Rune rushed through the front door in Enath in the morning. He burst into the living room where Moon, Night and Lullaby all sat on the couch, reading a book, magazine, or newspaper. They all looked up at him in shock. Rune turned to the kitchen.

“Rune!” Moon called with a big smile, but Rune ran to the fridge. He yanked it open as Moon walked up to him. “You’re back,” she asked for his attention again.

Rune grabbed a can of blood as he told her, “Yeah, hang on.” He opened it and threw his head back, letting the contents slide down his throat as fast as possible.

“Oh, you’re here again, too,” he heard Moon call to what he assumed to be Hyde.

“Yeah, you’ll have to get used to my presence,” Hyde answered.

Rune let his hand with the now-empty can fall on the counter and cleared his throat, then sighed with a content smile. He looked to the side at everyone staring at him. Moon next to him, Night and Lullaby standing at the dining table, Hyde a bit further behind them.

“Are you okay?” Lullaby asked.

“I hadn’t eaten in two days,” Rune replied in a husky voice.

Lullaby’s eyes widened. “What, why?”

“The train didn’t have any vampire food.” Rune turned to Moon and hugged her. “Hello.”

Moon snickered and hugged him back.

“But isn’t it a three day trip?” Night wondered. “What did you eat the first day?”

“Uh.” Rune glanced behind her at Hyde.

Night followed his gaze to Hyde. “Oh.”

Rune guessed she noticed the bite in his neck, it wasn’t hard to spot.

“You bit him?!” Moon yelled as she pushed off him.

“What else was I supposed to do, starve?!”

“It was my idea,” Hyde defended him.

Moon turned to him, then sighed. “Well, if it was consensual, then fine.”

Night squinted at Hyde. “Why do we need to get used to your presence all of a sudden?”

Hyde stepped backwards towards the couch and the fireplace as he said, “Cause I’m your brother’s boyfriend, now,” with a grin.

Moon gasped excitedly and hugged Rune’s arm. “Really?!”

Rune was a little startled, but nodded. “Oh, and when is the last time you’ve seen Grandpa?”

“Yesterday,” Moon told him without letting his arm go.

“He was here, yesterday,” Lullaby clarified. “He always asks if you came by again.”

Rune frowned. “As if I wouldn’t go see him if I did?”

Night shrugged. “You didn’t last time.”

“What—he was the one that wasn’t here!”

“You didn’t wait for him to come back, either.”

“I had stuff to do.”

“Are you going to Veritas today?” Lullaby asked.

Rune hummed in thought. He glanced at Hyde huddled in a blanket on the couch, seeming to be dozing off with his head on the armrest. “We’ll go tomorrow. The trip here was already exhausting.”

Lullaby grinned at him. “You want him to come, too?”

“Well, duh. I want my grandad to meet my boyfriend.”

Lullaby chuckled.

Moon let Rune’s arm go and went to the couch. Rune followed her. Moon leaned over the back of it and looked down at Hyde falling asleep. She squinted. She poked the bruise on Hyde’s temple.

Hyde flinched and yelped, then swatted her hand away. “The fuck?!”

“Moon!” Rune scolded.

Moon looked up at him. “What? It didn’t look that painful, it’s almost faded.”

“You don’t poke people’s bruises! Who raised you?”

“You, partially.”

Rune squinted at her. “Shut up.”

Moon glanced back at Hyde. “Sorry.”

Hyde sat up with a grumpy look. Rune sat on the couch in front of Hyde.

“What happened to your head?” Moon asked.

“I had a concussion,” Hyde grumbled. “Which also messes with my energy, so excuse me for dozing off.”

“Okay, calm down, Hyde. She apologised,” Rune told him.

Hyde glanced at him, then groaned.

“How did you get a concussion?” Night asked as she arrived at the couch, too.

“Uh,” Hyde hesitated, looking at Rune.

Rune sighed. “You know those people I worked for?”

The girls nodded.

“The way I got out of the job, so I could go home, was kind of by tricking them. Three and a half weeks ago, they figured out I tricked them and they were pissed. They wanted me to kill Hyde to make up for it, but I didn’t, obviously. But then, they attacked us. They gave him a concussion and they—uh…” He wasn’t sure how to phrase it. “They killed me.”

Night froze up, Moon flinched in shock.

“I’m sorry?” Lullaby called from the kitchen. She came to the couch too. “They killed you?!”

Rune tightened his lips and nodded.

“Then how are you here?” Night asked.

“Because a witch friend of his”—Rune gestured at Hyde—“just so happened to be researching how to bring back the dead. And she succeeded, three weeks after I died.”

None of them knew what to say, they only stared at him.

“And that’s also a reason for why I came here again. I wanted to be sure they didn’t hurt any of you.”

“You were dead for three weeks?!” Lullaby repeated, unable to believe it.

Rune frowned and nodded.

“What was it like, being dead?” Night asked with a grim grin.

Rune hummed as he considered what to say. “Like nothing. It was like I had woken up from a nap, as if no time had passed at all.”

“Do you think they’re coming after us, now?” Moon worried.

“Probably not. Surely, they would’ve done something in the last three weeks if they are.”

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“What if you’re wrong?” Lullaby asked.

Rune sighed, he glanced at Hyde. At least he wouldn’t have to protect them on his own. “I don’t know.”

In the afternoon, Rune sat on the couch, reading the same book he had taken last time. He wanted to finish it before they went to see his grandad tomorrow, so he could give it back. Hyde rested on his shoulder, dozing off again. Moon and Night had gone upstairs, Lullaby was having lunch in the kitchen.

“Does a concussion drain your energy this much?” Rune asked Hyde.

“Seems like it,” Hyde groaned.

“You’re not getting ill or something?”

Hyde shook his head.

Rune pressed his palm to Hyde’s forehead to check his temperature. “You do feel warm.”

“My head is always warm compared to your hand. I’m fine, okay?”

Rune sighed. “Alright.”

Rune flinched at little taps on the top of his head. He looked up at Lullaby. She retracted her hand.

“I’m going to do some shopping.”

“Oh, okay. How long?”

“An hour, maybe. Need anything?”

“No, thank you.”

She smiled. “Okay. See you later.”

Rune smiled back. “Later.”

He watched her leave, then continued reading his book.

Footsteps came down the stairs. Rune looked around, it was Night.

“Since you’re going to Veritas tomorrow,” she said as she approached the couch, “can you take this with you?” She pushed a book against his shoulder. “I finished it.”

“Yeah, sure.” Rune grabbed it and took a good look at it. It was one of their grandad’s adventure novels. He smiled. “Oh, I read this one, too.”

“What’s Veritas?” Hyde mumbled.

“The city my grandad lives in.”

“Oh.”

Rune turned to Night. “Did you like it?”

She nodded, she glanced at the book on Rune’s lap. “Oh yeah, you stole that one from me.”

Rune raised his eyebrow. “Stole? Weren’t you finished with it?”

“I was, but Grandpa didn’t know you had it. He thought I should have three books of his, but then I only had two and he thought I lost one.”

“Didn’t you tell him I took it?”

“I did, but he didn’t give me the chance to say it right away.”

Rune chuckled.

Night frowned a little. “You know, he was pretty upset when we told him you came by.”

Rune frowned too. “Was he?”

“Well, of course he was glad you had come home and you were okay, but he was upset that you left again before he could see you.”

Rune looked down. “Oh.”

“You really couldn’t have stuck around a few more weeks?”

Rune glanced at Hyde. “I don’t know. I thought it would’ve been best if we didn’t wait too long.”

“For what?”

“For Hyde to go home. He had already been away for six years. And I didn’t want to give him the chance to grow so anxious, he’d run away again.”

“You know I can hear you, right?” Hyde grumbled.

“So what, am I lying?”

Hyde grunted.

“You’re grumpy today.” Rune turned back to Night. “So yeah, that.”

Night hummed. She glanced at Hyde. “Did you go home?”

Hyde nodded with his eyes closed.

“Did it go well?”

Hyde nodded again.

“Good.” Her eyes widened. “Whoa, you hadn’t seen your family since I was ten. We just got out of the orphanage, then.”

“Ugh, don’t make me feel old,” Hyde complained.

Rune chuckled.

Rune and Hyde were having a late lunch at the dinner table. Rune had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Lullaby wasn’t back yet, it had been several hours, now. “Should we go look for her?” he asked Hyde.

Hyde shrugged. “We can, if you want.”

“You could track her down, right?”

“I can try.”

Rune stood up. “Let’s do that.”

Rune walked through Enath with Hyde sniffing around beside him. “Found a trace yet?” Rune asked.

Hyde shook his head. “With all the smells everywhere, it’s difficult to single one out.”

Rune hummed. “Could you shift to make it easier?”

“I don’t want to shift in the middle of the street! You know how much attention that would attract?”

“Could you partially shift?”

“You know I can’t.”

“Have you tried?”

Hyde groaned. “How about, instead of relying on my nose, we think about this logically and not try to search the whole town? Where do you think she went? Which stores?”

“Uh.” Rune squinted in thought. “The grocery store, at least. Maybe a tea shop.”

“Then let’s search there, first.”

They first went to the grocery store. They searched around it; in the alleyways, the back of the building, everywhere. Hyde couldn’t find a trace of her. They went inside and walked around the whole store. The vegetable section, the meat section, bakery section, every aisle they could. There, the smells were way too overwhelming for Hyde to find anything. They concluded she wasn’t there.

They did the same at the nearby tea shop. Not there either. They continued walking around the streets in the hope of finding a glimpse of her.

Rune’s stomach twisted. Maybe she took a little detour somewhere. Maybe she ran into a friend. What friend, though? She made other friends the last five years, right? Right?

Or maybe the gang had gotten to her. They had already gotten rid of her body, they’d never be able to find a trace of her. Just like his parents. They had waited for him to come home so he’d be here when they did it. So he’d hurt. Panic.

He flinched when Hyde grabbed his arm. Rune looked at him, Hyde stared into a dark alleyway with wide eyes. “What?”

“Blood,” Hyde whispered. He glanced at Rune. “I smell blood.”

Rune stared at him, frozen, terrified. He searched around, there wasn’t anyone else on this street.

Hyde took a deep breath. “I’ll go first, okay?”

Rune nodded.

Hyde walked into the alley.

Rune couldn’t stand the tension of standing there alone and followed him in at a small distance. Deep into the alley, someone laid on their back on the ground. Hyde rushed to their side.

“It’s her!” he called out. He turned to Rune. “She’s still alive!”

Rune was shaken awake. “What?” He ran to them and fell on his knees beside her. Her chest still rose and fell, despite the big open wound in her stomach. She turned her head to him, her eyes barely open and struggling to breathe. A pool of blood laid around her.

Rune teared up. He lifted her into his arms and let her rest against his chest. He stroked her cheek. She gave him a weak smile. “Hey,” she whispered.

He hugged her tighter and pushed his cheek against her head as tears fell down his face. He looked at Hyde. He sat a bit further away, defeated. “Can we do anything?” Rune asked him in a whisper.

Hyde sighed. “She won’t make it to a hospital.”

Rune looked back at Lullaby. “I—I could turn you.”

She shook her head. “You can’t,” she whispered again. “I’m a faerie.”

He trembled and pinched his eyes closed as he laid his forehead on her head.

“Thank you,” she wheezed, then inhaled sharply. Rune looked at her face. She smiled a little again. “For giving me a family.”

Rune held her tightly again. “Thank you, for everything.”

She stopped breathing.

Rune sobbed into her hair. He flinched at a hand on his shoulder and turned his head around. Hyde gave him a sad look. He rubbed his shoulder. “We should report it to the police, even though we know perfectly well who did this.”

“Why?”

“It’s suspicious if we don’t. Someone else would find her eventually. We can’t tell them who did it without incriminating you, but we could at least make them think we’d want to find out.”

Rune glanced away, thinking it over. “Otherwise, they might figure out I was involved with them?”

“Exactly.”

Rune sighed, then nodded.

“I’ll go, you stay here with her.” Hyde stood up and stroked Rune’s head for a moment before running off.

Rune looked back at the body of his best friend in his arms. He cried into her hair again. If only he hadn’t tried to trick them. If only he’d done what he was told. If only Hyde had never caught him.

But then he still wouldn’t have been able to come home. He might never have been able to. He wouldn’t have met Hyde.

Could Selene bring her back, too? That might not be the best idea, now that the police was getting involved. They could wait until this all died down, then they could get her body and bring her back unnoticed. How long would they have to wait? Would Selene agree to bring her back? Surely, she won’t deny another test subject offered to her. For now, they’d have to leave her dead. Her body wouldn’t be going anywhere.

He looked at her lifeless face again and ran his thumb over her cheek. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “One day.”

He heard people approaching. Everything was a blur. He vaguely remembered Hyde kneeling in front of him, gently tugging him away, telling him it was time to let her go. He recalled Hyde holding him close while the police sectioned off the crime scene and took her body. He barely remembered an officer separating him from Hyde to interview them both, he couldn’t recall the answers he gave. They were good enough for the officer to let them go home. He remembered walking behind Hyde, holding his hand.

In the blink of an eye, they were home. Hyde took Rune inside.

“Where have you been?” he heard Night call out as she came into the hallway. He looked at her face but couldn’t get a word out of his mouth. He noticed Hyde frowning at him.

“They should hear it from you,” Hyde whispered.

Rune teared up again and shook his head.

“What happened?” Night asked.

Rune looked at her face, his little sister’s face. He had never been able to tell them something like this. Not when their parents died, either. ‘Where are Mum and Dad?’ they’d ask. He couldn’t tell them. They had to wait for their grandad’s first visit. Eleven years later, he still can’t.

He grabbed at his hair as his face trembled.

Hyde held his hand as he said, “You should sit down.” He took Rune to the couch. Moon was sitting at the dining table.

Rune sat down, he leaned his elbows on his knees and grabbed his hair again with both hands as he quietly cried.

Moon came to sit beside him. “What’s going on?”

Rune shook his head. He felt her arms wrap around his shoulders in a hug.

“Seriously, what happened?” Night asked Hyde behind them.

Hyde sighed and hesitated. “Should I say it?” he asked Rune.

Rune nodded.

Hyde was right, it would be better if they heard it from Rune, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk right now and wasn’t sure when he could. Leaving them in suspense for so long would only make it worse.

Hyde sighed. “Well, Lullaby, she—uh… she died. We found her, went to the police, they took care of it all.”

Silence filled the room.

“What?” Moon broke it.

“H-how? Why?” Night asked.

“The gang most likely killed her. They wounded her, not sure how. She was still alive when we found her, but we couldn’t do anything to save her.”

Moon’s arms trembled around Rune’s shoulders. “Did she”—she choked up—“say anything?”

Rune took a deep, shaky, wet breath and nodded. “She thanked me, us, for giving her a family.” His voice was hoarse. He looked at Moon, tears fell down her cheeks. He then looked at Night, she seemed to be holding her tears back, but they welled in her eyes, too.

Rune leaned back into the couch and pulled Moon against his side. He turned to Night again and tugged at her arm. “Come here.” She clenched her face as she climbed on the couch and laid against his other side. He put an arm around her, too.

Hyde sighed behind them. “I’ll leave you alone.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss on Rune’s head, then walked away.

The image of his sisters crying on his chest danced through Rune’s own tears. Moon sobbing, Night only letting tears fall out of her eyes. He didn’t want to tell them they could potentially bring her back, in case they couldn’t. He didn’t want to put them through this pain again.

He kissed Moon’s hair, then rested his chin on Night’s head and rubbed both of their sides. Now he was the only adult of the house, with no one else to rely on here in Enath.