-Noah's POV-

This was far worse than the plane or the limo had been. I was sat next to Crow in a flying vehicle, with the man who stabbed him, tried to mentally torture me, tried to torcher a fifteen-year-old and his dad, and had a dungeon underneath his self-destructive castle. Then there was Caio, who was creating tension in the helicopter by glaring at Sawyer.

I lasted around an hour in the helicopter, with zero entertainment, before cracking. "What's up between you two?" I directed my question towards Sawyer and Caio. "I can't figure out if this is some enemies to lovers' shit, or if it's friends to enemies." I pointed between the two of them.

Caio turned his glare to me. "Enemies to lovers?" He repeated, his voice dangerously calm. "Never suggest that, or anything of the sort, around me again." He was incredibly intimidating, but I had lost my motivation for keeping my head on my shoulders over the past twenty-four hours, I was too tired to care about insulting the man who could break every bone in my body within ten seconds.

"Then what is it?" Crow asked, looking around me at the others. "A blind person could see the tension between you two."

Aldrich, who was sitting in the row in front, looked at us through the gap in the seats. "They were very close as children. Then Geppetto and I had an argument over whether or not we would force people into transitioning into vampires, and thus Caio and Sawyer got involved."

"I am people by the way," Caio commented. "Along with Sawyer. And I'm sure we don't appreciate being talked about as though we're not here." His glare moved to Aldrich. Maybe that was his usual facial expression. "They argued about whether or not we would be turned into vampires at a certain age, and the two of us argued about whether or not we wanted to be vampires." He glanced in Sawyer's direction. "Seems I lucked out."

"Oh, yes, definitely, you were definitely the lucky one. You were turned without having life-threatening injuries," Sawyer exclaimed in a startling voice. I hadn't expected him to explode like that. "It's not my fault that I tried to kill a vampire who had been experimenting on hundreds of people."

"Hey, you succeeded," Crow corrected. "Sawyer, don't sell yourself short. You managed to kill Bertrand, you probably saved hundreds of humans and vampires." He glanced at me and squeezed my hand. I knew he hadn't seen the extent of what happened, and I didn't really want him to, but he saw the results of what happened.

Caio turned away from us and looked out the window. "Heard about that, you were reckless." He crossed his arms, not turning to look at anyone as he spoke. There was a hint of judgement and exasperation in his voice.

I turned to Crow and raised an eyebrow. "I see friends, to enemies, to lovers," I whispered, loud enough so everyone could hear. Sawyer punched my shoulder, very harshly. A lump came to my throat, as a noise of surprise and amusement got stuck.

"We still have hours to go, don't we?" Crow asked, looking out of his own window. I preferred to not sit by the reminder that we were hundreds of feet in the air, or thousands, I didn't care to know. I wouldn't be keen on spending hours on the ground with this group, never mind the air.

"Yes, so enjoy the view," Geppetto said through our headphones we were wearing, which was a new brand of torture.

When we landed, I crawled across Crow to get tot eh door quickest. I couldn't stand being in that horrific container anymore. "I would take the torture again please," I muttered as I landed face-first onto the concrete. I knew I was being slightly irrational, but I didn't know the extent of my vampiric immortality, and I wasn't going to get smashed to smithereens in the process of finding out.

Crow chuckled and landed next to me. "No more torture." He shook his head and leant up, pressing his lips against mine. I held his waist, still hesitating slightly due to his wound. We were still wearing our very fancy, grass-covered suits. I felt ridiculous, but I savoured the moment.

Then he pulled away and got out his phone, scrolling through his contact list until he got to his parents'. "I'm sure they won't mind being woken up," he muttered and pressed the phone to his ear, looking around us.

It was the first time I had paid attention to our surroundings, which were surprisingly familiar. "We won't be here for long, will we?" I turned to Geppetto and Aldrich, who were still sitting in the helicopter. "There's still the issue of the people out there, you know? The whole reason we left in the first place?"

Aldrich sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah, and we need to tell the vampire council that they exist." He got out his own phone and began typing at lightning speed, I was surprised his phone could keep up. "I'll arrange a meeting as soon as possible, so it should be in around an hour or two."

I tried to mask my shock by turning back to Crow, whose voice had gotten louder and louder throughout his conversation. "Yes, I'm okay. I've not heard from her. She didn't know we were going to Italy. Yes, I'm concerned about her. Please don't make me feel bad for leaving, I had to. He goes to school with me too." He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "I'll be home before tonight. I love you too, give mam my love." He put his phone back into his pocket and groaned. "We better be home by tonight."

I nodded. "We will be." I felt bad for promising that, but we would at least be able to visit them. "We have a meeting in about two hours with the big, bad vampire council." I tried to make it sound somewhat exciting, to match the exaggerated expression Crow had earlier. "What do you want to do?"

"You don't get to pick that," Geppetto commented. He shook his head and leaned on the helicopter. "We're going out for something to eat."

The air then filled with an awkward fog which entered my lungs and made it difficult to breathe. "I'm not going with you," I declared. It sounded braver than I actually felt. "Crow and I will go on our own."

Aldrich shook his head. "We're going in threes." He pointed towards Sawyer, and then to us. "Sawyer is coming with you. I trust you boys more than I trust them." He nodded towards Geppetto and Caio. I could've sworn I saw some sort of disappointment in Caio's eyes, but his scowl deepened. "You're hanging around the town."

"The town's connected to the hospital," Crow stated. "Technically, can we go see Haven after?"

Aldrich took a deep breath, before he slapped his leg. "Why not?" He turned to those in his own hunting party, searching for approval. "We'll meet you outside the hospital."

"Best place to go after a feeding high," Caio muttered sarcastically before cracking his neck. He probably would've left, if he hadn't had to wait for his master's instructions. I hadn't really thought much about the relationship that the two of them had, because Caio seemed very independent for a servant. I didn't want to think about whether Caio fetched Geppetto's food, cleaned his castle, assisted in the torture sessions within the dungeons. "A hospital, full of humans, and blood. Maybe even more blood than humans."

Sawyer sighed. "Come on, I know your usual spots," he said towards Crow.

"I should be really worried about that," Crow uttered to me before pulling me away. "We honestly landed in the middle of a car park? I mean, surely someone would see us somehow? There's also the thing called Google Maps?"

I scoffed. "I'm really not sure that Geppetto knows what Google Maps is," Sawyer replied. "He's behind on the times, quite drastically." He kicked a stone across the car park, which embedded itself into a light pole. His hair was an utter mess, and he had removed his blazer at some point in the helicopter.

"I mean, he also had a castle, and a battalion of feather-duster wielding fighting servants," I pointed out. The three of us had quickened our pace, without me noticing. We were getting closer to town, which was dizzying in itself. "I don't think he's missing out on Google Maps."

The other two laughed lightly, and then the hunt began.

I still hated hunting, and that would be the case until I died. I couldn't imagine finding any joy in something so horrific, so vital, and so monstrous. I tried not to think about the details as we approached the hospital, the same hospital we had arrived at only a few days ago. The day when we met Havens' father, and the same day we were in the graveyard.

"I should be in here," Sawyer said with a small sigh. "I should've been in there and died in there." He looked towards the floor; his shoulders slumped. "That sounds so depressing."

"Let's not talk about that," I said lightly. I didn't want to think about Sawyer being in any sort of life-threatening danger. "Let's just be grateful for the fact you're still with us." I put my free hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to stay outside with me?" I knew that splitting up wouldn't be the best idea, but I wasn't going to let Sawyer suffer inside a hospital. There was also the unpredictability which comes with whatever's waiting for us.

"I'm okay," Sawyer declined and shook his head. "I'll come in, probably just stand in the corner or something." I felt bad for him, but I accepted his decision and looked towards Crow.

Crow took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. "Right." He nodded his head and led us into the hospital. He seemed to know his way around rather well, or he just remembered the way we went the other day. "She should still be here." I didn't know if he was trying to convince us or himself.

"She should be," I echoed with a nod. The hospital was busy, and we didn't look like we belonged there. I felt like we were being watched by everyone we passed, even the patients who were waiting in the waiting rooms. We might've looked too much like we belonged. Maybe we looked like lawyers, or very important doctors.

Crow strode through the halls until we got to one of the hundreds of reception desks in the place. "Hello, I'm here to see Haven Skyfield?" He looked right into the eyes of the woman sitting behind the desk. "We saw each other on Sunday." The prompt was gentle, but there was an edge to his voice, which I couldn't blame him for.

The woman behind the desk blinked a few times, before looking towards her computer. "I'm sorry, Miss Skyfield is in no condition to take visitors." She didn't sound very sorry at all, but rather exasperated, as though it was the fiftieth time, she's said something similar to that today.

"Why not?" Crow shot back quickly and raised an eyebrow. "I could see her on Sunday, when she was passed out. We're the ones who brought her here." His voice became deeper as he spoke. He rested his forearm on the counter, as though that simple gesture showed just how serious he was. Maybe it was to show he already had some sort of grasp on the place, and he wasn't going to be dragged out.

Sawyer and I exchanged glances and frowns. There was something wrong here, I could feel it in the air. There was a faint scent of something different in the air, something I hadn't noticed the last time we were here. Granted, I was a bit preoccupied the last time we were here, I hadn't taken the time to separate the different notes I could smell in the air, I actively tried to avoid doing that.

"The ward Miss Skyfeild resides in is currently in lockdown," the lady explained in a patient voice. "In order to prevent contamination, it has become necessary for us to cordon it off."

Crow was about to argue, but I put my free hand on his chest and gently pushed him backwards. "Thank you for your time," I told the lady with what I hoped was a calm and rational smile. "They're very close friends, he's been worried sick."

The lady's lips pressed into a thin line, but she nodded. "It's alright dear. We'll let you know if anything changes."

I nodded in thanks and pulled on Crow's hand, dragging him back out of the door. Sawyer followed a few steps behind us, looking around at the interior of the hospital, looking very suspicious. I didn't say a word until we reached the door. "There's something wrong." I came to a stop by the gate. "Phone your dad please?" I told Sawyer, who had his phone in hand. "That's not any ordinary lockdown."

Hello lovelies!!!

It's nearing October now, and with it comes the burning question, what are you dressing up as for Halloween? Or, do you celebrate Halloween at all?

I really don't know what I'm dressing up as to be honest, although I do have the beginnings of a really good demigod cosplay- My CHB t-shirt is currently in storage, so it might be the case of getting a new costume-aka checking out charity shops, because there's a really good one not far from me who has a Halloween event around the time :D