"It's a sort of witch craft. The witch would cast a spell upon an article of clothing, and then the person who wears that clothing would be under their control. It was insane!" Vlad rambled on and on about some television show he watched prior to coming over.

We were sitting in my room around midnight. Vlad snuck through my window after I had told him about the mysterious package that had arrived for me.

He was more interested in telling me about The Dark Wish he had just watched. I sat in front of the box, still tracing the design of the wood. It was beautifully crafted, but highly suspicious.

I tapped the lock, "I just wish I could find a way to get inside."

Vlad, who had previously been sitting on my bed, made his way to the floor. He sat with his legs crossed, pondering the situation.

"I don't think you should keep it," he stated bluntly.

I tugged on the lock, silently hoping that it would magically open. "You're the one with freaky powers. Can't you just do something and open it!" I wasn't sure why I was getting angry. Vlad had these incredible powers, but he never used them. It just really ticked me off.

"Cass," Vlad replied, staying calm, "are you 100% sure you want to get inside?"

I was sure to give him the most "of course, idiot" look I could.

"Alright," he rubbed his hands together.

Vlad examined the lock for a second. He grasped it in both hands and pulled. I assumed he was attempting to use his vampiric strength.

To my dismay, nothing happened.

He continued to examine the lock more thoroughly. Turning it over in his hands, we both noticed a strange symbol on the back. I didn't get a good look at it, but I looked over at Vlad whenever he touched the symbol. His eyes flashed a bright purple, only making me even more curious.

"Well?" I was becoming impatient. Vlad's blank expression annoyed me. Shaking his shoulders, I had to raise my voice to say, "What the hell is it!?"

Vlad dropped the lock and turned to look at me. His eyes were filled with concern. This was the same concern I had seen in them last year, whenever I was attacked by some psychotic vampire.

Vlad stood up and made his way to the window, "I need to talk to Otis."

"What is it?" I tried to say, but Vlad had already made his way outside.

The sun was bright, shining its irritating light though my window. Glancing over at my clock, I noticed that it was merely 6:30 in the morning.

Why couldn't the sun let me sleep in on a Saturday?

"Sorry, I should've closed the curtains when I came back in," a raspy voice called out.

I screamed and jumped out of bed, immediately reaching for the baseball bat I kept hidden under my bed.

Then Vlad came into my view, hands up as if he were surrendering.

"Don't kill me, love," a smirk played on his lips. He tried to look happy, but I could tell he was not. Dark circles had formed under his eyes. His lips were chapped to the point of cracking and bleeding.

I sat back down on my bed and just looked at him. Vlad looked stressed. He obviously hadn't slept all night, and now I was highly curious as to why he was in my room. Not to mention, Vlad had been snooping in my head while I was sleeping, because he heard my comment about the sun.

"Vlad, what happened?" I moved closer to him once he sat down.

He ran a hand through his messy hair before speaking, "I went to talk to Otis last night. I didn't want to do it without your permission, but we need to get rid of that box."

I could hear the tension in his voice.

"Well," I crossed my arms over my chest, "I refuse to get rid of it until you tell me why."

Vlad sighed, dropping his face into his hands. I was worried about him. Whatever he was hiding from me was majorly stressing him out.

"That lock, there's this thing on it called a glyph. It's a special marking we vampires put on objects to represent protection. Someone, I don't know who, is protecting you," Vlad's hands had begun shaking. I've seen so many sides of Vlad, but this was something new. "I have no idea who it is, or why the hell they're protecting you. I mean, Otis and I are the only vampires living vampires you know! Why would someone do this!? WHO THE HELL IS IT!?" He was screaming now, throwing his fists into the air.

I grabbed his hands, trying to calm him down. "Let's relax, alright?"

He nodded before pulling me into a hug. Vlad's soothing hands rubbed my back, "I'm sorry. I just, I need to protect you," he pressed our foreheads together, "No one, and I mean no one, will ever hurt you again."

"I know, Vlad, I know."

That still doesn't explain why he was in my head earlier.

Vlad bit his lower lip, "Sorry about that. I know I need to stay out of your head, and I'm sorry. I was just watching your dream, making sure no more nightmares occur."

I couldn't stop myself from blushing. Most nights, I didn't remember my dreams. Now I was scared as to what exactly Vlad had seen in my head.

"You were dreaming about our walk on the beach over the summer," the smile on Vlad's face made his eyes light up. "It was really cute. You also kept muttering my name, adorable."

I laughed, "I do not talk in my sleep."

"Whatever you say," Vlad kissed my lips before making his way out the window once again. "By the way, be careful. Call me right away if you notice anything suspicious," he glanced at the box. "And stay away from that thing."

"I promise," I got up and closed the window behind him. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep now.

Get some sleep, and stay out of my head! I love you, I thought, hoping Vlad was still lingering in my head.

I love you, too.

I smiled to myself, like an idiot, for a few moments. Then, I pulled out my journal from its secret hiding place near the window.

Writing was something I loved to do more than anything else. Over the summer, I wrote nearly every day. Mostly everything I wrote about involved Vlad and the time we spent together.

I opened up to a clean page and started writing about the box and what Vlad had told me. Was I scared? Yes, I was very scared. Something was going on, and I all I knew was this: the damn box had something to do with it.

Whatever was inside, still unknown, was the reason for the tension now growing between Vlad and I.