I eventually fell asleep where I was on my bed. I was sore and I needed the sleep to help my body heal. I didn't dream at first, but when it did come, it was more real that I wanted.

I felt hands creep down my spine and shoulders, making chills run down my spine. I couldn't see anything, due to the fact that my eyes were closed. Funny thing was that I didn't want to open them. I didn't feel the need to. The hands still wandered up and down my arms. The hands were soft and gentle. It was obviously a man due to the size of the palm against my upper arm.

Suddenly, the hands stopped stroking my arms and cupped my face. I began to squirm as it tried to pull me closer to the body that was attached to those hands. I slightly screamed from frustration of being unable to get away. By this time I was trying to open my eyes. I didn't want to be pulled toward a dark body nor did I want to be kissed by some invisible lips. Ugh. Another trip of chills ran down my spine.

My eyes snapped open as I let out a scream.

I felt hands on my upper arms. I looked down. I could make out the shape of my body being pinned down by another.

I screamed again.

"Well, fuck, if you didn't want to see me this bad, I wouldn't have come back!" A voice shouted over my shriek.

I blinked a couple of times and tried to shake the grogginess of sleep away from my eyes. I focused on the face in front of mine.

"Wh-what?" I asked confused by the sight that I saw.

"Nice to see you too, princess." He flashed me a grin and I knew it was real.

"King!" I squealed.

In the excitement I felt and expressed I rolled him over so that I was over him instead of the other way around. I tried to hug him. As I tried to get my struggling arms around him, he began to sit up with me still straddling his legs.

"There's the welcome party I was hoping for." He chuckled.

I pulled away and started hitting his chest, remembering that I was angry with him. "Where were you? What were you doing? Why did you leave?" I rushed it all out so it sounded mixed together in huffs and puffs.

I smacked his chest a couple of times before he stopped me. My fist and palms began to hurt from the impact of his stone chest. He and I both knew it wasn't hurting him, but he let me do it a few times anyway.

"Breathe a little and try again." He held my wrist at my chest so I won't try and hurt myself even more.

I took a breath. "Where were you?"

"Blood-lab was working funny and they needed extra help on it," he said, letting loose my wrist. I rubbed my palms together and placed them on my lab.

"No news to me." I said looking down at my hands and then looking back up at him. "I guess that sums up all my previous questions."

He cocked his head and lifted one arm that was supporting him. He brought a finger to the spot in between my eyes. "But what questions are really inside the very curious mind of yours?"

I smiled at him. "What was wrong with the blood-lab?"

He answered nearly before I was finished. "Can't tell ya."

I gaped at him. "Then why did you ask?"

"Just so I can shoot you down." He shrugged teasingly.

"You stupid little " I pounced on him.

He fought back. We wrestled on the bed before eventually falling to the ground. We switched positions from him being on top to me. We were playfully hitting each other, only his were very soft with an edge to it that could be powerful.

I don't know how it happened but I ended up running out of the room, King hot on my heels. He was going easy on me, and I knew it. It just couldn't get over the fact that I had my one true friend back. Well, I consider him more of a brother than anything else.

"Catch me if you can!" I squealed as I tore down the stairs.

As I skipped every other step, I see King jumping from the balcony and landing at the end of the stairs.

I stopped several steps up from where he stood. He stood there with his hands on his hips in a mocking impatient stance.

"Waiting, my dear," he said in a high pitched voice.

I shook my head. "Not fair!"

"That's life, sweetheart."

He shifted so fast I almost didn't catch it. Almost. I jumped over the railing and landing on the cold tile. My feet stung for about two seconds. King was at the spot I was in not three seconds ago.

"Two can play that game!" I shouted as I ran down the hall. I passed by the rooms filled with guest. Dawn was approaching, meaning the night for us was soon.

King was still chasing me and I giggled as I passed guests that looked at me with the strangest faces. We were nearly to the other side of the manor when he caught up to me and grabbed me around the waist. I squealed and he started to try and tickle me.

Before it got too fun, footsteps approached us. From the sound of it, it seemed like it was more than one person. My guess was right when Danica, Asher, Gabby (another member of the Council) and Drake (shiver) rounded the corner to find us trying to tickle each other.

It was unfair since King wasn't ticklish anymore, so I ended up doing all the laughing. He was laughing at me because I guess I look funny when I twitch from the tickles.

"Stop! Stop it! No! No more! This is not fair!" I was screaming and laughing at the same time.

"Say it! Say the words! I'm not stopping until you do." Dammit. I hoped he forgotten about that, but another part of me was happy he didn't.

"Never!" I cried out dramatically.

The new audience around us just watched. Asher looked like he was watching children doing something immature, which technically this was. Danica looked disgusted. Gabby looked like she was trying not to smile. And Drake looked slightly amused.

"Say the words, dammit! You'll die laughing if you don't!" King cried.

"The best way to die!"

I laughed harder as he grabbed my sides and tickled my neck and knees.

"Get ready for it, then!"

"Just say the words already, runt!" Danica sneered. "We have business to attend to!"

"Alright! Alright! King is the master! King is the master! I said it! I said it!"

He stopped tickling my ribs and kissed the top of my head. "And Zoey is my little princess."

I know it sounds stupid, but when I was a kid, I couldn't say shit, fuck, damn or anything of the sort. So, King made up something easy for me to remember and then he'd reply with the same thing. When I grew older, we never got around to changing it, and I liked it like that.

"Welcome back, King," Drake said, still looking amused.

"Happy to be back, thanks." He gave a mock salute. I smiled.

"Come on, King. We have to go. You've already wasted our time with those foolish games." Danica hissed.

"Put away your claws, woman. I haven't seen him in nearly a year."

"Like I give a shit."

"Of course you don't."

King chuckled. An insider lies there. I giggled.

Danica ignored that and began to say something else when Drake interrupted. "Go tend to those bruises, Zoey." With a twitch of my head down to my exposed skin, I covered my body. I looked back up to see Drake gazing at me like I'm something to eat. Well…I am actually.

Drake directed his gaze to King once again. "King, we have a Council meeting involving your…assignment in a few minutes."

"Right, sir." King turned to me, "Training again, huh? Man, Lee's hardcore."

"Don't worry I got a few on him."

He laughed. "I'm sure you did."

He rustled my hair and began down the hall toward the conference room, Danica and silent Gabby following suit. Drake however stayed behind. He watched me as I tried not to squirm under his sight. I wanted to shout at him, "What the fuck are you looking at!" But, instead, I looked up into his eyes. I meet that cold stare and held it. We battled the dominance game for a few moments before he turned to leave without a word. I saw the flash of emotion on his face before he left, though. It seemed as if he were smug about something.

Something I didn't, but had to know about.

After King and Drake left, I felt more alone than I did earlier. I didn't have anything I had to do. I've already went up to the guard tower, trained with Lee, talked shit to Danica, and played with King. I sighed and began walking. I was heading for the stairs, but ended up walking elsewhere. I soon found my feet leading me to a spot four years ago. A spot I hadn't visited since.

The wooden swing.

I smiled to myself and looked over at the horizon. I could see a slight glow appearing over the mountains. I looked back at the chair and chuckled. I sat down; the wood creaked. It must not have been used for quite some time. I found it relaxing sitting here once again. And if Sebastian tried to sneak up on me again, I would give him more than a few bruises. I giggled at the thought.

I saw the first rays of sun spill over the valley. I could actually think with just calmness. I thought once again about my life if I was a normal girl. Before King left to go on the "assignment", he told me about school. (I attended a small school when I was younger, but after being captured, I was homeschooled. I learned faster than most regular kids. I was learning the equations 'ch4 + o2 = co2 + H20, c3h8 + o2 = co2 + h2o, c8h18 + o2 = co2 + h2o' by the time I was 12. I was finished with schooling by the time I was 15. I learned everything I needed to know, even though I forgot most of it.) King told me about high school. He said that I would've been something called a junior. I asked him what that was and he shook his head and laughed. He didn't answer the question, but I didn't really care. I just knew I'd miss him.

And now that he's back, he was taken away once again. I never see him when he was on "assignments" and I rarely saw him when he was actually here.

Life's a bitch.

The sun was halfway up by now and I was smiling into the small warmth it brought. I smelled the sweet air. I felt the sun tickle my skin and I knew I was in heaven.

What I didn't know was that this may be the last sunrise I'll ever see.

………

King slammed his hand down onto the granite table, making it crack slightly.

"I will not let you do this, Drake!" he spat out. "She's too young. She's unprepared. She doesn't even know a thing about the Events and how fucking dangerous they are. Do you want to put her through that?"

Drake just stared at King calmly, as though he were a bratty child throwing a temper tantrum, which King knew was how it must've looked.

"The candidates have already been selected. We choose the four best vampires within next month. The humans we will pick off the streets. Zoey will be among them."

"How will she train for such games? What she is doing now with Lee isn't worth a rat's ass in the arena! No offense, Lee-man." Lee shrugged at King's comment. "She won't make it far enough into the games. And you know it, Drake." He pointed a finger at Drake. "You know that not one human has ever survived the Events. Don't take a chance and put Zoey in and see if she makes it out! She will get killed!"

"Good. Maybe that'll teach her a lesson," Danica murmured even though everyone fully heard what she said.

"Look, D, if I wanted a slut's opinion, I would've asked you. Okay? So keep working mouth fucking shut!" King said.

Danica leaped from her chair. But before she could reach King, she was being pulled back by Asher and Gabby. King halfheartedly smiled with smugness.

Drake gazed hard at King. "Are you willing to train her, then?"

"I am." There was no hint of hesitation in his voice. He didn't feel it in his heart or mind either.

Drake nodded. "Then she is your charge until the games begin."

King nodded in return. He didn't have the need to say anything more. There's a first, eh? He sat back down into his chair and waited for the next order of business. He placed his head in his hands.

Zoey will live. He promised himself and to her silently. I will make sure of it.

A/N: Hell yeah! I am on a fucking roll this week! Wahoo! Ha-ha. Review please! Keeps me going. Any ideas that you have, you are welcomed to share. :D Any request? I'll look to in to it. (:

Willow

P.S. Oh and I don't actually know what the answers are to the chemistry equations. I just looked them up. Ha.