[Y/n] awoke slowly, sleep saying farewell like an old friend that really didn't want to leave. When she finally awoke, it took her a moment to realise what was going on. She felt so comfortable - her body was engulfed by a warm mattress and covered in a thick feather duvet. At 2am Nyais must've been giving her a new bed. Immediately she sprawled her arms and legs out as though she was swimming in a sea of calmness.

A small giggle left the [h/c] haired girl as she embraced her new bed, though she understood she'd have to get up eventually. When she did so, however, she was met with yet another surprise. It wasn't just the bed that had changed - the entire room was different. For starters, it was larger. A lot larger. The second thing she noticed was the furniture and the walls.

The walls were painted in a rich cream colour, the ambient lighting from several warm lamps placed around the room giving it a princess-like feel. One of the walls bore a pair of oak doors that looked to [Y/n] like a walk-in wardrobe, as well as a door a little further on that was open enough for [Y/n] to recognise the tiles of an en-suite bathroom. There was also a dressing table with three mirrors, one large mirror in the corner of the room (around the same height as [Y/n]) and a pair of dressing tables beside the grand four-poster bed. Finally [Y/n]'s eyes rested on a small desk in the opposite corner to the large mirror and a soft, plushy chair in another corner, looking over the room.

[Y/n] stood up and curiously walked around it, her hand occasionally brushing against different additions to the room. Finally she walked over to the door, pushing it open and stepping outside her room. She was greeted by a corridor. A door sat opposite hers so she took a few steps forwards to open it and peer inside. It was a kitchen - much bigger than the last, though almost identical in appliances and theme. Something she noticed absent, however, was the metal box in which she retrieved the boy's food every morning. Her brow furrowed but she didn't question it.

She stepped out of the kitchen, continuing down the corridor. Another corridor branched off the main one, so [Y/n] followed it down. A singular door to [Y/n]'s left revealed an office-like room. A large desk sat in the middle with filing cabinets dotted around the room. What the point of the room was, [Y/n] had no idea. She hoped Nyais would explain eventually.

She backtracked and returned to the main corridor. Two doors sat opposite one another once more, alike to her room and the kitchen. One of these rooms, however, [Y/n] decided to leave alone. On the left door, a small metal plaque read 'Aytsa', informing [Y/n] that this was the purpose of the new place - separate rooms for the boys. The other door, however, had no such plaque. She pushed the door open and unveiled a large, luxurious living room. Alike to the kitchen, it's design was the same as the previous, however it was much larger and more grand than last time.

She continued down the corridor. The left door came a little before the right door this time as opposed to the two previous instances. On the door, another metal plaque read 'Laion'. The other door, when pushed open, revealed itself to be a bathroom.

Shutting the bathroom door, [Y/n] continued until the corridor ended and split off two ways in a t-shape. Four doors sat along this corridor, telling [Y/n] that this was where the other boys resided. [Y/n] smiled, turning around, before freezing suddenly. When she realised who the source of her momentary terror was, however, her shoulders sagged and she relaxed.

"Jeez, [Y/n], I'm not that scary, am I?" Nyais chuckled, patting her on the shoulder. [Y/n] let out a long sigh.

"Not when I know where you are," she laughed, "but you can't just sneak up on me like that!" she scolded, though her tone was only playful. Nyais chuckled in response.

"Alright, alright~" he sang, a jocular smirk playing on his lips, "so, what do you think?" he asked, tilting his head.

"It's gorgeous!" [Y/n] grinned. "Thank you so much. I'm sure the boys will love it, too."

"I would hope so," he laughed. "This is actually residence for elites - at the end of our growing period we're given quarters, usually a section of an apartment complex in Perion. We're always kept with our birth group," he explained, "but I thought, now the boys were bigger, you might want some more space," he smiled. "I gathered some information from your past to work out what you wanted in your room and we had to make some architectural additions - the kitchen, for example," he smiled.

"My... past?" [Y/n] responded, puzzled; she didn't really take in what he said about the kitchen. "As in, my life before here...?" He nodded. "Wait...how...?"

"I just asked your friends... what were their names...? Tara and Sally?" he hummed. She hesitated before nodding, going silent as she encouraged him to continue. "Don't worry. I would never kill your friends. We usually only select people that a) have high nutritional value or b) stupidly try to find us. You'd be surprised how many of the latter there are..."

"How were they?" [Y/n] suddenly erupted, tears brimming in her eyes. "Weren't they suspicious? How did you talk to them? What happened?" she gushed, her hands tugging on his shirt as she begged for answers. Nyais sighed, placing his hand on her back and beginning to walk, leading her back to her room.

"They were doing very well," he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "I disguised myself as an officer. They're still searching for you so it worked," he shrugged. "I asked questions about your personal life regarding the ideology of a kidnapping." He paused. "One of them said something I struggled to believe..." he hummed, a little red touching his cheeks.

"W-What?" [Y/n] asked, confused. He led her into her room and sat her down on the soft bed, shutting the door behind him.

"Well... apparently you'd always joked... uh, Tara said 'fantasised' about being kidnapped." [Y/n]'s cheeks blazed at this and she wrapped her arms around herself.

"That's— uh— not as weird as it seems, trust me-!" [Y/n] began, waving her hands in an 'I can explain' gesture. "S-so, I used to read all these books online- you know, for fun and because I loved a good psychological horror-? - well, uh, Tara found them on my phone and drew up all these weird conclusions about me and then a rumour went around saying I wanted to be kidnapped," she sighed. Nyais paused for a moment, taking in her explanation, before bursting into laughter. [Y/n] huffed, flustered.

"Books? What sort of books?" Nyais chuckled, though it was closer to a sort of giggle.

"Uh... that's—" she cut herself off, hanging her head. "Just... uhh... books." Nyais stared at her with a look that radiated the phase 'confess your sins' and [Y/n] sighed. "They were books about crazy psychos," she introduced the subject cautiously, "that kinda went mad with love and stuff," she mumbled. Nyais grinned.

"Tara used the word 'yandere'."

"Yes—!? Maybe—?" [Y/n] spluttered. Nyais threw his head back, laughing at how she lost her composure. [Y/n] looked down at herself and mumbled random nothings at this. "It's not like I'd ever like this stuff in real life! It's just fun to read about!" she finally constructed what she wanted to say, her hands gesticulating like crazy in a defensive manner.

"Wait, so...? Oh, [Y/n]," he giggled, "are you kinky?" he laughed, a brow cocking at the concept. [Y/n]'s face flushed even more at this, to which Nyais responded with yet another bellowing laugh.

"No!" she said hurriedly, "it's not like that I swear! I'm just... I like dark narratives is all," she mumbled. Nyais shrugged with yet another laugh.

"Whatever you say~" he sang, laughing once again. "Well, back on subject... your friends are doing well. They seemed like good friends. I-I'm..." he choked on his next words; they almost tasted sour and wrong on his tongue, but something about [Y/n] had changed him and most certainly for the better. "I'm sorry," he finally managed.

[Y/n], dropping her flustered and defensive mannerisms in an instant, so desperately wanted to comfort Nyais - he seemed so conflicted. She wanted to tell him it was okay and that she understood that this was just what he had to do, but talking about the past - talking about how things used to be - saddened her more than words could express. Suddenly she felt a gnawing need to go home; she felt a need to wrap her arms around Tara and Sally and tell them 'it's okay, I'm home' over and over and over again. To run back to her parents and apologise for all the times she'd been rude or snappy - to tell them how much she loved and cherished them. To yell at Nyais for keeping her here.

Her plan had been to get Nyais on her side... she hadn't intended to form any sort of emotional connection to him.

No word of consolation came from [Y/n]'s mouth, to Nyais' apparent dismay. Although he fully understood that it would be ridiculous to ask [Y/n] to leave her past behind more than she already had, it stung Nyais a little but it was an issue that had to be faced. He quickly pushed it to the back of his mind, however, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"We shouldn't talk about this anymore. It's making you sad," he began. [Y/n] opened her mouth to object however Nyais silenced her by placing a finger to her lips. The action seemed a little too intimate with the way his eyes gazed into hers and caused [Y/n]'s cheeks to turn a soft shade of red. "I have something else to show you," he smiled, taking his finger from her lips.

"Something else? Ah, did I miss a room or something-?" [Y/n] said quickly, which Nyais brushed off with a shake of his head.

"No, you didn't. Sort of," he shrugged, pointing over to a pair of double doors that, unbeknownst to [Y/n], led to a lavish walk-in wardrobe. "I remembered that humans had changes of clothes for hygiene purposes as well as style," he smiled sheepishly, "so sorry for making you wear the same clothes for 8 days. I thought I might be able to make it up to you by having some clothing tailored to your exact measurements," he smiled, taking [Y/n]'s hand and pulling her off the bed, leading her over to the wardrobe. "Everything in here is yours," he smiled.

[Y/n] was going to question Nyais on how he'd got her measurements and how he'd managed to have enough clothing to fill a walk-in wardrobe tailored in just eight days however she couldn't seem to muster the words. Just as they came to her - as she opened her mouth to speak - Nyais pushed open the doors to the wardrobe. The words were once again stolen from her and her mouth remained slightly agape as she took in the array of colours, styles and shapes; all were remarkably flattering to [Y/n]'s body type and skin tone.

Totally speechless, [Y/n] stepped into the wardrobe with a look of wonder and amazement. Nyais remained in her room, a small, goofy (and slightly self-satisfied) smile on his face. [Y/n]'s hands ran across the different articles of clothing; satin, silk, cashmere, velvet and many other gorgeous fabrics were immediately noticeable through their unique textural sensations. It then dawned on her; how expensive was all of this?

"Nyais, you didn't pay for all of this yourself, did you?" [Y/n] suddenly asked, turning and looking at the tall male. Nyais chuckled with a small, nervous smile.

"Might have done. But it doesn't really matter - I've been accumulating money for quite a while now," he laughed.

"How old actually are you?" [Y/n] asked with a playful smile. An embarrassed blush touched Nyais' cheeks and he looked away, shrugging.

"Pretty young for a vampire," he mumbled. "Pretty old for a human." [Y/n] raised an eyebrow before he sighed. "82," he confessed, which only made [Y/n] feel weird. This guy was practically, by definition, a sugar daddy. Old guy giving her a house and clothes on the condition that she perform a task, which, in this case, was raising the boys.

"You're old enough to be my grandpa," [Y/n] giggled, "god, maybe even great grandpa," she teased.

"Yeah, yeah, enough of that," Nyais huffed, "I get it, I'm old... some of my friends are in their late 400's though," he shrugged. "To them I'm just a raging teen," he joked.

"Who's the oldest vampire?" [Y/n] asked curiously.

"That'd be the king's great grandfather," Nyais responded, once again being swept away in [Y/n]'s insatiable curiosity. "The king comes from a line of extremely strong vampires. The king himself is 480-something. His great grandfather is in his mid 500's."

"That's... old," [Y/n] laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. "So, does the king have children? Grandchildren?"

"No. He... he hates women," Nyais said carefully, "he's a great guy and all but he's a little twat when it comes to females - seems like he's scared of them or something," he shrugged. [Y/n] covered her mouth to stop herself letting out an ungraceful snort of laughter. Nyais laughed a little as well. "That being said, he's still one of my closest friends. To be honest, I'm quite a different person to who you know," he shrugged.

"What do you mean?" [Y/n] asked, her head tilting.

"Well... when I'm with you, I've managed to revert back to how I used to be with my wife. When she died, I... I guess I got a taste of reality and soured a bit," he sighed. He inwardly cringed at the understatement but he knew not to elaborate. "You probably don't want to know what I'm really like. Just know that I can't be like that when I'm with you," he smiled softly.

"But... I want to know you, Nyais. How can I know you if the you I know is... well... not you?" [Y/n] asked. Nyais' smile faded and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Have you ever had a telepathic memory installed before?" Nyais asked hesitantly.

"A what-now?" [Y/n] responded, tilting her head to one side.

"Right... uhh... it's kinda- I don't know. It's a vampiric skill. Like our heightened sense of hearing, sight, smell - our senses, basically. Some of us also have a heightened sixth sense. I have this to a limited degree," he shrugged, "I can manipulate, share and view memories. So, I can show you my memories through your own eyes. But... w-well, I don't know if you want to see me in that light." He paused. "I don't know if I want you to see me in that light..."

"Please show me," [Y/n] said softly, "no matter what I see, you're still you, right? You haven't changed - I'll just know a bit more about you."

"Very well, then," Nyais sighed, stepping forwards and placing his hand on the back on [Y/n]'s neck. It was cold - he was always cold - and she shivered slightly. His fingers pressed into the back of her neck more and she began to feel a little drowsy. Then everything faded to black and she felt weakness consume her.

* * *

[Y/n] stood in a state of invisibility, yet she was certainly there. She looked down and saw herself - slightly transparent, but still her - before looking back up at the scene that played in front of her. Nyais sat hunched over an empty hospital bed, his eyes tearful and full of burning rage. It didn't make much sense to [Y/n] - why was he angry? Hadn't his wife died in childbirth like most other women? Why did that give him a reason to be mad? Or, was he mad at himself?

He wiped away the tears and stood up, his outburst of emotion now seemingly swept away as though it had never been there. He began to walk away. A young man in a lab coat rushed up to him, his eyes wide and expression sorrowful. Though, on closer inspection, that sorrow didn't look too sincere. And the wideness of his eyes, paired with the way his lips almost tugged into a smirk, seemed rather misplaced.

"Nyais," he said, unusually calm. "I'm terribly sorry. As you know, there's nothing we can do to save someone in childbirth."

"Don't talk to me, scum," Nyais responded to the raven-haired vampire darkly.

"Why don't we clear some things up?" he questioned.

"Clear tings up?" Nyais echoed, his voice monotonous yet seemingly a little curious. "You killed my fucking wife. I thought you were my friend..." he trailed off. He went silent for a while before letting out a long sigh. "You know what? You're right. We need to talk," Nyais mused, his tone as dull as it had been previously yet now seeming to hold a little malice.

"Very well," the doctor nodded. Nyais began to walk away and the doctor followed him. [Y/n] trailed after the pair, confused. So, Nyais' wife hadn't died during childbirth? Or, she had, and this doctor hadn't been able to save her? But why would Nyais be mad about that?

They walked for quite a while before the doctor finally spoke again.

"Ah," he hummed, looking at the downward spiralling staircase they had arrived at with slight trepidation, "so this is what you mean by 'talk'. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised." [Y/n] watched in horror as a twisted, broken smile played on Nyais' lips. In one short movement he did something similar to what he'd done to [Y/n], just with a lot less care; he shoved the doctor into the wall and held him by the pressure point on the back of his neck until he slipped down the side of the wall, unconscious. Then, he picked the man up, before walking down the staircase with him.

Once again, everything faded to black.

* * *

[Y/n] expected to wake after that vision, however she was thrown into another one. Nyais' clothes were more ragged and less refined here - [Y/n] assumed that meant this vision was from longer ago. Nyais stood before a tall male with long silver hair and red eyes. The clothing he wore and the jewel encrusted crown atop his head informed [Y/n] that this was the king. Nyais then bowed and the king waved his hand dismissively.

"I told you to stop doing that," he huffed, "there's no need." Nyais shrugged. "So, what do you want?"

"To challenge an elite," Nyais responded levelly, his eyes dull and tone no more expressive than it had been during the last vision.

"Nyais, you know that's pointless, right? You're having your elite ceremony soon anyways," the king huffed. This only seemed to agitate Nyais, however.

"Hah, yeah, sure. What sort of elite am I then? The elites who didn't challenge other elites are all either cowards or people who have changed the world. Are you saying I want to join the cowards? That, because I'm slightly unusual, I get to be an elite? I've trained and trained and trained for the chance to challenge an elite and you want to throw that training in my face with a 'uh, yeah, you're alright, you can be an elite'? You think I'm happy with that?" Nyais' words clearly stirred something in the king because it took him a good 30 seconds to think of his reply.

"What do you suppose I do, then?" The words were merely curious - entirely absent of hostility.

"Call off my ceremony if I lose," Nyais repeated, "because I have the rest of eternity to try again," he shrugged.

"Not if you die or cripple yourself, you don't," the king responded.

"I don't care about either of those. I just want to prove myself," Nyais responded. "And I want to fight Jay," he added, to which the king's eyes widened and he immediately shook his head.

"If you lose against Jay he'll kill you. He's never lost, either. That's preposterous," the king spluttered, clearly disagreeing with the idea. Nyais shrugged. "What about Leya? And Rayne? Don't you think they'll miss you if you don't make it back?

"That's the idea, and they'll be fine," he mumbled. The king looked down and sighed. "Look, Olli, I'm done, alright? This is the last thing I can do. Fighting is the only thing I'm good at, so why won't you let me prove to the world why my hearing should let me be an elite?"

"Fine. Tuesday next week," the king finally huffed. He looked down at the floor for a while before looking back up at Nyais. "Don't you dare die on me, got it?"

"Don't worry," Nyais responded, "I won't."

Everything faded to black once again.

* * *

[Y/n] slowly felt herself coming back to reality. When she awoke, she was on her bed. Nyais was holding her and her head rested on his chest. His hand slowly ran through her hair in a comforting manner. This wasn't the man she'd seen in the visions, this was someone totally different. In the visions he was cold, ambitious, dismissive, cruel... hell, even sadistic. Right now - the version of Nyais she knew - he was kind, calming, reassuring. He was a gentle man with a big heart. A bit of a flirt sometimes, but that didn't bother [Y/n]. It then occurred to her: in Nyais' eyes, [Y/n] wasn't just [Y/n], she was a second chance. [Y/n] was Nyais' opportunity to protect his wife once again.

Though at first the idea seemed endearing, it didn't take long for [Y/n] to realise quite how macabre it was. He loved her, not because she was herself but because she was like his wife. Had she been any different, would she have still been alive? Would he have treated her in a similar way to how he treated that doctor in the first vision?

No. [Y/n] didn't want to think like that. Nyais was Nyais and he cared for [Y/n]. Hell, [Y/n] could almost go as far to say... to say she loved him.

"Nyais?" [Y/n] said quietly, looking behind her at the brunette who combed his fingers through her hair. He tilted his head. "What... what happened... to your wife?"

"I'll tell you eventually... not yet, though," he sighed. [Y/n] was about to object however he placed his finger to her lips once more and made a shushing sound. "Don't worry about any of that. It's not anything that you'll ever have to concern yourself over, anyways," he smiled softly. His strong arms wrapped around her and held her close to him. He leant forwards so his chin rested on her head.

[Y/n] said nothing more, however her mind raced with questions.

The door creaked shut.