Chapter 7! I loved, loved, loved imagining this one as I wrote it. I hope you do too!

Over the next few days, this happened a lot. I saw more and more of Kol every day. I would go for my normal lunch break and Kol would be there. If I didn't meet him there, I would almost always find him outside his house. Honestly, I couldn't decide if it was exciting or creepy. But I had to admit, I was looking forward to these meetings. I mean, have you seen the guy?! Exactly. And besides, he lived next door, I couldn't exactly hide from him, even if I wanted to.

Which I didn't.

Summer was drawing closer, and although as I have previously said, exercise and I are not exactly friends, Rebekah had bullied me into starting to go jogging. Whether I wanted to or not, I would find her ringing the doorbell at seven in the morning before my lectures. I wasn't thrilled with this new arrangement, and neither was Enzo. Neither of us were morning persons. But she wouldn't have it. Her determination is one to be admired, let me tell you.

"One of these days I'm going to throw that damn doorbell in the lake," he had said. It had come to that, and it didn't work. Actually, I think it made it worse. She was now banging down on the door. Cue Enzo's groaning. And mine.

Anyway, I was now trying to be ready before seven so that we wouldn't have to hear the banging, and I would avoid the headache I would normally have to endure later on.

"Wow, someone's eager for their morning jog!" she said that morning when she found me outside waiting for her.

"Not really," I said. "I just don't want a day's headache after all that banging."

We went through our normal route, going through quiet roads and narrow paths. I had to admit, if I were to go out for a jog, this would be the time to do it. Never had I seen anything so peaceful and serene. I might get used to this. It was the actual waking up that was hard to get used to. Damn you, bed.

When we got to our halfway mark at the park, we stopped for our five minute break. I took out my water for a sip and Rebekah rested on the railings, stretching her legs. That's when the awkward conversation started.

"So, Maya," she started. "I noticed you've been talking to Kol a lot lately."

"Uhh, yeah," I answered, taking a sip from my water bottle.

"What do you think of him?" There's the awkward part.

"Uhh…" I had no idea how to answer questions like these. "He's cool, I guess. Nice to talk to, sometimes, he can be cocky, not bad on the eyes… although I don't know what to make of the fact that he's always at the café during my lunch break."

"Yeah, I let that slip, I'm sorry," she said. "Look, I'm not sure I should say this, but be careful."

"Why? This is your brother we're talking about, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, no don't get me wrong, he's a great guy. It's just, he's too cocky for his own good. I mean, yeah he's handsome, but he knows it, you know what I mean? It can get to his head. I'm not always sure what his intentions are, if that makes any sense."

"Uh-huh."

"Look, one thing's for sure. He likes you. There's no doubt about that. It's just, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. I know how he is around girls. He can be a bit of a playboy. And if he wants something, he gets it. I'm sorry, that sounds intense. You know what I mean. Right? Am I making sense?"

"Yeah, I think I got it. Be careful around Kol, intentions not always clear. Wait, he likes me?"

"Look, it's obvious you like him too, you blush like crazy every time he's around or I mention his name, but you don't know him like I do. No offense."

"No, none taken, of course you know him more than I do. Wait, what do you mean it's obvious?" Crap.

"Uh, yeah," she laughed. "He probably knows it too." Double crap.

"Well that's just… peachy," I mumbled. "But thanks," I said, giving her a hug.

"Oh thank God, I thought you were going to hate me after that," she said. "I mean, I love him, he's my brother, but I love you too, I don't want to see you get hurt. I just want to make sure what his intentions are first. If I see that he's serious, then you're off the hook," she winked.

"Okay, Cupid, enough of that," I laughed, pushing her forward. "Come on, I have lectures in an hour, and they ain't pretty."

After three lectures, I was done from university so I made my way back home. Although I was done from lectures, I wasn't done from uni stuff so I headed to the cafeteria to grab a quick cup of coffee (Kol wasn't there for once) and headed home. Enzo wasn't home, so I went upstairs to get started as soon as possible. I hadn't heard from Kai all day, so as I waited for my laptop to load, I sent him a quick text message to check that he was okay. He was much better now, he was given the go ahead from his doctor to get out of the house, but he was still somewhat tired, so he had spent the day at home, relaxing. In fact, he replied saying that he was much better, but was going to take a nap.

I turned my attention towards the laptop, opened all the library books and started. Damon tried to bother me from the other balcony once or twice, but I simply gave him 'the look' and he knew better than to disturb me again.

No idea how, but it was all going well and productive. I stopped for a break to take a quick shower and two hours later took another break to watch an episode of 'Friends'. I forgot the last time I had a day to myself where I could honestly and truly say I had got work done.

So, obviously, something had to intervene.

It was about six in the evening. I was halfway through my African Literature assignment when I heard something outside my bedroom door.

"Enzo?" I called out, thinking it was my brother. When I didn't get a reply back, I got up to check it out. Carefully opening the door, I peeked out, but saw nothing.

"Weird," I said to myself, going back to my desk.

Five minutes later, I heard it again. Kind of like a rustling sound. I looked outside. It wasn't windy, and I was sure that the sound was coming from inside. I got up from my chair again, carefully making my way to the door. Again, I saw nothing.

"Hello?" I wasn't sure what I was expecting. If I had a burglar in the house, was I expecting him to jump in front of me and yell, "Surprise!"?

This time, I left the door open as I went back to my chair, and turned on the radio for good measure. Again, wouldn't really help if there was a burglar in the house, but it made me feel better, so there.

A few minutes went by and I heard nothing. Now sure that I was only hearing things, I went back to my assignment.

That's when I saw it.

Something grey and furry scurrying under my wardrobe.

I kicked the chair, screamed at the top of my lungs, turned off the radio and dived onto my bed, holding on to my pillow for dear life. Realising I had left my phone on the desk, I whined as I desperately stretched for it. Finally grabbing hold of it, I dialled Enzo's number.

'The number you have dialled couldn't be reached.' Oh for heaven's sake Enzo why do you even own a phone?

On to phone number two. I quickly dialled Kai's number, hoping and praying that he was up from his nap.

'Hi. Now you say something.' And another voicemail.

"Kai!" I half-whispered. "For God's sake are you still asleep? Get down here, right now! There's something in my house. I repeat, there's something in my house! I think it's a rat. Please please please come ov –" Beep.

I hated rats. Hated them with a passion. Roaches, spiders, creepy crawlies, those I could take, but rats? Hell no.

"Maya?" Cue my screaming. "Are you okay? What are you doing?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?" I whispered. Why was I whispering?

"Why are you whispering?" Damon asked concerned, looking over.

"I don't know," I said, panicking. "Damon, there's a rat, and I'm alone, and I don't know what to do, and I hate rats, and I'm scared, and Enzo's not answering his phone, and neither is Kai, and help me Damon!"

"Okay okay I'll come over. Do you have a spare key?" he asked.

"Yeah it's uhh, it's in the fake rock thingy near the front door," I answered, still holding on to the pillow.

"Got it," and he was off. Until he was back again. "Which one's the fake rock?"

"I don't know, the fake one! Come here Damon pleaseeeee!"

"Okay forget it I'll check them." Then he ran off.

After what seemed like forever, I finally heard the front door open. I tried Enzo a number of times again, but still no luck, and Kai still couldn't be reached. Damon ran up the stairs and found me as he had last seen me, huddled up on the bed, clinging on to the pillow and trying to fly, if possible.

"Alright, where is it?" he said.

"Last I saw it was under the wardrobe, I think." He carefully peered under the wardrobe, and just as quickly moved back, banging his head on the bed.

"What? What it is?" I asked.

"Uhhh… it's there alright. I think you've got the mother of all rats down there."

"WHAT?!" Lord, kill me now.

"What's the number for the rat guy?"

"I don't know, I don't have him on speed dial! And I'm not getting down from the bed to check either!"

"Can't you check online from your phone?"

"Damon, I'm NOT going to wait for another thirty minutes until this guy comes along! Please, catch the damn thing!"

"Can't you phone them while I try to catch it?"

"…Good point. Okay, you do the catching, I'll do the calling."

After a few tries, I had managed to get hold of the exterminator. Damon, however, couldn't get hold of the rat.

"Any luck?" I asked, still high up on the bed. There was no way I was getting down from that bed before that rat was caught.

"Uhh… I lost it."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST IT?! How do you lose a rat?!"

"IT'S A RAT, IT'S SMALL!" he yelled.

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID IT WAS THE MOTHER OF ALL RATS!"

"IT'S STILL A RAT!" This was clearly getting us nowhere.

"OKAY!" he finally said. "You! Stop yelling. Now, get me a piece of cheese."

"The fridge is downstairs," I said.

He just stared at me. "You're not getting down here to help me?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?"

"Right." He quickly went downstairs for a small wedge of cheese, came back up and placed it next to the foot of the bed, where he was waiting with a shoe box.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" I asked.

"Shh."

We just stood there, waiting, when I heard the door slam, giving us both the fright of our lives.

"Maya!" I heard Kai say, rushing up the stairs. "I came as soon as I heard the mes – what the hell is going on here?" he asked, as he saw the sight in front of him.

"Where the hell were you?!" I screamed.

"I was in the shower!"

"I could've died!"

"HEY! We're trying to catch the damn rat!" Damon exclaimed, pointing at the cheese. Or where it should have been.

"WHERE'S THE DAMN CHEESE?!" he yelled.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CATCH IT!"

"HE CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD!"

"SHADDAP!" Kai screamed. "Damon, you go right. I'll go left. Maya, you… stand watch. Let's catch this son of a bitch."

"Yep, I'll… be here."

Kai and Damon were busy scouring the whole upper floor, going left, going right, looking up, looking down, but no luck. The rat seemed to have disappeared into thin air. I wasn't sure if I was happy, or terrified with that fact.

Until…

I heard a snapping sound coming from downstairs. As Kai and Damon came towards me, they tried to get me to move from the bed to go with them to check it out. Too terrified to move from my safe haven, Kai had to literally lift me up and drag me downstairs. There, we were welcomed with a floor of traps, and sure enough, there was the demon, trapped in one of them.

"What the –" As we surveyed the scene, we noticed who had caught it.

"Kol?" I started. "How did, how, what, where, who?" I was still under shock.

"The door was open," he said.

"And what, you just happened to walk in here and catch the rat?" Kai asked suspiciously.

"You know I live next door, right?" Kol said. "I heard a lot of screaming, so I went outside to see what was going on. I saw Damon in the balcony, what I presumed was Maya in her room, and I heard the word 'rat'. I went in the basement, luckily enough there were some old traps, so I got them and came over. The door was open. While you were upstairs looking for the rat, I set up down here. With all your screaming it was bound to move away and come down here. And I was right."

"Wow, aren't we lucky," Kai mumbled.

"Okay can someone remove that demon from my hallway? Please? That thing's going to give me nightmares," I said, hiding behind Damon.

"Yeah..." said Kai, grabbing a rubbish bag. He called Damon to help him, which left Kol to try to calm me down.

"Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling down in front of me.

"Yeah, uhh, I just, I hate rats." Obviously.

"I'm pretty sure I got that," he laughed, making me laugh too.

"Thanks," I said, smiling at him.

"Anytime," he smiled back, stroking my arm. Remember Rebekah's warning. Damn it, remember Rebekah's warning!

"Ahem."

I looked up to see Kai staring us down in the middle of the hallway, Damon looking awkwardly on… and Enzo.

"What the hell happened here?"

What do you think guys? Let me know! I'll try to update soon, I seem to have come down with the flu and I'm not really thinking straight. Stay tuned for the next one! You're gonna love it :) Thanks for reading!