•Jenna•

        My eyes blink open to the glare of fluorescent light. Squinting my eyes, I try to grasp where I am. White walls and ceiling surround me, making me feel claustrophobic. My lungs feel suddenly incapable of breathing, and my limbs start to thrash out of fear. 

    Someone appears in the corner of my vision and strokes my head, murmuring soothing things and telling me everything will be okay. I take a deep breath and look up at the person, expecting my mom. Instead, brown eyes meet my blue ones. 

   "Tyler," I whisper. "What are you doing here?" 

   "I've come to check on you. They ran tests to make sure you didn't receive any brain damage." 

   "Do I?"

   "Do you what?"

   "Have any brain damage?"

    Tyler shakes his head. "You might forget a few things, but that should only be temporary." 

   I sigh in relief and gaze forward. "You didn't have to stay here with me." 

   I see Tyler shrug. "It's no big deal. I don't mind. Your mom is letting me come to your house the next few days to check on you. You're under house arrest at the moment."

   I smirk. "House arrest?"

   "Yep. I'm your warden." 

   "So, how am I being arrested," I ask, a smirk still playing on my face.

 "You will not be allowed to leave the house, socialize except for a few selection of people, not be exposed to bright light, and you're supposed to get plenty of rest." Tyler recites this like he's had it memorized. 

   "Doesn't sound too bad to me. It just sounds like I'm turning into an antisocial-vampire." 

   "Not quite," Tyler says. "I'll still keep you company."

    "Darnit," I say playfully. "So how long do I have to stay here?"

     "You get discharged tomorrow. Your mom is letting me drive you home." 

   "Wow, she trusts you that much already, huh?"

   Tyler shrugs. "We had a long talk. I guess she respects the fact that I didn't just choose to leave you knocked out in the woods." 

   "Yeah, I would respect that fact, too." He smirks. 

   I lay back and sigh. "I'm so clumsy." 

 "How did you get knocked out?"

  I look up and to the left. I can finally remember. "Funny story. Um, well...," I blush. "I was walking through the woods and thinking about how you were my only friend here when I thought about seeing a treehouse there in the woods. A thought then came to me: maybe it was yours! I started off in the direction of where I thought where it would be. I suddenly saw it in the distance and I was so excited that I started running when I tripped and fell. Then, I went out like a light." 

    "So...technically I'm the reason that you're in the hospital?" 

   I hold out my hands. "NO. NONONONONO. Don't you dare think you're the reason. It's my own fault for tripping."

   "Okay," Tyler says quietly. "So." He changes the subject and leans forward, a serious look crossing his face. His brows furrow. "How did you know about the treehouse before you woke up in it?"

    "Well," I begin. I suddenly feel like I've invaded on something that is personal to him. "I saw it the first day I was walking in the woods and decided to explore it. I didn't realize that it was inhabited." Tyler's face shifts. A look of panic occupies his eyes. "I looked in the chest, but I didn't open the notebook," I say quickly. 

     Tyler continues to stare at me. "Thank you for being honest with me, Jenna. You've proved to me that I can trust you." 

   "What?" I ask. Why would I lie to him?

   "I found your locket in my treehouse, over by my chest. If you had said you'd never been there, then I would've known you were lying." 

   I look into the center of his eyes. "I have no reason to lie to you, Tyler," I say sincerely.

  "I'd hope not." The boy looks down and plays with a rubber band on his left wrist, something I hadn't noticed before. 

   "Tyler..." I begin, the sentence fading before it even begins. His head jerks up, a finger still playing with the band. "Are you...are you okay?" I whisper, tears forming in my eyes. 

    "I am not as fine as I seem." My breath catches. 

   "Are you...do you...?" 

   "Yes, but I'm trying to stop." I let out a breath. 

  "That's good." An awkward silence settles in the room. 

  "You probably think I'm a freak," Tyler says, finally breaking the silence. 

  "No," I say, the tears threatening to spill over. "I don't think that at all. Just"--I inhale deeply and close my eyes, then reopen them--"promise me that you'll stop. Please. For me." 

  He nods, his eyes an unfocused stare. They suddenly focus and land on me. "I'll try. I really will, now that I have purpose." 

  "What is your purpose?"

 He says one word, looking straight into the depths of my soul as he does. 

   "You."