“It didn’t stop them,” Ghost snarled to himself. Lilac lay in a forced sleep in the back of the cave, while Judy lay half dead beside the fire. Ghost was pacing the low enclosure, muttering curses to himself. Finally he stopped and put the fire out with a wave of his hand and a few well-spoken words.

“Come, Lilac, we’re leaving.” He hoisted her onto his shoulders and carried her limp body on his back as he left the cave.

“Full moon,” he realized, and shuddered. In the distance, he could see Jason’s pack moving towards him, and he hurried towards the oasis. The sand dunes made him stumble, and after a few minutes his breathing became labored.

“Why’re you so damned… heavy, Lilac?” he growled, hoisting her up further and changing his grip on her arms.

Heart was approaching fast, but Ghost made sure to go around them, pulling the hood over his head so as to blend in with the shadows of the night. As they entered the cave, the leaders ushering the others in first, Ghost slipped past the oasis with a grin.

“The idiots, this is too perfect,” he said to himself with a cackle. “The pack must have gone to the hideout. But Lilac, you sure are a burden. As long as I have you, Jason’ll obsessively track me down. Oh, Lilac. He’s the most romantic fool I’ve ever met. Is that why you fell for him instead of me?” Lilac couldn’t respond, as she was in the dream state, but he went on. “Of course, yes, that’s the reason. And I guess that faggot Benny was always your second choice, though you never really had a chance with him. But I was your third choice, yes? I mean, I may have been a little… under ambitious a few months ago, but now I know magic, dearest. I can create any of your fantasies, even if they are only illusions.” Ghost stopped outside the supermarket and contemplated telling his pack that Heart was coming their way. Then, he shrugged and went past them, leaving Heart to find them and destroy them.

“What’do I need those fuckers for, anyway?” he said to himself, sneaking around the back of the huge building.

Inside the supermarket, the four members of Dark huddled together in the storeroom while Donnie sat alone. The trap door was hidden in the back of the store, behind some crates, and blended in almost perfectly with the floor. It had been used to store old food crates when the food had been emptied from them and put onto the shelves, but now it was Dark’s hideout. There were a few crates and bins littered on the floor, but mostly it was an empty, windowless, concrete room with a small vent on the ceiling for outside air. Sam was pacing, Eric was glaring at Sam, Kyle was doing his best to look leader-like, Laurence was moping next to Eric, and Donnie was sitting on a crate in the corner, blank eyes staring at the opposite wall.

“For godsakes, Sam, will you stop with the fucking pacing?”

Sam turned to Eric with her own glare. “Shut up, Eric, or–”

“Say that again,” Eric threatened softly, standing up.

“Children, children,” Donnie said smoothly, “don’t fight.”

The two turned on him, glowering, their eyes filled with fire. Donnie cringed and averted his eyes, while Sam and Eric once again turned on each other.

“What’s your problem with me?” Sam shouted.

“Maybe it’s your fuckin’ superiority complex!” Eric screamed.

“Or maybe your jealous ‘cause Blue fucked me and not you!”

“Shut up!” Eric bellowed, throwing a clumsy punch in his rage at Sam’s shoulder. He missed, and Sam smirked.

“Who’s Blue?” Donnie asked slyly from his corner.

“N-nobody,” Sam stammered.

“Nobody fucked you?” Donnie asked again in that raspy, mocking voice of his, laughter hidden behind his eyes.

“It’s not… she…” Eric stuttered, looking to Sam for help.

“I’ve heard that name before,” Laurence said suddenly.

“So have I,” Kyle growled, glaring at the two. “A member of Follow. That bitch who’s so old, no one can remember her real name.” Kyle raised his eyebrows. “She also, if I remember, had a knack for seduction. But we heard she was dead long before our time.” Kyle stared at Sam and Eric, waiting for an explanation.

“Wasn’t she the one who was… cursed? After attempting some spell–” Laurence was cut off by Kyle.

“The forbidden spell. Trying to raise someone from the dead.”

“Her lover,” Sam spilled, sighing and collapsing to the ground. “He’d been killed in a magic accident, her fault. When she’d tried to bring him back to life, the magic backfired. Her bodily fluids, they all turned the color of magic, that dark bluish color. But it only shows when…” she trailed off, not daring to say it.

“When she’s turned on,” Eric explained. Laurence and Donnie giggled like children at this comment, while Kyle maintained his frown.

“That’s absurd,” he said finally. “But I don’t care if it’s true. What I want to know is how you two know her.” He crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

In the silence that followed, they heard thumps from above. Donnie jumped up.

“It’s Heart!” he shouted. “They’ve come!”

“Donnie!” Kyle hissed, and pounced on the crazed man.

“Get off of me, you idiot! Jason! We’re–mmfmmmf!” Kyle had covered Donnie’s mouth with a hand, but it was too late. The thumping became louder, and muffled shouts were heard. All at once, the trapdoor was lifted and the members of Heart began unceremoniously dropping into the hiding place.

“Now!” Jason ordered, and flung himself at Donnie. Donnie immediately dropped to the ground and lay there in submission. Jason cocked an eyebrow at his odd behavior and stood over him menacingly. Stell and Charly cornered Laurence, Melany and Mark held Kyle down, Zach and Dahlia blocked Sam’s exit, and Alex and Nickie held off Eric, who seemed to have given up all hope.

“What is this?” Jason growled. “This is pathetic! Who’s leader here?”

Kyle raised his hand with stoic pride. “Me, Jase.” He’d always looked up to Jason, and decided now to show off a little. For a second, if any of the pack members had looked closely, they would have seen pity flash through Jason’s eyes, but it was gone almost as quickly, and then there was only a cold stare.

“Kill him,” Jason said coolly, turning away from Kyle.

“Jase!” Kyle cried, his desperation sending daggers through Jason’s heart, but none of the other appeared to have any sympathy. Mark threw the first punch, a quick blow that came from below and hit Kyle’s chin, sending him falling back against the wall with a grunt. Melany then kicked at his ribs, and Kyle groaned. The others were moving to close in when Zach shouted from the other side of the room.

“Jason! She’d muttering something, and her eyes are all… glowy!”

Whirling around, Jason saw the female and knew what she was trying to do. He turned to Alex.

“How do you stop someone from casting a spell?” he asked hurriedly, a pleading look in his eyes. Alex grinned.

“Get them to lose their concentration,” she said smoothly, abandoning Eric to stand in front of the female. Alex turned to Jason. “This is the fastest way to do so.” She leaned in and kissed the female as hard as she could, and to Jason’s surprise, the female’s eyes stopped glowing blue and closed as the female deepened the kiss. When Alex finally pulled back, the female smiled and licked her lips, eyes still closed.

“Alex,” the female sighed, “didn’t see you there.”

“Liar,” Alex whispered, taking the female’s hands in her own. Alex then turned to Jason. “Jase, this is Sam, my old mate.” Sam opened her eyes and gazed fondly at Alex, who studied her worriedly. “You have answers?” Alex asked softly, and Sam nodded furiously, putting the other members of Follow at ease. Nickie and Zach looked a little hurt, but no one noticed. Then Eric spoke.

“Traitor,” Eric hissed, leaning against the wall. Alex turned to him and slapped him, hard, before anyone could say anything else.

“You are the traitor, you sonofabitch!” Alex growled, taking a step closer, pointing an accusatory finger at his chest. “Jason!” Alex yelled, not taking her eyes off of Eric, “I want him dead, too!”

Jason smiled wickedly. “Good, then it’s decided.”

“No, wait!” Sam screamed, dropping Alex’s hands and moving so that she was in front of Kyle. “Eric might deserve death, but Kyle does not. He is very loyal to his leaders; you cannot fault him for that.”

Jason nodded at her wisdom. He liked Sam, although he wouldn’t admit it.

“Fine then.” He turned to his pack. “Kill Eric.”

Laurence wanted to say something in protest–he rather liked Eric–but he was too afraid of Stell and Charly’s presence to do anything but stand there dumbly. Kyle was too shocked by Sam’s loyalty to say anything in Eric’s favor, and Donnie didn’t even care. The pack fell upon Eric, kicking and beating down the old friend. He barely cried out. When he did, it was involuntarily as someone hurt a vital organ, or somewhere especially painful. Jason felt Eric’s pain every time he cried out, and soon Jason’s eyes watered and the back of his throat squeezed.

This is wrong, he thought. Oh Great One, we’re taking his life. No one can do that. We’re not animals. This is wrong. Sark wouldn’t approve, either. He was leader, and it was he that could stop something if he didn’t want it to happen.

“Stop!” Jason screamed, and immediately everyone froze and turned to him. “Leave him here, we’re heading out.” Jason glanced at the remaining members of Dark. “You can come with us, if you promise to stay loyal. Choose either Heart, led by me, or Follow, led by Alex.” He pointed to Alex, and then waited.

“I’m staying with Alex,” Sam purred, wrapping her arms around her old mate.

“I’m going with Jason,” Donnie mocked, sliding up close to Heart’s leader, who appeared indifferent.

“I guess I’ll go with Jason,” Kyle whispered, not daring look the leader in the eye. Only the people closest to him heard his words.

“I’m following Kyle!” Laurence shouted quickly, and Jason couldn’t help but smile. Laurence had always been like a duckling to that boy.

“That’s fine with me,” Jason said finally, pleased by his old friends choosing to stay with him. All but one, he thought as Judy’s body, pale exhausted, broken corpse flashed through his mind. He knew that, even if she had lived, she would have chosen to stay with Eric. Judy had hated Jason more than any of the others (he had thought more than Ghost), because of her insane loyalty to Donnie and then Ghost. Jason remembered that she’d wanted to be Donnie’s mate, but Donnie had refused her, hoping instead for Lilac.

“Jase,” Donnie spoke, bringing Jason back to the present, “we should leave.” Jason nodded, and was the first one out of the trapdoor.

“Where to now, Jase?” Alex asked him when they were all safely out of the storage room.

“We split up,” Jason said immediately, “go different ways. Ghost is probably miles away by now, but… there’s something I need to ask Kyle.” Jason turned to Kyle with the fiery anger back in his eyes. “Where’s Lilac?”

“Sh-she went to Ghost. H-he wanted to s-see her, so–”

“Quiet!” Jason snarled, spinning away from Kyle. Lilac was probably being dragged around the desert by Ghost… and Jason knew that he had to find her. He owed her that.

“Let’s go back to the oasis first,” he said slowly. “Then, we’ll discuss what to do.”

“We’ll go back to the city,” Alex said simply. “We’ll pick Kiki up from the others, and I’ll take her to Blue and Carl. They should be able to help some.”

“Can you tell the others where we’re going?” Jason pleaded, and Alex nodded kindly.

The two packs filed out of the grocery store, into the cool, desert night, the full moon still brightening the sky above them.