George may have hated his scar but there was one gift that came with this curse: the ability to sense enemies or those with malicious intent. At first it was directed at only one race; but after his encounter with Ciel and Master Gin, a seal had been placed on the scar, preventing his outbursts of bloodlust caused by pain. Now the scar would throb in different degrees of pain, depending on the level of danger or negative intent. He’d noticed a dull itching when he’d first come into the room so he had been on his guard.

Master Gin’s face turned black when he saw the spiders leaving the room. He looked at George and when he saw the man shake his head, he immediately raised his hand, placing a privacy barrier around them.

“Is this Anansi’s work?” Fionn spoke first.

“Can’t be sure but I was a little suspicious when I heard his excuse.” George said.

“We can’t be sure without more proof but the fact that there are spiders spying on us is incriminating enough.” Master Gin said. “Send someone to keep an eye on him. George, sweep the place for more bugs. Fionn, arrange the guards for patrol and I’ll see them later with George.”

Nodding their heads in assent, George and Fionn got up and followed Master Gin out the room. Besides doing a check in the staff lounge, George also moved through the club lounge and most of the public rooms on the second floor. He found a few more spiders in the lounge but there were none in the other public areas. Job done, he went down to wait for Master Gin, who was currently apologizing and trying to solicit information from Anansi.

Master Gin’s face was rather stern when he came downstairs. With a flick of his wrist, a small barrier surrounded only the two of them. “That man is too wily. He gave the same excuse as yesterday. I’m not sure if I’ve put him on his guard. How was the search?”

“Aside from the bar area, the stage, the staff lounge and your office, I didn’t find any others. Either he doesn’t have enough energy to control too many spiders or he’s only intending to spy on us. At the same time he doesn’t want to raise suspicion.” George replied.

“Either way, we’re going to have to modify our plans without him realizing it. If he can best Nyame, there’s no telling what he can do.” Master Gin said as he looked at his watch. This was the third time he had done so in the past hour, George noticed.

“Are you pressed for time, Master Gin?” he asked solicitously.

“No… Scarlet is bringing someone to the club and I’m rather anxious to meet them.” Master Gin was rather sheepish at being caught behaving out of character.

“It must be someone you haven’t seen in a long time for you to behave so.”

“Yes, it has.” Master Gin had a wistful smile on his face, as if remembering a faraway memory.

“Well, it is nearly four. Madame Scarlet should be here soon then.” George said, looking at his own watch.

Master Gin hummed in assent. “Then follow me to see the security staff of duty. And if the night shift are up, we’ll meet them in one of the reading rooms.” He instructed.

They immediately got to work. With George able to sense if any of the spiders were lurking about, the discussions went about smoothly. The staff were not happy at the thought that someone was spying on them and had also intentionally weakened the barrier. Most of the staff were people who had nowhere else to go, and had been offered a home here at Sanctuary; they were not appreciative that their safety had been compromised in such a way.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. However, don’t treat any of our guests differently. Innocent until proven guilty. After that we can mete out severe punishment.” Master Gin stressed at the black faced staff. “Also, do not let any of the other staff know.”

This was a warning to some of the staff that were in close contact or in a relationship with other staff. When you have eternity in a place like this, it was natural that you would want to spend it with someone else. While Master Gin and Scarlet did not disallow this, professionalism was always insisted upon. Those who could not differentiate between work and private matters would normally be dismissed after several warnings.

The staff all nodded their heads, understanding the implications of loose lips. They dispersed, with the night staff heading back to their rooms to get ready for the evening shift. Meanwhile, the twins who had gone on patrol with Fionn returned and informed that two more dread hyenas had been spotted and disposed of. The sky above the club looked so dismal and dreary that the usually cheerful Fionn looked gloomy. Paired with the normally solemn twins, it looked like the three of them had just returned from a funeral.

A little before four, Scarlet showed up with Ciel and another white haired young man. Scarlet didn’t really like to be called Madame so most of the staff and guests called her by name, unless she was walking with her husband. There was normally a possessive glint in his eyes and everyone was too afraid to address Scarlet without the proper honorifics.

Ciel immediately went to work while Scarlet brought the young man to Master Gin’s office, asking for one of the staff to send the twins to her along the way. George watched as Ciel who was done greeting some guests look at the both of them leaving, his face a mixed bag of emotions. While he was curious, George had always been an aloof person so he did not approach Ciel to pry further. Besides, he was normally closer to the twins anyway.

George noticed that the twins were also unsettled by the young man when they went to see their parents. Their normally serious demeanour was cracked, even if they didn’t realize it themselves. George did though; as a soldier, you paid attention to small details like this: it could help you win a battle that was previously thought to be unwinnable. This young man was someone special then. Passing by alcove 15, George looked in by habit, checking on Yue. He was surprised to see the normally moody man lost in thought, his expression gentle.

“Yue?” he called out tentatively.

Yue came out of his stupor, his aura different from the normally dark and oppressive feeling he gave most people. His eyes especially could not conceal the happiness in them. George was really bewildered now. What could have happened to make this man, who almost never moved from this spot for the last hundred years behave like this? Unless…

“I thought Dawn was female?” he asked, making his conjecture almost instantly.

Yue gave a self-depreciating laugh. “Don’t you know? Old man Gin hates me. He must’ve thought that this will keep the bugs away.”

“Are you sure?” George recalled the complicated look that Master Gin always gave alcove 15. Perhaps it was true.

“We almost came to blows last time… but now that she’s- he’s back, I’ll do anything to keep him safe this time.” Yue had a determined look that George had never seen before.

Seeing the man lost in thought again, George left silently, pondering about Yue and Dawn’s history. Again, it was none of his business but like how water can smoothen a rock over time, Yue had wormed his way into George’s list of friends due to the sheer decades that he had known the man. And as a friend, George cared. It didn’t matter though. If that was really Dawn then Yue had a reason to be. And when a man has a reason to be, he can move mountains.

George had just finished briefing the evening shift of their patrol time and pairs when Master Gin walked over with the white haired man.

“Gentlemen – and lady,” he acknowledged the lone amazon among the group of men before continuing – “This is Kou, a relative of mine. He’ll be working at Club Sanctuary from now on. I hope you can all work together in a harmonious manner. Naturally, I will not take sides if he does not perform up to mark.” This was true. In the fifty years that George had worked here, he had never seen Master Gin side his family if they were in the wrong. However, he would be very harsh against those who attempted to plot against his people. This made him a well-respected boss amongst the staff.

Everyone said their greetings and got to work. Since George had been on the floor much earlier, he got permission from Master Gin to grab a meal before majority of the evening patrons came in. Going to the staff canteen, George’s mind was on a variety of things including the staff patrols, what Anansi was up to and what was the staff special today. He was surprised to see the twins there; he thought they’d left for home already.

“Hello George, here for dinner?” Noire asked.

“Yes. I thought that the both of you had left already.” He said, going to the serving counter; looks like today’s special was Indian cuisine.

“We don’t like to cook so it’s easier to eat here and then go home.” Blanc explained.

That made sense. The kitchen served a variety of cuisine and it was much easier to have a meal first before going back, unless you had certain dietary needs that the kitchen couldn’t cater for. So he served himself some naan bread along with some mutton curry and cucumber salad before sitting with the twins.

“So you’ve met Kou?” Noire asked.

“Yes. Yue seemed a little off when he saw him.” George said offhandedly.

“He should…” Blanc was a little grim faced when Yue was mentioned.

“Do you dislike Yue chasing your sister?” George had to ask. This family was very tight-knit and Blanc was very protective of all his siblings, even if he was the youngest.

“Not really…” Blanc looked a little reluctant. “She always looks so happy when she’s with him and that’s what matters. If it weren’t for that incident, they would probably have gotten married already. Father can’t forgive Yue for not protecting Dawn but I know Yue can’t forgive himself more.”

“There’s just one problem now… Papa sealed all of Dawn’s memories. He’s Kou now.” Noire said, her innocent teenage face sad.

George had often wondered why the twins decided to leave their appearances at fifteen. After all, they could choose any age they wanted; their current age just didn’t suit their temperament. Noire’s explanation was simple: “Mama couldn’t bear the thought of us growing up so Papa asked if we could remain at this age to prevent upsetting her.”

So the two remained as precocious teenagers with serious amber eyes and dark auburn hair. They liked to dress exactly like their names; in black and white. But it was never completely black or white though; it would always be a balance of both colours, as if to indicate that one twin couldn’t do without the other. But the overall look suited the both of them.

So Master Gin had sealed Dawn’s memories… George wondered what Yue would do. To Yue it wouldn’t matter, he supposed. Just because the memories were sealed did not mean that they weren’t there. The body remembers what the mind forgets. Anything that has been practised and repeated over and over again would be ingrained deeply into the subconscious. If the love that Dawn and Yue had was really true, then like a reflex, Kou will turn to Yue again, just like a flower receiving the sun’s warmth.

 George smiled at the both of them. “Yue and Kou will be fine. We have other things to worry about right now.”

The twins, especially Blanc looked reluctant but they could understand where George was coming from. Having been alerted about the spiders earlier, they did not actually discuss any security related issues but just spoke about the club in general. The twins having finished their meal first left for home, leaving George to finish his meal alone. He was about halfway through his meal and wondering if he wanted to finish it when Ciel came in.