Song for the start of the chapter!

Grayson POV

I turned another page of the book on my lap and frowned at its content. Every book I picked up held no useful information in them. Frustration and despair filled me like an empty grave. I was trying to find answers but was falling short and as my eyes glanced at Stella, who looked clammy in Else's bed; I knew I was running out of time.

All the books I thought would have answers came up with empty pages or missing information. It was as if they were trying to cover up everything they could. I knew Else lied to me, but even the books in the library seemed to lie to me. They just wanted to tell us what they wanted to, controlled and simple.

I ran my hands through my hair and let out a heavy sigh as I tried to control my anger and panic. My mind raced with what to do. Who would tell me the truth? Who would be willing to help me out in order to let the school burn? My father was the only person that came to my mind. Maybe this was why he had Stella come. He wanted to show how there were answers, but the school and their authorities covered up answers. I looked at Stella again as I started to realize my father's motives.

Stella met my eyes and forced a smile in an attempt to ease my mind, but I could see pain in her eyes. "Find anything?" she asked with hope.

I forced a smile back at her. There was no hope because Churchwell removed all of it for reasons I didn't understand. Churchwell didn't want me to heal her of the poison, but why? "I think I have a lead."

"That's exciting," she said as she snuggled into the bed, pulling the covers around her shoulders as if that information was enough for her to relax.

I stood up from the bed and slipped on my shoes. "I'll be back, I promise," I said to Stella as she closed her eyes.

"I'll just take a small nap. I'll continue to look when you come back."

I nodded as I looked at the Darkling scratch which had turned her whole shoulder black and was spreading down her arm. The frown lingered as I left the room, knowing I was running out of time. The scratch was spreading quicker than I thought, and I was trying to talk to my father on a belief that he had answers. I didn't even know this for a fact, but if he didn't, that meant I chased him down for nothing.

By now, I knew the guards changed almost every hour and as I checked the time; I knew they should switch again soon. As the clock rang, signaling the top of the hour, I walked to the basement door to see it unguarded for a second.

Wasting no time, I grabbed the closest small item on a passing shelf, which happened to be an apple. Calmly, I took a bite out of it, then tossed it in the air, knowing what to do next with it. Without even thinking further about the topic, I opened the door to the basement and threw the small apple through the door. As it hit the basement stone floor, it caught on fire, showing that the spell was tripped.

The guards would come soon and with that thought in mind, I walked into the basement and shut the door behind me. I took the basement stairs two at a time, not wanting to waste a single moment. As I got to the bottom, I went into the first door and opened it to see my father in the same cage as he was the day before.

He stood up from the ground and brushed himself off. His calm demeanor set me on edge even more. "How's Stella?" he smirked as I walked closer to him.

Anger flared up within me, making me realize how much I hated him. We were dealing with life or death and he smirked at me as if this was nothing. He wanted her here; he wanted her to be attacked and now he wanted me to watch her die, for what? For me to loath him? "How dare you talk about her."

The smirk slowly faded from his face as if he was reading my mind. "They attacked sooner than I thought they would."

"What do you mean?" I shouted, not caring if anyone could hear me from the upstairs.

"I warned you it was dangerous here for humans."

Everyone did. No one wanted humans to be here because it was dangerous for them. They didn't belong here they said, just like we didn't belong there. I was told this all my life; he didn't need to remind me. "But yet you brought her here, coxing her to come when I tried so hard to keep her from this place. You ruined everything."

"There was a time that humans came here but the royal family stopped that."

The little tidbits of history were not important to me right now. I needed answers on how to help Stella. "I don't care about that information right now. You brought her here so I could suffer, but don't you think I've suffered enough?"

He frowned as if I got it all wrong. "My goal is not to make you suffer."

"Then why is she here?"

"Because she is here to prove a point. Did Else tell you about the cure?"

I froze in mid-walk as I turned to face him again. "What cure?"

"Darkling poison can be cured from humans. The royal family just doesn't like it. Grayson, this is why I brought her here. You have to understand that they would rather see people die than save them. They are only interested in their selves and I can't let you fall into that trap."

I sank to my knees as I paid attention to his words. I didn't know who to trust, but all I cared about was saving her. Stella didn't deserve to die and I wouldn't let her. "She is dying because of a Darkling scratch. Please, just tell me how to help her," I begged, not wanting death to be on my hands once again. "I love her."

He smiled as if this was enjoyable. "Oh, so my son loves a human. I did not see that coming. But she is very cute, so I can't blame you. You know, the funny thing is that my blood can cure the poison. Just a few drops and Stella will be back to normal."

I knew my father, and nothing was that simple. He wanted something if he would give that to me. "What do you want from me?"

"Just bring down this barrier spell, let me out of this cage and you can have it."

I shook my head, not believing him. I knew what would happen if I did that. I tried so hard to not be like him, but if I did that, I would be just as bad as him. All of Churchwell would see me as a criminal. "You are lying."

"I wouldn't lie about this, Grayson. I know what it is to love, and I know what it is like to have your love be ripped away. Just bring down the spell and Stella will be back to normal in no time."

Breaking us from our moment was the sound of the basement door opening and someone talking from the stairwell.

"Looks like you drew attention to our little conversation," my father smirked. "You better leave before it's too late."

I nodded as I looked for the nearest door.

"Grayson, if you are to save her, I would recommend you come soon. I can't imagine she has much longer."

And with that last few sentences bouncing around my head like a kid on a sugar rush, I ran out to get back to Stella.

As I walked down the hall, I heard someone talking to my father, then him yelling out in pain. I didn't bother to stop to look towards the sound. I know what they were doing to him in there; I saw it as I talking to him. They had no intentions to let him go. They were going to torture him until he was dead and the royal family was safe once again.

But the question remained, would I be the one to free him? Was his blood really the cure? How could it be that simple and why didn't Else tell me if she knew. There was so much missing from my facts, but one thing was for sure, I was seriously thinking about this offer. Stella couldn't die and if he said his blood was the cure, I would at least try.

By the time I made it up to Else's room, I saw Else pouring through the books we brought up from the library. Her reading glasses slid down her thin nose as she carefully studied each page before turning to the next.

"Did you find anything?" I asked, unable to wait until she spoke to me.

She looked up from her book with a frown. "No. I found nothing."

"Not even from the royal family?"

She shook her head. "Not even from them. They don't have all the answers, Grayson."

My legs couldn't hold the weight of this information as I sank to the couch. I let out a frustrated sigh as my father's words circled my mind like a vulture in the sky. There was something she wasn't telling me; I was sure of it. She knew my father was the answer, but she held that information from me.

"But I am not giving up. I'm going to go to the edge of the nearby town to an old witch to see if I can get anything answers. I just wanted to wait until you came back to tell you." I nodded as she stood up and pulled on her suit coat, then slipped on her shoes again. She turned her attention to the cracked bedroom door, then added, "she was asking for you a few minutes ago. I also reapplied the paste to help ease her pain."

Silently I watched her leave, then walked into her bedroom to see Stella sipping something from a cup. She looked up from her drink and smiled lightly, although it appeared to be more of a grimace, hinting that the paste only helped just a tiny bit. "How are you?"

"I'm ok," she said although I could see pain in her eyes.

"I have been told that they are getting closer to finding a cure," I lied.

"Yeah, Else told me that she is close," Stella said as she put her drink down on the nightstand.

Of course, Else lied about that. Of course, she wanted to make Stella believe that there was still hope, even though she wasn't using the easiest recourse. Else was always good at giving false hope, I had seen her do it time and time again.

Before I let my frustration get the better of me, I quickly changed the topic in my mind like I would change a channel on the radio. "May I see?" I asked as I pointed to her shoulder. She nodded in silence then I carefully I pushed her shirt off her shoulder and saw black charcoal looking skin spreading down her arm to her hand, turning it black. I couldn't help but frown, knowing that we were running out of time.

Anger flared within me knowing that Else was just wasting time. She left because she didn't want to be around when Stella died.

Stella pushed my hand out of the way, as if reading my mind. "Hey, enough looking. Come on, look at me," Stella said as she pushed my head to meet her eyes. "I'll be ok."

I nodded. I knew that because, deep down, I knew what I had to do. In my mind I had already made it up, I was going to free my father to save her. The trade was simple, but I just needed to wait for the right time to attack. "I know you will be."

She smiled at me. "So, did you find out any information?"

"I did and we are close to curing this."

She smiled again as she sank into the bed, letting her ease into the words I said. "I'm glad to hear that because I can't read anymore. My mind just feels too clouded and the words are getting harder to read by the second."

I frowned because I knew exactly how that felt. Soon enough, Stella would struggle to see much of anything as the poison continued to spread through her body. I had been in her shoes before with Darkling poison. But the only difference was that I knew I would live. "Well, just rest for now. Let me do the rest of the work."