"Wonderful. I'll provide housing, as that other group is still at large" Arthur smiled as he spoke. Paul cleared his throat. He'd been quiet through the whole meeting, doing his best to understand the absurd sounding information he'd just heard. Everyone turned to look at him. While the sudden attention was jarring, Paul's past experience with athletics had made him used to pressure, so he continued casually.

"So, What about me? You took the time to bring me here and I wasn't told any of this until just now. Is there a reason why?" Paul's tone was irritated. Arthur nodded, understanding his frustration.

"No, there's no reason. Honestly, you weren't originally one of our targets. However, now that you are involved, you can't go home, at least not until we find out who those men belong to. Would you be willing to join our group for a while?" Arthur's voice was fair and even. Felix breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly looked down and away from Paul, feeling guilty for not thinking of his friend up until now.

"It's really my only option, isn't it?" Paul asked, to which Arthur nodded. He sighed. Had he heard about any of this a week ago, he would have left the room when the book got pulled out. However, having seen Levi, Felix and Valentine in action, Paul had no choice but to accept this as his current reality.

"All right then, I would like to live with you until this situation is resolved." Arthur nodded again. He turned to the attendant who'd escorted Felix to the room. She'd been silent for the whole meeting as well, observing the trio of new recruits.

"Please find these three somewhere to stay. When you do that, please come and get them." Arthur asked, and then got up from his chair. His movements were stiff, and his stance was awkward. Almost as if he wasn't used to walking. Levi got up as well and helped steady the boss.

"Excuse me, please. I should be going now. Please stay in this room for the time being, at least until Rasa returns for you." Arthur's voice was fragile now, and he didn't notice the dirty look Rasa shot him, seemingly not liking being introduced in such a flippant manner. Regardless, she left the room, tapping her ear piece and saying something into it as she left the room. Levi helped Arthur to the door and gave the trio a wide, kind smile and friendly wave before leaving and shutting the door behind them.

The following silence was brutal and awkward. Felix felt guilty for including Paul in this situation, Paul wanted to be kept in the loop, and Valentine wanted pizza. None of these feelings lined up in the slightest. A minute or so passed like this, until the tension became too much for Felix.

"Paul, I'm sorry for getting you involved in this situation in the first place. I shouldn't have come to you." Felix said, looking down as he spoke. Paul was currently his only remaining living friend. Valentine was an ally, but they'd only just met, so she wasn't on the same level. However, even as he spoke, Felix knew Paul's inclusion was unavoidable. If he didn't see Felix or Myra or at least hear from them for a long period of time, the police would be involved, and the cabin would likely be found. Or, that organization would learn of his connection to Felix and capture him to use as leverage or something of that nature.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"I'm not really angry at you, Felix. It's really better that you told me when you did. And it may have taken me a while to fully understand this, but I think I get it now. It's, ah, well, honestly it's really scary. I never knew these things even existed until a few days ago, and now I'm being told that my best friend is one? That's really insane." Paul's tone was calm, but it was clear that this new information terrified him.

The aforementioned new information switched to the forefront of Valentine's mind. What kind of abilities did the vampire that attacked her have? Obviously, superhuman physical attributes, and regeneration. What else did she have access to? Valentine had never really been into vampires, or supernatural creatures for that matter. However, that didn't mean she hadn't at least heard of some of the stuff those nightmarish blood suckers could do. Hypnotism, flight, shapeshifting, teleportation and mind reading all sounded amazing. Summoning swarms of bats or other flying pests didn't sound quite as appealing, but the same issue undermined the usage of any of these powers.

She had no idea how to use them, and the vampire that was supposed to be in her head couldn't, or more likely wouldn't, tell her how to use them. In fact, she hadn't even heard from the vampire in her head. Had Felix heard from the Wendigo? Unlikely, but asking him could be worth something.

"Felix, can I ask you a question?" He nodded in response, and Valentine took a second to figure out how to phrase the question.

"Have you ever heard from the Wendigo? Like, has it talked to you?"

"Yeah, it has. Although, I can't seem to contact it myself. It just sort of shows up and grumbles when it wants to, and then leaves."

"I see. Is there anything else you know about contacting it?" Felix shook his head, and Valentine nodded and sighed. While he hadn't been as helpful as she wanted him to be, he'd at least provided some insight. With these kernels of information, Valentine decided that she'd have to experiment a bit.

First, she cleared her mind and simply focused on making a connection with the Vampire. The more focused she became, the more aware she was of a strange feeling in the back of her mind. Like she was being watched. Sure enough, Valentine turned towards that dark feeling and was immediately face to face with the vampire. Pale skin, red eyes and black hair made up the creature's physical appearance. She was naked and had a devilish snarl on its face, as if ready to attack at any moment. Startled, Valentine choked on her words when she tried to speak and coughed heavily for a few seconds before regaining control of herself.

"Hey. It seems like we're sharing a body now. Forever." Valentine spoke calmly and held her ground when the Vampire leaned in until she was a mere few centimeters away from her face.

"I heard that. I'm not a very big fan of it myself." She spoke simply and frankly. She leaned back now and stepped back from Valentine, sighing as she backed down.

"So, I was thinking, you know, that you could help me learn to use your other powers?" The Vampire seemed to consider the offer, but shrugged and scampered away, disappearing into the dark corners of Valentine's mind.

"Damn it!" Valentine exclaimed, slamming her fist onto the table. The table shattered, effectively turning it to dust after her attack. This caused her to grumble about unwanted super strength, but decided to remain calm. Valentine took a deep breath and then chuckled. Felix and Paul, neither of which had seen or heard of Valentine's recent mental escapade, looked on in horror as their ally laughed after pulverizing a table in a fit of rage. Once more, Valentine's mood and tone swings unnerved Felix, but by this point, it was beginning to scare him. Paul was already terrified.

However, Valentine wasn't privy to the two's reactions and ignored them. She'd made progress on obtaining even more abilities.

At around this time, Rasa returned. She gestured to the trio and ignored the oak dust, as if it were a common occurrence around here. Felix suspected Levi was the most common offender, but kept that to himself. Rasa handed everyone a key and key ring, and instructed them on which way to go to get to their individual rooms. Felix waved to Paul and Valentine and left in the first direction his map told him to go. The others split up and headed to their rooms.

Felix's room was number fourteen-o-nine, and the door had the same bizarre carved pattern on it. What the hell even was that?! Sighing again, Felix flopped down on the bed and prepared to go to sleep, but not before pulling out his picture of Myra.

"Hey. I don't have a frame yet, but I'll get one soon, I promise." As he spoke, Felix propped the picture up against the lamp on his bedside table. It was time to sleep again.

"Goodnight, Myra." Felix said as he closed his eyes and fell asleep shortly after.