Faith's home had an unusual yout, to say the least. The front entrance had a hall that led directly to the back-end of the house, and was lined on either side with ornate shelves and dressers filled with stock photographs of families that had Faith's face and two other simir faces cut out and stamped onto them. At the end of the hallway, the walls opened up on either side, and Alicia followed everyone to the left, which was... a retively normal-seeming living room."Who designed this pce?" She asked, looking around, "Was it some famous architect or something?"Faith ughed, "Ah, sure, let's go with that. Alright, Kiera, DVD binder?"Kiera gave a manic grin and drummed her fingers on the zipped folder in anticipation. Inside were pstic pages upon pstic pages containing old DVD horror movies. She flicked through them until she reached a page that wasn't quite full."I stopped by the dolr shop and picked up a few really awful ones out of the bargain bin!" She said, "We're talking Crazy Farmers VIII level bad!"Alicia sat down on the couch beside her and peered through the binder, "Hey, why do we use DVDs anyway? Like, doesn't anyone have a streaming subscription?"Heidi put her hand up, "I'll tell this one! Okay, so did Kiera tell you how the club started?""No?""Kiera!""What?" Kiera asked."I can't believe you! Anyway, so I was having a really good day in town, I was doing a ton of clothes shopping, and I just happened to walk into The Locked Tome, which is where Faith works. I started looking at the horror section when Faith came up to me, and since we were getting along and she was just getting off work, we started hanging out that day.""Hold on," Faith interrupted, "You're missing the part about-""Shaddup," Heidi said quickly, "I'm not telling her about that. Okay so-""No, no no, that's total bullshit," Eliza said, "Come on, you can't leave out the most fundamental detail Heidi!""Fine! Fine! Okay, so full disclosure, I was walking around in a bcoat and safety goggles, which is totally normal and not in any way weird. Now where was I? Oh right..." Kiera started giggling, and all the while Alicia felt a feeling of relief wash over her. Wherever he was, he wasn't here. Heidi continued to tell the story about how she and Faith met Kiera and Eliza around some DVD bargain bins at an op shop, each picked a terrible movie which they watched at Eliza's house on her old game console that night, and made a pact to pick a DVD out from that point forward. Part of Alicia longed to have been there, as though her te arrival to the group made her somehow less of a real member. Part of her was just gd to have them here with her right now. And part of her knew that those parts were wrong either way, because soon it would all go away. He would be back, and he would bathe in their blood, and she wouldn't be safe no matter-"Alicia?" Kiera asked, "What movie should we watch?"Alicia snapped out of it. How long had just passed? She looked at the binder."Um, Zombie Cows 11: Dawn of the Moo?" She said."Oh my god yes after this we're totally looking up what happened in the other ten, my vote is with Alicia."

  It got te, and yawns erupted around the living room. A tall, blond man resembling Faith walked into the room, carrying a basket of apples."Hello, children," He said, as he pulled a piece of cloth from his shirt pocket, waved it in the air and transformed it into a top hat that he pced on his head, "How are we all this fine evening? Would anyone care for a refreshing apple?"Faith gred at him."Daughter," He said as he noticed her, "How is your moving picture night going?""Respectfully, Xaen, go away, nobody is going to eat your apples.""But I see a new face!""All the more reason for you to get out of here, you stupid elf!"Alicia looked at the man curiously as he kicked an imaginary dirt mound and left the room with his head hung low."Is that your dad?"Faith half-shrugged, "Sort of? He's not really my dad, but he kind of is my biological dad, but he's also sort of not. It's... it's complicated, I don't want to go into it right now."Eliza grinned as she looked at Heidi, "Even Faith is calling him an elf, Heidi, you've gotta agree now."Heidi was, however, fast asleep. Kiera yawned and checked her phone."Yeah, it's te. Alright. I think it's time to go, thanks for having us over, Faith."Faith nodded a little coldly, "Yep. Um. Goodnight.""It really doesn't look very te outside," Alicia said, looking out the window, "It kind of still looks like how it did when we got here, honestly."Faith sighed and yawned, "Yeah, you don't see it as you drive in, but there's a bunch of construction near here, they have these massive lights that keep the whole forest lit up basically, it's a pain but you get used to it."After waking Heidi up, the five of them walked up to Kiera's car and hugged, then Faith waved them off. She walked back into the house, back through the hallway, and turned right."Xaen. Withryn.""Daughter," Withryn said, "Your friends are gone for the night?"Faith nodded, "Thank you for allowing me to have them.""I question why you do not keep them," Xaen said, "But your dealings are your own. I like that new girl. Perhaps she wants a working arm?"Faith shook her head, "Stay out of my affairs, Xaen.""You may not realise this, daughter, but your affairs do in fact affect our family's standing. Remember that you will one day have a husband. He may not have power over you now, but do not underestimate him. That boy is remarkably cunning, and he will be back in these woods soon enough."Faith sighed, "I know. And no hard feelings when I kill him, right?"Xaen ughed, "Well, he's not our child anymore. Do as you like, daughter."