Song for the start of the chapter

Stella POV

I stretched as I looked around the room. Gray was nowhere to be seen, and it caused panic to rise within me just a little. Silently, I got up from his bed and rubbed my hip. His bed was really not comfortable. I felt like I was sleeping on a board the whole night.

"Morning," Gray said as he walked into the room with two cups in his hand. He sat on the foot of the bed and handed me a cup of something hot. "It's tea."

"I like tea," I said as I sniffed the mint tea, feeling more relaxed.

"Who doesn't? How did you sleep?"

"I should be asking the same about you. Where did you sleep, by the way?" I asked as I remembered waking up in the early morning, seeing him asleep on the wood floor beside the bed. I just hoped he didn't sleep there all night long.

"I slept fine."

"On the floor?"

He shrugged as he took another sip of tea, as if it wasn't a big deal. "I've slept worse places."

And that comment made me wonder where else he had slept. The floor did not look comfortable at all, so what other worse places has he been.

"And how about the bed?"

"It's not comfortable."

He chuckled, knowing exactly what she meant. "Honestly, I think the floor was more comfortable than my bed."

I laughed as I took another drink of tea. "Well, now you know for future reference."

"I guess I do," he said as he stood up from his seat and smiled at me. "I normally wake up early and so I didn't want to wake you up."

"Thanks for thinking of me."

"Of course. Anyhow, we will return you this afternoon, but while I have you this morning, I was wondering if you want to see my world." A hint of a smile played on his face as if he was really excited about this possibility.

I nodded with a smile. "I've been waiting far too long for this moment."

"Good, because honestly, I have too."

My smile only grew as I looked at him. Deep down, I knew he didn't want to push me away. He wanted me to know, but his foster mother must have prevented him from telling me. But now that I was here, there was no reason for him to keep it from me. "No more secrets?"

"It's kind of hard to keep any secrets from you, isn't it?" he chuckled as he sipped his tea.

"You have a point there."

He nodded as he looked out the window. In Jackson, he was always so guarded, but here, it was like he was a different person. Fears nor rules weren't holding him back. This playful banter wasn't restricted in any way. He wanted to have these light conversations as if he wanted them all this time.

"You know, you were talking in your sleep at one point."

"Oh gosh..." I stated as my cheeks turned red as I worried about what I said during the night.

"Don't worry, you didn't say anything, mumbles really, but it was still amusing."

The fact that he found this amusing put me slightly at ease, however I still worried that he wasn't telling the truth to me. "I bet you it was."

For a moment, we let our tea drinking do the talking until Gray spoke up. "Well, enough talking, I have a lot to show you, let's get out of here and I'll show you around."

I nodded as I finished drinking my tea, then followed him out the door of this dorm room. We walked past halls and students that looked around the same age as us. The students laughed and joked around with one another, some calling others to join from across the room, but none noticed Gray as we passed them.

"This castle is centuries old," Gray said as we passed another hall with floating orbs of light.

"What are those?" I asked, pointing to the lights as they changed colors to other soft hues.

"I think the fairies made them. I don't know exactly what they are for."

"There are fairies here?"

He nodded with a shrug, as if it was common knowledge. "Why wouldn't there be?"

"Because there is no such thing as fairies."

"Now that is what humans say to sleep better at night," Gray said with a smirk as he walked out of the castle.

The sun shined brightly on top of us and warmed me up instantly. Once again I regretted wearing a thick sweater yesterday. "Are you a fairy?"

"No, not even close," he said and looked around the green lawn, then pointed to a boy that was reading a textbook. "He's a fairy."

I shook my head, not believing him. He looked just like us, how could he be a fairy? "What about his wings?"

"Most fairies don't keep them out all the time. They end up just getting in the way," he stated, as if this was a well-known fact.

I shut my mouth as I listened to his words in amazement. "What are you then?"

"I am a portal watcher. I like to think of myself as a gatekeeper. What I do is to keep track of who goes through the gates and keep the gates in working order."

"Did you pick that job or is it something you inherited?"

Grayson stopped in mid-walk as he thought about my simple question. He looked unhappy for a second before saying, "My father was a gate keeper so that was what I was destined to become."

"That's not really fair."

"I never considered it not fair. It was what I grew up with and I knew nothing different. Everyone here knew nothing different. Jobs had been passed down from parent to child for centuries," Grayson stated as birds flew over us, making noise, causing me to switch my gaze to the sky. "That's just the way it is. Nothing I can do about it so might as well deal. People don't normally pick their jobs here."

I nodded at him, then looked around at the green lawn we stood on and smiled at what I saw. There were so many things that reminded me of earth but there were some things that were so different. I couldn't help but stop and look at everything, trying to decide if it was different from what I knew as familiar.

"So this is your turf," I asked as Grayson lead me through a treeline, deeper into the woods. Everything about this place seemed so ancient, but so organized. Every tree was planted in a straight line as if it was wanted to grow exactly there, designed that way, all walkways and paths we passed were completely straight.

Churchwell was completely to plan. The people here seemed to follow that exact same pattern, and I couldn't help but think that was why Grayson didn't fit in. He was different from the people we passed through the courtyard and within the school. It wasn't the fact that he spent time in Jackson, something else was different about him but I couldn't place a finger on it. Maybe he didn't even know what was different about himself, but I could see it.

"This is my home," he nodded as he sat down on a fallen log.

"It's really beautiful."

"I know," he responded as he looked at the ground as if his mind was somewhere far away.

There was something he was keeping from me, and maybe from himself. I could see it in his eyes that there was something about this place that he didn't like. "Do you like it here?"

He shrugged as if the answer was simple. "Churchwell was made for magical beings like me. We learn how to be the best we can and control our powers. Who wouldn't like this place?"

He didn't answer my question though; it made me wonder if he really enjoyed this place or if he was just conditioned to like this place. "Yes, but do you like this place?"

He shut his mouth as he thought about it. "Jackson wasn't really my scene anyhow. This is where I am supposed to fit in."

I wanted to protest, tell him that Jackson was perfect for him because I was there. We were both outsiders but friends together. I missed him and Jackson wasn't the same without him. I wanted to tell him I wanted him back and instead; I sat quietly on the log as birds chirp around us.

"Do you like Jackson?"

I shrugged as I thought about myself molding to fit in better in Jackson. My tastes were changing, my preferences were changing. I wasn't the same person who moved there just a few months ago. "It's growing on me, like a tumor."

Grayson laughed at the joke and nodded. "Some places have that affect."

"Like Churchwell for you?"

He looked at the ground again. "I haven't gotten there yet."

"Then why are you staying?" I asked, unable to fathom staying in a place that I didn't fit into. Gray had been gone for weeks, meaning that he had been here for weeks, but he still didn't fit in. When would that change? How long would he have to put up being unhappy with his situation?

"Because my family is from here."

I frowned, not finding that a good enough excuse. Just because you were from somewhere didn't mean you belonged there? If you weren't happy, you didn't need to force yourself to stay in that. People deserved to be happy, and Grayson wasn't. I wasn't sure if he ever was.

For a moment we let the bird songs fill the silence between us. It made it less awkward than just us in our thoughts. I looked over at Grayson, who looked stuck in his thoughts. He scowled at the nearby tree as if he was mad about something. I wondered if it was something I said to him. I knew I should have stayed silent. But I couldn't let myself do that when he obviously needed someone to help him realize his true predicament. "I'm glad I found you. I missed you a lot in Jackson."

He looked back at me with a smile. "You know, I am actually glad you found me too."

"You are?" I asked in amazement, not expecting that.

He nodded. "Yeah, Stella, just because I push you away doesn't mean I don't care about you. I pushed you away because I cared. I'm dangerous and I couldn't let anything happen to you, so I thought pushing you away was the safest thing."

"You always say that you are dangerous, but what do you mean because I don't see anything dangerous about you."

He frowned as he gave a heavy sigh. "I live in this world, so thus I am dangerous. This world isn't meant to humans."

"Then how did I go through the gate? You keep saying that humans don't belong, but I am here, so what is going on?"

"Just because you aren't meant to be here doesn't mean you can't come here. Humans used to come here often to meet with the royal family. There was a time when they knew about the magical realms, but humans stopped traveling centuries ago."

"What made them stop coming?"

He shrugged as if he didn't really know the answer himself. "Probably had something to do with a lack of acceptance."

I nodded as I let silence fill the woods surrounding us. This honesty from Grayson was unexpected, but well received. Like the unexpected guest I was, he had been nothing but kind to me as I continued to ask him millions of questions.

Finally, with a sigh, I looked over at him and smiled. "It's really beautiful here," I said as I placed my hand on his to test the waters.

He looked at my hand and smiled, then a second later, wrapped his fingers around my hand. "It is."

Breaking us from our moment was a growl. Instantly, Gray jumped up from his seat on the log and looked around as if he was in danger. "We need to get back."

I nodded as I saw the fear in his eyes. I didn't have to question that whatever lived in these woods was dangerous. Jumping from my seat, I looked around as I tried to find the source of the growl. It was close, but I couldn't see anything.

"Stella, come on!" he said as he pulled on my hand just as a shadowy beast jumped out from behind a nearby tree.

Without waiting a second, Gray pulled out a knife and threw it into the beast. It howled as Gray ran to tackle it to the ground.

I watched silently as Gray single handedly took this monster down. He looked more trained than the last time I watched him do this. He knew exactly what to do as he stabbed the beast again. The beast fought against Gray, but Gray was quick to pin it down again.

The way it moved, it reminded me of a lanky shadow, but yet it growled like a wildcat or some other beast. It was terrifying; I don't think it would ever be not scary.

Breaking me from my thoughts was when something pulled me to the grown. In a second, I was looking up at another one of these beasts. It's red eyes staring down at me as if thinking about what to do next.

I let out a scream, unable to force any words from my mouth. A second later, Gray was ripping the beast off me.

I scrambled to the nearest tree, hoping it would provide shelter, unsure if there was another one nearby.

"Stella, run. Go to the castle, into the lawns. You will be safe." He shouted as the beast bit into Gray. Gray screamed in pain as beast tried to swipe at him again. "Stella, go!"

And as much as I wanted to stay, I knew I was no help to him. As quick as I could, I stood up from the ground and ran towards the castle.

I heard more growls from the trees, then Gray screamed again. Panic filled me as I forced myself forward. I didn't have time to stop and look to see if Gray was ok. I couldn't stop. Gray told me to get to the castle, and that was where I would go.

As my lungs started to burn from exhaustion, I tumbled onto the manicured lawn on the castle. Another growl came from the tree lines and as it came to pounce towards me, it hit some kind of force field and shot back into the tree line.

The Beast walked up to the force field and stared at me for a second, as if wanting me to know he would be there when I came out. It clawed at the force field as the force field glittered. Finally, the beast growled one more time before running back into the woods.

Seconds ticked by as Gray was nowhere to be seen. Panic filled me as I stood up from the ground. Gray needed to come back, he just had to. Unsure of whom to inform about this, I stayed in the same place, waiting for him to return.

Sure enough, he returned with red blood mixing with black liquid dripping down from his arm. He walked through the force field, then pulled me into an embrace. "I shouldn't have led you that deep into the woods. I am so sorry," he said softly into my hair. He pulled me out of the embrace and looked at me from head to toe. "Are you ok?"

I nodded; positive I was ok. "I'm fine."

He nodded, believing me for a second before lingering on my shoulder. "What is that?" he asked as he pointed to my right shoulder.

I looked at the ripped clothing and shrugged. "Nothing." I was sure it was nothing, my shirt must have just ripped when I fell.

"May I see?"

I didn't see any harm in it, even though I was sure it was nothing to be concerned about.

He pulled back the fabric of my sweater and frowned at the black scratch on my shoulder. His eyes held some kind of deep panic as he looked at it. It was as if he knew exactly what it was and what would happen next.

"What is wrong?" I asked as my shoulder started to sting slightly.

He shook his head. "We need to speak to Else."