[Y/n] let out a sigh. Though her eyes were closed, the slight depression in her bed told her she wasn't alone. She sat up and slowly opened her eyes to see Mitzu sat beside her. She raised an eyebrow, not overly fond of the way he was looking at her. He was basically fully grown now, easily 6 foot. His combed back silver hair stuck out at all angles and his amber eyes were trained on her figure, unblinking.

"Mitzu... uhh, good morning?" [Y/n] said slowly. "Do you need something?"

"Good morning [Y/n]," he returned her greeting, his expression unchanging, "I've come to make you aware of your current situation." [Y/n]'s brows knitted together as she tried to figure out what that meant.

"Situation?" she echoed, confused.

"We're locking you in here for your own protection," he said bluntly. [Y/n] was about to say 'oh, okay' until finally her brain construed what Mitzu had said. Her eyes widened and she shuffled back a little. "Don't be scared, it's for your own good," he said softly, "it's just until Aytsa and Seishin have stopped acting weird."

"Wait, not all of you are in on this? And what do you mean, acting weird?" [Y/n] said, her tone changing quickly from surprise to anger. Mitzu sighed.

"I wouldn't say Seishin or Aytsa are in the position to be in on this," he laughed awkwardly. "Seishin's... uhh... untrustworthy. We realised what his ability was and none of us know just how much he can do with it. As for Aytsa... he's lost his mind. Something about wanting your blood again." He chuckled, "in all honestly, I really want to know for myself what's so special about your blood."

"No," [Y/n] snapped immediately, backing away from him further. Mitzu shrugs. "Well, I don't agree with what you're doing. I want you to let me out," she said firmly, pointing at the door.

"No can do, I'm afraid," Mitzu sighed, "I mean, unless—"

"No," [Y/n] spat, "I know what you're going to say so don't even go there," she growled out. Mitzu allowed a laugh to escape him, his hand grabbing her arm and pulling the girl against him. She went rigid, which the boy picked up on.

"You're cruel, [Y/n]," he hummed, "but I find this side of you quite funny. I do wish you'd show me more often," he grinned, "it makes us look like the perfect match, you know. And it's so easy to get you to look like this, too. You really are my perfect little doll..."

"Stop with that," [Y/n] said darkly, "it's creepy. Cut it out." His grip on her arm increased a little, causing her to allow a small yelp of pain escape her lips. "Let go, Mitzu."

"Just let me have a bite... a small bite, that's all I want. You let Nyais. You always look so happy when you're with him. Why can't it be like that with me?"

"Please get out," [Y/n] said quietly. "I want to be on my own for a bit." Mitzu stared at her for a while before dipping his head and heaving a sigh, standing up and walking over to the door. He pulled the key out of his pocket, holding it in front of him for a moment. [Y/n] didn't know what he was thinking about but she didn't waste a second of time, silently slipping off the side of the bed and walking over to him whilst he was occupied with staring blankly at the key. As quickly as she possibly could, she reached forwards and snatched the key from his grasp, causing him to break out of his trance and stare at her.

[Y/n] then realised that she'd probably made him very angry. He turned to face the door slowly, a chuckle escaping him.

"You didn't think that through, did you?" he asked, turning to look at her again. She looked from him to the key and then back again. On one hand, she had her method of exit in her hand. On the other, she had someone she really didn't want with her blocking her exit and now possibly getting really mad at her. Maybe the situation could've been dealt with a little better, she had to admit.

"Give me the key now and this'll be a lot easier," Mitzu said calmly, causing a shiver to course down [Y/n]'s spine.

"Or what...?" she dared to ask, which was her second mistake. Mitzu threw his head back, a jubilant laugh practically shaking the walls of the room. [Y/n] stepped backwards.

"You've got three seconds until you find out," he grinned as his laughter died down. "3, 2–"

The key was shoved back into his palm. [Y/n] immediately stepped back to get away from him but he latched onto her wrist before she could move far enough. "You really are perfect."

"What...?"

"You do exactly what I want you to," he laughed. [Y/n] had no idea what he was talking about until she realised exactly what was going on. 'That bastard held the key in front of him on purpose—'

"I'll see you later, [Y/n]," he smiled, pulling her close to him to place a soft kiss on her forehead before tossing her back and unlocking the door. [Y/n] was tempted to see if she could jar it somehow but, honestly, being locked away from everyone didn't sound too bad right now. It was only then that, as the door creaked shut and the lock clicked, [Y/n] realised how much she wanted to see Nyais.

"Nyais...?" she called quietly.

After a few minutes of waiting; nothing.

* * *

"Ah, you're awake!" an overly happy (and awfully pitchy) voice pierced the eardrums of the resting male; his arm felt worse than ever despite being 'patched up'. Nyais kept his eyes shut, not really wanting to talk to Rayne. "Ignoring me? Sure. Well, I just wanted to tell you that the boys have locked [Y/n] away. If I'm correct she was just calling for you," he explained giddily. Nyais sat up immediately but Rayne pushed him back down again, a grunt escaping Nyais as his back collided with the slab that was his current resting place. "Nope, you can't go anywhere yet or you run the risk of bleeding out."

"You dick," Nyais spat, his magenta eyes staring threateningly at Rayne. He seemed to ignore the insult as his signature grin never left his face.

"I can go talk to her on your behalf if you'd like?" Rayne asked excitedly.

"If you do I'll kill you." His words were clear as day to Rayne - his intentions clearer - but that didn't stop the raven haired man from trying. Even if his attempts were merely serving the purpose of pissing Nyais off, it was enough.

"You'll kill me? Looking like that?" he asked, his head tilting to the side. "For one of the strongest vampires, you really are an idiot," Rayne laughed, "aren't elites supposed to be equally balanced in strength and wit?"

"I suppose if you were one you'd know," Nyais responded dismissively. Rayne stared at him for a while, the statement irritating him more the longer the silence went on. He walked over to the counter and picked up a screw driver. Nyais sat up, shuffling back a little. "You've already had a warning about this shit Rayne," Nyais muttered.

"I suppose King Olli did say something about this," Rayne hummed with an aloof smile; Nyais hated to think what he might have been imagining. "Just one nail? It'll only hurt a bit... plus, it'll have grown back by tomorrow." Nyais glared at him, slowly shaking his head. Rayne sighed and placed the screwdriver back down, tapping his fingers on the counter. "God, you're so boring."

"No, you're just a fucking lunatic," Nyais spat.

"I never said I wasn't," Rayne responded. He looked over at the cage in the corner of the room. His eyes narrowed and he walked over to it. Nyais craned his neck to see what Rayne was trying to do - it put a lot of uncomfortable strain on his injured upper arm. A scrawny, mangled, rotting pale arm sat on the floor. Rayne gave it a tug but Nari didn't respond. He tugged a bit harder, still no response. Finally, he yanked the putrid arm, pulling it clean off her body. No response. "Ah, shit," Rayne muttered, tossing the arm back in the cage, "I only had the bitch for three days," he growled, "that's not fair."

"You're a sick bastard, Rayne," Nyais sighed.

"I learnt from the best," Rayne giggled, staring at Nyais for a while. When Nyais furrowed his brow, Rayne pouted his lips. "Really? You hadn't noticed?" Nyais continued to look confused. "All my methods come from you, good sir," he grinned patronisingly.

"Please never compare yourself to me again," Nyais huffed. Rayne shrugged a 'no promises' sort of shrug, before sitting down at his desk. The bottle of Nyais' blood sat there in some sort of glass contraption - a steady flow of another liquid dripped into it, keeping it from clotting. Nyais looked away from it, feeling a little sick. He then pulled up some of the bandages around his arm, looking at the wound. It looked more like a bear scratch now (rather than a three inch wide hole) which reassured Nyais that he should be good by the next day. Even still, it pissed him off that he'd have to wait before seeing [Y/n] again.

"What's [Y/n]'s situation like right now? I can't hear fuck all down here," Nyais huffed.

"Ah, yes, I soundproofed these walls especially for you, Nyais," Rayne giggled, earning a scoff from the injured brunette. Rayne then stood up, his green eyes scanning over the room as he finally found the device he was looking for. He picked up the laptop and pulled up a chair next to the operating table he had allowed Nyais to rest on. The moment he powered it on, it went straight through to the video feed.

There were several cameras. Rayne maximised one so he could flick through them.

In the living room nothing happened. A few books were left on sofas, neatly in a line. The behaviour confused Nyais but he didn't question it. Then, Rayne flicked to the kitchen. Mitzu stood in the kitchen, a cook book in hand, ingredients sat in front of him. His brow furrowed as he tried to work out a logical way of doing what the nonsensical instructions told him to do.

Next was the office (in which nothing happened). Then the corridors (in which nothing happened). Then Laion's room - the boy stood in the centre, his hand in front of him slightly and his head facing up. His index finger bobbed up and down (more so on the first bob than the other two) and Nyais realised he must be trying to work out the pace of a piece of music so he could dance to it. Rayne flicked the camera again, showing Aytsa's room. The boy sat on his bed, staring at the door, his eyes dull. He tapped his fingers against his arm before standing up and walking over to his door, pulling against it. His eyes narrowed when nothing happened. He turned around and walked back over to his bed.

"It would look like Aytsa's locked in, too," Rayne hummed, an amused look on his face. Nyais glared at him.

Rayne sighed before flicking to the next camera; Mitzu's room. It was empty and calm, instruments littering the place. Then, Draka's room. The brunette sat at his desk, his head in his hands as he mumbled to himself. Rayne turned up the audio feed but his words were nonsensical and almost inaudible. Rayne turned the audio down a bit and went to the next room, Kori's room. Kori was in the middle of lighting one of his candles. He held a piece of paper over it, not blinking when the object set on fire - not blinking when that fire began to eat at his fingers. Once the piece of paper had totally disintegrated, Kori blew the flames from his fingers (which were covered in - now partially burnt through - grey woollen gloves).

Rayne switched to the next camera - Seishin's room. The boy was reading something. That didn't surprise Nyais but it was odd to see him so silent. Rayne then switched to the final camera - [Y/n]'s camera. He turned up the audio.

[Y/n] sat with her back against the door, the bumblebee music box in her hands. Every time the tune finished she would repeat it again. Again and again and again. A few words the camera didn't pick up escaped her lips, so Rayne turned the audio up a bit higher.

"I want to leave..." she chimed. Nyais bit his lip slightly - he didn't want Rayne to hear her wishes to return home. He might report them to Olli. "Y-you said you'd hear me if I called you," she said softly, "so why are you ignoring me...? Or... or are you just like them? Is this what you want, too...?"

Nyais stared blankly at the screen for a while, his head spinning. He looked over at Rayne, who then switched it off. "Maybe you picked a bad day to get injured," Rayne hummed, a smirk on his lips. Nyais wanted nothing more than to rip it off his face. "Well? Are you like them? It makes sense... after all, you were the one who brought her there in the first place," he giggled. Nyais frowned, looking down. "Yet, you do my regret it? None of it? You don't regret pulling her away from her friends, her family? She'll never see any of them again, but you don't care, do you?"

"Shut up, Rayne," Nyais spat.

"I don't think I will," he responded carefully, "after all, there's a lot I want to say to you. I never get the chance because you're so busy being all high and mighty," he grinned, "but no one's here for you right now, so I can do what I want, right?"

"And what about when I recover?" Nyais responded levelly.

"By then you'll be too busy caring for the human girl to care for your petty revenge plans," Rayne observed. Nyais remained silent, figuring talking would do him no good at this point in time. "Good, you're learning fast!" Rayne smiled in response to Nyais' quietness. "You know, it's a bit cruel of you, keeping her in the dark," he trailed off.

"About what?" Nyais responded, his face glazing over with a look of distance and confusion.

"About how shit her life's going to be when the 21 days are over," Rayne responded levelly. "First and foremost, she'll never really be free of the boys. No matter how much you shelter her, there'll always be some sort of custody battle along the way," Rayne began, "secondly, you're a fucking psycho," Rayne giggled. "How long will it be before you snap? You've kept up your facade for a while now, Nyais, but I - for one - know your true nature."

"There is no true nature. I'm me," Nyais responded darkly, "I would never hurt [Y/n]—"

"It's a bit too late to say that now, is it not?" Rayne frowned. Nyais' eyes widened and he looked away. The raven haired male laughed at Nyais' response, picking up the laptop and putting it to the side.

"What do you get from all of this?" Nyais asked, his eyes fixed on the lifeless woman in the cage - or, at least, what was left of her. Rayne turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

"That's odd. For a second it began to sound like you cared," Rayne retorted. Nyais narrowed his eyes, causing the young man to shrug. "Oh, you were being serious? Why the fuck d'you wanna know?" Nyais continued to stare at him, awaiting his answer. "Would you believe me if I told you there wasn't a reason at all? That I just enjoy to learn, and found this is the best way to do it? That, after a long time of studying, I realised fear was the way to get any information out of any person - a way to make new information - that fear was the only thing humans were capable of creating that could aid vampires?"

"Enough with the monologue," Nyais responded shortly, "I've read the book already. I don't need to hear this again."

"You read my book?" Rayne said, suddenly shocked. Nyais couldn't understand his expression - it looked both crazed and grateful, emotions that Nyais didn't think could go together. He slowly nodded in response to the question. "I hadn't expected you to..." he trailed off.

"It was shit. I hated every second of it," Nyais responded. If there had been any hurt in Rayne's eyes, it had vanished too fast for Nyais to spot. An almost immediate grin spread across his face.

"I'm glad. Oh, and by the way... has Seishin read it yet?" he asked, his head tilted. "And, perhaps, any of the other boys?"

"Seishin has read it," Nyais sighed, looking away. "I'm not sure about the other boys. [Y/n] read the first page. Oh... and I was wondering—"

Nyais would've continued with his question had a loud knock not sounded from upstairs, bringing both Nyais and Rayne to a mental halt as they tried to figure out who it might be. Rayne disappeared upstairs, leaving Nyais on his lonesome. He was gone for enough time to allow Nyais to really get a grip of his haunting environment - the dripping of pipes and the strange devices he had around the room, the many taxidermic human body parts here and there, the cracks in the walls and ceiling... it was only then that Nyais noticed something odd.

Of course, torture devices practically shielding an entire wall would be immediately considered 'odd', but what was stranger was the familiarity in which Nyais was faced with as he stared at them. Many of these were interrogative devices that he, himself, had used. Some were ones he had even commissioned.

Two pairs of feet clicked against the stairs as they descended. Nyais stared up at his closest friend and his arch enemy, side by side: Rayne and King Olli. Olli's eyes widened a little as he saw the state Nyais was in. He swiftly made his way over to the injured male, placing his hand on his good shoulder.

"When Rayne said he'd taken some of your blood, I honestly hadn't expected this," Olli sighed, shaking his head. He turned and looked at Rayne, his gaze piercing. "How do you explain this?" he asked harshly.

"I was a bit pissed off so I might have made it more painful than it had to be," Rayne answered nonchalantly, "it's nothing big so don't worry about it. He's still alive, isn't he?" Olli paused before hanging his head, looking deep in thought. He finally looked up again and sighed.

"I've finished drafting the contract for [Y/n]," he said. Nyais paused before nodding slowly. He looked over at his bottle of his blood, frowning at the vulnerable version of himself he saw in the translucent reflection.

"Forever is a long time, don't you think?" Nyais asked lethargically.



Next chapter: Day 18 and a Confrontation