"Where is Erel?" was the first thing [Y/n] asked when she woke up. A series of groans left her — that tranquilliser had given her one terrible headache.

"He'll be dead by now," Aytsa responded calmly, "Seishin should be back any minute." [Y/n] hung her head, her hands gripping the silky duvet that no longer provided her any comfort. The gentle patting sound of her tears hitting the fabric repeated arrhythmically. The raven haired boy sitting beside her on her bed wore a slight look of concern on his face, though as he stared off to the back of her room it slowly faded to a look of nothing at all.

"You know, you're lucky," Aytsa said quietly. [Y/n] looked up at him with a furrowed brow after wiping away her tears, clearly ready to combat whatever he had to say next. "I managed to convince them not to send you to Rayne, and I think Seishin's so mad at Erel regarding an argument they had just after you passed out that the guy won't last very long." He paused. He'd offered to be the one to kill Erel but Seishin was adamant that he would be the one to do it. Aytsa couldn't quite understand why he acted in such a way — perhaps Seishin was more complex than he'd first thought. Though spending so much time with Rayne was probably making him look into things too deeply. He hung his head.

"Weren't you the person Rayne gave the offer to?" [Y/n] questioned. She didn't want to talk about Erel. Guilt was gnawing away at her and part of her wanted to pretend nothing had happened but her conscience repeated his name again and again— she almost screamed, though just about managed to suppress it.

"I was, but that doesn't mean I was the one who wanted to use it. In fact, Laion was the one who brought it up with the others." He paused. "Of course he would. The worst he's got from Rayne is a scalpel in the shoulder..." he muttered. [Y/n] looked down at her hands. Had Aytsa been receiving the brunt of Rayne's... impulses? She couldn't help but feel slightly bad.

"He hurts you?" she questioned.

"Yes," he dipped his head. [Y/n] was about to say something else when the door creaked open to reveal a rather annoyed looking man. Aytsa raised a brow at him. "Mitzu. Are the others here yet?"

"Why are you in here?" he questioned, glaring at Aytsa and ignoring the boy's inquiry.

"I didn't want her to be alone when she woke up," Aytsa shrugged, "is that so bad?" Mitzu narrowed his eyes before walking over to the chair in the corner of her room and perching himself on it. The atmosphere in the room slowly began to grow tense and Aytsa looked around awkwardly. "Soooo," he began with a bored drawl, though no one gave him any sort of response. He glanced over at [Y/n]'s bedside table, his eyes narrowing. He leaned back to reach for a certain object, before dangling it in front of her.

"Why aren't you wearing it?" he frowned, swinging the pretty necklace from side to side. [Y/n]'s gaze locked on it, following it as it moved subconsciously.

"I've slept since you gave it to me— I forgot to put it on in the morning. Sorry," she hummed, though Aytsa didn't hear any true apology in her tone. He sighed and placed the necklace back on her bedside table, noting the look of surprise on [Y/n]'s face as he did so. A light smile touched his features, though it wasn't entirely sincere. There was an element of facileness to the grin that tugged on his lips.

"What, you thought I was going to force you to wear it or something?" he laughed. [Y/n] looked away. "Oh please, I'm not one of those brutes," he laughed, sending a look over to Mitzu and winking playfully. The silver haired male stood up, his amber eyes burning holes into Aytsa's very existence. Aytsa turned back to [Y/n], leaning forwards slightly. "Unless you want me to—"

Aytsa was cut short as Mitzu grabbed him by the collar and pulled him off the bed, holding him close in a threatening manner. Though the lazy grin on Aytsa's face suggested that he wasn't threatened at all.

"Sorry buddy but I only have eyes for [Y—" Once again was Aytsa deprived of the right to finish his sentence. A harsh punch in the gut caused him to reel back and hit the bed, though after a light cough and grunt he began to laugh.

"Fucking creep, just like your mentor," Mitzu snarled at the laughing boy, who only seemed to giggle more at the comparison.

"Please don't compare me to Rayne," Aytsa said between giggles, finally sitting up. There was an unstable grin on his face as he stared over at Mitzu. Deep within his green eyes was an untameable malice that thirsted for blood. Though he'd much rather have [Y/n]'s, the only thing he could think of doing was tearing out Mitzu's organs and hanging them around the house like Christmas decorations. Thankfully, the creaking of [Y/n]'s door snapped the boy out of his murderous state. Grey hair and blue eyes met the group.

"Good morning," Kori dipped his head, wandering in as though Aytsa hadn't just been grinning like a lunatic. [Y/n] dipped her head in response to his formal greeting and Kori smiled at her compliance. Mitzu and Aytsa were still glaring daggers at one another. Leaning against a wall, Kori glanced over the room once more before his eyes rested on [Y/n]. "Have I missed something?" he questioned, though he'd been listening in to the whole conversation anyway.

"N-no, nothing in particular," [Y/n] responded. Kori hummed and looked over at Aytsa.

"Then could you please stop salivating like a rampant hound?" he asked. Aytsa turned to meet his cold gaze with a fiery one of his own, before crossing his arms over his chest. Kori rolled his eyes at his childishness.

"Don't act like Seishin. The look doesn't suit you," Aytsa grinned, before looking back at [Y/n], who still hugged the covers close to her like they were some form of lifeline. Aytsa raised a brow. "Are you cold?" She didn't respond, which caused the boy to click his tongue in annoyance. "[Y/n]? Hello~? You still with us?"

"I'm fine," she responded finally.

"That's good," he hummed, finding the room had gotten awkwardly quiet again. The silence prevailed for quite a while. Aytsa began to fidget with his fingers, pull on his sleeve — anything to distract himself from the tension. "Hey, vampires are pretty shitty when it comes to smalltalk, eh?"

"Well it's not exactly a useful form of conversation," Kori hummed, raising a brow. Aytsa rolled his eyes and fell back on the bed melodramatically, his hand seeking out [Y/n]'s. She tried to move it out of reach but Aytsa got there first. A mischievous smirk grew on his features when he did.

"Gotcha," he winked. [Y/n] simply looked away, not sure what else to do. Silence again. Stuffy, awkward, stagnant, empty silence.

The slam of the front door and several footsteps finally cracked like thunder in a desert, bringing everyone's attention to [Y/n]'s door. She felt the warmth leave her hand and guessed Aytsa had let go of her. The door opened slowly, seemingly tentatively. [Y/n]'s heart rate quickened and she held her breath. Something felt off.

"[Y/n]?" a voice called out to her. She was, of course, too tired and delirious from the tranquilliser to fully understand. But brown hair... her eyes widened. She rubbed them for a moment so she could look at the door once again. Her heart rate grew quicker and quicker.

"Nyais...?" she questioned, though her vision was swaying. That damned headache. A light laugh sounded from the door, and [Y/n]'s heart almost skipped a beat.

"Gotta say, I'm pretty hurt, [Y/n]," he laughed, and suddenly time seemed to stop. 'No.'

Red eyes.

"You really thought I was him?"

[Y/n] looked down, her gaze clouding over. She pulled the duvet even closer to her, her knees rising to her chest. "Sorry Draka," she whispered, though her voice was bitter. She felt a hand pat her right shoulder somewhat reassuringly and glanced over to see Laion sat on the floor beside her bed, an apologetic look on his face. Where had he come from? Maybe she'd spaced out for longer than she thought.

"Sorry, the tranquilliser I made can cause headaches, hallucinations and drowsiness after waking up. If you feel your heart start beating arrhythmically please tell me — I'll need to get you some extra stuff in that case," he explained, "but for now drink this," he hummed, picking up a small glass of what looked like water from the floor beside him. He held it out to her but she didn't seem to want to take it. "Come on now, [Y/n]. It probably tastes kinda bitter but all it does is dulls the pain a bit. Should clear up your headache to a degree, too." [Y/n] shook her head and looked away. Sighing, Laion placed the glass on her bedside table and walked to the other side of the room. [Y/n] glanced over at the door. All the boys were now present, as well as...

"...Why the hell is he in here?!"

"Well hello to you too," Rayne sighed, rolling his eyes. A few in the room seemed surprised at how negatively [Y/n] had responded to Rayne's presence. The unsurprised ones consisted of Mitzu (who simply looked pissed), Seishin (who seemed to be analysing the situation) and Aytsa (who looked both annoyed and amused). "I'm not here to do anything unsavoury," Rayne clarified, subconsciously rolling his shoulders back and cracking them, causing [Y/n] to wince a little. "I'm merely Olli's pigeon," he laughed dryly.

"Pigeon...?" [Y/n] echoed, her face contorting into mask of confusion.

"Messenger, for the uncultured of us," Rayne muttered pointedly, rolling his eyes. "Olli simply wanted me to inform you..." he paused, rummaging through his lab-coat pocket for a note (which, unbeknownst to [Y/n], was simply a blank sheet of paper). "Ah, yes. Stop running around like a whining bitch or accept the treatment of one." He paused. "In other words, give in to these oafs or become my test subject. Would you rather be with me or them?" he questioned, gesturing around the room. [Y/n] bit her lip and looked down once more. It seemed no one was comfortable having Rayne in the room, but [Y/n] least of all. Eventually the man huffed and took the obvious answer. He looked over at Aytsa and Laion. "You have a couple of days off. There's some things I need to take care of," he muttered, before stalking out of the room in an irritated manner.

"Wow, what made him lose his cool?" Aytsa mumbled, resting his chin on his palms. Seishin stared over at the door.

"Did you not see the limp? Looks like your great and powerful tutor got a beating," Seishin mused. On that thought, [Y/n] realised he had been pretty cold. Colder than usual. He didn't seem to want to play any mind games either. Was he off to fight someone? He didn't seem like much of a fighter, though. It seemed everyone else was wondering similar things as the room was plunged into a thoughtful silence.

"Maybe an inmate got him. I know he's been doing some tests down in the dungeons," Laion hummed. [Y/n] slowly raised her head again to look at everyone in the room. She wasn't sure what to do or what to say, but it seemed something important needed discussing. She sighed.

"Why are you all in here...?" she asked quietly.

"To discuss your escape," Seishin explained shortly, not meeting her gaze. "We're letting you off the hook this time; perhaps we were being too harsh on you by keeping you in here. This seems like the antithesis of what we should be doing, but Aytsa consulted Rayne about measures we should take to ensure this won't happen. We'll be giving you free reign of the house again, though we'll lock your door at night both for the purpose of your safety and your security." He paused. "If you do escape again, we have agreed to send you to Rayne for a couple of days."

"Why...?" [Y/n] whispered.

"He's the only one of us experienced in changing the way a person thinks." [Y/n] looked down.

"So you want to rewire my brain..." she tailed off, her voice bitter. Seishin sighed, but a different voice responded to her mutterings. [Y/n]'s eyes flicked over to Kori.

"We don't wish to do anything like that if we don't have to," he smiled, "but surely you empathise with our concerns? What if you get caught by the wrong person when you're running away... what if they don't give you a chance to explain yourself and just drink you dry? There's a chance some of the younger vampires don't know who you are, and undoubtably the lower classes won't hear news as fast." [Y/n] realised he had a point, though she refused to accept it.

"This could also be avoided if you let me go home," [Y/n] hissed.

"We can't do that, [Y/n]." Kori looked over at Seishin, who's blue eyes seemed far more vacant than usual. [Y/n] could tell there was something heavy weighing on his shoulders. If she cared, she'd ask. Too bad.

"Can I... be on my own for a little while?" [Y/n] whispered. The boys looked amongst themselves, clearly unwilling to leave, though Seishin nodded his head and cleared his throat. In response to the action, the rest followed him out of the room. Draka was the last to leave, casting one last glance back at the shaken girl. Then her door shut and the group went their separate ways.

'Nyais... I thought... I thought I saw you...'

'I'm so sorry.'

aaaand yet another composition has been written! Here is Clouds~

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]