After the clown incident, the rest of the haunted house walk-through was more thrilling than scary as the characters jumped out anytime you made a wrong turn, redirecting you to the correct path. None of the costumed workers dared to do more than that, keeping their distance from the violent teens. They finally made it outside through the back screen door, unamused by the cannibalistic butcher's dream in the kitchen.

Nastia inhaled the night air and was assaulted by the smell of cigarette smoke and popcorn. It looked like this was a rest point before the entrance to the corn maze; where the paying guests could look at enclosures of goats and ponies, buy treats, or use the bathroom. Fake fog curled around her booted ankles and spooky music played over some speakers as various groups were either in line for the farm shed that was converted into a snack shack or for the row of rental porta-potties.

"I want my money back," Anastasia joked to Pam. "Where is that manager?"

"Don't lie! You had fun. I hope that clown is alright. I think AJ made him spit out a kidney," Pam tittered then started hopping around like a bunny on Adderall. "Oh, I gotta go. BRB."

Both her and Austin's friend, who still hadn't been properly introduced to everyone, had disappeared into separate porta-potties. Nastia crinkled her nose at the disgusting stalls invented for weak human bladders, proud of the fact she has never had to use one.

"Looks like everyone is taking a break. Nastia, Savannah and me are gonna get something from the snack stand. Want anything?" Ryan asked. "I'm buying."

Eating something and actually tasting it was now a long-lost dream. Watching others enjoy their treats would be masochistic torture. She sighed and said, "I'm not eating anything out of a farm shed. But thanks, Ryan."

"Babe, I want some cotton candy," Reina said to her boyfriend.

"The hell you want me to do about it?"

"Well, duh. Buy it for me."

"Woman, I ain't your bank. Let the short guy pay. He's offering." Austin's obnoxious voice traveled across the field causing a few heads to turn.

"God. You're such a dick," Reina groaned matching his volume.

She stomped away towards the shed with a sympathetic Savannah and Ryan in tow while her boyfriend shouted after her. "Yeah, just walk away when you know I'm right! Psh, not my fault you forgot your wallet."

Jason, AJ, and Ivy had grouped off talking by the entrance to the maze. Nastia regretted not heading their way while waiting for Pam when Austin started walking over to her like the thug he wishes he was. She'd rather feel the fiery throb of bloodlust than talk to him.

"Hey, Anastasia," he said drawing her name out in a way that instantly put her on edge. He placed a cigarette between his lips. "How you been?"

"Fine. But stand down wind, I can smell your latest buzz."

"Dang. Reina said you were a snob."

"Oh, did she?"

"Yeah, I'm sure you know how she is, bitching all the time. She is always on my case about something. Anyways, she didn't say you were funny though."

She wasn't surprised by his words. Reina has called her a snob to her face before, which she much preferred. The human girl was snarky and rude, yes, but not two-faced. Why her boyfriend felt the need to roll his eyes and complain to one of her friends about her? Nastia could only think of one of two reasons, but both reasons boiled down to this irrefutable fact: Austin was just a stupid bastard. His curious eyes traveling down her body drew Nastia to the same conclusion.

The vampire, filled with the same disgust she had with convenient porta-potties, snarled her upper lip, baring her teeth at Reina's lousy man-child of a boyfriend. "Get to know me and you'll see how funny I can be."

"Was that an invitation?"

Her face fell into a passive, blasé expression that perfectly resembled her mother's. "No. A threat."

Austin chuckled, ignorant of the truth in her words. He held out the cigarette. "Want one?"

"Not even a little bit."

He smirked, yellow and snaggle-toothed. "You sure? You ever tried it?"

"No."

"Then how do you know you won't like it? Here. I'll give one to you. Come on. You look too good. Be a little bad. Take it." He held out his cigarette, the one that had just been in his mouth, up to her lips. "I bet you'll like it if you try it."

She pushed his arm away as gently as she could holding in a building anger. He kept pushing back as if her protests were just part of a playful game. Chagrinned, she opened her mouth to insult him in every single way possible when AJ's scent stilled her. He moved to her side, getting between her and Austin, and asked, "Hey, Anastasia. You good over here?"

Austin sneered. "Yeah, she's good. Me and Ana were just talking. You got a problem with that, amigo?"

AJ narrowed his eyes at him. "Excuse me?"

"What are you, kid? Deaf? We're good here. Comprende?"

Irritation radiated off AJ in heat waves. The feeling unsettled Nastia and she was not even the target of his glare. Looking between them was like watching a foolish hiker poke sticks at a bear then act surprised when he is mauled to pieces. Who would have thought the perfect President AJ Reed was capable of such malice? A hungry smirk graced her lips. Truth be told, Nastia wouldn't mind seeing that carnage, but she knew she had to stop a fight from breaking out.

With those thoughts in mind, she reached out for his hand. Giving it a squeeze, she murmured in a tone barely above a whisper, "It's okay, AJ. Please."

He whipped his head around in angry confusion. Seeing the pleading look in her eyes caused his shoulders to lose their tension. Her heart did a double thump when he turned his hand in hers, threading their fingers together. "Okay. Let's go."

He turned away from Austin pulling Anastasia along with him, not really giving her much of a choice. Neither of them registered Austin's final remarks. They didn't go back to where Jason and Ivy stood. He steered her over towards the pony pen.

"Why?" He demanded.

She clicked her tongue at his tone. "Why did I not want you to fight the prick? Why do you think? Were you really going to risk being arrested over him? Or did you forget you became a legal adult back in August?"

"You know when my birthday is?"

"We've been in school together since fifth grade and I am your secretary. It's my job to know," she huffed.

She wanted to add that his ethnicity wouldn't help his case either, but she was sure he already knew this fact well. He didn't say anything else, but his slightly calloused hand was squeezing hers so hard that Nastia was positive he was still making a conscious effort to cool his temper. The roughness stirred her down to her core in some unspeakable way. Sensing he needed a reprieve to calm himself down, she looked around to distract herself from her own murderous thoughts and the feel of his pleasantly warm hand in hers. Her ears picked up the different group conversations around them. Back at the shed, Pam had joined her other friends.

"Their caramel apples are so good!" Savannah squealed. "Want one, Pam? They also have packets of candy corn."

"Oh. I have decided to stop eating candy for good..." Nastia waited for the punchline because Pam, her Pam, doesn't do dieting. She said she would rather die fat and happy than be an unhappy, anorexic model. As expected, the redhead continued, "I shall start eating candy for evil. Mwahaha. Of course, I want one."

"Hey, are AJ and Nastia together?" Ryan suddenly asked.

"Why do you say that?"

She could feel their gazes shift over to them. Resisting the urge to yank her hand away from AJ's, she turned her attention to Jason and Ivy's ongoing conversation.

"Do you want to leave?" Jason was asking Ivy.

"Whatever. Like he said, it's not like we were ever dating."

"You know he didn't mean it like---" he cut himself off.

Next.

"Sure, man. We can score some more from Frankie. If you give me twenty, I can cover the other twenty?"

"Hells yeah," Austin mumbled to his friend as he lit the cigarette in his mouth.

"What was that about?"

"I was just talking to Anastasia. Mexican got jealous, I guess. I don't know, man. Thinks he's a badass or something. Lucky for him, he walked away. You know I would've messed him up real good."

He isn't even Mexican, you piece of human garbage.

His friend snorted. "You trying to get with Reina's friend, the blondie? She is gonna kill you, man."

"Well, her other two friends aren't much to look at. But that chick. Oh man. If I could get that on my dick, I'd kick Reina to the curb."

"You serious?"

"Yeah, man. You seen her? 'Course I'm serious."

"Yeah, she is fine as Hell. Bet she would look really nice on her knees."

A shudder ran up Nastia's spine and her head started pounding. Don't kill him. Don't kill him. Don't kill him. She is not sure if she was convincing herself not to kill AJ or Austin, she just knew she should not kill anyone right now. Not yet. But oh, she really wanted to. She really, really wanted to.

AJ's voice pushed past the headache. "Anastasia? Nastia!"

"Huh?"

"You okay? You looked pretty intense for a second."

"Yeah, I'm---"

"Fine?" He raised his eyebrow then scoffed and rolled his eyes at her glare. "Don't get mad. It's not my fault you're so predictable."

The remark sounded like what he had said when they had sparred with one another. The humiliation of not being able to land a hit or block his hits blossomed on her cheeks. "I am not. But that isn't important right now. You shouldn't--"

"Wait. I know what you're going to say."

"Oh? Care to share? I am dying to know what I was going to say before you interrupted me, AJ."

"Something along the lines of I shouldn't have interfered, that you didn't need to be rescued, or I should mind my own business. And yeah. I know you don't need me to save you. You made that clear. But don't expect me to apologize for it either."

She perused him coolly. "Are you done?"

He pursed his lips, letting out a frustrated sigh and running his free hand through his thick locks before it retreated to the warmth of his hoodie pocket. For the first time, Anastasia thought of AJ as not just attractive but adorable in a sense. The thought was random and weird, to say the least. The hell is wrong with her? AJ Reed is not cute. He is the enemy. He is food if anything. Yeah. Like a cow. It's okay to think cows are adorable. Doesn't matter in the end because they're tasty as steak.

Not many people would dream about cows the way she has dreamt about AJ, she admitted. Is her sexual attraction strictly linked to prolonged exposure to an Affinity? This has been on her mind since the first dream. Of course. It is the only thing that makes sense. That is the only logical reason her heart does somersaults when he looks at her.

"What do you want from me, Nastia?"

"What... do I want?" Right now, she didn't know whether she wanted to bite him or kiss him. Or something even more indescribable to both extremes. Either way, her thoughts made her want to get away from him. At the same time, she couldn't take a single step.

"Yeah," he said looking straight into her eyes.

"Sorry. What were we talking about? I got sidetracked."

He sighed, turning away and releasing his spell. "Never mind."

A couple of minutes passed as she tried to gather her thoughts. In that time, he slipped their joined hands in his pocket when a cold gust of wind tousled her hair over her face. That small action and his resulting laugh made her feel butterflies in her stomach, butterflies she wanted to puke out. She flipped her hot mess of tangles back and finally said, "I didn't need saving because I wasn't in danger, nor did I feel in danger..."

"Right. Nothing scares you, Barbie."

"But thank you anyway. For worrying about me."

His eyes searched hers for a good minute. His face softened. "No es nada."

"What he said... it didn't bother you, right? What I mean is: are you okay?"

"It wasn't the first racist remark I have heard and definitely won't be the last. Está bien. Surprising though, given his girlfriend is Hispanic."

Not surprising given what a bad boyfriend he is.

Another gust of wind startled the dead leaves on the ground. She instinctively stepped closer to AJ's side using his body as a shield. His heartbeat picked up piercing her ears. Realizing what she did, she stepped back. The hand in his pocket wouldn't move, however. The muscles in her hand locked, disobeying her brain's demands to release her hold on him. Panicked, she tried to yank her arm away only to pull his hand out of his pocket as well. Standing arm's length apart now, but still connected by their linked hands, she nearly growled at her lack of control.

"Eres una chica confusa, Nastia," he laughed.

"What did you call me?"

"I said you are one confusing girl."

Letting an irritation consume her, she was able to pull her hand out of his. Holding it to her chest as if he had burned her, she said, "And you are one dense boy out of a thousand. Who said you could call me Nastia?"

"Infierno Santo! Why are you suddenly getting upset? I have been calling you that. I thought it didn't bother you anymore."

It doesn't.

"Well, it does. You bother me. Just stop."

"Stop what?"

She stormed off without explaining herself, as if she could even if she wanted to. She didn't know what to do about AJ or her feelings for him or if there were feelings there to do something about! All of it was so unclear. Why think about it at all? He will be dead, or she will be. The ending of this story has not changed. There was nothing she could do about AJ Reed right now.

As she joined her friends at the entrance to the corn maze, she saw Austin put his arm around Reina's shoulders. They had already made up after their little spat. It was a never-ending toxic pattern.

Anastasia saw Reina's pathetic future laid out in front of her. Because of her own absent sperm donor, Reina would settle for the crumbs of affection from any poor excuse of a man, like Austin. She will put up with his crap and forgive him for every indiscretion in the name of love, a slave to her own emotions. Once she gets pregnant, she will be cemented in the same hopeless situation. Those precious mistakes will take away any potential Reina would have had left. They would suffer, as she had, the cycle repeating, being raised as fatherless children with no self-esteem reaching for unattainable happiness.

Nastia's eyes darkened. She didn't know what to do about AJ, but she knew exactly what to do about Austin.