I didn't go out the next night. For once, I was thankful that my mother didn't want me out. It was an excuse I could use to not get near the boys. On the other hand, it left me along with my thoughts, and that was never a good thing.

I theorized and questioned and cried and screamed and tried to find an answer, but nothing came up for either. You'd think with as many books and comics on the supernatural that I had, I'd come up with some sort of answer. It was like the answer was right there on the tip of my tongue. The boys were some sort of monster, and the fox. Oh, well, I had no idea what the fox was. The fox said they were lost. I didn't know what to take from that. The lost.

I was sitting at my window again, watching my match as it burned slowly. The wind was silent tonight, and the radio was playing a slow song behind me.

The flame flickered.

The song changed.

A twig snapped.

I looked up quickly, and my breath caught in my throat as I met the eyes of a grinning Paul. He didn't know I had seen them. For all he knew, the last time I saw them was in the cave.

I was shaking.

I dropped my match.

The flame extinguished.

Paul stepped out of the woods and waved at me. "Hey! Are you locked in the castle today, doll?"

I paused, trying to steady my breathing and heart. "It seems so," I called back, but my voice was weak, and I knew he noticed. I looked down at my hands in my lap.

"Ivy?" He took a few more steps forward. "Ivy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! Totally fine!" I put a fake smile on my face and looked back at him, my mind flashing back to the night before. "Just tired. How did you know where I lived?"

Paul raised his eyebrows. "David told me, and it's only ten. Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded again. "Yeah, Paul, I'm sure."

I could see a million questions flit past his face. A million questions I didn't want to answer. "I don't believe you."

"Well, you don't have to, Paul," I grumbled before pulling myself into my bedroom completely and shutting the window. "If only you knew."

I was forced out of the house the next night. My mother and aunt wanted to do something together. I believe they were going out to eat, so my mother wanted me out. After a few bouts of arguing and my aunt trying to settle us down, I finally complied.

I jumped on my bike and drove around town, trying to stay away from the boys and the forest creatures, but there was nothing to do, nowhere to go, and hours to kill. I gave in even though my instincts were telling me not to. I went to the boardwalk.

There seemed to be fewer people than normal, or maybe that was my anxiousness appearing. Either way, as I weaved through people, I could feel a sense of dread climbing up my body. That dread intensified when I finally saw them leaning against the boardwalk by their bikes.

Marko was laying against Dwayne who had his arms wrapped around the boy. Paul was sitting on the ledge of the fence with a bottle in his hand, swinging his legs back and forth. David was looking around at the crowd, smoking a cigarette. They all looked at me when I pulled up.

Paul's face immediately lit up, and he jumped down from the boardwalk to help me off my bike as I cut it off. I accepted his hand, and he paused for a second as he felt how much I was shaking. I couldn't help it.

"Are you feeling any better, Ivy," he questioned as we stood in front of the others.

I ignored his question, looking at my feet. "I need to talk to you guys," I stated, my voice clear for once. I lifted my head slowly. They were looking at me curiously, though Marko looked a bit more worried.

"Then, we can head back to the cave," David replied, already pushing himself away from the railing.

"No!" My voice made him stop, and he cocked his head to the side.

"No?"

"No." I paused, collecting myself again. "No, I would feel better if we were in public. Around people." I emphasized the last two words, and I felt Paul's grip on my hand tighten just a bit.

David leaned back against the railing and took another drag from his cigarette, breathing it out slowly. "Then talk."

I didn't think this far ahead. I mean, I had, but I didn't expect him to give in so easily. "What are you guys?" The question slipped from my lips quickly, and I froze. I didn't mean to ask so abruptly. The boys also froze a considerable amount. "I- I mean-"

"No, you're fine, but you have to elaborate."

I bit my lip and looked down. "I saw you guys the other night." My voice was quiet now. I was almost surprised they could still understand me. "After you took me home, my aunt gave me permission to go back out, and I saw you guys. Your faces. The blood." I looked back up, tears threatening to fall. "What are you guys?"

David's face was almost stone as he stared at me. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were scanning my face.

I took a step back, but Paul stopped me by swiftly stepping behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. I let a tear fall down my face. "You're gonna kill me too, aren't you?" My mind was racing. I didn't even get to say a proper goodbye to my aunt, and now, I was going to die.

David took a few steps forward until he was right in front of me. He paused and took in my state. I knew I probably looked like a mess, tears falling down my face, my hair frizzed from the wind, my cheeks red from a mixture of the both, but that's how they'd seen me last time as well. I was beginning to think that's all they would see me as. A mess.

David lifted his hand, and I flinched, but he simply wiped away my tears. "We're not going to kill you." It was six words, but six words that lifted a weight off of my chest. "We couldn't kill you. We've grown too attached over the past few days. It's crazy, isn't it, how a little girl like yourself could have us wrapped around her fingers."

"What's that suppos' to mean?"

David huffed out a laugh and bent down a bit more until we were face to face. "It means you've made the monsters that go bump in the night fall in love with you," he said before leaning forward and pressing his lips to mine.

My eyes went wide before I closed them quickly and kissed back with as much force as he was giving me. He pulled back after a few seconds, and I took a deep breath. "You still haven't answered my first question."

The boys laughed, and I opened my eyes to see David smiling. "Vampires. We're vampires."

"Vampires," I breathed out. I felt my legs give out from under me, but Paul caught me quickly and lifted me up. He carried me to where he was sitting before and hoisted me up easily. I gripped the railing. "Vampires," I whispered again. "Oh, now you've gone and done it, Ivarella. Fucking vampires. You're attracted to vampires."

The boys all let out loud laughs, and my face went bright red. They could probably hear everything I was saying. I took another deep breath before grabbing Paul by the shoulders as he was the one standing beside me. I pulled him over to me and made him stand between my legs so he was facing the boys, and then I laid my head on top of his. He was a great headrest if you ignored the whole monster thing. He grabbed one of my hands and interlaced our fingers.

"What does this mean for me," I questioned after a few moments of silence.

I expected David to answer as he had been, but this time Marko did, a grin on his face as he looked at me. "Well, you'd turn into a vampire with us, of course!"

"What if I don't want to be a vampire."

Marko huffed. "Why wouldn't you want to be? We're awesome."

"Yeah, until you get hit with a stake." Paul laughed loudly at that. "And how would I even turn into one?"

"You drink our blood," Dwayne replied. He still had Marko in his arms, and I could see he was rubbing at the skin shown from Marko's cropped shirt.

I grumbled. "That's gross." I rested my cheek on the top of Paul's head instead of my chin. "I can't do it right now if I were to do it, anyway."

"Why," Paul questioned. "What's holding you back."

"I don't know if I can tell you guys," I breathed out. The forest people. What would happen to the boys if I told them about the forest people? I mean, sure, they were supernatural, but so might the fox be.

I was taking this way too calmly, I realized as I wrapped my legs around Paul's torso. I was taking this like it was normal. Maybe I was in shock, but really, I knew it was just because I didn't care. I was slowly becoming numb to the thought of the unknown.

"Why can't you tell us," Paul questioned again. "What's so bad that you can't do it now."

"I can't tell you right now, Paul. Maybe another day."

He paused before talking again. "Is it the reason we found you in the woods like that the other day."

Dammit. How was he able to get it perfectly right? "Maybe."

So fast I could barely register it, Paul flipped himself around so he was facing me, his hands placed on either side of my waist and a worried look plastered across his face. "Then you have to tell us. We can't let something like that happen again. You have to tell us."

"I don't have to do anything, Paul."

"Yes, you do! You have to tell us! We can help you!"

"Paul, she doesn't have to tell us right-"

Paul cut off Dwayne's talking. "Yes, you do. Jesus Christ, I don't want to find you like that again. It fucking broke my heart. We can stop it. We can- we can do something."

Tears were gathering in his eyes. He looked like how I imagined I looked earlier. A tear fell down his cheek, and I quickly pulled him into a hug, his head on my shoulder and I rubbed the back of his neck. "I can't right now, Paul. I don't know if they'll hurt you. You're going to have to trust me for a little bit." Paul sniffled, and I let out a sigh. "I won't get hurt again. I just- I have to figure some stuff out first."

"I don't want you to get hurt again, Ivy," he whispered against my neck. "I don't want to find you like that again. I don't. I don't."

I ran my hand through his hair soothingly. "You won't. I promise you won't." I looked up to see the boys staring at us, each with varying emotions across their face, though curiosity seemed to be shared between them all. I looked back down. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry," David responded. "Paul's a bit too emotional right now, but we understand if you're trying to protect us. Well, not really because I'm pretty sure we could kill whatever it is, but you trying to protect us is understandable. You don't have to tell us right now."

"Thank you, David." It fell silent around us for a few moments before I spoke again. "So, I don't have to be home until eleven, and it's only like nine," I trailed off.