Take care of it [cw]

He had been basically walking in circles these past weeks, staying cooped up in the apartment that seemed like the safest place to be. He didn’t know what to think or do, and having his sister there made a risk. A risk that she could be chosen to take out whatever nasty thing Cetas was plotting for him. He didn’t want his little sister to get hurt for his own acts, but at the same time she refused to leave him. It seemed like she had gotten along well with Darren, playing some weird mind game she had made up. Emma had tried explaining it, but he was honestly too stupid to even comprehend it. His sister was bright, no doubt about it, but she had always chosen to dumb herself down. Where they were from, smarts got you no-where but in trouble with other kids your age. He sighed, clicking with a lighter that was empty. The small stone inside was almost wasted away now, because he had been spinning the small wheel the whole morning. He had written Cetas a couple of times, never getting a reply and it made him even more frustrated. Darren had been seeing Cetas, Ethan knew that, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask his friend to act as a mediator. Darren had said it himself, that they needed to sort it out by themselves.

”I’m glad I can’t read his thoughts,” Emma whispered looking with a teasing grin to Darren. She liked Darren, rather chill guy that seemed to play along to her small games. She couldn’t tell if he hated the games or actually liked them, but it didn’t matter much to her. Ethan had kept her on pretty much a leash, not allowed out after dark and requesting to know where she was every hour. Emma couldn’t say she knew all that went on, but her ability had started to finish it’s puzzle. Breathing in she got up from the floor where she had been playing a card game of solitaire. It was boring, but it was all she could do besides check her phone for the hundreth time. ”I’m going for a walk,” she said, rolling her eyes and looked to Darren. *Wanna come with?* she asked in her thoughts, loud to get him out of his own thoughts.

The weeks had been torment for Darren, ingesting pills more often in the apartment, which he wasnt that used to. But just hearing Ethan's wild thoughts bounce around the walls with worry, sadness or anger would be enough to stress Darren out and make the air feel thick as fog. He had tried to get a hold of Cetas as well, but the dude was apparently busy with whatever. Darren had gotten angry, as what could make the souldemon too busy to answer a simple text? When will she be back? How was that a complicated question that couldnt be answered in a second. Meeting with Cetas had been just as frustrating, the guy acting like nothing was wrong. Darren had lost his cool once, gone off in a slander about how this was all bullshit. Cetas had calmed him down again, but told him he didnt know anything yet. Darren had thought of just seeking out Samuel himself, ask him what the fuck was up, but after thinking about it long and hard, Darren didnt really feel like dying yet.
Darren turned his eyes to Emma as she whispered at him, scoffing before he shook his head with a bit of a sad smile, right before he looked back at Ethan with a worried expression. He wasnt sure he had ever seen him like this, it was odd. But frankly, with Cetas being completely unreachable was also something odd. Usually they would know within a day when she'd be back and if they were to expect her to be in a bad shape. But this was like some sort next level radio silence, "Alie, he's tapped in the head" he said
He looked to Emma again as she said she was going for a walk, scrunching his face as she asked him if he wanted to come too. He could use the fresh air, seeing Ethan's thoughts and emotions and memories like this was just like being in a loud crowd of thoughts, mostly because they were buds and he didnt want him to be like this. He stood up, scratching his neck, "Blud, allow it, yeah? It's not worth it to be all this caught up," he said as he walked over to Ethan and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze, "Innit, she's a strong gal, yah? We know 'er, she's our gal," he said, trying to sound optimistic despite his own worry.
Before he went, he stood for a while, looking at Ethan as he searched for some sort of acknowledgement of his optimism. With or without it, he went, that being with a hopeful smile or a defeated expression. He just wanted to see Ethan smile again, but knew that wouldnt happen without Vanessa coming back. He rubbed the top of his head, fiddling with the pills he had gotten from her, looking at them, "Soon I'll be tapped too," he mumbled as he popped two in his mouth, looking at the remaining pills. He closed his eyes and sighed. Going out without the pills was pure hell, "He's never been dis into a gal, I swear," he said outside, looking back up at the apartment.

Ethan looked to Darren with an apologetic look in his eyes, yet he couldn’t find any words to say. He was in a bad shape, only eating when Emma literally forced it down his throat. He couldn’t eat or sleep. ”Fuck,” he mumbled to himself, biting his lower lip as he spun the lighter again, this time with no sound. The small rock inside had been wasted away, so now the small wheel could run freely. He tossed the lighter across the floor. ”I know she’s strong, aight? I’m the fucking weak one, yeah,” he said in a frustrated tone. Why couldn’t he function? He had been losing his mind since she had to leave, feeling like this whole ordeal was his fault. If he had shut his mouth, she would’ve been here, laughing or smiling at something stupid he would say. He scratched his scalp, trying once more to calm down, but it seemed like he couldn’t. Emma and Darren went to leave, and he honestly didn’t blame them. He would go out too, if it wasn’t because he hoped she would come in through the door in a matter of minutes with some story about what had been going on. Ethan shook his head, looking down as he pulled at his dark hair, hoping it would inspire something. He could do nothing. Literally nothing and for all he knew, she could be hurting.

Emma moved to the street, looking around and grabbing one of her locks to place it behind her ear. ”I feel bad for calling her a link,” she said with a frown before she shrugged and moved down the street. The wind was mild today, but she was glad she was wearing her jacket regardless. She turned her blue eyes to look at Darren, frowning at the thought of him hurting too. Weird how you could care for people you had barely known, but Ethan liked him, that much was clear to her. ”I kno I’m just his stupid sister, but I ’aven’t seen him like this before,” she said looking ahead, keeping her head clear of thoughts for a while. ”I trust she’ll be back, but from what I’ve gathered the puzzle isn’t adding up,” she said frowning. Her mind worked in a weird way, she knew that, but usually she could solve things like this with a solution within an hour. But the missing piece hadn’t shown up yet, making her more fidgetty, playing with a button on her jacket. ”I thought I was coming down to just hang wiv ma brother – turns out I’m in one of those murder mystery novels,” she said shaking her head at the thought. She looked to Darren, fidgetting with the button as her eyes just studied his face. He was handsome, in his own kind of way, or at least to her. She chuckled a bit and sighed, looking forward again as she placed her hands into fists and stuffed them in her pocket, making sure she wasn’t fidgeting. ”Maybe I could try and seek out that Cetas fella,” she suggested with a shrug. Ethan would kill her for it, but Cetas wouldn’t really know who she was. ”Use me as bait to get information about her sounds like a thing that would work,” she said. Emma didn’t really care if Darren objected, because in her mind it was something that could work.

He shook his head and pulled a sad face. He didnt know what to say, he wasnt the type of guy who said the right things to boost the optimism he had been fishing for. He gulped and shifted between Ethan's eyes, even though he wasnt looking at him. "You stay put bruv, yeah? Dont go be a wasteman, yeah? None of it," he said before he went to leave with Emma.
"I mean I didnt even know he was really 'tis into 'er, I just thought he was on with the chirpsing, yeah, not trying to be her fucking hubz or anything," he said with a little smile, shrugging. He had honestly thought that the times he had picked up on Ethan's emotions regarding Vanessa, that it was yet another skirt chasing. But now he knew it wasnt quite like that. And despite how he felt for Vanessa, it wasnt worth being mad over them being together when Ethan was this affected by her being gone. "Man's just wanna see him smile and be bennin at some dumb shite I say," he added after a long pause, sighing deeply.
He nodded at her words and wasnt sure what to say. "Man's vexed on this beef going on between 'em," he said as he scratched his temple looking ahead. He looked at her and nodded at her words. There was something weird about this time, something that didnt seem quite right. Why wouldnt Cetas know of it? Either he did and lied, or he truly didnt, but the fucker was keeping his cards close, like they were glued to his body or something. He chuckled at her words and nodded, "A bad time to show up innit," he agreed as he shrugged.
"Get ya messed up in these tingz like Ethan wouldnt bash ma fooking 'ead in? Allow it, allow it," he said with a raised eyebrow shaking his head. "Cetas is my bruv, but he aint getting anywhere near ya, ya get me?" he said quite sternly as he looked at her with serious eyes. There was no way he was going to let her meet Cetas, not under these circumstances. Who knew what he would do once he found out that Ethan's sister was here. He was too unpredictable for such a risk. "Nah, I gotta go sort it," he then said as he rubbed his forehead. He wasnt sure he would get anything out of the demon, he was way more secretive than Vanessa used to be - He only ever told them what he wanted them to know, not letting anything slip up. The closest they had come was Ethan noticing how he treated Eilish around Samuel's house, but that was it. It made him wonder how well he knew this guy that was supposed to be one of his closest friends.
"The wanker has more secrets than the fucking Illuminati," he said in a frustrated tone as he walked. He looked ahead and let his hand fall down to his sides. He sighed to himself and shook his head, "This giving air shite is extra, innit. Cetas kno' how madly in love the mandem is,". He walked for a bit before he rubbed his stomach with his hand, "Man's is marvin," he mumbled as he then looked at her, "Fancy a bite?" he asked with a small smile.

Emma giggled at his words, nodding and just agreeing. It was weird seeing her usually charming and boyish brother being on the breaking point. She had never seen him like this. Of course she had seen him frustrated about their homelife, but he had solved that by running off and living on the street until police found him and brought him home. She sighed at that memory, frowning as she knew he was only like this because he felt lost. Lost in love or lost in his inability to help Vanessa, she couldn’t tell. Maybe a bit of both if she was being honest. It was nice to hear that Darren actually cared for Ethan. It made her a bit more relaxed about not having visited her brother before now. She placed an arm around his shoulders, giving him half a hug, just as some sort of thanks for being there for her brother when she clearly hadn’t. She let go of his shoulder, chuckling at his comment. It was a bad time to show up, but she had gotten off from her school, summer had started and she had worked her ass off to get a train ticket to Gaia. She let go of him slowly, not really wanting to admit that she probably shouldn’t be so handsy with her brother’s friend.

Of course Darren wouldn’t agree to her getting into things, but to be fair her and Ethan didn’t look all that much alike. Well they did, but only when they were placed next to each other. ”I’m offering my help, why is everyone in this world so fecking stubborn and proud?” she said in a groan, stomping her foot as she walked. Sometimes she could act like a child with a temper tantrum, but it was only because she was trying to keep her temper under control. ”Let me atleast go wiv ya, eh?” she said scratching her scalp with both hands, ruffling up her brown hair and making it look messy. ”I bet ya a tenner that I could read him,” she said, raising an eyebrow at Darren as a dare. Her ability made her incredibly well at detecting minor things, things that any other creature wouldn’t pick up on. ”Please, I just wanna do sumthing, aight?” she said with almost a begging in her voice. They walked for a while and she couldn’t  help but smile when he suggested grabbing something to eat. ”I could eat,” she said, nodding as if she was considering it, but she had already made up her mind. Darren was easy to be around. Maybe it was because her brother was a mess and she knew no-one else in the city, but Darren was a great guy. She stopped at a shop, looking at the small signs to see if she wanted anything.

They went in, getting a seat by the window. Emma liked looking out, spotting the different people on the street, trying to figure out where they were going solely based on her intuition. ”I’ll have the large veggie burger, no tomatoes tho, and a truckload of chips and mayo dip,” she said as the waiter came over. ”Oh! Fuck! And a Sprite,” she exclaimed as she wanted something to drink as well. When Darren had made his order she started tapping on the table with her fingers. Always with the fidgetting. How often had her father not hit her over her fingers for doing stuff like this? She frowned at the thought, not a memory she wanted to remember. ”So … What do you like to do, when it doesn’t revolve this bull?” she asked, rather curious to get to know Darren more.

He was surprised as she pulled her arm around him, frowning slightly as he could just imagine what Ethan would say if he saw this. The guy was just about as protective as Cetas, he thought, but he allowed her to keep her arm around him. The gesture was nice, even though not many girls had done that to him before. Of course he had had a few, but it was different when the girl was your friend's sister. It just didnt sit right deep inside - He tried not to think of it like that though.
She could get angry, but it wasnt going to change his mind. He just clicked his teeth at her words and shook his head. He thought about it for a while when she asked to go with him, "Lemme me think about it," he said, scratching his cheek a bit. "A tennor? Jam ya hype already, this isnt happening," he said a bit frustrated, but he quickly took a deep breath to calm down. He looked at her, "Cetas Prideux is a madman. He's safe n all, but he's a straight up roadman, yeah?" he said.  
"Allow it, Ems, yeah?" he said, shaking his head again to mark his point - She was in no way going to get involved in this. Not if Darren could prevent it. This really wasnt something for a young girl to get involved in. "Real talk, I laik you, innit, but ya not getting involved," he said as his final statement before he changed the topic to food. It was tiring to argue with her, as he felt like they were going around in circles.
When they got in the shop, Darren sat down and picked the menu card. He frowned a bit as he caught up on a thought, but shook his head, it wasnt his, he shouldnt be listening in on it. He made his order, a simple sandwich. Darren was a simple guy in many forms, as his past had been filled with oddities. He just wanted to live a normal life for the most part. He sat quietly and looked out on the street, not really minding her tapping. It was soothing in a way, to hear something physical rather than all the whispers moving around the place. He sighed before her question made him shrug, "Not much, I mostly try not to go mental," he answered, scratching his chin a bit, feeling the hard stubble starting to grow. He looked down on the table for a bit before he shrugged again, "If I aint hanging with the others, I practice, ya know? Try to figure out how this shite works in ma head," he explained before he looked up at her, "Whattabout u? Going to school yeah?" he asked.

She was acting very friendly around him, she knew that, but she just couldn’t help herself. It felt like she was beginning to get a real friend. He was still not her age, but she didn’t mind it too much. She groaned again as he said she wasn’t coming. ”I might look like a kid, but I’m stronger than I look, yeah?” she said. Emma frowned as he said that this Cetas was both safe and a madman. ”Is he into some kinky shite? BDSM or sumthing?” she asked, not really sure what he was getting at. She hadn’t given up on not coming with Darren, but decided to let it slide for now. The one thing she couldn’t hide was her rather goofy, yet awfully cute, grin as he said he liked her. She felt a bit of color in her cheeks, but didn’t really know what to do with that, giving him a small push as she chuckled. ”I’m getting involved – he’s my blood, innit?” she said with a grin. Maybe it wasn’t a laughing matter, but she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing if she felt like she could help. Sitting down to eat didn’t really calm her as much as walking did. She liked to keep moving, explaining the tapping on the table as well as a small humming. She always had a lot going on in her mind, and she just had to keep her body in motion as to not fall into the rabbithole.

Emma tilted her head to the side, looking at him as he said he was trying not to go mental most of the time. It made sense, because from what she had gathered his ability could really mess with him. Maybe that was why she liked the weird game she had invented. One would think of something, and from that the other would have to make a correlation, like if Darren were to think of a cow, then Emma would have to think of something that could fit it, like milk or mammal. Then Darren would have to deduct or figure out what the next link in the chain would be. It was rather hard, but it seemed to take their minds off of other things when they needed it. ”Practice? Like bending spoons?” she asked, looking at the waiter as he came with their drinks. She took a sip of her Sprite, her face lighting up. She rarely got sodas, so this was maybe a bit of a treat for her. She nodded at his question. ”I study at the University of Manchester,” she said with a shrug. She was young, very young to go at university, but she had gotten the chance to do it rather early because of her intellect. ”I got the smarts, Ethan got the looks,” she chuckled taking another sip of her drink, tapping her finger against the glass, making it almost a melody. ”I study astrophysics with some added math and chemestry for fun,” she said with a shrug. She didn’t like talking about it, as most people thought it was bragging. She didn’t see herself as that smart, but her GPA told another story.

"Bet you are," he said with a small frown, just to mark his sarcasm. He couldnt quite believe that she would have a chance against the two demon brother's if she were to mess with them. Her question made him rub his forehead, "He's nice to me, yeah? But he aint to gals like u, ya get me?" he elaborated as he sighed deeply. He was annoyed by her stubbornness, but they just had to see what would happen. He wasnt really much for having to watch out for her as well, he had enough in not trying to piss of Cetas on his own.
"Bendin' spoons? I read minds, I dont fucking bend spoons," he said with a confused expression. "E asked me the same, like I'm supposed to know what'at means," he then added as he shook his head. His time in capture had robbed him from a lot of things in life, among them were some quite common jokes and sayings. He had caught up over the years, but there were still things he didnt know. Darren wasnt a bright guy in that sense, but he was very intelligent in other ways, like reading and knowing people. He didnt need a book to know what a person was like, he could just read their mind.
He nodded as she said university, before he realized that she wasnt quite young for a uni student. His jaw dropped a bit as he looked at her in disbelief, before he pinched his lips and made a short shake of the head, like he was impressed, "Sick, I'm around a smart gal," he said with a little smile. Her next sentence made him scrunch his face as he looked at her, "Ya sitting here tryin' to tell me E is good looking? Now that's sum amp, non'sense, complete bollocks, innit," he said, laughing as he spoke before he shook his head. He was even more impressed when he heard about her subjects, because he wasnt even sure what she was saying, but it sounded like something for smart people. He nodded as his eyes wandered to the window, not that he didnt want to answer but he thought he saw something.
He scrunched his face as his eyes out the window caught a glimpse of something he recognized. He tilted his head down, frowning deeply as he then leaned a bit closer, "Would ya look at that," he said in an angry tone as he looked closer, "Looks like we got 'ere at the right time, innit," he said as he nodded towards what he had seen. A car had pulled up, one of Samuel's men. Darren was suddenly thankful that they had gone to a rather common shop to get food, maybe it was just a little bit of luck that he never really had had before.
He placed his elbows on the table, bowing his head a bit down to appear smaller as he send her a warning look. She'd better just stay put. He closed his eyes and placed his hands over his ears, knowing that hearing less of the world around him would force him to hear more of the mental feedback from around him. It was like mumbles at this point with the pills, but he tried with all his focus to clear it.
He raised both his eyebrows with his eyes still closed before he looked up at Emma with a worried expression. He turned his eye to the man that had exited the car and gone into the shop, pinching his eyes as he still held his hands over his ears. He tightened his jaw as he wasnt getting anything interesting, or that was till the man's phone beeped and he checked it. Darren's expression changed completely, from a deep concentration to a deeper anger. He moved his hands from his ears, getting up from his seat as he clenched his fists, "Dik'ead," he muttered as he quickly grabbed his phone and sent a quick text to then look back at the guy. He just felt a deep need to throw himself over him, throw some punches and let out some steam.

[Darren to Ethan 14:38]: E tey b keepin hr fo long tiem dun do sum dum shite w8 fo us ait? Darren

”Ain’t nice to gals?” she said, raising her eyebrow with a grin on her face. Cetas sounded, to her atleast, like someone who needed a right scolding. She knew it wasn’t her place, but her brother was clearly hurting, and she just wanted to ease his pain. Even if it was to do nothing, she wanted to help. ”I can take care of me self, yeah? I might not look it, but I’m good at reading people,” she said with a smile. Emma was stubborn, and when she was told no, she just pleaded even more.  Maybe she couldn’t understand the full picture, but it wasn’t like anyone was telling her anything. She kept tapping her fingers, her mind running wild with theories and categories to place all these different thoughts she had. She chuckled as he didn’t seem to get the joke but shrugged. ”It’s from this movie called The Matrix,” she said with a smile on her lips as she looked at him. ”You should watch it some time, rather good film,” she said nodding.

Usually she just said she was studying, it made it easier for people to relate to her. Feeling the disconnect between her and people her own age had always frustrated her, making her try and dumb herself down. ”I’m no smarter than anyone else,” she mumbled, knowing it was a lie, but maybe it was more wishful thinking. She looked down, running her index finger over the side of her glass, playing with the water droplets on the side of the glass. Smiling a bit to herself as he said Ethan wasn’t good looking. She didn’t mean it in that way, but it was clear he had always been more popular, easy to get to know and easy to find his girlfriends when and whereever. She moved a bit of hair to hide her cheeks, smeeling her own hair a bit as she thought of what to say. Speaking about her subjects was easier, but it wasn’t the most typical thing to decide to study. ”It’s basically just astronomy with some chemestry and physics throw in,” she said shrugging, dumbing herself down again. She didn’t like doing it, but it meant fitting in. She saw as his eyes wandered, and she followed his gaze. Darren spoke, but her mind was busy. Buy taking in the guy’s movements, deducting what his next moves were and analyzing how he moved. Emma moved her eyes as Darren said something, looking at him writing something on his phone. She schrunched up her face and got up from her seat, walking to the door with a very confident walk. In the moment she wasn’t really thinking, until she stood right in front of the man. ”Take me to Cetas!” she demanded in a stern voice.

Ethan heard his phone make a sound, his heart stopping for a second as he read the message. He grabbed his leather jacket, pulling it over his arms and grabbed the keys before he ran out the door. Cetas was going to have to tell him. He was done playing hide and seek. He just wanted to know that she was alright. It didn’t take him long before he got to Cetas’ house, knocking on the camera box. ”I kno ya in there ya shite!” he yelled frustrated and started kicking the pole holding the camera. He stared into it, probably making him look weird in the fish eye lense. ”Let me in ya fooker!” he yelled, his eyes angry and worried at the same time. This was basically suicide.

"He's a dickhead, aight? I cant explain it, I'm not a smart person like you, innit," he said as he shrugged. Her words made him scoff as he looked at her, "Fucking hell, you just never give up, do ya?" he said as he rubbed his cheek and let his mouth fall slightly open as he sighed deeply.
"Matrix. I guess I'll have to watch it sum'day," he muttered as he scratched his chin. He had watched a lot of movies, but it was mostly comedy, or some sappy romance movies that he would never admit to have watched. He was a sucker for those, but it wasnt worth getting teased about, so he mostly stuck to the comedy ones.
"That's well nice, innit," he mumbled, he had heard her but he would seem like he wasnt listening. He didnt expect her to go straight up to the guy, but it did make a nervous shiver run down his spine, just imagining what Ethan would say if he didnt stop her from getting involved. He was so surprised by her action that he stood a bit and just stared at her, when he really should have stopped her before she could go.
The man turned his eyes to the girl as she spoke to him, frowning at her words, before he made a firm grip on her shoulder, "Oi, dick'ead, hands off 'er, yeah?" Darren exclaimed as he ran up to them and punched the guy with his right hand, that made the guy step back, yet Darren knew that it was a bad sign. It was one of his best punches that could knock out anyone, "Shite," he mumbled as the man hit him back, sending him onto the floor with a thump. Darren spat out some blood before he looked up at the man that just grabbed his collar and pulled him to his feet. He grabbed him by the neck before he grabbed a hold of Emma, to pull them both to the car. He mumbled something into his radio before he went to the frontseat that was protected by some sort of glass, Darren was barely conscious as he grabbed at the handle that wouldnt budge.

The door opened after Ethan started staring into the camera, a man stepping out from the front door of the house with his hands folded as he waited. He let Ethan pass but he gave him a stern look before he looked to see if anyone else was following. He turned back to the door and closed it before he made a gesture towards the living room. The souldemon turned his head as he pulled an angry frown, Samuel turned his head as well with a neutral cold expression, "Are you done trying to dent my camera pole?" Cetas asked calmly as he remained seated, tapping the sidearm of the chair he was sitting in as he looked at his friend with rather cold eyes. It was clear that there was some tension going on between the two brother's that made Cetas irritable - Whatever it made Samuel feel it wasnt showing.

Emma looked down at her shoulder that he had taken a grip off, but she wasn’t fighting it. If he could take her to Cetas, then maybe she could solve this. Her mind was going crazy from all these different outcomes. Her head turned, frowning as Darren cam running, slamming his fist into the man, but the hit did nothing to the large fellow. ”Darren!” she exclaimed as she watched him get punched and pushed back. Fuck, why did he turn to violence like that? She thought he was different, making her frown at the realization that she might’ve misread him. Her heart started beating like a fast drum under her chestbone. It was rational to be scared, she knew that, but she didn’t like seeing Darren struggle like this. Why? She clenched her teeth as she got put inside the car, leaning her head against the window. Darren tried getting out, but to her that was not the way to do it. Emma turned in the seat, looking at Darren, reaching out to whipe away the blood from his chin, trying to make him keep the eye contact. ”Stay wiv me, aight? No need to go sleep now,” she said being more lighthearted than she thought she could sound right now. Of course she was nervous about what could happen, but freaking out wouldn’t help, even though she wanted to. She turned to face the front seat, giving it a kick for good meassure. ”Off we are, yeah?” she said, leaning forward and placing her forehead against the glass as she stared at the big buff guy. ”Lis’en mate, I’m just lookin’ for a good time,” she said, sounding rather sensual, a low tone that she rarely used. She didn’t like flaunting her gender, but she also knew that some men would fall for it right away.

Ethan gave the pole one more kick before he stepped through the gates, more or less running up the driveway until he reached the front door. The small locket clamming to his skin under his shirt. He hadn’t taken it off, unless he went to the shower that was. He stepped into the room, stopping for a second to look at Cetas before he saw Samuel. His jaw clenched as he gritted his teeth. ”Where is she?” he said in a demanding tone. He was past being calm, his temper was getting the best of him, and he couldn’t even see it. He walked closer to Cetas as he asked about his camera pole, Ethan snorting annoyed. ”I don’t give a flying fuck ’bout your property, aight?” he said through gritted teeth. He was angry. It wasn’t like Cetas hadn’t seen him angry before, this was just different. There was a glimmer of desperation behind his angry eyes. A great deal of sadness and loneliness that Vanessa had left behind. ”Now you,” he said pointing at Cetas, his hand shaking in anger and fear. ”You where supposed to be the only fucker in this world that understood me, innit?” he said, his voice breaking. Fuck he was losing his shit. ”And now, because of what I feel, I am nothing in the eyes of you,” he said pointing to himself. He was angry and frustrated. His eyes darted to Samuel, frowning as his lower lips started to tremble. ”I ain’t blind, aight – I know ya could kill me in a second,” he said swallowing. Ethan feared death in some way. It was perhaps the unknown that scared him the most. He looked back to Cetas with a pleading look. ”I’m the weak one, aight – she’s the one that protects me, got it?” he admitted. His hand was shaking, his new home made tattoo bleeding a bit. It matched his heart, but this heart was broken and torn.

Darren looked up at Emma as she wiped his chin, gritting his teeth as he groaned, it wasnt like he wasnt trying to stay awake. But it felt like his whole brain had gotten scrambled from the blow, making everything blurry and he was sure he could see stars on the roof of the car. The driver didnt react to her kick, but as she pressed her forehead to the glass, he looked at her through the rearview, "Would've worked if you hadnt just kicked my seat," he said as he shook his head and clicked his teeth. "If you dont sit back like a nice girl, I'll dump you in a ditch and take your friend to Cetas instead," he warned her before he turned his eyes back on the road. Darren had collected a good amount of blood in his mouth that he spat on the glass next to Emma, making the guy slam the brakes, driving Darren forward with his face first into the glass, right into the spot he had spat at. He let out a loud scream as he fell back into the seat, "Wan....ker..." he mumbled as he closed his eyes and scrunched his face before he moved his jaw and spat out a broken tooth.

Cetas frowned at his demand, clutching his hand at the sidearm as he tried to contain his anger, keeping his calm as he asked his question. Samuel looked to Cetas with different eyes than his cold ones, he actually seemed to find it more amusing than annoying. Cetas got up from his chair after Ethan spoke, closing his eyes for a bit before he looked at the human. He knew Ethan had a bad temper, but this was different and he just want to tell him to shut up, that it was all under control, but it would just further amuse his brother and not change anything. He wasnt very happy about seeing Ethan like this, but he still hadnt really gotten himself to get over the fact that Ethan was in the hots for Vanessa. The words stung as Ethan said them, making Cetas twitch his eyebrows as he fought a sad frown. Samuel scoffed mockingly and it made Cetas clench his jaw.
Samuel raised his eyebrow as Ethan looked at him, resting his arms calmly on the sidearms of his chair. He waited for Ethan to turn to Cetas before he rose from the chair and looked at the human. "From what I have come to understand, it's quite the opposite," he said coldly as he corrected his collar and looked directly at the human. Cetas' eyes were shaking as he looked from Ethan to Samuel, staying quiet as he knew Samuel had something in mind, "You're the only one she turns to whenever she... Well becomes herself," Samuel continued as he stepped closer to the human as he looked down at him. "You are allowed to go get her," he then said as he then placed his hand on the human's shoulder, a firm grip as he leaned closer so they were face to face, "You're a brave young man, I havent seen anyone be this way about my daughter," he said as he made a small smile, but it was a cold one, "But she doesnt need a lover or a boyfriend. Do you understand me?" he asked as he tilted his head slightly returning to his neutral expression. He looked at Cetas and removed his hand from Ethan's shoulder before he started walking towards the door. "We'll finish our talk later, brother," he said before he went through the door and out.
Cetas stood for a while before he grabbed Ethan by the collar and pulled him close with angry eyes, "What the fuck was that?" he asked rather furiously before he shoved him away and exhaled deeply. "Making this look like some dumbass tv-drama," he hissed as he shook his head. He ran his hand through his hair as he then shook his head, Ethan had been right about his words, even if Cetas was still not happy about it, he still did love the guy like a brother. "If you werent such a hot-headed idiot...." he took a deep inhale as he moved back to his chair, placing his elbow on the sidearm before he pressed his palm to his face. He looked back up at Ethan and moved his hand out to make a gesture towards the sofa, "You just got fucking played by my brother," he mumbled as he looked at the door Samuel had left from, "He had just told me where she was," he added with a defeated as he looked back at Ethan with a stern look. The door flew open and Darren was thrown in the room, landing on the floor as he painfully grumbled a few swear words. Cetas groaned and rubbed his forehead, "Alright, dumb and dumber," he said as he got up before he looked to the door as another entered, "Who's she?" he asked as he pinched his eyes to a confused expression.  

Emma moved her head away in disgust at the blood saliva mixture that landed on the glass, but was soon kncoked forward. Thankfully her hands saved her face from the blow, but Darren weren’t as lucky. ”Give it a rest,” she muttered under her breath to Darren. She was concerned for him, wanting to help him. She caught his broken tooth, looking at it for a second in disbelief as she swallowed. She looked at the tooth, feeling almost the need to throw up, but she kept it down. She leaned back in the seat and just let the driver do his thing. What the man had said made her head spin. Did people really dump other people into ditches like in the movies? Reality hit her as they were driving, a rather scared look in her eyes, however she kept her gaze down to not show it. She reached over, taken Darren’s hand. To him it might seem weird but she needed someone to hold on to if she wasn’t going to freak out. Her over hand’s fingers were tapping on the doorhandle, making some sort of rythm as her knee jumped up and down. Nervous and anxious, that was how she was feeling, and the need to hide away was rather strong.

Ethan’s heart stopped as he watched Samuel get up and move to him. The tall demon was sure to instill fear in him, even with a gaze, but right now he was too angry to care about fear. Ethan’s lips were seperated slightly, his body not sure how to react as the towering demon stood in front of him and looked down at him. He swallowed at his words, just him mentioning her made his heart beat faster. His gaze couldn’t move from Samuel’s grey eyes, cold and sure to scare him any day, yet the words he spoke gave him a small spark of hope. The cold smile in cojunction with the words he spoke made a chill run down his spine, but he couldn’t look away. The hand on his shoulder felt heavy, and he knew the demon could turn him into a pulp in a second if Ethan interrupted. The question made his eyes turn sad. Of course there was a catch, of course he knew he wasn’t allowed to be with Vanessa like that, but in the end he still felt like it was up to her. ”I can’t deny her anything,” he whispered, feeling his voice hoarse. It was the truth, if she wanted him as her lover or boyfriend, he couldn’t stop that, because he wanted to be something like that to her. Samuel let go of his shoulder and Ethan watched carefully as Cetas and Samuel exchanged looks. Once Samuel was gone Ethan took a big gulp of air, his heart going crazy, because he knew he had just had a grace of death.

As Cetas grabbed his collar, Ethan looked up at him, his eyes burning from wanting to cry, but he held back tears better than anyone. Ethan stumbled back as his friend shoved him away, standing for a bit to gather his mind. He was right, Ethan knew that. This had been so stupid, but he was losing it. He felt like everything was his fault, even though he knew it wasn’t. ”I woulda been dead, yeah yeah I know,” he mumbled finishing Cetas’ sentence. He followed Cetas’ gesture, moving to the couch and sitting down with a heavy heart in his chest. His hands were clucthed into fists as he tried calming himself down, his nails digging into the palm of his hands. ”How was I supposed to know, yeah? Ya went radio silent on me,” Ethan mumbled keeping his gaze down in defeat. He felt again that he was going to die soon, but he tried to push that fear away. That’s when the door opened, and Ethan’s head flew up, looking as Darren was practically thrown onto the floor. He opened his mouth, but he lost all words as he saw who stepped into the room after Darren. His eyes widening as he felt fear for his sister run wild in his system. He got up from his seat, walking to his sister and checking her up and down. ”Did they hurt you?” he mumbled under his breath, although he knew Cetas would be able to hear him.

”I’m fine,” Emma said, pushing Ethan’s hands away before she kneeled down to help Darren to his feet. Why was he so hellbent on taking all the hits for her? She sighed, helping the big guy to his feet and holding him with a bit of struggle as her knees shaked a bit under the weight. Her eyes looked to the demon in the room, her lips seperating just like Ethan had done, as she just looked at whom she could conclude was Cetas. Why was all her brother’s friends so attractive? She swallowed at the thought and put on a shy smile. ”I’m Emma,” she said, wanting to introduce herself but Ethan was quick to intercept and stand in front of her. ”Don’t you dare touch her,” Ethan said under his breath. He looked Cetas in the eye, shifting from one to the other with a warning glare. He knew how Cetas was around women, but that was when he realized how alike they were. He shook his head, looking down as he gritted his teeth.

"Yeah yeah I'm resting alright," Darren mumbled as he kept his eyes closed, dragging a sloppy hand down his face to wipe off his own doing, but it didnt help a lot. The man got to the house were he dragged out Darren that could barely stand, making him seem like a limp sack of potatoes being dragged up to the door. Emma could follow if she liked or leave now, the man didnt care, but Darren was going inside.
Samuel twitched his eyebrows with surprise as Ethan whispered leaning a bit closer to him, their faces right next to each other, mouths to ear, "Try me Ethan Spencer," he whispered back as he leaned back to stand normally, to then make his exit. He wasnt going to challenge him directly, but the words he whispered had been clarifying that he wasnt joking in any sense. He didnt really care what this guy was feeling towards his daughter, but he was ending it now before he thought she would be too attached. Not that he knew anything of that, but it had to end nonetheless. He had a purpose with her and her meddling around with some broke boy wasnt a part of that.
"Dead doesnt even cut it Ethan. You'd have wished you were dead," Cetas corrected him, anger and concern mixed in his scolding tone. Samuel had seen the spark in Ethan's eyes and Cetas thought that it was the only thing that had kept his brother from adding another one to his collection of people that were buried alive. "You'd be six feet under, wondering what went wrong," he then finished as he closed his eyes for a bit. It was clear in this moment that he had been concerned for Ethan all along, but had chosen to keep quiet. Maybe it hadnt been the best move, but Cetas wasnt always clear thinking, especially as he was still trying to get over Ethan liking his niece.
"You would have done this either way if I told you what was going on," Cetas said like he had foreseen the future. But it was just that Ethan was so hot tempered and from Samuel had said, this would have been something to tick the guy off into a whole new type of anger. "All I've been told these last weeks are that she's been failing her tests. And you know what that means. Was I supposed to lie then?" he asked with an annoyed tone as the door flew open and Darren was thrown in.
Darren turned to his side, feeling his lightheaded state making him unsure where he even was. He barely noticed what was said and giggled goofily as he felt the small hands grab him to help him up. He got to his feet but was swaying a lot as his legs felt like jelly from the crash. His cheek was swelling due to the broken tooth and his face covered in a thin tint of red from the saliva blood. "Fucking around with sum next roadman, yah, get's ya nowhere, innit," he mumbled in a foggy tone as he tried to look around but he only saw blurs. He only knew who was here because of their thoughts bouncing around clearly.
He watched Ethan turn to the girl and narrowed his eyes a bit. Ethan had mentioned a sister, but this girl looked far younger than what Ethan had described her as. Uni students were usually older than looking somewhere around their teens. He thought for a moment that she was some other girl, some random girl and the notion seemed to make him a bit angry, especially as Ethan seemed very concerned with the girl's health. He crossed his arms and waited for his answer as Emma introduced herself. It clicked for him as he realized that it was actually his sister, and not some random girl, but his expression didnt change.
Emma was blocked out of his view by Ethan who didnt look quite happy about the encounter. Cetas looked into his eyes and was quiet for a bit before he shrugged, “I wont,” he said before he frowned a bit, “Unlike you, I respect boundaries,” he said as he glanced shortly at Emma again, not really sure if he believed himself, but he was more focused on making his words sting, than seem beliveable. He looked to Darren and stepped over to them, grabbing him by the arm so Emma wouldnt have to carry him. He moved him over to the sofa before he crouched down to the human, shaking his head, “Why do you always try to fight my men?” He said, clearly knowing what had happened without having the need to be told. Darren was predictable for him in that way. He pulled up a paper from his backpocket that he lifted for Ethan to see, “Go get her,” he said without even looking at the human. It wasnt that far from here, some location in the middle of the woods. Cetas hadnt seen the address before, so he knew it had been something Samuel didnt want interrupted. "I'll keep C from ya sista, yeah?" Darren mumbled with his eyes closed, Cetas narrowing his eyes at the guy before he looked to Ethan.

She sat on the bed of some broken down room with her knees pressed to her chest as she hugged herself. A little bit of saliva mixed with the dried up blood under her chin as she just stared onto the floor. She had some pads attached to her head that was wired to a machine, the man who had been supposed to read them, lying dead on the floor with a spike of some sort of dark spike sticking through his chest. She moved her eyes around as she closed her eyes for a bit. Having been here so long had made her feel a bit crazy. Contained to one room as some guy came to check what was going on inside her head. She closed her eyes before she pressed her head onto her knees, pressing her closed eyes harder against the top of her knees to feel the small pressure on her eyelids that would probably give her a headache if she continued, but she liked seeing the patterns of whatever it was that happened when you pressed on your eyelids. She had done it a lot of times, making her eyebags swell a little and turn reddish.

”Burried alive then, I really don’t care how I go, I just,” he said trailing off at the thought of not seeing Vanessa again. Damn him and his stupid feelings. What Cetas saying was right, but he just wouldn’t believe it in this moment. He felt at a loss. How long could he evade Samuel’s gaze and be with Vanessa the way he actually wanted to? He swallowed at the notion that Vanessa had been failing her tests, frowning as he looked to his friend. ”Why does she have to be tested like some goddamn animal?” he asked in a sad tone. He knew that Samuel was cruel, but this was his own daughter, his supposed own flesh and blood. He knew he couldn’t have done much, he just wished that he could. That he could transform himself into a strong being that could crush anything standing in his way, but that wasn’t the case. Emma sighed as she lifted Darren up, a small grunt leaving her lips. She rolled her eyes at Cetas and Ethan’s exchange. ”Like ya’d be the one to decide who I sleep wiv?” Emma said in an annoyed tone. Ethan looked at her in disbelief. ”Ya’re se’enteen, Ems! Don’t ya start this,” he said, almost disgusted at hearing his sister talk about sex just in the slightest. ”Get over ya self, will ya?” Emma said shaking her head. She looked as Cetas took Darren off her hands, sighing a bit in relief as she wasn’t sure how long she would have been able to stand up with him. She shook her head at Darren, ruffling up his hair. ”What is it wiv the two of ya hellbent on keeping me away from others?” she mumbled, sending Darren a faint smile. She stood idle for a while, just looking as Ethan left.

Ethan felt his heart sink as he looked at the paper, and Cetas hadn’t even needed to tell him to do anything. He was basically running out the door, falling over his own legs just to try and move faster. His heart had moved up to his throat as he pushed himself, looking down at his phone map and the paper as he kept running. That’s when he spotted the small hut, his eyes widening as he stopped for a short second. His heart was beating out of control in his chest and then he sat off again, running to the hut and got through the front door rather easily. He looked around a bit. ”Vane!?” he called out, sounding almost desperate. Samuel’s warning still ringing in his ears, but he just had to. He had to see her, feel her lips, even if it would kill him. He spotted a door that was closed, running to it taking the handle. Locked. Why did things always have to be locked in shit like this? He threw his body weight against the old door, making it crack and creak. He didn’t know it, but his shadow had crept under the door and the next time he threw himself at the door, the shadow had unlocked it, making him fly into the room and land on his chest. Most of the blow he stopped by his hands, and for a brief second he didn’t know how to move. He was staring into the dead eyes of the guy that Vanessa had impaled. Swallowing he got to his feet, his legs slightly shaky, but as he saw her on the bed he moved to her, sitting down next to her and wrapping an arm carefully around her. ”Vane,” he mumbled, his free hand with the broken heart on his finger shaking a bit as he moved it up to her face. He made her face him, but he couldn’t force her eyes to look at him. ”I’m a fucking idiot,” he mumbled, knowing that having gotten here and sitting here beside her could result in anything.

He was about to answer when the door swung open and they were interrupted. He closed his mouth and watched the scene unfold. He wasnt going to say it now, but they probably had to talk about it sometime. Sure, Cetas found it cruel as well, but it wasnt like he could do anything about it, unless he wanted his ass kicked.
Cetas chuckled at Emma's words as he then looked at Ethan, rather quick to return to his neutral expression. Maybe Ethan could understand better how he felt about Vanessa if he would just realize that Cetas was the same way to her as he was to Emma. "Apparently I'm dangerous," Cetas said in a warning jest as he checked out Darren's face, wiping off the fluid on his face with his fingers, not really bothered that it was saliva and blood. Darren groaned as she ruffled his hair, feeling like she was ringing his head like a bell. Cetas got up and went to his cabinet as he pulled out some flasks that he gave to Darren to drink. Darren lifted a flask, but his fingers couldnt close properly around them, making him drop them on his chest as he tried to drink from a flask in his hand that wasnt there. "Fucking hell," he mumbled as he fiddled with getting the flask up in his hand. Cetas sighed and helped him with the first one before he went back to his chair and sat down, resting his elbow on the sidearm and his head in his hand. He looked at Emma, "Maybe you should appreaciate their effort," he said calmly as he then looked to Darren that was still too fogged to drink the next one. Cetas sighed, "This is a lesson Darren, pick your fights wisely," - "Shut it, before manz gonna lick ya differently yeah?" he said in an annoyed slur as he threw the flask at his friend that started laughing, catching the sloppy thrown flask with ease. "This aint cheap stuff you dimwitt," Cetas remarked as he looked at the flask with some mysterious pale blue tint flowing around in the substance.

When the door opened and Ethan fell in, she was still pressing her eyes to her knees, focusing on the patterns behind her eyelids. She lifted her face after a bit, seeing the small static of moving dots all around the place, she must have pressed too hard this time. She looked down at the dead body, but she was watching her out of the corner of her eyes. Not sure if this was another test from her father or just reality, she sat and thought of what to do.
Vanessa looked up at him with dull eyes as he spoke to her, her mouth slightly open as she blinked for a bit, like she wasnt really believing what she was seeing. She felt his arm around her and it was like it made her system go in high alert, she lifted her hand as a spike of her black blood shot out like a spike in her palm, as she stopped it right at his throat. She saw the chain and lifted the locket out on his shirt with the spike as she stared at it for a bit and swallowed. "Ethan," she said in a hoarse tone as she broke off the spike and threw it away before she almost crawled into his embrace, sitting there as she just stared at the locket. She lifted her hand to touch it before she opened it, feeling a few tears roll down her cheeks as she pinched the little paper towel piece out of it and looked at it for a bit. She didnt really know what to say or what to do. She wasnt feeling quite herself frankly, a mixture of both her states at this point.

”Everyone is dangerous,” she muttered, looking at Darren with a worried expression. It was kinda weird standing here alone with two of her brother’s friends, but then again, she had come to look at Darren as a friend. She sat down next to the human, looking as Cetas came over with a small flask of what she pressumed to be medicine. He fed the medicine to Darren, sitting and tapping with her fingers against the leather couch. Something still wasn’t adding up in her mind, making her frown a bit at her racing mind. She snapped out of it as Cetas spoke to her and she looked down. Maybe she wasn’t being grateful, but why should she? ”I’ve taken care of ma self so far, haven’t I?” she asked in a silent voice, not really feeling like arguing about this. Her hand started shaking a bit and she frowned, tapping a bit harder to make it go away, but it wasn’t really helping. She had her small coping mechanisms, her brain working too fast for her at time made her idle and acting a bit out of place. She sighed as Darren tossed the flask, chuckling a bit to herself before she grabbed a bottle and then took Darren’s hand. She held the small opening to his lips. ”Drink it,” she said in a calm voice. Holding his hand was just as much a coping mechanism as her tapping, but this seemed to calm her more. She tilted the flask carefully, letting Darren drink it in his own tempo. Once he had drunken it, she sat the flask on the small table next to the sofa before her eyes looked to Cetas. She was used to being around a lot of older guys, but they mostly didn’t notice the girl that she was. She was young, acting younger and looking even younger. She let go of Darren’s hand, only to start tapping again, trying to take a calming breath.

Ethan sat still, closed eyes as he knew that she could harm him, but instead of feeling his throat pierced he heard the sound of the small locket around his neck touching the stiff black blood. She pushed herself close to him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as he tried getting his breathing together. He was in a bad shape, but maybe all this running would fix that. She had said his name, and it felt like he could hear it eccho in this empty room. He felt her fiddle with the locket, smiling sadly to himself. ”I’m here, right here,” he whispered into her hair as he hid his face in her pale silver locks. Her scent seemed to calm him, but not fully. There was some dread in his system, something he wouldn’t be able to get out for a while, and he knew it. He sat in silence for a while, letting her get used to him being there and holding her close, however he made sure to not press her so hard to him that she felt trapped. ”I’ve missed ya,” he mumbled into her hair, affraid his voice would soon break. She was in his arms again, she was breathing and she was reacting to him. ”Told ya I’m stubborn,” he mumbled, feeling himself tear up as he hid his face more into her hair.

"So what, you're completely independent now and dont need no help from nobody?" he asked, his american accent shining through as he chuckled a bit to himself. He noticed how her hand was shaking as her tapping wasnt calming her down. He frowned a bit and leaned a bit forward, placing his elbows on his knees as he cupped his face in his hands, "Do you get easily bored?" he asked with a little smile as he watched her. He wasnt really bothered by the tapping, even though he probably could get annoyed if he had to hear it everyday - In the moment he just found it interesting. He watched her make Darren drink the flask's content with his eyes slightly narrowed like he was silently analyzing them.
Darren chugged the liquid down, sighing deeply as he finished it and let his head fall a bit to the side towards her. He looked up at her and smiled a bit, "Cheers, Ems," he mumbled as he closed his eyes again, seeing stars wasnt exactly something fun. "Let's play your game, eh?" he said in the same slur, not caring much that he was still in a lot of pain and barely able to see. He just wanted her to feel alright, but why, he wouldnt know. He lifted his hand and drowsily felt were his teeth was missing, finding out that it luckily wasnt a front tooth, but gritting his teeth as it hurt. Feeling the liquid in his body slowly working it's magic, he still felt like shit, as the pain slowly subsided but the foggy feeling stayed. He wasnt sure what it was that Cetas gave them when they were hurting, but it surely was effective.

Being close to Ethan made her calm down, feeling like the last couple of week's torment did have some sort of silver lining. Her head was a bit sore, but she was sure she would get over it eventually. His whisper made her sigh as she looked at the little paper towel. She didnt think that she had made it to calm herself down, yet looking at it reminded her of the good memories she had right before she went to this shithole hut in the middle of the forest. She didnt move in the silence, her eyes was just on the little black heart as she was slowly adjusting to being close to him again. His mumble made her swallow as she nodded. She had missed him as well, but she felt her throat to be dry and talking felt like scraping sandpaper around her vocal chords. She moved her eyes to a table in the corner and looked at the food she had been supposed to eat but barely had touched. A needle in her arm had kept her on track as the men realized she wasnt going to eat at her free will. His mumble pulled her out of her thoughts as she looked up at him and placed a hand on his cheek. She pressed her thumb gently into his cheek as she just felt the soft skin underneath her fingers. A loud beep came from the machine next to the bed and she flinched in his embrace as she stared at it. She started pulling off the pads and throwing them at the machine as she whimpered to herself, "Hate this place," she whispered as she felt some tears from the flinching roll down her cheeks. Her body was still in high alert, ready to react to anything that would seem threatening. She looked down at the needle and grit her teeth as she yanked it out, biting hard down on her teeth as her brutish pull had torn the small hole to a little tear in her skin, blood slowly flowing out of it. "I'm scared," she admitted in a low hoarse tone as she looked up at him with sad eyes.

”Oh shut it,” she mumbled a bit frustrated. She hardly noticed herself when she started acting out. It was almost like ticks, and she could usually control them, but all of this today messed with her intuition and therefor her movements. She looked down, a little ashamed as she saw her finger tap even harder because now she was even more aware. ”It’s not boredom,” she mumbled. It was hard to explain if she was being honest. It was like her mind was moving so fast that her body felt the need to move with it, but she couldn’t just run around. She had found that tapping would get the most of her needs covered, but she couldn’t always rely on that. She gave Darren’s hand a squeeze before she let go, smiling a bit at his the way he looked at her, because she could see that he couldn’t see her. Frowning a bit as he suggested the game she shook her head. ”No, rest is wut ya need,” she said getting to her feet. ”You got a garden?” she said, tapping her finger against her upper arm as she had wrapped her arms around herself. If Cetas told her were it was she would move out there, standing on the grass shortly before taking off her shoes. The grass under her toes made her smile a bit, but her fingers were still tapping. ”Shut up,” she mumbled to herself and her own brain, shaking her head as she tried clearing it. She had looked at so many different things today, and she honestly just wanted some peace, but her own mind wasn’t even there to escape into. She took off her jacket, laying it on the grass before she sat down and stared at the small strands that poked up from between her toes. ”Poaceae,” she mumbled to herself. ”Family of monocotyledonous flowering plants; better known as grasses,” she said to herself, as if stating facts about her surroundings were calming her down. ”12.000 species, covers roughly 40.5 percent of the land area of the Earth,” she mumbled. Her tapping got a little better, but it was merely back to her normal tapping.

Ethan hated seeing her like this, seeing how she could barely speak or move made him wonder why he hadn’t gotten here earlier. The large beep of the machine startled him a bit, making him look at it with a confused look. What was it there for? To check what was going on in her brain? Her thumb against his skin made him smile as he leaned into her hand. He couldn’t understand, but he didn’t need to. She removed her pads, and he looked at her arm as she had pulled out the needle, taking her arm carefully before he held some of his shirt against the small opening. It would clog up soon enough, he knew that, but he just wanted it to be as fast as possible. ”I don’t really care for the vibe either, if I’m being honest wiv ya,” he said frowning as he looked around. ”I mean put a sofa in here and maybe a fucking TV, then we would be talking,” he said with a small grin, trying his best not to show how out of his mind he had been before coming here. He let go of her arm, cupping her face as she had said she was scared. ”Me too,” he said with a low chuckle, trying to make the situation sound better than it was. He took a deep breath as he looked into Vanessa’s eyes, stroking her cheekbone gently with his thumb, as his index finger curled around some of her silver hair. ”Ya old geezer kno ma name,” he admitted, looking down shortly as it hadn’t been his plan to let everything out in front of Samuel of all people. ”Called me Ethan Spencer, the whole show,” he said as he looked back at her, a small gaze of defeat behind his blue eyes. He still knew he couldn’t deny Vanessa anything, even if it meant his life. Because, well, he was just that stupid.

"I dont need sleep, innit, I need you to be alright, yeah?" he argued but if she didnt want to play the game, then so be it. He groaned a bit and closed his eyes again as she asked Cetas for the garden. "Right outside that door. Down the balcony," he guided her as he pointed to a glass door at the other end of the room. He looked back at Darren and wondered if Ethan had gotten there, or if his niece even had been there. He took his phone out as he was considering to make a call, but decided that it was better not to. Instead he just scrolled the newsfeed on whatever social media app he clicked on, barely reading as he watched the pixels scroll.
Darren watched Emma as she left, gulping shortly to himself as he just watched a blur leave, but he knew it was her when her thoughts were getting more distant. He turned his head to the blur that looked like Cetas and groaned, "Bun it, C. I can hear ya, ya know?" he mumbled annoyed as he laid down on the couch and pulled a pillow over his face. Cetas scoffed and leaned back into the chair for a bit before he got up. He pulled the pillow of Darren to see that he was sleeping before he went out to the garden and went to the edge of the long balcony that lead down to the grass and looked at her. He placed his hand on the half-wall's surface as he watched her for a bit, before he popped a cigarette in the corner of his mouth and lit it. He draw a deep drag of it before he sat down on the wall and moved his eyes to the sky. Evening was on it's way, the sky orange with few deep reds hidden here and there. Cetas blew the smoke out into the air before he looked back at Emma.

He placed his shirt against her wound which made her eyes turn a bit sore as it was a sweet gesture, even though her black blood was quick to harden, like it couldnt stay fluid if it wasnt in her body. She looked at him as he spoke and smiled ever so slightly at his funny remark of how to turn this into something livable. She looked a bit around and sighed deeply, "It'll probably be burned down next week. Samuel has a way to control his trails so that other company wont ever find him," she said a bit strained as she shook her head, but talking did help with the dry feeling she had felt - It had been a while since she had spoken to anyone, she knew that now. She knew that the other company was after his head, but it had never hit her that she could eventually gain her freedom if she were to blackmail him in that way. Not that she would have a chance of surviving going against her father like that, so it was probably good that she hadnt gotten that idea yet.
She widened her eyes a bit as he said that her father knew about him. She shifted between his eyes as she was just silent, feeling a shiver run down her spine as Samuel had used his full name. She moved up from his arms and ran her hands through her hair. This was exactly what she had wanted to avoid. Having Cetas know didnt matter, the scariest part was her father knowing. She looked back at him and felt a rushing unexplained feeling that she was going to lose him right in this moment. She almost jumped him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his greedily, why she didnt know, she just knew she needed to feel him close to her, taste his lips and feel less like he was drifting away. Because that was what she was feeling in the moment, like he was already drifting away. She closed her eyes and deepened the kiss as she almost forgot how to breathe at the feeling she had longed for for weeks. She moved her head away for a bit, as she searched his eyes, trying to catch her trembling breath as her heart felt like it was pounding in her chest.

Emma could hear someone walking a bit away from her, and she tried not to get distracted. ”Sun, solar, star – centre of out solar system. It’s rays take 8 minutes and 19 seconds from it’s surface to ours,” she receited, like she was a walking and talking lexicon. She squeezed her eyes together, tapping her fingers against her arms as she tried not letting the other person’s prescense obscure her train of thought. ”Eight billion years from now the Sun will reach it’s Red Giant phase, making it’s radius expand beyond the orbit of Venus,” she said to herself, her leg jumping a little as she tried controlling herself. ”It will burn the Earth, scorching it and leaving it’s surface empty and burned out; the atmosphere blown to pieces by the heat,” she said as if she was saying something nice to calm herself down, yet it sounded more like a doomsday kind of ordeal. ”Please just stop now,” she mumbled to herself, grabbing her hair as she shook her head in frustration. Why wouldn’t it stop already? Her breathing got a bit unsteady, but she kept on sitting before she eventually let herself fall backwards, looking up at the orange sky. ”Earth’s atmosphere is constantly in motion. It is a mixture of gases, water vapour, dust and other suspended particles,” she said in a fast mutter to herself. She sounded more crazy than smart at this point, but she really couldn’t find a way to stop. Her breathing getting a bit more sporadic and her voice a little broken. If things were going the way she thought they would she would pass out, her brain having too many things to focus on and their different outcomes as well as things she could sense would overwhelm her.

”And here I thought I might move in,” he chuckled, yet his sad smile didn’t leave his lips. Telling her what had happened only seemed fair, as it was taking up a lot of his mind just thinking about it. He could see she wasn’t happy, of course she wasn’t and neither was he, but once again he was here because his temper had led him astray. He was a bit surprised, falling back on the bed with her on top as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Her lips was all he needed to know he could survive this, feeling her press against him and deepening the kiss did something to his body. It clearly reacted, but he felt like this was wrong in some way, however denying her anything was not something he could. He returned the kiss, holding her close and moving his lips against hers in this rather passionate dance. As she broke the kiss he felt a bit scared to open his eyes, but did and looked into her lovely grey eyes, feeling a rush in his body. ”Vane, I…” he whispered, but he didn’t know what to say, running one of his hands from her waist up the side of her body. It was like his hand was tingling, even just gracing over her clothes. His hand eventually reached her neck, placing his palm against her puls, making his thumb run along her jaw. ”He didn’t just greet me, ya know … He warned me,” he whispered, moving his hand up again, touching her lower lips with his indexfinger. He breathed out. ”Or maybe it was more of a challenge,” he whispered. Ethan wasn’t good at authority, and even if he feared Samuel, he would never be good at submitting to his rules. ”He doesn’t like me smooching his daughter, ya see,” he said looking into her eyes with a small grin spreading on his lips at his own words. ”She doesnt need a lover or a boyfriend,” he said in a stern tone, mocking her father’s words. It would’ve been so much easier if he hadn’t fallen for Vanessa, just stayed her friend or at least kept quiet about his feelings, but he knew it would eat away at him eventually. He breathed out, fishing his phone out of his pocket and sent an OK emoji to Cetas, just letting him know he had gotten to her, before putting it back in his pocket. ”What am I then?” he chuckled, looking at Vanessa with a bit of conflicted look in his eyes.

Cetas listened in on her ramble of things that he had never really thought of before. But he did notice how she was slowly seeming to get more hectic with her train of thought, exhaling a long drag as he was trying to figure out why she was even going on about this. He took out his cigarette and held it in his hand as he rolled it around between his fingers, sighing deeply the more she spoke. Why was she going on about this? Had she looked at the sky and something ticked off in her? As intrigued as he was, it wasnt pleasant to watch someone behave this way. He pushed himself up on his feet as he placed the cigarette back in the corner of his mouth, placing his hands in his pockets as he slowly went down to her. He sat down next to her as she lied down and looked up at the sky. "But we cant see the atmosphere. It's could slowly slip up before our eyes. And it probably is by the way global warming is going. The earth is slowly moving away from the sun, meaning that some day the earth would end up freezing. So either way, it's either burning up or freezing away," he said in a calm tone before he took a long drag of his cigarette. "So in conclusion: It's all shit," he looked at her and smiled a bit warmly before he exhaled the smoke away from her. "Are you going to hop off that train in your head or do I have to make you think of something else?" he asked as he offered her a cigarette, not sure if she smoked or not.
He narrowed his eyes, placing the packet back in his pocket no matter what she chose to do before he lifted his knees up and laid down. "What's on your mind?" he asked as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, puffing on the cigarette between his lips before he started making small ring that flew up in the air.

His whisper made her shift between his eyes, not sure if he was going to reject her or not. She moved her hands from his neck, placing a hand on his shirt that started fiddling with the fabric as she looked at it - It was kind of her habit to fiddle with whatever clothing she could get a hold of, she liked the feeling of it between her fingers. She lifted her eyes as he touched her neck, listening to his words as she gulped quietly to herself. A warning from her father was a rare thing for people that werent his employees. So she meant it was serious, it wasnt just something to be shrugged off like was it tame. She closed her eyes as she felt his finger run along her lower lip, feeling her heart beat a little faster at the intimate touch. She opened her eyes again and felt a bit uneasy as it seemed like he was dragging out what her father had said. When he said it, she groaned, it was exactly what she had expected him to say and it made her feel a bit angry. He recited her father's words and she could just feel the anger start to boil in her, but she wasnt the type to do some sort of outburst, she was always rather calm and collected - Even in her anger.
She sat up and ran a hand through her hair as she was a bit in her thoughts, mostly angry thoughts towards her father. That was when he pulled her out of her thoughts and she looked at him for a while with neutral eyes. She exhaled deeply and grabbed him by the collar before she rolled them around and looked up at him, still holding onto his collar, "Mine," she said in a serious tone as she pulled him down over him and met his lips. She was very alike her father on that front, but it wasnt that she knew that - That would definitely be a disturbing thing to know. But she pulled away after a bit as she looked at him with sore eyes, "What do you want to be?" she almost whispered, holding her breath a bit as her heart was beating out of control.

Emma didn’t know what to do, but keeping on stating what she knew to be facts often helped calming down her brain wondering about outcomes. Her ability was one that helped her a lot with keeping her safe, she was good at reading people and understand when she was in danger, but right now she could hardly look anywhere but the sky. She heard someone sit down next to her, but she kept her eyes on the sky, mumbling a bit under her breath, something that sounded more like a string of equations. He spoke, her muttering stopped and she listened to him. Her tapping moved up in pace, suddenly all the theories came running in and she squeezed her eyes shut. His question made her lower lip quiver as her mind was running a thousand miles per hour, her tapping could hardly keep up with it anymore. She couldn’t answer his question, feeling too stuck in all the different outcomes of the situation she was in. Her teeth clicking a bit as she tried to keep calm and not run around like a lunatic. She didn’t notice the packet of cigarettes, but looked at the small smoke ring as he asked her a second question. ”It’s easier to ask me what isn’t,” she answered in a weak voice. She needed to calm down and reached over to take Cetas’ hand, giving it a squeeze as she looked up at the sky again. ”My brain works weirdly,” she admitted, the small contact calming her a bit. It was what Ethan had used to do when he was still at home. Whenever she felt her mind racing, he would take her hand, and she would feel like it kept her grounded. ”I am basically hyper aware of everything around me, constantly my body picks up on small ques that can make me see reality as it is,” she whispered, not knowing if she sounded more like a rambling idiot or a mastermind. ”So I don’t get bored, I get overstimulated in a way,” she whispered, biting her lower lip as she closed her eyes, feeling lost for a second before he gave his hand another squeeze if he still let her hold on to it. ”My brain connects everything around me into a large puzzle,” she explained taking a few deep breaths, but she still felt out of it. ”And when a puzzle doesn’t add up, my brain goes crazy, moving at a faster pace to find out what small information I’ve missed,” she said, her other hand starting to fiddle with the button on her shirt.

In his question he had hoped to know what he really was to her. He didn’t need a label, but knowing where he stood with her was easier to work with, at least for him. She grabbed his collar, pulling them around so that he was on top of her. Looking down at her made his butterflies flutter faster. He was hers, no doubt about it. He greeted her lips, placing one elbow beside her head to keep his weight off of her. Her lips felt like a bandaid on all his worries. It wouldn’t heal them, but it would keep the open wound a bit safer while it healed. She pulled away again, his breathing a bit out of control as she asked him what he wanted to be. He breathed out, kissing her chin gently. ”I wanna be sum’one that matters,” he whispered in return, kissing her cheek next, letting his lips move around her face in a careful trail. ”I wanna be the one ya look at and feel safe with,” he whispered, his free hand moving down the side of her body, grabbing at her hip as he tried to contain his own urges. His breathing got a bit heavy, but this wasn’t the time nor place for this. ”Honestly I just wanna be yours,” he whispered before he kissed her lips, pushing himself closer to her. She could probably feel that he was a bit turned on, but he couldn’t help himself. His lips moved with ease against hers, almost as if their lips knew how to move with eachother. He broke their lips’ lock and moved his kisses down to her neck. ”And hopefully you’d let yourself be mine,” he whispered against her neck. He would hate seeing her with others, feeling it burn in his chest at the thought, but he knew that he hadn’t always been the monogamous of their friendgroup, but he would god damn try. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be hard, especially when it was Vanessa he would be with. A small sigh escaped his lips, his warm breath touching her neck like a gentle caress. Placing another kiss on her neck, he sucked a little at her skin. He knew she would heal fast, but he just wanted to give her a small mark, even if it lasted for a minute or two. Licking the small purple mark he smiled to himself, moving his eyes up to look at her. ”I’ve never fallen for someone like this,” he admitted with a goofy smile on his lips.

Cetas chuckled at her words and shook her head. He couldnt understand what was going on in her head, but he would try his best to find a way to calm her down, if that was something he could do. He held her hand softly in his, locking his fingers around it as he looked at it, shortly before looking up at her. He wasnt the type of guy to hold hands with a girl, but who the hell cared about what type of person to be? Cetas would break any norm if he could, doing things he wouldnt normally do, just because he wanted to be something that wasnt defined by a type. He nodded at her words and just sat there listening. It was better to let her talk and hear what she wanted to tell him, rather than interrupt and leave things unsaid. He suddenly felt bad for calling her bored when it was something far more complicated. He didnt know how to handle over-stimulation, but he could try something.
He drew a long drag from his cigarette, feeling her squeeze around his hand that he hadnt moved or stopped from holding close around hers. He nodded at her explanation, exhaling the smoke into the air as he frowned a bit. Missed information? He turned his head to her and tilted his head a bit, "So you tried to figure out this whole thing before it happened? What went wrong?" he asked as he looked at her with curious eyes. It was an interesting ability to have, that was for sure. But he could also imagine the stress that would come along with those missing pieces that she mentioned. "Rephrasing that. What did you miss?" he corrected himself as he thought the other might be a broad question for her to think about right now.

She listened to him as she felt the kiss on her chin, making her smile a bit as he started kissing her face in a trail. Her hands moved carefully up and down along his shirt, feeling his body underneath the fabric was such a tease for her but it was a nice tease in a way. He continued his whisper that made her lip slightly tremble with a sore feeling in her heart, like he wasnt just speaking to her, he was speaking to her heart as well, it wanted to react and speak for her, but all it did was beat faster. He wanted to be hers and she wanted to be his, that was as clear as it could get. Her father had warned him and yet here he was, making her feel these tingles in her chest, risking his life by being close to her. She felt his lips and hers moved like they knew were to go - Her breath moving at a hasty pace as she tried to contain it while his lips seemed to make that even harder. "I'm yours," she whispered in a shaky tone as she stretched her neck for him.
Feeling his lips suck on the neck of her neck made her close her eyes and moan softly as she bit her lower lip, digging her nails a little into his shirt. She looked down at him and swallowed softly at his words. "That makes me very happy," she whispered as she shifted between his eyes. Her body slowly started moving against him in a subtle manner, needing to feel him even closer. "Being with you is all that I want," she added as her hands moved under his shirt to feel his lower back, touching his skin was making her heart flutter with the irregular beats, sending small tingles through her body. She couldnt help what imagine how good it would feel to feel him completely, the scenery in her mind driving her crazy with something lustful. She was maybe caught up in the mind of a caveman with the anger she felt towards her father - Doing the dilly dally just to prove some point that her father would never get. It was up to him, but she did want him, which her body wasnt shy of showing.

She could hear him smoke still, her eyes closed as he started speaking again. It was nice to feel his hand around hers, keeping her steady and grounded. The first time she had held Darren’s hand he had been confused, but she just needed that small gesture from time to time. What went wrong? So many things that she could hardly say it out loud. She swallowed, feeling like she couldn’t find her words until he changed his question. Taking a deep breath she opened her eyes and turned her head, looking at him felt a little weird, especially considering she was holding his hand. ”I thought it was you,” she said in a calmer voice. She looked into his grey eyes, searching almost. Her own eyes were filled with movement, constantly reflecting her brain going off in a million directions. ”From what information I had been given, you seemed to hold some pieces to the puzzle, so that was why I let myself get taken by one of your men,” she said looking from one eye to the other before retuning her gaze to the sky. Her hand fiddled with her button again. How many buttons had she lost off of shirts like this by now? Too many to count. ”I read people rather well, and seeing you keep your cards close only made me think of different things,” she said, her brain scanning her memory as she tried to understand it all. A small nervous chuckle left her lips as she gave Cetas’ hand another squeeze. ”I could see you knew something, I could see how your eyes moved, how your one hand seemed to gravitate more to your pocket with the piece of paper in it,” she said, playing everything back in her head. Emma took a deep breath, feeling her voice a little raspy and she made a small cough. She should’ve brought her medication, but that was a bit too late now. ”What I’m missing is a link between Ethan and Vanessa,” she said frowning. ”I can’t understand why he reacted like he did – He’s never been like this and it seems like something isn’t adding up,” she whispered, too scared to say it at full volume.

Vanessa’s moan did something to his body, feeling her tug at him like she really craved him as much as he craved her. Her whisper made him grin as he looked up at her, feeling her body move against him gave him a feeling of agony. His lips seperated as she said she just wanted to be with him, feeling her fingers against his lower back made him grit his teeth a bit, not because it was hurting, but because it felt so good. Why couldn’t he just do it with her right here and now? Pull them both out of their clothes and connect like they both craved? He was usually the first person to want sex, but he didn’t want to take advantage of her mixed mind state, nor did he want this to just be an act of rebellion. Even if he wanted to be rebellious, he actually just wanted to feel her closer like no one else. ”I want you,” he whispered, feeling his body tremble at his own words. He was rather vulnerable, his usual grin not to see as he looked at her, lips seperated as he found it hard to breath normally. His jaw tensed a bit as his hand moved up under her shirt, simply touching her waist and pressing himself against her. ”But I really don’t wanna do it here,” he whispered. This place was not safe, it was a place that Vanessa had been held captured for far too long. He wanted to take her back home, make her feel more at ease before they tried anything like this, however it was always hard ignoring the lust that lured in a young guy like Ethan. He kissed her again, diggin his fingers into her soft skin, a soft groan leaving his lips as he seperated their lips after the tender kiss. He moved off her carefully, not to reject her, but to show her he was willing to wait a bit more. He helped her to her feet, stabilising her legs if need be. Kissing her again felt like he wanted to take her again. ”Let’s go home, yeah?” he said against her lips, his grin returning.