I woke up to silence. There was no sound of the constant heart beat under my head, no giant wolf anywhere in sight. As I looked around, I wasn't even in that dark room the Nelson's had me staying in the past few weeks, it was pitch black but I could feel that I was laying on a stone terrain.

"Hello?" I called, as I sat up. I felt little to no pain in my stomach and thigh. "Dakota? Maiya? Is anyone there?"

"Finally." A voice echoed around me, signaling that I was in some kind of cavern. "It has taken me a while to find you. Where are you Tay-Tay?"

My heart stopped. That nickname... Only one person had ever called me that and they were supposed to be dead. I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts and remained silent.

"Tay-Tay, you are in danger, you need to tell me where you are so I can protect you," the man spoke, his voice gentle just like it used to be.

"I'm doing a good job of protecting myself thank you very much," I muttered, sitting Indian style since I didn't know what was around me, there was no lights.

"I can see that, two severe wounds from a car accident that they most likely caused..."

"Your dead, so how would you protect me?" I sneered. "This is just some dream of my imagination..."

"This is a dream, but I am not dead Tay-Tay."

I heard the sound of a match against a matchbox and saw a light in front of me before a fire blared to life not five feet from me. I had been right when I thought I was in a stone cavern of sorts, there was one tunnel ahead of me but that was blocked by a man kneeling on one knee on the other side of the fire. I didn't move, or speak, as my eyes fell on the man an studied him.

The first thing that caught my eye were his eyes that were the exact same color, the eyes that had been passed down to me. His dirty blond hair was about six inches or so and went into his eyes, making him look like he was about mid-twenties, not like the forties he was supposed to be if be had been alive. I knew from the past that if he stood up, he would tower over me at 6'4" and I would be a foot shorter than him rather than going to his thigh when I was a child. Around his neck was the amulet he had always worn and refused to ever take off.

"You think lighting a fire so I can see you will make me believe your actually alive?" I asked quietly.

"No," the man sighed quietly, "but how about this...? I know you are an amazing dancer and when your mom and her husband moved you and your brother to Alaska, you joined the Marching Band's Color Guard and became its captain. Your band took 15th at Nationals in Houston, Texas. Then when you left there, I lost my tabs on you."

"So for the past nine and a half years, instead of coming back like you once promised, you just spied on me?" I demanded as I stood up and glared down at him. "You made a promise that day! You said 'I'll be right back my little Tay-Tay, I promise,' but you never came! You lied to me! You think that now, saying you'll come back, that I'll automatically tell you where I am so you can protect me from a bunch of bloodsucking vampires who have attacked me twice and tried to rape me once already?! Someone here actually cares to protect me and it sure ain't you Brandon. Werewolf mutts have done a better job than your dead ass!"

"Watch your mouth Leodora Taylor!" He snapped as he got to his feet.

"I guess there was one good thing of being attacked, the vampies that attacked couldn't roll my mind, if you even know what that means. Why are the Nightblood Clans after me?"

"The Nightblood Clans couldn't roll your mind..." Brandon seemed to go pale at the thought of me being attacked by them as he stared down at me. "Did...did they say what they wanted...?"

"I don't know," I snapped. "All I remember after I was in the accident was them saying was that I was the key to find something, then I passed out and woke up in my doctor's clinic. What do you know?"

"Time is short," he spoke suddenly and I noticed that things started to go fuzzy. "Someone is trying to wake up up in the real world. I'll try to contact you like this soon but just know Tay-Tay, our family passed down from my side not all that it seems. Don't loose control of yourself..."

The image faded as well as his words and my eyes opened to the room at the Nelson's as I bolted into a sitting position. My heart was beating rapidly and I was gasping for air. I heard faint sounds of someone behind me, probably Dakota, but I didn't focus on that as I stumbled to my feet and headed towards the floor length mirror in a corner of the room. I didn't make it there and started to fall forward only to have arms wrap around me and helped me stand. I could see the mirror now, but I was shaking.

Out of fear? Happiness?

I didn't know... I felt tears fall down my cheeks as I stared at my reflection, barely aware of Dakota behind me. In the mirror I saw his lips move, but I couldn't hear him. My mind was closed off onto one fact, my father was truly alive.

Dakota awoke in the night and at first he was confused why until he heard her growl in her sleep. He looked down at her and saw a small line of tears come from both closed eyes as she laid on her back, barely breathing and her heart was erratic almost at the point of skipping beats.

Dakota growled and nudged her with his head, trying to wake her only to hear another growl come from her. Dakota gave her points for almost sounding like a wolf but he needed to wake her. He nudged her harder and she suddenly bolted into a sitting position trying to breath and he heard a sob trying to escape.

Dakota whined at her but she ignored him as she tossed the blankets off her and stumbled towards the corner of the room. The second she faltered in her steps, he shifted and dashed to her and caught her before she fell. He looked down at her and saw her transfixed on the mirror in the corner but it wasn't at him. She was fixed on her own reflection as a small shaky sob escaped her parted lips and more tears fell. Dakota stared at her through the mirror and noticed her bandages were being bled through. He pulled her away from the mirror and she seemed to snap out of her daze and screamed and started to struggle against him.

"Leo, calm down," Dakota spoke, his mouth right next to her ear but it had no affect. She was affecting him, considering how she was struggling against his bare body. "Leo, stop!"

"Let me go!" Leo cried and started clawing at his arms.

"Leo!" Dakota snapped and spun her around and pressed his lips to hers.

Everything seemed to freeze at that moment in their first kiss, even Leo stopped struggling. Dakota sighed thankfully in his mind that she had stopped struggling, knowing that he couldn't have handled anymore of her struggling without loosing control and kissing her had the desired affect on her. Her hands came to his chest as he felt her kiss back and he closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her waist and shoulders and held her close as he continued the kiss.