The first thing I notice when I grow conscious, is that I'm hot.

I don't think anything is wrong at first, because I'm used to waking up at Highclere countless times because of the heat, but then I remember where I'm at, and notice that something else besides the humid night is the reason for my horrible waking.

A blanket covers me. Or more like I'm almost completely swaddled in one.

I slowly move my arm, pushing against the barrier of the cloth. It doesn't give easily, so I start to squirm, wriggling as I try and find a way out of the suffocating heat.

Who even put me in this? Was it Becky, as revenge? Or maybe one of the attendants walked in and saw me shivering. What if it was Max, wanting to pull off a weird and random prank?

Then, I pause.

Slowly, I start to turn my head to the side, looking towards the couch, where a dark figure lounges, his head turned to look out the windows into the night sky.

End.

My mouth instantly dries up, and I swallow, before opening my mouth.

"End. What are you doing here? Wait, never mind, it's not like you can answer." I huff, starting back up my struggle with the heavy comforter around me. "Were you the one to do this? Well it doesn't matter, just please come help me out before I die of heat."

End finally turns his head to gaze at me, but when he does my breath catches.

His eyes are bright orange, same as they were at the Highclere Harvest Festival, before he disappeared.

"Erm....End?" I finally croak out, feeling more and more on edge the longer he watches me.

Suddenly, End stands, rising to his full height. He makes his way around the couch slowly, almost as if each step is calculated, like a predator.

He comes to a stop at the foot of the bed, and I feel very self-conscious at the fact that from his angle it probably looks like I have a double-chin, even thought that should be the least of my worries.

"Thanks so much, End. Once I get out of this cocoon we can sit down and chat....well, I can chat, you can nod your head now and then, or maybe teach me sign language.." I ramble, trailing off as he doesn't move to untangle me, and just continues to stand there and look down at me with those glowing, orange eyes, the only color on him.

I chuckle nervously, feeling more awkward and uncomfortable as time passes. "Not trying to sound pushy or anything, but I'm kind of suffocating from the heat here...". Still no response. "End?"

Slowly, End outstretches an arm, his hand splayed out towards the desk which sits against the wall. Fast as lightning, stream of darkness appears out nowhere, destroying the desk in seconds and leaving nothing but pieces of wood.

"Yikes." Is all my confused brain manages to come up with.

End turns on his heel, and I release a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding when his stare finally leaves me. He makes his way to the center of the room and stops, back facing me and head bowed.

My eyes widen as a whirlwind of what appears to be pitch black darkness is created out of thin air, throwing the whole room into disarray. The rug is torn into pieces, the couch slammed against a wall and broken into bits.

Even the pillows in the windows are smashed and crumbled, but they must have only been for decoration since the roof doesn't cave in thankfully. I close my eyes, recoiling as the nightstand beside me goes flying over the bed and to the other side of the room.

I only open my eyes when the commotion comes to a stop, the whirlwind of darkness disappearing.

The entire room is a mess.

Rubble and various pieces of furniture lying scattered everywhere.

The only consolation I find is that the bed was left alone , almost as if the whirlwind had a mind of it's own and decided to keep a specific thing safe from it's destruction.

There's no way people didn't hear that commotion. Any minute now someone will be arriving at the door.

But as End turns to face me again, I wonder if a minute will be too late.

"What is wrong with you, End?" I manage to get out, not willing to meet those daunting, orange eyes. "This isn't like you. Why on Earth would you destroy the whole room? Does it have to do with your eyes, and why they changed colors?"

End cocks his head to the side, almost as if he's puzzled about something, before slowly raising his arm towards me, his hand outstretched.

"End, No!" I yell, but it's too late.

I catch a glimpse of darkness hurtling towards me before I squeeze my eyes shut, wanting to at least go out quick and painlessly, but when I realize that after a few seconds I'm still sweating and hot, I crack my eyes open.

The darkness has recoiled, swirling around End as he retracts his hand, staring at his palm in what almost seems like horror.

He looks up then, his orange eyes flickering to the grey that they once were, and he takes a hesitant step towards me, his form visibly shaking.

"Ashley!" I hear a call from outside, the voice sounding like Becky's.

"Are you alright in there?" Max's voice.

End jerks his head towards the door, before looking back at me, his eyes still flickering, but more grey than orange now.

Suddenly he vanishes, melting into the shadows just as the door opens and Max and Becky come tumbling in, Iris following.

They gasp, taking in the destroyed room around them, before their gazes land on me.

"Ashley!" Iris cries, hurrying over to the bed. "What in the name of Dalton happened in here?"

"That's what I'd like to find out," I mutter. "I'll explain everything, but can someone please help me out of this huge blanket first?"

Iris and Max immediately rush forward, Becky taking her time before making her way over, and together they start to undo the cocoon I was trapped in.

I can't begin to describe the amount of relief I feel when I finally go tumbling out of the thing, landing on the ground with a loud thud.

My entire body is covered in a layer of sweat, and I take a minute to just lay there on the ground, cooling off and thinking over what previously had happened.

My vision of the ceiling is interrupted by a mop of curly, blonde hair as Max leans over me, his gaze worried.

"Need an energy boost?" He offers.

"No, I'll recover soon enough, you don't have to waste your energy. Just please help me up."

He grabs my hand and pulls me until I'm standing, a little unsteady, but at least I'm on my feet.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Ashley." Iris speaks up, her violet gaze concerned. "Max called on me and when I arrived we all heard terrible noises coming from inside your room."

"Was it an intruder?" Becky asks, surveying the room. "Did you catch a glimpse of the culprit."

"Yes and no." I say, because can you really catch a glimpse of the culprit if it's a shadow. I know I'll have to tell them who did it, but even though he's been acting really strange lately, I'm hesitant about selling End out.

"What kind of answer is that?" Max asks, eyebrows scrunching in confusion.

I sigh, lowering my voice. "It's someone you both know."

Both of them pause for a moment, thinking.

"Sylvia?" Max suddenly pipes up.

"No," I immediately say, feeling my face shrivel in disgust. "Why would she do this and leave me unharmed?"

"I don't know." Max shrugs. "Sylvia just always seemed like the kind of person to do damage in the bedro-OW!" He yells when Becky smacks him over the top of the head, and I silently thank her for doing that.

"Was it End?' Becky asks, turning to me with a solemn expression.

I give a single nod, my eyes darting to look out the windows where the sun has started to rise.

"Sorry to interrupt," Iris speaks up, her eyes dashing around to all of us, "But who is this End person?"

I look to Max and Becky for help, but they are conveniently both looking away, so finally I sigh and turn back to Iris.

"It's hard to explain, but he's kind of like a living shadow I guess." Is what I come up with for a description.

I watch as Iris starts to pale, realization crossing her face for a brief few seconds.

"Did this End person by any chance have orange eyes?" She asks in a small voice, and I'm almost too shocked to answer.

"Yes, his eyes have started to turn orange for periods of time, but how would you know that?"

Iris doesn't answer, the rest of the blood draining from her face as she quickly turns on her heel, striding towards the doors quickly.

"I must inform Aunt Malia of this incident immediately." Is all she says as she reaches the doors.

"Hey, wait up." Max calls, and we all begin to walk fast, following her out of the room and into the hallway.

Maybe Iris had a run in with End, and he destroyed something in front of her as well. That's the only reason I can come up with as to why she knows him, or his description at least.

I turn my head to face Becky, leaning closer to talk. "Should we tell Lager? I'm surprised he hasn't shown up yet with all the noise and commotion that went on."

Becky snorts, waving off my worry like it's nothing. "When Lager is sleeping, he may as well be dead. No amount of noise or commotion is waking him up once he's fully fallen asleep."

"Good to know." I comment dryly, before recognizing that up ahead of us lies the doors that we had entered earlier upon greeting the Lightling High Commander. How often is she in that room?

Iris knocks, pauses a second, then opens the doors, and we all trail awkwardly behind.

"Ah, Iris. I was wondering why the morning tea was taking you so long..." Malia trails off as she turns her head to face us from where she sits on the couch, her eyes taking all of us in. "Well this is a very early surprise."

"I apologize for their unexpected presence, but I have urgent news."

Iris walks forward and leans down, speaking lowly into Malia's ear.

"Mhmm." Malia hums, listening. "Oh, hmm."

Finally Malia nods and Iris straightens, leaving me to wonder why Iris was whispering instead of just coming outright and saying what happened.

Malia directs her attention towards us and specifically me. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that frightening encounter. We unfortunately do not have guards posted in the guest wing, since we very rarely have guests stay for longer than a night, but I will see to it that some are stationed there immediately."

"Erm...thank you." I finally say, strengthening my resolve to ask about End. "Excuse me, but do you know anything about the living shadow-" I'm cut off by the doors suddenly bursting open.

We all whip our heads around to see Cato stride in, two Lightling guards flanking him. His eyes briefly pass over us, his fox eyes paying us no mind as they head straight o Malia.

He comes to a stop in front of her, hurriedly bowing before straightening.

"What is the issue, Cato?" Malia addresses.

"I'll get right to the point." Cato finally says, his tone of voice low and informative.

"Please do." Malia nods.

"The Kinlings are here." He says, and I swear that for a moment his eyes dart up to meet mine. "And they're demanding to see you."



Dear readers, if you've read Experiment Zero (which you most likely have since you're reading the sequel), you know that I love to write cliffhangers, although when it comes to a book I'm reading that I like I hate to read them myself. This chapter was very short compared to the previous chapters, actually about half of their size, but I wanted to give you an update on time and also before I go on a trip to Chicago for the week in celebration of fourth of July and my birthday. I hope you all enjoyed, even though it was pretty short, and don't hate me for the cliffhanger. Any theories about End, and why he's acting so strangely? As always, vote, comment, and play a time-consuming game that you can't stop playing even though every second playing it makes you feel more brain dead. (Sometimes I feel like such a bad influence) Chapter is not edited. Stay tuned for next chapter when we find out why the Kinlings are in Lucem Villa and what they want. As always, Lots of Love,

Dangeroustoken.