The next thing he knew he was on his bed, alone in a cold stone room in the castle. He wasn't royalty but their family comes pretty close. And his room resembled more like a dungeon than an actual room. They lived in a huge stone manor in the northern part of United Kingdom, near Scotland and he called it the Lord's castle; that's what he called his father, Lord Rowe, because never did he feel like a son to this family. He was being treated as an apprentice, a student, an heir but never a son. He wasn't even allowed to have friends. Can't leave, talk ,look...live. At least, like a normal person should. Then again, he's not really under that category.

 "Trust is like money, you never give it away without an equal price," he would always hear his father say.

Trust is something he can't give away because there was nobody to give it to. He can never leave the castle on his own, never to talk to anyone unless approved by the Lord. His world, his crowd was this. This castle, with his so-called family along with a dozen servants who's afraid of him.

They had a reason to be afraid of him.

He woke up, sweat dotted his forehead, some slivering down the bridge of his nose and he can see it glisten as moonlight touches his skin.

It was a weird way to wake up in the middle of a freezing night, even more weird since he never really sweats.

All these years alone, he has finally earned his father's trust to be able to go out into the world and actually mingle, socialize or whatever it is they call it. He didn't have a clue. But what was that dream? A warning or a reminder?

A reminder that someone like him should not be let out loose into the world. A reminder that he was dangerous.

"Great," he thought. This was his chance to finally somehow breakfree of his father's grip. Why did his past fears have to resurface now?

He stood up and shook the remnants of his dream from his mind. He tried thinking of what it's going to be like with his cousin and his family. Being around with a different set of people. No dungeon-like room, warm weather... He was feeling better already.

He knew he shouldn't... he was forbidden to...but he can't help it. It was a part of him, no matter how hard they try or he tries to ignore and remove that part, he just can't. He looked at his fireplace, traces of last night's flame were gone and not even the smell of it could be discerned. 

He looked down and out the window. He then closed his eyes and thought, he couldn't wait to leave this place. Even if it were just for a short while. The heat and freedom: Liberty. He kept saying it over and over again in his mind to drown out his fears. He can control it, he had to...he can.

He opened his eyes and a fire was set ablaze in the dying embers of his fireplace. He kept looking out the window, as if daring and challenging an invisible force to interfere with his pending escape from the cold, suffocating clutch of the Lord, a fire with greater intensity than that he created, reflected in his eyes.

She hasn't exactly seen what that wall had looked like before but she can just imagine. They say that behind that wall was a compound, once owned by one of the richest families in the world. Now it looks nothing more than a haunted place that kids like to tell stories about.

To her it wasn't at the least bit scary. That wall attracted her and it wasn't because of the dazzling purple flowers... she was curious what was inside. She heard that the property extended out into the coast. That was at least a couple miles away. It intrigued her, very much. A high and long wall protecting a large peice of land. What for?

Everyday she would assess the wall; wondering if she could climb it. Though the vines may not be filled with thorns, some of the branches are still pointed and sharp. One day, she walked the entire length of the wall just to see if she could ever satisfy her curiousity. Then she came across a clear path. She was almost at the end of the wall, in an alley-like place. The vine still spread out even here but there was a spot the ran down from top to bottom, a clearing that had been obviously used to climb up or down that wall.

Without hesitation and just a quick look around, she climbed the wall with ease and climbed down on the other side. When she turned around, her jaw dropped open in astonishment. She had been expecting a jungle-like appearance, with trees, vines and overgrown grass and hedges but instead, luscious forest of green, a variety of trees and plants that seemed to have just bloomed, a marked pathway, the ground surrounding it was almost completely covered by wildflowers. It was an oversized garden.

The clearing in the wall that also covered in plants could be disguised. Whoever used this didn't want anyone finding it from the inside. She walked towards the path, completely bemused that she failed to realize that she was expecting a forgotten compound not a well-maintained one. If she only knew the weight of that error.

Not far along she came across the first structure. A two-storey Meditarranean house with plainly plastered walls painted a warm brown color, adorned with wall trellises that are covered with Virginia Creepers.

She circled the house and found a pool with a jacuzzi on one side, and pavillion beside a willow tree on the other. The entire place was well maintained, and yet she wonders why she hasn't come across anybody yet. It's not like she wanted anybody to see her, she was after all tresspassing, but it just intrigued her more and more.

Why was a place, as beautiful as this, deserted? 

She took her chances and tried the door that led from the pavillion to the inside. Just as she suspected, it was open.

What was supposed to be a light click of the door, seem to have amplified by the emptiness of the room. She stayed out for a while waiting for someone to catch her. After a few seconds, she entered the house thinking that it was safe.

She entered an elegant study, mahogany shelves covered all sides from top to bottom. A large desk on one end with a beautiful credenza at its back, while the other side was occupied by a divan and armchairs. A delicate ceiling fan hanged in the middle, while the floor was covered with a rich dark green carpet.

She was only at the first room and her breath has already been taken away.

She left the study and walked into another surprise.

She felt like being in another country. Tiles on the floor, murals on the walls, elegant cornices, wall lamps and even a fountain in the middle. What stunned her what that she walked out in sunlight. An atrium. A vestibule. Art. She couldn't decide what to call it.

She realized that the fountain was working, she quickly took a step back inside the study and looked around her. Still, there was nobody in sight. a mixture of emotions were flooding her. Anxiety and curiosity being the most prominent.

Right across the study was the living room, just as elegant as everything else in the place. Rich sofas and chairs, antique furnitures and a grand piano at the side. There were no murals but the place was decorated with paintings. There was a part she could not see and so she started walking towards it. But her eyes were caught by another atrium on the other side. This one was bounded by columns and there was no fountain, instead a garden was in its place. She started walking in that direction when...

"How did you get in here?" a man's voice asked as he placed his hands on her shoulders. Without waiting for a reply, he hastily turned her around.

She was about to say something but was shocked by look on the man's face.

He was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He didn't look like a servant so he must be the master of the house.

Dirty blonde hair, his toned body could be seen even under the Armani suit. That, however, was not why she was surprised, it was the look he gave her. Like he was seeing a ghost.

 "I'm sorry," she said, taking her eyes away from his face. "I didn't-- I was just-- I'm just really sorry!" she said as she struggled in his grip. The man, boy, was still looking at her in disbelief.

The man was not as old as she he thought he was. In fact, he looked no more than a few years older than she was. Probably seventeen or eighteen.

Lance Rowe couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was her. After all these years, it was her, she was finally back. There she was, in his hands again.

He saw fear in her eyes. 'Why is she afraid?' he thought. He could feel her struggling in his hands and finally noticed that she wasn't just afraid, she was hurting from his grip and that she was actually trying to break free.

He released his hold on her. And just as quick, she ran back the way she came in.

She doesn't remember. That realization was not supposed to have surprised him, but it did and it hurt.

She ran towards the study and forgot about the step up. She tripped and fell. He ran to her aid in a flash second. He helped her up and saw her right elbow bleeding.

"Come on," he said as he took her hand and led her to the living room. She hesitated. "Don't worry, I'm just going to treat that," he said with a smile. A smile he fought hard to show despite the pain of knowing that she doesn't remember him.

She started to walk slowly, apprehensively. He sat her down on an armchair, "Wait here," and went to get the first aid kit. As he walked back, his eyes were fixed on her.

He couldn't recognize her from behind because of her hair. It was blonde. He smiled to himself, thinking how she had always disliked blonde hair on her. She said, she could never imagine herself as one. The irony. She was also bleeding, which meant that she had not crossed over yet. The thing that he can't get of his mind, though, was her eyes. The fear she clearly conveyed in those expressive blue eyes. It was her eyes that told him who she was, it was still the same. Blue and as clear as water... but there was something else that was off. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something different, something he knows he should be able to tell immediately.

Shock. His eyes flew open, wide with shock.

She felt like a human.

She was sitting on the floor, before a crackling fire, wrapped in a blanket. She was lost in her thoughts, staring deeply into the fire. He knew why she was there. She didn't need fire to be warm since she was never cold. In fact, she is the reason why it's cold in the first place.

She gently nodded and accepted her beverage.

"Where's Lance?"

"Doing damage control," she answered still staring at the fire like she was being hynotized by it. He looked at what she was looking at and at the corner of his eye he saw something glisten. He turned and saw tears streaming down her face.

"I'm tired," she said with a loud sigh and a nervous laugh. "I'm tired of causing trouble, I'm tired of being taken care of... I'm just really tired," she tried to force a smile but failed at it and turned away to wipe tears that still tore through her tough facade.

She lay her head on his shoulder like she always does when she was frustrated with something but did not want to talk about it. With him, she never really had to speak for him to understand.

"Kaela, you do know that nobody blames you. Nobody ever does and nobody ever will," he explained. He wasn't just trying to make her feel better, it was the truth. He could never know what it is she feels when it happens. Therefore, he could never tell her he knows exactly how she feels or that he understands.

With that thought, he keeps on thinking that even after all the years they've been together, no matter what he does, she will always feel alone.

He had always been curious what is it they feel when she's having an attack. Like being hit with a wave of grief and suffering, anger and hate, negative emotions all mixed into one blast. It made them feel like submitting to the end of the world.

"What is it like?" he asked with such concern.

"You know you're the first person to ask me that--she smiled-- I can let you feel it but that is one thing I will never want to do," she started to explain.

"The only choice she gives me is that I hurt you or she does it for me," she continued.

"Let me..." he wanted to say that he wanted to feel what it was like. That it wasn't fair that she had to bear it all by herself... but he was afraid. It was funny to admit that even Death was afraid.

He summoned his courage and asked, "Let me feel it too? I promise I won't--" He tried his hardest not to show his fear. He was a great actor; he had been acting for years now.

Kaela intently looked into his eyes to find some sort of doubt, remorse or fear. They all knew what she goes through in every attack. She could not imagine  person wanting to feel what it was like. She knew what Jeremi was thinking, just as Jeremi knew what was hers. The last thing she wanted to do what hurt her best friend more than she already has, but the thought of being able to relieve some of the pressure on her was so tempting...

Just with that thought, she instantly let her guard down and touch his hand. With that single touch of her fingertips, she was able to make him feel hell. He felt his heart break into a million peices. Millions of peices finding its way around his body pricking and stabing everything in their way. The pain was so intense that its magnitude is something he could not even describe. Pain, hurt, jealousy, anger all amplified a thousand times over.

Kaela had only touched him for second and immediately removed her finger from his skin. Jeremi felt his face get damp as tears flow from his eyes. He found himself one hand clutching at his chest and the other wound around his body like a child who woke from a nightmare, trying to protect himself from more pain.

"I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. She reached out to touch him and he fell back, avoiding it. Then he realized what he had done. He looked up expected to see Kaela taken aback, hurt; but all he saw was Kaela smiling, accepting the consequence of what she has done. She turned her head back towards the flames and said, "Even I'm afraid of myself," without a hint of bitterness.

"I didn't mean too... I had no idea that it was that..." He didn't know how to describe it. He was at a loss for words. He had already expected the worst and yet he was still blown away.

"How can you control something like that?" he asked.

"This isn't the worst of it. I have let some of it out during the attack. This is nothing. I have become used to this and you, offering yourself had just made me feel a whole lot better," she replied. He could see that she did somehow look relieved.

"Thank you," she said graciously. She was now looking straight at his eyes. She gave him a look he had never seen before. He had, but never directed at him. He could hear his heart thump louder than before. There was another fear growing in him. One that he thought he had long banished from his insides. A yearning he thought he had learned to control. The distance between them was excruciating. He could hear her breathing getting closer. He found her face coming closer, he didn't know if he was the one forwarding or was it her, then...

"Kaela," a voice from behind called. They turned around to see Lance Rowe standing a few feet from them.

That look that she was giving him immediately disappeared and was redirected toward somebody else. She looked back at Jeremi and smiled. She gave him a hefty yet swift kiss on the cheek and slowly stood up. She walked towards Lance and right before they left, she took one last look back at Jeremi who was still seating on the floor before a once crackling flame, now nothing but a few glowing embers.

Jeremi's eyes followed her as she stood up and walked towards the man he could never amount to. His own pain was back; Greater than before. She looked back at him, with her arms wound around another man. Their eyes met for a few seconds but the pain was back and the sight before him was unbearable. He quickly looked away. He never saw the pained look in Kaela's eyes when he did so. 

Kaela felt her heart slightly ache. A feeling she knew she shouldn't be having.

note: I still don't know if this will be in the main story. I want it to be but... I don't know where to put it. Lol. I also don't know if I'm gonna continue this. Looks like a good ending to me. I could right an extension, I have it already, I just don't know if it's too much.

"We're in a school--"

"Found them," Jeremi said as he spotted a group of kids quite different from the rest. They had pale-white skin yet they were very attractive. However, they secluded themselves from the other students. Jeremi thought that they were not that far-alike from this people. Except for the fact that he had something they wanted.

The group of pale-skinned people spotted them. Jeremi could see the wrinkles forming at the top of their brows. They were used to people eyeing them, it would be a first to find themselves doing the scrutiny. They're trying to listen to their conversation but could get nothing. As they were, they felt very much like a helpless human. Frustrated and alarmed, the group retreated to their vehicle and drove away.

"That's them, wasn't it?" Lance asked. "Why are we letting them leave?"

Jeremi didn't answer. He knew now, why he was assigned to this mission. Kaela must've been assign to just accompany him. Lance really didn't need to be there, but he was already accustomed to going on missions with his best friends.

These group was from a different kind. The first he had encountered. Ones that could not be harmed by the sun, thus go out during the day. Probably the most priviledged of their kind.

Then suddenly, there it was. Another pressence, one that was familiar to all three. Demis.

They were out in the woods, staking out the area probably searching for the creatures' residence. It would be easier to attack were they feel safe the most. Our appearance might've already alarmed them of a nearing danger. Perhaps it wasn't wise to have shown themselves.

"We need to make our presence unknown," Jeremi announced.

"Can't we just beat them to it?" Kaela asked.

"We're not sure if they are what these Demis are after. They may be after something else and if we act now, our cover could be blown and we risk exposing these creatures and ourselves. This particular kind are very rare and special, having them in the other side could be troubling," Jeremi explained.

"What do you mean "other side"? Aren't these creatures already a part of the "other side"?"

"These creatures are still Orsen. They are still in bounds of having the liberty to choose which side to join,"

"But don't they harm those being weaker than they are? For crying out loud, Jeri, they feed on humans," Kaela argued.

"They're not all like that... I'll tell you about it later but first we have to follow the Demis," Jeremi ordered. Kaela and Lance followed suit. They trailed the group of Demis going deeper into the woods. It looks like they weren't after the creatures after all. After a few more minutes and they have lost track.

They decided to stay in the forest and wait. There was a reason why the Demis headed this way in the first place. They knew far too much about Demi's strategy to leave .

Kaela climbed up a tree and rest on one of the top branches. She had a thing for heights. Jeremi and Lance soon followed her. It was better, after all, to see everything from that high of a perspective.

An hour or two passed and the sun was just about to set; Jeremi was explaining to them about his connection with this creatures and that not all of them was as bad humans say they are. Humans tend to make stories when they can't accept the truth. They just don't know that sometimes, stories take on lives of their own and they become truths.

Then Lance spotted movement on the ground. They're fast and swift. They were hunting wildlife in the area. Just as Jeremi described.

"Did you mask our voices?" Kaela asked.

Jeremi grinned, "No, I want them to know that we know about them." And just as he said that, the movement stopped.

"Why do you always have to brag?" she teased.

"How ofted do we get to do that?" he answered back. And in a blink of an eye, the three of them are right above the frightened creatures. Like lions threatened by a bigger predator. Jeremi chuckled. Loudly. He was enjoying seeing fear out of those who induce fear. 

The Demis were nowhere in sight and he couldn't feel them as well. He thought, he might as well, have a little fun.

Jeremi dropped from the tree they were hiding from and landed right in front of one them. She let out a small gasp, still trying to maintain composure. Jeremi just grinned menacingly at the gesture.

"You're scared," he stated. "Why are you scared?" he taunted.

"What are you?" the oldest from them asked.

"Smart question. 'What are you?'--he chuckled again-- Isn't it usually 'Who' not 'What'? Don't worry, I know what you are and the secret you keep; I have my own so you don't have to worry about me spilling yours," he assured them, still, he kept smiling at them with provocative eyes.

Lance and Kaela watched from above. It is true that you don't often see scarers get scared. This was enjoyable for them, but mainly because, that's not their original intention.

"What do you want from us?" the eldest again, asked.

"You're not new to this, are you?--he smiled-- Very well, yes, there is something I need from you but fear not, you will gain something from it in the end, if all goes well,"

Nobody spoke. They were waiting, cautiously anticipating any sudden moves from the strange person standing in front of them. 

"Okay--he said as he circled the group-- I just want you to join my ranks. It has its benefits besides from the one I'm going to offer you. That's all you need to do; you just have to work for me,"

"What exactly do you do?" a boy with dark brown locks asked.

"I can't tell you that unless you say Yes to my offer," Jeremi replied.

"You know what we are, what could you possible offer a bunch of immortal beings?" the eldest girl asked.

"Tell me, what is it that you don't have and want the most?" he teased. He looked at the oldest man, because Jeremi knew that he would know the answer. The man looked back at Jeri. Black eyes looking into black eyes. Then those eyes grew with realization.

"That's right...work for me, and I'll give you your souls," he smirked.

to be continued... 

disclaimer: If you have no idea what I have just been describing, those "creatures" are vampires; Stephenie Meyer's vampires, in fact. I have just adapted Stephenie Meyer's version of what a vampire would look like. I'm not making it my own, it's just that it gave me an idea about one of my characters. Again; this are Stephenie Meyer's vampires, not mine. thank you.