Groggily opening her eyes and stretching her arms, Ally jumped as she hit something and heard a low groan.

"Ow..."

Opening her eyes properly, she noticed she was lying on top of somebody. "Clay?"

"Not quite," the person replied, "I'm Jay."

"WHAT?!" Scrambling up and looking at the person beneath her, she sighed and collapsed back down. "Don't scare me like that! I thought you meant my cousin." Shuddering at the thought, Ally froze as she realised the situation she was in. "Who are you, anyways?"

"You don't remember anything, do you?" Jay sighed. He tried to wrap his arms around her, but she pushed him away, rolling to the other side of the bed. "You were at the club, and you looked absolutely stunning. I came over, and we talked for a while, drank quite a lot... in hindsight, you probably shouldn't have had so much gin. Then you came home with me, and obviously..." Trailing off, he pushed the duvet down to reveal their complete lack of clothes.

Gasping and flushing scarlet, Ally yanked it back up to cover herself. "Oh God..." Closing her eyes, she mumbled, "do you mind if I have some time to myself? You go into the kitchen, I'll be out in a second."

"Sure thing, sexy. I don't want you putting anything on, though. I'm not done with you."

Ally winced at the name, watching as he strolled casually out of the door and down the hall. As soon as he was out of sight, she shoved the door shut and locked it, wrapping the duvet around herself. Scanning the room, she found her phone and picked it up, calling the one person she wanted to see.

"Hello?"

Opening her mouth but no sound coming out, Ally started to cry at the sound of Clay's voice. Sniffling, she sat on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands.

"Ally? What's wrong? Are you okay? Are you crying...? What happened, where are you?" A torrent of worried questions spilled out of Clay's mouth, and he stopped everything he was doing, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Where are you, baby?"

Through her tears, Ally managed, "I - don't... know."

"Oh God," Clay groaned, running a hand anxiously through his hair as horrible things started to run through his mind. "I thought you went out with your friends? Didn't you stay with one of them?"

Looking at the locked door and listening to the quiet singing floating down the hall, Ally drew in a shaky breath. "He's not a friend."

"He?" Clay's tone was sharp, and she recoiled slightly, tears still flowing down her cheeks.

"I- I don't know where I am, and I don't remember anything. I woke up, and I was..." Bracing herself, she carried on, "I was in some man's bed. I don't remember how I got here. I had so much to drink, and I think he - he took advantage of me, and I don't think he's done with me either."

She was met with absolute silence, and her heart sank. "I'm so sorry, please don't be mad-"

Cutting her off, Clay sighed heavily. "I'm not mad at you. I just want to make sure you're safe. Are you alone now?"

Nodding, then realising that was useless in a phone call, Ally mumbled, "Yes."

"Okay, open Maps and send me the address. I'm coming to get you."

Following his instructions meekly, Ally copied and pasted the address and sent it to him. "I texted you it."

Reading the address and searching up directions, Clay gritted his teeth. "It's half an hour away. I'll be there as fast as I can. Are you safe?" Grabbing his keys and starting his car, he connected his phone to its Bluetooth and pulled out of the driveway.

"I locked myself in his bedroom, but I can't find any of my clothes."

"That's fine baby, don't worry. Have you got all of your other things? Look for your handbag, purse, and if you can, try and remember where you put your clothes."

"Okay..." Picking up her handbag from the corner of the room and checking everything was still in it, she jumped at a loud knock on the door.

"Why did you lock me out?" Jay shouted through the door. When he got no response, he started to bang harder on it. "Let me in, you stupid slut! I want to play!"

"Go away!" Ally screamed. She held her phone tighter, closing her eyes as she listened to Clay's deep breathing.

"I'm going to murder that man," Clay growled, taking a sharp right as he headed to the neighbouring town. "Don't let him in, and don't hang up."

"You sly bitch!" Jay's voice was more aggressive now, and Ally could hear him storming to the front door and locking it.

"I'm trapped, Clay," she whispered urgently. "He's locking me in, I can't get out."

"I know, baby. I'm driving as fast as I can, I'm coming to get you."

She heard thundering footsteps in quick succession, then a loud thud and a cracking noise as the door shook on it hinges. "He's breaking in, I can't go anywhere. I'm trapped," Ally repeated, her features white as she watched the door shake again and the frame crack.

As Clay started to soothe her again, Jay ran at the door one more time, and it fell inwards, crashing onto the carpet. Seeing her phone, he snatched it from her and smashed it against the wall. "Don't you dare run away from me," he grinned menacingly, moving closer, "you can't leave, it's just getting interesting."

"I'm sorry, I have a boyfriend. I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression, but I have to go now," she replied, her voice shaking despite her best efforts. Slipping past and hurrying to the front door, she gasped as rough arms clamped around her waist. "Let me go!"

"No, I don't think I will." Lifting her up and pulling her back to his bedroom, he gave her a wink. "Now get that duvet off, I want to have some fun."

He yanked on the fabric and Ally gasped, holding tightly onto it and trying to back away. "I said LEAVE ME ALONE! LET ME GO!" She screamed, but she tripped over a shoe and fell to the ground, hitting her head against the wall. Taking advantage of her dizziness, Jay pulled her back to the bed and picked up where he had left off.

"Jay? Jay!"

Freezing for a second, he gave Ally a threatening look and pinned her arms above her head. She promptly screamed at the top of her lungs, and he slapped her across the face, shocking her into silence.

"Jay, what's going on in there?"

Not responding, he winced and started to flush a deep red. He heard a key turning in the front door and scrambled up, running into the hall. "Nothing! I'm busy now, Wil, can you come back later?"

"Don't lie to me," Wil replied in a harsh voice, heading down the hall. "I heard the screaming. Please tell me you didn't do it again." As he rounded the corner, he caught sight of Ally and clenched his fists. "I TOLD YOU TO STOP! You can't let yourself get to this point!"

"I- I... But this one came willingly!" Jay pleaded, holding his palms out with an innocent expression.

"I don't believe you, dickhead. Go sit in the living room, you're in deep shit, Schlatt." When he didn't move, he forcibly pushed him away and cautiously turned to the terrified Ally. "Are you okay, Miss?"

Wrapping the duvet tighter around her body, Ally shifted slightly away and nodded. "I think so..."

"I'm sorry, he can't control it. I'm Wilbur, by the way," he smiled, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Nice to meet you - even in these circumstances," Ally joked, relaxing more in his presence. "Your friend has mental problems. What do you mean, he can't control it?"

"Give me a minute," Wilbur answered absently. He disappeared for a second, towing Jay back into the room but keeping him away from Ally. They sat next to each other and Wilbur reached a hand up onto his head, threading his fingers through his hair.

Leaning into the touch, Jay closed his eyes contentedly. Ally gasped as horns appeared in the mess of hair, eyes wide as she watched with an open mouth.

Jay started making a peculiar noise, almost as if he was... purring? His eyes opened again, and their pupils faded from deep black to a light blue.

"Better?" Wilbur asked him casually, and he nodded shyly. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Why?" Jay frowned, but then he caught sight of Ally and let out a frustrated groan. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to," he pleaded, looking ashamed and hugging his knees to his chest.

"Hey, it's okay," Wilbur murmured, "at least you didn't kill her this time!"

Finally finding her voice, Ally demanded, "This time?! Who are you - what are you?"

Just then there was the sound of screeching tires, and a car door slamming. Clay ran into the house, stopping dead at the scene before him. "What the hell?"

Forgetting about her duvet, Ally jumped up and ran into his arms, Jay and Wilbur averting their eyes. "You came!"

"Of course I came, you moron," Clay murmured, hugging her tight. "You don't need to get naked every time you see me, you know," he laughed. Pulling his shirt off over his head, he slipped it onto her body like a dress.

Wilbur cleared his throat awkwardly from where he was sat with his eyes covered. "Are you decent?"

"Oh shit, sorry. Yeah, I've got clothes on now."

Giving her an easy grin as he uncovered his eyes, he went to speak - but was cut off.

"So are you the one I need to kill?" Clay demanded. He stepped closer, clenching his fists threateningly.

Jay snarled loudly as he got closer to Wilbur, tensing and moving protectively in front of him. Tutting quietly and holding him back, Wilbur gave Clay a withering look. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Unless you'd like to die, then attacking a Darkened's mate is probably not a good idea."

"A... Darkened?" Ally pressed, tilting her head to one side curiously.

Wilbur looked between the two of them, then sighed. "I guess we've got some explaining to do."

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New characters, yayyy! We've brought in reinforcements, and they come in snacc form.

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