Watching the fight... it'd been traumatic, to say the least.

Even Mitzu, who occasionally glanced down the dark staircase and pretended not to care that much, looked deeply disturbed. A bead of sweat ran down the man's forehead. The room in itself had been a shock to [Y/n], but Nyais' fighting style outmatched her first surprise by a country mile. Half the time, he was too fast for [Y/n] to even see him move. She had no idea how the boys had beat him before.

Kori was in a heap, bloody all over, with Nyais standing back a few paces, hardly a scratch on him. A tiny tear on his left sleeve, but that was it. He'd called every single bluff. He'd predicted every single move and dodged accordingly. Kori... he'd had a feeling when they'd first gone downstairs that he'd be outclassed, but now he didn't quite know what to do. Was Nyais going to kill him? He stared up at the man with fear in his gaze.

"I admit, there are many elites who would've lost to you," Nyais muttered, "but, at your level, challenging a King Regent would certainly not be the best idea."

Kori froze.

How come no one had made him aware that Nyais was King Regent? Didn't that make him... the second strongest in this whole place? What was he doing running a program for kids and humans if he's King Regent? Was he being punished for something? Just what had he done?

Nyais took a few steps towards him. "I'm going to cut off your arms now. It'll be much easier to keep you detained that way," he shrugged.

Kori's eyes widened as he watched Nyais emotionlessly raise his blade, pointing it to Kori's shoulder, ready to bring it down.

"Wait!"

Kori and Nyais snapped their gazes to [Y/n], who now raced down the stairs and pushed Nyais' swords to the side. "You don't have to do that..." she whispered. The air felt so thick that she could suffocate. The gravity of Nyais' gaze made her knees weak. She never thought she'd be on the receiving end of it - or at least, she never thought she'd be on the receiving end of it again. She liked to pretend the incident back when the boys were growing up never happened, though.

"[Y/n], what are you doing? Kori was ready to kill me - you and I both know this." He looked down at Kori with a distasteful glare. "Losing his arms is the least he deserves for all he's done."

"Nyais, he's only been around for a couple of months... he's had a bad start but he can learn to be better. You taught him a lesson - look, he's hardly conscious!" she said. "You don't need to stoop to their levels... please," [Y/n] whispered. With great hesitation, Nyais pulled his swords back and allowed [Y/n] to pull the boy to his feet, though he could see that she also didn't seem to want to all that much.

"[Y/n], you should be careful," Kori hissed under his breath, "he's a monster."

"Well that monster just spared your future, so show some respect," [Y/n] muttered back. Kori let out a light, pained laugh as she helped him upstairs. He turned back to get another glance at Nyais, who watched this all play out, highly guarded.

"I wonder what he did..." Kori hummed, flicking his gaze over to Mitzu, who was humming to himself as though nothing had happened. "He certainly doesn't have the privileges of King Regent. He doesn't even live in the right place," he muttered, shaking his head.

"King Regent?" [Y/n] questioned, looking back at Nyais. He was obviously listening, but he didn't seem to have anything to say on the matter. Kori nodded his head.

"Yup. It means if King Olli dies under unknown circumstances or retires early, Nyais becomes king." [Y/n]'s eyes widened a little. "So I'm assuming that makes him the second strongest vampire. But I thought Jay held that title," he shrugged.

"How do you think I became an Elite?" Nyais rolled his eyes, following them up the stairs, "stop gossiping like a schoolgirl and be quiet, Kori," he added, his tone dull. Kori rolled his eyes but continued walking, allowing [Y/n] to sit him down in the kitchen. Mitzu's humming continued.

"Shouldn't you get Rayne?" Kori questioned, staring at Mitzu with an agitated expression. Nyais shrugged.

"Do what you want. I don't care so long as it doesn't involve [Y/n]," he shrugged. He turned to look at [Y/n], though something wasn't right.

[Y/n] wasn't there.

"[Y/n]?" Nyais called out, looking around. He hadn't heard a thing. Of course, Kori was completely beaten up, so surely it couldn't be him. Nyais quickly scanned the room, quickly noticing Mitzu and Kori's expressions. Completely calm. Mitzu was still humming.

Slowly did everything begin to become... strange. Mitzu and Kori were now also no longer there. Nyais was on his own, confused, watching as everything faded to black. Standing in a black void. The only thing he could hear was Mitzu's humming.

* * *

"[Y/n]! Good evening." [Y/n] let out a small groan at the sound of another person's voice. She'd been sleeping... when had she fallen asleep? Her memories were fuzzy. "Sorry about the downgrade of... accommodation," the voice continued. God, her back was aching. Her brow furrowed as she felt something uncomfortably cold against her skin. She shot up now, suddenly alert.

Aytsa sat next to her. The room was white, relatively small with a chair in the corner. And... a metal bed.

"I'm sure you recognise this place," Aytsa mumbled, looking around with a small sigh. "Sadly we had no choice but to put you here~ see, we've realised that Nyais is... a greater threat than we first thought. So, we've taken some precautions!" Aytsa grinned happily. "You were fine here to begin with, though. Oh, we've even given you a shower and some changes of clothes this time," he added.

[Y/n] was silent.

That's right, she'd been with Nyais.

Nyais had come back.

Her eyes grew wide. If she was here...

"Where is he?!" [Y/n] suddenly exploded, standing and grabbing Aytsa by the shoulders. "Where the fuck is he?!" Aytsa looked a little surprised, though he only placed his hands over hers and gave her a small smile.

"You don't need to worry about him anymore, [Y/n]."

"What have you done to him?!" she yelled, slowly beginning to grow faint and start trembling. Aytsa sighed and sat her down on the metal bed.

"We haven't done anything to him, yet," Aytsa snapped back, his demeanour suddenly switching. "[Y/n], please, tell me... why the hell do you like Nyais more than me?! What the fuck makes him better than me? Kori told me about that room... he told me about the blood on the walls and the floor. He told me that Nyais is King Regent. Do you know what it takes to become fucking King Regent? Do you have any idea how many people that bastard will have killed?!" Aytsa yelled, this time seizing [Y/n], grabbing the neckline of her top and pulling her closer to him. "You really think that man is an angel... you think he's done no wrong?"

"No, Aytsa. I don't," [Y/n] snapped, "I don't think he's done no wrong. I know he's done bad things, but so have I - so have we all," she hissed, "but at least he hasn't done what you've done. He may have killed people, but Nyais isn't the sort of man who'd kill without reason!" [Y/n] hissed. "Don't tar him with your own brush."

A cold laugh escaped Aytsa, and unexpectedly he placed a small kiss on [Y/n]'s cheek. The girl, repulsed, tried to move back, but Aytsa kept her in place.

"Are you sure?" he whispered, his voice sounding so dark all of a sudden. [Y/n] went stiff.

"About what...?" she growled out, but she was left unanswered; the boy pulled away from her and let a small chuckle escape him, first to himself, though it quickly escalated. Giggling and grinning, Aytsa held onto his chest, before turning to look at [Y/n].

The sick smile remained on his face as he let out one last laugh, before harshly wrapping his hand around his wrist and, with one harsh downward movement, snapping the bone in half.

[Y/n]'s eyes grew wide and she fought the instinct to go run over to the boy and help him. His bone pierced through his skin, blood soaking his arm.

"I must apologise, [Y/n]," he smiled, dipping his head, seemingly uncaring that his wrist was snapped in half. "I yelled at you and made you scared. That was wrong of me. Please accept my apology." He was still grinning; at first glance the grin seemed mischievous, but paired with the obvious quiver of his lips at the immense pain he must've been in... paired with the way his eyes strained and widened...

[Y/n] watched him in horror.

This boy...

Was truly out of his mind.

* * *

"Damien! Wait up!" Sally called as she and Tara exited the school gates. Damien turned around, surprised, and Tara watched Sally in confusion.

"You're not gonna let him gatecrash our sleepover, are ya?" Tara groaned, to which Sally let out a laugh.

"Of course not. Unless you want him to," she shrugged, before walking over to Damien. "Hey, I just wanted to say to ya... I know you've been eyeing Tara all day~ go ask her for her number! Quick before she leaves school!"

"You're shit at whispering, Sally!" Tara snapped, rushing over to her blonde friend and pulling her away from the stunned and confused boy. Tara lifted Sally up bridal style and (despite Sally's squeals and begs for Tara to put her down) carried her out of the school gates, uncaring of all the kids who watched them. Only when they were past the school busses and away from the school did Tara put Sally down, forcing the girl to cross her arms over her chest.

"You've been staring at one another all day!" Sally pouted. "You obviously have a thing for one another!"

"No! That's not it at all!" Tara huffed, rolling her eyes.

"Then what is it?" Sally huffed. Tara paused. She looked over at the wall - they stood in a beautiful street, many thick, green trees casting dappled shadows over the pavement, a grey cat perched on the wall not too far away.

"Tara, you two are going to your place, right?" a voice sounded from behind the two girls. They spun around and Damien stood looking a little bothered, filtered sunlight casting his pale skin in a slightly green hue. Tara gulped and nodded. Yes... they needed to explain everything to Sally.

Said blonde quickly picked up on the sudden dampness in the atmosphere. Something had happened, but she feared it wasn't the happy romance story she'd been predicting all day. "So, are you gatecrashing after all?" Sally asked with a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood. Damien let out a light laugh in response, dipping his head.

"I guess I am," he smiled as he fell into pace with the two girls. They walked down the pretty street, into a couple more grey ones, before finally arriving at the townhouse that Tara lived in. It was a pretty building - wisteria grew on the walls outside and there were four stories. Upon entrance, all three washed their hands - Tara's dad, Cole, was there to welcome them, giving his daughter a hug and offering Sally and Damien cups of tea or coffee - whatever they'd prefer - before allowing them to go upstairs.

"Where's your mum, Sally?" Damien questioned.

"Oh, mum's in hospital again. They're just fixing up her treatment, don't worry," she smiled. Sally gave Tara a quick hug.

"I hope she's alright! How's it going for her?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, it's going well! With this new treatment she'll hopefully be with us another few years," she smiled. Tara's mum, Rora, had stage four cancer - it'd spread to her heart, so she was currently receiving a new treatment that would hopefully allow her to live longer. You'd never guess that Tara had this going on at home with the way she acted at school. Some even called her insensitive - cruel - for seeming to care so little. But she only acted this way for her mother. She knew that if she fretted and moped around, her mum's last few years would be dreary instead of happy. She didn't want her mum to be sad. She wanted to be happy for her.

Damien and Sally always visited Rora when she'd go to hospital - it was just how things were. She'd been there for them since they were little and she was like an aunt to them — an amazing aunt at that. Rora simply brimmed with light and liveliness, always cheering everyone up. Tara of course loved her mother more than anyone in the world.

Sally and Damien were glad to hear the news of Rora's treatment, telling Tara how happy they were to hear it. And of course, the possibility always remained that maybe - just maybe - they'd find a cure before Rora's time was up. And then she'd be able to live her life to the fullest, and get to see Tara grow up and graduate, fall in love, get a job, maybe even have a family of her own... and—

"Tara, are you alright sweetie?" Sally interrupted Tara's thoughts as the girl realised, just upon entering her room, that tears were falling down her cheeks. She paused and nodded her head, quickly wiping them away and putting on a smile.

"Yup! I'm fine," she grinned, looking back at Damien and Sally.

"A-alright then..." Sally sighed, knowing that Tara was impossible to get through to when in this particular mindset, though she knew she'd make sure to talk to her about it later tonight after Damien had gone. "So... about the whole staring at one another all day thing," Sally smiled nervously.

"Um... about that..." Damien rubbed the back of his neck. This might take a while.