Driving down the road, Laff tapped the steering wheel as he glanced around at the surroundings. He stopped at a light and smiled warmly, glancing in the back seat at Nadwe who was looking out the window happily "You ready for your first sleepover son?" Nadwe looked over and smiled brightly "Yeah Yeah!" He was bouncing in his seat as he giggled happily. Laff smiled and chuckled softly as he started driving again once the light turned green. Nadwe was going to have his very first sleepover with his new friend; Muffin.

Talking over the phone, Muffin's mother seemed like a really sweet lady. The two hit it off rather quickly and soon enough the two boys were demanding a sleepover. Laff would have held the sleepover at his place, but things have been hectic as of lately with some redecorating, the bakery has been getting orders piled up quickly in the past few days and of course something else that shouldn't be discussed in front of Nadwe.

But that wasn't something to be worried about at the moment. He soon pulled up to a small one-story house as he parked the car. He got out and walked to the back seat, opening the back door and crouched down to his height. Of course, Laff is still paranoid about his son spending the night at someone else's place; so, he made sure Nadwe was prepared.

"Alright, let's run through the list one more time, okay?" He asked quietly as Nadwe nodded, pulling his rolling suitcase closer as Laff opened it. "Alright; clothes, hygiene, snacks, your doll, pepper spray..." He tilted his head and reached into the small suitcase and pulled out his old police baton "my old whacking stick. Yep, you have everything you need." He put it back and zipped up the small suitcase "And the numbers for any emergency are in the jacket of your doll, alright? Under no circumstances do you let Muffin's mother know that alright?"

Nadwe nodded and climbed out of the car, Laff helped him with his suitcase and set it down on the ground. Nadwe grabbed the handle and started wheeling it to the front door as Laff followed behind. The two reached the front door, Laff quickly knocked on the doorframe as there was loud squealing on the other side.

"MOM MOM MOM HE'S HERE HE'S HERE NADWE'S HERE FOR OUR SLEEP OVER HE'S HERE HE'S HERE HE'S-"

A tired, middle-aged woman answered the door as she sighed quietly "Yes Muffin, I see that they are here." Laff took a minute as Muffin quickly ran outside and tackled Nadwe in a hug. He quickly recovered and laughed quietly "Energetic little lad ain't he?" The mother sighed quietly and rubbed her eyes "You wouldn't imAGINE. Going off all day about his first sleepover with his new best friend." Muffin was giggling as he was hugging Nadwe tightly. Nadwe was beaming happily as he waved politely at Muffin's mother "Hiya!" Laff smiled softly and looked back at the mother "Nadwe doesn't have any allergies to any food, he shouldn't make a fuss about anything. If he does cause any trouble, you're welcome to call me."

Muffin's mother nodded softly and looked at the two small boys "Alright boys, come inside." Muffin let Nadwe go and ran inside as Nadwe quickly hugged Laff's leg "Love you daddy!" He let go and ran inside as Laff smiled, waving goodbye to him as he walked back to his car. Muffin's mother closed the door and looked at the two boys "Muffin, go take Nadwe to your room and play for a bit, okay?" Muffin nodded and grabbed Nadwe's hand, taking him to his room quickly.

Muffin opened one of the doors as Nadwe quickly noticed the rather toy-messy room as he looked around "Woah! This is your room!?" Muffin nodded and walked into the room, kicking a few mega bloks out of the way "Yeah! And all these toys are mine!" He smiled as he glanced over at his closet "Oh, except for the deer heads; I dunno where they came from..." Nadwe kept looking around the room as he was becoming increasingly confused; Laff would have never let his room become THIS messy. Muffin saw he was confused as he tilted his head "Uh, what's wrong?" Nadwe scratched his head nervously as he looked at Muffin "Uhhhhmmm...does your mommy know your room is this messy mate?"

The other small child shrugged and walked over to his bed, throwing a few stuffed toys off to the side "I dunno, maybe?" Nadwe blinked as he was trying to wrap his head around the logic but walked away from his suitcase "Well-uh, maybe we should clean this room up a bit?" He started picking up a few stuffed toys as Muffin looked very confused. "Huh??" Nadwe looked at him and thought for a bit "Lllikke clean up at the schoolhouse!"

Muffin quickly smiled and squealed softly "I love clean up time!" Nadwe smiled happily "I know, I remember! So just think of cleaning your room as clean up time at home!" Muffin squealed and started cleaning up his room with him, chanting 'clean-up' constantly. After some time, Nadwe helped Muffin organize all of his toys and straighten up his bed as the two boys looked at their completed hard work. Muffin was staring down at the matted down carpet "Wowwwww, my bedroom floor is gray!" He smiled, "Neat my floor is made of clouds!"

Nadwe snickered quietly and smiled "Well now you have a lot more space to play whatever you want! It feels so much better, right?" Muffin pondered on that thought as he scratched his head "Huh...yeah! It does! But, does this mean we can play now Nadwe?" The young Dhampir nodded and pulled his suitcase over "Yeah! I brought my daddy doll so we can continue the game we were playing at school!" Muffin's eyes widened as he gasped "OH NO!" Nadwe quickly became frightened "What what!?" Muffin quickly ran over to his closet "TURTTURT! HE'S IN WITH THE-"

Nadwe's eyes widened in horror "MUFFIN NO!-"

Muffin quickly opened his closet door as about 7 realistic deer heads fell out on top of him as he started screaming. Nadwe stiffened up as Muffin started sobbing -darn it all to heck, jeez...- He stood there for a bit, waiting to see if his mother was gonna come before walking over and started pulling the deer heads off Muffin. He grabbed his arm and pulled him up as Muffin was sniffling and hiccupping. He whimpered softly and Nadwe gently put his hands on his shoulder "hey, hey, are you okay?" He brushed his hair out of his forehead to check for bruises "you weren't hit, were you?"

"N-No..." Muffin hiccupped as Nadwe sighed in relief. He patted his shoulders gently "then you are okay Muffin, you're okay." Nadwe repeated quietly as Muffin gradually calmed down, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. He hiccupped quietly as Nadwe slowly took his hands away "there we go." He smiled softly as Muffin wiped the snot off his face. He sighed quietly and sniffled silently "...thank you." Nadwe kept smiling softly and nodded "of course."

"Kids! Dinner!"

Like a light switch, Muffin smiled brightly and quickly ran out to the dining room "Yay!" Nadwe blinked, extremely confused at how FAST he cheered up at the mention of dinner. He shrugged it off and walked out of Muffin's room into the dining room, he became even more confused when he saw takeout on the table. Nadwe blinked and moved closer to the table as Muffin's mother was setting Muffin's and Nadwe's plates "uhhh, we are having take-out for dinner ma'am?" She looked over at him and nodded "That's right; I didn't have any time to cook tonight so this is my treat for you boys."

Muffin was beaming happily in his seat as Nadwe climbed into his seat. He kicked his feet back and forth as he was trying to figure out why. Laff almost never ordered take out, not even Wictoria! The two would always have the time to make a home cooked meal, and even if they didn't there would be plenty of leftovers to reheat.

But he decided to shrug it off, Nadwe knew that different homes were much different from his. Tbvg and Oof never cooked at their place and Tbh had always taken Joocie out for dinners every other week, so he decided not to question it. Hey, he knew he should be enjoying this dinner since he almost never got takeout. -I'm sure it's fine..and this food looks yummy. If Muffin's happy, then I won't question it...-

He was still getting an off feeling about Muffin's mother.

—

Gathered in his living room; Socks, Meme and Blaza were sitting on the couch, Oof and Tbh were standing off to the side by the door as Joocie, Tbvg, Dino and Shroobz were scattered around the room. Wictoria was standing by the hallway archway as Laff was pacing around nervously.

"Shit, shit...fuck-" He muttered quietly as Blaza was tapping his foot "Jesus, what do we do!?" They heard someone running in the hallway as the door quickly flew open into Tbh.

"GAHMOTHERFUCK!-"

"Hey sorry I'm late! What's up!?" Oompa shouted as he walked into the apartment, not noticing he threw the door into Tbh's face. Oof looked over at him and snickered quietly. Oompa looked around the room and quickly read the room "Oh shit who died?" Joocie huffed quietly and looked at him "No one died! Well-not anyone who we are close to-"

"9 people died at the asylum Syce was kept in!" Wictoria blurted out as she quickly covered her mouth. Oompa's eyes widened a bit "Oh shit did he-" Shroobz nodded and crossed his arms "Yep, Syce killed 9 of the guards and now no one can find him." Oompa groaned and rubbed his face "Jesus christ!" Tbh pushed the door off of him as he groaned quietly. Dino tapped his foot as he thought, Meme scratching his head nervously "What are we gonna do?"

"What can we do, is the question." Dino spoke as he looked up from the floor "None of us are physically strong enough or even qualified to hunt down a now mass-murderer. The only one of us who would would be Laff," He gestured to Laff "But even then, we have no fucking clue where he had gone!" Tbh rubbed his face and groaned softly "W-what about Tbvg? Couldn't he-"

"No." Both Oof and Shroobz spoke, Shroobz explaining first "Syce doesn't have a phone, and even if he did, he has it fucked up to the point it can't be tracked." "AND G has been working non-stop for four days, I've had to wrestle him to keep him in bed.-" Oof saw Oompa about to make a comment as he quickly pointed to him "-DON'T-" Oompa quickly looked away as Oof continued "-and I do not want him to have more excuses to not sleep."

Socks sighed softly and ran his hand through his hair "Syce was never like this before..." Joocie shook his head and looked at Socks "We all know Socks...but now he is like this, and he is certainly going to be after Nadwe now." Laff huffed quietly and kept pacing "I know that! I know, and I have no clue what we are going to do mates. Syce wouldn't stop at a restraining order, and even if he was captured again, he would just kill more people!"

The group kept going back and forth for a good minute as the only one who wasn't conversing was Wictoria, who was looking really nervous in the corner. After a bit, Tbvg sighed softly and rubbed his head as he thought for a while. His eyes widened a bit under his visor as he turned to everyone else "Hey? I might have an idea." Laff stopped pacing as he turned and looked at Tbvg "Yeah lad?" Tbvg scratched his head and shrugged softly "It may not be a good idea, but...you could always move."

Blaza blinked and looked over at Tbvg "Move?" Tbvg nodded and gestured to Oof "We've actually been decided on moving sometime in the next few years. If Syce still knows where we all live and stuff, and if we move-"

"He wouldn't know where any of us are!" Tbh concluded as he grinned "Man Oof your boyfriend is really smart!" Oof huffed softly and rolled his eyes -still five years and you still do this stunt.- Laff pondered on this thought as he glanced to the side "Well...that might work..." Shroobz smiled softly at Laff "It would be the first home both you and Wictoria could own as a family." Laff flinched a bit and blushed as Wictoria's face became red, giggling quietly.

Socks tapped his chin "You know, I was thinking of making my own production company. Who knows, maybe we could all live in the same area!" He joked as Meme rolled his eyes while smiling. Oompa chuckled softly "It isn't a bad idea, but you would need a really large property for that to happen." Dino tapped the wall behind him with his knuckles "and we would have to put in safety measures so if somehow Syce does find us, we can be protected."

"Most definitely." Laff remarked as he walked over "I do not want Syce or anyone from that horrid BTS to find Nadwe again."

Shroobz hummed quietly at that remark and looked over at the hallway archway, noticing that Wictoria wasn't there. He narrowed his eyes and walked into the hallway while everyone else was chatting about the possibility of making 'Socks & Co. Productions' and a potential move. He looked around and noticed Nadwe's bedroom door was open. Shroobz narrowed his eyes and walked over quietly, peeking inside the room. Wictoria was over by Nadwe's dresser as he quietly walked in, clearing his throat and startling Wictoria.

"Ah-! Oh, Shroobz...you scared me." She nervously stated as Shroobz crossed his arms "What are you doing?" Wictoria scratched her head and glanced off to the side "Umm, I was just making sure Nadwe took his doll I made for him to his friends! I know how much he loves it!" Shroobz narrowed his eyes a bit, not buying it as Wictoria laughed nervously "Okay I-I'm gonna go now.." She tiptoed around Shroobz and sped walked back to the living room as Shroobz looked over at where she was standing by.

One of the drawers on Nadwe's nightstand was open ajar as he walked over, opening it and rummaging through it for a bit. His expression changed as he pulled out a tiny pod that was the size of his finger down to the first knuckle. His eyes narrowed into a glare as he crushed the pod in his hands, breaking it before dropping it onto the floor, making sure it was smashed by stepping on it. He huffed quietly and rubbed the bridge of his nose -Tori, I wouldn't want you to get hurt; but I will not tolerate you putting bugs into Nadwe's room.-

"Shroobz!? Hey, where did you go!?

Shroobz looked over at the door "Looking for the bathroom, Oompa!" He responded as he moved to the door, walking out of Nadwe's room and shutting the door behind him.

—

Mumbling quietly, Nadwe was curled up in a small sleeping bag beside Muffin's bed holding his doll of Laff close. He couldn't really sleep as much as he was trying to, he just didn't feel comfortable being in a place he wasn't familiar with. He groaned quietly and opened his eyes slowly, unable to fall asleep as he was going to get up and ask Muffin's mother for some warm milk to try and help. Slowly sitting up, Nadwe tried to get out of his sleeping bag as quietly as he could when he noticed a faint whimper.

He quickly turned and looked over at Muffin's bed, concerned. "Muffin?" He quietly asked as Muffin didn't answer. The small boy was curled up on his side, facing away from Nadwe and crying silently, whimpering as he was trying to keep himself quiet.

Nadwe was immediately alarmed and got up, running out of the room to find his mother to comfort him. The first thing he noticed when he came out of Muffin's room was that the kitchen lights were still on and hearing someone in there. Quickly becoming cautious, Nadwe crept towards the entrance of the kitchen as he saw Muffin's mother at the counter. She was drinking something and doing something else that Nadwe couldn't tell what. Nonetheless, Nadwe quietly knocked on the archway and looked at her "Uh, Ma'am?"

"Not now kid.." She muttered, holding her head as Nadwe fidgeted; holding his doll of Laff close "But, um, M-Muffin's really upset and-" "I said, not now kid. Please, go back to bed.." Nadwe blinked, utterly confused as he kept persisting "But Muffin needs you and-" Muffin's mother groaned a little louder, one of her hands tightening into a fist as the other remained on the counter ""

"But-"

The woman quickly grabbed one of the smaller knives, turning around sharply as she glared at the young Dhampir "" Nadwe's eyes widened immediately at the sight of the knife but didn't back away under her stern glare. Wanting to test how far she will go, Nadwe glared back and huffed "No!" The woman looked at him and huffed back "

Nadwe barked back, his eyes glowing a bright pink as he stood his ground.

All that he knew next was that the woman charged at him-

And bright pink quickly fades to black...

When Nadwe came to, he groaned and sat up; holding his head as his head hurt a lot. He looked around and noticed the woman collapsed onto the floor in front of the fridge. He had no recollection of what happened, but now this woman was out cold in front of the fridge, unconscious thankfully. Nadwe didn't want to waste any more time and quickly ran over to her and grabbed her phone; no password to keep him out of her phone.

He pulled out the slip of paper from the Laff doll's jacket and called 911 first. He turned over the slip of paper at the address of Muffin's house that Laff had written down, just in case. The woman on the other end thanked him for the information and told him a patrol car as well as CPS would be sent to that house right away. He wanted to call his dad and ask him to come pick him up, but the nice lady told him to just forward the number to her and they promised they'll forward a message to him because she wanted him to stay on call in case the woman woke up.

Nadwe nodded softly and flinched at a passing thought, shit, MUFFIN! He brought the phone with him in his haste as he ran back to Muffin's room. Muffin was still there, curled up and quietly sobbing while meekly calling for 'mommy.'

Nadwe felt so broken as he walked over, setting the phone down on the ground as he poked Muffin's back "Muff?" Muffin squeaked and sat up, looking at him as his face was covered in tears. Nadwe frowned and pulled him close, holding onto him tightly as Muffin was taken aback. He whimpered quietly and clung to him tightly, shivering as he hiccupped. The young Dhampir kept him there for a minute before pulling away "hey, lookatme Muffin, for a bit?"

Muffin whimpered and looked at him, still silently crying as Nadwe grabbed his hand tightly "C'mon, we need to go outside...your mommy isn't very nice and-" Muffin cut him off by hiccupping and rubbed his eyes with his other hand "I-I know..." Nadwe's eyes widened "You knew???" He questioned as Muffin nodded silently "Well-w-why haven't-"