(ACT 02) VVV

WILLIAM VEIL

William quickly tore his gaze away from the irritating, too-bright screen of his laptop, the words practically swimming in his mind's eye like a school of tuna as he turned his head to the side with a tired groan.

He had been at it with this report since afternoon... and that was when he noticed his sister flinching somewhat randomly again for what seemed to be the nth time. Come to think of it, she had been like this all day long since she appeared on his room last night out of nowhere.

A younger him would have definitely jumped and scream in fright at the sight of his older sister creeping out of the shadows literally like some sort of ghostly apparition from a cheap slasher-horror film but now… William, still half-asleep at that time just lazily chucked the nearest object he could reach (an adorable cat-lamp he brought from Seoul months ago) in her general direction for barging in like that because what the hell Win, didn't dad taught you how to fucking knock?!

Instead of relaxing or lounging by the pool like he had for the majority of the day—what? It’s his day off! —Winters had stubbornly opted to stay indoors, standing guard in front of the window, looking over him and outside alternately, like a guard dog, like she was waiting for... something, even stiffening and throwing concerned glances around every shadow that was not his or her's.

And I was the one they considered paranoid. William huffed at that, focusing away from his monthly report to pointedly stare at the back of her head, hoping for her to get the hint.

He narrowed his eyes.

No shit.

He's sick and tired of staring at a report that could not magically do itself and let's face it, he is so not going to get anything done with his sister looking like someone's going to jump-scare her any second, anyway.

Because by this point, it’s freaking him out too.

Winters flinched again—this time, her gloved hands had grabbed over the windowsill as she suddenly lurched forward, almost hunched in anticipation, eyes darting here and there causing him to raise an eyebrow at her movements as he too, took a peek on outside from what he can see over her head, wondering what's the fuss is all about.

“...What's going on?”

She jerked at the sudden sound of his voice as if stung and whirled around to face him, her eyes too dark and the pupils too blown wide... and William was immediately worried and a bit anxious because his sister was literally not moving and was just standing there, staring at him but at the same time, she looks like she was not seeing him–

William almost didn’t—couldn’t—hear the sound of his own voice over the sound of his rapidly beating heart, “Win? Are you okay?”

“N... Nothing, William. I mean, I'm fine...” Winters straightened, visibly exhaling, “I just thought I saw something outside is all.”

“Is that so?”

She nodded.

Yeah, right.

Like hell he’s buying that.

William made a soft noise of frustration as he abruptly stood up, the chair making a loud screeching sound as he stalked forward to stand by her side. He shoved the curtain a bit, scanning their surroundings left and right, for any sign of anything amiss.

The light flickered outside and the water on the pool glinted prettily because of the moonlight and... William saw nothing out of ordinary.

“Coast is clear,” he told her, squinting.

“…I know.”

“Oh, so you know,” he deadpanned, leaning against the wall to get a better look at her face, “…is there anything you wanna share?”

“Nothing I recall,”

He snorts, “You said that the last time you ate all the cake.”

“Not my fault you don’t want to share.”

“Then, just buy your own!”

“Tell yourself that.”

With him directly beside her, William felt more than actually see his sister finally relaxing, her body swaying a bit, like her entire energy had suddenly drained out of her godly system and he instinctively leaned to her direction just in case she randomly collapsed and topple over like she used to when he was a teenager which made Winters smile—a tiny, tired one—her hand landing on his shoulder to steady herself better.

“You know, you've been acting weird all day... well, weirder. You've always been kind of weird,” William commented, drawing the curtains shut before he gently steered her away with an arm around her shoulders just in case she decides to keep standing watch.

Winters gave him a flat, irritated glare at the insult as she allowed herself to be moved away but did not deign him with a response. Another red flag.

“What's wrong with you?” his sister continued to stare back at him wordlessly, her expression unmoving: the literal definition of flat and monotone. Still not talking? “Is it because of the werewolves that called me and Nick a few days ago?” William continued, eyes narrowing in thought.

A few days ago, William had been personally contacted by Sean White at the behest of Alastor Nyx, the Northern Pack's alpha because of a god-problem... how and why they managed to get a god, of all things, involved is beyond him.

Of course, William (for obvious and personal reasons known and unknown) didn't want to get sucked in their problem so he threw the wolves to Nick instead. He had half-hoped his friend had scared them off. “Well, do you know what they wanted to talk about?” Winters suddenly asked, sounding strangely curious for once.

“Nah… wasn't interested,” William answered, shrugging dismissively, “Besides, we have our own share of godly problems to deal with, remember?”

“Godly. Hah.” his older sister chuckled dryly at his choice of words, stepping away from him a bit, “...very well said, little brother.”

“But you know, their alpha really sounded like he was close to freaking out or something though... maybe the god took his mate?” William muttered as he followed his sister who was now occupying his previous seat, pulling the laptop close to her.

Winters paused, “What?”

William stared at her, “What?”

She began to read through his report without a word at that. Eyes narrowing, Winters began to edit the content herself… which made William let out a huge sigh in relief.

Thank the gods for Win-Win.

“Tell me more.” she told him, sounding almost distracted.

He stood next to her and watched her type in a few more words, “Really, there's not much to tell,” William finally said, “...I didn't stick around to find out, I really don't want to get involved, you know. They were just demanding information about a god... then I directed them to Nick.”

“Let me guess. Because he's a demigod?” she asked; her voice as dry as a biscuit.

William scratched the side of his head sheepishly; giving her unimpressed glare what he hoped was an adorable smile. She scoffed, patting his cheek, almost soothingly, “I’m sorry William, but acting cute no longer worked on me when you turned sixteen.”

“Wait… it worked?”

“Did it?” she goaded.

“Aw, come on!”

“Oh, William,” she smirked, poking him on the ribs, playfully, “Just because we are half-gods does not mean we know whatever our godly parents are up to all the damn time,” William feigned a shudder at that, “…and quite frankly I did not want to.”

“But you know... you're one of them now, right? You're not a demigod anymore.” William reminded her, gently. He did not want to get jabbed on the ribs again.

Winters suddenly stopped typing.

Her glare reflected through the screen and searing his gaze which made him wince, can already feel the ear lash he's about to receive.

And worst of all—with good reason, too.

She should have just punched him in the gut.

“Why were you helping them, William?” Winters demanded, the words coming out slow and low, making him stand up straight on the spot. Holy shit, he was right. Here it comes… “No. In the first place, why on earth were you even in contact with any of them? Their beta still has your personal cell number!”

“And how the hell did you know that?” he snapped, defensive and a bit freaked out, “Winters, were you messing around on my phone again?!”

She looked completely unrepentant, “So?”

“Well, stop it. You have your own!”

“Do you want to lose yours?”

“I-I mean, we do kind of owe their pack a lot, sis…” William immediately answered, albeit weakly. He so did not want to lose his phone again, thank you very much, “You may not remember any of it but–”

She clenched her hand into a fist, the lights overhead suddenly flickering somewhat ominously, “If this involves that night William, I don't want to know.”

“But… Winters–”

His sister stiffened again, her head snapping to the direction of the covered window, he was surprised she didn't break her neck while she's at it and the words died in his throat the moment Winters abruptly stood up from her seat.

As soon as she did, in that one second, all the lights suddenly went down. For a while, both of them immediately did not make another sound in the darkness. And it was so suddenly eerily silent that William was certain that his sister can hear his heart beating frantically like a loud war drum, like it was planning to burst right out of his chest–if it was in fear or in anticipation, he did not know—and was it just him or the general noise of the night critters were… strangely absent?

Suddenly, Winters grabbed him by the arm, her fingernails almost digging painfully into his skin. He wince, partly in pain and shock, turning to stare at her, mouth agape–

-.-. .-. --- ... ... -... --- .--

For a second, his brows furrowed at her. Then, a beat after, he instantly realized she was communicating via Morse. Crossbow, she said.