Hi guys! For y'all who aren't on the discord and don't follow me, I'm currently on holiday in Italy so I won't be able to write as much as I have been recently! Still gonna try and get the odd chapter out if I can, but it won't be a daily thing. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day/night/evening! Love you! <3

After finally awakening, [Y/n] found herself on the metal bed once again. Placed next to her was a certain vegetable knife — usually with an object there was a note, but this time no such note existed. Why had they given the knife back? A 'defend yourself if you want to' gesture? A threat? She couldn't tell. She left the vegetable knife where it was, standing up and making her way back to the kitchen. Her head was spinning — whatever Laion had knocked her out with was seriously killing her head now. She cursed under her breath, pushing open the kitchen door.

Making a beeline for the sink, [Y/n] turned on the tap. Never before had she been so happy to see a working tap. She immediately placed her hands under it for no good reason other than embracing the running water. The blood pack was still on the side, though the anti-clotting agent had worn off now and it was a very dark shade of reddish brown. [Y/n] looked away, a nauseated feeling spreading through her at the thought of being forced to consume the blood as it was now. Placing her dripping hand over her mouth, she shut her eyes tight.

"Can't stand the sight of a little blood?" [Y/n] turned around, her eyes shooting open.

"Stop fucking sneaking up on me! All of you! It's not cool, original or funny!" she snapped instinctively to the boy at the door, who - only after yelling - she processed to be Mitzu. Her eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"Well... a thank you would be nice," Mitzu muttered, leaning against the doorframe.

"Thanks for trapping me in a tiny apartment and depriving me of my human rights," [Y/n] shot back coldly. Mitzu tensed at this, seeming to want to snap back at her, though he drew a deep breath and kept himself from doing so.

"I can shut the water off again if you'd prefer," Mitzu growled out. [Y/n] watched as a shape appeared behind Mitzu, eventually coming into view.

"You'll do no such thing," he said; Mitzu turned and made way for Laion to step into the kitchen. He passed by without saying anything more to Mitzu, instead walking over to [Y/n]. She watched him with an obvious amount of fear in her eyes, fully expecting him to retaliate in some fashion to what she did yesterday. Instead, however, Laion did something that she truly wasn't expecting.

The boy got to his knees in front of her, bowing his head.

"[Y/n], please forgive me. What I did yesterday was out of order," Laion said softly. His head was down so [Y/n] was oblivious to the way his lips curled in a slight smile.

"O-oh, no, Laion... I stabbed you, I believe my response was disproportionate," [Y/n] said quietly, despite having little regret over what she did. Though she'd rather it been Seishin or Kori on the receiving end, admittedly.

"I drove you to that extreme," Laion pushed, not accepting her self-directed blame. [Y/n], reaching the conclusion that this would be a pointless thing to argue over, shrugged her shoulders. Laion finally raised his head, his expression neutral. He stood up again. "So... if there's anything I can do for you that is within my capabilities- of course save for letting you go- I would be glad to do it," Laion smiled. Mitzu gave him a look that definitely exuded the question 'are you sure about that?'

"Laion... might I take you up on your offer now?" [Y/n] asked.

She'd just remembered something, and - though at the time she'd refused to admit it - this might be her only chance.

"Of course, [Y/n]," Laion smiled. It was a sickeningly sweet smile - facile, [Y/n] noted. It pissed her off.

"Alright... thanks. Um..." she looked down, remembering the words that were said to her. Drawing in a deep breath, she raised her gaze once more. "Please take me to see the king." Laion's apparent smugness seemed to fade away for a second, replaced with confusion. Mitzu looked wary.

"The king? You're sure?" Laion questioned. "This isn't a silly escape attempt, is it?" he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. [Y/n] shook her head. "I suppose... we could? But... I'm sorry, [Y/n]. Please explain to me what you're planning," Laion sighed, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm fine with you talking to the king if I know that you're not going to do something... reckless," he sighed.

"I wanted to discuss the terms of the contract," [Y/n] lied smoothly. She knew she couldn't just say 'Rayne told me that if I want to escape I should talk to the king,' so she had to bullshit some other reason. The contract made sense, and [Y/n] could tell that Mitzu and Laion both seemed to be pondering over any loopholes she could exploit or any tenuous terms she could negotiate.

"Which details?" Laion questioned.

"My obligation to give blood once a week. I don't know how that's supposed to be reinforced, and thus far it doesn't seem to be acted upon. I don't know if he really meant for me to go somewhere or whatever, and I'm sure Nyais had that information, but you refuse to hear anything from him. So I may as well talk to the king about it," [Y/n] shrugged. Laion watched her carefully. She was a bloody good liar - she never used to be, but desperate times call for desperate measures and suddenly [Y/n] could pass a lie detector test saying the sky is green. Laion looked over at Mitzu contemplatively.

"Well..." Laion began, sighing.

"I've met the king once," Mitzu hummed, "he doesn't have any interest in anyone but himself." He looked over at Laion. "If she goes to see him, she'll likely be turned away at the door. Or he'll listen to her, laugh, and dismiss her," he shrugged.

"Are you saying it's a lost cause?" Laion questioned. Both of their expressions were unreadable to [Y/n]. She assumed half the conversation between them was written in the looks they gave one another, but she simply couldn't decipher them.

"Most likely," Mitzu shrugged.

"[Y/n], do you still want to go?" he asked. He seemed more relaxed now. He probably expected her to give up, but she wouldn't.

"Yes," she said, dipping her head. Laion, contrary to her expectation, wasn't surprised. Instead, a smile grew on his face.

"Let's go, then," he smiled, holding out a hand for her. He seemed so calm... smug, almost. [Y/n] didn't take his hand, though she nodded her head and walked over to the door. "We shan't tell the others. They won't let you," he said simply, pulling the keys to the front door from his pocket.

[Y/n] nodded her head, following him out of the building.

* * *

"Did you hear?" a whisper sounded at the back of the class. Usually, when someone said 'did you hear', the words that would follow the dreadful question would be some disparaging rumour about someone who made some random guy's overprotective girlfriend jealous or some nonsense of such, so Tara usually zoned out. Had no one told them they weren't characters in a weird online fanfic website story? Ugh, people.

This time, however, the things that were said caught her attention.

"Oliver went missing!"

"What, Oliver in class 2?" the other responded.

"Yeah - the one with the creepy sister. He just disappeared! I wonder if she got rid of him or something..." the first person shuddered.

"He probably ran away," Tara interjected, turning around to the surprise of the gossiping girls behind them. "I wouldn't blame him. That girl's being doing weird shit to him the second she first found a penknife." Tara didn't know Oliver very well - they only had a couple of classes together and the boy was sweet but usually quiet and studious. Not to mention very disturbed. Though Tara had known him for a long time despite them not being close, and once - on a day where he certainly wasn't doing too well - Oliver vented everything to Tara about his sister and how much he wanted to run away. That was only three weeks ago.

"What if he was kidnapped?" another girl asked, her gaze solely on Tara. One of her basketball competitors. Tara didn't really have any ill feeling towards this girl, but she knew that she sure as hell hated Tara. "Your friend [Y/n] got kidnapped. Maybe it's the same person?" the girl shrugged insensitively. Tara didn't display any sign of actually caring, though she seethed. But, on the small chance that this was the case, at least [Y/n] would have a familiar face—

Wait... [Y/n] had never once met Oliver. And she was terrible at remembering people, so... maybe not. Tara sighed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Damien walked over, his brow furrowed. He seemed annoyed. "You spreading shit about Oliver?" He and Oliver knew one another. Oliver was smart and had helped him with homework a few times, so he'd always stood up for the boy when he'd been picked on for not participating in sport and being too "girly" - which was absolute bullshit in Damien's opinion. They were probably just jealous because Oliver was a very good looking boy. And he had a fan club in the year below.

"Tara was saying stuff about him," the basketball girl shrugged, looking over at Tara.

"How original," Tara scoffed, "don't be a boring 2d cutout of every bitchy girl in every high school drama ever written. Please. It's annoying," Tara sighed. "You gonna tell me to never go near your boyfriend next? Gonna threaten to blackmail a random photo of me around school?" It was clear Tara was seriously done with the girl (who's name is Emory, if you need to know) and her incessant verbal incontinence. Damien snorted in laughter, before looking at the other girls.

"Before you start going around and crying out about random nonsense regarding Oliver, he's safe. Something happened at home and he's in witness protection. He isn't missing," he sighed. "I hope that satisfies your drama addiction for the next week," he groaned, before walking over to Tara and taking her by the hand - much to her and the other girls' surprise - and dragging her along after him.

"Hey Damien? Is that true? He's in witness protection?" Tara questioned. Damien nodded.

"Yeah... his sister tried to cut out his organs for some 'dark magic' nonsense." Tara placed a hand over her mouth, her eyes growing wide. People were really capable of such things? Thank god he was safe now. "Sadly his sister escaped somehow, so he was placed in a safe place until they manage to find her. Apparently the thing she was trying to do needed the sacrifice of someone with the same blood as the caster, so his sister would definitely be back for him if he was allowed to stay at his home," he sighed. He seemed quite obviously disturbed. Tara didn't blame him.

"You... you said something about 'dark magic nonsense'," Tara mumbled, "do you really think it's nonsense?" She paused to open a door, holding it for Damien. She looked around briefly to make sure no one else was there, before continuing. "I mean... if vampires exist, what else does? Maybe Oliver's sister is something else, too," Tara whispered. Damien looked thoughtful.

"Could be," he shrugged. Tara looked a bit concerned at his vagueness - was everything okay with him? He was usually bold about what he thought and such, especially after telling them about the vampire stuff. But now he seemed more reserved.

"Why the sudden apathy?" Tara questioned. Damien raised a brow. She thought of something that'd surely get through to him - even if she was completely making shit up on the spot. "Well usually when something involves [Y/n] you're the first to jump on the bandwagon and investigate."

"What does a random witch have to do with [Y/n]?" Damien questioned.

"What if this magic stuff is part of the reason that [Y/n] disappeared without a trace? The authorities are looking for the human who took her. Not the witch, vampire, werewolf or whatever," she shrugged. She didn't really believe that anyone of a different kind could've taken [Y/n], but it seemed to get through to Damien as his eyes widened in shock. It seemed like he'd just realised something. He spaced out and stood there for a while, deep in thought. Eventually Tara had to wave her hand in front of his face to snap him back to attention. "Damien? Earth to Damien? Hellooo? Hola? Cia—"

"Shush," Damien brushed her hand away from his face.

"What's up? What, do you think the witch lady had something to do with it?" Tara questioned. Damien shook his head, beginning to walk away. "Hey! Damien wait up!" The boy quickened his pace. "Damien! Where are you going?"

"It's best you don't get involved, Tara," Damien said quietly. "I doubt [Y/n] is alive anymore, anyway."

Tara's face clouded over, the previous emotion fading from her eyes. "Damien... what do you know?"

"Not much," Damien said quietly, "but if what I think happened truly did happen, [Y/n] is gone." He paused. "And vengeance is impossible."