Soul Takers 2.0

"We still want you back." Rhett said.

"Same reason anyone else is in an asylum." Char said.

"I can't exactly make you one of those." She said. "But yes."

"It's okay." Riley chuckled. He let go of her. "Question, why so old, why not younger?"

"I'm sorry to hear that." He said. "I remember when I was locked up..." Luke sighed. "They thought I was crazy cause I said I could make fire from air."

"Are you sure." He asked.

"I am young, I'm only eleven." She said. "And I guess mother didn't want you to be stuck with some screaming baby."

"That doesn't make sense that they would think you're crazy for that. They probably locked you up because you were dangerous." Char said.

"Very sure." He said

'I would have been happy with that." Riley smiled sadly. "I've never really gotten a chance to raise a child..." He said.

"Probably, something like that." He said.

Colton swallowed and nodded. "Y-You go and I will follow." He said.

"Dryads are born and grow up differently I guess." She shrugged.

"How long were you there for?" Char asked

"Okay but I'll be checking to make sure you're following." Rhett started walking towards the house.

"I think it was 10 years...then I burned the place to the ground." He said.

"Alright then, well are you hungry?" He asked.

"Colton nodded. "I just need to get my courage up."

"I wish I could've burned my asylum to the ground. I wish the nurses would let me stay with my sister subce she could take care of me and actually understood me. Up until I died I had severe PTSD and schizophrenia, I'm glad that went away when I became a demon." She said

"A little." She said. "Does it take this long to name all your children?" She asked

"We'll take it slow." Rhett assured him.

"Aye, that never makes a good combo. One of my younger brothers has that."

"Well...honestly, you'll be the first one I'll name. I'm almost always there for their birth, but I let their mothers name them because I'm not normally around." He said. "So who knows..." He offered her his hand. "Let's go get you something to eat. Now, do you eat meat at all?" He asked.

Colton nodded and swallowed.

"Another one of Riley's kids?" Char asked.

She took his hand. "Yes I eat meat. And I want a dryad name, like Nephele. That was my grandmother's name."

"Whenever you're ready." Rhett watched him then looked over at the house.

"No, actually just another demon." He said.

"Okay...I'll see what I can figure out." He smiled and started to walk with her out of the room.

Colton nodded and swallowed hard as he started to walk toward the house.

"Could my name be Nephele?" She asked as she followed him.

Rhett walked beside him the whole time.

"If that's what you really want." He said.

Colton was shaking with each step.

"Okay, you can call me Neph for short." She reached up once they got to the kitchen and opened one of the cabinets, looking around for something to eat.

"It's okay Colton, no need to be afraid." Rhett said.

"To late!" He said stopping and taking a breath.

"Alright darling." He said.

"The sooner you do it, the sooner it will be over and the sooner you can go back to being friends with Riley again." Rhett encouraged.

Neph grabbed some cereal and started to eat it right from the box.

"Do you want some milk." He asked.

Colton just shook. "W-what if we fight...like we did." He asked.

"Yes please." Nephele replied, putting the box down on the counter.

"The others and I will try to stop you from fighting." He said.

Riley got her a bowl and some milk.

"That doesn't matter..." Colton shook.

Neph poured the cereal into the bowl and then poured the milk in. She grabbed a spoon from the counter and sat up on one of the stool.

"Believe me, you didn't see him the last few days. He'll be absolutely ecstatic to have you back." Rhett said.

I-I hope you are right." Colton said as he walked forward a bit.

Riley brushed her hair out of her face as she ate. He stopped for a moment and straightened himself.

"Something wrong?" She looked up from her bowl and asked him.

Rhett stopped, seeing the person-shaped log on the ground that was Kro's body. "What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing good." One of the Demons said. "A dark shadow attacked her and Riley... She was injured really bad. Died a few days ago."

Colton had stopped as he looked away from the house, the gathered demons and Kro's body.

"Julius... I feel him." He said gently. He walked over to the window and looked out it. He stopped his hands gripping the counter and a tear rolled down one eye. "H-He's back." He said as he suddenly turned on his heal and ran out of the kitchen and down the hall throwing the door open and running out.

[Hey welcome back, how are you?]

Nephele watched him run out the door but stayed where she was.

"I knew she was injured, that's why I brought back medicine for her." Rhett said.

(A bit better. Still freaking out. I only have like a week and a half left before I'm done with the Zoo, then I move in to my dorm. I'm not ready.)

"Julius!" Riley called out as he ran to Colton. Colton turned and looked at him, and cried. He ran to Riley and met him in the middle, hugging him. "I thought I lost you, Julius..."

"She wasn't strong enough." She said.

Rhett watched Riley and Colton with a small smile before he dropped the bag of medical supplies and sat down next to Kro's body. "I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner." He said. Was I really gone for days? It seemed like only a couple hours.