The Guilty

Richard's POV:

I hummed softly as I clipped my nails. There weren't enough maids for them to do this for me anymore... so I was stuck doing this. The ones left are always busy, working themselves to the bone to keep the manor nice. I smirked as I remembered the last one I fed off of and felt my mouth water at the prospect of drinking more blood then growled as the killer came back to mind. That'd be the best meal... to drink away the life of the one who had been taking my children from me.... Laurence appeared in front of me suddenly and looked around then sighed out in relief, probably glad Paris wasn't around since he almost was killed by him. I looked up at him then smiled huge. Laurence.... He ventured out of the shadows finally. I sat the nail clippers aside. "Laurence~" I purred and reached out for him. "I'm so sorry about what happened. I'm sure he didn't mean it. I'm so glad to see you." He looked me over cautiously before he got in my arms quickly and hugged me.

"Richard..." He whispered. "I'm so sorry about what's happened. I don't know who it could be though.... It's like how I can't see wizards." I nodded in understanding.

"I know.... You would've told us if you knew it was going to happen. I don't blame you.... In fact, I was going to talk to Paris about what he did soon. It was wrong of him... even if he was upset. He shouldn't have threatened you like that." I kissed his cheek and hugged him. "You're welcome here.... You're apart of this family just like if you were a brother." I smiled at him and then purred to him. "We're focusing on finding the killer right now, but he does need to apologize to you." Of course, I was angry as well, but I was doing a better job of controlling myself than Paris was. My poor mate... my poor kids.... Whoever is doing this is going to pay big time when my fingers get around their throat and I can sink my fangs into them. He nodded as he looked me over.

"Raven told him to start suspecting family members..." He muttered. I frowned at that.

"Family members? W-well...." I didn't want to believe it.... Why would a family member do this to us all? Still... it's suspicious we haven't found the killer yet. They'd have to be powerful... and Laurence can't see them... and this isn't a Hachi move... and Isaac wouldn't do it, which leave Lien on the wizard side of things, but Lien wouldn't do it... so it would be a vampire among us in our family.... "I don't want to believe it... but it's possible," I whispered and then shook my head, feeling broken hearted about being able to admit that I could suspect a family member. Paris teleported into the room suddenly and pinned Laurence against the wall. I widened my eyes and quickly got to my feet, snarling towards Paris. "Let. Him. Go," I hissed his way.

"Laurence," Paris hissed. "I'm going to go kill a family member that killed Aiyana, Ezra, Peyton, and Owen... Since I don't know who exactly it is I think I'll kill them off one by one until the truth comes out who did it. Ready?" Paris asked. "I'm going to go kill Victor." Paris eased off of Laurence and started for Victor's bedroom's direction. I widened my eyes.

"Paris! Don't you dare!" I hissed at him and started for him. "You have to have proof first! You'll break your sister's heart!" I chased after him then.

"I've never trusted Victor." Paris told me. "He's not even supposed to be mated to my sister. His kids are still living as well."

"He's not guilty." Laurence said quickly.

"Oh?" Paris looked relaxed. "I'm going to kill my sister then." He kept walking.

"Paris, you kill your sister and I'm not sleeping with you for a year," I threatened him. "You'll regret it! That's your sister! You know she didn't do it!"

"Not guilty," Laurence spoke up quickly.

"My own twin then?" Paris asked and started for his hall. I widened my eyes and then tensed up, realizing what he was up to.... He's using Laurence.... He wouldn't actually kill his twin, not if he wasn't trying to figure something out. He's using Laurence by deciding to kill each family member so Laurence can see the path out and tell him if another person dies after he kills that person.... I relaxed and fidgeted a bit, looking towards Laurence. Paris is making it easier for him....

"Not guilty."

"Then it was Ann! She wanted to kill Aiyana because of jealousy over August. I knew it. I'll kill her then." Paris growled, sounding really pissed.

"Not guilty."

"Then it was my own mate..." Paris turned towards me then. "You.... You killed them because this whole time... you've been slowly thinking about what your father said those many years ago... now you want to kill us all off... I'll kill you first though." He started for me, being slow about it like a lion stalking it's meal. I watched him calmly and exposed my neck a bit, giving him a small smirk. No way would I have killed our kids. Not even if we had a huge fight... but if he wants to play that way, I can play.

"Not guilty. You monster... That's a sick way to kill your lover."

"I hope you enjoyed watching," Paris smirked towards Laurence then tensed. I frowned and looked towards Laurence then at Paris.

"Hey... how did you kill me? Just curious," I said and walked up, wrapping my arms around him. "Was it bloody? Painful? Did I scream?" I teased him.

"I fucked you to death," Paris smirked playfully. "Then I crushed your stone in my teeth and swallowed it."

"God you make my skin crawl..." Laurence shivered.

"I'm going to have to go kill my best friend.... my dear friend.... Raven." He pulled away from me. "Too bad.... I really liked this pawn." He started heading towards the stairs.

"Ehhhhh... not guilty..." Laurence shivered. "I never want to see that again...."

"Perry? That son of a bitch.... I'll kill that murderer... he stole my money after all those many years ago. Now he did this?"

"No." Laurence said quickly.

"Good to know they're not guilty." Paris relaxed. I looked towards Paris and then sighed before I rubbed my neck. Well... at least I know that if I die by Paris, I'll go out in pleasure.... Though he probably won't ever kill me.... I'd let him if he really wanted me dead though.... My whole life is him and my children.... I wonder... maybe the killer could've been... Shiloh? He just came home and all this started happening... and he was running around pretty much free because Rory was concerned with choosing River as his mate. Shiloh could've been doing anything, like killing family members. Paris looked me over and raised an aye brow.

"Shiloh Grimm.... my family's killer...." Paris glared the walls down then and clenched his jaw. I frowned as it didn't feel right when I actually heard it aloud. I don't think Shiloh would've done it... not like that.... Even if she is one of the quadruplets.... I looked towards Laurence, hoping he'd say not guilty.

"Paris.... to your own child?" Laurence asked. "It's a good thing you'll never have to do that because Shiloh isn't guilty." Paris nodded towards him. I sighed in relief and then ran a hand through my hair, going through the list of those who lived in the manor in my head so Paris could easily pick names, trying to help him out. I'd go and try to kill someone too to speed up the process... but I don't think I could muster up enough rage without a good suspicion against them and some evidence.... I love my family too much.... I shivered at the idea of one of my family members killing my kids and it made me feel sick with anger, but I didn't have someone to direct it at yet.... I'd try defending most of the family in my head if I tried to do what Paris is doing... so I can't.

"I'm going to start down the list of our children now..." Paris decided. "Donnie, he's jealous because we gave that throne to Alistair.... He wanted to punish someone so he punished his own siblings and his cousin. I'll kill him." Paris started for his door then. "While I'm at it I'll kill his children and Midori. They might've been in it as well." Paris pulled out a dagger from his pocket. Laurence started to fall silent, this taking longer that usual before he spoke up quickly.

"They're not guilty," Laurence huffed out. I sighed in relief, glad it wasn't Donnie or his family. I looked towards Paris and then at Laurence before I closed my eyes, wanting to help. I wanted to find my children's killer too.... I wanted to rip their throats out after torturing them for weeks! I wouldn't even let them die then... I'd make them live longer till they lost all the life in their eyes and couldn't even recognize anything, then I'd kill them. It could've been Myra.... She's a hunter. She didn't grow up in our family to begin with. She doesn't even try to love us. She could've killed them like the hunter she is. I let out a snarl as I felt my rage beginning to build. She didn't even show me any love, her own biological mother.

"I'll kill her," I hissed under my breath, feeling my fangs sharpening. I'd render her powerless then rip her fangs out and torture her like she deserves for being a hunter and killing her own family members. I opened my eyes and started to walk off, growling as I headed in the general direction of the garage.

"Myra's not guilty," Laurence spoke up, "but she's hard to read... After killing her deaths continued but I still can't ever see her. She's hard to spot like a old dime in pennies." I looked towards him and calmed down, giving a nod before I sighed. So not our two oldest children....

~Time Skip~

I sighed as Paris finally got through the list of all our children. All of them had been found not guilty... a huge relief on me. I smiled softly, knowing our children weren't the ones going around killing each other. It just means that whoever it is isn't one of my kids.... I could deal with that much better than it being one of my own.

"The next set is Louis's kids to suspect..." Paris muttered. "I'm going to kill River... you can have Brook." Paris told me. I nodded and then started to walk off in the direction of Brook's room to do away with her. I'd kill her quickly to save Louis's feelings.

"They're not guilty." Laurence told us before we got too far away. I frowned as I realized something and my hand twitched. Paris hadn't been tested.... I glanced over my shoulder at him then narrowed my eyes. He was so quick to jump at Laurence when our child was discovered dead. It was because he didn't want Laurence to tattle on him. He's killing off our children one by one to give him a reason to gain more power and put this family under terror. He's power hungry. I looked him over then turned around to face him. My own mate.... I snarled and exposed my fangs, starting for him. I'd kick his ass then fuck him one last time before I take him downstairs and torture him for what he's done then I'd kill him in Africa once he's broken.... I'd throw his stone on a fire and then crush it under my boot for this betrayal. Paris turned on me quickly like he heard my thoughts.

"I didn't do it Richard," Paris said quickly. "I don't have the will to kill off children like that..." I paused, looking at him and then wanted to believe him so badly... but I needed to hear Laurence say it... just like he did for me... I'd just crush his stone instead... just simply take it and crush it over a jar then keep the jar.... I started for him again, glancing at his chest as my whole body ached at the idea of even touching Paris with the intent to kill. My whole being didn't want to touch him that way... but I would if I had to. Paris teleported down the hall to get away from me with wide eyes. Why hasn't Laurence said anything yet?! I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes as I forced my body to keep walking after Paris, thankful he teleported to make this longer. Laurence... please... please tell me it wasn't him. Why would he kill our own children?! I felt my eyes start to tear up at the idea of living without Paris and Paris having actually killed them.... I'd die with him if it was him.... He's still my mate.... Paris looked me over as he knelt down onto his knees like he was waiting for me. Oh man.... I looked at Laurence with wide eyes. He still hasn't said a word.... I looked towards Paris and started to tremble as I walked up to him. Why Paris? I felt a tear slip down my cheek as I reached him finally and I knelt down in front of him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Why?" I whispered under my breath. "You know how much I love you.... Oh my demons, I hope he says it wasn't you before I actually take it from you.... I don't want to live without you, even if you did kill our kids.... I could never hate you...."

"I didn't do it though...." Paris shook his head. "I would have known and I would have never intended to do it... I love them."

"I know," I whispered and then kissed his lips as I trembled, putting my hand over his chest.

"Then don't kill me..." Paris whispered. "If you truly believe it then don't kill me." I looked into his eyes and started to cry.

"Paris, if the roles were reversed... even if you believed it couldn't have been me because of our love and my love for our kids... if Laurence wasn't saying anything for me, you'd have started to kill me too," I whispered.

"Yeah.... because I would do anything for our children. I'd even kill you." He sharpened his fangs. "No matter how bad it hurt me afterwards." I looked towards his fangs then up at him.

"I can't show even you mercy if there is a chance it was you," I whispered to him, feeling my stone pulsing in protest and in pure love and loyalty for Paris. "I've got to protect the kids too.... Even if it means I'll die too along side you...."

"He's not guilty," Laurence said as he walked up towards us. I widened my eyes and quickly yanked my hand back from his chest, kissing him quickly as I wrapped my arms around his neck. It wasn't him~! I pressed up against him, starting to cry in relief as a flood of emotions- love, joy, happiness- washed over me. Of course it couldn't have been my mate! After everything we've been through together, he wouldn't have! I laughed against his lips and kissed him again quickly, tackling him to the floor. Paris purred and wrapped his arms around me. "You've got someone after you though," Laurence laughed. "The killings stopped when you died." I pulled back at the kiss long enough to look over my shoulder at Laurence.

"Then...." I frowned, feeling a little worry creeping back into me. "How do you know it wasn't him?" I asked, tensing up. Oh no...

"Because Paris's past proves him not guilty. I know exactly where he was when each death happened. His hands weren't holding a stone." Laurence shrugged. "Paris is readable. You're readable." I relaxed quickly and then looked down at Paris in pure love. We'd find who was after him then... and rip their stones out... and I'll narrow this down quickly.

"I'm going to kill all of Rose's children," I mumbled, watching Paris as I stood up and then moved away from him before I headed for the garage. "Starting with Nikolai. Every single one of them."

"You can have Nikolai.... I'm going after Lori and Alistair." Paris told me and got to his feet, going for the garage. I looked at him then grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze as we walked.

Laurence's footsteps trailed after us after a minute. "It's one of them..." He whispered. I tensed up and stopped quickly, making Paris stop then looked up at Paris. It's from Rose's side of the family.... I widened my eyes in horror. It really was a family member.... Raven was right....

"We're both going to kill Nikolai... now," I whispered to him. "You're going to hold Raven down and compel her to stay loyal...."

"What about Castrian and Luca?" Paris asked.

"They're both children.... Their mother will try to protect them from me and tell them to stay back. She'll try to take us both on... so you'll handle all three... maybe even teleport Castrian and Luca somewhere else.... Raven would escape if you tried to teleport her and she'd come back and kill me to protect her mate. So put the kids somewhere else and hold Raven down.... You'll be able to do it better than me because you can read her thoughts and teleport to stop her if she tries something...." I explained, planning out how this would work. Raven is too much of a wild card to allow to stay unguarded.

"Don't worry, Nikolai didn't do it," Laurence told us then. "He's got everything he's ever wanted. The top of the world and a mate and child... He's also got the perfect family in his hands. It wasn't Nikolai." I nodded and then dismissed Nikolai quickly to find the one that did it.

"Lori. She's young. We'll be able to get her easily," I whispered to Paris. "You'll drain her.... and I'll rip her stone out at the last minute and crush it."

"Isn't it obvious now?" Paris asked me. "It was Alistair. I know because he's jealous of his older brother. Nikolai gets all the attention. He's killing us all off and his next target might be in his siblings. The crown of France wasn't enough for him. I say we kill Alistair. Lori is a sweet girl. She doesn't have it in her to kill but we both know Alistair has killed before and the way he's acted over the years is enough for us to suspect him first." I tensed up as I realized he was right. I wanted to check Lori first... to single him out... but Paris was right. There was no way in hell it was Lori. I grabbed his hand as I felt anger boiling up inside of me. He killed out of jealousy... his own family....

"You're right," I told him and then growled, exposing my fangs. "He probably took all of them over to France to kill them all easier."

"He can keep them dead longer and unnoticed over there. We need to go now and stopped his mad parade." Paris spoke quickly.

"Well.... you better hurry," Laurence told us. I looked towards Laurence then looked at Paris.

"Let's go get a few guns," I whispered. Alistair is powerful enough to steal a stone and not have the body immediately crumble... and he comes from Victor as well as Grimm... He's extremely dangerous. We need to be careful too....

"You guys need to use a better pawn than a gun," Laurence told us. "Although Rory could easily direct the guns to kill off Alistair. I've seen it play out if you guys turn the table to the right angle. Hachi is also a great pawn to use. He doesn't have a stone." I nodded and looked at Paris.

"We should take some guns, Hachi... and..." I trailed off as my mind wandered to Raven. She's a great fighter... and we could take her for just in case. I can tell from the look in her eyes that she's starting to lose it again too.... It might be selfish to take her with us and turn her lose with Hachi... but if we did... we'd definitely have Alistair's stone in our hands, and it's better to be safe than sorry. Put our most insane fighter against Alistair who is also messed up in the head a little... along with our cannibal wizard... and our high tech guns.... "And Raven too," I added on finally.

"Raven?" Paris asked. "Okay you'll give her a call and take care of the guns. I'm going to go get Hachi. Laurence go get Louis. He deserves to come with us." I nodded and pulled out my phone to call her, dialing up her number. She picked up after a few seconds.

"What is it?" She mumbled, sounding tired like she just woke up. "Is something wrong Richard?" I smirked a little.

"How would you like to help me and Paris again?" I purred softly, knowing she'd jump at the chance. "To cut loose and help capture the killer?"

"R-Richard," she said, sounding a little worried. "You know I'd love to help you, but... if I do, I might lose it.... That wouldn't be safe for my child and mate...."

"Raven, you'll be fine," I told her, looking towards Paris. "They'll be fine. You shouldn't have to hide from it." She hesitated for a few minutes before I heard her shuffle the phone around, calling softly for Nikolai. She's going to ask her mate first.... I frowned a little and glanced at the phone. She's really starting to change because of all the peace we've had lately.... Normally she'd already have teleported here to kick ass with us.... "Raven," I muttered. "You're either in or you're out. You don't have to ask Nikolai for permission to come with us."

"O-okay," she whispered. "I'll come over then...." I smirked and hung up, looking at Paris.

"She's certainly been calming down over the centuries," I purred towards him. "Must be because of her mate and having a kid finally. I hope she hasn't lost her touch or I'll be disappointed in her."

"We never lost ours and we have a bunch of kids," Paris smirked towards me. "Now I vote Louis tells Rose about her child."

"Deal," I said and then saw Raven teleport beside us then. She looked up towards us and gave a small smile.

"I'm here," she said softly and walked up. "I'm glad you found him Paris.... I told you that you'd get your revenge...."

I'm not happy about who it is though... How could Alistair do it?" Paris asked.

Rory's POV:

"UNO BITCHES!" I yelled and threw down a yellow reverse. The remainder card in my hand was a draw four. Alistair, River, Shiloh, Sage, Star, Astrid, and Lori was playing UNO with me. River being on my left and Shiloh on my right. Then it was Sage on Shiloh's side. Astrid, Lori, Star, and Alistair. I had no clue what the other four was up to. Probably out in town double dating. River frowned slightly as he looked down at the yellow reverse that reversed it Shiloh's way then up at me before he started looking over his cards. Shiloh grumbled about me getting uno and then laid down her cards. When it got back to River, he smirked a little and looked at me, giving me a playful look as he played with the top of a card in his deck. He laughed and looked towards my one card then looked at me, his smirk widening. I watched him, challenging him to try to keep me in the game. He giggled and then sat down a draw four before he reached over and touched my arm, showing me that he wanted the color red played. He gave me a sweet look.

"You're going to pay for that tonight," I teased him as I drew my four. "It's red." He blushed and pulled his hand back from my arm, looking shy as he glanced from me and looked back at my cards. Shiloh groaned and picked up a card.

"No one likes red River," he muttered under his breath.

"Bleh," Alistair grumbled. "I'm going to get you River if you don't stop changing it to red." River shrunk down in his seat, looking over at Alistair with a slightly afraid look before he hid behind his cards. Suddenly our father (Paris) teleported into the room with Laurence, Raven, Hachi, Louis, and Richard. River tensed up and looked towards Paris then yelped, getting to his feet quickly and putting down his cards then looked towards Alistair in horror and shock. He began to tremble and backed up quickly, shaking his head. Raven smirked towards Alistair and started walking up to him.

"Hey Alistair," she purred, getting behind him then looked down at his cards then at him. "Uno huh?"

"Yeah, want to play?" Alistair asked and looked her over then towards River. She giggled.

"Of course I want to play," she said and then kicked out a leg on the chair, making it fall over as it broke before she snatched Alistair up and slammed him against the table. She smirked. "But I want to play a different game~"

"What kind of game?" Alistair asked. What the hell....

"Alistair are you okay?" I asked him.

"No, I dropped my cards." Alistair said as the had fallen from Raven's little outburst.

"Alistair, do you deny being our family's killer?" Paris asked him. Raven looked down at him, pinning him down before she looked towards Paris then down at Alistair. Louis narrowed his eyes at Alistair, looking at him in pure hatred. River paled and put a hand over his mouth, starting to look sick before he quickly walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Choose your words wisely because they may be your last," Laurence warned.

"Alistair?" I asked him. How could he do this to the family? Even I wouldn't go around killing them no matter how much they've shunned me for my actions.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alistair told them. "Raven, you can take River's place." Raven exposed her fangs towards Alistair and dug her nails down into Alistair's wrist. She smirked as she caught the scent of his blood and then looked him over.

"No, I think I'd rather play with you only," she purred and then giggled before she yanked him off the table and shoved him. She teleported behind him as he stumbled and then sunk her fangs down into his neck, taking a huge chunk out and then spat it at the floor before she leaned in and licked his neck all the way up to his jaw, sending a shiver down his spine. She smirked as I saw a look of insanity slowly creeping into her eyes as she grabbed his wrist to keep him from going anywhere. "Only one of us is going to come out of this," she said then laughed. "Maybe I can take that pretty red and paint the walls in it. What do you think Alistair?"

"I think I've got something that belongs to you," Alistair said and then held up a stone firmly in his hands. He smirked. "It's your son's." She froze up and looked towards the stone in his hand with wide eyes.

"Don't you dare," she hissed, sounding pissed. "I'll kill you." Louis's eyes widened as he looked towards the stone and then at Alistair. He narrowed his eyes and was in front of Alistair in seconds, snatching the stone away from him before he teleported beside Paris and gave it to him to hold onto. Raven relaxed as she saw the stone saved then looked at Alistair predatorily before she slammed him through a wall. I stood up quickly as Starla's eyes widened in horror.

"No stop!" Starla begged, her eyes starting to water.

"Well this is a real climax..." I muttered and started towards the broken wall. Raven had disappeared at the moment, leaving Alistair on the floor. She appeared back in a few seconds, holding a knife in her hands. She snarled at him and went for him with an insane look in her eyes, her fangs fully exposed. The shadows on the walls seemed to crawl with her presence as she stalked up towards him, even scaring me a little with the look in her eyes. Alistair's hand flicked a bit and he held up another stone.

"Guess whose this is, Raven." He smirked. "This one is yours personally." She smirked at him.

"You think I care that you have my stone Alistair?" She purred and then slammed down on his chest with her foot, making him yelp involuntarily. "You have no clue how much trouble you're in boy. I'm centuries old. I could care less if you smashed that stone in your hands. The only reason I'd tell you not to is because I have a child who adores me and a mate that needs me. I used to wipe the floor with snot nosed brats like you daily." She giggled and then moved in a blur, cutting his hand off that held her stone. She laughed madly and then licked her knife with his blood on it, sending a chill through me at the sound of her laugh. I heard Astrid, Starla, and Lori leave the room- the girls practically had to drag Star out. I crossed my arms as I watched Raven.

"Just get it over with already Raven or do you need some help?" I asked her. She glanced back at me and then giggled.

"No, I don't need help. You want a piece?" She asked me playfully then looked down at Alistair, leaning down and picking up her stone before she tossed it towards me and snatched his out of his chest before he could react. She looked it over and then walked up to me, taking her stone back and walked past me towards Paris, Richard, Louis, Hachi, and Laurence, holding up Alistair's stone. "Who wants it first?" She purred. I rolled my eyes and had the knife go straight through it, crushing it.

"Ops, sorry, did you guys want your turns?" I asked them. "Too bad I got it first." She frowned and then looked towards me.

"Rory, that was Paris's job," she told me and then looked at her stone and then walked up to Paris, holding out her hand for Castrian's. Louis relaxed as he looked at Alistair's crushed stone remains on the floor then sighed. I tensed up as I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out to see Keegan calling me. I relaxed and answered it.

"Hey little bro," I purred into the phone. "Don't worry, we killed him. Our family is safe-"

"That wasn't his stone." I heard Keegan telling me. I froze up as laughter came from the floor and looked towards Alistair's body still formed. Raven froze up and looked behind her towards Alistair then narrowed her eyes.

"Still alive Alistair?! Good!" She called out then placed her stone in Paris's hand, entrusting it to him. "Take care of that for me," she hummed out then started back for Alistair. "Hachi! Want to catch a rat with me? You can have the eyes~"

"Now that seems fun," Hachi giggled and started after Raven.

"You guys will never find my stone," Alistair laughed. "Ever, you can destroy this form but I will come back." Raven smirked.

"You'll never show your face again when we're through with you," she hissed and walked up to him, snatching his wrist. "You better hope we never do find your stone, because I'll crack it and stick it in a fire for taking my son's stone. You better run as far as you can because you're always going to be hunted, an exile Alistair. Not even your brother can save you if he wanted to." She threw him towards Hachi and giggled. "Hachi~ Let's eat," she purred and then walked up. "I'll take the blood, you take the eyes, the tongue, the fingers, everything else I don't want."

"Don't kill this form. You can however... Take some blood.... his eyes.... his hands..." Paris told us. "But don't kill it. Instead we're taking him to a very dark room for eternity until we find his stone. Destroying this form won't help us find his stone."

"So I do get his eyes?" Hachi asked. "Yummy." Raven looked towards Paris and purred happily before she looked at Hachi and knelt down beside Alistair, grabbing him and holding him down.

"Hachi~" She called out, watching him. "Get one before I take most of his blood~ You do want some in the eyes, right?"

"Right," Hachi said in excitement and ran up, kneeling down as he pulled out a set of chopsticks.

"Disgusting...." I muttered. Raven giggled and looked down at Alistair's terrified face, watching Hachi go for an eye as she exposed her fangs. I turned away from them as I heard Alistair start to scream and heard an eyeball pop out. I shivered, taking note to NEVER go against my family.

"Ooooh~ Can I have that blood in his eye socket?" Raven asked Hachi sweetly. "Or do you drink that? I don't know."

"You better keep to his wrist." Hachi warned her. "His eyes are my turf."

"Okay," she purred sweetly and I heard her sink her fangs down into Alistair's neck, making him shriek in pain.

"Oh dear devil," I hissed. I walked up towards Paris. "Get that out of my castle," I hissed. "It's ruining my ears."

"You sure you don't want to watch?" He asked.

"I'm disgusted by the disgrace. I don't care about watching his suffering though." I rolled my eyes. Richard looked at me and then kissed my cheek.

"Sure, I'll have Raven move it back to the dungeon at the Grimm manor... just because you're still my baby in my eyes," he purred and gave me a hug. "And River is here too.... He's probably terrified."

"I'd be more worried about Castrian's stone being here." I told him, looking towards it. "As well as your daughter that just got her stone crumbled to bits. Though I'm not sorry for that. She took Sage's fangs." Richard tensed up and looked at me then at Paris with wide eyes.

"Was that really Myra's?!" He asked in panic. "Paris! We need to find our girl! RAVEN! Move your party with Hachi to the dungeon at Grimm manor!" He called out to her then walked up to Paris. "Please," he begged, grabbing Paris's hand as tears started to form in his eyes. "We need to find her.... I need to know she's okay." I tossed my phone to Richard.

"Keegan is still on the phone and they went out together I think into the city." I looked towards Shiloh and Sage. Richard started to talk frantically on the phone as soon as he got ahold of it and kept a hold of Paris as he started to get their location to go to them. Raven disappeared with Hachi and Alistair as Sage got up and sighed.

"I'll go check on the girls," he said, walking off. Shiloh looked towards me and got to his feet, walking up. Paris teleported away with Richard suddenly and Laurence seemed to fade into the shadows.

"You okay?" I asked Shiloh. He nodded as Louis disappeared, probably going home.

"Yeah, I'm fine.... Just... I can't believe he was the one doing the killings," he said softly and then wrapped his arms around my neck. "We were so close to letting him join us too...."

"I should probably go find River..." I muttered. He frowned then nodded.

"Yeah... maybe you should.... He does read minds, doesn't he? He's probably traumatized. If you want to keep him, then you probably should before he loses it," he told me then let me go. "Go on big boy. Go find the kitten."

"You should sleep with us tonight," I suggested softly before starting out the door to go find River.

"I will!" Shiloh called after me. After searching for a bit, I finally found River curled up in a supply closet with a blanket, trembling with his eyes wide as he held his head. His face was wet with tears and he didn't even seem to notice the door opened. I reached out for him then and scooped him up into my arms.

"River, what are you doing in a place like this?" I asked him and started to carry him towards my bedroom. "It's okay he's long gone now." I promised. He shivered, looking up at me with a haunted look as he heard me then curled up in my arms quickly, gripping the front of my shirt as he started to cry. I could feel his stone pulsing in fear and terror. "Don't act like that anymore. You're fine. We're all fine." I reached my bedroom and stepped in, going towards the bed. "You don't have to worry anymore or have anything to fear." He trembled, but his expression relaxed a little as I started to sooth him. He glanced around the room and then towards the bed before he looked up at me and then leaned his head against my chest, still crying a little but it wasn't as bad.

"R-Rory," he mumbled quietly, having a hard time saying my name. I sat him down on the bed and kissed his cheek.

"There there mate, it's okay. We're safe..." I kissed his cheek and laid down next to him. He nodded and then curled up beside me, getting in the crook of my arm and against my chest. I suddenly started to hear his memories again, River hearing the bloodthirsty thoughts in the other's heads as they appeared in the room, the realization of one of his friends being a killer, the fear of everyone, the terror as he ran for a safe place, hiding in the closet but unable to shut out everyone's thoughts as Alistair was being attacked, Raven's mad thoughts with other voices swimming in her own inside her head, the visions of hers and Hachi's thoughts and what they saw as they began to devour Alistair. He hadn't been able to shut it out. I could tell he didn't exactly mean to be showing me these things, but he couldn't help it in his state. I rubbed his back to soothe him, not quite sure how he could do this every day, hearing everyone. I looked up at the ceiling, disappointed in Alistair. If I was going to kill off my family I would have started with the strongest of us not the weakest. I felt him calming down after a bit and he relaxed, his mind becoming calmer as he was still connected to me. It was fading though, like he was gathering control of it again. I rubbed his head, wondering what was going to happen now. Would everything fade to normal? The crowned prince of France is no longer crowned. With this his crown is taken away. River looked up at me and I suddenly felt a wave of love coming from him in his mind and he smiled sweetly, looking at me like he was grateful to me and I meant the world to him... his hero. I don't understand how I could be his hero though... He gave me a soft kiss on my cheek and I could feel all his joy from when I accepted him and told him that he was meant to live- not a mistake that was supposed to be dead- and when I tried to protect him by making him go to France (or at least that's how he was choosing to view it at the moment) and when I was helping him calm down about what happened today. He gave me a cute look and hugged me. "You're very childish," I told him and looked away. He giggled at me and stole a kiss from my lips before I could stop him.

"You little.... thief." I grabbed his sides and exposed my fangs. "Those are for rewards only." He widened his eyes and then gave me a nervous smile, glancing from my fangs to my eyes as he squirmed a little. I leaned in towards his neck. "I'll teach you what happens when you steal from me." I bit down into his neck and started to mark him. He gasped and let out a soft moan, melting against me as he exposed his neck instinctively to me.

"Rory~" He moaned softly towards me.

"Don't Rory me," I hissed as I pulled from the mark. "I'm not going to give into you tonight. Now get some sleep before I bite you again."