Blinking to shield my eyes from the piercing light, I turned to face equally penetrating eyes. They looked at me with equal intensity but entirely different motivations. While Ivan's silver eyes seemed more concerned, Elena's black pits raged with anger. 

"So now that you've heard everything" she instantly blurted, "why don't you tell us what you are and who sent you" Elena asked with a cold indifference, each world bleeding with indignation.  

Struggling with my weakened body, I barely shook my head "I don't know what you're talking about, I--"  

"Lie to me little girl and I will rip--" Elena fumed through clenched teeth when someone interrupted. 

"Excuse me--" a nurse announced sternly, walking into the room with an undeniable authority "...but visiting hours are over. One of you has to leave"  

Seeing the stocky woman with no nonsense attitude sent a wave of relief through me. Elena would obviously have to leave which would leave me with Mr. Stokaya and my barrage of questions.  

That relief was temporary.  

Twitching once, as if snapping on an armor, Elena slowly turned, "Oh I'm sorry my dear...We're not going anywhere..." she purred, her voice like a singular echo. Slithering slowly towards the nurse, her body swayed to an imaginary seductive rhythm. Her arms smoothed down her body, gripping onto her pleaded skirt with earnest as if controlling a violent urge. 

The nurse, whose nametag read Tina, stood still. A puzzled look adorned her round face but then her eyebrows eased and her tight expression relaxed. Her brown eyes glossed over with a grayish hue and like a puppet, she mirrored Elena who was nodding her head slowly up and down....side to side....

Smirking, Elena stopped before her. Cocking her head to the side, she pressed a finger to her red lips...."But, would you like to join us?" she offered with a sickening sweetness. Examining her prey, Elena circled the nodding nurse slowly while her holding her head high royally in the air. Inhaling the surrounding air, she shivered with a sweltering lust that sent chills trickling down my spine. She was savoring it, teasing her taste buds before she pounced... she had no intentions of letting Tina go. Elena's eyes suddenly flicked to meet mine. Unwittingly I gasped but couldn't look away. They were so clear they almost shone. Calling them beautiful would have been an understatement but also a contradiction. They were the most viciously soulless eyes that held nothing but hunger and blood. Releasing a low growl, she brought her lips to the nurse's ear, 

"Can I have a taste?" she whispered. A slow smile crept onto Elena's lips, the urgency of it all nauseating me. Looking at Ivan for some help, I found him staring out the window at the clear September night. Did he not see what was happening? 

Turning back to the tiger and its prey, Elena swept her nose slowly against the Tina's cheek. A whitish mist swept off from Tina's body and Elena practically shivered as she inhaled it in one breath. Purring deeply, Elena caressed her again and Nurse Ross closed her eyes, swaying with each of Elena caresses.  

"Why don't you join me Charlotte dear? I'm sure after your ordeal you must be simply starving....." she bewitchingly whispered, shining her crystal eyes in my direction. Like mood rings, they were no longer clear, but a sheer fuscia, feeling more like desire....and lust. 

Though she was talking to me....she seemed to be talking past me. A strong pull stabbed my side. That bitch wasn't talking to me! She was talking to whoever and whatever was inside of me. Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on anything but the pull. It was impossible! ...I could smell the life-force being drawn from a human body...and it smelled divine. 

My insides rattled, "Stop it" I begged, feeling them tighten in anticipation. Curling into myself and bringing my knees to my chest, I buried my head deep within. She couldn't come out. I wasn't doing it again. Even if it killed me to keep her buried. 

Elena chuckled dryly, "You mean you're not hungry? Don't fight her Charlotte, all she wants to do is play." 

"That's enough!" Mr. Stokaya roared, finally breaking from his mental withdrawal. In few steps he reached Nurse Ross and pulled her away from Elena. Standing between them, he looked into the Nurse Ross' eyes, gripping her shoulders tightly. 

"What's your name?" he asked sternly. 

"Tina Ross" she responded mechanically. 

"Tina Ross, My guest and I can remain as long as we please. Now you need lots of rest. Take the rest of the night off, go home and sleep" he lectured as if addressing a child, "When you think you've slept enough, sleep some more. You will forget what happened here, or else you will die," he said with a promising finality.

My lips trembled violently but I couldn't even cry. How could they play with this woman as if she were nothing but a puppet? Ivan released her and in moments that seemed like hours, awareness flooded the nurse's eyes. Releasing his hands from her shoulders, Mr. Stokaya stepped back, "So Mrs. Ross, is it all right if my guest and I remain for the night?" 

"Yes! Yes of course. Stay as long as you like...." she smiled naively. Ivan returned the gesture and walked back to the window without another word... without a glance . Though he stood right by me, he could just as well have disappeared by how far he traveled mentally.  

"You guys have a good night and you feel better sweetheart" Nurse Ross yawned and slowly paced out of the room. 

A flabbergasted and outraged Elena closed the door with an furious gentleness. An electrified tension snapped through the air and though no one spoke, there were obvious silent insults being issued in every direction.  

Leaning back into my pillow, I almost wished I could disappear into Mr. Stokaya's world. .  

"Do you see what you've done!" Elena growled, turning swiftly towards Ivan "You did this! Using magic only leads to more and more until we've practically sent out a beacon letting them know where we are!" 

"Calm down Elena...and don't blame me for your lack of self control. No one told you to start feeding off her anyway..." Mr. Stokaya responded plainly, never losing focus of whatever was on his mind. His calm nature turned a whirlwind into a manic hurricane.  

Elena scoffed, "Calm down?! Calm down?! If it wasn't for you saving this--this girl, we wouldn't be here! It doesn't matter what you do Ivan, it won't fix anything!" 

I hated her. I didn't know her but it bothered me for her to talk to him that way. He did nothing but help me and yes, maybe it was for selfish reasons but the look in his eyes in the classroom spoke otherwise. He cared and she wanted him not to... 

"I know that--" the melancholy in his voice piercing. 

"No! You don't! If you did you wouldn't keep trying! I'm tired of cleaning up after your broken heart every time you try to find a replacement and it fails!" 

"This isn't about her" Ivan rebutted tightly. 

"Fine, then either you tell us who you are" Elena thundered, pointing a thin finger in my direction "or I swear I will pulverize you myself!!" She stormed to me but Ivan gripped her arm, flinging her back. Her full lips parted in shock. 

"Leave Charlotte out of this!" 

Snatching her arm from his grasp, she stepped close to him as if challenging him, "I didn't bring her into anything" she whispered coldly, "You did!" she pressed the same finger sharply on his chest, "She won't replace her Ivan! You've been a walking misery since you--" 

"This isn't about her!" 

The argument quickly shifted into a language I didn't know, though I knew it was all about me...and whoever this 'her' person was. To be honest I was beginning to think I was going mad. The world as I knew it had...changed. Everything I thought was, wasn't and my not so perfect world all of the sudden seemed non-existent, swallowed up by talks of Faeries and magic and 'them' and 'her'....and me. 

I rolled over, not wanting to look at them argue. Tossing a pillow over my head, I fought to ignore the muffled sounds but they grew louder around me to the point of suffocation until finally something in me snapped. Not "losing my temper" snapped, but literally, snapped. For a moment everything was still but then I started feeling strange. It was nothing like before. No waves, no hunger...just an infinite and consuming sadness. A knot formed in my throat, making it hard to breathe. Emotions that weren't mine flooded me, hurting me as if they were my own. They were like memories I never lived but remembered clearly. There was love and longing, but betrayal and abandonment resonated louder than all.  

Unable to contain the tears, I threw the pillow aside.  

"Stop it" I whimpered, feeling my ears burning. Their screaming and arguing was toxic and the more they yelled, the more I wanted to claw out my ears.  

"She's a confused little girl that probably slipped something in your coffee to make you see things!" 

"You're being irrational Elena!" 

"You're being--" 

"Stop it! Just stop screaming!" The words flew from my mouth. The misery I felt was enough to end the world and it went deeper than anything I'd ever experienced. I tried to locate the source but the pain and the foreign memories were swirling through every part of my existence. None of the memories were clear, but their arguing voices had something to do with them. Whatever was inside of me reacted to their voices and they needed to stop! Ivan said he bound my powers....which meant he bound her, but she heard everything and as much as wanted her out of me, I wasn't cruel and their words hurt her. 

Stokaya raised his hands in surrender, letting them fall carelessly at his side. Turning back to the window he sighed, "Death before Dishonor...."  

And finally losing the battle, I crumbled into painful tears. Every emotion I felt centered itself on his words and my soul grieved.  

"So that's it?! You think sticking to some Seelie code is going to save us!" Elena snarled but Stokaya remained silent while my sobs filled the poisonous air. 

"You're in this alone Ivan" she said and with a burning glare at his back, she grabbed her purse and disappeared out of the room.  

Though I was glad she was gone, it didn't change anything at all. I couldn't stop crying. 

Sighing heavily, Mr. Stokaya walked to my bedside, his eyes burning with remorse. 

"Charlotte...I am so sorry--" he reached for me, but I pushed back as far as I could so that he wouldn't touch me. It wasn't that I didn't want him to touch me, but that my body reacted to the overwhelming emotion inside. The emotion of fear. 

Perplexed, his hand dropped, "Charlotte...I'm not here to hurt you. I know what you heard but-" 

"Stay away from me" I sobbed, my hands shaking frantically as I held my knees to my chest.  

Shaking his head, he stepped back, "You're scared of me now?"  

Unable to talk through the tears, I nodded weakly. 

"Why?" he asked. 

"Because..." I said as one single thought floated to the top of the roaring storm in my head, 

"You killed me" 

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