TRIGGER WARNING; Contains depictions of self-harm. If you are sensitive to such scenes please take care.

Valentine had never been particularly thrilled to stand before the towering form of Malfoy Manor and now was no different. By her estimation, it was one AM, maybe two. The sun was yet to rise but even when it did it would fail to make the place any brighter.

Oddly enough, every window in the manor was lit, bright and shining like a hundred lanterns. Valentine frowned. That didn't even happen at a reasonable time when everyone was still awake. Malfoy Manor had never been known for its glowing lights painting golden shapes on the lawn.

Valentine spotted movement in one of the windows and sighed.

They've probably been waiting up for me. I can't imagine Narcissa or Draco sleeping easily after I left like that.

A tinge of guilt shot through her. She could rationalise it all she wanted, she was clever and could handle herself just fine but that wasn't the point. She was a fourteen-year-old girl that had run off on her own, into a world she had no first-hand knowledge of, without any more than a 'goodbye'. Even knowing herself and her abilities as she did, it was reckless. It would hardly make sense if she hadn't caused any worry with her actions.

She trudged towards the front door, letting her boots drag across the brickwork. What she would have done to never have to come back here again...

"Val!" The door flew open before Valentine reached the top of the steps.

Draco was standing there, breathing heavy, a light sheen of sweat coating his face.

"I can open the door myself, you know." She simply huffed.

Draco heaved out a sigh and let himself fall against the door frame.

"Mother...she...mother..." Draco swallowed, trying to catch his breath. "Mother's been out looking for you for hours now. So, are the Lovat's."

"Well, then they waste their time." Valentine pushed past him and into the entryway.

"Val...Where the hell did you go?"

He didn't sound angry, just tired and frustrated.

"Out."

"This isn't a joke."

"Do you hear me laughing?"

Draco sighed again and pulled the door shut behind them.

"I'm serious. You can't just leave like that."

"You can't tell me what I can and cannot do." She cut him a glare over her shoulder.

Draco dropped his head low but didn't take his eyes from hers.

"If you weren't home by tomorrow, mother was going to the Ministry to have them search for you, you know."

"Your mother is a fool."

"Usually I would agree with you..." said Draco. "...you really scared her, Val."

"And where's your father in all of this?"

"Gone. He left not long after you did. Val he- he was just so mad."

"Did he hurt you?" Valentine turned to face him.

"No, no." Draco shook his head firmly. "He and mother just yelled a bit and then he stormed off. We haven't seen him since."

"Can't you see it now, Draco?" Valentine stepped forwards, grasping her cousin's arms. "That's all he is. Noise. Loud, unnecessary noise. You just need to block him out."

Draco's eyes grew misty and he tried to blink it away.

"You know I can't. I can't just turn my back on him, I can't just block him out. He's my father."

"He's a cowardly bastard."

"He's family."

Valentine opened her mouth to say 'I'm family' but she stopped herself. She dropped her grip on him and stepped away, shaking her head.

"I don't know why I even bother sometimes."

"Val, I-"

"Valentine Druella Elladora Lestrange!"

Valentine winced, turning on her heel slowly.

Narcissa was standing at the top of the stairs, staring down at her with steeled eyes and pursed lips.

And to think I only just got off death row.

--Pretending To Live--

If Narcissa had had her way, Valentine would have never left the manor's grounds again. Not with a disappearing act like that. And the next day, Valentine did stay put. She spent morning till night with Draco and Leah buzzing around her like flies. She knew that they'd been told to keep an eye on her, not that they'd be in a position to do much if Valentine decided to leave again.

Lucius returned late that night after dinner. He didn't say a word to anyone and simply shut himself up in his study. Valentine hoped he felt all the shame he deserved.

The day after that was not like the one before. Valentine woke early- even without the effects of the parasite she still slept like she was allergic to it- and slipped a note under Draco's door reading;

I'm going out. I'll be back in the evening.

V.L

She'd be lying if she said that she didn't feel somewhat guilty doing this again, but it was worth it. Once the summer was over, she'd be back at Hogwarts. These few months were her only window of opportunity. It felt especially worth it to see the scene that was before her now.

"Keep away from me, you witch." Bobby glared at Zoe, who grasped a pair of tweezers in her hand.

Valentine wondered what he would do if he had known that he was in a room with an actual, real witch.

"Don't be a baby." Zoe closed in on him. "You're starting to look like a caveman."

"Well, maybe that's the look I'm going for." Bobby put a hand up to cover his face.

"You couldn't pull it off." Parker laughed at him from across the room, where Axel was every so carefully cutting his hair.

"Go play in traffic." Bobby gave him the middle finger.

"What brave men we have here." Del cackled in a ridiculously deep voice.

She held Valentine's feet in her lap and a nail polish bottle in one hand. When she'd heard Valentine had never properly painted her nails before, she was nothing less than disgusted. Apparently, that time Leah had gotten her thumb in her sleep with a bottle of borrowed polish didn't count.

"I don't need to be brave." Parker frowned at Del's comment. "I'm pretty."

Everyone laughed, shaking their heads and rolling their eyes. Valentine had learnt that once you got to know him, Parker was less nosy and suspicious, more egotistical and vain. Plainly spoken, Parker was very impressed with his own face.

"You're going to be less pretty if I mess this up because you keep moving." Axel grabbed the side of his head and straightened it.

"I'm really putting my life in your hands here, dude." said Parker.

"Hair grows back if you didn't know." Bobby snorted, still fending off a resilient Zoe.

"But ears do not, so hold freaking still." Said Axel.

"Yeah, but his hair is like eighty percent of his personality." said Del, biting down on her tongue as she painted Valentine's toe nail bright purple. She had insisted on them matching.

"You hear that, Parker?" Bobby quipped, attempting to stand up when Zoe pushed him back down and sat on his knee to keep him put. He grunted at the weight. "Axel's chipping away at your very soul right now."

"Trying not to think about that, thanks." Parker squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

"Ow! Mother fucker that hurt!" Bobby swore as Zoe began to pluck at his brows.

"Language." Axel scolded him and Zoe smacked him lightly on the cheek.

"If Abby knew you were talking like that around a kid she'd skin you alive." said Zoe.

"Yeah, well Abby's not here." He shot back.

"I'm going to tell her you said that~" Del sang.

"Rest in peace." Valentine muttered more to herself than anyone else.

Valentine had also learnt that the mother of Reily, Bobby's son, was a very smart girl named Abby. She'd fallen pregnant two years, both her and Bobby being eighteen. Her parents had been far less than pleased despite Abby still having plans to attend university once she was able. They hadn't heard from them since but Bobby didn't seem overly heartbroken about it.

"See." said Del. "Even Val knows what's up and she's never even met Abby."

"That's because you guys are a terrible influence and can't keep your mouths shut." Bobby tried unsuccessfully to wrench his face from Zoe's iron grasp.

"Oh, like you can talk, Mr Cigarette- Smoking-Teenage-Father-Of-The-Year." Parker scoffed.

"Mate, when I'm free," said Bobby, still trying to shake Zoe off. "I'm going to beat the hell outta you."

"Whatever, you couldn't last a minute against me."

"Dream on."

"I'm not a dream. I'm your nightmare."

"Well, you're not entirely wrong."

"Shut up, prick!"

"Down boy." Axel pinched Parker's cheek.

"Ouch!" Parker and Bobby yelped in unison in the hands of Axel and Zoe respectfully.

"And Parker, sweetie," Zoe hummed offhandedly. "if you keep talking like that around Val, I'm going to pluck every hair on your head."

"You are a sick, sick woman."

"I said hold still." Axel growled.

"All done!" Del declared, blowing on Valentine's toes to dry them. "What do you think?"

Valentine looked down at her now purple toenails.

"It's...different."

"It's so ridiculous all the things that aren't at your school." said Del. "I mean, it's not like a little bit of nail polish is gonna stop you from studying. Wait. You're like a genius, right? Do you actually study?"

"On occasion. I have an excellent memory so revision is usually a waste of my time."

"Damn, girl. What my parents would have given to have you as a daughter."

"I think they wished that you'd just studied at all, babe." Said Zoe.

"Gross."

"You can't take any electronics with you to school at all, right?" asked Parker. "How do you all survive without any TV or anything? Where do you kids get your culture?"

"We manage." Valentine chuckled.

"I don't know what I'd do without my CD Player." Delaney sighed wistfully. "Probably end it all in a fiery ball of glory."

"You could always try a book." Valentine suggested with a snort.

"Del can read?" Parker frowned.

"Of course, I can read!"

"That's news to me." Bobby grumbled.

"Stay out of this! I can read just fine!"

"Babe. You were essentially illiterate until you were like fifteen." Zoe interjected.

"Well, I can't help being dyslexic!"

"I still don't understand how you went through ten years of schooling without anyone realising that you could hardly read." said Axel.

"That's the public school system for you." said Bobby.

"You couldn't read?" Valentine frowned.

"Eh, kinda?" Del made a face. "Like, I could see the words. They were definitely there, they just happened to make pretty much no sense."

"Yeah, see, someone should have definitely figured out that something was going on." said Axel.

"To be fair, it might have helped if she'd stopped throwing the books across the room long enough to tell anyone that the letters looked back to front." Zoe muttered.

"Hey, no fair! I thought I was going nuts! You're supposed to have my back here!"

"Really? Because from what I've heard, you're not the one who spends all her time on her back." Bobby snickered.

"Bobby!" Axel snapped. "Seriously? There is a freaking minor in the room. Can you not censor yourself even the tiniest bit? Do we need to call Abby?"

"That threat is getting real old."

"Then try this one on for size." Zoe held up the tweezers, eyes cold. "I will gouge your eyes out."

"Okay so, that's new and definitely concerning on multiple levels."

"Good. Now, hold still."

--Pretending To Live--

Valentine's quill flew over the parchment, scratching out the words without much thought. She had received a letter from Blaze that morning and he was eager- well, more desperate- for a reply. He'd written;

Okay, so Leah basically invited herself to come and visit over the summer and I'm completely freaking out. My family is so extremely next-level embarrassing. Like, the cuff links. You remember the cuff links, right? Those freaking CUFFLINKS. Well, imagine an entire family of sparkly crustacean cuff links because that would be my family. Only these crustaceans talk and scream and make my life a living hell.

I just know they're not going to leave us alone for more than two seconds. And not even because they think we'll be 'up to something'! They just like to stick their noses in where they're not wanted. You should have seen the third degree I got when I told them I have a girlfriend!

Anyway. Will that bother Leah? My family being like that, I mean. The last thing I need is her throwing a tantrum. My family already thinks that I'm weird as it is, who knows what'll happen when they meet that spaz! I'm almost more afraid that they'll get along too well.

Oh, and what about food? I've known her for four years and I've never paid any attention to what she eats. Honestly, it seems like she doesn't even check what she's putting in her mouth before it's already in there. Also, I don't know if you remember this, but I live near the beach. Like, right on the water. Is that a problem? Can Leah even swim? Should I keep a real close eye so that she doesn't try and swim to China or something? Seriously, I need your help, so what do I do?

Your painfully desperate friend,

Blaze

"They're perfect for each other alright.." Valentine rolled her eyes but scoffed rather fondly.

Honestly. After four years of watching every move Leah made so he could ridicule it, he needs help? He should know her just fine by now. She really is a 'you get what you see' kind of deal.

She tapped the tip of her boot on the hardwood floor as she wrote out her reply.

In the past week, she hadn't spent much time at Malfoy Manor and intended to head out again once she finished writing to Blaze. Her taste of the outside world had only spurred her forward to want more. Del, Zoe, Axel, Bobby and Parker were fond of her and she was fond of them. When she wasn't wandering aimlessly, observing muggle lives, she was with them, doing much of nothing except enjoying herself. It was so different from the world she'd lived in so far, she just wanted to take every opportunity while it was still there.

Of course, she'd refused to tell anyone where she was actually disappearing too, and thanks to her now almost tyrannical grip on the household, there was very little anyone could do to stop her. These days Lucius made himself even more scarce then she did and the handful of times she'd attempted to listen in on him and hopefully glean any new information on the Voldemort situation had left her with nothing.

Even Narcissa had given up trying to figure out where she'd been going on her walks. That didn't stop her from nagging, naturally but Valentine didn't expect anything different. Just the fact that Narcissa hadn't tried to lock her up to prevent her from leaving again made her grateful. It might have had something to do with the fact that she always came back and did so unharmed. It was really only Draco that ever made Valentine regret leaving at times.

Despite secretly standing against everything Draco had been raised to believe, she'd never stopped caring for him. They'd just always been together, even when Leah wasn't there, it was them. She had no recollection of a world without him. She wouldn't say that they had overall the most healthy relationship but she wasn't entirely certain that she had any of those at all. This was just another secret to keep. One of many and with more still to come. Draco worried and fretted but he did that about everything, a trait he'd picked up from his mother.

She thought of Del, Zoe, Axel, Parker and Bobby. Her new friends. She'd hate to never be able to see them all again or to have to say goodbye for good. Friendships with muggles could be maintained, witches and wizards did it all the time. This could work and she supposed what Draco didn't know couldn't hurt him. Except for when it was the not knowing that hurt the most.

It's just for the summer.

That's what she told herself.

Once the summer is over things will go back to normal. Normal for us anyway.

There was a sudden knock at her bedroom door, pulling her out of her thoughts and away from her letter.

"What?" She called out.

"It's Haley, M-miss." Came the reply. "I need to clean your bathroom. I can come back later if it's any in-inconvenience."

"Enter."

The door opened. Haley bowed her head respectfully and made a beeline for the bathroom.

Valentine watched the maid from the corner of her eye as she disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. If anyone was benefiting from this situation, it was the staff.

Valentine sighed and leaning back in her chair, rereading her letter to Blaze. She assured him that Leah loved the beach and that she knew how to swim but that keeping an eye on her would probably be advisable. She also told him Leah would eat just about anything and that she was unlikely to even notice how embarrassing his family was. She made sure to tell him that he was being stupid and overthinking this as usual and then signed her name at the bottom, curving the 'V' as she always did.

She sealed it in an envelope and stood from her desk. Then she paused and glanced at the bathroom door. She'd need to come back up here after sending Darcy off with the letter. She'd only be gone for a short while.

Haley's smart. She avoids me as often as she can. Almost as often as Emma. I usually only see her at meals since she handles most of Draco's needs, as Haley does for me. And since I've been gone so often, I've hardly seen either of them at all.

Frowning, she opened the second drawer in her desk and pulled out a brass key.

"Haley?" Valentine called through the door.

"Ah, yes M-miss?" The maid stuttered as she always did in Valentine's presence.

Valentine slid the key into the door and twisted. There was a loud click and she heard Haley gasp.

"Um, M-m-miss? Did you l-lock the door?" Haley's voice quivered.

"I'll be back soon." Valentine replied, her voice all kinds of casual.

"M-m-miss Valentine!" Haley shouted, knocking on the bathroom door firmly. "Please, let-let me out!"

Ignoring her pleas, Valentine stepped out into the hall and shut her bedroom door behind her.

She'd let her out once she got back. This honestly wasn't even the worst thing she'd ever done to the poor girl. The days after she'd accepted Dumbledore's proposal and when she began attending Hogwarts had been particularly dark for all involved. The staff had essentially ended up as her test subjects, as much as that disgusted her to admit. She'd used them all to gauge how much terror she could inflict with her eyes alone, how quickly she could get in control of the situation, how much pressure you could put on someone's arm before it snaps.

Back then...I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I was just being as horrible as I could possibly manage and it shocked the hell out of everyone. I'd gone from a fairly average child, if you discount my intelligence, to an absolute monster in a matter of days. I was yet to learn moderation of any kind or rather this was how I did learn it. As horrific as it was, who knows what could have happened if I hadn't figured out where to put my own limits when I did. Melissa Snicket would have ended up with more a small burn on her neck, that's for sure.

It was thanks to her that I saved a reputation I'd only just built and since then I've been lucky. As the years go on, the stories of what I've done get passed from person to person. It doesn't take a first-year long to learn to stay clear of me. This means I can keep my random acts of cruelty to the minimum. And after this year, with what I did to that scum Andonov, I'll probably be set for life.

All this, just for my reputation. For Harry. I just hope that in the end, it was all worth it.

Valentine was headed to where Darcy was most likely to be. There was a small keep for the owls on the property, but Darcy didn't play nicely with others and thus his tree was his own.

She made it through the halls without being stopped and out through to the back gardens of the estate's extensive grounds. She walked off the stone path and into the garden itself, leaves crunching under her boots.

The tree was ancient and gnarled. It used to give Draco nightmares, Valentine recalled. The trunk stretched up so high that she'd never been able to reach the lowest branch to climb it. Draco and Leah would have been tall enough in height to do so but not in gall.

"Darcy!" She called up through the leaves, almost immediately she heard them shake in response.

Somewhere high up in the tree, an entire section shook and trembled. She heard Darcy take flight before she saw him. Then he came swooping down to the group, landing just several feet away from where she stood. And there he stood. An extremely large, black owl with piercing amber eyes and a rather unpleasant disposition.

"Hello." said Valentine, obviously not expecting a reply. She leaned and held out the envelope. "Take this to Blaze. He's freaking out."

Darcy let out a deep and menacing hoot, as if that had ever intimidated her and snatched up the letter.

Valentine stood back as he unfurled his giant wings and lifted himself off the ground. She could feel curls being tossed back over her shoulders but didn't move. She watched Darcy disappearing off into the distance until he was nothing but a tiny dark speck against the grey sky.

When she turned to walk away, her hair fell back into her face and noticed a twig had been blown into it.

"Bloody bird." She cursed and worked at untangling it as she went.

By the time she reached the stone path, she had finally rid herself of the stick that had twisted itself into her curls. What she would have given to have not been 'blessed' with her mother's curls as Narcissa had once put it.

She headed back inside and hoped to make it back to her room unbothered as she had been before. She still needed to unlock her bathroom door and then gloat a bit before telling Haley to leave her be as if she was the one who had locked herself in the first place. Then she was grabbing her coat and heading into London.

She glanced down the first-floor main hall to check to see if anyone was about. It was perfectly empty. She walked quickly, keeping her footsteps light. She passed the main sitting room and once she had, she heard the telltale sound of someone arriving in the fireplace, via floo network.

Valentine paused. She heard coughing and footsteps. She waited a moment and heard more shuffling about inside. She sighed. If it was Leah, she would have been screaming out a greeting but now it was silent. She took several steps backwards and peeked inside.

"Liam?"

What he's doing here? Did Draco invite him over without telling me?

"Oh!" Liam's eyes widened as he saw her, chuckling nervously. He had been using a gold-framed mirror on the wall to brush the ash out of his dark hair. "Hey. Uh, hi."

Well, someone's incredibly nervous today.

"Hello." She arched a brow. "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh, just thought I'd visit." He seemed to want to look anywhere but her. His eyes frantically dashed from corner to corner, anywhere that wasn't her.

"Did Draco invite you? He's upstairs." Valentine started to turn away, intending to lead him to Draco's room.

"Ah, no!" Liam stopped her. "Don't do that. Um. He didn't invite me. I came to...to talk to you?"

"Is that a question?" She bristled slightly.

"No!" He fidgeted with the top button of his shirt. "I was just telling you that I wanted to talk to you. It was, you know...a statement."

"Well." Valentine gestured to herself. "I'm here."

"Right. Yes, you are."

Why's he acting so weird? I know he's not exactly the picture of normality but this is something new.

"Get on with it." Valentine rolled her eyes with a groan. She stepped into the room to take a seat on the couch. "You better not need help with Leah as well. I'm all out of advice."

"Oh, uh, did Blaze send you a letter too then?" Liam slowly sat down on the other end of the couch, posture tense. "I got one this morning."

"Yes. I just sent Darcy off with my reply."

"Blaze is going to have the time of his life trying to get the letter off that bird." Liam laughed although his mind seemed elsewhere.

"I'm sure." Valentine agreed. "So?"

"So...what?"

"So, was there something, in particular, you wanted to talk about?" Valentine prompted impatiently. "Something you couldn't just write I assume?"

"Well, I guess...I could have written. But it's really something I should say myself, you know?"

"I would know if you would tell me."

"Ha ha, yeah. You're always right." Liam was now buttoning and unbuttoning his shirt cuffs.

"Liam."

"Right. Right. You're right. I need to get on with it."

"Correct."

Liam sucked in a deep breath.

"I wanted to tell you something."

Valentine raised her brows expectantly.

What in the world is wrong with him? He's usually so easy going. Right now he's just a bundle of nerves. Maybe something happened with his grandfather?

"It's something I've actually wanted to tell you for a while now. A long while really. I just didn't know how or when to say it..." Liam trailed off.

"Yes?" Valentine prompted him again, growing tired of this waiting game.

"I've told Draco and I think Blaze might know but he might not and I didn't really want to tell him if he didn't and then have him blab to Leah and then Leah tell you." Liam rattled on, still fiddling with his shirt buttons. "That'd just be...awkward."

Can't be much more awkward than what's happening right now.

"Liam, I swear if you don't just spit it out, I'm throwing you back in that fireplace and you won't be getting much further."

"Okay. Yeah. No more avoiding it." Liam sucked in a second breath and turned to her, looking her dead in the eyes. "Can I...hold your hand?"

Can you what now?

Valentine blinked.

What the hell is going on?

Liam immediately back-pedaled.

"You know what, nevermind. Stupid question. I'll just tell you what I came here to tell you."

"Well?"

Valentine suddenly noticed his hands were shaking.

Is he okay?

"Val...I like you."

She blinked again.

"You like me romantically?" Valentine asked slowly, using every muscle in her face to keep her expression neutral.

Oh, no. No, no, no.

"Yes..." Liam nodded. His cheeks were dusted with red, and he kept his gaze just over her shoulder.

That's why he's been acting so strange since he got here.

Valentine just stared at him, her mind reeling.

Liam likes me? Why? What the hell? Draco knew? And he never told me? WHY? What do you even do in situations like these? When Leah and Blaze confessed to one another it was mutual. Blaze had been pining after her for almost a year and then Leah suddenly liked him too. But this is different. I had no idea. What about Jane Philips? And his Viktor Krum fascination? How the hell do I fit into any of this? The fuck is going on?

"Say something. Please." Liam's voice was on the edge of pleading but she could barely hear it over the sound of her own heart.

And for a moment, her mind went completely blank.

"Philips really likes you." She finally said.

Liam's eyes connected with hers.

"What?" He spoke so softly it was almost a whisper.

She saw his soul bared naked in his dark eyes. She could see all his insecurities and worries, wide open and fragile. She hoped he couldn't see hers. God, she hoped he couldn't see hers.

Somehow she managed to move her legs and stand.

I don't want to see him like that. He's supposed to be laughing at Blaze. He supposed to be smiling at some stupid joke Leah made. He's not supposed to look like that. So broken. I don't want him to be broken. But I don't...

...want him...

"Philips is interested in you." She repeated.

"I just said I liked you." Liam pressed earnestly. "You're...you're the one I'm in love with. Not Jane."

Valentine felt his words like a knife to the chest.

She heard him stand as well.

"I've been in love with you for so long now." Liam spoke gently as if trying not to spook her. "You mean everything to me. You're smart, powerful, loyal. You're beautiful and even though everyone thinks you're some heartless monster...I know that you're not. I know who you are. You care about us. You care about us and want to protect us. That's the opposite of a monster, Val."

Please, just stop.

"I want to be with you."

Stop talking.

"I've never felt this way about anyone else."

You're wrong about me.

"I love you."

"Well, I don't love you." She flinched at her own words. "You should be with someone who returns your affections."

"Please." Liam's voice tightened.

You don't know me. I am a monster.

"Jane Philips would be lucky to hear a similar confession from you. Actually, I think it might work quite well on anyone else."

"I don't want her. I want you!" The pain in his voice drove her to the edge.

She turned abruptly and stepped away from him.

"And I don't want you. Do you hear me?" Her words came out like barbed wire; hurting them both. "I don't love you, I don't want you! We're friends, Liam. And I will protect you. But I don't want you the way you want me. And I certainly don't love you the way you love me."

Liam's eyes glistened with unfallen tears.

I really am a monster.

At that moment he looked so conflicted. She could imagine what he was thinking through the novels she'd read. He wanted to fight for her. To find out what would change her mind. To show her what they could be. But she'd made it clear she had no intention of returning his feelings.

"Do you hate me now?" She asked, her words a mite softer but her expression never changing.

"No." Liam shook his head, blinking away tears. "I'm just disappointed with how this all turned out."

Valentine turned from him again. She could feel her throat tighten and suddenly feared that she would cry. She remembered that day in the Forbidden Forest and clenched her hands into fists. She didn't want to feel that again, but even more, she didn't want Liam to feel how he was now.

How did this happen? Why her? And why didn't she see even an inkling of it happening?

Her insides coiled so tightly that her stomach ached and her palms stung from how her nails bit into them. She could feel the dread building as if it was something alive inside her.

She didn't move when she heard him walk across the floor to the fireplace and disappear in roaring flames.

When her fist connected with the mirror Liam had been using only minutes before, the force bringing it off the wall and glass shattering across the floor, she almost thought someone else had done it. But then she kneeled in the glass, feeling a piece cut through her stockings and stab into her knee. No. This was her. The monster. The violent, uncontrollable monster.

She grabbed the first piece of glass she could get her fingers around and brought it down on the inside of her left wrist. She didn't even feel it as it pierced her skin or when it made its jagged path through her flesh.

Blood poured from the wound as veins were sliced open. Blood dribbled across her pale skin and dripped onto the plush carpet. She could hear every drop until footsteps interrupted.

"I heard glass break-" Emma gasped as she stepped into the room. "Miss Valentine!"

Emma hurried to her, kneeling in the glass as well.

"What happened?" She asked, hands reaching for Valentine.

"Don't touch me!" Valentine lashed out.

She shoved Emma away from her and scrambled to her feet.

She stared down at the glass, the stained carpet, Emma. The mess she'd made. She raised her injured arm slowly, blood still falling steadily.

What have I done?

Without another glance at the room, she turned away from the scene and ran into the fireplace.