Note: This is the last chapter before I start moving onto the O.C winner POVs :D

Tia's POV

"Where are we going?" I grin, following Sjin as he leads me down the back of an alleyway.

"Oh not far. Assassins must practise in the most secret of places you know." As he says this, he turns round, smiling thinly at me through the small brown moustache and goatee.

"Are there any...like...rules?" I ask, practically bouncing around with excitement. At 18, I was incredibly ecstatic to be finally learning the ways of being an assassin. To learn the ways of truly surviving.

"Well, firstly, always be alert" he begins, before spinning round and slamming a knife into the wall next to me. I jump, eyes widening, but not in fear, in respect.

"Okay" I confirm, grinning shakily at him. He winks at me, jerking the knife from the stones and he continues walking.

"Secondly, make the first attack" he continues, winding down the alleyways. For some reason I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, one that is urging me to turn and run.

"And thirdly," he finishes, "never trust anyone."

With that, he spins round with a knife gleaming in his hands and a maniacal grin appears on his face and I scream as he launches forward.

Jolting awake, a cold sweat runs down my forehead. Clutching the covers close to my chest, I pant into the darkness, eyes wide. In my mind, the dream had ended, but my body had not gotten the message; my pulse was pounding like a drum, and there was a throbbing sensation in my brain. Looking down, my short sleeved pyjamas exposed the long, deep scar that would stay with me forever, a friendly reminder to never trust anyone.

It felt like the scar was throbbing too.

My left hand reached out to stroke it absentmindedly as my breathing slowed. A pale light filtered through the crack in between royal blue satin curtains, and they fluttered gently in the breeze. 

Standing up, I advance towards them, parting them to step onto the small balcony. It was marble white, with a few potted green plants. Leaning onto the railings, I gaze down at the warehouse lands. Not the best sight in the world, just grey concrete extending for many metres, littered with pot holes and small sprouts of grass and weeds, protruding from the rock, begging to be freed.

In the distance were many hills, a dark green colour in the night, which framed Mistral City. The glow of the many house lights and car lamps shone brightly, and a pang of home sickness went through me. I had nowhere I really called home-the city was my playground, not my home. I didn't belong anywhere.

A cool night breeze lapped at the single tear that drips slowly down my face. Looking up, the stars stare back, glittering in their hundreds, their thousands. My breath caught in my throat for a moment; we only ever saw a handful of stars in the sky in this area, never this many.

Would they come for us? Rescue us?

The same questions. Brimming in my mind, threatening to spill onto the surface as fresh tears.

Wiping my eyes, I decide to go to the library and relax. One glance at the clock as I part the curtains back into my room, tells me that the time is 2 in the morning.

My feet thudded quietly on the ground as I made my way onto the corridor, the floor covered in red satin carpets. Ridge really did live like a king.

The library door creaked open, revealing the many bookshelves that had awestruck me earlier. Ridge wasn't there-probably sleeping. A part of me wanted to go play a prank on the demigod, but I had been pushing too many buttons lately. Besides, he had good coffee and it would be a shame to bring such a lovely visit to an end.

I spun round, absorbing the scenery in. When I was younger, I was an avid reader. I spent many a time in the school library avoiding the bullies until...well, until I killed them.

A small smirk flickered onto my face. After Rachelle had been taken care of and I finally plucked up the courage to kill some more people, I hunted the bullies down. Killed them in their sleep, though others weren't so lucky. One had the decency to spit in my face as I stalked into their bedroom.

I cut her tongue out. That stopped her from trying anything else.

One by one, they died. Fell like dominoes. I loved the power I held at my fingertips, with a single swish of metal, a head could fall from a body. I controlled whether people lived or died, and it sent a thrill of adrenaline into my body when I was able to give someone a death sentence.

Whilst I was thinking about this, I had been absentmindedly strolling through the shelves, meandering through the world of books, stroking their covers as if they were treasures. Not really reading the titles. In fact, I was thinking about one of the girls, who had shoved their fist into my mouth until I had passed out. That night, I shoved a knife down her throat, made her choke on it, before grabbing both parts of her jaws and ripping them apart...

Oh, the crack it made when her skull split into two still gave my joy to this day.

Pausing, I stop when I reach a certain book title.

"Demigods: The history and anatomy"

Tilting my head curiously, I slide the book out, before heading over to one of the armchairs, pouring myself out a hot chocolate from the small table which held a kettle and all other basic necessities to make hot beverages.

Opening the dusty cover gently, I begin to read.

Chapter 1: What is a demigod?

A demigod is an immortal being that comes from the stars. Demigods are a gift from the one true God, who we cannot speak of, and there are thousands of them. 

I stop reading for a moment. Thousands of demigods? Jesus, I think, we were all screwed.

They inhabit planets in the solar system. Usually ten or twenty will flock to one planet.

Beneath that was a list of planets, the ones we know of and other ones I had never heard of, like "Elamoris" and "Avakatri." Each one had around ten demigods on them, except for the bottom planet, Earth, with just Ridgedog's name on it. Phew, I thought, only one demigod to worry about on our planet.

Demigods are called immortal, yet they can be hurt and killed. Red matter can hurt a demigod, however it can not kill them. What can kill them, however, is a-"

The book snaps shut and my head jerks forward to see Ridge tug the book from my hands and carefully tuck it into his coat.

"It's rude to do things without my permission" he murmurs, staring down at me with curious blue eyes.

"You can be killed" I muse, gazing up at him innocently.

"Yes" he smiles thinly, reaching out to stroke my hair.

"How?" I ask.

"You really think I'm going to tell you?" he smirks, raising an eyebrow. His hand drops down to my face, stroking my skin gently. 

"There are more of you" I confirm, and he nods, running a finger across my lips. 

"You want to know about it all? I'll tell you..." he smiles, before glancing at the clock.

"Tomorrow. It's half two" he sighs, stiffling a yawn. 

"I'm not tired" I insist, scowling when he cups my face in his hands. I ignore the slight tingle it sends down my spine and glare defiantly into his eyes.

"Come on" he yawns, before quickly wrapping his arms around my body, pulling me close to him bridal style.

"Hey!" I yell, smacking him in the face. He ignores my protests, carrying me towards my bedroom.

"I am a notorious assassin! Put me down!" I snap, and he chuckles. 

"You're behaving like a teenage girl" he snickers, kicking my door open.

He finally lets my body slide onto the mattress, pulling my blanket over me, and tucking me in.

"I'm not a baby" I grumble, and he rolls his eyes, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"You can ask one question, then I'm going back to bed" he smiles, reaching over to comb my hair with his fingers.

"What can kill you?" I ask, and he rolls his eyes before getting up.

"No! No wait!" I yell after him, giggling slightly. 

He turns, an eyebrow raised. "What?"

"How old are you?" I question him, bracing myself for the answer.

"I just turned 1,562 years old" he smiles, before striding over, kissing me on the forehead, and leaving, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"Pervert" I mumble and he chuckles darkly from the outside of the door.

Waking up in the morning, I stretched, before my eyes jolted open and I rolled out of bed so fast I hit the drawers with my head. Stumbling to my feet, my hand flails onto my waist where my knife usually is, only to remember it was with my old clothes.

Ridge raises an eyebrow, stretching on my bed.

"God, always overreacting" he murmurs, putting his arms behind his head as he watches me from my bed.

"How long have you been there?" I demand, hands shaking as the adrenaline slowly disappears.

"Oh, an hour or so. You're interesting when you sleep. You toss and turn a lot, and you start...saying things" he grins.

My face pales.

"What kind of things?" I snap, sitting on the edge of the bed, wincing as I rub my sore head.

"You say my name. You were groaning a lot, and you said 'Sjin what are you doing' once. Then you started repeating my name" he smiles.

I nod, thanking the gods that it wasn't worse.

"You still have nightmares about that?" he asks, and I nod again.

"Is that why you woke up before?" 

Another nod.

Reaching over, he sits up, slowly taking my hand in his. His skin was smooth and soft, but his hand squeezed mine hard.

Hesitating, I tug it from his grasp before gently reaching over and stroking his hair.

He lies back into the bed, and I follow, gently touching his forehead. It felt weird, to be honest, to be...feeling him. His eyes burned into mine, but only with curiousity.

My hand slips down to his neck, and it was surprisingly soft, like anyone elses. I had expected it to be as hard as stone but it was soft, and pulsing with his heartbeat.

I rested two fingers on his veins and listened to the steady heart beat which, to my smug satisfaction, slightly faster than normal.

He sat up suddenly, letting his hand slip into my hair on the right side of my head. His face was so close to mine, I could feel our breath mingling together.

Instead of moving, we just lay and stared at each other up close for a while, taking each other in. Occasionally his hand would move in my hair to cradle my chin.

Suddenly, he leaned forward. Most of me was expecting him to kiss me, but he simply rested his lips on mine, not moving at all. 

"In all my life" he murmurs, pulling his lips a mere centimetre from mine as he spoke so softly I could barely hear him.

"In all 1,562 years of my life, I have never met anyone quite like you" he smiles, before moving in again, and this time his intentions were clear as his eyes shut and-

A loud knock on the door downstairs made him pause, and his eyes snap open, narrowing.

"Of all the times to come visiting..." he grumbles, pulling us apart.

"Who is it?" I ask, slightly stunned at what had just happened.

"Another demigod called Deamon. Stay in your room and don't come out until I tell you-he doesn't like mortals at all. He hates them all." he sighs, before pausing.

He reaches over, kissing me lightly on the cheek, and I find myself smiling lightly at him. He was strange. Strangest person I had ever met. He could change my mind with just a simple kiss on my cheek.

As he left my room, I lay back on my bed, staring at the white ceiling.

Maybe my home wasn't in Mistral City. Maybe this was my home.

Note: Literally squealed at this :D TIDGEDOG FTW 

The O.C contest winners WILL DEFINITELY BE IN TOMORROW'S CHAPTER :D

And the "You look interesting when you sleep" quote was from my best friend when we went on a school trip where we stayed for three days and two nights. When I woke up from the first night, she was staring at me and literally said "You look interesting when you sleep."

Needless to say, I slept with a sharp object under my pillow after that.

#TIDGEDOGFTW :D