A morning incident.

My bed is pretty damn big, but realistically speaking, there should be no way that eight people can comfortably sleep on it. Still, we did. All eight of us slept on my bed that Sunday night and had a shockingly restful night. No kicking, no snoring, no pulling of the bed sheets… Either it’s further proof that we’re all meant for each other or this is yet another one of those hidden passive effects that Frey’s powers seem to have. You know, like the effect sexual energy has on the girls’ periods.

I was the first to wake up, not out of a sense of obligation, but because I felt better than ever. No lethargy, no lack of energy, no discomfort. I felt energized and ready to do anything.

Really shows how big of an impact being properly ‘fed’ made.

I could’ve stayed in bed a little longer, but we’d need to start getting up in like 20 minutes and, like I said, I had so much energy that I needed to start moving again, so I stealthily got out of bed without waking anyone up.

First order of business, like usual, was feeding Cake and Red… which made me notice that neither of them was around to hurry me up. That was a bit out of the ordinary, but not too strange. What WAS strange was walking down the stairs to the first floor and seeing Red burning a hole in the front door with his stare.

“Um… Red?” I called.

His ears were up and they twitched when he heard my voice, but he didn’t turn back to see me. He was standing there, a couple of meters away, practically unmoving and growling softly every other moment. I looked around and saw Cake next to the stairs, tail up, back slightly arched, also staring at the door.

Of course that put me on high alert.

I carefully snuck a peek out the window to see if there was anyone out front, but I didn’t see anyone. I remembered what Frey had said about this being my territory, claiming it as my domain and what it would do against intruders. She’d also been saying that I should be more cautious, but hadn’t specified. I ended up remembering the loud, gunshot-like sound I’d heard a couple of weeks ago, too.

My heart began to race, but I forced myself to stay calm, breathe deep. I went to the door, and Red was forcing himself outside the moment I opened it. For a second I hesitated to follow him, but I cursed myself before I did.

Red ran directly towards the gate before he started barking at something on the floor. As I approached… I saw what it was.

Two grown men passed out on the grass, wearing black clothes and balaclavas.

“What…? Who…?”

I felt a mix of fear and cold anger rising in my chest. The mere idea that people would try to break into our house for whatever purpose was just…!

“Excuse me? Is someone there?”

The voice came from behind the gate, from outside the plot. It sounded like a woman, and Red started barking at her, too.

I wasn’t sure if I should be answering or not.

“I heard a man, so… Is Oliver Brooks there? I’m sure that this is all extremely unsettling… but I can explain. Those two tried to break in, I tried to stop them. I… didn’t make it in time. You can give Mr. Luke Allen a call for confirmation. Tell him…” The woman sighed heavily. She sounded frustrated. “Tell him Lucy White failed and had to make contact.”

“...” Luke, huh? Why doesn’t it surprise me that he’s involved? Well, good thing I was carrying my phone already.

I hoped Luke was awake already, but if he wasn’t, then too bad.

“Oliver,” Luke answered. His tone already said a lot. He wasn’t surprised at all that I was calling. “I’m sure you have questions.”

Of fucking course I did, but I took another deep breath to calm myself. Don’t go venting your frustration on people who don’t deserve it, Oliver. At least wait and confirm that Luke deserves it.

“Who’s Lucy White?” I asked him.

“A covert bodyguard I assigned to you and your family some weeks ago,” Luke said. “Joseph Milán, one of my competitors, continues to be as petty a man as I’ve always known him to be. I was worried he’d try something after you put him in his place at that coffee shop, so I had Lucy watch over you all from afar.”

I… think I remember Luke saying something like this. Rather, he was going to, but stopped himself and said he’d take care of it and that I shouldn’t worry. Was this what he meant?

“So these two guys passed out by my front gate were sent by the creep?” I asked him.

“It’s a bit complicated. Lucy can give you a better idea of what happened. I trust her like I trust you, Oliver. Please don’t be too hard on her. If you have any complaints, direct them towards me. I’ll meet you whenever you say. I’m at the hotel right now.”

“...” I groaned. “Can you come over to my place this afternoon?”

Maybe it was my heightened state of alert, but I felt that if we were going to talk about supernatural stuff or whatever, I might as well have the territory advantage. It’s not exactly that I didn’t trust Luke, but… That he was having people watch us without telling me said that he was more than willing to make unilateral decisions based on what he considered was the correct course of action. I admit, I was a bit mad.

“I will be there. Thank you.”

I hung up and let out a heavy, tired sigh. There went all the energy I woke up with.

“Lucy, right?” I spoke to the woman behind the gate. “Give me a moment. I’ll open up. Um… Are these two…?”

“They’ve been passed out there for the last three hours,” she said. “They won’t be going anywhere any time soon.”

“...” I looked at Red, whose attention seemed to be divided between the women behind the gate and the two men on the grass. “Stay here, boy,” I told him, patting his head.

I went back inside the house to get the remote for the gate, then opened it when I was able to hold Red back by his collar. Didn’t want him to jump at the woman the first chance he got, at least not if she was someone Luke sent.

I watched carefully as the gate slid open automatically, revealing the person behind.

…

Oh.

Oh no…

Not again…

Not another one…

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