Inside the Minton family household, chaos reigned.


    "Bro! You have no idea how terrifying today was! Those people were out for our blood! Several folks are missing! You need to talk to Dad and get him to have those people arrested!" Sandy clutched Angelo''s arm, her voice shaking with fear. Angelo, groggy and bewildered from being yanked out of sleep in the dead of night, struggled to make sense of Sandy''s frantic words. Her disjointed rambling was giving him a headache.


    "Brother! You have to promise me! Please, promise me!" Sandy begged, shaking Angelo''s arm desperately.


    "Stop! Hold on!" Angelo finally interjected, fully awake now thanks to Sandy''s persistence. "Who are these people you''re talking about?"


    For the past half-hour, all Sandy had said was ''they'' and ''those people.'' He still had no clue who she meant.


    "The leader was Vanessa!" Sandy finally blurted out.


    "And Vanessa?" Angelo asked.


    "...She''s dead."


    "And the others?"


    "I don''t know."


    Angelo copsed onto the couch, utterly defeated. "Sis, I''m no superhero! If Colby and Odie can''t find them, how am I supposed to?" He sighed, realizing his sisterhad unrealistic expectations of him.


    Even if Kiran were still around, he doubted Kiran would know who these people were.N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive ? material.


    Upstairs, Odie emerged from his bedroom, his face stern. "If you want to chat, go back to your room. Don''t disturb my sleep."


    "You just got back, and you''re already sleepy?" Sandy retorted, still too shaken to sleep. She remembered Odie used to barely sleep at night.


    "Mind your own business," Odie shot back. "If you don''t shut up, I''ll have someone sew your mouth shut!" With that, he returned to his room.


    Angelo was immensely grateful for Odie''s intervention. Eager to get back to sleep, he patted Sandy''s hand gently. "Sandy, you''ve had a rough night. Let''s talk about it tomorrow, okay? Tomorrow!" He got up from the couch and dashed upstairs.


    Seeing Angelo refuse to take action,


    Sandy pulled out her phone and


    dialed their father, Caelum,


    mumbling to herself, "If you won''t talk to Dad, I will! With Dad stepping in, those hidden viins don''t stand a chance!"


    The phone rang twice. Normally, Caelum would answer her calls immediately, but this time, there was no response. Frowning, Sandy checked her phone, making sure she had dialed the right number, and tried again.


    Dad always doted on her and would never miss her calls. What was going on today?


    Sandy checked the time. Maybe Dad went to bed early and didn''t hear the phone? She sighed, deciding to try again tomorrow. Putting her phone away, she headed upstairs to her room.


    The next morning, Sophie woke up and instinctively reached out to the empty space beside her. Colby, who should have been lying next to her, was gone.