Cassie woke up and realized she was in a parking lot. She turned around and saw the gas pumps behind her. She wiped her eyes and leaned back. She felt groggy and her mouth was dry. She waited a few minutes before Kade finally showed up. He climbed into the car and set a coffee in the cup holder. He looked at her before starting up the car and pulling out. She put her arm over her eyes as they passed by streetlights.

“Please tell me how much longer.”

“Half an hour.”

“Thank God.” Cassie went silent as she listened to the car engine. “Look at me, traveling across the country with a kidnapper while patiently sitting in the front seat. I’m a terrible excuse…” Her voice drifted off as she remembered why there was no point in going back. She remembered why she hasn’t bothered to escape because he can hunt her down, not that she has any family or real friends to go back to.

Kade stayed silent as he turned onto streets. After a few minutes Cassie looked at a sign.

“Edisto Island, South Carolina? What in the world is all the way out here?” She looked at him and then threw up her arms when she realized she wasn’t going to get an answer. After a few minutes he turned onto a road leading into a wooded area.

“I have a home out here.” She looked back at him.

“How do you afford these things? This car, homes, nice clothes.” She turned back to the window.

“I own a business. I have my fair share of stocks and I have my own smuggling business for people who want to get into the country.” Cassie was shocked and she stared at him. He pulled off onto a driveway and Cassie watched as the headlights lit up the sizable home surrounded by trees. Cassie couldn’t see much of it in the dark. He pulled up to the home and opened the garage. He pulled the vehicle into the garage and got out. Before he could make it around to Cassie’s side, she opened her door and stood up, letting out a cry. She picked up her foot and looked at the bottom. There were cuts and she remembered she ran off barefooted. She tried to brush of what she could before sitting down and putting her high heels back on. Wincing she stood up and stepped away from the safety of the car.

She stared at Kade. He held her gaze and closed the door. After a moment she looked away towards the ground. Kade turned his back and walked away towards a door. She followed him into the home. Right when she walked in there was hardwood floors. Her heels clicked as she walked across the floor from what looked like to be the entryway into a kitchen area. To her left was a kitchen and an island bar separated the kitchen from the walkway where she was standing. To her right was a sunken living room. She noticed that all the décor in the kitchen and living room was black and white. The living room had two couches, a fireplace, piano, coffee table, and two comfortable looking chairs. There were side tables with lamps resting near the chairs. Their lampshades were a deep red.

Cassie continued to follow Kade and saw the dining room with a long table and white tablecloth. A vase of white roses sat in the middle, looking fresh. They passed a closed door. Cassie stopped and stared at it since all other doors in the house were left open. She put her hand on the door handle and suddenly Kade grabbed her wrist and pulled her into him. Her captured wrist was in between them and she looked up at him shocked.

“That is off limits. You may walk anywhere else in the house; go through anything that you please, but that it off limits. Do I make myself clear?” Cassie nodded slightly and he let go of her and continued to walk. She stared at the door.

“Why does everyone have secret doors?” Cassie whispered to herself and continued to follow him. She watched as they passed a staircase leading upstairs, but it was dark so she couldn’t see upstairs. He walked behind the staircase and into a room. Cassie followed and was standing in a bedroom. She was startled when she saw two women standing in the room wearing actual maid uniforms. They stood up straight as Kade walked towards them and smiled back at Cassie.

“These are my two live-ins. They keep the place clean for whenever I return. They come from Cuba. If you need assistance, ask them.” Cassie stared in awe at the blank look in their eyes as if devoid of emotion. He excused them and they walked out and up the stairs. She looked back at him.

“What did you do to them?” Cassie felt angry for them.

“I made them obedient. That is all.” Cassie felt increasingly angry; she didn’t even look at the dresser with a mirror attached as it started to shake. Kade noticed it and watched Cassie with interest.

“You can’t control people according to what ever you please to do! It’s not right!”

“It is my home, Cassandra. I made a deal with them, they knew the conditions and they accepted them.”

“A deal? Is that all? What about their wants and will?” Suddenly the dresser pulled forward and a brush that was resting on it flung off and past Cassie’s face. She screamed and jumped back. She tripped and fell backwards onto her behind. The brush hit the wall and dropped to the floor on the other side of the room next to the large bed. Cassie stared at it in disbelief.

Kade stood up and Cassie’s eyes snapped to him as he pushed the dresser back into place. He sat on the arm of one of two chairs in her room that was faced towards a television.

“What was that?” Cassie felt out of breath.

“That, Cassandra, is the reason why I’ve had interest in you.” Cassie stared at him confused she stood up and leaned against the wall next to the door.

“I don’t understand.” Kade offered a small smile.

“Cassandra, within you lays an immense amount of power that is hard to control. Unless you can learn to at least control it, you could end up killing many people. That is why you have been feeling so emotional. You have a buildup of that power and no way to outlet it safely. I have been waiting for you to mature enough to start having that power outlet.”

Cassie stared at him as if he was crazy and she tried to let what he was saying sink in. She finally bent down and took off her shoes and shook her head at him. She walked into the bathroom that was adjoined to her room. She washed her hands and winced at how raw they still felt from the rest stop. She kept shaking her head, in denial. She felt herself starting to reach an irrational point as tears came to her eyes. She scrubbed her hands harder and screamed when the soap dispenser flung into the sink. She pulled her hands out and backed into the wall and slid to the floor. A towel was held out to her and she looked up at Kade and took it from him. She dried her hands and slowly stood up. She hurt all over and was hoping that this was all just a dream and that she would wake up from it.

She tried to walk past him but the bathroom was narrow. He just stood where he was and watched her. She shook her head at him and turned around and took a moment and started a bath with hot water.

“What you are saying is a load of bull crap!” She turned around and crossed her arms. “So basically you are saying I’m a witch or some crap like that? No, not buying that.”

“Actually, you are stronger than a witch. Witches need incantations, you don’t. You point at something; it can float, blow up, and change. Your magic defies the power of science and space. You can truly make water into wine.” Cassie shook her head.

“I can’t do any of those things! Stop saying that.” Cassie tried to push past him but he grabbed her arms, gently but firmly. He turned her around to face the bathtub that is filling up with water.

“I’m here to help you. This might take awhile, but look at that water. Just fill your mind with that image of the water.” Cassie sighed but did what he asked. She stared at the water and felt herself being drawn to it. After awhile her mind was only seeing water as if she was looking across the ocean. “Now imagine it as sand.”

Cassie heard his voice echo in her head. She tried to imagine she as on a beach. It kept going back to water but after a few moments, all she saw was sand as far as the eye could see. She shook her head and pulled away from him.

“Listen, imagining stuff isn’t going to change anything.” He smiled and shrugged.

Cassie turned to turn off the water and yelped when the bathtub was filled with sand instead. Sand was pouring out of the faucet instead of water. She stood stalk still and stared at it. She slowly walked forward and picked up a fistful, and then poured it back into the tub.

“Picture it back as water.” Cassie looked at him. She then she looked back at the sand and stared at it until she was seeing it with her mind’s eye. After awhile it turned into water in her mind. She suddenly felt tired and lost the image. She opened her eyes and was looking up towards the ceiling. She felt Kade’s arms under her back, holding her up. He stared down at her and she blinked, feeling like the world was tipping upside down.

“What happened?” She looked around and saw she was still in the bathroom. He set her down on the floor and helped her sit up. She saw the bathtub was half filled with sand, but the other half was water. Water was pouring from the faucet again. Kade got up and turned off the faucet before helping Cassie get to her feet.

“You wore yourself out. Controlling the power takes more energy then just releasing it.” Cassie felt much calmer than she had the past couple days, when her world started turning upside down.

“Why did you terrorize me?” He looked at her. “When you first showed up, why did you terrorize me then and now you are nice to me? Besides the fact you are a murderer.”

“Because I needed to start off showing you that I will get what I want and that I would not accept disrespect.” He walked out of the bathroom and Cassie stared after him. When she followed him out, she looked around the room. On the right side of the room was a large four-poster bed with netting. Next to the bed was a nightstand and lamp. To the left of the bed was a desk with an old fashion sewing machine resting on top. To the right wall of the bed were two closets, both with folding doors. Kade was standing by the closets watching her. The closets were directly right of the main door. Right across the door was a door that Cassie could see led to a deck.

“It’s almost a fantasy room.” Cassie noticed that it was all black and white, just like the rest of the house. “Why is everything in your house black and white?”

“When you are a vampire, colors are all much brighter. Most resort to black and white because color is shown so well against both black and white.” Cassie nodded.

“Now, why are you trying to help me control the power? You displayed this week that you don’t have much respect for human life, so it wasn’t to save those around me.”

“Because I need your help. The supernatural community has no police board, to be honest. What Aiden and Kris did was an attempt at one, but humans cannot do it. I need to create a council where laws will be set out and punishments dealt out to the vampire community in a way that will demand respect. Only way to start one is to first, find vampires that are old enough and respectable enough and second, to find a way to instill terror into them. I need you for that.” Cassie stared at him.

“What kind of laws.”

“A pecking order, per say. Such as you can only be so old to turn someone into a vampire, and then only one person may be turned per vampire per 100 years. How many human lives can be taken by blood thirst.” Cassie turned and gazed off.

Kade stared at her as thoughts raced through her mind. He walked over and stood close to her. She stared up at him. She looked at his face and his eyes scared her. She put a hand against his chest and felt the soft silk as she pushed him at the same time she took a step back. He grabbed her arms and she froze. He let go of one and put his hand on the back of her head. He pulled her close and softly kissed her forehead. She hated him so much for what he did to Kris and Aiden, but she became even angrier with herself when for a moment, when he is so kind and gentle, she forgets that he did those awful things. He held her there for a moment and Cassie felt her heart feel like it was going to be ripped out. Kade let go of her. He took a step back, stared at her for a moment and then walked out, softly closing the door behind him.

Cassie sat on the floor and let out all the emotions that had swept over her during the day. She sobbed, threw items, and wore herself out. She lay down on the floor, pressing her face against the plush white carpet. She let the last few memories of Kris and Aiden pass through her mind, and fell asleep as the sun came up.