5 reviews on my first chapter! ^^ This means alot you guys, thank you so much for your support! Here's the next chapter, hope you all like it!


I jolted awake when the loud banging on my door started. I was still in the same position I had been, with my knees in front of my face. Since my back was against the door, the banging had send vibrations down my body. Groaning quietly, I stood up, feeling my body ache from being in that cramped position for so long. I opened the door slowly, peeking out to see who was there. A small amount of relief flooded me when I saw that it was just Lucas. As I opened the door further, Lucas fixed his deep green eyes at me, their colors clouded with concern.

"Syl, are you okay?" He asked as I found myself unable to look at his eyes anymore, unable to see those emotions lurking in his eyes, choosing to look down at the ground instead. After a while, I nodded meekly. Lucas stood there awkward for a few seconds, shoving his hands into his pockets and kicking at the floor once or twice before saying, "May I…?"

I nodded again, widening the gap and stepping aside to allow Lucas into my room. He gave my room in all its messy glory a once over before he walked over to the windows. "You should really let some light come into the room, you know." He said, pulling on the string that caused the blinds to fold up against either side of the windows, letting the deep orange light of the setting sun to illuminate my rooms. I winced, narrowing my eyes against the sudden change in light as Lucas turned around and crossed his arms.

"Okay Syl, no more dodging questions. I know there's something wrong with you. You've been acting off ever since the beginning of that game." Lucas said as I walked over with my shoulders slumped to the bed, sitting down at the edge and hanging my head. "I don't know, Luke…" I muttered, my voice much quieter and subdued than normal. I felt the bed sink to my right as Lucas sat down beside me.

"Hey." He said softly as two of his fingers found my chin and gently made me look at him. I found his dark emerald eyes staring into my own, so intently that I could simply get lost in those eyes and imagine myself in an overgrown forest. "It's okay. I'm here for you." He whispered as I continued to stare into his eyes, feeling lost and confused. Our faces had neared each others without either of us realizing it, and he was inching closer ever so slowly. When our noses almost touched, I saw the intensity in his eyes, the amount of emotions he held for me.

And then his eyes were replaced by a flash of red, his tan skin replaced by pale skin, his short red hair replaced by long white hair. That image flashed in my vision for a split second, and that was all that was needed for me to recoil away from him. He looked at me in surprise, hurt flashing across his eyes as I looked at him, blinking to make sure it was him and not him. I was breathing hard and I could feel my heart pounding from that fractional hallucination.

"I… I'm sorry." I muttered as Lucas looked away, running a hand through his hair and sighing. "No, it's my fault… I'm sorry I… Don't know what came over me." He said as I straightened up again, feeling worse than before for hurting Lucas, my only friend. I bent forward and buried my face into my hands. "I don't know what to do… I don't know anything anymore…" I whispered, closing my eyes tightly as I stayed like that. The feeling of his hand on my shoulder made me tense up again, my breath freezing in my chest for a moment out of panic. But I relaxed once nothing else happened, and began to appreciate the hand on my shoulder, letting me know that he was there, even though he didn't say anything. We stayed like that for what seemed like ages until Lucas finally said, "I need to go. Do you want me to get you something to eat?" Lucas asked as he stood up. I looked up to see that it was already dark outside the window; for how long it was dark, I didn't know. The room was completely dark as well, lit only by the moonlight streaming through into the room. "No… I'm fine, Lucas." I said as Lucas looked at me with an unfathomable look in his eyes before turning around and heading towards the door. "Alright… Try to get some sleep." He said as he left through the door, closing it with one last look at me as I watched him go. After he left, I pulled up my legs off the side of the bed and lied down on my side. I closed my eyes, wanting to just sleep until I felt better. But everytime I closed my eyes, I felt his red eyes staring at me. The way they had stared at me when he had me cornered in the summoning chamber tonight…

I got off the bed, stepping around my messy room and stepping outside my room. I was getting very bad with time perception, it seemed, as the night seemed even darker now and there was not a person in sight in the hallway. I didn't know where I wanted to go or where I was going, but I just kept walking, making a decision to pull my hood up after a moment's debate.

I walked and walked, my footsteps quiet because of my muffled shoes yet still making a soft sound in the surrounding silence as I kept walking. And then, I found my feet not making any noise anymore, except for a curious crunching. I realized I had walked out into one of the many large open-air gardens within the Institute as I walked over the grass instead of the winding path, making my way towards the center of the garden.

When I got to the large fountain that was at the center of the garden, I stepped back onto the smooth cobbled stone that made the pathway. The path circled around the fountain and headed off into 4 other directions, the inbetweens covered up by large hedges and trees, forming a sort-of walled recluse to relax in.

I sat down upon the marble edge of the fountain, which was wide to allow people to comfortably sit on it, and leaned over the edge to look at my reflection in the water. The fountain was currently not operating, which indicated to how late at night it was. But that left the water undisturbed, so my face was clearly reflected upon the liquid surface like it was a mirror. I looked down upon my face. I looked worse than I had today morning. I looked tired.

"Can't sleep?"

It was surprising how quickly my body suddenly tensed up, adrenaline instantly flooding my veins as I whipped my head around to look at him as Vladimir sauntered up the path. He was wearing the same red suit he normally wears in his matches, which means he must not have gone home to change after our last meeting. Or perhaps, like me, he simply didn't change. But that didn't matter. What did matter was that he was here. This time, however, I didn't panic. I stood up, taking a stance to stand my ground with my fists clenched by my sides.

"Why are you stalking me?" I asked.

"Am I stalking you?" Vladimir asked in return.

"You're obviously following me around." I retorted. All the fear I had ever felt for him… I was tired of feeling it. My weariness turned all of that into something more tangible. I was angry at him. I felt good, being able to stand up to him like this now.

"That's because I'm hunting you." He said with a glimmer in his red eyes as a small smile curled up upon his lips. "Theres a difference."

My blood seemed to freeze in my veins as he said that, confirming all of my fears in that exact moment.

"Why?" I managed to say, my throat feeling completely parched and constricted so I had to force the word out.

"Because… I find you intriguing. There's something about you I just can't place…" He said, stepping closer and closer to me. Each step he took made me take an instinctive step back; so much for standing my ground.

"If you try anything, the institute will have your head." I said, but even to me the words sounded like a hollow threat. Vladimir simply uttered a low chuckle, his eyes momentarily closing before they opened again, fixing me with that crimson glare of his. "I'm not going to hurt you in any way you don't want me to." He whispered as he stepped closer to me. I tried taking another step back, but found the hedgewall behind me, cutting off my retreat. I looked back to confirm it, seeing the wall of leaves and branches, before looking forward again to see Vladimir literally inches away from me. I leaned my head back, trying to get as much distance as possible as Vladimir suddenly smirked. "Offering, are we?" He mused as I realized what he meant. I instantly clutched at the collar of my hood, clutching it to cover my throat as I stared up into Vladimir's eyes, completely daunted by his presence.

And then, he began laughing, stepping away from me, laughing loudly as his voice echoed across the silent garden. My fear was replaced with bewilderment as he looked at me with a grin on his face. "Honestly, Sylvia. I do not know what is wrong with you or why you think like that. But I have no intentions of harming you nor have I been hunting you." He said as I frowned. "What?" I said, my fear beginning to ebb away at the thought of this being some kind of elaborate joke.

"You were simply so afraid of me I thought I'd play along, but obviously the fun's at an end. I do not wish to make you panic and open fire on me." Vladimir said as I straightened up, nearly all the fear gone from me. "So you mean this was all some kind of sick joke!?" I nearly shouted, disgusted that I had even felt fear of this man- no, this scum. "You fucking played with my emotions and made every day a living paranoid hell for me just as a joke!?" I shouted, feeling tears cascading down my cheeks. I felt… oddly betrayed, for some reason. But what I mainly felt was disgust and anger at this man.

Vladimir looked at me with confusion, his eyebrows scrunching up in puzzlement. "Why are you reacting like this… Even a simple fear doesn't translate into such paranoia?" I paused, realizign he was right. Why was I so afraid of him from the very first day I had seen him? And then, a flicker of thought crossed my mind that seemed to open up everything I had ever questioned. I didn't fear Vladimir… I only feared what he was. A hemomancer. Because… Because…

Suddenly, I felt like I had punched a hole through some invisible wall in my head, through which I was peeking at memories that never existed before. I was getting blurred glimpses of memory, but it felt like I was pushing against a wall to see this and it was crushing my head in. I felt weak all of a sudden, as well as numb as I managed to conjure up an image in my head… Everything was blurry… I was lying on something.. A hard surface… A man hovered over me, he had dark hair and red eyes. It was my father… He had a knife in his hand… It was covered in blood… My blood... The pain… So… Much… Pain… And then a voice range in my head, saying something unintelligible, filling my entire head and body with glass shards of agony.

I don't know when I collapsed onto the floor, but all I remember is having my vision slowly fade as a strange ringing sound filled my ears, unable to move my body like I was a marionette with its strings cut, staring up at Vlad crouched over me, shaking me and asking me something I couldn't hear.