"We need to reinforce our security." Harold announces after his sister's dramatic exit. "Charlotte and James, I want the two of you to coordinate with the other Omegas in your section to start having extra fighting classes." He pauses for a couple seconds, and then continues. "Maybe Cooper was right. Maybe we're too unprepared to fight whoever comes our way, which means we need everyone inside this community to know how to fight."
"Or maybe we could just get rid of what's putting us in danger in the first place." Charlotte suggests. "If Alice and her friends aren't here anymore, those other vampires will have no reason to attack us."
"I told Alice that they would be welcome here, and they are." Harold replies. "We can't turn our back on our people when they need us the most."
"But you are turning your back on your people, Harold." Charlotte takes a couple steps forward, moving toward him. "All of the innocent people who live here and have nothing to do with Alice's enemies. Do they all deserve to die?"
"Of course not, but I..."
"Maybe Charlotte's right." Alice says.
"Alice, you can't mean that." Tobias tells her.
"It's the truth. This community would never be in danger if it wasn't for me and my people. We brought the danger to your doorstep, and maybe it's time we take it away."
"You're not leaving, Alice." Harold assures her.
"Brother, think about it." Edgar says. "If she's agreeing to it herself, and it would be better for everyone, maybe they should go."
"Except it wouldn't be better for everyone, Edgar. They would be outside, alone, fighting an enormous group of vampires they would have no way of beating." Harold replies, and turns to Alice. "You and your friends are part of this community, and we're all going to work together to fight your enemies. Our enemies." He looks at Charlotte. "Now, go get those groups ready. And James, get your group outside for patrol after you help Charlotte establish the new security."
"Yes, sir." James agrees, and starts walking away from the room.
Charlotte looks at Harold for a couple seconds, wanting to shout at him to throw her sister out of there because she's done nothing but betray them and put them in danger, but she doesn't say anything. She only shoots Alice a hateful look, and then follows James out of the room.
Once she steps outside, she sees the group that has gathered there and, right at the front, are Lauren, Taylor and Robin. She looks at the three of them almost with the same amount of hate that she looked at her sister with.
"We need to get back to work. Follow me." She tells them dryly, and keeps walking after James.
The three of them glance at each other, but follow Charlotte without a word. They heard everything she said inside and, just like Alice, they know that Charlotte is right. None of those people would be in danger if they hadn't gone there, and they don't deserve to get killed because of their hospitality.
A large group of people has gathered at the main cave – a group of people much larger than it has ever gathered for any fighting class – and they're all looking at Charlotte for instructions. James has gone out with his patrol group, and Charlotte is the one in charge of this first class. Lauren and Robin, who have been part of the fighting and patrol groups since they got to the community, and the others who practice with them are going to help Charlotte teach the rest of the people.
They start fighting among themselves to demonstrate the moves Charlotte is explaining, and the crowd watches attentively. Lauren is paired up with Robin, and Taylor is watching them while wishing she could be there too. But, since she wasn't originally tasked with security – and because Charlotte dislikes her more than the other two – she is only allowed to watch at this stage.
A few days have gone by, and everyone has been learning how to fight, and the sorcerers have also been involved in the fights. With the sorcerers one their side, they can be much more effective at fighting the enemies, especially because, as far as they now, the other vampires aren't travelling with sorcerers.
In addition to teaching everyone how to fight, the security groups have also been patrolling nonstop around the area outside the caves. Although an attack was promised, there still has been no sign of anyone approaching the premises.
"Are you ready?" Robin asks Lauren, peeking from outside her bedroom.
"Yeah." She replies, walking toward him. She closes the door once she steps out of the room, and the two of them walk together toward the main cave. "Where's Taylor?"
"She's there already, with Alice and Tobias."
The two of them keep walking and get to the main cave, where the rest of their patrol group is indeed already at the exit. The join the others, and Charlotte announces that they're about to head out.
The group starts moving through the tunnel, and get to the house outside. It's nighttime, which means it will be harder to spot their enemies if they're around, and more dangerous to be walking around in only groups of two. But, according to the twin sorcerers, the group of their enemies does not walk in the sun, so this is the most important time to patrol. And, since there are much more people on patrols now, they're divided into groups of five.
Lauren, Taylor, Robin, Alice and Tobias start walking together toward east, like they have been doing for the past couple of days. Most groups start doing the same in other directions, but a larger group of people stay close to the house and, also like it has been happening for the last couple of days, a small group of sorcerers stands with them.
Hours later, after walking without a break and seeing nothing out of the ordinary once again, all the groups start heading back home.
"They're coming!" Alice hears someone shout, and tells the rest of her group to start running.
They get to the area close to the entrance of the caves and see the group of sorcerers and vampires who have stayed there in panic. There is also another small patrol group back, and they must have been the ones who saw something.
"What happened?" Tobias asks, once they join the others.
"They're coming." A man replies. "They're so many. And they're coming toward us."
"Where?" Alice questions.
"That way." The man points to his left, and Lauren and Taylor start running in that direction.
Alice calls them to get back once, but doesn't insist because she knows it's pointless. The two of them get on top of a slope and they can see the horde of vampires approaching. There are thousands of them.
"Oh, my God." Lauren comments.
"What are they doing here right now?" Taylor asks. "The sun is about to come up any moment now. Didn't the creepy twins tell you that they couldn't walk in the sun?"
"They said they thought so, and maybe they couldn't back then. But, if they're here, they can now. I didn't think there were so many of them."
A set of footsteps approaches them from behind, but they don't turn around to check who it is. The danger is in front of them, and that's what they're focusing on.
"You need to get back." A low voice comes from behind them, and Taylor can immediately tell that it belongs to one of the sorcerers she has worked with. "All the groups are coming back, and we need to get inside the caves."
"I just want to see who their leader is." Lauren replies.
"Maybe I can help you with that." The sorcerer says as he places a hand on Lauren's shoulder. "Cestniv dangoos moar enep im pel."
Suddenly, Lauren is no longer seeing the whole group moving toward them, she can perfectly see the faces of the people in the frontline. And, right in the middle, there's a face she never thought she would see again, but which she also could never forget, even though she tried. The blue eyes, the dark blond hair, the light stubble on his face. He looks the same, but his expression is completely different. Where there used to be friendliness, now there's only hate.
Once she manages to recover from the shock, Lauren takes the sorcerer's hand away from her shoulder.
"What happened?" Taylor asks her. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."
"I have." Lauren replies.
"What?"
"He was dead! He was supposed to be dead."
"Who, Lauren? Who was supposed to be dead?"
"Tom."