Thor jumped away from Taylor when he heard Loki clear his throat, while Taylor remained on the wall, panting. Her face was flushed and she was still shaking. Slowly, she turned her head to face Loki, was boiling with anger. Thor looked back at Taylor, his voice quiet, "my apologies, Lady Stark…" then he managed to slip out the door past Loki, who was still glaring daggers at Taylor.

"Loki! Oh, my gosh, thank you! Your brother's gone insane, he…" she trailed off when she saw the look in Loki's eyes. She'd seen it before, but only in crazed, wild animals on TV. It was the look they had when they'd cornered their pray. The Midgardian started to shake again as her heart pounded against her ribcage, it was all too clear that SHE was the pray, and Loki seemed to be getting angrier by the minute.

"So," he finally spoke as he started towards the shaking woman, "all this has a been a game, hmm? When did you and my brother devise your little plan? Whilst he was showing you around the castle yesterday?" His eyes were narrowed, and his fists were clenched as he stopped his steps in front of her.

"WHAT?! NO! I would NEVER do that! Loki… please calm down…"

"Why should I? I have every right to be upset! If you think you can get away with what you've done you are gravely mistaken, little mortal." His words were now dripping with venom.

Taylor whimpered as she looked up at him; she had never felt so small and helpless as she did in that moment. Loki looked like he would kill her, or his brother, with his bare hands. She frantically looked around the room for another way out, but unfortunately found none. She was trapped between Loki and the wall, her only option of escape directly behind the person who was dangerously close to exploding.

"Loki, please… please don't hurt me…"

Taylor's whimpering seemed to snap him out of his furious state because the second he heard it, he realized what he was doing. He had the girl pinned against a wall whimpering and pleading for her safe release. This was unlike himself, and it was almost scary how fast he had jumped to conclusions. Anyone who would've seen Thor kissing Taylor would have been able to see her struggling against him, so why couldn't he? Averting his eyes to the floor, the now calmed god stepped back, lifting his hand to show her that she could go.

At first Taylor thought he was going to hit her, but when she saw that he was letting her go, she ran as fast as she could out of eh library and back to her room. One there, she threw herself on the bed and started to sob. Whatever feelings she'd been feeding for the god were now pushed to the back of her mind, and all she could see was the anger and hate in his eyes. She buried her face in the pillow and sobbed harder, clutching the pillow for comfort.

Loki had been standing in the library, rooted to the spot, for he didn't know how long. After watching Taylor run off his mind had gone blank. He would've been fine had she been running from the creature in the dungeons, but she had been running from him. If he had just calmed down and listened to her maybe this wouldn't have happened. How could say he's falling in love with her when he'd nearly hurt her? He slumped back into a chair he conjured ran his hand through his hair, sighing heavily.

"You're an idiot, Loki. A bloody idiot." He told himself, shaking his head. "What in the Nine Realms is wrong with you?!" Maybe if he gave her some space, kept away a few days, she would be able to forgive him, and he could apologize…

Taylor kept sobbing for hours. Her hair was a tangled mess, and her throat hurt from crying. She finally sat up and wiped the wet streams of water from her face, sliding off the bed and padding into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror was probably not the best idea at the moment, for her disheveled appearance was almost unrecognizable.

"Great…" she mumbled as she started the water in the sink. She attempted to clean herself up, brushed her hair, even fixed her make-up. She looked nice, but inside she was still upset about what had happened with Loki. "Guys screw everything up… No, I screw everything up.." she leaned against the sink with her head in her hands. More tears started to build up when un unmistakable smell of leather, metal, and blood filled the room. Her head jerked up, ocean orbs wide as she stared into the mirror at was behind her. The same prison cell from the day before had somehow appeared in her bathroom. Taylor slowly turned around, still gripping the sink as she tried to inside the dimly lit cell; it was empty. Upon realizing this, her heart started to race and she slowly inched out of the bathroom. Her bed seemed safe, so she started to pad towards it when a long, bony arm with talons for fingers grabbed hold of her hair from behind. She let out a blood curdling scream as she started to swat at the creature again, but each time it only yanked harder. Whatever it was, it had her, and had no intention of letting go.

"Pretty…." The creature hissed as it yanked on her golden tresses. Taylor winced in pain, and screamed out for help.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" She continued to struggle within the being's grasp to no avail, and again screamed out for help. But this time, she screamed for the one person she thought could help: Loki.

Loki had been sitting alone in the library when he heard Taylor scream. At first he thought to just leave her, thinking Thor would help her, but when he heard her screaming for help, he jumped up and ran for the door.

"LOKI, HELP ME!"

The scream reached his ears just as he flung the door to her bedroom open. What he saw was again unexpected, but far worse than before. The demon that dwelt in the castle dungeon had somehow escaped, and now had a firm grip on Taylor's curls. Loki narrowed his eyes at the demon, age again bubbling within him. Before Taylor had a chance to scream again, Loki charged for the demon. It let out an inhuman scream as it released her hair and fell to the floor.

"Get away from her! Taylor, run!" Loki waved his hand at her to go, but she dropped to the floor in shock. "Bloody—" the demon attempted to reach for the Midgardian's hair again, and Loki finished it off with a wave of his hand. The demon screeched so loud that everyone in the castle had heard its dying scream. The god stood in the center of the room, staring at the floor where a pile of ash now laid. The demon was gone, and Taylor was safe. He looked over at her; she was sitting beside the bed with her knees pulled up to her chest, shaking like a leaf. "Tay, come here…" he knelt down beside her and she threw herself into his arms, sobbing violently.

The demons screech had been heard by Thor and Odin, and both were now in route to the area of the castle the noise had originated from. Odin reached the room first, followed by Thor and Frigga. They all saw the same sight: Taylor sobbing in Loki's arms, and a pile of demon ash on the floor by the bathroom.

"What happened?" Frigga asked in her usual quiet tone, peering around her husband and son into the room.

"The demon attacked her, and I killed it… she'll be all right I think." Loki gently caressed Taylor's soft curls in a soothing matter. However angry she had been at him before seemed to have faded away now, and Loki was thankful. "I would suggest we remove its cage and remains from her room… and her room."

After hours of discussion, and a few glasses of water for Taylor, Odin had agreed to move her room to another wing of the castle, which just happened to be near Loki's. The mischief god had been pleased with his father's decision, but Taylor's silence worried him. She hadn't spoken a word since the attack, and he was worried that the demon had done something to her. When the dining room cleared, only Loki and Taylor were left. Taylor was drawing her own version of the creature's cell, in very vivid detail, and didn't look up when Loki approached.

"I wanted to apologize…for my actions earlier today. I… I just don't know what came over me…"

Silence.

Loki closed his eyes and sighed, leaning back on the table beside her as he watched her draw the cell. The likeness was uncanny, and downright scary.

"You looked like you wanted to kill me." She finally spoke, her gaze never leaving the paper.

"I know… and I'm so sorry, Taylor. You have to believe me."

"Whatever…" she stopped drawing and erased a bit that she didn't like, then drew it back in a different way. She was still a bit angry at Loki for having acting in such a way, but he had just saved her life, so she couldn't stay mad at him forever.

"Why are you drawing that if it scared you so much, darling?"

"Because drawing is what helps me either forget, or remember things, when I'm done I'll burn it, and then I won't remember it anymore. It's dumb to you I'm sure, but my mother taught me it…"

Loki couldn't help but be curious about her mother, but he would save that conversation for another day.

"I'm sorry."

"You already said that."

"I know, but this is different." This time she glanced up at him, but it was only brief as her eyes quickly returned to the paper.

"I'm sorry that creature attacked you. It should have been killed long ago."

"Why did it d that anyway?" she put her pencil down and held up her sketch pad to admire the drawing, then set it back down again to work on the creature she was drawing. It was reaching out of the bars, like it had done before, and the way she was drawing it made it look realistic.; too realistic. Loki didn't care for the drawing, and looked away from it, his eyes landing on the curls that were pulled back into a ponytail; even now she was beautiful. He shook his head to force the thought out, but he still reached for her curls, letting them slid through his fingers as he dropped them again.

Taylor closed her eyes, holding back the tears that would surely be pouring like a waterfall if she didn't stop them.

"Loki…" her eyes opened to meet his as she tucked a curl he'd pulled loose behind her ear. "I can't forgive you yet… I'm sorry. But I just can't…" She looked down, unable to face him any longer. She still saw that crazed look in his eyes, and deep down she knew that drawing it and burning wouldn't make it go away. She knew she'd never forget the demon either, but she could draw it without crying. She couldn't draw what she'd seen in the library; it hurt too much. "I'm sorry.." she said again, grabbing her sketchpad and pencil and padding out of the room to her new one.

Loki felt like he'd just been hit in the throat with Mjölnir as he watched her walk off. He had really screwed up this time, and no amount of silver tongue smooth talking would fix it. She had just told him that she wouldn't forgive him, but it felt like she'd stabbed him in the back. The god hung his head and blinked away the tears that were forming. He hated crying, but he just couldn't help it at the time. So, he stayed leaning on the table, his head in his hands as he whispered four words over and over again.

"I'm so sorry, Taylor…"