With the Sentinels not training me the next week, I finally had time to catch up to classes.

It turned out Aris was right. I was definitely going to fail.

All the subjects had advanced ahead and I felt absolutely lost in class. My mind was distracted by a number of things.

I sat in Life Skills class that day and stared off into space, my mind wandering. I was still confused about Aris and how I felt about him.

I still didn't know what had come over me that day. Why I had kissed him. I knew I was in love with Crystal, but couldn't understand why my body had reacted the way that it had. I couldn't understand why I had pulled him so close to me. Wanting to touch him. Kiss every inch of him. I just knew that the thought of him leaving Asteria has rattled me. I was desperate to keep him close.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. It didn't seem like he was paying much attention either. He had his hand propped on the table and his face rested on his open palm as he gazed at the professor, unseeing. The golden sunlight bounced off his equally golden head, sending golden flecks of light shimmering through his hair. His emerald eyes looked bored as they stared straight ahead.

I wrenched my eyes away from him. Part of me thought the reason I had kissed him was because I knew about his feelings. After the way he had reacted, it made sense. I had kissed him just so that he wouldn't leave Asteria, something that I was almost sure he was doing out of anger at me. On one hand, I was glad he wasn't making it difficult for me by mentioning it. I only caught him looking at me a little more frequently than usual, and due to some reason, it made me feel hot over. He seemed to respect my relationship with Crystal. He was patient. Almost too much.

Like he was waiting for me to come to him.

I sighed softly, my heart in a turmoil. But there were other things I needed to focus on.

"Aahan," I caught up to Aahan after class that day as he sat in the mess along with Nia. He looked at me and waved. I walked over and sat beside him. "You're going to have to tutor me."

Nia glanced curiosly at me. "How come you're not at training today?"

I averted her eyes. I wasn't too keen about telling everyone about my vampirish abilities.

"Er...Azure gave me a break for sometime. "

It wasn't a complete lie. He had given me a break.

Aris walked over to us with a tray laden with food. I glanced at him once and looked away, my heart fluttering unexpectedly. He sat across us and gazed curiously. "What's up?"

"Apparently Azure gave Zeke a week's break," Aahan said as he shoved some hot dogs in his mouth.

Aris eyes flitted to mine and I saw a slight blush on his cheeks as he looked at Aahan and spoke. "Yeah, I heard. I think it might even be good-" his eyes flitted to mine again. "It will give him a chance to catch up till mid terms."

Even though evertime I thought about training, I felt a worried knot in the pit of my stomach. I threw myself into studying, trying to distract myself from the million things that were in my head.

I was sitting in the library alone one evening. Being Saturday, most students were out, their hearts unburdened by mysterious life threating powers and the possibility of another Znicit.

I was staring at the same line in the book grossly titled, 'Fun With Fungi' , not absorbing anything when I heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Sunshine."

I looked at the source of the noise and found Aris leaning agaisnt the bookshelf behind me. He walked over to me and sat beside me, placing a thick book on the table.

I stared at the book and then at him.

This was the first time that we had been alone after the kiss and something about that made me nervous. I was afraid I had given him the wrong idea. I was afraid that it felt like I was playing with his emotions. That I had kissed him just to humour him.

I had kissed him because that's what had felt right at that moment. That was all I had wanted in that moment. To have him close. To feel his comforting warmth.

I hated how much I thought about it. Almost like I was scared. Maybe I was.

"I think you might something useful in here," Aris opened the book to a seemingly random page and my eyes widened as I gazed at the title.

"Extraordinary Humans: Bloodletters," I muttered as I pulled the book towards me.

"I think understanding how it works might help you control it," Aris said. "Also, I don't think you should go for a Znicit."

I sighed and rested my head on the book as I gazed at him. "Can you imagine how different things would be if I just had fire? Or another primary element?"

Aris bit his lip. "Things would be easier. Yes."

"I can't believe I clocked Helios. Fucking Helios. That guy has temples in his name," I shook my head and buried my face in the book. "If I was eighteen already Azure would probably put me in prison."

"Accidents happen all the time when you're training, Sunshine," Aris said. "As a Supreme, Azure will be used to that. Especially one as powerful as you, accidents are bound to happen."

My heart was raced slightly faster in my chest. I straightened up and gazed at him. "Can you honestly say that I don't scare you Aris?"

He gazed back at me as he answered defiantly. "No,"

I couldn't tell if he was lying or not. His eyes however seemed sincere.

"It doesn't scare you that I might someday drain all the blood from your body and kill you without exerting much effort at all,"

He looked at me, narrowing his eyes. "I'll probably have you damned to the depths of the earth," he shook his head. "Stop being dramatic. You'll not be doing anything of that sort."

I sighed. "But I could."

"But you won't."

"Yes," I said exasperated. "Isn't it disturbing enough that I could?"

"No," Aris looked at me. "You couldn't Zeke. Because you're not a murderer."

I gazed at him for a while. "When Ezra died, I wasn't sad."

He raised one eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that..." I took a deep breath, "I really...really...really hated him Aris," I shook my head as I gazed at him, my heart pounding at the thought. "What if what had come of my powers was merely something...that I had always wanted? What if it was my hate exploding at him? "

"I don't think it works that way."

"Aris is right. It doesn't."

We looked around as Aahan walked over to us and sat across from us. His brown eyes questioning as he glanced between the two of us. I felt suddenly uncomfortable and wondered if Aris had told Aahan about our encounter that night. Aahan spoke. "What doesn't though?"

Aris looked at me from the corner of his eye. He wasn't sure if he should be telling Aahan, frankly, I wasn't either. But he had saved my life. He was the one who had told me about bloodletting in the first place.

"I...I think I accidentally bloodlet a Supreme."

Aahan's mouth dropped open. "I accidentally swallowed a peanut. That's an accident. How can you...accidentally..."  much to my shock, he didn't look scared, merely curious. "How did you do that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It just....happened."

"What were you trying to do when it happened?"

"Well I...was supposed to extract these orbs of light...and-" I sighed. "Then I kind of blacked out. I just felt this... instense void in my chest and it felt like I needed to fill it with light. It was killing me. The empty....hollow feeling."

I gazed and saw that they exchanged a worried look. I sighed, raking a hand through my hair. "Never mind. I don't want to freak you both out."

I started leaving before Aahan spoke. "Wait. I think...I might know what happened."

I sat back down. "What did?"

"You felt a longing towards this light, and I supoise, you tried to call it to yourself but ended up calling more than just the light. You ended up calling the Supreme's very life source."

"You know what Rana, " Aris said, shuddering slightly. "It sounds way creepier when you put it that way."

"Maybe that's where you're wrong," Aahan said, and I saw some old sorrow beneath his brown irises. "I know how it can be to be scared of your own powers Zeke," he shook his head. "You have to get out of it. You are more than just your powers. You have to trust your own ground. There's no way you'll learn to control them if they scare you. If you're constantly afraid of losing control."

I gazed at him. I knew he was right. But I didn't know how not to be afraid.

"Embrace your powers Zeke," he said, lowering his voice.

I nodded. "I'll try."

*

That day after classes, I decided to pay a visit to Crystal. This time, I informed all three of them as we sat in gardens. I didn't explicitly told them where I was going, but just that I was.

Aris seemed to freeze up for a nano second as I told them, but thankfully didn't react. I was still confused by my own actions. But I knew I couldn't think about it at that moment.

I made my way to Neronz, my brain a turmoil of emptions. I still wasn't sure what was to come of my powers. If I was ripped off them, I would have to leave Asteria. There was even the possibility that I would have to return to Stonewall.

Thinking about it made my head hurt and I forced myself to not let my mind wander anywhere near the possibility that made me want to scream.

I reached up the staircase and took a deep breath, my heart fluttering excitedly. Just when I raised a hand to knock on the door however, I heard noises from behind the door. Voices. Illegible voices.

I could differentiate Crystal's voice talking rapidly, her volume too low for me to understand her words. Another was a man's voice.

My heart spiraled into my stomach. It felt like all the air was sucked out from the room.

I took a step back, my brain reeling. My first instinct was to get away from there.

I couldn't believe she was still entertaining clients.

My second instinct was much more violent.

I took a step back from the door as if scalded. Blood pounding in my ears as I tried to take deep steadying breaths. My stomach knotted uncomfortably.

The door swung open and an unfamiliar man stepped out. He was tall, wearing a tux. His light hair slicked back immaculately. His slate grey eyes glanced at me once before he walked away.

Crystal stood behind him, her mouth slightly open as she gazed at me. "Zeke,"

I trned away from her and started making my way downstairs, running without looking back.

"Zeke!"

I could hear her calling after me, but I didn't care. It felt like someone was ripping my heart out. I had never thought of what she did for a living. I had never wanted to think about it. I had thought that now that she knew about my feelings, she would respect it.

Maybe I was being stupid. Impractical.

But I didn't care.

I had reached downstairs by the time she managed to catch up with me and grabbed my arm as she whispered. "It's not what you think,"

I turned to look at her. Anger coursed through me at the sight of her. "What is it then?"

She took a deep breath. "I just-" she sighed. "I can't tell you like this. Come to my room. Please calm down. I don't like you this way."

Her hazel eyes pleaded and I felt myself softening. I nodded curtly at her as we made our way back to her apartment.

The moment I enetered, I crossed my arms and clenched my jaw, refusing to look at her.

"Sit."

"No."

"Please."

"Nope."

She sighed as she sat on the couch and looked at me. "I haven't- " she took a deep breath. "I left it, Zeke. Months ago. Now I'm just trying to find a way out."

"Who was he?" I didn't want to sound jealous, but my words were laced with venomous envy.

"An old client," she said softly. "He..." she sighed. "I refused."

"How...do you earn money then?"

"I have some savings. I'm living off them while I look for a job. And I think-" a small smile lit up her face. "I might just have found one. It's this cute little tea place run by the most adorable senior couple."

I glared at her, my poisonour anger subsiding slowly as I made my way towards her and sat on the couch. "So... you're not...anymore?"

She shook her head. "No. I love you."

I stared at her, my heart thundering. "I love you too."

She threw her arms around me and I pulled her close, my heart fluttering in my chest, She leaned back to look at me. "And hopefully, with a little more money I can get this other place I have my eye on. It's near the central square. Away from this hovel."

I nodded and kissed her forehead. "That sounds really nice."

She smiled. "Doesn't it?"

In the back of my brain, I suddenly felt the visage of the vision I had had earlier. I dint understand it yet and quickly pushed it out of my head before it consumed me completely.