When I raise my eyebrows at her, she finally got to the point of her story, "You are a target. Because of me. This place, it was created because of my dissociation with Cecil. And now that it's been here for a generation, it has created a name, Alexis. A name in the eyes of their enemies, now your enemies."

"You mean the werewolf's? So somehow, because of you, I am a target for the werewolf's?" I look at her without hiding my confusion or anger. "What?"

"Yes. Well, sort of." She reaches her hand out to touch me, as if in comfort. But I automatically step away from allowing her to do so, and she sighs. "I mean that because this place was created, the once peaceful rifts between werewolf and vampire has escalated to war. And this was created because of Cecil's anger over how the werewolf's had destroyed his life; my life. The werewolf's are trying to find a weakness in Cecil, which could be you. Because, as crazy it may seem to you, I am Cecil's weakness."

"You're right. It does sound crazy. Cecil isn't the same man you fell in love with in your story."

"That story. Was my life. Is my life."

"I know. But I don't think Cecil has weaknesses. He hardly even seems to care anymore for his own son..."

She sighs in defeat, sounding tired. "Well you're a fool if you truly think so... But either way, I had to at least try to explain this to you." I watch as she nods and backs away then turns away from me.

Turning around, I see just how far Evelyn and I had walked during our "talk." I was almost to the north wall. The same northern part of campus that I hate, because it's where Cecil stays. An involuntary shiver runs up my spine at the thought of him almost being family. But then I couldn't exactly blame her for being involved with him when I myself was becoming involved with his son. Or had been. Had. Definitely had. God I almost forgot what a jerk he had been earlier to me. Somehow I had only just missed him.

No. I couldn't think of him. I shook my head as I stopped in my tracks. It was clearly lunchtime yet I was heading back to train. Why did I not even feel hungry? I switched gears as I now led myself in the direction of the castle.

There was too much on my mind. Evelyn's story had taken me back, taken me away from here, mentally, for a time. I was so engrossed in listening that I hadn't even known how far we'd walked, nor how long we had talked. Just... how? How is any of this even possible? And why is that I am just now beginning to learn about vampires operate? I mean if they want us to trust them, you'd think they would tell us everything. No secrets, just truth. Does this mean Tyler could be... wait. How was Tyler even born? Who was his mother?

"Alexis, I-" bam. I'd just run into Tyler. Literally plowed right into him. Although I'm pretty sure it had hurt me more than it had hurt him.

"Ah! Ow..." I absentmindedly rub my shoulder.

"Sorry," he's laughing at me. "But you were the one that ran into me. Didn't know you missed me so much, babe." He emphasizes the last word with sarcasm.

And there's his killer cocky attitude. "How can you be so lighthearted about all of this?" I shake my head at him. "I was tortured in front of you, by your father, and I meet my great freaking grandmother!"

"Hey. I know, I'm sorry," he was quiet at first. "I was the one who helped you out of there, remember? I almost risked outing us in front of my father just to save you."

"And what, you wished you hadn't. Is that it? Maybe you should have. I'd like to see how she would have reacted."

"No. No, that's not what I meant." He stopped and looked at the ground then back up to me. "Just, all of this started wrong. I was looking for you. You didn't run into me on accident... I was worried about you after last night."

"Tyler, I should thank you," I cut him off before he continues. "You're right," You saved my life, I thought to myself but didn't have the guts to say out loud.

"Your welcome."

At least we were civil now. I nod as I began to turn towards the dining hall but stop. It made me wonder again about Tyler's past. I barely even knew how old he was. Him being a vampire was an obvious wall between us but we hardly talked about it. I was beginning to realize just how little I actually knew about them.

"Tyler." I say his name as a question, but my tone gives a hint of a warning.

"Yes?" he seems hesitant to turn around, as he too had begun to walk away.

"Did you know my grandmother and Cecil were... involved?"

He didn't answer right away, his eyes searching the ground. I could almost see his mind working, coming up with a suitable answer.

"That's all I needed to know, thanks." I couldn't hide my hurt as I brazenly walk past him.

His hand stops me as I am pulled back, my hands instinctively putting themselves up in reaction, now spread against his wide, muscular chest.

"It's not whether I knew or not. It's that I didn't know it was your grandmother."

"So you knew about Cecil's..." I couldn't find the right words. Old love?

"Old flame? Yes. I knew she existed. That some woman, long ago had broken his heart... and I knew she was pretty." He stopped and looked at me, cocking his head to the side as if to study me. It was making me uncomfortable, especially now that I realized we were still so close to each other. "Of course, her family has only gotten more beautiful, I can see how my father fell so hard."

An involuntary warmth spread across my cheeks as I looked down briefly, only to see my hands were molded against his pecks. When I looked up again, his eyes were sparkling and his smile dazzling, making a warm feeling form in my chest this time instead.

"You are beautiful, Alexis." He spoke so soft, it felt like it was a message delivered on clouds, allowing me to float in an incandescent bubble of bliss.

The goofiest smile had been plastered on my face when I finally broke our contact, and I stepped away. "Thanks Tyler. For everything, but I still need space..." I couldn't look at him after I said that, but knew I had to eventually. "After everything she told me about our family. I, I just need space to think." I bit my lip and finally looked at him again, surprised when he was still smiling, small, but full of understanding. "As much as I miss you, I need to figure some things out on my own..." he had given me the courage to admit my feelings, at least.

His arms wrapped around me in an embrace, "its ok Alexis. I understand. It is a lot to take in." He pulls away, now giving me a wink, "but of course you didn't have to tell me you missed me, I already knew that."

"What!" I playfully hit him on the arm, laughing at his confidence, and his award winning smile he still had on display for me. "Even you couldn't have known!"

"Well it's not that hard to figure out, I mean who wouldn't miss me?" he laughed at himself.

"Oh my god," I laughed too. "You are as crazy as I am."

*

Halfway through dinner, alarms began going off outside. Was it impossible to finish an entire meal here without a distraction? At least they weren't as loud as the fire drill sirens I remembered from school, although they were still obvious.

Cecil stands up from his table at the front of the room, "No need to be alarmed. Only a slight inconvenience has occurred. You all are to remain in the dining hall until we let you leave. Understood? No one can leave." He was adamant about that. "A prisoner has escaped. For your safety, we ask that you remain here."

Still, as much as Cecil had tried to warn us, panic ensued. Screams, whispers, conversations, erupted from every table.

"Is this prisoner really that dangerous?"

"What, do they think we are incapable?"

"They train us, of course we are not defenseless!"

All the same questions and shouts around me reflect my own thoughts. But I knew who it was and where they were being held. Derek. It had to be.

Making the first move that only tipped everyone else off to do the same, I got up from my seat. Within seconds the double doors at the entrance was blocked by the mass of people. I back away to the corner and head for the kitchen. Turning around at the last second was a mistake. Tyler spotted me, and from my angle, he did not look happy.

"Please, oh please, do not follow me," I silently pray. "You won't like knowing where I'm headed."

But I don't have time to linger as I turn back around, looking for a way out. Servers, chefs, workers, all look terrified as they see me, shrinking away from my presence. Appliance after appliance, after table, after storage door, all make up the impossibly large kitchen. It really was massive. How was I going to get out of here in time to find Derek?

A whimper comes from my left, I look to the source of the noise. Automatically I felt guilty, already knowing what I was about to do to this poor woman. She had short brown hair, and dark chocolate brown eyes, her skin an olive tone. Shaking my head, I grab her by the collar, pulling her up with me. If she was so scared of me, I had to take that to my advantage.

"Where is the way out of here?" I yell at her.

She only whimpers again, visibly shrinking at my voice, before muttering in Italian. I forgot I was in Europe. Of course they'd hire local workers to keep the place running.

I let her go, sad to watch her as she falls to the ground. She was hopeless. Holding up my hands, I point in various directions several times before going back to the shrugged, questioning shoulder look I was going for.

Miraculously, she seems to understand. She slowly gets up, nodding at me, once again speaking Italian. Wasting no time, she runs, more like sprints, to the right. I bolt after her, barely able to keep up. She was quick. Probably just wanted to get further away from me. Who knows if she was even leading me in the right direction?

We continue on for several minutes before she slams open a double door and into a hallway. Finally. I had almost lost her a few times when she ran around the corner too fast, but I was grateful. I stop momentarily, giving her a brief nod before starting up again. I knew right where I was. I'd hid near that same door when I had to hide from guards after seeing Derek.

The alarms hadn't stopped but I hadn't heard them inside the kitchen. I bet they don't make them too loud since vampires have such great hearing...

I stop dead in my tracks around the corner from Derek's cell door. Several guards were posted outside, along with Tyler. But Tyler wasn't guarding. He was questioning one of them. I couldn't hear what he was saying to them but I don't need to find out.

"Now! Can't you hear the alarms you idiots!" Tyler screams at them, throwing his hands up. They scatter within seconds, using their abilities to move fast. I wonder if any of them noticed me here.

Staying my ground, safely hidden around the corner, I watch as Tyler unlocks the door and proceeds in. The door closes behind him though and I hear nothing more. Was Derek still in there? What was going on? If Derek was the escaped prisoner, why was Tyler in there for so long?

I couldn't help sneaking closer and closer, continuing until I could hear voices. Two, distinctly male voices. So maybe Derek wasn't the one who had escaped... silence. Somethings wrong, they aren't talking anymore.

I turn to run but it was too late. An arm snakes around my waist and forcefully pushes me up against the nearest wall. Tyler has me pinned by the waist, my arms both held above my head, his face a mere inches from my own.

"Tyler," I let out a breath. "It's me."

"What the hell! I know it's you," his hot breath blows into my face, veins showing on his forehead. "But what are you doing here?" He was furious.

"C'mon," I try breathlessly to move my arms, my legs; any part of me to get out of his killer grasp. "You knew I was headed out of that dining hall when you saw me, it was only a matter of where I was headed."

"Yes, but why here?" He had moved his legs now so that they too were blocking any movement. "How did you know about this place?"

"This place?" I ask him, incredulous. "Please, Tyler. I live here now too. I didn't 'know' about Derek, exactly, I only happened to find him one day on acc-"

"What the hell? You know his name?" Tyler lessens his hold on me as his eyebrows push together even further. What, had me knowing Derek hurt him?

"Tyler, let me go. Please." I finally ask him as he releases his pin on me. The unforgiving wall he had held me up against ripped my shirt in the back as I felt a familiar warmth trickling down. "You were forceful there Tyler," I say as I attempt to reach behind to my back.

"Oh," he steps forward and carefully examines my back. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't believe you were here... it's a small scratch, but" I feel a pressure and he pushes the wound to stop it from bleeding. "That should help the bleeding stop." He spins me around to face him. "Can you explain to me how you got here now?"

"Just now? Or do you mean how I found him the first time?"

"Both..." he phrases it like a question, one he didn't even seem like he wanted the answers to exactly.

"Well I think you need to explain why you came, of all places, here."

He frowns, turning around and pointing out every other door in the hall we were in, including the door still held ajar that Derek was in. "Well he's the only prisoner here."

"If you're right, then..." I frown, my mind running through several possibilities before I'm cut off.

A weak laugh echoes from the cell, "apparently I'm not the only prisoner here then." Derek's words mirror my last resounding thought.