Thane quickly awoke in the middle of the night, his chest tight and his pulse unsteady. He sat upright, gasping for breath. His hands rose to his throat as he grew more panicked. Tears flowed endlessly down his cheeks. His eyes sharply gazed around the room fearfully.

   "Yao!" Thane exclaimed. He choked on air as his eyes widened. His heart raced more quickly as his memory ran rapid.

    Thane's pov, dream

    "You can save him, but you have to kill me." Sam smirked. Janos jumped on him immediately and began to hungrily drain him dry.

   Tears fell from my eyes as I weakly attempted to stand up. I crashed back onto the grass harshly. Janos's hoodie I was wearing grew soaked from the wet ground below me.

   "Janos, no! No!" I tried to shout. My plea went unheard by the vampire. Janos continued to drain the life out of my best friend.

   "Janos, please! Leave him alone!" I screamed as I watched the scene unfold. Nothing I did, said, or thought made any difference in what occurs.

   "He's just a kid, what are you doing? Janos Stop!" I crawled towards Janos and grabbed his pants leg. I tugged on it childishly as tears still streamed down my cheeks.

   "Sam, I'm so sorry I can't help you." I cried.

dream end

    "No! Janos, stop!" I shouted. I clenched my eyes closed. My hands clawed their way around my throat. They punctured the skin as I roughly scratched the pale skin. Small beads of blood dripped from the shallow wounds.

    My chest heaved and ached from lack of oxygen. My head spun and felt light. I screamed louder as the memory replayed over. And over. And over.

   I was gently pulled into a chest. I felt a hand softly rake itself through my hair. Another hand held a cloth to my bleeding neck. A familiar voice whispered calming words into my ear as he held me tight. I turned around in his hold and placed my head onto his chest.

   I felt the soothing weight of my weighted blanket drop onto my shoulders. After a few minutes of silence passed, I found the emotional and physical strength to open my aching eyes. I slowly looked upwards to find Sam gazing down at me through misty eyes. He was always the one who could calm me down easiest.

   Behind him, Yao and Holland were struggling to hold back a raging Janos. His eyes were an angry red color as his fangs protruded past his lips. He thrashed in their hold as the scent of my blood permeated the air. I stood up on shaky legs and took a few steps towards him.

   "Don't hurt him, please! Guys, I trust him, he won't hurt me." I spoke, my voice wavering. My bloodshot eyes dilated as I forced myself to take a few more steps. Sam gently grabbed my waist and pulled me to himself once again.

   "He's too dangerous right now, Thanie. We have to go." Sam began. He lifted me into his arms bridal style. I patted his chest.

    "Let me down, it's just Janos. He wouldn't hurt me, he loves me. He said so before we fell asleep." I muttered once my feet were back on the carpet. I turned towards Janos again.

    "He would have bit you if we didn't come when we did!" Sam explained. He turned me around to face him. My knees felt weak before I crumpled to the carpet.

   "Maybe you should have let him..." I mumbled as I combed my fingers through my crimson hair. I pulled my knees to my chest as he kneeled beside me.

   "What do you mean? He would have killed you!" Sam exclaimed. He wrapped an arm around my back. I shrugged it off, then pulled the weighted blanket over myself.

  "Good. I'm tired of hurting so much, of thinking, breathing, eating, everything. I'm exhausted." I sighed out. My tears dried despite how terrible I felt. I gave Sam and Yao a tired smile before I put my head on my knees.

   "Thane—"

   "Save it, Holland. You've known me for less than a day, don't try to comfort me. You haven't the knowledge of me, or the right means, to do so." I barked. I still kept my head on my knees, and my knees to my chest. The weighted blanket began to calm me down significantly as I allowed it to remain.

   "I just- I'm tired, guys. You two kept me alive for the past four years; you've done your best attempts. Thank you, but it's time to let go. Yao, Holland, let him go. If he kills me, he kills me." I dryly laughed. My frail body wavered as I stood up and walked towards Janos.

    I gently brought both of my hands to Janos's face to cup his cheeks. He snapped his jaw at me like a wild animal. I just smiled sweetly at him, then kissed his nose. I retracted my hands and let the cloth fall from my neck.

   "Let him go." I demanded. Yao and Holland ignored me as they held their iron grip on the vampire. Holland seemed to grow tired of holding onto Janos. He mumbled a few words to himself, then removed his hands from the vampire.

  "Even if we both let go, he cannot move away from his spot. By the way a demon or angel's age is calculated, you're less than six months old. I can't let him kill you, kid." Holland spoke louder. He took my face in his hands as he gazed deeply in my eyes.

   "You're the age of a baby, Thane. I'm not about to let a lowly vampire kill off one of the few nephilim left. Especially not a newly awoken nephilim."

   My eyes turned stony as I looked into his eyes fiercely. My jaw was set, and my wings unfurled themselves from my spine. They widened to their full span as I glared the demon down.

   "Let. Him. Go." I barked. Holland sighed, looked at Sam and Yao, then released his hold on Janos.