sanctuary | on hold indefinitely

fifteen | rumours

Lennox shrugged as if to say, I know. "We don't know how they're doing it. If they're snatching them off the streets, maybe a protection spell on their homes is enough to keep them safe. If that's not the case ... well, there's no hope for any of us, is there? Can't bloody-well tell them that, though."

"And the Elders don't know anything about who might be doing this or why?"

"Not a bloody clue, Greer." He huffed, leaning against the wall for support. "The world's gone mad. All we can do is protect them as best we can. It's our duty."

"Of course," Greer agreed with a nod. "They need us."

"I want you to start with the Locator family. They were in first. I'll take the others. You'll have to use the office, too. Not enough room for both of us in the parlour." He motioned to the doorway. "After you, madam."

Greer cast her grandfather a reluctant grimace before heading into the waiting room. The witches watched her entrance expectantly, all of them with the same wide eyes, all of them different only in the colours of their irises. She turned to the large family on the couch, realising only now she didn't know their names and wasn't quite sure how to address them. "Would you like to follow me into the office?"

The children moved to stand up from their parent's laps. One of them was a girl with plaited hair who couldn't have been much older than four, and the other a fair boy of about ten. Both of them looked intimidated as they looked up at her. Greer's heart sunk for them.

"Oh," she said. "Perhaps the children are better off staying here?"

The fathers shared a cautious glance, holding onto their children's hands as they stood, too.

"They're safe in here. Promise," she assured them.

"Alright," the blonde-haired man said, his expression softening as he placed the little girl back on the couch and kissed her forehead softly. "Your daddies have to go with this lady for a little while, but we won't be long, okay?"

The girl nodded with wide eyes and he smiled, turning to his son. "Are you going to take care of your little sister for me, Cal?"

Cal nodded, gripping his sister's hand. Envy tugged at her like a gnawing ache in her chest. She had never had that. She never would. Somehow, it seemed as though they already had more protection than she could ever give.

Still, she kept a friendly smile plastered on her face as the blonde man finally straightened and gripped his partner's hand.

"Follow me." She led them to the office at the end of the corridor, glad to find that it had already been unlocked this morning when she tried the handle. A cool draught slipped out as she opened the door. This room had seen even less use than the parlour, and the desk was bare save for a few random parcels of books that had never been opened or stocked in the store. She could smell the staleness as she stepped in, pulling the chairs out for the men. A layer of dust covered the surface of the desk and she avoiding disrupting it as she sat on the opposite side to face them.

"Sorry about the room. We're not run off our feet like this very often," she said as they sat down. Behind them was a bookshelf overflowing with folders that hadn't been touched in years. A lucky cat that had long since stopped waving sat beside them as a makeshift bookend, golden in the shadows. "I'm Greer Reid, Lennox's granddaughter."

"We thought as much. I'm Joseph Yates," the brunette man greeted before motioning to the blonde. He was older than the other, his face etched more deeply with lines, though his eyes were slightly warmer. "This is my husband, Luke."

The two's hands were still intertwined between the chairs' arms, and Greer smiled as they looked at one another. Their worry was evident, Joseph's face wrinkled with unease as Luke squeezed his hand in reassurance. They reminded her of Clair and Michael and how they had always known exactly what the other was thinking and feeling, as though they only had to look at one another to create a plane of existence that nobody else could see. "It's lovely to meet you both. You have beautiful children."