a/n: Heelllooooo! Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS! May I just say that making it to 20 reviews on this story made my christmas VERY FREAKING MERRY! So thankyou, guys! I mean it! You're all awesome. If I ever meet you guys, you get high-fives and a smiley face sticker. (scented, of course.) Well, anyway. I noticed I didnt put any authors notes in the chapter before this one, and it got me to thinking: do you guys even read these? haha! It doesnt really matter, I suppose. But I just wanted to thank you all for the reviews and tell you that stuff is about to get real. You know those really twisted plots? Yeah, thats pretty much what I'm made of. I dont know about you, but I'm into creepy. Buttttt anyway, merry christmas, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Its shorter than I would have thought, considering how much is packed into it. Read and Review, tell me what you think, give me lovin!(:

It was still dark out by the time we arrived back at Headquarters. As Kace led me through the mansion, it was all I could do not to trip and fall on my face in the pitch black rooms.

Kace let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed my hand so that I wouldn't run into anything else.

And I was suddenly outside in the sun.

I was swinging on my swing set. I pictured myself flying as I swung higher and higher off the ground. My braided piggy-tails swinging alongside my head, the warm summer breeze whipping at my face. I gave one final push and let go of the swing, flying into the air for a moment and impressively landing on my feet a couple of feet away. Content, I headed inside.

"Kirt, she's not even-"

"She's mine, I know. But what if she starts showing your traits?"

The whispers of my parents became louder and louder. It was only a matter of time before the swinging started. Eight-year-old Jessica squeezed her eyes shut.

And I was somehow inside of Kace's mind. I saw everything. What he was feeling, thinking, saying, doing. Every corner of his mind was open to me. I felt myself falling, and Kace's arms catching me, but he was falling as well.

Jessica…

He did not say it out loud, I knew that much. But I could hear it.

Kace?

It's you.

What?

I was suddenly in the rain. Kace looked up at the looming walls of the Headquarters and shivered. This was where he was going to live? This was where he was going to be for the rest of his life? Why couldn't he have just stayed with his mother and Andrew? He had already lost his father.

I lost everything, Kace whispered.

He wiped his long black hair out of his eyes and searched for the doorbell. More than anything, he didn't want to ring it. To ring the doorbell of this place meant accepting his new life, what he was going to become. He was going to be a completely new person after ringing this bell.

The Council he had sat before as they decided his fate had told him just as much. They had forgiven him for his crimes, he was unknowing of what he had done, after all. After spending the rest of his life as part of the Class, he would learn that to love is to destroy.

To love is to destroy, Kace repeated.

That's nonsense. It was just so stupid to hear. Of course you love. You can't help but to love. Its involuntary, not something you can help.

Faces flashed through his mind just then. Anne and Clane. Grayes and Toni. His mother. His father. Andrew. Me.

Me?

I was violently shoved away. I hit the wall of the hallway with a thud and cursed colorfully.

I looked up to see Kace sitting on the opposite side of the hallway as me. Even in the dark, his eyes sliced holes into me. "I don't know what just happened," he began, "but I don't want it happening again."

"You think I know what happened?" I asked.

He stood without saying another word. "Come on," he said, without offering a hand to help me up.

I sighed and stood up. What did just happen? Was it just some odd coincidence? Was it something I ate or drank? I shook my head to clear it and motioned for Kace to lead the way.

He turned without saying a word and continued forward.

After a long, awkwardly silent walk, we ended up in Kace's bedroom.

He closed the door behind me and immediately went in search of something. I sat quietly on the edge of his bed. The moon was shining brightly, sparsely lighting the room. From what I could tell, it was the same size as the room that I had been sleeping in. A little more personalized, though. I could tell someone had been living in this room for quite some time. The bathroom had dirty clothes strewn across the floor. Kace's bed was made, but just barely. It looked as though someone had only roughly brought the covers up to the front of the bed to make the room look a little cleaner. I couldn't see Kace from where I was sitting, but I could hear him rummaging through drawers.

A few minutes later he appeared before me carrying a variety of different items.

He sat on the floor and lay everything out in front of him. He riffled through them and found a large piece of white chalk.

Curious, I sank to the floor next to him to get a closer look at what he was doing. He still had not informed me of his genius plan, and I had only assumed that I would have to figure out what exactly it was for myself.

Wordlessly, Kace began to draw on the floor infront of him. The chalk scraped across the wood floor, but not loudly enough to wake anyone up. I watched as he crafted what I knew to be a pentacle. In awe I watched as he drew perfectly straight lines and formed intricate-looking symbols within the star. His motions were precise, confident. I watched his face: concentrated and disconnected from everything but the chalk, his hand, and the floor. He wore the face of perfection.

He placed the chalk down when he was done, and chanced a look at me. Our eyes connected, and my heart contracted as I was reminded of what had just happened out in the hallway. How had something like that not happened before this time? And what did Kace think of this?

Kace was back to work instantly, grabbing what looked like pots of herbs and incense and placing them in certain parts of the pentacle. Next he took five small candles and set them at each edge of the star. He took a larger candle and placed it in the center. He reached into his pocket and pulled the piece of black fabric that had come from Vladimir's suit out.

Now he turned his attention to me. "This will bring us to him. If he is alone, I can take him and we can question him, find out what he has to do with your family." A muscle in his jaw jumped as he brought my family up.

I nodded, letting him know that I understood.

He placed the piece of black fabric on top of the flame of the center candle. It lit up and was gone in seconds.

I waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Maybe he did something wrong. I was about to say as much when my feet were whipped out from under me. Before I knew it, I was standing on a different floor; this was hard, concrete, dust covered. I shivered, unexpectedly cold.

"Kace?" I called, looking around. I was in a large room, filled with what seemed to be piles of junk. Furniture, cars, hunks of rusted metal.

"Right here," Kace replied, coming up behind me.

"This is where he is?" I asked.

Kace nodded. "A warehouse, by the looks of it. I can smell the sea. We're definitely out of state." He furrowed his brow as he looked ahead of him. "I'll be right back."

I watched him walk away, shivering. How big was this warehouse? I wondered how long it would take to find Vladimir. Or if he had brought a group of his body guards into hiding along with him.

Kace reappeared a few minutes later, looking defeated. "This place is huge. I wrote down the address. I think we should go back, tell Toni, and go back in the morning."

I nodded, not loving the idea of searching through a large warehouse for a rogue vampire.

Kace reached into his pocket and drew a piece of chalk out. He bent down and drew a pentacle, almost exactly like the one he had created in his bedroom. He hooked his finger through my belt loop, obviously to avoid touching me, and pulled me into the pentacle next to him.

A pair of thin, cold hands grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me back just before Kace disappeared. I screamed Kace's name anyway, though I knew it was hopeless.

"Shhh," Vladimir whispered in my ear. "This wont hurt a bit."

I screamed once more and fought against his hold on me.

"Sleep now, darling."

The world drifted into darkness.

*Kace POV*

I skidded and crashed into my dresser. It was all I could do to keep from screaming. Jessica! That was the only word I could think.

What have I done?

I pounded my fist against the floor. Damnit!

I pulled myself to my feet and forced myself to think of ways to get her back. I couldnt seem to focus though. So much had happened tonight. So much.

Was Jess the one?

I couldnt deny it, I knew she was. She was.

Gone.

And now she was gone.

Think, Kace. Youre not going to lose her.

I wasn't going to lose her.

I wasnt going to.

I wasn't.

a/n: So nao Im randomly wondering, should I go into Kace's point of view more often? Or should I keep it strictly Jessica? Oh, and should I include any original NW characters in here? I was wondering about that as well, and if so, which character(s) should I put in? I tell you what, Hannah is my favorite (she has my name, and a small birthmark on her cheek, like me!) but I dont know where she would fit in. So if you guys have any suggestions, Im all ears! And I'm checking this on a daily basis now, so I will get back to you guys as soon as possible!

I suppose thats all I have to say for now! R&R pleaaases!(:

Peace!