I followed what the stranger said and stayed extremely still, out of fear that he would shoot me or something if I disobeyed and moved. However, I could not stop the curiosity that overwhelmed me, and I slowly turned my head to look at him.

I gasped when I saw his face from the corner of my eye.

It was that guy that I had bumped into at the stoplight that day; the one who tried to sway me into going to the Le Cresta with him. And the one who Aiden saved me from.

I dared myself to turn and face him. He had a full dark beard now, all unruly and messy. His dark brown hair was not sleeked back, but instead it was as unruly and messy as his beard. His moss green eyes were fixed on my amber ones, and I could make out just a few traces of lust in his eyes.

That was definitely not a good thing.

It became worse when I realized that he was bare-chested. I could only see his face and his torso, as the shadows covered his lower-half, but I had a feeling that he didn't have any pants or underwear on.

I am totally screwed.

He looked at me with a lecherous smile and he clucked his tongue. "Well, well. well. Look what I have here."

I backed away one step each time he took one step closer. But when he stopped, I still took a few steps back, but never took the risk to just run. That would give even more thrill to him; the thrill of chasing his victim, which would happen to be me.

He cocked his head to the side as he pouted his lips. "Oh, come on now," he murmured. "Don't be scared. I won't hurt you."

I gulped and said loudly, "You expect me to believe you?" I tried to sound brave and daring, but my voice sounded just weak and scared. It made him happy, judging by the way he grinned.

He walked forward many steps, saying menacingly, "Even if you don't believe me, what can you do to stop me?"

I did the one thing I could do now.

I ran.

I dashed up the road with all the speed I was capable of. I didn't even once look back out of fear of what I was going to witness. I only kept my eyes fixed firmly on the road and willed myself to run faster, with only the lights from the lamp posts and the shine of the moon to light up my way.

But the inevitable happened; the strap of one of my wedges snapped, and I fell to the ground in an instant.

My hands shot out quickly so that it would be the first ones to hit the road instead of my face. But I yelped in pain when I felt a sharp pebble cut through the skin of the palm of my left hand. To add fuel to the fire, I attained a few cuts and scratches on my legs as well, and they seriously hurt.

I tried to stand up quickly, but my knees were too pained to move as they too suffered from the fall onto the road. The cut on my left palm burned, and I brought it in front of my face to examine it…

And was immediately shocked by what I saw.

Instead of the deep red crimson of blood, a shiny golden fluid seeped through the cut. I was entirely baffled. What sort of liquid is this? Surely there is no such fluid in the human body that looked like actual melted gold. And on closer inspection, as I gazed at the strange gold fluid, I noticed that the cut seemed to be closing up by itself.

But unfortunately, I was so engrossed about what the golden fluid was and how the cut had healed itself that I didn't realize my chaser had reached me, flipped me over onto my back, and pinned me to the road.

I screamed in fear, but he planted his hand over my mouth, silencing my screams. With his other hand on my neck, he pinned me down firmly to the ground, his hold becoming tighter each time I squirmed.

"Sshhh…." he murmured. "If you behave, I won't hurt you so much…"

I trembled at how close he was too me. I could feel his breath on my face.

He shifted, so that he was straddling my legs. It was then I began to feel how hairy his bare legs were. And then, I realized that they were too hairy, as though he hadn't shaved his legs in weeks or because his legs were entirely covered in hair. But on a closer feel, I realized that it wasn't hair I was feeling at all.

It was fur.

Utterly terrified and confused, I dared myself to look from his face and down at his legs. And like my reaction to seeing the golden fluid that flowed from my cuts, I gasped.

He didn't have normal, human legs. His half-body was like that of a goat.

And I only knew one sort of creature that was half-man and half-goat.

A satyr? I thought in disbelief.

This had to be a nightmare, right? There was no way all of this was happening. There was no way I was about to be raped by a satyr on the side of an empty road.

I hoped with all my heart that I would wake up in my bed to see the bright sun and I could cry in relief that it was all just a nightmare. But no. The pain I felt was too real. The cuts and scratches on my legs were becoming agitated and they were stinging because of the feel of the satyr's furry legs on them.

I felt my heart stop when I realized that this was not at all a nightmare. This was really happening.

"Now, now, my beautiful maiden," he purred, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand. "I wish to taste your sweetness and your purity. I cannot handle my hunger for a beautiful body any longer."

I seemed to have regain most of my senses then, because I jerked my knee up and hit directly at his crotch.

He yelled out in pain and suddenly released his hold on me. I took the opportunity to clench my now-free hand into a fist and immediately punched the side of the sick creature's face.

Like what had happened at the party with the greasy-blonde, the satyr immediately flew into a tall tree beside us from the force of my punch. I had hoped that would happen, and I was glad it did.

Immediately, I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the pains I felt prickling throughout my body, and started running. I hurriedly tore off my other wedge with my new-found strength, tossing it aside and proceeding to run barefoot.

But I had only made it about a few metres before a car came into view. It stopped directly in front of me, mere inches from colliding into me.

I looked at the car. It was a black Chevrolet Camaro, with dark-tinted windows. The headlights of the car were blaring and blinding.

Suddenly, the driver-side door opened and a tall and dark figure emerged from the car. The figure approached me, and I felt extremely relieved to see that it was Aiden.

I scrambled into his arms, desperate for safety. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly and tried hard to soothe and comfort me.

At the short moment, I just forgot about the hatred I felt towards him. All that mattered now was that he was here, and I could feel safe in his arms.

But the feeling of safety was short-live, because he then let go of me and pushed me behind him. I looked up from his shoulder to see the satyr making his way towards us, a menacing glare painted on his face.

Aiden then stepped forward, and I panicked and tried to hold him back. "No, don't!" I shouted at him. "Aiden, it will kill you!"

He didn't say anything. He only shrugged my hand off him and stomped towards the creature. I froze in fear, hoping with all my heart that Aiden didn't get hurt. Or worse.

The satyr sneered, and lifted a hand to strike Aiden. I screamed, but my voice was immediately cut short when I saw Aiden grab the satyr's incoming fist swiftly and without even flinching.

The satyr's eyes widened at Aiden's fast reflexes, but he immediately screamed in agony when he twisted his fist in his hand.

I stood there looking at what was happening in shock. I had suspected Aiden to be strong, but I would never expect him to be strong enough to fight off a mythical creature.

And just then, something amazing happened.

Aiden simply grabbed the satyr's neck with his other hand, and threw the creature violently and effortlessly towards the cluster of trees alongside the road.

I gasped when I saw the feat and was really astonished to realize that maybe, Aiden had the same type of extraordinary strength as me, though his seemed more professional and stronger.

And then, another amazing thing happened.

Aiden stomped towards the satyr, who had fallen to the ground and was moaning in agony, and again grabbed him by the neck. He carried the creature easily as though he was simply carrying a light book. And then, he brought him down upon the road.

The road cracked immediately at the hard contact of the satyr's body under Aiden's hand.

It was that moment when I realized that Aiden was not at all human.

And maybe, so was I.

"Do you even know who you're dealing with, vile creature!" Aiden bellowed ferociously, making both me and the satyr wince at the sharpness of his voice.

He lifted the satyr slightly off the road, only to bring him down onto the hard surface again.

"How dare you touch her!" he snarled.

His fist punched the satyr in the face, and the creature started bleeding from his nose immediately.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Aiden growled like a wild and agitated animal.

Suddenly, he picked up the now bruised and bleeding satyr and glared right into its moss green eyes. Then, without breaking eye contact, he seethed, "Look into my eyes, and see the horrors that await you."

I stayed completely frozen, watching Aiden glare into the satyr's eyes and waiting for something weird or scary to happen. Suddenly, the satyr started screaming in horror. I watched as he struggled in Aiden's hold, trying desperately to escape. But Aiden kept his grip firm and continued to glare into the creature's eyes, punishing him with something of mental torment.

I don't know what the satyr is seeing in Aiden's fathomless black eyes, but something told me that I really didn't want to know.

And then, in one split second, I watched the hand around the satyr's neck squeeze and tightened until finally, a loud and sickening crack could be heard. The satyr's eyes then rolled heavenwards and Aiden releases it. It fell to the ground, and blood flowed out of his mouth.

I had to cover my mouth to try and stop myself from throwing up.

I didn't see him come to me, but all of a sudden, his hand gripped mine gently and he led me to the passenger-side door. He opened the door for me, and I willingly got inside before he shut the door and made his way to the driver's side.

I kept my eyes on the satyr's dead body as Aiden got the car into gear and drove off ahead, right in the direction where I had come from.

It was silent between us, and it frightened me. I kept on glancing at him, but he just looked solely onto the road ahead. I studied him, noting how taut his jaw was, how tight his hands held the wheel and how cold and hard his pitch black eyes were.

I was unable to bear the silence any longer. In a quiet voice, I asked meekly, "Where are you taking me?"

He didn't look at me when he answered, "I'm taking you somewhere more private, so that I can tell you the entire truth."

I looked out the window, and saw that we had driven past the house where the party was held. But I didn't pay so much attention to it as I was in deep thought about what he said.

What did he mean by telling me the entire truth? What truth?

And then I thought to myself about the argument we had yesterday, where he told me that I was his lost love and that I'm not really who I am, and I remembered that I had called him crazy for that.

Could it be possibly that whatever he was saying was actually true? And that I was wrong for assuming that was a lunatic?

Without looking away from the dark-tinted windows, I asked, "Who are you?"

I heard him breathe in deeply. And then, he sighed, "You'll find out soon enough."