Chapter Text
Logan still wasn’t sure how his life had slipped into utter chaos. Sometimes he missed the normalcy and organization of his life before he knew what creatures dwelled beyond his cozy bookshop walls. Other times, he would stop and smile at what his life had become and the family that he had found.
He never saw the change coming. He never would’ve guessed what that night had in store for him.
Vampires, werewolves, and demons….the things that children so often fear.
He scoffed at the thought, remembering how afraid they had been the night he found them.
“Can you help me find my brother?”
Logan glanced down to see a young boy not more than ten years old. He thought it was rather irresponsible for somebody to let their kid run about at this time of night. He scrutinized the boy closely, “Where are your parents?”
The boy’s face paled in fear and Logan couldn’t help but wonder why. Perhaps he had run away from home and was worried about being taken back. Well, Logan was definitely going to make sure that this kid and his brother got home safely, even if that meant lying.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me anything if you wish not to. I would like to help though. So would you mind describing what your brother looks like?”
The boy visibly relaxed and looked at Logan thoughtfully. “He has dark brown hair, usually has a leather jacket, and he wears sunglasses.”
Logan chuckled a bit at that, “He wears sunglasses at night?”
The kid nodded nervously, “He has an eye condition and doesn’t like taking them off, but he has a bad habit of wandering off at night an--and--”
Oh no, Logan thought. I can’t have any crying kids on my hands.
“We will find him, okay? You have no reason to worry,” he reassured. “Um, what’s his name?”
“R--Remy.”
Logan smiled, “Alright, now where did you last see your brother?”
“At the 7-Eleven, I think.”
“You think?”
The boy looked at him sheepishly, “I kinda have a bad habit of getting lost too.”
Logan frowned, wondering if this could be some sort of scam. He had heard about adults getting children to trick kind-hearted people into letting their guard down. Then, when they least expected it, they would get mugged in an alleyway or something. But glancing at the kid’s fearful face, Logan highly doubted that that was the case.
Throwing caution out the window, Logan decided to head to the 7-Eleven with the boy.
“My name is Logan, by the way. I don’t believe you’ve mentioned yours yet.”
“My name’s Roman,” the kid hesitantly smiled.
“Pleased to meet you, Roman.”
They ended up finding Remy a few blocks away from the store. He sat outside a coffee shop with a latte in hand.
“Remy!” Roman launched himself into the other boy’s arms and Logan couldn’t help but smile at the scene.
“Hey, Ro. Where have you been? I thought we agreed to meet up at the coffee shop.”
Roman’s face twisted in confusion, “I don’t remember that. When did you tell me that?”
Remy sighed and ruffled his brother’s wavy locks. He shifted his gaze to Logan, “Who’s the teacher dude?”
Logan rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed at the nickname. “I am Logan.”
“He helped me find you,” Roman added.
Remy firmly pushed his sunglasses up against his face as if he were afraid they would fall off. He stood and walked over to Logan, “Hey, thanks for helping my lil bro.”
“It was no trouble,” Logan held his hand out for a handshake, but Remy gave him a high-five instead.
“You’re cool, teach dude. I hope you have a nice night.”
“Riiight,” Logan eyed him in confusion.
Kids these days. Sheesh.
“While I am always delighted to assist those in need, I would very much like to know where your parents or guardians are, Remy.”
The boy stiffened, “They--they’re on vacation, they’ll be back next week.”
Logan scoffed in disbelief, “Really? And they left you in charge?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact.”
“How old are you?”
Remy smirked, “One hundred and thirteen.”
His sarcasm was really starting to get on Logan’s nerves. “I am only trying to help.”
“You already have,” Remy replied, turning his back on Logan and reaching out to hold his brother’s hand.
“If you insist on not telling me then I am afraid that I will have to contact the proper authorities.”
“Alright, alright. Calm down, gurl. I’ll tell you, but not here. I’d rather not have to explain our circumstances in public.”
Logan raised an eyebrow, “Fine. I suppose my bookstore will be a sufficient place of privacy.”
So they made there way back to the closed store. Logan unlocked the door and opened it, waiting for the others to file inside. Much to his annoyance, Remy just stood there.
“I am holding the door open for you. You may enter,” he clarified impatiently.
“Oh, hah!. I’m sorry, gurl. I don’t think this coffee has enough kick to it,” the boy said as he strolled in. “Nice crib.”
“I don’t live here.”
“Right, well--whatevs.”
Roman kept glancing nervously between Remy and Logan as if he expected them to fight. He tugged on his brother’s sleeve, “What are you going to tell him?”
“Shh, don’t worry. I got this under control, Ro.”
Logan cleared his throat, “You are not in any kind of trouble. I simply want to make sure that you children are safe. It is highly dangerous to wander around this time of night.”
Neither of them answered. Remy simply sighed.
Logan was about to say something more, but stopped abruptly as the boy removed his sunglasses. He gasped and whatever he was about to say was lost as he stared in fascination and shock.
The boy’s eyes were glowing a deep blood red. Logan found that he could not look away from them, the glow trapping him in a trance.
“You will forget all about us.”
Logan nodded drowsily, their features already slipping from his memories. He was beginning to fall asleep, but a voice cut through the fog that was settling around his mind.
“No, Rem! Stop it! Stop it! You can’t do this, don’t you remember what happened last time?”
The voice sounded so far away and Logan struggled to remember who it belonged to. It was--It was….Roman . He sounded panicked for some reason and that was what snapped Logan back to reality.
“Ro, why would you do that? I’m trying to protect you and now--now I--” Remy was blinking and blinking, his head falling forward in exhaustion. “Fuck.”
And then he passed out completely, Roman’s worried face the last thing he saw before everything went dark.