I made my way through the library when I woke up. I was tired from the night before. Elle and I had run through the mirrored tent all night. We spent our time laughing and talking. It was nice to have such a good friend.

I looked down at my arm. There was a bandage wrapped around where I had been bitten. The doctor said it would scar. I would be scarred. I had never had a scar before. It felt odd, unusual and uncomfortable really. I didn’t know what to do about it.

So I did the one thing I could think of. Research.

Not on scars. On the creature that gave me the scar. Vampires.

I scanned through titles, searching for the one I wanted. Old covers. New covers. Worn covers. Clean covers. Dusty covers. Rusted covers. Wooden covers. So many books.

I made my way to the end of the tenth row before a title caught my eye._ The Midnight Feeders: All You Need to Know on Vampires._ Perfect.

I tried to pull the book from the shelf, but it didn’t move. It felt like someone was pulling on it as well. I pulled, it came out a little, then it was pulled back. I gasped. “The heck?” I mumbled. I pulled again and the process was repeated.

In frustration, I kicked the shelf and a book on the case fell to the other side. It hit something, or someone, and a noise of pain was heard. “Ow.” The person mumbled.

“Damian?” I asked as I yanked the book off the shelf.

In the gap the book left, his face was smirking at me. “Hi, sunshine.” He said.

“First being in my bed, now stalking me. I’m starting to get concerned for you.”

He feigned surprise. “Concerned? For me? It almost sounds like you care.”

“Trust me, I don’t.”

He stepped out from the other side of the book case. “Why do you want that book, sunshine? Interested in my heritage?” He smirked and leaned against the shelf.

“No. I want to find out how to stop these attacks.” I replied.

“Uh-huh.” Then he was following me as I walked away. “I didn’t see you around much last night. It was almost like you were avoiding me.”

I was. After he spent a night in my bed, I had been worried about my feelings for him growing. I needed to squash those feelings. Loving him would only end in disappointment for me. He woods leave me. It was destined to happen. It was my fate.

“Avoiding you? But why would I pass up a lovely opportunity to spend dreadful time with you? As you said, any girl would love to be in my position.” I sneered.

He rolled his eyes and joined me at a table. “Exactly. So why were you avoiding me, sunshine?”

“As I said, why would I avoid you?” He glared at me as I smirked. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to read in peace.”

“Why are you reading about vampires? Interested in my heritage?”

“Or maybe I want to stop the attacks.”

That sobered him quickly. His eyes darkened, no doubt imagining when I got bit like I did. He glance at my wrist and I shifted it to hide the bandage. I could almost hear him growling.

“So, if you don’t mind, I’ll be working now.” I said.

Damian shook his head. “Look, we’re in this together, but I’m not sure if I can trust you.” He replied.

“What?”

“I can’t let you get hurt. I promised your father that I’d protect you. That means that you’re my responsibility. I’ve already failed before. So I can’t let you put yourself in danger.”

I scoffed. “I put myself in danger regularly. I’ll be fine.”

“You can’t be sure of that. I’m going to be fighting those vampires and I don’t want you being there. Getting hurt.”

I took a deep breath and looked him in his eyes. His beautiful onyx eyes. The onyx eyes I’d seen staring at me so many times.

“I want to help. I won’t stop until I do help.” I stated firmly.

Damian sighed deeply. “Promise me that you’ll try to stay out of danger?”

“Fine, I promise to _try_.”

“Good.”

I stared at him deeply. “Now tell me, how do you kill a vampire?”

“Are you gonna kill me?”

“Depends on if you annoy me.”

“Fair enough. To kill a vampire, you need to purge the darkness from their soul with light.”

Purging the soul?

He laughed. “But there really isn’t enough light in the world to do that.”

I smiled and laughed numbly. What he didn’t know was that there really was. And I knew exactly where it is.