Narrative P.O.V.

Cain sat at his desk, looking at nothing.

The tower was dark.

Moonlight invaded his senses almost as much as the sunlight did but the thick stone walls kept the majority of the noise out in addition to the light so he could actually think.

The only thing he didn't like about where he sat was the fact that he would've rather been somewhere else.

He was restless that night knowing that Ella slept only a few floors beneath his feet.

Cain still couldn't believe she existed.

She certainly wasn't supposed to... that's what everyone had told him his entire life.

Looking at her, he thought he was dreaming. But standing next to her, he was reminded she was real. Whenever he touched her, she was a reminder of the fact that he wasn't so different from everyone else and that he wasn't so unlovable.

Selfishly, he liked being around Ella for that reason.

Cain knew monsters didn't deserve mates.

Maybe, just maybe, if he had one it meant that he wasn't the monster he'd been raised to believe he was.

And that fleeting, naïve optimism was brighter than any ray of sunlight would ever be.

Cain sat in his desk chair for hours that night, thinking over every situation, every scenario, of how he could tell Ella. Not just about him, but about everything.

After the hours he spent contemplating, he was no more sure then of how to tell her than he was before he sat down. He became more conflicted the more he thought about it.

Cain heard someone approach the door at the bottom of the stairs before he heard the door open and close. Heavy footsteps echoed up the stairwell as the individual marched up the stairs.

Based on the slow heart rate, the minor creaking of the stairs under the pressure of each step, and the scent of sandalwood, Cain deduced it was Daniel who was walking up the stairs.

It wasn't long before Daniel's mop of brown hair peeked atop the staircase and he stomped into the room.

"Morning, sunshine," Daniel said. "Ya know, it's creepy how you sit in the dark."

With that being said, Daniel walked over to a desk and turned on a lamp.

The light cut through the room and nearly blinded Cain.

He closed his eyes tight and blinked a few times.

"Sorry, man," Daniel apologized. "I should've given you some time to adapt to my voice first."

Cain stood up and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the migraine that was building with the sudden onslaught of his hyper-conscious senses.

"Don't worry about it."

He walked over to the wet bar and poured the last remaining liter of blood from the plastic bag into the stainless steel shaker.

"I'm out," he said, showing Daniel the empty bag.

"Already?" Daniel asked incredulously. "You've gone through five bags in two days..."

"I can start going through people if you'd like," Cain said shortly.

He noticed how uncomfortable his comment made Daniel and he shook his head.

"It's her," he admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"It's her scent," Cain clarified, turning to look at Daniel.

He could tell that Daniel was no more enlightened.

"Have you ever been completely content, and then someone starts eating and you're suddenly starving?" Cain asked him.

Daniel thought for a moment, trying to gauge where Cain was going with his analogy.

"I satisfy myself only with what I need and then I stand next to her and this need, this lust, for blood washes over me."

"So she makes you... hungry?"

Cain sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Horny?" Daniel asked, trying again to guess.

"Somewhere in between," Cain said.

Daniel raised his eyebrows.

"That's somewhat concerning seeing as the two shouldn't go together..."

Cain raised the stainless steel cup to his lips and took a long swig of the thick, bitter liquid.

"I'll make sure you get some more of that," Daniel said, backing away.

He began to walk out of the room before Cain stopped him.

"What did you come up here for?"

"To tell you she was awake," Daniel said. "But I think you might need to finish that and compose yourself first, though."

- - -

Ella's P.O.V.

"Thank you."

I took the steaming mug from Daniel before he sat down at the table in front of me.

"What are you doing up so early?" He asked.

"I'm a morning person."

He scowled.

"No thanks."

I faked a smile as I took a sip of my coffee.

I couldn't tell him I hadn't slept. My bed would have fit four of me comfortably. It was so large that it swallowed me up. It was cold and empty.

Because I couldn't sleep, I had been up most of the night catching up on the schoolwork I had missed.

I was also contemplating over the hundreds of sheets of paper I had combed through in Cain's office. I was beginning to lose confidence in the fact that we would find my grandfather.

"Why are you up so early?" I asked him, trying to distract myself from the pit my thoughts were dragging me into.

"I have to be for work," he explained, yawning.

"It's only seven o'clock," I said. "It's not so bad."

"I hate it," he groaned.

"You don't like your job?"

Daniel scoffed.

"I like this job only marginally more than I like being homeless."

I laughed hearing this.

"What do you do?" I asked.

He shrugged.

"I guess you could say that I'm Cain's right-hand man."

"Which means?"

"I don't really do anything because Cain likes to do everything himself."

"That sounds boring," I said.

Someone walked into the room behind me before Daniel could reply. We both turned to see Jai coming through the doorway.

He was only in sweatpants—his chiseled, tattooed chest on display.

Jai froze as he saw me and Daniel sitting at the table.

"Why are you walkin' around without clothes on, man?" Daniel asked, disgusted. "There's a girl here."

Jai looked at Daniel in exasperation.

The door at the other end of the room opened and we all turned to see Cain walk in.

I felt my stomach knot at the sight of him.

He raised an eyebrow at Jai as he walked over.

"I'm going to go change," Jai said as he awkwardly backed away.

Cain took a seat across from me as Daniel stood up.

"Well, I have to go and... make sure my plants are watered," Daniel said, excusing himself awkwardly.

Both Cain and I looked at each other in disbelief as Daniel exited the room and closed the door behind him.

We both sat silently for a moment as I took a sip of my coffee.

"How did you sleep?" Cain asked, finally.

"Good," I lied, nodding. "You?"

"Fine."

I took another long sip of coffee.

"Have you thought any about your grandfather?" He asked.

"It's all I can think about," I admitted.

Well, that and you, I thought.

"I have a few things I have to get done today outside of the office," he said. "You're more than welcome to be in there as long as you'd like, though. I'll probably check in throughout the day."

I nodded.

"Sounds good."

I took a sip of my coffee and sighed.

"Can I ask a favor?"

Cain nodded.

"Is there anyway you could put me in touch with someone who is good with computers? I have a few ideas for some leads I could check, but I need someone who is tech savvy."

Cain nodded again.

"I think I know of someone who can help."

- - -

Narrative P.O.V.

"She's his mate."

Priya's eyes widened.

"You can't say anything," Jai said firmly. "Not to anyone, not even her. Myself, Daniel and Cain are the only ones who know."

"How can she not know she is his mate?" Priya asked incredulously.

Jai pursed his lips.

"She's a human."

Priya sucked in a deep breath and shook her head.

"How are you planning on dealing with that?"

"I don't need you to tell me this is a complicated situation," he said. "I just need you to go in there, do whatever she asks you to do, and not say a word about who you are, who we are, or what we do."

"Great," Priya said sarcastically. "So that narrows down my topic of conversation to the weather."

"Don't get sassy with me," Jai said.

Priya rolled her eyes.

"Where is she now?" She asked.

"She's in Cain's office."

- - -

Ella's P.O.V.

I heard the door open at the bottom of the stairs.

I looked up from the file folder in my hands to see a girl walk up the stairs into Cain's office.

She was of Indian descent with almond-colored skin and long, raven hair that was French-braided down her back. Her full figure was complemented by knee-length, beige-colored kurti and black leggings.

I noticed the laptop she held in her left arm and I knew exactly why she was there.

"I'm Priya Singh," she said, smiling brightly. "Jai said you needed some help doing something with a computer?"

"I'm Ella Schulz," I said, getting up to shake her hand. "I'm really glad you're here."

"No problem," she said, shaking my hand and sitting down next to me. "What can I help with?"

"I think I should ask something important first..." I admitted.

"Okay..."

"How against breaking the law are you?"

When she smiled mischievously, I knew instantly we were going to get along just fine.

Twenty minutes later, Priya was hacking into the strange hospital's database to gain access to private patient records.

While we knew all of the other men had been to this hospital, we weren't sure of the specific things they had been treated for.

It came as no surprise that they all suffered from blood-related issues.

"It's weird," Priya said with hesitation. "All of these men had basically the same condition and the same treatments given, but I can't find doctor's records anywhere for them. They're all just nurse's notes and receipts that were sent to insurance companies."

"Do you think they were all seen by the same doctor?" I asked.

"I can't be sure," she said. "I can't find any records for any of these men with a doctor's name on it."

"Well they had to have been seen by a doctor. There's no way a nurse could have run these tests unauthorized. Who would have prescribed the treatment?" I asked.

"Exactly. I just can't figure out who they were seen by."

I thought for a moment.

"I could always just call and ask..."

Priya looked at me with apprehension.

I began to look through the individual files to see if I could find emergency contact information for each man.

One by one, I called them all.

My German was far from perfect but I was hoping I would be able to communicate effectively so I could get the information I needed.

"Hello? Yes, I'm calling in regards to the investigation that's pending into your father's disappearance. Do you have a moment to answer a few questions?" I asked the final contact.

I paced around the room with the phone wedged between my shoulder and ear as I took notes.

Priya watched on with intrigue.

"Do you know the name of the doctor your father saw?"

I closed my eyes and stopped walking as the missing man's daughter gave me the name all the other contacts had.

"Thank you for your time. We'll be sure to keep you updated."

I hung up the phone and threw it and the notepad onto the desk.

"Take a wild guess as to who his doctor was," I said sarcastically.

Priya pretended to think.

"Hm... could to be the exact same one who saw all the others?"

I nodded.

"I think it's time to call the hospital."

I picked up the phone and dialed the hospital's number.

A nurse answered the phone.

"Hi," I said. "I'm calling to see if I can make an appointment with one of your hematologists, Dr. Hans Weber."

The nurse laughed and what she said next made the air leave my lungs.

I hung up the phone and looked at Priya in disbelief.

"I need to find Cain."

I began to walk quickly out of the office with Priya hot on my heels.

"What did the nurse say?"

Her words echoed in my mind but the were quickly drowned out by the haunting words of the nurse.

I bounded down the stairs and into the hallway on the floor beneath us.

We nearly ran all over the place until I ran into Daniel.

"I need to talk to Cain right now," I said urgently. "You're not going to believe this."

Daniel hurried us down another flight of stairs into the basement.

Cain was in a room with a large map hanging on the wall. Jai stood beside him as they both gestured towards the map in discussion.

Hearing us walk in, Cain turned around and immediately his features morphed into concern.

"What's wrong?"

"All of the men had the exact same condition, were given the exact same treatment, and were treated by the exact same doctor," I said.

"Okay..." Cain said, crossing his arms.

"That's not even the weirdest part," I said. "The doctor that they all saw..."

I stopped myself and shook my head, unable to believe the words that were about to come out of my mouth.

Cain nodded, prodding me along.

I sighed.

"He's dead, Cain."

"What happened to him?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"No, you don't understand," I said.

"He's been dead for thirty years."

- - -