"Wake up," a mostly monotonous voice droned from somewhere awfully close to [Y/n]'s ear. The girl sat up with a start, shuffling back quickly and subsequently managing to fall off the side of Kori's bed. The grey haired male peered over the end and frowned, before reaching out a hand to help her up. [Y/n] didn't take his hand, however, and this caused a even more displeased look to cross his expression.

"How ungrateful," he sighed, shaking his head and revoking the offer to help her. "You planning on just staying there?" he asked, staring down at her from his vantage point on the bed. [Y/n] crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. This earned a laugh from Kori.

"When do I get to leave?" [Y/n] questioned, looking down.

"Did you forget what happened last time you tried to leave?" Kori questioned, gesturing to the burn scar on [Y/n]'s arm. The girl would've responded by telling him that he'd only done that because he kicked him, but knew Kori would remain deliberately obtuse until the end of time if it fit his narrative. So, instead [Y/n] simply hung her head, hoping the childish man would stop staring at her like she was a lost artefact and just let her out.

"Shouldn't I be going to Draka now?" [Y/n] pressed. She'd much rather be with Draka than Kori. At least with Draka she felt much safer, even if he'd shown just how strong he really was on the day he'd gone to collect her from Nyais' place. Sure, Draka could play games, but no one mentally tortured [Y/n] as well as Kori or Seishin. She loathed the two more than anything else on this planet. More than Dr Rayne, even.

"Draka... you know, it's kind of hurtful that you talk of Draka as though he's better than me," Kori frowned. "That inept fool is probably the worst of all of us, if you really think about it." What did that even mean? [Y/n] didn't know if she wanted to ask, if only to spare her feelings. Though another question came to her mind, instead.

"Why are you all like this...? Where did I go wrong?"

The question was mostly to herself, though she hoped she could gain an answer form Kori as well. He may have been terrifying, but she didn't doubt for a second that he was highly — if not incredibly — intelligent.

"You didn't," Kori hummed, his expression quizzical. "If you're talking about your methods of raising us, you didn't go wrong. Why would you think that?" he huffed. [Y/n] wondered whether she should just shut up now and pretend it wasn't something that was bothering her, but the question had played in her head more times that she could count and she craved answers.

"But I did. Nyais said that how I behaved with all of you would change how you treated me, and that trying to act... well, too emotionally attached— um... he said that would be a bad idea. And I see why, because something like this would happen." The look on Kori's face exuded confusion, as though he honestly had no idea what she was upset about. "S-so I made sure you all thought of me as a friend, and I tried to be nice a-and—"

"Why are you trembling?" Kori questioned, finally sliding himself off the bed to sit on the floor beside [Y/n]. Though she assumed it was supposed to be comforting, her blood ran cold.

"Are you angry with me?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Kori responded simply, and the bluntness of his words instantly made [Y/n] fearful, "I'm angry because you can't seem to trust me. I'm not going to kill you, [Y/n]. I love you."

It was the most sane way he'd expressed his affections so far, but there was a slight twitch in his eye that [Y/n] couldn't miss.

"Maybe if you didn't do shit like this," [Y/n] suddenly growled, pointing at her arm, "you'd find someone who loved you, too."

She stood up, walking away from Kori and over to his door, her eyes cold and angry. Of course she wasn't actually mad — it was too quick a change for her to be truly mad, and Kori hadn't particularly done anything in the last few moments for her to be mad about. The anger she displayed was simply a front. She didn't want Kori to question her or try to coop her in her any longer, and if she showed herself to have some sense of authority maybe he'd listen. Or maybe not.

"Where are your keys? I'm going to see Draka," she muttered, glaring at Kori. He stood up from the floor, slowly and calmly, and - with the same composure - walked over to [Y/n]. His nonchalance grew more terrifying with every step he took towards her, and she quickly realised that speaking to him in such a way was definitely a big mistake.

"Here," he said, his voice oddly gentle as he stopped right in front of her, placing a key in her hand. He was so close. If it had been anyone else, [Y/n] thought, it might've been romantic. But the girl's knees were trembling from the scare he'd given her, and he was clearly suppressing a smirk as the corners of his lips seemed to be ever-so-slightly upturned. She gingerly took the key and turned them in the keyhole, before pausing. It was the wrong key.

"Please Kori, stop messing around," [Y/n] muttered.

"Do you want to know what this key is for?" he asked curiously.

"Not particularly," [Y/n] muttered, though she'd already anticipated the answer. She stared down at it coldly; the ticket to her escape, handed to her at exactly the wrong time. "I take it you're not gonna be a kind soul and gift this to me?" [Y/n] sighed, staring up at the amused male.

"I might."

"If you're letting me leave here with it then it's obviously not the front door key, is it?"

"Oh, it is. Want me to prove it?" Kori questioned.

"Yes, actually," [Y/n] huffed, "yes, I do." Kori raised a brow.

"Then you have two options: I show you that this is indeed the front door key and give it to you for today. Then we come back to my room and you spend the next 24 hours with me. If you can escape my room, you're free to leave. Or you give up on the chance of escape and I'll let you go to Draka," Kori offered. Well, 'offered', because we all know how possible escaping in such circumstances would be. The girl looked at the door.

"Let me out."

"Which option do you choose?" Kori questioned, not wanting her to avoid the challenge that easily.

"I want to go to Draka. Let me out," [Y/n] repeated. Kori shrugged, exhaled softly, before taking the keys from [Y/n]'s hand (not without a slight struggle, though she quickly let go when he began to loosen his grip as she didn't want to get burned again). He pulled a second key from his pocket, unlocking the door and standing back. [Y/n] turned and nodded to him in thanks, though no words left her mouth. She took a step out of the room, pausing for a moment, before continuing. As she walked, her anger and confidence slipped away with each step. By the time she'd reached Draka's door she was a trembling, fearful mess.

She didn't have to knock for him to know she was there. The door opened and the red eyed boy greeted her with a concern-filled gaze. He stepped aside for her to enter, which she did, though she wasn't quite sure what to do after that so simply stood in the middle of his room. He walked over to her after shutting his door (notably not locking it) and placed a hand on her arm. Though he quickly stepped back and his eyes widened. [Y/n] was clearly confused as to why.

"You should change out of that jumper," he said quietly, "there's blood on it... right there," he added, pointing to a few bloodstains by her arm where Kori had burnt her. Which presumably meant the burn wasn't even that bad... how worrying. Though why Draka wanted her to change so badly— was it the scent of blood? Kori had been fine. Well, she didn't want to push her luck, so she nodded her head and walked over to his door, taking her leave to get changed. Of course, she knew she'd be expected to come straight back afterwards. This time she didn't have it in her to protest.

* * *

There was an awkward silence between the two. [Y/n] had come back as expected and Draka had been rather quiet — he looked even more pale than usual, and clearly very tired. In fact, one might say he looked highly fatigued. Though it wasn't like [Y/n] had the emotional strength to care anymore. She glanced up to the burn scar on her arm before looking back at the floor. She was seated by his desk and he laid back on his bed, seemingly unsure of what to do himself.

"Did Kori do that to you?" Draka questioned, turning to look at [Y/n]. She simply shrugged, and Draka got the message.

Silence followed once again, [Y/n]'s mind racing with thoughts, yet also oddly quiet. They were all too vague for her to focus on, but also too prominent for her to f0rget.

The rustling of bedsheets sounded from Draka's side of the room as he turned over, now facing [Y/n] instead of laying on his back like a dead body in a coffin. He seemed to want to make conversation again, but looked as though he couldn't quite find the right words. Though what was certainly noticeable was the way his eyebrow furrowed in annoyance.

Eventually, after another long silence, Draka stood up.

"Is this how you've always been?" he questioned, his voice a little snappy. [Y/n] glanced up in surprise. "You get scared of one person so you go running to the next for sympathy, before doing the same to them in turn?" he muttered, his eyes narrowing. This was enough to snap [Y/n] out of her previous hopeless state of mind. She, too, got to her feet and took a few strides over to Draka. Not because she thought she could fight him, but because she couldn't just sit there like a doormat. Her pride had been damaged, but by god did she still have it.

"Well perhaps I hadn't been expecting to be emotionally and physically tortured almost every day of my life. As a normal, happy, functioning human being, it's quite difficult to predict that you'll be kidnapped by a group of insane vampires and sentenced to an eternity of suffering!" [Y/n] yelled back. "But here we are, hey? And it's not in my hands anymore." Draka took another step closer to [Y/n] in an aggressive manner, something very unlike the usually-happy boy. He looked down at her and she looked up at him, both wearing expressions of anger, though [Y/n]'s eyes also glittered with hatred and betrayal.

"You're right. It's not in your hands anymore," Draka said bluntly, his voice raising too, "it's in ours. So stop acting like a damsel in distress and get over yourself."

'Get over myself?'

The next few moments happened so quickly. [Y/n]'s expression soured more than it already had, and a sharp, splitting noise cracked the air. Draka's head was slightly turned and he slowly, and oddly predictably, moved his hand to touch his cheek. [Y/n] took a few shaky steps back, before turning to see Draka's door slowly creak open. Blonde hair, green eyes and a contemptuous smirk met [Y/n]'s fiery gaze, followed by a mockingly sarcastic applause.

"Talentless oaf," derided Seishin, walking over to Draka who still processed the fact that he'd just been slapped by the person he cared about most in the world. "Haven't you been training intensively lately? But somehow [Y/n], a human who would probably struggle to write with a weighted pen, no previous combat training or strength whatsoever, slaps you? And, on top of it all, you stand there like a scolded puppy..." he tailed off, letting out a laugh. "How pathetic."

"Have you been waiting by the door for something like this to happen?" Draka questioned darkly, finally moving his hand from his face and turning to glare at the manipulative blonde.

"When I heard [Y/n] yelling I needed to make sure she was safe," Seishin shrugged. [Y/n] wanted to spit a remark about how he should've helped her when she was with Kori, but she knew better than to question him.

"Of course [Y/n] is safe," Draka hissed, walking over to him. "Safer than she would be with you."

"But you haven't had blood in... what was it, six days now? You've been living off rosewater, am I right?" Seishin questioned, glancing over to the glass on Draka's bedside table. The brunet looked away angrily.

"Did Kaist tell you that?" he questioned.

"No, just observation," Seishin shrugged, wandering over to Draka. And, as he anticipated, Draka rounded on him the moment he got close enough, swinging a fist — one which, if contact was made, likely had the power to crush a skull — in Seishin's direction. Seishin effortlessly pulled a kitchen knife from his pocket and held it in the trajectory of Draka's punch. Draka stopped the momentum quickly, just before it reached the knife. He didn't fancy losing his hand today.

"Surely you don't want to fight in front of [Y/n]? She's scared enough of us as it is," Seishin hummed, wandering over to Draka's door, before glancing over to [Y/n]. "Be a dear and stay put, would you?"

The pair left the room without another word, both with malice pumping through their veins.

Left on her lonesome in Draka's room, [Y/n] did the only thing she could think to do given such fortunate circumstances. Snoop around. Try to find something useful. Root through draws, cupboards and even his wardrobe. It felt a bit stalkerish, but this could be a case of an eternity of suffering or comfort, and [Y/n] could cease the chance to save herself if she could.

And thank god she did, because soon enough she found a very special piece of paper. Corridors and rooms were drawn out in a strange ink that seemed to slip along the paper so the image moved to wherever the map was situated. She could see the plan of their place, but also the plan of the corridors and places around it nearby.

She quickly shoved the piece of paper into her pocket and commenced her search for paper and a pen.

* * *

"Are you okay, doctor?" Erel, the youngest elite, questioned. Rayne glanced up at him with a bored look on his face.

"If you don't care for the answer, don't ask the question," he responded simply, before applying a salve to a wound on the young man's side. He winced slightly but Rayne made no move to sweeten his actions.

"I meant to ask you," Erel began quickly, not wanting Rayne to go silent on him yet, "are you the only doctor this place has ever had? Have there really not been others?" he questioned.

"Before I was here people used to treat themselves," Rayne hummed. "Technically there have been two of us. I trained a young man about twenty years back, but he got killed," he shrugged.

"Why?" Erel asked, unable to hold back his curiosity. Rayne huffed in annoyance at the questions but proceeded to answer anyways.

"The husband of a woman who died tortured him slowly to death for not being able to save her," Rayne said plainly, "and before you ask how she died, it was childbirth," he explained having noticed Erel's lips part for another question. He looked down in thought as Rayne continued working on his wounds.

"Was he dealt with? The guy who killed him, I mean... he doesn't sound very stable," Erel hummed.

"Dealt with? Oh, no," Rayne shook his head, before letting out a light laugh. "I see you're yet to learn how this society really works." Erel tilted his head in confusion. "As a hunter, you spend hardly any time here anyway, do you not?" Rayne questioned. Hesitantly, the boy nodded his head, and Rayne nodded his in turn. "So, I can assume you're yet to learn of corruption."

"Corruption?" Erel echoed.

"If you know the king, you can get away with anything," Rayne responded blandly, before finishing up and waving his hand to dismiss the boy. Erel wandered out of the room, so many questions on his mind.

"You seem to enjoy messing with people's heads," Laion hummed from the background, swirling some liquid in a conical flask. Rayne turned to look at him and raised a brow.

"I simply stated facts. How was that messing with his head?" he questioned. Of course he knew exactly how.

"I assume you're doing the same to us," Laion continued, ignoring Rayne's false ignorance. "Are you training us or are you trying to ruin us?" he added. Aytsa now looked up from his station where he was drawing out some anatomical studies, clearly interested in where this conversation was going.

"Don't ask stupid questions," Rayne muttered, "and hurry up with that medicine. We don't have all day."