Heres chapter 10! Enjoy!

When I woke up, it was still dark outside. I rolled over to check on Alek, but he wasn't there. Sitting up, I looked around and noticed that the hall light was on. Just then, I heard him grunt in pain. No!

I sprinted out of bed and down the hall to the bathroom, where he was bracing himself against the sink, his eyes screwed shut in a painful grimace. The bloody bandages from earlier were strewn across the floor, and the wound was bleeding profusely.

"Alek!" I gasped.

"Chloe?" He looked up and relief momentarily washed over his face, masking the pain.

"Oh my god, what happened?" I was shocked at how bad his arm looked. I thought I had done a fairly good job at cleaning it up, but it still looked fresh.

"I don't know," he said through his teeth. "It was fine last night but when I woke up it was bleeding all over the place. And it hurts like hell."

"Ok," I said, trying to think. "We need to get you to Valentina. What time is it?" I checked my phone: 4 am. "Good, she should be back by now." Hmmm. Now all I needed to do was to stop his bleeding long enough for me to get him to Valentina. But Alek was one step ahead of me. He had carefully removed his shirt one handed, and was using it to staunch the blood.

"You know, we have towels here," I said disapprovingly.

He just shrugged. "It was ruined anyway."

His face looked drained, as if he was fighting to keep the pain away.

"Let's go," I said. "Right now." I made sure he was following me before I headed out the front door and towards his car. When he went to get in the drivers seat, I stopped him.

"No way. Hand over the keys." My voice was firm, although I was definitely not feeling confident. I only had my permit, and I had only driven a handful of times and never in the dark. There was absolutely no way I was letting Alek drive though. I held out my hand.

He reluctantly gave me the keys and I started the car. As I pulled out of the driveway, I hoped for two things. One, that I would get Alek to Valentina conscious and in time, and two, that I wouldn't crash the car. Oh please, don't let me crash the car.

We arrived safely in the parking garage, with no accidents along the way. Alek, however, was starting to look even worse. His face was pale, and his eyes were tight with pain. I quickly got out of the car and practically ran to the other side, opening Alek's door.

"Do you think you can make it to the elevator?" I was starting to really worry about him now. He just nodded in response.

The shirt that he held on his arm was completely soaked through with blood. We needed to hurry. I put one arm around his waist for support, and walked as fast as I dared, while never taking my eyes off him. We made it to the elevator, but he looked like he was about to pass out. He leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, breathing in and out slowly. When the doors finally opened to the 18th floor, I called out Valentina's name, knowing she would hear me.

Meanwhile, I did my best to get Alek to the apartment. He was leaning heavily on me and I was concerned that he wouldn't make it to the door. We did, and thankfully, Valentina chose that moment to appear.

Alek sat on the couch, his eyes closed and his face almost white. Valentina's face showed no emotion as she examined his wound and immediately began to clean it. I sat down on the other side of Alek, holding his hand tightly. I was beginning to wonder how he could be so silent when I realized that he had passed out.

I continued to hold his hand for the next twenty minutes, until Valentina had finished.

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked her.

"The knife used to give him that wound was cursed. It is meant to inflict immense pain upon the victim. They are very rare, only four are known to exist in the entire world. The wound it causes is also slow to heal," she told me. "He'll be fine but I will excuse you both from school today, if you wish."

"Actually, I'd rather go to school today, but thanks," I said. Actually, I'd rather not go to school, especially not without Alek, but my mom was coming home sometime today, and I couldn't let things look too suspicious. She already suspected that I was up to something. I could deal with one day. Plus, I still had Amy and Paul there for me.

Just then, Alek's eyes fluttered open. He still looked like he was in some pain, but I could tell it wasn't nearly as bad as before.

"Before you say anything," I said quietly, and leaned over and kissed him. I brushed his hair away from his face with my fingers. He seemed a little surprised at first, but soon he began to kiss me back, slipping his tongue inside my mouth.

After a minute I pulled away, resting my forehead on his, our noses touching.

"Feeling better?" I asked him.

"Loads," he whispered, "And thanks. Again." He smiled.

Okay let me just say THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU to everyone who has reviewed so far! You make me smile :)
Special thanks also to pipsqueak66, who gave me an idea to continue the story with! I didn't even know I had writers block until she helped me out of it :P