Rey woke up to knocking on the door.

She sucked in a deep breath of air and shot straight up, looking around in a panicked way before she realized/remembered where she was. Kylo Ren's flat. It wasn't where she was expecting to find herself, and it brought the whole previous night rushing back with awful insistence. She frowned, her face was puffy and her eyes were a bit sealed shut from her sob-fest, and she realized immediately she needed to splash cold water on her face.

She heard Ren through the door.

"Miss Beckett?" Every time he said it her skin crawled, reminding her of the sinister way he whispered it out in her dreams.

"Present," She muttered, for some reason it was the first thing that came to mind.

"There's coffee,"

She took a moment to tie her hair back and slide out of the bed. Her clothes were all rumpled, and she wished for a moment she had taken them off. She felt like burning them now. She looked at her phone to find it was dead and groaned. She saw that he had a digital clock in there, one that played water sounds and whatever else someone needed to sleep; pigs oinking or some such. She realized it was highly unlikely she was going to make it to her first class. Twice in one week. She was all the way in the hills, and although she could tell her professor that her co-worker had been murdered, and Rey had found her, she didn't think it was likely he would believe her.

When she opened the door, she found him standing there looking as fresh as a daisy. She hated him. Grumpily, she looked down at the coffee he presented to her and greedily grabbed it from his hand. He pulled his hand away quickly as if he'd been shocked when their fingers accidentally brushed. She was beginning to realize he liked her even less than she liked him, which made this whole situation even more strange.

"Do you just wake up and your hair is like that?"

"What?" He questioned, dropping his brows as he questioned her in return.

"Nothing," She mumbled. "I have to get to class, can I get my bike from the car?"

"Roman will take you," He said, motioning towards the man standing in the doorway in a freshly ironed suit. It wasn't the same man from last night.

"Oh, great, Roman," She said. She looked around, finding the apartment was very dark. Black out curtains had been drawn, but she didn't get time to question him about it.

"You'll come back here tonight," He said, as if it was already agreed. "Roman will accompany to your classes, and then to your apartment, if you'd like to get your belongings,"

"A-ha," She said, looking irritated and amused. "Nope," She said. "Thank you Roman, but I'm going to go home tonight, and I don't need an escort for class,"

Ren had an expression on his face that she couldn't read, but she could almost see the loading sign pop up above his head as he tried to work out whether or not it was worth it to fight her.

"Fine," He finally said. He pulled a card from his pocket, a weighty slate gray thing that was matte where the lettering was shiny. "Call me if anything strange comes up,"

She shoved the card into her purse and sleepily gave him a goodbye. She would be glad to see this apartment getting further away in the distance.

"Miss Beckett," He said, causing her to pause. "Remember not to go to work tonight,"

"Right," She grumbled, taking another gulp of coffee before Roman escorted her out of the apartment.

When they were in the car, she pulled the card out and looked at it. There was an extensively lettered 'S.' right in front of his name. 'S. Kylo Ren' and underneath it was simply his number. This must have been his personal card, she didn't see any sign of SOLO TECH anywhere. She rolled down the window, with the intent of throwing it out into the air. The driver watched her in the rear view mirror, but he didn't say anything.

She paused for a few moments, rolling the electronic window up and deciding to shove it into her wallet. She thought she would call her foster parents. Anything had to be better than working for this man. Rey had spent a lot of time on the streets, and a street wise girl would know he was dangerous, despite all of his glittering, austere beauty and his plentiful riches. And street-wise girls' didn't play around with men who were dangerous. That was how they ended up dead. She had never been able to give up a good mystery, though.

She wasn't able to stop at home to get her charger, as she just barely made it to class on time. She didn't have any of her school things with her, but she stopped in the over priced student shop and bought a notebook and a pen. She figured it was better than missing class again. When she showed up, she must've looked a mess, because both Poe and Finn turned to look at her with an expression of obvious concern.

"Walk of shame?" Poe asked, tentatively.

"I wish," Rey said, dropping her head onto the desk.

"You look like someone ran over you and then backed over you," Finn admitted.

"Such a charmer," Poe said, pulling a face with Finn. "Do you want us to give you a ride home after class?"

"No, thanks, but I have another one after this,"

"We can hang around, we have homework to do,"

Finn nodded his agreement.

"Well, if you don't mind,"

"Nope," Finn said, shortly, before the professor came in and began his lecture.

They made an arrangement to meet up in the commons once she was done with her second class. She barely made it through, but if it was one good thing she could say for Ren it was that his creepy recitation of her name kept her from falling asleep in class. Every time she shut her eyes, she saw Hilda, and heard him in her ear. It was like he was right behind her. She started awake every time, knocking her notebook over at one point and causing the whole class to turn around and look at her in concern and probably amusement. She heard a few titters.

She was glad when the class was over and she found Finn and Poe out in the commons. There was a tray that had the remnants of a meal on it, and Rey realized how hungry she was. She didn't want to hold them up, however. She walked behind them as they lead her out into the parking lot. She had the strange feeling that someone was following her, the hairs on the back of her neck rising up like some sort of electric hand had passed down the back of it. When she turned around, she saw nothing unusual. She had seen Roman drive off and hit the freeway, so unless he'd come back, it couldn't have been him.

She quickened her pace to catch up with Finn and Poe, hoping that Ren hadn't been right about someone following her. She hated that she might be faced with admitting that he was EVER right to him. She fell asleep in the back of Finn's jeep, and Poe watched her for a few moments with a concerned look on his face. He mouthed a question at Finn, who shrugged in response. Neither of them had any idea what was going on with her. She was usually chipper, awake, and a good student. This was not a perfect picture of Rey.

She woke up with Finn shaking her gently.

"Rey, we're here," He said, motioning to her apartment. Rey sat up, rubbing her eyes and squinting against the sunlight.

"Thank you for the ride,"

"Get some rest," Poe said, handing her her purse. "I put a post-it note with my number on your phone since it was dead, if you need anything,"

"Thanks," She was more grateful than she could say for their kindness, but she hopped down out of the car and slammed the door behind her. "See you guys tomorrow,"

"Yep," They both waved, and Finn took off down the road.

Rey went up to the apartment door and fumbled around with her keys. She had the horrible thought that she left them at Ren's apartment, and her heart picked up it's pace. She was extremely relieved when she found them shoved into a hidden pocket of her purse. She slid the lock into the door and slammed it behind her, leaning up against the other side of it in the dark apartment.

It was weird being there without Rose, but her father had worked fast. Her things were gone already. They must've come yesterday when she wasn't there, or maybe today. That left only a small bit of Rey's things in her room. She hadn't had many kitchen things, and she wouldn't be surprised if Rose ended up with some of her belongings, since it seemed as if she probably hadn't been with the movers. The place felt empty and sad, and Rey sunk down onto the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees.

That left Rey about a week and a half to find a new place and move. That meant she didn't have time to sleep.

She plugged her phone into the charger, turning it on. There were a million messages from Rose, who was concerned about her. Rey called her back immediately, explaining that it had been a long night and she would tell her the story the next time she saw her. She opened her laptop and began looking at apartments, though everything that was close to work was too expensive for her. She couldn't afford a car, so she realized she would be biking everywhere or taking the bus.

She was thankful when she checked her bank account and saw that Ren had pulled through - the money he'd agreed on was there. Most of it would be gone by the time she was done moving, though, but at least she wouldn't be homeless. She started calling around to the places that were closer to work than not, and she found one that was willing to come let her look today. It was a studio, and it had a small kitchenette with a fridge and the smallest oven she'd ever seen. She didn't smell any sign of previous cigarette smoking and as far as she could see it was clean, so she paid the down deposit and the land lord gave her the key. It was surprisingly easy, which made her uneasy, but she was desperate.

The next day after class she hired a truck and quietly asked Poe and Finn if they would help her move. They agreed, which she was utterly grateful for, and they helped her move all of her stuff over that night. It took forever, and by the time it was all done, it was drizzling cold rain and they were all soaked. It started to snow as they were pulling the last load in to her new, very small apartment. She barely had the energy to make her bed and put on dry clothes, much less unpack everything, but she felt relieved.

One less thing she had to worry about.

Her new neighbors fought a lot. She was woken up in the middle of the night by a slamming door and someone running quickly down the stairs. She peered into the apartment, and for a brief moment she was sure she saw a figure of a man standing in the shadows. She reached out, quickly turning the light on. There was no one there, but her window was open, letting in the cold, crisp air that seemed even sharper with the rain.

The window had a latch on it, but she supposed if someone knew what they were doing they could get it open. She searched her memories, but she couldn't recall if it was her that had left it open. She slid it shut, wrapping her arms around herself. Her robe was buried in a garbage bag with all of the rest of her clothes, and she didn't want to start that project right then.

She moved towards the small little heating and cooling unit. Standing on her toes, she turned it on, but it smelled like burning dust and even crackled a little bit. Great, she was going to set her apartment on fire the first night of being there. She looked at her phone and found a text from Rose: Did you get moved in okay?

Rey sent off a short reply and crawled back into bed, not bothering to check the window again. It was a fluke, right?

The rest of the night went by without incident.

She woke up to the ringing of her phone. She picked it up and saw that it was Jo calling. She had been hoping that she would never hear from SoloTech again, but she knew that was too much to ask for. Jo told her that they were allowing people back into the office after the crime scene had been processed and cleaned up, and wasn't it so horrible, and she hoped Rey wasn't traumatized too badly. She had no doubt that that rumor had already spread all over the office, there would have been avoiding it.

"Can you come in tonight? It's alright if you need to take another day," Jo said. She wondered if Ren had told her that.

"I'll be there," She said simply. "Same time?"

"Yes, even though you'll be his assistant, he keeps the same hours,"

"Who's filling in?"

"No one, Mr. Ren has decided to shut the doors after a certain point for now. He thinks it's safer...I believe I'm inclined to agree,"

Rey had to admit she was a bit relieved to hear it, herself.

Rey went to class, and found that one had been cancelled. She was glad. She had set aside a little money to go buy herself things for the apartment. Cleaning supplies and food. She strapped it all onto the cargo pull on the back of her bike. She'd bought herself a few new pieces of clothing. She felt ashamed, but Ren was in her mind the entire time, his snide comment about her Wal-mart blazer ringing in her ears. At least this time, she'd gotten it at Target.

She dragged all of the items in and began putting them away before she started on the arduous process of unpacking. She unpacked her clothes first, and then all of her books and odds and ends. She made a make-shelf bookcase with boxes, which in and of itself was sad, but it would have to do until she could get an actual book case. She was also severely lacking in kitchen items, but it was another thing that was going to have to wait.

She showered and got ready for work. She had bought new flats and a new blouse, and while it wasn't any sort of huge make-over, she felt good in the new outfit. She rode her bike over to the office in the dark, though it was still early enough that the haze of the city pollution and the moonlight made it less scary. She saw the pastels of the sunset painted across the sky, and for a moment she was able to forget that she was going to SoloTech. She locked her bike up and found Jo sitting at the desk. She smiled.

"Hello, Rey," Jo said, coming out from behind the desk and giving her the most awkward hug she had ever experienced. "I'm sorry about what happened,"

"Oh, I'm alright," That wasn't exactly true, considering she dreamed about Hilda's face, twisted up in horror, every night. "I'm sorry about Hilda though,"

"Yes, I believe we all are..." Jo looked like she was about to say more until Ren himself strode in.

The distance from Ren must have been helpful, as the past few nights he hadn't been whispering maliciously into her ear. However, seeing him again brought back that twisted, tangled feeling she carried in her stomach each time she was around him.

"Follow me, Miss Beckett," He gave Jo a small nod, and she nodded in return before she headed back to the desk.

Ren was dressed in a more casual fashion than she had seen him in yet. He wore a moto-style bomber jacket over an olive green t-shirt that had probably cost more than the down payment on her apartment. It was tucked into a fitted pair of pants, and on his feet were a pair of pristine, white sneakers. He looked as if he'd been riding around in Italy with his bella donna for the entire day, but it suited him just as well as the suits. She had a feeling everything suited him, and she hated him for it.

She was expecting to be lead to his previous office, but he lead her to an elevator. It was familiar, her standing in silence next to him as they rode it up to the top floor. The offices were newly constructed and his belongings had already been moved into the biggest one that looked over the city. He must have liked views.

Her own office was a bit more modest. She didn't mind. It was right across the hallway from his, and she was the first face many of his clients would see before they went into his office. She didn't expect a whole lot of that, considering what time he did conduct his business. Her office was already decorated, and she'd been given supplies and her own laptop, which Ren said she could take home with her if needed. He also handed her a brand new cell phone.

"What's this?"

"I want to be able to reach you at any time,"

"That was not part of this agreement,"

"As I recall, there were no particulars other than your 'sign on' bonus, which I'm assuming you've already gotten,"

Rey had to admit he was right.

"I don't need a new phone, and you can reach me on my old one,"

"Your old one has a cracked screen," He said, though she didn't know what it had to do with what they were currently talking about. "And I want you to use that one," He said, his voice trailing as he went into his own office. "Really Miss Beckett, you'll have to learn to pick your battles more wisely,"

She called them and had them switch her service over, and after a couple of hours her new phone was in operation. She saved her old one, shoving it carefully back into her bag so that she could retrieve all of her personal information off of it...and in the instance that Ren threatened to fire her again, she still had it if he did.

Rey wasn't even sure what she was supposed to be doing for him, but it soon became clear. She handled his appointments, made sure none of them overlapped, and when she had down time she finished up the busy work with figures and excel sheets. It wasn't much different from what she had been doing before, but she had to admit that she felt much safer up here. She had been wrong about Ren's visitors. They came and went at all hours, some of them so odd that she found a hard time remembering their faces, as if they had purposefully been scrubbed from her memories.

Ren shoveled a good deal of work onto her. He expected her to do other particulars, as well, such as picking up his dry cleaning and making sure the car got it's service and whatever else, blah blah blah. Rey tried not to focus on the personal bits of his calendar, though she realized there were very few. No family members, no wife, nothing. No social events to speak of, unless it was directly related to the company. Ren seemed to exist only to run this company, and that was that.

Mostly, he ignored her, unless there was something he needed her to do. Rey found she was thankful not to draw any further ire from him, at least not right then. He was still rude, and abrupt, and sometimes he let slide an awful comment about something as if it were fact. She kept up with the work he gave, and she always kept a few disgusting energy drinks in her drawer to make sure she never fell asleep again. After a few weeks, she found she had struck a good balance of work, classes, and sleep.

The oncoming finals threatened to turn it all on it's head, but she had started sneaking her school stuff into the office to work on during down time. Ren hardly gave her much of that, but he had been distracted by an upcoming merger he was taking part in. The cops stopped by a few more times and asked them both a few more questions, but it seemed that for the most part, things had gone back to normal.

On a particularly slow night, Rey's attention was drawn by the sound of heels clicking along the floor. She looked up to find a woman staring at her. Rey thought that she was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She had long, pin straight black hair, and skin that was so white she was sure the term 'snow white' had probably been thrown around in regards to her. Her lips were painted a matte red, to match her nails, and she wore a black dress that was short and tight. Her heels were Laboutins, she caught a peek of the red at the bottom.

Rey was flustered in her Target blouse, but she tried not to show it. The woman had sharp, green eyes that nearly glowed when she looked at her.

"Poor you, did you hear about what happened to the last assistant?" Her voice was deep and husky, and it reminded her a bit of Ren.

"Amalia," Rey heard Ren call from his office. "Don't scare the girl, she's working,"

"No fun, Kylo," She pouted.

He sounded no more impressed with her than he had with Rey, but when she leaned up to look into his office she found he had shut the door tight, which meant she could not follow her plan of spying on the two of them. Rey frowned, unsure of what this feeling in her chest was. She didn't like it. It made her angry, and then disappointed, and then angry all over again. She tried not to think about what they were doing in there, and was glad when the alarm on her phone went off. It was time for her lunch.

There was a small shared kitchen space on the top floor, and it required a special key card. She walked towards it, quietly creeping past the door and hoping they wouldn't hear her. She badged into the room and began rifling through the coffee pods. Someone had used all of her favorites, so she picked her second favorite and loaded up the coffee maker. She wasn't hungry, so she forced herself to eat an apple.

She had the strange feeling she was being watched while she was waiting for the coffee to percolate all the way. She felt the fine hairs on her neck brush aside, as if someone had just softly blown on her neck. When she turned around, rubbing the back of her neck, she expected to see someone. There was no one there. She dropped her brow in obvious confusion. Maybe it had been the air conditioner and her over active imagination.

Maybe not.

She grabbed her cup of coffee and headed straight back to her desk, fighting the urge to lock the door behind her.

She heard her phone dinging. She thought it might be Rose, or even Ren, using this method of communication to tell her to do something without actually being at his computer or coming out to talk to her. She looked up and found that the door was still shut. She swiped it so the screen came on, and punched in the pin code that Ren had insisted on. When she pulled up the messages, the only thing she saw for the number was 'Missing', which was a status she had never seen before on any phone.

The first text message read: sleep tite

And then the second came through shortly after: blood rite

Rey was completely confused. She looked confused. She wasn't sure if she should respond, but something in her gut told her it would be better not to. Who was this, and how had they gotten her number? She would have chalked it up to someone messing with her, but those four little words kept glaring at her as she tried to work out their significance.

That morning, when she dreamed, Ren's voice whispered it. Over and over again until it was a flurry of whispering so loud in her head that she woke up sweating, and trying to catch her breath.

Sleep tight, blood rite.

share this with your friends if it makes you want to take your pants off in glee. (o,..,o)