[Y/n] sat on the end of the bed, a pencil and sheet of paper in her hands. Nyais had left early this morning to do some work regarding her and his job. Absentmindedly, she drew little shapes that turned into little animals here and there, the piece of paper eventually getting filled with these doodles. By 1:23pm, Nyais still wasn't back.

Or so she thought. A knock eventually sounded on the door, encouraging [Y/n] to race to it to let Nyais in. Then she realised she didn't exactly have a key to use.

"Sorry Nyais, you took the key - did you lose it?" she called out to who she presumed was Nyais on the other side of the door. The wonderful answer of 'no response' left her a little confused. Did vampires have delinquents? Did someone just do a knock and run? "Nyais?" she called again.

"Stand back, [Y/n]," a voice called back. It wasn't Nyais' voice. In fact, it took her a while to realise who's it was.

"...Draka?" [Y/n] called back, stepping away from the door in fear. Should she hide? That would make sense, but maybe he was just here to talk to her. The sudden impact that hit the door, shattering it into pieces, convinced her otherwise. The red eyed boy smiled at [Y/n], who stood - paralysed in fear - at the other side of the room.

"I'm sorry about the door, [Y/n]," he apologised, dipping his head. He held a glass of some drink in his right hand. Holding it up, he gestured to it. "I'm going to have to ask you to drink this. I promise you it won't hurt or anything - it won't even taste bad, we made sure of it." [Y/n] shook her head, backing up a little more before she hit the wall. She then began to slowly edge herself towards a door. "Backing yourself into a corner isn't going to make things any easier, [Y/n]," Draka frowned.

"W-why do you need me to drink that?" [Y/n] had two possibilities in mind: a) the boys had gotten mad at her and were going to try and kill her or b) the boys were going to drug her and take her back to where she'd been before.

"I'm sure you already know, but if you need me to spell it out for you... we're bringing you home."

"I'm already here. My home's with Nyais," [Y/n] growled. Draka gave her a sympathetic smile, shaking his head. [Y/n], in her confused state, seemed to miss the obvious. "He'll be back soon. Y-you won't stand a chance— y-you—"

"Really?" Draka responded. "Look, [Y/n], don't be mad but..." he looked over at the doorframe with a sad smile before looking back at [Y/n]. "Nyais is dead."

Nyais is dead.

[Y/n] stared for a moment, empty. Then started the trembling.

"No."

She shook her head, her wide eyes glazing with a silver sheen of bereavement.

"You're lying," she cried out, "you have to be..."

They stared at one another for a while, neither making a move. There was hardly any emotion on Draka's face. [Y/n] so desperately wanted this to be a nightmare - for Nyais to wake her up and tell her everything would be okay - but the painful rapid knocking of her heart against her chest was too real to be mistaken for any sort of dream. She took a long breath.

"I won't go with you," she said quietly.

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice," Draka responded levelly. "Do you remember Olli?" [Y/n] nodded slowly. "Well, without Nyais, he's going to be the one to take you next. Do you really want to be a slave to that thing?" [Y/n] did nothing. She thought about nothing. In her empty moment, not even processing Draka's words, she slowly lowered herself to sit on the floor. It wasn't dramatic - there was no anguished scream, no knees buckling as she tried to stay upright. She simply moved herself to sit down.

She felt nothing for a while. Her breathing was steady and her heart rate slowed down, matching its usual pace. Then she remembered.

* * * Chapter 1

"W-What is your name...?"

This caught the pale-faced male completely off guard, his violet eyes widening drastically. Very rarely did a vampire ask his name - in fact, knowing a vampire's name was either out of fear for their superiority or out of respect and friendship. Asking a vampire's name was their way of saying 'I like you, let's be friends', but vampires weren't exactly the type to do much of that. So for a human, a human of all things, to ask his name... it was unheard of.

"Nyais," he said quietly, his eyes searching hers. Though the female didn't smile, her eyes lightened a little and it was clear that she was smiling on the inside.

"I will do my best to fulfil my duty, Nyais," [Y/n] said solidly in response. The brunette male smiled at this and stood up once more, walking away to the windowless plain white door on the far side of the room.

* * * Chapter 3

"You think... you think I might be able to live...?" she said quietly.

"I hope you're able to live. Right now I really don't know. I am, however, taking it to the king."

A moment of silence lingered between them before [Y/n] wrapped her arms around Nyais, burying her face into his chest. "Oh, thank you... thank you so much... you have no idea how much this means to me," she whispered.

"It's no problem," Nyais smiled softly, placing a hand on her back, "really," he continued.

The pair of them stayed like that for a while, before continuing their evening and spending time chatting as they watched over the kids.

* * * Chapter 7

"Nyais?!" Seishin huffed. "But he's not one of the crew members! Is that allowed?!" he huffed, looking over at [Y/n] with a glare. [Y/n] shrugged.

"Technically no, but he did carry out that impersonation very well," she chuckled. "Though it wasn't technically allowed-"

"[Y/n], you wound me," a faux hurt voice came from the door and [Y/n] turned to see Nyais in the doorframe. She smiled softly, beckoning him inside and encouraging him to sit down on a sofa. He did so without hesitance.

"You playing, Nyais? I take it you've already heard the rules," she chuckled, to which he gave a nod in response to both questions.

"Indeed I have. So, does that validate Kori's win?" he asked, leaning back a little. Seishin was glaring daggers at Nyais - who knew the little boy was this competitive?

"It does," [Y/n] confirmed. "Alright. You get to be the captain now, Nyais," [Y/n] smiled. Seishin stood up with the same somber expression and, in a strop, switched with Nyais. Nyais bore an amused expression the whole time, watching the scene unfold with curiosity. It looked as though he'd never seen something like this before. "Right, Kori. You may begin," [Y/n] grinned.

* * * Chapter 8

"Jeez, [Y/n], I'm not that scary, am I?" Nyais chuckled, patting her on the shoulder. [Y/n] let out a long sigh.

"Not when I know where you are," she laughed, "but you can't just sneak up on me like that!" she scolded, though her tone was only playful. Nyais chuckled in response.

"Alright, alright~" he sang, a smirk playing on his lips, "so, what do you think?" he asked, tilting his head.

"It's gorgeous!" [Y/n] grinned. "Thank you so much. I'm sure the boys will love it, too."

"I would hope so," he laughed. "This is actually residence for elites - at the end of our growing period we're given quarters. We're always kept with our birth group," he explained, "but I thought, now the boys were bigger, you might want some more space," he smiled. "I gathered some information from your past life to work out what you wanted in your room and we had to make some architectural additions - the kitchen, for example," he smiled.

* * * Chapter 13

[Y/n] unlocked the door to her room and stepped outside, noting the slightly ajar kitchen door opposite. She peeked her head around the door and was surprised to see a familiar brunette thinly chopping onions and placing them into a bowl. His violet eyes widened when he noticed [Y/n] and he placed the knife down, walking over to her with a bright smile and giving her a hug.

"Good to see you awake, [Y/n]," Nyais said with a smile, stepping away from her so he could continue chopping onions. It made [Y/n]'s eyes water a little. "Aytsa hasn't bothered you anymore this morning, has he?"

"No," [Y/n] said gently, "he's been really nice actually. I think he's mortified at what he did," she shrugged. Nyais nodded - to [Y/n] it looked as though he was unconvinced. "What are you making?"

"Salmon and lemon risotto," Nyais said shortly, walking over to the slow cooker and emptying the bowl of onions into it, before pouring in some risotto rice and a jug full of water. [Y/n] watched with a bright grin.

* * * Chapter 20

She glanced over to the bags of food and approached them slowly, kneeling down on the floor and looking in one of them. A small sandwich box contained, you guessed it, a couple of sandwiches. Everything had a handwritten post-it note attached to it. [Y/n] guessed it was Nyais trying to brighten up the dark situation. The sandwiches had attached 'never knew why they were called sandwiches. Do humans have snowtrolls, grasswizards and stonegoblins too?'. Attached to a small bag of dried mango had 'these don't look edible. Are these edible? If they're rocks, please don't eat them.'

[Y/n] chuckled lightly, taking out the two items of food so she could see everything else in the bag clearly. Attached to bar of chocolate had 'this is vampire chocolate - similar, if not the same, ingredients to normal chocolate except for the fact that it's so much better. I might not be able to pay the bills this month though. Well, if I paid my bills in the first place...'. [Y/n] shook her head with a small laugh. She took the chocolate out too, placing it beside the other things. She then removed a packet of haribo sweets with a post-it note that read 'I have no idea what these are but Rayne insisted I gave them to you because apparently humans like them. Please don't actually eat them. They've probably been infused with potassium.' [Y/n] slowly and carefully moved them to the side, handing the bag as though it was a potential explosive (which, theoretically, it could have been).

* * * Chapter 21

The patched up door creaked open and friendly, yet sorrowful, eyes met hers. Nyais' magenta hues shone in the dim light coming from the hallway. He extended a hand for her to take. She took up promptly, rushing over to him and instead throwing her arms around him, ignoring the agony she was in. Joyful tears glazed over her eyes.

"Come on [Y/n]," came Nyais' soft voice.

"Let's go home."

* * *

Tears filled [Y/n]'s eyes. Draka was now crouched in front of her, staring at her with a concerned expression. "[Y/n]? Are you okay?"

She stared up at him. One of her hands touched her cheeks as she felt liquid drip from her chin onto her jumper. Her eyes stung and her head spun. Draka looked behind him, over at the door. Blurry beams of light made it impossible to make out the figure in the doorway, but the colour scheme she could vaguely see - short white hair and a grey turtleneck jumper - suggested the figure was Mitzu. Any ideas she'd had on running away we're immediately snuffed out. There was no way she could outrun the two of them.

There was only one option she was left with. But, she couldn't face it.

"I hate you," [Y/n] whispered. "I hate all of you." Draka looked down and sighed.

"We know. It's something we're willing to accept."

"You didn't have to do this!" [Y/n] cried out.

"I think you'll find we did," he responded levelly. Once again, he presented the strange drink to [Y/n]. "Please, for your own sake, drink this. I don't want to have to hurt you."

"It's a bit late for that, isn't it?" [Y/n] snapped bitterly. Then, Draka did something that completely caught [Y/n] off guard. He passed her a switchblade. "W-what...?"

"You have a look in your eyes that tells me you want me dead," Draka responded. "I'm willing to fight you if that's what you wish. Of course, I still don't intend to hurt you, so if I manage to evade your attacks for 10 minutes straight you have to drink that," he said, pointing to the glass of (what [Y/n] could only assume was) sedative. "If you land a single hit on me within these ten minutes, I'll let you leave here and go to Olli. None of us will ever bother you again."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"You just have to trust me," Draka sighed.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I've never lied to you before and I promise I'm not lying to you now." [Y/n] nodded slowly at this, picking up the knife. She'd never been a violent person. Holding a knife felt so wrong. What would Nyais think of her? What if she seriously injured Draka? What if she became a murderer? Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, [Y/n] slowly stood up. Draka remained crouched down on the floor, peering up at her. It was then that a terrifying thought crossed [Y/n]'s mind.

'If he's still on the floor... if he doesn't seem at all phased, then...

He wouldn't have suggested this if he thought I had a chance.'

"You want me to make a fool of myself so I never try and fight you," [Y/n] observed emptily, pointing the blade at the red eyed boy. Draka stared at her for a moment before nodding. "So, I don't have a chance?" He shook his head. [Y/n], in a futile attempt at proving him wrong, tossed the knife at Draka. He caught it effortlessly, sighing and standing up.

"Do you want to try again?" he asked, calmly extending the handle of the knife for [Y/n] to take, his own hand holding the knife by the blade. She quickly realised that all she had to do was take the knife handle and twist it to cut into his hand - as he seemed unaware of this, she nodded her head.

She grabbed the handle and, in one swift movement, stepped forwards and turned the knife as quickly as she could. Except, something was off. The knife turned into air and a sudden pain shot through her arm. Draka sighed and shook his head once more, roughly pulling her into his chest and restraining her arms.

"You must be desperate to act with that little dignity," he said darkly. There was no blood on his hand. He remained unscathed. "I knew I said I wouldn't hurt you but I must say, you surprised me with that one. Though, you've never had any combat training so I suppose I can't be too shocked..."

His words were the epitome of patronising. He kept a firm grip on her, only loosening his hold a little when she began to struggle.

"[Y/n], you realise I could just hold you like this for the next 6 minutes and I would win anyway, right?" [Y/n] paused before nodding her head. "You're not trying very hard to escape me. Is it that you're comfortable like this, or you've come to terms with defeat?"

"You're starting to sound like Seishin," [Y/n] said coldly.

"Perhaps I am," Draka smiled, resting his head on [Y/n]'s shoulder in contentment. "I idolise him in a way. Physically, he's weaker than me, but I fear I could never beat him in a fight. He can outfox all of us no problem - even Kori doesn't really stand a chance, though his more rounded knowledge is inspiring to me too..."

"I don't care," [Y/n] responded blandly.

"I know, but it's wonderful to think that some day you might." [Y/n] went rigid at this and Draka let out a small laugh, pulling her a little closer to him, all the while maintaining his firm grip.

"You're murderers. I'll never forgive you," [Y/n] muttered.

"I'm no murderer," Draka frowned, "it was Kori and Aytsa who killed him. Of course, Seishin formed the plan so I suppose you can blame him as well... but me? I just wanted to see you again." [Y/n]'s eyes narrowed at this. The pair went silent again, the only sound being [Y/n]'s thundering heartbeat as she continued to try and mentally work her way out of the situation.

"It's been ten minutes," Mitzu's voice droned from the door. "You done fucking about yet, Draka?"

"I suppose," Draka exhaled, releasing [Y/n] and walking over to the glass of strange liquid that he'd left on the coffee table. "Here. It's been ten minutes and I won, so you have to keep up your end of the bargain."

[Y/n] stared at the drink in silence for a good half a minute before shaking her head. Then, suddenly, she felt a dull sensation in her lower back that didn't quite register to her until she was on her knees. Mitzu stood behind her, his foot raised slightly after having kicked the girl to the ground. It was a light kick but it hurt nonetheless. She noticed Draka frown at Mitzu disapprovingly before crouching down before her once again.

"As you can probably tell, it'd be a lot easier for us to just knock you out to get what we want... but we're trying to be considerate. We don't want you to hate us any more than you already do, [Y/n]." He held the drink up to her. "Please. It'll just send you off to sleep. No side effects or anything, I promise. Laion let Rayne try it on him to make sure it was completely painless."

"I don't want to go with you," [Y/n] whispered, her eyes tearful once again. Draka shook his head.

"We know, but you have to, so make this easier on yourself and us. Please."

Hesitantly, [Y/n] took the drink in her hands and eyed the glass for a little while. Eventually, she brought it to her lips. Honestly, it smelled really nice - lullingly sweet like sugared strawberries, though the slight bitter aroma of alcohol accompanied it. As she took a sip, the warmth of whatever sedative had been put in the drink caught her slightly off guard - she had to prevent herself from coughing it up. Reassuringly, however, the drink tasted sweet. Nostalgic, even. She couldn't place it, but there was something about it that took her back. Or, maybe that was the sedative.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Draka smiled dulcetly.

There was nothing sweet about his smile in [Y/n]'s eyes. All she saw was a red eyed monster - a murderer - who was about to make her life a living hell.

With that wonderfully reassuring thought, [Y/n]'s eyes began to grow heavy.

Okay, so I know I said I wouldn't update for the next two weeks because I'm currently piled with mock exams but I kinda had a load of ideas that I needed to get out. Also writing's therapeutic so yeeeahh- I'm gonna fail chemistry though because I replaced revising with this chapter. Oopsies

Also, I drew the other characters— I wouldn't call them 'side characters' but hehydyhwibcauuwgc I guess Tara, Sally and Damien are side characters. Olli's a side character for nowwwww-