Even though I've asked X repeatedly to let go and get in the shower, I was stuck with him clinging to me and I could tell he was slowly dozing off with his arms still tightly wrapped around my waist. I think I now know what cats feel like when they're held on the wrong way by two-year-old's. My ass is going numb from the ground as well but he refused to budge.

I let out a sigh and look up at Lady, trying to distract myself instead, 'Any luck on your end?'

'There are,' she flashes three dark tunnels in my mind. 'Three...three that lead to up. All tightly shut with circles on them.' She let the image of the heavy metal sealed round hatch doors flood my mind with intricate detailing, showing me that they were pressurised and the door would be heavy to lift. 'Open still inside of human den.'

Nothing leads outside? They really don't want anything to do with the other side of the Fence...which makes me question where all their rubbish goes...

They've changed the city in such a way that the only way out is up and out with the Tower's permission. We were in a fish bowl. I suddenly feel a little more claustrophobic now that I know we were in a trap.

'Must be another way out...'

Humans can be a little stupid when they think they have all the answers.

'Cannot leave everything to that weird black tree,' She retorts. 'Bad. Taste bad. Smell bad,' Her lip twitches as we both recall the Tower.

And I think she's right, there has to be another way out...it's probably some secret trap door that only Siem knows about and he ain't gonna tell me that easily.

So we've met a dead end.

I lean back further into X.

'What about sky?' Lady pushes her face into my lap and I automatically started petting her, feeling her soft black fur with the familiar glowing blue stripes. I recall as much as I could of the day but I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings as much as I had hoped. But Lady's interest was in the island.

'Appear when tower appear? Tower make stuff?'

'I don't really know what they are.' They just randomly appeared in some cities all over the world and then next we had the Fence walls go up and shut us out permanently for years.

'Sounds strange,' she purrs. 'Unnatural. Unwanted. Unfair.'

Are you just listing words now?

She huffs at me but didn't move her head, instead her eyes shut and her mind was becoming more still, going off to sleep.

I'm literally trapped between a crushing wall at my back and a tiger in my lap...Don't go off to sleep as well.

'Not sleep...shut eyes...comfortable.'

'That is going to 'sleep', Lady.'

'Oh...' She really didn't care as she shift her feet to the side, her tail swishing as she got comfortable. Before long, she left me alone as she went to dreamland.

How the fuck did she get to sleep so fast? It's a little unfair.

I slightly tip my head back to try and get a look at X, who's been using my shoulder as a pillow for a while now. Sure enough, his eyes were shut but he wasn't asleep.

Instead...it was like...he was trying to pull himself together...putting the chains back around his innermost self; fragment by shattered fragment. I frown at the thought, what was he doing that made him feel so riled up? I put my hands on top of his, at least he doesn't feel as cold as before. I wasn't really sure what I was doing but I let out a breath, sinking deeper into his chest as I try and clear my mind. I reach one hand up to his cheek, feel him tense then relax.

"What should I do to help you?" I ask him quietly. He didn't answer and I didn't expect him to. Instead, he tightens his grip, almost crushing me. I'm not a squeezy toy! I push on his face, "Oi...are you trying to kill me?"

He doesn't talk back, instead he just buries his face deeper into my neck, holding on tighter. I pull on his hair, he's trying to smush me. "X-"

"Sorry," he mumbles, his breath hot against my exposed skin. But he doesn't release me.

I tug on his arms, "You need a shower."

"...Just a little longer."

"I already have the cat cutting off circulation to my legs. You're right to squeeze me like a Care Bear is revoked-" he squeezes a little harder. Yep, I'm dead. "X!" I groan out.

"A little longer..."

What am I? An alarm for school? "What's wrong, X?"

"...Nothing else...here..."

I pull on his hands and he let me pry them off. I entwine my fingers with his own and I think it surprised him. "You're stubborn sometimes, as well. I promise I won't go anywhere from here so please," I press his knuckles to my lips as I notice the grazes on his hands, the blood had clotted and showing that it's heal pretty soon. He needed to rinse off the blood and clean the wounds before they close up.

He was quiet for a long time, "You promise you will be here when I come back?"

"Yes. I'll even be in the exact same spot by the door." Not like I have a choice with a fat cat head on my legs pinning me down like a log.

He gave me a look before getting up. He said nothing, not even turning back once as he headed into the closest patient room. In about a minute I could hear the water running.

Now...my next issue... I stare down the cat that was happily napping on me. I swear I could see drool forming from her lip. I pat her head gently as I felt suddenly a little dizzy with a headache forming in behind my eyes and pulsated out to the back of my head. I lean right back, slouching on the wall and looking up towards the ceiling while shutting my eyes. The throbbing hurts, almost intense enough to make me sick but it wasn't a migraine...yet...

If only these lights would turn back off!

Just then I felt the light behind my eyelids suddenly darken. Opening them, I met face to face with the familiar dim darkness that I usually had around the place...

...I...don't care anymore.

My head is throbbing like by brain is repeatedly headbutting against my skull, and trying to deceiver whether or not I did that -or the lights automatically turned off -or X was mucking around, is too much for me to process right now. I just wanted to go back to sleep and escape this headache for a while.

It's just going to add to a long list of questions that I keep creating with no answers in sight. The major one would be is how am I supposed to learn about what I can do -besides talking to giant tigers- like what I did against Zoe. The crystal and ice meshing in together......or...I look down at my claw....or what happens when I...change... I clench it into a fist...who could teach me or even better explain this to me? Why can I kill keystones? Turn thin air into ice...why the fuck didn't I have this when I could have saved my siblings a million times over...how the fuck am I supposed to be able to control this?

"Seth is your best bet," X's voice suddenly appears beside me as the door swooshes open again and I look up to see him still drip water from his hair but at least he had a towel around his neck...and was wearing long sweat pants....but no shirt...he has beautiful muscles....the dreamy defined six pack that anyone with lungs would squeal about and...and the sexy 'v'...

...Am I staring?

I look back down at my hands quickly before I overheat and turn myself to ash.

Holy shit. This guy is a walking talking (though roundabout/ 'riddle-me-this' version of 'talking') embodiment of perfection. He was beautiful...raw power...otherworldly...I'm running out of adjectives...

I felt a little bit jealous, flattered and intimidated at once when I came face to face with the reality of X.

He even kneels next to me and I steal a glance at the perfect torso again. I clear my throat, "What?" I think I squeaked...please don't notice...

"Seth," he repeats calmly, "he will probably be able to help you more than me," He grabs my hands, messaging the knuckles on both hands, "Seth was put in charge of you because he is probably the only one able to explain and help you in the initial stages...Is everything alright? You're really red..." He reaches a hand to brush up against my cheek, forcing me to look up at him.

"I have a headache," I quickly scrap together an excuse.

He pecks me on the lips before standing while still holding onto my wrist, "You should sleep." His eyes switch over to Lady. "...To be honest I sometimes wish I could hog you as much as she does..."

He really is trying to kill me. If I think too much more about him, I'll be in a straightjacket painting my padded cell with his name, using my feet if I had to. Wouldn't be that hard. Let's be honest here. I think I could paint a find cross with just my toes.

I nudge on Lady's head and sure enough her sleepy-addled eyes open groggily and she got to her feet like a drunk and wanders into my room without a single coherent thought.

X then seamlessly pulls me to my feet, "I could carry you back." I feel like he was being cheeky as I look up at him and felt my legs were prickling with pins and needles as my nerves come back to life.

"I'm fine," I growl, trying to walk after Lady. I realise as I shift, his weight on my wrist hadn't changed and was I basically dragging him around like an accessory...What a scary thought.

As we come to the door and it opens to Lady already settles on the ground and fast asleep, X shifts to be in front of me, pulling me close before he softly echoes into my ear, "I'd happily join you in the padded cell." He steals another light kiss from me before he drags me over.

I barely register what he meant as we head for bed and down some pain-killers.

...Stop picking and choosing when you can hear my thoughts!