Selene ran towards Benjamin as he staggered back weakly. His lips were quivering, his golden eyes were bloodshot, his skin was devoid of color, and for some reason, he had a nose bleed.

"I'm fine." He said in a voice that sounded everything but fine.

"We need to get you to a hospital! Oh, my Gawd!" Selene shook with both the adrenaline rush and fear from what had just happened.

"No. We need to get out of here. No hospitals." He waved her hands away.

"But..." Selene started to say when Tianna pulled her away.

Tianna Feather cleared her throat expectantly. Benjamin obediently lifted his shirt slightly for her to see.

It was the deepest and most horrifying wound Selene had ever seen in her entire life. It was so grotesque that she had to resist the urge to pass out from the sight of blood.

"It's a flesh wound. Their weapons were made of Lylium?" Tianna asked.

"Yes. I'm fine." Benjamin swayed.

"You're not. Selene? Help me get him to the car. We need to get out of here before they return." Tianna said.

Selene opened her mouth to argue and ask questions but she shut her mouth when Benjamin hissed in pain and staggered again like a drunkard. She decided to ask questions when things were a bit calmer.

When Benjamin leaned on her with his bad side, she almost fell. She'd never realized how heavy he was before.

"How much do you weigh?! You're so heavy!" She grunted.

"You weren't thinking that when I was..." he started saying until she glared at him.

Selene glanced at her aunt nervously. Tianna didn't know that she'd dumped Larry. She wasn't sure her aunt would be eager to hear she already had another boyfriend so soon. Especially since the new guy had been her ex's stepbrother.

It wasn't appropriate for her aunt to know about the temporary moment of madness she'd had with Benjamin. Selene wasn't sure she wanted anyone else to know about it. It was bad enough that Larry had found out.

Tianna and Selene helped Benjamin into the car. Selene got into the back seat with him because she couldn't bear the thought of leaving him on his own after he'd practically saved her life.

The minute Tianna started the car, Benjamin's head dropped and fell onto Selene's lap. She glanced at her aunt who was watching them from the rearview mirror.

"I'm tired. So tired." His eyes were closing. His cheeks were flushed and pale.

"Stop! Don't sleep! Shouldn't there be a rule against sleeping when you're this injured?" Selene tapped his cheeks gently. The blood from his nose stained her hands.

"Keep your eyes open, Benjamin. At least for a few seconds. Selene, reach under the driver's seat. There's something there." Tianna was looking around furtively like she was expecting danger.

Selene moved gently in order not to dislodge Benjamin who was looking more and more dazed by the second. She found a plastic bag filled to the brim with crystalline substances.

The crystalline solids were shaped strangely and came in different colors—pink, blue, orange, violet, and some colors Selene couldn't name. It was the strangest thing she'd ever seen. They didn't look like any candy Selene knew which was shocking considering how her roommates Didi and Laura loved junk food. The colors were sharper and unusually vibrant.

"What's this?" Selene asked.

"Rodium. Give him one. It'll help with the healing process. Not more than one or he'd end up in a coma." Tianna ordered.

Selene wiped her hands clean, opened the plate gently, and coaxed Benjamin to open his mouth. As she looked at his lips, she couldn't help but remember how it had felt kissing him. She couldn't help but admire his perfectly set pearl white teeth.

Before her thoughts got dirtier, Selene dropped one blue Rodium into his mouth before removing her fingers but not before his pink tongue swiped them gently. She made a startled sound due to how odd the sensation felt. It was like electricity shot through her veins at that moment.

Judging by the flush on his cheeks, he'd done it on purpose. He gave her a smile that looked every bit as perverted as what he'd done before burying his head deeper into her warm thighs—a thing he would never have done in the presence of another since he hated PDA.

"This feels nice. It won't be a bad way to go." Benjamin sighed happily.

"Benjamin!" Selene gasped.

"What? A guy has to have his fantasies." He sighed.

Selene had never heard Benjamin sound so dazed and relaxed. He was always so calculating and nothing ever seemed to ruffle him. She tried not to think about the fact that he'd implied he fantasized about her. Selene didn't even like looking at herself in the mirror. She really didn't understand what it was about her that he found fascinating.

"Don't listen to him. He's in a state which you'd call 'drug induced'. He isn't in complete control of his faculties. His body is trying to heal his wounds hence, it has shut down other functions like tact." Tianna said.

"Trying to heal...I still think we need to take him to a hospital. This looks bad." Selene said.

"Lift his shirt," Tianna ordered.

"What?" Selene gasped. She couldn't believe her aunt had suggested such a scandalous thing.

"I don't mind if you undress me with your nimble fingers. I like it when you touch me." Benjamin's pupils were dilated. His golden eyes looked unsteady and weak.

"Just do it," Tianna said sharply. She was obviously trying to ignore what he'd just said.

Selene lifted the bloody shirt gingerly to check his ribs where the huge gash was. To her surprise, the wound wasn't as deep as it was before. It was closing up slowly before her eyes.

"He's healing and the Rodium would help catalyze the process. Right now, he needs to sleep for an hour or so and he'd be fine." Tianna said.

"I'm so confused. What happened back there? Why was he wearing a golden armor? What were those things? When I looked at one of them, it was like I couldn't even move my body. I couldn't even blink!" Selene said.

"I understand your fear and confusion..." Tianna started.

"I don't think you do, Aunt Tianna. Those things—they aren't human, are they?" Selene asked.

"No. They're the Hunters of Rodia and their allegiance is to the Crown." Tianna said.

"Hunters? Rodia? Crown? What on earth is that? Why did they keep referring to me as the Child of Black Day?" Selene asked.

"I know you have a lot of questions, Selene but..." Tianna started again.

"Aunt Tianna? This isn't a dream, is it? You know I always have nightmares but this isn't one of them. Those things. I know them. I feel like I've seen them before. But that's not possible. Am I crazy?" Selene shivered.

"You're a lot of things Selene Feather, but crazy isn't one of them. This isn't a nightmare. It would cost too much power for a Dream Weaver to project this kind of dream. Even if they were the most powerful ones in the entire Kingdom." Tianna said.

"Dream Weav...? What on earth is that?" Selene asked.

"Selene? I'm afraid I cannot multitask as well as the guy resting on your lap. I'm trying to cloak Benjamin's magic as well as yours and trust me, it's hard enough trying to cloak yours when you're upset. I also need to keep my eyes on the road. I'm not adept in combat and neither are you. The only person strong enough to fight those Hunters is Benjamin and he's out of bounds." Tianna said.

"I can take 'em," Benjamin said weakly.

"He can't. I understand you're afraid, confused and sincerely this wasn't the way I planned for things to go but I need you to be brave, Selene. The more agitated you are, the longer it'd take Benjamin to heal and get better." Tianna said.

Selene closed her mouth even though she still had about a million questions. Benjamin's skin looked pale and flushed. He didn't look like he was in good condition and frankly, she was terrified of those things that had come for her at the pond. If they came back she wasn't sure they would even survive.

Benjamin's eyes eventually shut and his breathing became slow and even. Selene had never seen him sleep before. He looked so calm and peaceful that she couldn't help but stroke his cheek tenderly.

He didn't stir.

Selene temporarily forgot that she was mad at Benjamin. She forgot that they weren't supposed to be on speaking terms. She just wanted him to be fine.

"I'm guessing that Laurence boy is out of the picture," Tianna said in her sharp voice.

Selene blushed furiously.

"We broke up." Selene cleared her throat nervously. She didn't know if her voice sounded shakier than it was supposed to.

Her aunt had never approved of her dating Larry so Selene wasn't even sure she would approve of Benjamin. Tianna seemed to like Benjamin but that was before Selene had hooked up with him.

"Good. He was not right for you. Too flashy and arrogant. I hope you don't have plans to get back together with him." Tianna said sternly.

"Not at all," Selene said. Even if she did have a chance to get back together with Larry(which she knew she didn't), she was sure she'd pass the opportunity. They were wrong for each other. Neither of them had dated the other for any of the right reasons.

They drove in silence for a while. Selene watched Benjamin sleep during that time. She'd always known he wasn't what he seemed but the things he'd done weren't natural. He moved too smoothly and swiftly when he attacked those things.

Who was he?

He certainly wasn't the boy she'd thought he was. Tianna had said something about concealing his magic.

Did that mean he had magical powers?

She wouldn't be shocked though. There was always something so distinct, mysterious, and special about Benjamin. To Selene, he was like the special chocolate you saved for your birthday.

The most important question wasn't actually about Benjamin. It was about her.

Who was she?

Why did those Hunters seem so familiar? 

Why had they attacked her?

She'd been afraid of them but her fear wasn't just due to how they looked. It was more deep-rooted than that.

The more she thought, the more she realized the only logical explanation for her fear was that she'd encountered them in the past.

If she had, how on earth had she escaped them?

Why on earth couldn't she remember?

Suddenly, the image of her mother's beautiful face flashed through her mind causing her to hiss in pain. Her head felt a sharp ping which was worse than any migraine she'd ever had.

The pain she felt gave her the answers to some of her questions. The only time she felt that kind of pain was when she tried to remember her mother or some intimate details of their life together before she died.

The only possible reason she couldn't remember them was because they were also tied to the weird circumstances that surrounded her mother's death.

It might also be why they never found out what happened to Tabitha or why she had to die. Perhaps that explained some of the weird dreams she'd had. She used to think those dreams were a result of the trauma her mind had experienced after her mother died but now, she was sure they weren't just because of trauma.

It didn't make sense to her why she couldn't remember her mother. She thought hard and once again she was rewarded with the sharp pain.

"Don't force it. The harder you try to remember, the more the memory would elude you. Besides, I still have a lot of things to explain to you first. They might help with your memory." Tianna's voice broke through her train of thoughts.

Selene bit her lip and nodded. She looked down at Benjamin again. He still looked a little pale but the wound on his stomach had almost disappeared fully. It was like nothing had even happened. It was only the blood on his shirt that assured her it wasn't a dream.

The fact that her strict aunt didn't faint seeing a boy was sleeping on her lap was so strange. Tianna had thrown a fit the first time she'd seen Selene holding hands with Larry. She'd had a scandalous look on her face that day like she'd caught them doing something even more inappropriate like having sex.

Selene wondered what Tianna would do if she found out what happened between her and Benjamin that night at the pond. She wasn't looking forward to her aunt finding out.

Selene hadn't planned on sleeping. She'd been so sure she wouldn't even be able to sleep considering the crazy things that just happened and how cool it felt watching Benjamin sleep. She had to admit later on that she probably fell asleep.

By the time she was once again conscious, she realized she was no longer in the backseat of her aunt's beat-up car. She still felt the jiggling sensation of being in motion but she didn't hear the sound of a car. She inhaled and realized she was close to something warm. The warm thing smelt vaguely like blood and cologne.

She opened her eyes just a crack and realized she was being carried by Benjamin who no longer looked pale or wounded. He looked well-rested and every bit as alert as he usually was.

Selene considered opening her eyes and telling him to put her down but then she realized it might be her only chance to get carried like that.

The thoughts that passed through her mind would have made a clergyman make the sign of the cross. She was still living in her x rated fantasies when she heard a voice that caused her to snap out of it.

#M.M💀🖤