The wind blew the cold mist of the waterfall against Anna's skin. She was leaning against the metal railing and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the feeling of the water against her face. The roar of Niagara Falls rang in her ears. She could almost forget the stress of running away from Jonathan as her senses took over.

She was brought back to reality when a hand touch the small of her back. She opened one eye and looked behind her expecting to see Rhys, but instead, it was Drew. The wind was blowing the loose strands of his hair. Anna's chest tightened as his hand lingered on her back, and her mind thought back to their kiss last night. She looked over at Rhys to see him talking to Calvin, Huxley, and Alice.

"Have you thought about what I suggested last night?" he asked.

Anna let go of the railing and turned to lean against it. Drew pulled his hand away from her. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Did you see how the two of you walked over here?" Drew asked.

Anna shrugged. They walked to see the Falls as a group. She did not think much about how they were walking.

"Rhys had his arm around your waist and you did not even try to fight it," he said. "That's not the Anna we met at that club in B.C. You are slipping away from who you truly are and you don't even realize it."

"And I will be the real me if I leave Rhys with you?" Anna asked. "How do I know that is even true?"

"Talk to Huxley about it," he said. "He lost his mind to Lucia. He gained his independence back when we got him away from her. If you saw him around Lucia you probably wouldn't even recognize him."

Anna glanced back over at Rhys. He tended to not let Drew be around her, especially alone. Did Rhys realize they were talking? His back was to them. It was the first time, except for last night, that Rhys let Anna out of his sight.

"Remember who you are, Anna," Drew said. "You don't want to lose that."

Drew took a step toward Anna. She tried to back up, but the railing prevented her from moving.

"Also, remember what Rhys did to you," he said, dropping his voice low so that the others could not hear. "Not only did he turn you, but he is trying to enslave you. He fed you blood while you were unconscious and lied to you to make you drink more. You cannot redeem yourself from that."

Anna chewed on her lip as her mind was racing. She knew what Drew was saying was true, but she felt a pull to disregard what he was saying and run over to Rhys.

The deep sound of a horn pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked at the base of the waterfall to see a boat. People in red plastic ponchos were on the deck.

Anna put her hand on Drew's chest and pushed past him. She walked toward the men. Rhys heard Anna's footsteps and looked over his shoulder. He held his hand out. Anna moved to grab it, but she remembered what Drew told her. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. Rhys scowled as he retreated his hand.

"I want to go on the boat," Anna said.

"It is October and it is freezing cold out," Rhys said. "We are not going."

"Of course, you don't want to. You hate fun," Anna said. "How about you, Huxley?"

A smile beamed across his face. His mop of blond hair was tucked underneath a toque and she could barely recognize him.

"Sure thing, Chicken Wing," Huxley said.

Rhys reached out toward Anna again, and she took a step to the side.

"Anna-" Rhys started.

"Go have a beer or something," she cut him off. "We won't be long."

She walked away before Rhys could answer. She had to force her feet to move because she knew that Rhys did not want her to go.

"I'll keep an eye on her," she heard Huxley say.

Huxley ran up beside Anna. She took a peek behind her to see Rhys with his arms crossed over his chest and shaking his head. She looked back over to the archway for the boat.

"I had to get away from him," Anna said.

"I don't blame you," Huxley said. "Rhys is never in a good mood."

"No, I was talking about Drew."

Huxley raised a brow. He looked behind him to see Rhys and Drew were now talking. Both of them had their eyes locked on Anna.

"What did Drew do?" Huxley asked.

"Promise to keep your lips sealed?" Anna asked.

"I have not told anyone about the Nightingale thing," he said. "It can't be much worse."

"Drew wants the two of us to leave the group."

"Why would he want that?"

"He wants me to not be enslaved by Rhys."

They approached the ticket booth. Huxley pulled out some money and bought two tickets. They headed down the empty ramp that brought them to the boat.

"How did you feel after you drank Lucia's blood?" Anna asked. "Did you know that you were losing your free will?"

Anna thought back to what Drew told her. She did not notice how physical she had been becoming with Rhys. He had been holding her hand or her waist often and she did not protest it. She even had to resist the urge to wrap her arms around Rhys and hold him close.

"It happens slowly," Huxley said. "I didn't know what was going on. I just thought that I was falling in love with her."

"Why's that?" Anna asked.

"The person you are compelled to controls your mind. They get you to do what they want. Lucia wanted me to be in love with her so that I would be fiercely devoted to her."

"So Rhys did this so I'd be devoted to him?"

"Want to hear my theory?"

The corner of Huxley's lip twitched into a smirk.

"Of course," Anna said.

"Rhys is in love with you," he said. "I haven't seen him look at a girl like that since Hannah. I think he turned you because he sees Hannah in you, which is probably because you are related."

"If your theory is right then why would Rhys feed me his blood after?"

"Maybe he thought you would kill yourself like Hannah did. If you're devoted to him then you would want to stick around."

Anna shook her head. They had walked under a white tent to see a large green screen and a man with a camera. Anna wanted to keep walking, but Huxley forced her to do a goofy pose in front of the green screen. They headed down the ramp and were handed a red plastic poncho. They slipped them over their heads. Anna raised the hood.

"So, what are you going to do?" Huxley asked. "Are you going to leave with Drew? He's not a bad guy. He's probably better for you than Rhys."

"I'm not getting together with Rhys," Anna said.

"If you stay with us it is going to happen," he said. "You won't have much choice."

"I can't convince myself to leave."

"That's because Rhys doesn't want you to leave."

"How did you get away from Lucia?"

"Hannah had to force me to leave. She physically pulled me out of Lucia's house. I didn't want to leave."

The boat blew its horn as it came up to the dock. They climbed onto the boat. Huxley grabbed Anna's arm as they rushed past the few people loading onto the boat. He pulled her up onto the top deck and over to the front deck. Anna held onto the slippery railing.

Her mind was racing as she thought about Rhys and Drew. If Rhys knew that Drew had kissed her, he would rip off Drew's head. If she did run away with Drew, she was sure that Rhys would hunt them down. She did not want to be on the run from both Jonathan and Rhys.

--

Anna and Huxley were giggling as they made their way through the gift shop. Despite the plastic poncho, they were soaking wet. Anna's clothes clung to her body. Her hair was a mess between the wind and the mist.

Rhys, Drew, and Calvin were standing outside of the gift shop. Anna noticed that Rhys's scowl lightened when he saw them coming out. Huxley threw his arm around Anna's shoulder and rubbed his fist on the top of her head. Anna laughed as she pushed him away.

"Good call," Huxley said. "That was a lot of fun."

"You two are going to freeze," Rhys said. "We should head back."

"You missed out on a lot of fun," Huxley said.

"I doubt it," Calvin said.

They walked back to the church together. Anna kept her hands balled up in a fist so that Rhys could not try and hold her hand. He would slip his hand around her waist. It took all of her strength to step to the side to get away from him. She hurried forward so that she was walking beside Huxley.

There were a few people lying on the lawn outside of the church. Only a few of them took notice of the group as they walked into the church. Another cheesy horror movie was playing on the screen. The sounds of a chainsaw filled the church.

Down in the basement, it was empty except for two people. Etienne was standing there with his arms over his chest as he talked to a woman. Her back was to them, so Anna could not see her face. Her thick blonde hair was twisted up into a bun on the top of her head. She had on a short tight black dress.

She looked over her shoulder at the group. Huxley stopped suddenly in his tracks, causing Calvin to bump into him. Anna looked up at him to see his mouth was hanging open. For once, she saw him lost for words.

"Hello, Huxley," she said with a wink.

"Lucia," he said. "What are you doing here?"