it's performed, the user is immediately connected to the dead. Not just physically, to sort of speak, but also mentally and spiritually to a certain degree. The two and two go together hand in hand, and whenever the dead that are brought back from the grave are attacked, then the user will get affected as well. I supposed what I'm trying to say is that the bones of those dead can pretty much be considered as the bones of the Necromancer. Meaning when you conjured those dead back and they were stricken with lightening, you were affected along the process.” As he scratched back of his head with a weak laughter, Chris said, “I supposed I'm just going in circles with all this.”

He came to a halt in his pacing before he looked towards me with a small frown. There was a deep, heavy sigh coming from deep within his chest, almost as if he were uncertain of how to continue. It was apparent that there was a direct point to all this that he wanted to get to, and I wanted to make sure before I jumped to the conclusion of what I thought he was trying to say. Out of bit of frustration, I asked under my breath, “What are you trying to say?”

“In general, I guess what I'm trying to say is that as long as the Necromancer uses their powers to bring back the dead, they have to pay a price directly as well,” Chris sighed. “Even if they're not brought back to life without their consciousness, the user and the dead are always going to be connected to the degree that the dead gets hit, the user will be affected as well. Meaning the more that the conjurer brings back, the bigger of a target that they'll be leaving themselves as. Meaning when the dead were hit with that lightening after being soaked, you were lucky that your heart didn't seem to get affected directly. You barely managed to get out alive, and the very fact that you did manage to live is a miracle. Especially considering the electricity could have easily jumped from your bones straight to your heart.”

“Are you saying I got out of it by pure luck?” I questioned with disbelief.

Nodding, Chris remarked, “That's what I'm saying. I've had a few Necromancers come into the Attack and Defense Territory, and believe when I say that majority of those that managed to come in never was lucky. Majority of them died during the training hours, and the few that had never gone as far as the grave danger, I saved.”

“How many Necromancers came and how many died?” I questioned.

I wanted to know exactly how lucky I was compared to others in terms of survival. Above all else, exactly how many Necromancers there originally were to start off with after who knew how many generations had passed since the last large numbers of them had passed on. And it was just that which had given me fear of how high of a risk in danger that I placed myself in the moment I decided I wanted to go into a class that I never thought was dangerous.

Chris seemed full of uncertainty on telling me the exact numbers, but it was clearly written in his eyes that even he knew I deserved to know. That I had to know what my chances were if something like this were to happen again on the battlefield. Slowly, he informed me, “At first, I had twenty on board. After approximately two months of passing, sixteen of them died in a similar incident. Most of those sixteen by water electrocution. A few by burning. But no matter by which of the two incidents, it were all from the internal burnings, and it were all starting with the bones.”

“So it was a eighty percent chance that I could have died?” I breathed.

It must have been apparent to even him that I wasn't paying attention to majority of his words, because his following words were, “Yeah. And with the way majority had died through water electrocution, you could have died just the same.”

I tried to process all of this, and it wasn't long before I wanted to know exactly who few of the other Necromancers were. And before I could bring myself to a halt, I found myself asking, “Would it be possible for you to give me the names of other Necromancers?”

“Three of them were triplets, but all they wanted to be called by were by the names of Hope, Charity, and Loyalty. Odd for two women and one man, but quite the three man team. The fourth person was a Gabriel. I never had the chance to learn his first name, but quite the fighter.” Chris suddenly looked curious as he asked, “Do you have any reasons for wanting to know?”

I shook my head as I questioned, “The triplets didn't happen to tell you their surname, have they?” I couldn't help thinking about the ones that claimed to be of Yukimura Convent as well, and became curious to whether the two sets of triplets were somehow connected or not.

“Sadly, they disappeared before I even had the chance,” Chris informed me. “They were very unique Necromancers, though. One of the two girls were a Healing Necromancer while the other was a Water Necromancer. The male, however, decided to go down the path of a Flaming and Lightening Necromancer.”

If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed that it truly was no other than Christopher, Kris and Christine Yukimura themselves. Until I got my answer from them directly the next time I saw them, if I ever saw them ever again, I didn't want to have to assume for certain. And with that, I didn't ask any further questions as I muttered, “So I'm only at twenty percent chance of actual survival in all this if I use Necromancy?” Chris regretfully nodded in response, but there was no verbal response coming from him. For now, that's all I had to go with as I got up with a heavy inward sigh with a question coming out barely above a whisper, “Do the others know? Carlo, Trent and my brother, that is.”

“I've informed the Hogosha gentleman, but the other two,” Chris replied, “I haven't had the pleasure nor the chance to do so yet. I wanted you to be the one to decide on whether you preferred for it to be either one of us or your brother to inform them.”

Getting up on my feet, I quietly requested, “Could you tell them for me? I don't think I can do it myself.” Chris merely gave me an understanding nod and nothing more, and it was then and only then that I looked past him to see Mike once more. With wide eyes, I barely managed to breath, “Mike?”

“Avenge them,” Mike's voice pleaded. He seemed to be standing so close with being just directly behind Chris. Yet, his voice sounded so distant. “Avenge them, JoBeth,” he pleaded once more. “Avenge their deaths for me. My staff didn't deserve to die. None of the staff members in this hospital did. Avenge them and bring this world the peace that everyone deserves.”

It wasn't a moment too soon before Mike's body disappeared as I felt the blood drain away from my face. And, sure enough, it didn't take Chris too long to ask with his voice full of concern, “Lady Zoey? Are you alright?”

Laughing uncertainly and nervously, I pointed behind him as Mike began to fade away as I demanded, “Don't tell me that you can't see or hear Mike. He's standing right behind you!”

With a small frown, Chris seemed uncertain of how to break the news to me at first. To be more precise, however, he seemed far more lost for words than anything. It was when he finally seemed to have found his voice that I was shocked as he said, “We've told you. He's dead. If you see him and anything or anyone else that was here before this entire place got brought down by the others, then it just means that it's just a mere sign.”

“A sign?” I repeated with confusion and disbelief. “A sign of what? Insanity?”

Chris made a face that said, 'Not quite,' but the words to come out of his lips were, “Some would say that, I supposed. But it's not sign of insanity. It's more of a sign indicating the level of Necromancy either beginning to reach or at the near end of mastering the class in the advanced placement. Some would also consider it to be a mere side effect of having practiced it for either long period of time or extremely hard. Either way, at the near mastered point. If not nearly mastered, then at the beginning point of doing so. It's never been quite clear in terms of which point because even in the past, that all always have been different from one Necromancer to another when there were handful of them roaming around.”

“But why the dead?” I questioned. “Is it just all in the head of the Necromancer in terms of what they want to hear the dead say or is it all really actual interaction that we Necromancers are able to have? The actual conversations and sense of touch, I mean.”

Chris seemed quite uncertain, and it was clear in his obvious hesitancy, but the words did come after what seemed like an eternity. “That's what's never really been clear to any of the warlocks in the past. Not even the Necromancers and those of Medics Class. After awhile, it's just been a theory of all that for Necromancers, it's merely a sixth sense. Like that ability the lead child protagonist had in the movie The Sixth Sense from far more than three millenniums ago.”

“What do you mean?”

Chris inwardly sighed rather heavily as he explained, “The story of that certain movie goes that the boy has the ability to see the dead. Even as far as being able to interact with them. However, one of the dead that he doesn't fear is a man that neither side seems to be aware is actually dead. Now, the reason to why that boy didn't bring himself to a halt, let alone keep a distance, away from this dead man was because not even the boy realized that this adult was actually a ghost. And as much as I hate to give the spoilers to it all, the man wasn't able to go onto the next life was because there were still regrets left, hence remaining on earth as a spirit. If the assumptions made in the past that's still be assumed to be true today is truly correct, then it just may as well as be the fact that it may be for that exact reason. Those that are dead that any and all Necromancers are able to see are actually just spirits of those that can't move onto the next world. Those that still hold grudges or regrets. Holding onto something that they can't let go of. And as for the full restoration of the buildings destroyed that remains as undamaged when seen, like you did when you saw this Mike Mueller fellow and all the other dead, then it may be that they were simply showing you the last thing that they want to recall to hold true to being peaceful moments before their death. Perhaps the way they want to remember it when they had shown it to you. Although, I do repeat, it's all a theory revolving around the spirits that are bound to earth that can't move on.”

Covering my face as I inhaled deeply, I asked barely above a whisper, “And exactly how do you know all this?”

“I've done all my research on every class in existence so I could decide on by which areas of expertise I should go into a Special as,” Chris remarked with a shrug. “Necromancy did get me curious by quite a lot and interested when studying, but just didn't seem worth it if it had meant the sacrifice of seeming to have sanity in the eyes of others.”

I closed my eyes rather slowly as I allowed the words to slowly come rolling off the tip of my tongue, “Could I trust you for your words to be true?”

“If they're not,” Chris earnestly replied, “you and the others have the full rights to kill me off with your own hands. Betraying your trusts is the last thing I wish if it means for the sake of peace in this world.” With an outstretched hand and a broad, warm smile, Chris nodded towards the destroyed wall, saying, “C'mon. Let's get back to the three gentlemen before they start getting the wrong idea that something's happened to you.”

Just as I took his hand with a smile and got up on my feet, I felt something slightly warm and wet splatter all across my face. The smile on Chris's that slowly turned into a frown with lips slightly parted brought a deep frown upon my own. I was soon filled with horror when I saw blood streaming down from the corner of his lips as he barely manage to utter the words, “Save yourself, Lady Zoey.”

When I scanned my eyes down his body, I could see a bloodied blade sticking out from Chris's stomach and, as his body fell limp, stood Luke right behind the man that I could for once trust since Bilyeo's betrayal. With a mix of angered look and a grin of insanity on Luke's face, he sneered at me, “It's all your fault that my brother had to die, Yukimura. Just like it was your fault that your sister died.”

“You bastard!” I screeched and I didn't hesitate to conjure up the dead. I had completely forgotten about all that Chris had told me about Necromancy and the risks that came with it for that given moment. Of the twenty I brought back, I divided water, fire, earth and electricity equally among the dead bodies. Sending four to five at a time from various directions, tears began to blur my vision slightly as I screamed, “You killed an honest man! You killed your own flesh and blood! He didn't do anything to deserve his death! He didn't deserve to die before the end of this war!”

As Luke did his best to fight off all the bodies covered in various elementals, he roared, “And one of my best women didn't deserve to die, either! But you don't seem to give a damn about kill her off!”

“She only made it seem to be against me so that she could free herself from your reign!” Hogosha's voice roared angrily as lightening struck all around us. A few struck by Luke's feet and the pieces of the ground flew all around. As Hogosha struck a few more lightening bolts down once more, he furiously yelled, “But at least your brother fought for what's right with courage in ways that our sister Maria never did nor had!”

All around Luke was the earth covering him in protection, and when we managed to bring the ground down back to the earth, we found Luke gone. He had used teleportation and before us, lying lifeless on the ground, was Chris with wide eyes staring straight up at me. Covering my mouth as I waked over to the lifeless body before crouching down next to it, I tearfully breathed as Trent and Carlo came rushing over, “I'm sorry, Chris. I'm so sorry.”

“Zoey?” Trent's voice asked in a hush. When I looked up at him, Carlo and Hogosha. Carlo looked as though he was in shock, and Hogosha turned away with his eyes closed and pained look coming across his face. As Trent took cautious steps towards me, he worriedly asked, “Are you okay, Zoey?”

Through the tears, I screamed unintentionally up at my dear friend, “He's dead, Trent! He's freaking dead! I killed my own sister! A man that I could actually trust but doubted instead far more than half the time died trying to aid us in this war!”

Trent knelt down in front of me and, silently, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and brought me into a close hug. I tried to control my sobbing, but when my body kept shaking through the tears, Trent uncertainly went, “Quack?”

Through the sobbing, I started laughing a bit as I stared at Trent strangely. Looking at Trent with confusion, the words soon followed from my lips, “What the hell? I'm upset about Chris's death and 'quack' is all you have to say?”

“Well, it got a bit of a laughter out of you,” Trent remarked with a small shrug. As he moved his hand over Chris's eyes to close them, he quietly suggested, “Now, why don't we bury the man before we move on over to where all he brought the second group.”

As Trent helped me up onto my feet, I mumbled, “I only barely managed to laugh at how stupid you sounded.”

“And I'll take that laugh at any given day,” Trent remarked. Handing me over to Carlo, he added, “And you don't have to stick around with us for Suh's burial if it'll make you put you at an unease, Zoey.”

I hesitated about answering. As I looked down long and hard at Chris's lifeless body, I didn't want to have to stick around for the burial of a man I had just witnessed getting murdered. But the part of me that did to pay him the respects that he deserved, especially from someone like myself, wanted to do something else with the now cold dead body that lay across the ground. Finally managing to look away from the dead body, I closed my eyes and painfully planted my lips against Carlo's shoulder with a mutter, “Let's incinerate his body into ashes. When we manage to bring peace to this forsaken world, if it's alright with you guys as well, I want to be able to scatter his ashes into the wind.”

As Carlo wrapped an arm around my shoulder, he breathed into my hair, “Is that what you really want, Zoe? We probably can respect it if it is since we didn't let you see your friend's burial.”

“That's what he deserves,” I answered with a small nod. “To have his ashes scattered in a peaceful world. If you guys wouldn't give me a chance to actually do the same for Michael, then at least give me the chance to do this for Christopher. Those that are at least decent of the Suh Convent should at least deserve to have at least that done for him.”

Hogosha went over and knelt down next to the lifeless body as he requested, “Suarez, do us a favor seeing not many of his men will trust me nor my words?” When Trent, Carlo and I all looked at him curiously, Hogosha's voice was soft as he said, “Go tell those under his command that he is dead and that you, Zoey, and Gabril will be taking full charge and responsibilities in his place. And tell them that the cremation will start in half an hour for those that wishes to attend the process. Let alone have final words to say either on this man's behalf or about this man himself.”