Look out for the <>!

Stella POV

"Fine, let's find our own cure," Grayson said with such determination in his eyes.

I nodded with a smile. That was exactly what I wanted. I couldn't accept what they were telling me. I would not give up until the poison was gone from my body.

"We just need to wait here another few minutes until the paste dries.

So that is what we did, we waited minutes until the stinging started to fade. The more seconds ticked by, the more crushed Gray looked. It was as if he knew that my fate was sealed before it anything was done to even try. It frustrated me that he seemed to give up before he even tried.

Gray needed to understand that I would not let myself fall into the pit of darkness yet. I would not let Else be the holder of my fate. There was more that I could do, I was sure of it. "Where is the best place to look for answers?" I asked Grayson, as he wiped the paste from his arm.

Underneath, his arm was completely healed. It was as if nothing had attacked him. It made me wonder what my shoulder looked like. I couldn't help myself from wiping the paste from my shoulder to see the scratch still black and oozing the black liquid that smelt like sulfur.

"It doesn't hurt though, right?"

I shook my head, knowing the stinging was gone. However, in the back of my mind, I knew it would come back, especially when the scratch wasn't healed. "It doesn't hurt right now."

"Good. Well, let's get to the library. There might be something there," he said as he offered his hand to me, which I took without question. Gray said he was a killer, but even now, I didn't believe it. That beast was a killer, he was not that beast and as I looked into his light eyes, I knew Gray would never be a killer. Not now or ever.

I let Gray lead me through the halls of the castle. We passed students and teachers who paid little attention to Gray and I as we walked past them. That was until one older man stopped Gray with a smile.

"You weren't in class today. Everything alright?" he asked kindly.

His defined muscles made me believe his class had something to do with physical excursive.

"I have some things to do for Else and the Royal family. I should return to class in a few days," Grayson said kindly.

He nodded, believing him, then looked at me. "Oh, you got to get her healed. We all know how bad those Darkling scratches and turn."

"That is where we are going currently," Gray said as he looked at me. "We got to get her in right shape."

"I heard there are more Darklings in the woods today, best not to get out of the school grounds for the next few days." and with that, he left us in the hall.

"Who was he?" I asked, realizing that was the only person who actually said something to Gray since I had been here.

"He's just my trainer. He's a good guy," Grayson said as he walked down the hall again, as if he knew exactly where he was going

"I can tell."

Finally, we made our way to the library, that was nearly empty. I looked around the massive room full of books of all different sizes. Everything about the library looked old, with its large shelves slightly bowed because of the weight of the books they held.

"Stella, come," Gray's voice rang out and obediently, I followed him to the back of the room, where the largest of the oldest books were held. "This is where we should find some answers."

I nodded as I sat down next to him, as my shoulder stung again. With a frown, I looked at my shoulder as the black liquid stained my cream sweater. I wondered what would happen next with this scratch, but I was too afraid to ask Gray. Unwilling to think about it any longer, I turned my attention to Gray, who was pulling out books with such confidence, as if he knew the answers were held within the pages.

"I want you to start with this," Gray said as he pushed a book towards me and flipped to the right page. "Read until the end of the chapter."

"And what am I looking for exactly?"

"Anything related to Darklings and humans," he said as he grabbed a book for himself.

I nodded as I started to read through the pages, trying to find anything I could that was useful. The chapter was riddled with information about Darklings but there was no reference to humans anywhere. I turned another page and noticed a page had been torn out from its bound spin. My finger carefully rubbed against the shredded edges, and I could only wonder what was originally here. My eyes turned to the next page, going into details about how to ward off Darklings from your home.

"Where did Darklings come from?" I asked, unsure of this fact.

Gray closed the book with a frown on his face. His eyes glanced at my shoulder for a second before meeting my eyes again. "No one is really sure of their history. Some say they came from a bad spell of a warlock. Some say they are charred remains of magical beings burnt live, regardless of the facts; I am not sure what to believe. I just know they are dangerous and as a gatekeeper, it is my job to keep them from earth."

I nodded as I turned another page of the book, realizing I made it to the end of the chapter. By now, my head pounded against my skull. I closed the book and pulled another one from the pile, hoping that reading would help ease the ache however, it only increased. Seconds ticked by as I realized I was hotter than I was a few minutes ago. Silently, I slipped off my sweater to reveal a tank top underneath.

Gray looked back at me and shook his head as if I wasn't doing something right. "Let's get you to bed."

It didn't matter how poor I was feeling, I wouldn't get to bed, giving up. I had to stay, push through it. I would not move from this spot. "No."

"Stell, please, you can read in bed. I just want you to stay there."

I chewed on his words as my headache raged in my mind, only turning into a more severe storm. "Fine," I spat, as if I was mad at him. I wasn't, but was just mad that I found nothing to help him. With little information about this place, I felt completely useless.

"Great," he smiled as he helped me up from the chair I sat on.

With a book in hand, he led me back to Else's empty apartment.

"Else said, you could stay in her room for the time being," Grayson explained as he walked into her bedroom.

I looked at her freshly made bed with a frown. I knew I didn't like Else or trust her, but her bed seemed so much more comfortable than Grayson's. As my body ached, all I wanted was to lay down and try to feel comfortable.

With slow steps, I walked to the bed, which seemed further than I wanted it to be. Every movement ached within me and I just wanted some soft bed to cradle me to help the ache. Finally, I made it to the bed and tucked myself into the soft bed.

<>

"You don't have to research anymore," Gray said with concern as he set the books on the nightstand.

He didn't understand that sitting around was even worse. I needed something to do to at least feel like I was doing something. "Just give me one," I said as I propped myself up with pillows, ready to research until I couldn't anymore.

Obediently, he handed me a book, then sat beside me on the bed. He flipped open his book and silently; we started working once again, trying to race against the clock for my sake.

We were silent for a moment as we looked at our books in our laps, trying to find answers. We continued to turn pages, looking for answers that were eluding us. But as my eyesight continued to blur, I knew I wouldn't be able to read much more. I looked over at Gray, who had a frown on his face as if he wasn't finding the answers he wanted.

If I didn't make it through this, it would crush Gray. I knew it would. He already thought he was a killer, but if I died, he would never think otherwise. But this wasn't his fault. It was the Darkling's fault. He couldn't blame himself for this when the Darkling was the thing that attacked me. He needed to know that and that I didn't blame him for my future fate. "If I don't make it through this..."

He frowned as he shook his head, not wanting to even talk about it. "Stella."

I placed my hands on his as I noticed black charcoal skin trailing down my arm. I looked away from it, trying to erase that image from my mind. "Listen Gray, you aren't a killer. You didn't kill me. You didn't kill that other kid either. You are a good person. Just remember that."

His frown deepened as he tried to find the words to tell me. Seconds passed until he stood up from the bed and started pacing the floor. "We will find the cure, I know it."

I wasn't sure if he was confident or desperate. Either way, I felt like he was in denial. We had been searching for answers for hours and so far we had found no sign of hope. I was running out of time; he knew that, but he didn't even want to think about that fact. "And we'll keep looking." But just in case we found nothing, he just needed to know that he wasn't a killer. I never saw him as a killer, nor would I ever.