With a bang and a cloud of smoke, the barn door bursted into a thousand little pieces as the force of the shot hit it.

Shaking, Kait rushed out.

"Mom.", she called into the night. "Mom!"

She ran off to check the state of the village.

Del and JD were left behind. Baffled, they looked around, eyes wide, and looked at the chaos that had spread into the smallest corner.

"Guys, that sounded like there were dozens of 'em. Hundreds. Like a... like a swarm.", Del turned to JD to check if his thoughts could be shared.

At loss for words, JD let his eyes wander over the burned buildings, across the muddy streets and the bloody puddles everywhere. Even though this was the worst thing he had seen in a while he couldn't help but feel some kind of relief.

Silently, he thanked all the evils and goods out there that you had not made it to the village to meet his friends. On,y thinking about what could have been made his stomach turn.

But despite the luck he's had, everything else seemed to be falling apart.

Again, his eyes wandered through the streets but stopped as the cut off hand of the creature came into his field of vision. The dark, leathery skin were totally unfamiliar but as he spotted the yellow crystals that grew out of it, something inside him stirred. Drawing his knife, he cut some of it off.

Disgusted, Del watched him.

"What the hell, man?", he asked and had to fight a wave of nausea back.

With a grim look, JD eyed the crystal in his hand.

"(Y/N) could probably tell what this is...", he mumbled to himself.

As he looked up again, Kait was squatting on the ground, holding the blade her mother had dropped. She seemed to be at the verge of a breakdown but froze in her sorrow as one of the villages animals, a creature very similar to a warhorse, made its survival known.

Relived, she gasped.

"Chuzz!", without thinking she rushed to its side to pet the neck in an attempt to calm its nerves.

JD sighed.

"Kait...", he reached her just in time to prevent her from riding out the villages gates like a headless chicken.

"Come on, let's get after 'em!", she said, audibly irritated by the recent events.

Not that she could be blamed.

"We have no idea where those things went!", JD tried to knock some sense into her.

Del climbed on the back of another horse.

"Look, Jinn can help us.", he suggested.

Kait pulled a face.

"Jinn is trying to kill us!"

"Kait, listen...", JD wanted to pull her off the horses back, but she threatened to kick him.

"Hey. You're not going to be happy about this, but I know who should see that crystal shit.", Del turned to JD, an apologetic shimmer in his eyes.

It was easy to guess who he was talking about.

But despite the fact that he had promised you to meet at his fathers estate, JD was anything but thrilled about meeting him again. If it were for him, he would have rather gotten Jinn's help. At least he could be sure that you were safe with Marcus. That gave him time to test out other options first.

"Jinn has people that can handle this.", JD insisted and grabbed himself a horse.

But Del wasn't willing to let go so easily.

"Look, you know as well as I do-!"

"Del, no."

"That he can help."

Confused, Kait frowned.

"Who's Del talking about?", she asked. "Hey."

JD pulled a face, avoiding her eyes.

"Can he help, or not?", she asked, more persistent this time.

Groaning, he nodded.

"Yeah, he can.", his expression turned bitter. "Question is, will he?"

It took him a moment to think about it. He would have liked to do something else, anything, but meet Marcus earlier than he had to. But at the same time JD would be able to reunite with you. After the incident at the village, he felt restless, needed to know if you were safe.

Not that he didn't trust in your ability to help yourself. But ever since the two of you had been children he had protected you. And now that he was in love, he felt obligated to ensure that not a shingle hair on your body was harmed.

Sighing, he squeezed his eyes shut and ordered the animal to get moving.

It was only one meeting, he told himself. And if it would go terribly wrong he could still kill time with you.

As the gates of the estate appeared between plants and rotten stones, JD could feel a part of him pull together. This was the place he had been born and raised in. Good memories filled this place. Memories about his former life with you.

It felt like he had opened an old book and skipped back to the beginning.

Nothing had changed. But time had done quite some damage on his old home.

After securing the animals at the stables, they walked across the huge front yard.

Worried, Kait eyed the many windows.

Everything was dark. Not a single light could be found.

"You said he would be home.", she gasped with a hint of disappointment.

JD shrugged.

"He's home. He's always home.", he said.

"That house looks abandoned."

"Cause that's not where he lives.", he took the lead. "Follow me."

Frowning, Kait watched him walk away.

Del gave her gentle push.

"He gets like that sometimes.", he informed. "You're about to find out why."

He followed his friend, but kept his distance. He was smart enough to know that JD wasn't in the best of moods right now. Especially not since he was about to meet his father again.

One wrong word and he would snap. And Del wasn't eager to be close to him when that happened.

With a mix of confusion and annoyance on her face, Kait sighed and shrugged.

"Terrific...", she mumbled.