No sooner had he spoken than was there a sudden impact and he was sent flying into a tree. Zain stood where he was, eyes blazing with fury and his mouth in a snarl. The vampire leapt back again, his figure almost towering over Zain, and they engaged in a battle too fast for my eyes. Trees broke, I couldn’t move, the noises were deafening, and then at last there was just Zain, clothes torn and breathing heavily, standing over the corpse of my attacker and splattered in his blood.

His red eyes snapped toward me, his mouth still in a hard set snarl.

“What the HELL are you doing out here?!”

Tears continued to stream down my face as I went into shock, unable to process what just happened. I curled into a ball and hyperventilated, trying to make it calm down. Zain waited, kneeling down in front of me. When my breathing steadied he asked me again, firmly.

“I...I…” Words still evaded me. His gaze was hyperfocused on mine but I couldn’t look at him; guilt began to replace the terror that was coursing through me.

His head suddenly lifted and he gestured me to be quiet. I covered my mouth and tried to make my breathing quiet as my heart thundered again. I didn’t hear anything.

“It’s not safe here,” he finally murmured, and suddenly scooped me up into his arms.

“Wha-!” He shushed my sudden surprise with a hiss, and before I could even process what was about to happen the scenery around us became a blur and the air was rushing against my face and body. Within moments everything stopped again, and he was standing on my balcony and opening the window.

Once inside he dumped me unceremoniously on the floor and crossed his arms in frustration, his eyes narrowed and demanding.

“Just what the hell were you thinking?!” he berated me. “Do you have any idea how close you were to killing us both?!”

I whimpered from my sore butt in addition to the scrapes and cuts and the throbbing pain in my head. “I’m sorry…”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it!” he hissed. “You were trying to leave the castle, weren’t you? How stupid do you--!”

“I wasn’t!” I protested. “I...that wasn’t why I was there, I…!”

“OH~? ENLIGHTEN ME THEN.”

“I-I-was…” The adrenaline was finally starting to wear off and the nausea arrived in full force. My stomach gave a massive heave and I couldn’t stop it.

Zain held the trash can beneath my face before anything reached the floor, still angry but waiting for me to finish. My hands were turning white as I used the rim for support. Finally I groaned, my body shaking and feeling incredibly cold.

“There was a note…” my voice crackled feebly. I could feel his stare on me hard, piercing through my head for the image of that message.

“What does it mean?” he asked, his voice still firm but with a slight waver.

I groaned again, keeping my eyes closed and trying not to think about the blood that was all over both of us and running down my head. “I was trying...I was trying to find a way to break it. The connection. I just...I just wanted to go home, I didn’t…”

His voice became icy and accusatory. “The only way that’s possible is if you have me killed.”

“I know… I don’t want to resort to that, I was hoping...I thought that maybe…”

I felt him probe my mind again, visions of my searches flashing through like a fast-scrolling film. My thoughts, my emotions, I had no strength to push him out. He saw the library, my chat, the books I looked through, the notes I took. There was fear, and worry, where he searched, and something he wanted to be sure of. Finally he released his hold and leaned back with an exasperated sigh.

“You’re impossible.” His voice wasn’t angry anymore, just exhausted.

The nausea finally passed but I kept my eyes shut. Bitterness grew in its place. I just wanted something that would work. Can you really blame me for trying?

“No,” he replied, tired. “I can’t. I would’ve done the same.”

I opened my eyes but he was suddenly holding my head down in his hands before I could take in his expression. “Hold still,” he murmured, and I felt a strange tingling sensation just above my left temple. His hands were warm, and a subtle, sweetly comforting smell drifted off of him. I closed my eyes again, giving in to the involuntary relaxed feeling it created.

“You’re a mess,” he scoffed quietly, and I felt myself lift to my feet. “You should clean yourself up.” I opened my eyes sleepily and found myself being led to my bathroom. “Don’t look at the mirror,” he warned.

I was careful to keep my eyes closed as I undressed and rinsed off in the separate shower room, giving plenty of ample time for all the blood to wash down the drain. The cuts on my arms and face stung, and to my surprise there was no open wound on my head anymore. The hot water was nice; I wanted nothing more than to just lie down and fall asleep. But the bathroom was not a place for that. My old clothes were gone when I stepped back around and in its place a pair of long-sleeve pajamas. That was nice.

I groggily stepped out of the bathroom and stumbled towards my bed. I flopped into it, relishing in the softness and warmth, and then realized Zain was sitting in a chair next to my bed, his arms and legs crossed and staring at the balcony window.

“I’m not going to run away,” I said sleepily, trying to sound accusatory and lifting my head up.

“I know,” he replied simply, not looking away from the window.

I let my head fall into the pillows again. “I didn’t take you for the sleepover type,” I said dryly.

He made a noise I couldn’t decipher, but I think...I think he laughed.

“Did not,” I heard him scoff.

“Those thoughts are private,” I murmured.

“Then keep them that way.”

A few minutes pass, and my brain finally starting working a bit more properly.

“You’re still here,” I stated.

“So?” he responded.

I sat up now; I heard it again, in his voice. “Why?”

He didn’t answer immediately. He seemed to be thinking. And then…

“Do you still have that note?”

I blinked in surprise. “Uh...no, sorry. I didn’t want anyone to know what I was doing so I burned it.”

He turned to look at me, his eyes still casting a faint red glow into my room. “Do you remember exactly what it looked like?”

“Um, maybe, I don’t…?” But then he was suddenly leaning close to me, taking my face firmly in his hands.

“I need to see it,” he said, his red eyes piercing mine.

My heart started beating quickly and my face flushed. “Wh-what are you…?”

“I need you to picture it,” he ordered. “The day you got the letter, I need you to recall it as clearly as you can manage.”

Realization clicked as I finally understood. I forgot, we’d be able to dive into each other’s memory, as if we were there.

He rolled his eyes. “Could you be any more slow?”

I narrowed my eyes as his went back into looking through me, searching. I recalled that day as much as I could, trying to calm my heart down. The letter mixed in with the clothing, the color of the paper, the handwriting, the ink...details were being pulled in that I would have otherwise not even thought about, and I realized this was his doing. The choice of words, the scent of the paper, my thoughts wondering who could have sent it, the people I considered, the fact that someone from within the castle must have sent it--

Zain stiffened and let go of my face in thought. His eyes were wide and darting back and forth at the nothing in front of him; he looked worried, confused...lost. It was the same, EXACT same lostness I had seen in his eyes in the dream.

He didn’t move for a good minute. I swallowed.

“Zain…” He snapped out of it in surprise, a strange expression in his eyes at the sound of his name. That same subtle fear I had noticed only a few times before was radiating off of him now. “Zain...what’s going on?”

He looked away, his face anxious as he debated an answer. “I...I don’t know,” he said, to my surprise. “Activity around the castle has been increasing to an abnormal amount. Thralls, like our friend from earlier, have been appearing more frequently, causing problems and trying to get in.”

I swallowed. “Thralls...a created vampire?”

He nodded seriously. “It's a common occurrence for them to appear during certain times of the year, usually hunters take care of them for us. They’re attracted to this place because of the dense population of humans, the barrier keeps them out though. But…” He ran a hand through his hair stressfully. “It been too frequent lately, ever since you showed up actually, and now this…”

“Zain, I promise you I was not out there because-” I began to say, thinking about Victoria’s rumor of infiltration.

“I know,” he interrupted, his eyes patient and believing. “But...the fact that you got a note that led you outside the castle walls, outside the barrier, AND you were attacked by a thrall-”

“He was waiting for me,” I breathed in realization, startling him. “That’s what he said, ‘right where he said, right on time.’”

Zain paled. “Someone planned this.”

I swallowed, my head spinning.

“Okay, listen,” he said after a moment, taking my shoulders and giving me a hard, firm stare. “I can not stress this enough, but you can’t tell anyone. No one, especially not the humans. It’s bad enough the vampires are noticing this, but if the humans...This would cause a mass panic, and we don’t have all of the information.” The seriousness in his voice frightened me more than any threat he’s dished out so far. “If there is someone in the castle doing this then we can’t let them know that we know--that I know about it now.”

I nodded in agreement. “Is...is this why you wanted...?” He heard my thoughts, understood that I was talking about the feedings. He nodded.

“I won’t tell anyone.” He relaxed and released my shoulders.

This...this was a lot, but explained a lot of things. If this was why he had been so demanding, so insistent…

“You would have still resisted me,” I heard him mutter.

“You don’t know that,” I said, bristling. “You might be a jerk but I’m not unreasonable.” He scoffed at that. “I’m serious. I have had zero freakin’ clues as to what the heck is going on. I just almost DIED, again, and I still don’t even know why. I’m doing my best here.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, but I was sure he had heard me. I was reminded of Ms. Lorely’s words; he’s not a thick-headed idiot.

“Hey,” he warned.

“I was defending you, and stay out of my head,” I chastised.

“Would if I could,” he spat back.

An awkward, childish pause filled the space between us for a moment.

“You should get some sleep. You’re going to feel like shit in the morning.”

I grimaced. “Gee, thanks for the assurance. What are you going to do?”

He had resumed his sentry position of watching my window. “I’m going to make sure nothing else happens tonight.” I swallowed, but nestled back down in the bed.

More awkward silence filled the space; I felt antsy about him being there, and unsure, but weirdly enough not scared. His scent would drift over to me, so comforting and...warm. It didn’t make sense. But it had a relaxing effect on me, putting me at ease, making me feel like I could trust it. Trust him. I could feel my eyelids drooping.

Everything that transpired, all the way from day one, cycled through my brain. The bullying, the anxiety, the demands...one particular memory had me curious though. “Hey...” I called sleepily. “I have a question…”

He didn’t move or respond.

“That morning after the first night I was here, when you dragged me into that supply closet…” my eyes were closing against my will now but I wanted to know… “...why did you ask me not to tell anyone you were outside the castle?”

“Go to sleep,” he growled. But then, quietly, after a few more seconds, he answered. “...it’s because I was breaking the rules.”

My head swirled in groggy confusion as new questions filled the mess. Just before the blanket of sleep consumed me though, I realized something. Since the moment he had rescued me, that strange, elastic-like pulling sensation had stopped.