"So... you're trying to tell me that... our friend, who's been our friend since we were very little, is half-vampire," Sally laughed, shaking her head. She picked up her phone and checked the date - "guys, it's not even April Fools," she shook her head, but there was something strained in her voice that told Tara and Damien she believed them more than she was willing to let on. Damien sighed.

"I can prove it to you," he hummed.

"If that means drinking my blood then I'm out," Sally joked, and Damien let out a small, strained laugh too, before walking over to Tara's dressing table.

"Tara, do you have a pair of scissors?" he asked. Tara furrowed her brow, before realising why he was asking.

"No! You're not gonna hurt yourself to prove a point," Tara muttered.

"I have a higher pain tolerance to ordinary people, Tara. I'll hardly even feel it. And then Sally can see it heal," he responded, looking over at Sally, who seemed uneasy - not because she was afraid of blood, though she was, but because she didn't want to see her friend bleeding. Tara crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why not just show her the stab wound from last night? You still have the hospital papers to prove that it happened," Tara shrugged.

"Stab wound...?" Sally questioned.

"Yeah. It's why I found out. I heard the ambulances in Damien's area at a ridiculous time in the morning and saw he'd only just come offline when it happened, so my paranoid self went to check it out. I asked for him at the hospital and my intuition was right, so I went to see him. His wound healed ridiculously quickly and he refused to have any family around, so after he was discharged I went to his house to find out what was going on. Turns out what we thought we knew about him was a lie all along," Tara hummed, sending a glance to a nervous Damien. "No family, no pets, no room... no nothing. Except for the revelation that he was half vampire."

"It's... hard to believe," Sally laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. "I..."

"I'm not asking you to believe in things that don't exist, Sally," Damien said calmly, "I'm merely asking you to trust me."

"I do... I do."

* * *

Back in the original place — where it all started. [Y/n] stared over in the corner where she'd first met Nyais, closing her eyes and remembering. She'd almost been safe - she almost escaped them for real. How did they do it? She didn't feel any wounds from a tranquilliser or something of the like, and she knew Nyais definitely would've reacted before something like that could possibly happen. She raked through her memory, digging into it meticulously.

Then it clicked.

Mitzu had been humming. Had he used that stupid hypnosis trick of his on her and Nyais?! Nyais didn't know about it, so it was quite possible- after all, it seems so inconspicuous. And Nyais focuses on sound - he was listening for things that were unusual or malicious. Of course he would've heard Mitzu's humming, but he wouldn't have noted it as anything to be worried about.

"This is all my fault," [Y/n] whispered to herself, her eyes slowly opening as she stared down at her hands. "I should've noticed— I should've warned Nyais!" she hissed, before placing her palms over her eyes and cursing as tears flowed down her cheeks. She was trembling and her breath hitched as she cried, only allowing her to draw in unstable and unreliable inhales of air.

But... why was she crying for him?

Wasn't he the one who brought her here in the first place?

She knew she couldn't turn Nyais into her enemy - not now, after everything he'd done for her. He had a job, and sadly it was one that wasn't particularly agreeable by human standards, but to vampires it was merely a matter of survival. But really... the people she should've been crying for this whole time were her parents, Tara, Sally and Damien. Her friends and family that she'd left behind.

Perhaps she'd forced herself not to worry about them because she knew they weren't in any immediate danger, and perhaps she'd been convinced that she'd go back to them someday so there was no need to worry... but now she understood that, from their perspective, she was probably dead. The case would likely be called off soon thanks to lack of evidence, and any evidence that may have been left had probably already been destroyed.

It was quite possible that she was about to become 'non existent'.

'Dead'.

[Y/n] swung her legs off the side of the 'bed', wiping her tears from her face and standing up, her gaze going cold. Whatever these boys had to throw at her, she'd shoulder it. She'd shoulder this and so much more. She'd get back to her friends and family, if it was the last thing she ever did. She'd lived through Rayne's torture - she'd gotten this far. No way in hell would she let that go to waste by giving up now.

With this newfound confidence, the girl walked to the shut door which used to lead to the small corridor to the living room and kitchen. She pressed down on the door handle, ready to see it locked, though surprised to find this not to be the case. She allowed it to creak open, before hesitantly stepping into the white corridor and repeating her previous cautious procedure with the kitchen door.

Open again.

She stepped inside, her eyes subconsciously flicking over to the metal box. She sighed, before walking over to the cupboard where she could find glasses. There was no use in dehydrating herself or whatever just because she was angry. She walked over to the kitchen tap and turned the handle.

Nothing. No water.

"What?!" [Y/n] snapped. "How the hell do you bastards think I'm going to survive without water?!" she yelled out to the air, though no one responded. Huffing, she placed the glass down. She'd just have to see if there was anything in the fridge that she could eat that might double up as a source of hydration. She pulled open the fridge door, only to find it turned off and empty.

[Y/n] stared at the empty fridge in disbelief. Were they really robbing her right to eat and drink now as well?

The girl spun around in shock to the sound of a loud crash noise behind her.

Aytsa leaned against the wall, the metal box open beside him which explained the loud noise. [Y/n] narrowed her eyes at Aytsa and quickly glanced to his broken wrist (which seemed to have fully healed already, to [Y/n]'s surprise), though he seemed to ignore her, instead pulling something out of the metal box. [Y/n]'s eyes widened with horror.

"You've got to be kidding me..." [Y/n] muttered, taking a step back. Aytsa raised a brow, before tossing the item for her to catch. [Y/n] simply dodged it, keeping far away from the bag of blood that had just been thrown in her direction. Crossing his arms over his chest, Aytsa raised a brow.

"Were you never taught to accept your food graciously?" he asked with a light laugh, though there was nothing light about the sound to [Y/n], who could only stare at the crimson bag (now discarded on the floor) in horror and disgust. "It's not bad, [Y/n]. We kept it warm for you, too," he smiled, though the smile was twisted and frankly terrifying to the girl. She could only see cruelty in his eyes now. The playfulness and mischief... it was all an act to get her to lower her guard. She understood that now.

"Aytsa, I'm not drinking that," [Y/n] hissed.

"Um... yes, [Y/n], you are," Aytsa laughed, shaking his head. He slowly approached her, picking up the blood bag from the floor and extending it to her. [Y/n] took a few steps back, shaking her head, though also backing herself into the counter. "[Y/n], it's really not that bad," Aytsa rolled his eyes, "stop being so dramatic."

"You're asking me to drink human blood! How is that not bad?! That's like... is that cannibalism? I don't know, but it feels like—"

"[Y/n], you're only part human," Aytsa grinned. [Y/n] narrowed her eyes, watching him carefully as he took a few steps closer to her, closing the gap between them quickly. He pressed his hands on the counter, penning her in with a smirk.

"If you refuse to drink this yourself," Aytsa said quietly, "then I guess I'll just have to make you." He paused, a light suddenly shining in his eyes as he realised something. "Or maybe, if you really don't want to drink this," he hummed, before pressing against her to keep her still with his left hand, using his right hand to open the drawer beside her. He pulled a vegetable knife from the drawer; it was blunt, but it'd work. "If you're so against it," he giggled, "how about mine?"

It took [Y/n] a moment to process what Aytsa was implying, but when it set in, [Y/n] immediately kicked and struggled against the stronger male's hold.

"Get away from me!" she screamed out, causing Aytsa great frustration as he tried to keep her still whilst also trying to cut into his arm; not a dangerous cut of course, but one that could nick a vein a bleed a fair amount. Unfortunately for him, the inevitable intervention just had to take place. And it wasn't in his favour. Someone's fist came colliding harshly with the side of Aytsa's face; so harshly, in fact, that it sent the boy down in an instant, knocking his head against the counter and falling to the ground in a heap. [Y/n] peered up worriedly to see who her "saviour" might be.

"Imbecile," Seishin spat, looking down at Aytsa's unconscious form, "doesn't he know that drinking vampire blood is what makes humans vampires?" he rambled on, his cold eyes burning with rage and frustration. "Leave him alone for one second and he snaps his wrist in two and nearly makes you a vampire—" he growled out, picking up the vegetable knife that he'd dropped. "I ought to just destroy him now," he mused aloud, almost entirely forgetting about [Y/n]'s presence. He only knew she was there when she grabbed his wrist to stop him using the knife on Aytsa.

"Wouldn't getting rid of him be easier for you?" Seishin questioned, a bitter laugh escaping him. "Surely you'd like him gone to make your own life easier?"

"I don't want anyone to die," [Y/n] muttered.

"You're going to have a very hard time escaping this place if you're not willing to kill anyone to do so," Seishin shrugged, glancing down at [Y/n]'s hand around his wrist. "As much as I love you holding me, would you mind letting go?" he said sarcastically, though [Y/n] clearly hesitated. Not because she wanted to touch Seishin any longer, but because she was pissed off and stubborn. Still, she let him go and he placed the knife on the counter.

He picked up the blood pack and placed it on the side, staring over at [Y/n] for a second before beginning to walk away.

"W-wait!" [Y/n] called out, suddenly panicked.

"What?" Seishin questioned, a brow raising as he turned around and sent [Y/n] a glare.

"P-please... is it alright if I just— um— have a glass of water?" she questioned. Seishin stared at her dead in the eyes for a moment, slowly shaking his head.

"Face the consequences of your actions, [Y/n]," Seishin said simply, turning around once more. He left the kitchen and retreated down the hallway. [Y/n] turned around and walked over to the tap once more, trying it again.

Still nothing.