"She's drunk." Silver said, at the same time Miki wailed, "Cage is sending me to bed and Silver almost killed me!"
–
Dio peered at where Gabriel sat, brow creased in concern. "Does Benjamin not feed you?" he asked Gabriel directly. "What do you like to eat?"
Ben rolls his eyes, putting his hands on his hips. “Up, Miki. Get in bed now. It’s late and you all need to sleep. Where are the Vampires?”
-
“I’m fine.” Gabriel quietly claims, his voice scratchy as ever. Ryder raises an eyebrow.
Basically everytime you say that, it means you’re not.
"Ryder took Gabe back to Dio's." Silver said, crossing her arms and watching as her sister slowly peeled herself up off the floor.
–
Dio sighed. "So far the only thing I have to go on to feed you is vegetables and bugs. Which I will gladly provide if that's what you want, but please tell me those aren't the only things you eat."
Ben raises his eyebrows but doesn’t object. “Did he take Kiss?”
-
Gabriel is silent for a second, and decides against saying more.
I don’t know what I eat…
Ryder shrugs. “To be on the safe side, it should all be vegetarian and weird. Right?” He looks back to Gabriel’s empty space.
Silver frowned and glanced down to the kitchen. "No…? She came down here a few minutes ago but then she disappeared."
Miki held up a finger. "She asked where Ryder went and we all ignored her." she nodded emphatically. "We were very rude."
–
Dio nodded slowly, his mind racing. "I have plenty of vegetables. And I can always ask Lackey for ideas."
Ben sighs, waving a hand.
As long as she’s still here.
“Alright, fine.” He runs a hand through his hair, before turning around and going back into his room. “I’ll see you all in the morning. Miki, seriously. Go to bed.”
-
Ryder nods.
his taste is probably similar to lackeys.
(We could skip to the end of the carriage ride?)
Miki nodded again and saluted him. "Yes. Sir." as soon as he was out of sight she slumped against the wall. "Do I haaaaaaaaaaaave tooooooo???"
–
(suresure)
The carriage pulled up to the front of the house and Dio stepped out first. The only light around them was the moon shining down, the sun having set a few hours before. "Come on." Dio beckoned to them, holding the door open. "No one else is here."
Cage gives Miki a shove. “Yes. Go.”
He looks to Silver, eyes wide with mild irritation.
Push her into bed with your air or something. pLEAse.
—
Ryder climbs out of the carriage, turning around to offer Gabriel a hand too. “Glad to be out of that cramped thing. It’s…” he looks Gabriel over, seeing his tired droopy eyes and his bruises and cuts. Violet had taken care of everything serious, at least so that he wouldn’t die from them, but he was still a pitiful sight. He takes Gabriel’s hand firmly and follows Dio.
Im not letting him out of my sight again.
(Gabriel is visible now :))
Silver rolled her eyes and grabbed her sister's arm, dragging her toward their room. "Yes. You do. Come on. You're gonna turn off like a light soon anyway."
"Nooooooo Iiiiiiiiii wooooooooon't," Miki whined, stumbling after her.
–
Dio lead the way up the stairs and unlocked the front door, waving them in first. He gave a few last commands to his driver before the man drove the carriage away, and then Dio followed the boy inside, locking the door behind them. In the light from the entryway, he finally saw Gabriel's bedraggled state. He nodded once and pointed toward the stairs leading to the next floor.
"Does he need anything?" he asked Ryder. "What can we do for him?"
Cage rolls his eyes.
"Geeeez, Mik." He sighs and peeks over the railing to see if Kissa's visible, but doesn't see her. He still trots down the stairs anyways to turn off all the lights and head back upstairs to bed, texting Robin a quick 'goodnight <3' on the way.
__
Gabriel is out of it enough to not hear their whispers and to zone out, staring at the floor. He'd had a long, impossible day, full of over stimulation and waaay too much social interaction for his liking.
Ryder looks to Dio, pursing his lips.
"I don't- I think he just needs rest and food. From what they were saying it sounds like her hardly eats or sleeps. We'll probably chill on the couch if that's okay with you."
Silver tugged Miki into their room and shoved her onto the bed. Miki collapsed onto it with a muffled protest that almost instantly turned into a "Hmmmmm," as she snuggled into the covers. Silver shook her head and turned the light off before curling up beside her.
–
Dio nodded. "You are welcome to sleep wherever is most comfortable. I'll get you both some snacks." he trotted into the kitchen and collected a number of food items from the pantry for the boys.
Ryder ruffles Gabriel’s hair and nods towards the couch. “Hey, let’s catch up. Come sit down with me and we’ll eat.”
Gabriel blinks, not verbally responding, and shuffled to the couch to sit down with Ryder.
—
Kissa stops at the end of the driveway. She’d not been answered when she asked where the boys were, so she’d carefully surveyed the front and backyard and most of their forest. She peers around the hedge into the street, blinking.
Did he go to Dio’s? That’s the only other thing I can think of.
She takes a step out onto the road, shivering and completely invisible.
I don’t know where his house is. I bet I can find it though.
Is it dangerous?
No. they can’t find me when I’m invisible. Not without the bracelets.
She takes a deep breath.
Why did they leave me here? Ben is even in bed so I can’t just stay by him. This was very rude.
Dio set the snacks on the coffee table in front of them and then brought a pitcher of water and some glasses. After surveying them for a second he trotted upstairs and returned with two giant, fluffy blankets. "Do you need anything else?" he asked as he dropped them on the couch beside them.
–
Silver snuggled into Miki's shoulder, twitching her wings into place on top of her, feeling the drowsiness cloud her mind as sleep approached.
But as hard as she tried to drift completely away, something kept itching at her mind. She couldn't quite let herself slip away. Finally in grouchy frustration she sat up and glared at the wall across from their bed.
Something was wrong.
With a groan of annoyance she dragged herself out of bed and trudged into the hallway.
Someone was missing.
Well, duh, someone was missing. Gabriel and Ryder were gone. She knew that.
But she knew she wouldn't be able to rest until she checked on everyone, so with a resigned sigh she crept to Cage's door and peeked in.
Cage was sound asleep, snoring lightly as he usually did.
She continued down the hall and inched Ben and Vi's door open. She could feel as much as see the two of them in Vi's bed, Ben on his side, with Vi snuggled up against his back. Silver silently closed the door and made her way to Kissa's door, mentally griping at herself for having powers that made her so in tune to her family that she had to obsessively do roll count at random times to make sure they were all safe.
But as she approached Kissa's door some of the sleep clouding her mind faded away and she froze. Before even opening the door she knew what she would find.
Kissa's bed was empty.
Kissa rubs her cold arms, not bothering to go inside and get a jacket to wear over her night gown, and instead taking a few hurried steps down the street before launching herself in the air.
It’s freezing out here!
The heavy movement of her wings made her warmer, but they ached for lack of stretching.
Ugh. I wish I was free. That house is a cage full of paranoid freaks who panic over every little thing.
"Kissa." Silver whispered, stepping into the room and patting the bed. She knew she wasn't there, but instinct made her check. "Kiss… Ben!" She bolted from the room but stopped as she opened Vi's bedroom door again. Silently she crept across the room and crouched beside the bed on Ben's side.
"Ben. Ben!" she whispered. "Ben, Kissa's gone." she poked his arm. "I can't feel her anywhere. Ben, wake up, Kissa's gone."
Ben stirs and blinks shoving some hair out of his face.
????
Silver???
“Hmm?” He quietly groans.
—
Kissa silently lands on a tall building, having made it to the heavily populated and very busy downtown area. Despite the late hour, the street still had many pedestrians and store lights still shone.
She rubs her eyes and blinks.
I miss outside.
With a sigh she looks over the place, her eyes caring sight of a group of men in dark colors in an emptier alley, speaking in whispers. She goes to ignore it but her attention spikes with the hushed mention of ‘Benjamin Stan’.
She slips down into the alley, standing a few feet behind them with her brow furrowed.
No way.
"Ben. BenBenBen." Silver said, growing more frantic as she became more awake. "Ben, Kissa's gone! She's not in her bed or in the house. I can't feel her at all. I don't… I think she left after… when we were downstairs with Miki. I haven't seen her since. Ben, wake up, Kissa's gone!"
Ben blinks hard and sits up, shoving her a bit with one hand.
“I’m awake! Shush, please!” He gripes.
Violet yawns and rubs her eyes. “What is it dear?”
He looks back to Silver. “Kissa’s gone. Okay, okay. Дитя, почему? я хотел спать.“
He huffs and shoves the blankets off, standing. “Let’s go, Sil.” He takes a robe from the bed post and slips it on as he makes his way to the door, stumbling once or twice.
Violet sits up as he opens the door, still blinking sleepily.
What?
—
Kissa blinks, watching the men exchange footage of Gabriel, struggling in a trap.
Her eyes widen and her face pales.
Gabriel….
She puts a hand over her mouth.
That must have been from earlier today.
She takes a few steps closer, watching the video as he lurches about under the heavy chains and a man attempts to control him, poking at him with a long spear that sends electric pulses through his body.
Her mouth hangs open in the slightest and her eyes gloss over.
He- he didn’t say anything about this though.
Silver leaped after him, wings outstretched to give her lift. She scrambled around to land in front of him and planted her hands on his chest. "Ben! Where are we even going? You're not dressed! How do we know where to go? How are we gonna find her?"
“I am dressed!” He argues, motioning to his robe and pants. “And… I don’t know I’ll call Diablo. Maybe she snuck along with them. Or followed them.” He turns around to ask Violet for his phone, but she’s already picked it up from the side table and chucks it at him.
He gasps, catching it and watching her snuggle up into the blankets again.
Fine then. I’lo leave. You have a fun time actually getting some sLEEP. Unlike me.
He rolls his eyes and closes the door, calling Dio.
—
Kissa wrings her hands, ignoring the men’s laughs and hushed comments as they watch Gabriel shriek in pain and bite around like an animal.
Gabriel….
A tear streaks down her cheek.
I’m so sorry.
He eventually takes hold of the electric spear, his hands burning, and forces it into the mans stomach. The men watching fall eerily silent and watch for only a few seconds more to see him escape the chains and glitch in and out of invisibility, lurching himself into the sky in pain, already hardly breathing. They shut the device off, and pass it around.
“We, uh, we’ve got a decent idea of the neighborhood they’re hiding in. Gavin followed a pretty obvious blood trail for a while, but it went cold after a bit. He was ya us on site tomorrow. We catch this guy in a group. He’s wounded and weak, so I doubt he’ll give much of a fight.”
Another man speaks up, “bones are hollow, they say. Easily broken like a twig. They’ll come at you with them teeth. Catch him by the hair and he should be helpless enough.”
The comment it followed up with a little laughter and a few dark jokes.
Kissa takes a step back, a dark look on her face.
They already know we’re in the city. If I kill them here it won’t give away our location. If they pounce on us in our home and turn up dead, they’ll know exactly where we are.
She grits her teeth.
You’re cold hands will never touch my brother again.
Silver sighed and dashed into her room, grabbing her phone and returning to Ben. While he called Dio, she texted Ryder, "Did Kissa come with you?"
-
Dio had just settled himself in his room with a cup of tea when his phone rang. He picked it up to see Ben's called ID.
"이건 좋지 않아." He muttered as he answered it and held it to his ear. "Hello?"
“Augh, Diablo? Did Kissa go home with you?” Ben asks, rubbing his forehead.
Please say yes so I can go back to bed.
—
Ryders phone dings and he picks it up, clicking on the message.
”Uh no? Check the roof of ur house.”
He texts back.
—
(I’m sorry but we all know Kiss is gonna have to make a dramatic entrance.)
Kissa raises her wings behind her, trapping the men in the alley with her, and brings wind up from the ground making her hair and feathers ruffle up, and making the men uncomfortable.
“What’s this? We ain’t on vents!” One calls.
She boxes them in with a barrier and turns everything inside their noisy box invisible.
A few of them gasp and they all yank their weapons out, taking wobbly steps backward.
“Don’t bother.” She demands, glaring intensely. “You’ll die either way.”
Silver shook her head even though Ryder couldn't see her, and texted back, "Nonono. I can't feel her at all. She's not anywhere near the house."
–
"Kissa?" Dio asked. "No… I haven't seen her. I just picked up Ryder and Gabriel in front of your house. I didn't go inside and I didn't see anyone else. Is she okay?"
Ben runs a hand roughly through his tangled curls and does his best not to growl. "I'm sure she's fine. She's not here, but she may have tried to follow you."
Why did Gabriel not take her too? I need one of the Kavi to find her. But… I don't really want to risk that. Ugh if only I had wings.
He glares at the ground for a second. "It's very dangerous for her to be out alone. I- I don't have anyone I can send out after her. And you know I can't go." He pauses for only a second before continuing. "Diablo, if she's not back in half an hour will you have the boys go out after her?"
__
Gabriel stares as Ryder texts back.
"?? She's not here. Hold up, I'll check around the block. I'll let you know if I see her."
He sends the text and stands, extending a hand to Gabriel. "They're worried that Kissa followed us so I'mma check the block from the sky. You should probably stay back here but I'll be b-"
Gabriel quickly stands, taking his arm. "No. I'm coming."
Kissa? Why would she leave? Is she really following us? Is she worried? I should have told her I was leaving. I didn't even think about it! Etienne shouldn't be able to see her anyways.
A chill runs up his spine and he shivers, worrying despite knowing she could take care of herself.
Silver nodded at her phone again and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering even though it was never cold in Ben's house. "What did he say?" she asked him.
–
Dio let out a slow breath, forcing his voice to stay even despite his racing heart. "Of course. I'll keep you updated." he hung up and threw his blankets off, diving into his slippers and robe, and raced downstairs. "Ryder!" he called. "Ryder–oh, dear, we woke Gabriel."