I was confused almost immediately after stepping out of Athena's small car. Warriors were surrounding Helda's and Yanneek's homes, as well as several others, and some marched purposely inside them and others lingered around outside.

A distraught looking Helda stood nearby the houses, face red and dried tears on her cheeks as she watched the men and women leave and enter her house. Yanneek stood beside her, face agitated and clearly exasperated as he too looked on, arms folded tightly across his broad chest.

I abandoned the groceries in Athena's car and walked to them both.

"They're searching through our houses." Helda told me when I came to stand before her. She rubbed at her red nose. "They just barged into mine abruptly, and demanded that I leave. It shocked me."

I held Helda's stare for a moment longer, and then glanced behind me to the houses once again. Some of the warriors now stood on their porches, and appeared to be talking amongst themselves.

I saw Bronwyn as well, and some were listening intently to her words, words which I could not hear because of the distance. It rapidly dawned on me the reasons for why their homes were being searched and guilt settled in as I once again realized the complete bafflement Helda and Yanneek must be feeling.

They knew nothing about the potions which the Elders suspected them to have, and by the looks of it, it seemed as if none had been found.

I wondered briefly how Bronwyn could have guided the warriors through the searching of the homes without giving away what exactly they were to look for, but I then concluded that she could have easily came up with any other term that could hide the fact that what was to be looked for were potions.

"Do you know why they're searching the houses, Olivia?" Yanneek asked, his voice low. I grimaced, hesitating to answer.

I did not want to lie, but I also knew that the tradition of with-holding the knowledge of potions to pack members was established. I thought the tradition to be quite odd, but nonetheless I instead shrugged and peered up at Yanneek as I asked,

"Do you?"

Yanneek's eyes narrowed. "No. I have no fucking idea why they decided to enter my home and search through my things, Olivia."

I nodded, and my eyes went to Helda, but she wasn't looking my way. Instead, her gaze was fixated on a rapidly growing frustrated Bronwyn, her voice rising as she spoke to Elijah, who stood a few feet away from the warriors.

She'd hobbled down the porch stairs as she hissed at him, but Elijah's face was one of calmness.

I left Helda's side and walked to them, and Bronwyn whipped around at the sound of my footsteps. She was absolutely livid.

"Your friend is hiding the potion that was made to try and bring Anabelle back to life," She snarled at me, eyes blazing with fury. "I know it."

Hannes or Athena must have told her that I was aware of potions. I went on to ask,

"Have you asked the warriors to search the homes which other humans occupy-"

"Yes. They found nothing." Bronwyn's eyes sharpened behind me, and I could see her watching Helda. "It has to be her."

I arched an eyebrow, doubtful, and looked at Elijah. "Did your warriors discover anything in Helda's home?" I asked.

"No. Nothing was there." Elijah scratched his jaw and exhaled. "You need to calm down, Bronwyn."

Bronwyn's eyes landed on him, her anger growing and Elijah released a growl of warning at the Elder. She returned one of her own, and I looked between them for several seconds before eventually settling my attention on the seething Bronwyn.

"What makes you so certain it's Helda?" I asked. "Clearly, nothing has been found in her-"

"I don't trust her." Bronwyn spat, interrupting me. Her hand was tightly holding her staff, and her knuckles were rapidly becoming white as she gripped it.

"This is the first day that you've seen her, Bron." Elijah pointed out. "You haven't even spoken to her before."

"I-" Bronwyn stuttered, and my eyes narrowed as she struggled for words for a few seconds, before saying, "I just feel it. I know she has something to do with the failed potion that was made."

I watched Bronwyn as she continued to speak to Elijah, who listened on half-heartedly. Her tone was high, and her expressions seemed very exaggerated.

She was hiding something, and seemed very eager to accuse Helda when there was no evidence of potions being made in her home.

Elijah finally broke off her words, and I watched as he accepted her request to have Helda's house searched again. He looked at me, "Please tell Hannes I may be a bit late for the conference call."

I nodded and watched as he walked away. When I looked at Bronwyn, I saw the blatant satisfaction and sly gleam in her eyes, which she quickly tried to hide when she saw that I was staring at her.

Her upper lip twitched, as if resisting to snarl and I tilted my head, expecting her to speak. But instead, she barged past me, shoulder hitting my own as she followed Elijah.

*********

I only saw Hannes briefly throughout the rest of the day, as he was swamped with work and only left his office that afternoon to assist me to carry in the groceries, exchange a few words and return back upstairs.

Willow and Jeremiah kept me company until the late evening, and left soon after then. Stewart called me for dinner, and I was surprised as he showed me what he called 'meatloaf.'

It was, not to my surprise, delicious, along with the mashed potatoes he'd made and I expressed my gratitude when he returned to the dining room.

"This is for you." Stewart held out a small brown paper bag to me and then placed it onto the table and gave a small smile down at me. "Some cake."

I returned a smile and lifted the bag to look inside of it, spotting the large slice of colorful, rainbow colored cake.

"Thank you. I'll have it for dessert." I told him. He nodded and left to go to his home, whilst I stared down at my empty dinner plate, shivering at the cold that drifted through an opened window.

As I went to the kitchen to wash my plate, I paused to close it. My eyes caught sight of a staff resting outside, propped against a tree, but I paid it little mind as I continued to the kitchen.

Evening soon became night, and I stayed in the living room, reading through the book I'd tried to complete recently, easily picking up on where I'd stopped because of the rip in a page which I'd gripped.

Relaxed, I ate the cake, my dessert, and read, the sounds of the crackling fireplace almost like a soft lullaby. My eyes became heavy the further I read, and I eventually closed the book and settled my head against the armrest of the sofa, noticing that the discomfort that would usually arise because of the distance between Hannes and myself did not occur.

When I awoke again, it was because of a voice, desperately urging me to rise.

And I did, blood roaring in my ears as I slowly straightened up on the sofa.

The room was engulfed in darkness, and I could hear Hannes' footsteps above. A soft chime rang in my ears for a long while and then abruptly stopped. Then the voice came again, one which was so, so familiar. I felt like icy water had been thrown upon my head as she called again, and swallowed the lump in my throat.

Mother?

I uttered the word softly, but my lips immediately slipped shut once more as I stood from the sofa, walking to where I thought the voice came from. I smelt the scent of death, and I stiffened, halting. My skin prickled and my fingers clenched into tight fists as I exhaled slowly, heart racing in my chest. Her voice came again, stronger this time.

In an almost dream-like state, I found myself following the voice, the volume of it increasing and lowering several times. The objects or things around me blurred and came into focus every now and then as I eventually found myself outside of the house, taking little notice of my lack of shoes as I walked through snow.

Olivia.

The voice called once again, and hot tears pricked my eyes. It was definitely my mother's voice. I shuddered as she called my name once again and I listened to the warmth held in her gentle tone.

A small part of me urged myself to be hesitant to walk further, but I continued treading through the snow to follow my mother's voice.

My vision dimmed momentarily as I reached one of the many thick trees, and I had to pause to catch my breath. Sweat trickled down my forehead and I panted heavily, my mother's voice continuing to echo loudly around me.

My shirt clung to my back as my perspiration intensified and I licked my suddenly dry lips as I sucked in air desperately, throat feeling painfully tight.

Eventually I straightened reluctantly, lidded eyes focusing on the trees ahead as I stumbled forward. My chest began to ache, and breathing became even more difficult, but stopping did not seem like an option.

I did not know how long I walked, but when I did stop, it was because my mother's voice had silenced. I blinked several times, head lowering to my sock-clad feet which rested upon a frozen lake.

Slowly I turned, eyes immediately latching upon a cliff in the distance, and I knew that it was there where I often sat, relaxing on the tree stump and enjoying the view.

"Liv."

I jerked around, and my vision blurred again. When it became normal, I saw Clyde. He was curled on his side, facing me, and his face was drenched with tears. A trembling hand slowly reached out towards me. Blood trickled from his mouth and his teeth smeared dark red as he begged,

"Please help me, Liv."

I leapt forward, staggering on my feet, barely noticing the cracking of the frozen lake before it was too late.

Clyde's body disappeared, or seemed to drift away into nothingness, as a strange noise, one which reminded me of a thunder-like boom erupted from the lake.

A shrill scream escaped my lips as the frozen ice below my feet gave away, cracked apart and I fell into the deep, cold water below.