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the door. “Don’t worry about it. I will take care of this somehow. We’ll figure out something.”
          Outside she found Seth sitting on the floor leaning his back against the wall. His eyes were closed, and face relaxed as though he was in a deep sleep. Vivian wondered if she should wake him up but in the end, she knelt down touching his shoulder lightly, his eyes opening wide and he jumped to his feet.
          “Whoa!” Seth looked widely around the hallway and spotted Vivian kneeling on the floor. “What?“
          “You fell asleep.”
          “Oh. What time is it?” Seth rubbed his eyes continuing to look around the empty hallway.
          Vivian got up on her feet. “Late enough. Let me show you to your room.”
          Across the hall from Jean’s room was Vivian’s. One of the unoccupied rooms, two doors down from hers was the room she led him to.
          “Wow, what is that smell!” Seth covered his nose with the sleeve of his shirt.
          “Oh-sorry! A vampire used to live in here and after that a witch. They didn’t get along so to be sure the vampire didn’t come back she stuck garlic everywhere.” She laughed quietly when Seth gave her a dazed look.
          Despite the awful garlic smell the room was nice. Red velvet curtains covered the large bed and the opened double windows blew in cool air from the forest not far across the field. It was dark, but then again the entire Underground was dark. It was the way they all liked it.
          “It’s not bad,” she smiled and looked toward the ground. It was true though. If it wasn’t for the garlic smell it would be wonderful.
          Seth looked around slowly as if getting used to everything now. As if it was going to be that way forever. “it’s not bad at all” Seth acknowledged.
          “You should get some sleep.” Vivian conducting herself in the ways of their ancestors, bowed herself out of his new room.
          She rushed two doors down and closed the room to her door quietly. Her room was quite different. For one it didn’t smell of garlic. It was much darker. The windows were covered by torn curtains. Only a small glimmer of light cut through, shining on the wooden floor that creaked slightly when stepped upon. Everything in her room was old. The dresser was filled with pictures of her past that she never looked at, and on the bed was a comforter that had become flat after years of use. But she loved it.
          Curling up, she laid on her bed. Vivian watched the light from the window peek through the rips in the curtain and she heard the door open, a slight creaking sound on her floorboards and a shadow cast against the light. She sunk lower with the bed as someone sat beside her.
          “You like him don’t you?” Jean brushed the hair away from her sister’s face.
          Vivian answered with a sigh.
          “You do. I know you do. It’s obvious the way you look at him. And he likes you too, because he looks at you the same way.”
          Vivian rolled over on her back. “It can’t happen.”
          “Why not?”
          “Because he wants to be human. He wants to go back.” Her throat tightened and she felt her face go slightly red as though she was a shaken cola bottle under pressure.
          “You can go back too you know! All you have to do is stop using magic!” Jean jumped and sat upright at that thought.
          “I don’t want to. You know I love my family. I will always love them, but this is who I am - this is my fate. If they love me they will accept me the way I am. If Seth wants me then he will have to accept it too…. But he can’t even accept himself.” Vivian turned over onto her side pulling the blanket up to her chin. She closed her eyes, and pretended to be asleep, but somewhere through the night, she drifted off.

    *****

          At some point in the middle of the night Vivian awoke