His eyes were always red, always glowing brightly. It was so easy to spot him in the darkness. The same darkness where he was supposed to be hidden. Arculus watched himself in the mirror, his fangs had finally made an appearance.

The past few days he found himself being angry. Constantly raging about things that aren't even that big of a deal. He never let emotions lead him, so why did he do it now? He walked out of his room and looked around. Finding Orobas still looking at documents. He had been doing that for hours now.

"Aren't you tired?" Arculus asked him and sat down besides him.

"I don't have time to be tired." Orobas answered and stared at a picture of Lazarus and his family.

"His a pure blood vampire. Not only has he been around for decades and has a lot of knowledge, he is also far more powerful than any vampires alive." Orobas sighed and closed his eyes for a brief moment. "This is such a pain in the behind." Orobas pushed himself to keep working and find more, anything they can use against the vampire leader.

"We have less than a month to claim back what once was mine." Orobas informed Arculus.

Arculus was ready to answer but got cut off by Amdusias suddenly appearing in his house. "Did you really have to show up?" Arculus asked him with raised eyebrows.

Amdusias red eyes were on display, he hadn't noticed before but the man had blood on his hands. Well his hands were actually claws. Arculus had seen Amdusias in his true form but it always amazed him regardless.

"What happened horse?" Orobas asked calmly like it was completely normal to have someone covered in blood.

"Those damned werewolf's,who do they think they are? Complaining about me being in their territory." Amdusias breath was uneven, it seemed like he still had anger running trough his veins.

"Wait what the hell were you doing in that part of the woods?" Arculus asked annoyed hoping the spirits won't be too mad at him.

"Well the smell of blood invaded my nostrils, and I just got curious." Amdusias sheared his story with everyone and suddenly vanished again, and suddenly reappeared with no traces of blood left on his clothes.

"You're aware that the werewolf and the forest spirits have made a deal right? We don't bother them and they don't bother us." Arculus informed Amdusias that sat on the couch with a wide smile.

"I'm demon Arculus, I do not care about deals." Amdusias locked eyes with Arculus and grinned. "Unless they made those deals with me of course."

Orobas looked up from his documents to make sure the both of them were okay, he didn't want them to result to arguments. Because right now was really not the time for arguments. The photo he was staring at made questions linger around in his mind without being able to get answers. He wondered if the rumours where true. Long before Lazarus became the leader, there was this story about how he killed his parents. Orobas could easily find out the truth but that would mean he is going against everything he stands for. Yet Orobas found himself staring more and more at the picture.

A family of 5, the two parent and the 3 siblings. If the vampire leader killed his parents, what happened to his siblings? He could have been able to find out, he wanted to. However Orobas never used his powers without consent, and he planned on keeping it that way. He will have to find out the truth the hard way.

Orobas took an other picture of the girl that could be seen in the picture. The girls was supposed to be Lazarus little sister. Brown locks reaching her waist, big blue eyes and an adorable smile. The girl had to be about 6 years old Orobas concluded, however the sister didn't share the same last name. Orobas could hear the way Amdusias made his way up to him. Amdusias also had his eyes glued on the picture. Orobas didn't mind an other set of eyes.

"That necklace I have seen it before." Amdusias said out loud, his eyes never leaving the picture.

"Well where have you seen It?" Orobas asked him curious.

"I remember when I was bored I was on earth and came across a witch, she needed help since her son was dying." Amdusias grinned while recalling the memories back.

"Why didn't she just abracadabra her kid back to health?" Arculus asked generously curious.

"The magic wasn't enough." Amdusias walked back to his fave spot, the couch.

"From all the people she could ask for help, she asked you?" Orobas had raised eyebrows, not so sure if he was supposed to believe the story.

"Well yeah her son was cursed. The curse made sure her son was slowly losing his mind, and at the same time his insides were slowly rotting away. As if it was to punish him." Amdusias did not smile at that part of the memories. "And if there is one thing I'm good at, that is undoing Curses."

Orobas had wondering eyes looking back at the picture. "This amulet is to protect yourself against evil, if the witch was in possession she should have been able to cure her son." Orobas utterly confused and tried to put the story back together.

Amdusias chuckled and shook his head. Making sure his eyes darkened. "Well the son was already cursed, holding darkness within him no way of freeing him. If the amulet was able to protect him from the evil, it was supposed to protect the son from himself. However that little boy was beyond saving." Amdusias had his eyes closed remember everything as if it had happened yesterday.

Arculus glanced at Amdusias. "Did the boy survive?"

Amdusias smiled and nodded his head. "The boy survived and the mother died." He told them truthfully.

"Wait why did the mother die?" Arculus asked confused without knowing Amdusias didn't need a reason to take someone's life.

"She was a nuisance, but either way the amulet the witch was wearing was given to her by her grandmother. It seemed to be a gift given through generations. So my question is, how did that girl get it?" Amdusias wondered out loud with a frown on his face.

"Also the amulet is to protect yourself against evil right. Why did she need protection?" Arculus asked out loud and Orobas and let out a deep sigh.

Orobas looked at all the family pictures, most of the pictures didn't have any color in them. Some of them were bearly holding it together. However Orobas didn't want to give up yet, he needed any help to figure this out.

"What if the sister was sick?" Arculus said out loud and Amdusias didn't agree.

"We supernatural beings don't get sick, unless it's a curse, Or it's a poison involving magic. If the girl was cursed than maybe she did need the amulet, but I don't understand how she got in possession of it."

The 3 three of them tried to find any logic in this, but they couldn't find anything. First it used to just be about the object, but everything took a turn. Now everything was just about finding out what kind of mystery that man kept secret. It was about who Lazarus truly was. There were a lot of people hiding in the darkness. Monsters disguised as humans. Perhaps it was for the better, that humans couldn't tell if the person they are talking to are human or not. Perhaps it's for the best, however monsters we all know being that are hidden in the dark never mean anything good. Being surrounded by darkness never mean anything good.

They all knew that. They all knew what kind of danger involved them. They knew that it was never safe enough to be around a monster. Because it was all about time. All about time before they snap, and if there is a day that comes that. Everyone knew they would be done for.

While Arculus was deep in thought, Winter had been stuck in her drom room for a long time. Well she wasn't really stuck, Winter was just too scared to leave her place. She had this gut feeling telling her everything will go south if she did leave her place. She had a feeling the man was coming back for her. Winter wasn't sure if the sight of him brought her paranoia back. She wasn't sure if the sight of him brought her anxiety back. But there was one thing she did know, the fact that she was unsafe.

Asking for help wasn't a choice. Arculus wouldn't be happy. She figured he would be more furious than ever if he found out how she was feeling. Not that she didn't have the right to be scared or feeling paranoid. Because she did, and she was sure he would respect her feelings and wishes. However Arculus would be furious, after all she promised him. She promised to tell him if there was anything wrong. Yet she couldn't bring herself to call out to him. He had other things to do, he had his plans that needed attending.

Isabelle was getting ready to go to a party. Her black silky hair was in a bun on top of her head. Her black mini dress reaching her knees. The black heels she paired it with looked beautiful. Winter found herself smiling at the sight of her friend. She looked gorgeous.

"You're planning on staying inside?" Isabelle found herself asking In worry instead of her just being curious.

"Yes I don't want to go out." The lie slipped past her lips and Isabelle caught on.

"You want me to drop you of at Brian's home? Kevin is here he can drop you off." Isabelle turned around to have a better look on her friends face. She wasn't comfortable leaving her on her own. After all she knew Winter didn't like being on her own.

"No Isa it's fine." Winter tried to convince her, not trying to be a burden to everyone. Trying her best to not bother anyone but Isabelle refused to listen to her.

"Put your shoes on Winter. I'll be waiting for you downstairs." Isa smiled Winters way and left the room.

Winter sighed and put her shoes on. With her phone in her hand she reached Kevin's car, Isabelle boyfriend. They dropped her off at Brian's apartment and watched her go inside. As Brian opened the front door, Winter could see everything going on behind Brian. Her eyes landend on the guy she didn't expect seeing at all. It had been weeks perhaps, months maybe.

Brian noticed her facial expression change at the sight of him. "Hey Winter, come inside." Brian smiled at her and let her inter his apartment. "I have some friends over, if you want i can kick them out." He told her with a smile on his face, brighter than the sun.

A chuckle escaped her lips. "It's okay Brian."

She saw some familiar faces, but the only person in the room where she felt comfortable with was Rev and Brian. She sat down besides Revick and he smiled at the sight of the girl. His arm found its way around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

"Long time no see, what have you been up to love?" Revick asked curious.

"Well..not much." Winter responded but felt this empty feeling in her chest.

It used to be different, before her life took a turn. Well she wouldn't say she wished everything was the same as back in the day, because she wouldn't have met Arculus or Revick and Isabelle. Yet she wished she didn't have to worry about much. Because lately all she ever did was worry too much and overthink. Winter haven't been sleeping well, the fear was running through her veins. Keeping her awake at night. She was scared to say the least, she was convinced that the man was waiting for her. He was waiting for her and she was sure of it.

She recognised the look in his eyes. Always talking like he knew something. A secret that was supposed to be kept to themselves, however he always found a way to find things that are supposed to be hidden. Winter remembered the way he would always call her in his office while he was working. He never wanted her to say anything. She just had to sit there and watch him work. Winter could remember everything, from the weird dagger looking thing he kept in this type of closet, to this picture he kept on his desk of this little girl.

She always wanted to know who it was. One time the question slipped past her lips and the glare he send her way made her shut up for a while. Winter hated feeling this way, she just wanted to be free and do what she wanted. But last time she did that it didn't end well.

"You look troubled love, you alright?" Revick asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, I'm fine Revick no need to worry about me." She smiled up to him and he turned around eyes back on his phone. Satisfied with her answer but even he knew she had lied.

Brians group of friends started to go home eventually. Which means it ended up only being Winter and the 3 boys, 1 of them she didn't even talk to in months. Winter had felt his eyes fixated on her since she walked in here. Eyes glued on her, watching her every move. She felt uneasy and turned around to see what he wanted. He never said a word, only watched the way she would talk to everyone but not him. Chris felt hurt but he figured he deserved it.

"Now that everyone is gone, it's going to be more awkward than it already was." Revick told everyone in the room and as result Brian smacked a pillow against his head.

"You really don't know when to shut up do you?" Brian asked the goof ball and Revick just laughed.

Chris turned to Brian. "I'll be going I'll see you later on." He stood up from his seat but Winter didn't want to watch him go away like that. What if this was the last time she would ever see him, and she ended up not talking to him because she was mad about what he had said weeks ago. Friends always argue right? Friends are also supposed to forgive right?

Either way Winter found herself following him outside. She tugged at his shirt and he turned around, not surprised because he deep down knew she would be there.

"I know I never gave you a chance to explain yourself, however I'm not a kid that always need attending. I can make my own decisions. If you have a problem with Arculus than I'm sorry, because I will not be picking sides." Winter told him simply and he was slightly surprised. She never talked back to him or even shared her views with him. Most of the time she would always do what he say, with no objections. Chris smiled to himself.

"I know I apologise, I shouldn't have acted the way I did." Chris found himself taking her in his arm because after all he did miss her.

When she left and walked back to the apartment. Revick watched the way she sat down besides him. With a small smile on her face and a satisfied look. Her eyes that lacked its shine, went back to its old self. She seemed more happy than she did hours ago. However he knew her happiness or that small talk with Chris that made her less empty inside wouldn't last long. After all Revick knew and he was sure Winter knew as well that happiness wasn't always permanent. He felt bad to see how she came inside of the apartment hours ago with that troubled look on her face, while knowing she had hell coming her way.