SHADOW'S P.O.V.

I missed the simple things. The joy of walking during the daytime, feeling the sunlight hit my skin, and getting sweat on my face. Despite what mortals thought about them, I even missed sunburns. I never got them. But it was always funny seeing how much they ruined Nolan and Warner's summer break. They looked like big, peeling tomatoes, leaving skin flakes in their wake. And the sight of that would brighten up my entire summer growing up.

Granted, I was about fourteen when I first found that funny. I'd like to think my humor has aged like a fine wine, adding needed depth. Thankfully I'd grown out of my weird enjoyment in watching other people suffer.

I digress.

Inside the walls of my own estate, I could move as freely as I wanted to. Regardless of where the moon or sun was in the sky, I remained in my human form. At each entrance, a crystal was embedded into the threshold, hidden enough that no one could move it or see it. That was what helped us stay intact, solving our problem with a somewhat solution. From on the roof, I could still enjoy the morning sun. The crystals, in some odd way, acted as a forcefield around our home.

Certain hours of the day dictated when we could go into town. You were a mad man if you were to leave at any hours between dawn and dusk. The sun was not our friend. Strangely enough, Warner called us vampires during our first two years. Didn't matter how often we begged him to stop, he would always relate himself to some infamous bloodsucker.

"Where the fuck is Dario?" I asked.

Despite a text message I got from him, I hadn't seen him all morning. It was getting closer to noon. Kaia was still up in here room. She was more compliant today. I wasn't the one that said that, trust me. January was the one to relay that she was eating again, saying she finished her food.

"I think she's beginning to acclimate to her surroundings, sir," January had said this morning. "She didn't leave any food behind."

I didn't smile at his wording. "You're making her sound like a prisoner."

"I'm sorry, sir, what would you prefer I say instead?"

"Say she's liking it here," I professed, "Say that she's enjoying her time with me."

"You haven't spent any time with her, though. For the last couple nights, you've been staying in your room for dinner."

"She's in her room, too."

"Then why don't you arrange for you two to have a dinner, then?" He offered, snapping his fingers. "I could set something up tonight."

That conversation we had was a little over an hour ago.

January left to go into town, fetching up food and supplies for our dinner. Usually, around this time, the house would be loud with motion. Warner would be in the attic, doing some art installation or something political, and Nolan always had his head in the second kitchen, whipping up a meal that had way too many steps and took up most of the counter space. And Dario....

"What the hell?" I opened the door to Dario's room, finding it completely empty. He hardly left his room before nightfall.

When I went to check up on the other guys, they were exactly where I thought they'd be. Neither of them had heard from Dario. My thoughts rattled with ideas, conjuring up where I could imagine him to be.

"What's wrong?" Warner asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine...I have a bad feeling."

"I hate when you use that as a reason," he rolled his eyes, "You don't have a sixth sense. You can't just magically know when things are going wrong."

"Doubt me all you want, but Dario is never this quiet. He should be blasting music in his room right about now."

"Did you check Kaia's room?"

My eyes doubled in size. "Why would I need to do that?"

He shrugged. "You're not the only one trying to undo a curse...if you ask me, their fiery exchanges could be a warning sign."

"Impossible, Dario wouldn't do that to me. He's—"

"He's unpredictable." He crept in closer, nudging me. "Is that what you were going to say?"

"No," I said, "He's my brother. He wouldn't do that to me."

Pivoting out of the room, I went to Kaia's bedroom and knocked on the door. There wasn't a response to my words, leaving me to twist the doorknob. It was locked shut.

"I'm planning a dinner tonight," I announced, speaking directly to the crack between the door and the frame. "Jay...January is getting a lot of the ingredients...but I thought it would be nice if we made it together....or I could make it...I just—"

"Go away!"

"I'm sorry this is still hard for you—"

"I don't want to be here!"

"Would you want-"

"Leave me ALONE! That's what I want!"

Shuffling backwards, I walked to the lower level. A thud, rumbling beneath my feet, caused me to question the nature of the fall. From the sound of it alone, I could tell it was coming from the basement region of the house. Dario had Jamila down there last week, instantly making my mind go wild as pieces started to connect.

Dario must be down there.

Running as fast as possible, I reached the door that led directly to the source of the sound. It hadn't stopped, shaking the walls as I yanked on the doorknob.

"What are you doing?" I asked in dismay.

Realizing the scene before me, I choked on my anger at the sight of Kaia's cousin and brother tied up in chairs, bound by rope, and mumbling with tape on their mouth. I didn't recognize the third man with them. He had a striking resemblance to Kaia, barring the same eye and brow shape. If I had to, I would put my money on the likelihood that it was her father.

My fists were balled up, ready to swing. "Why did you bring them back here?"

Dario, who was standing before the three, hadn't stopped to see who had entered. He didn't bother greeting me either. "They never left."

"Huh?"

"The night Kaia came....they summoned this dumbass. Don't worry - I've been feeding them so they don't wither away." He pointed at the mystery man. "What's your name again? Zack?"

Kaia's dad mumbled....You know, because he had tape covering his face and all.

"Let them go," I ordered, "I don't want Kaia to know about this."

Because of my reply, Dario faced me with winkles forming on his forehead. "Are you dumb? Did you not hear me? They came to kidnap Kaia. They were going to bring her back."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from family," I said, going behind Jamila and undoing the rope. "I can deal with this on my own. You can leave us be. I'll untie them and get them on their way."

"I was trying to help," he grumbled to himself, going up the stairs.

"You've traumatizing them enough." I interjected, removing the knot on Lawrence's arms and the tape from his mouth. He winced in pain, making me apologize. "Sorry, there's no easy way to take off duct tape."

"It's okay..." he dropped his head. "He didn't ever hit us. He kept throwing stuff at the walls."

"For what?"

"He took turns asking us questions. But when we wouldn't talk, he taped us up," Lawrence revealed. "What are you going to do?"

"You already heard me tell Dario. I'm going to let you go home," I said with a pause. "You need to promise me you'll stop trying to rescue her. I can't promise I'll always be here."

"How...how did he find us that easily?" Jamila inquired. "It's almost as if the moment we got close enough to your house, he could sense it."

"He's not that smart," I laughed, "He's got an insane surveillance system. Like most rich people."

"And a weird fetish with control."

"Also, like many rich people," I joked, and none of them found any humor in my remark.

I removed the last rope off of Kaia's dad. The only thing left to do was get them on to the main roads, and back into Harper Falls.







KAIA'S P.O.V.



Trees whooshed passed me as I ran barefoot. The mud felt cold against my toes, letting me sink with each step. My shoes got lost when I shimmed down from the third floor, getting caught with the wind, and then falling into a pond. After one fell, I had to drop the other and committed on going shoe-less. It felt too weird walking with only one shoe.

I was going to make it out of here, one way or another.



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