He quickly pulls away from the kiss. "Wait, are you just kissing me so that I get over you?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Uh, w-well, I... Yeah."

He chuckles and turns to face away from me. "You do know that it'll only make me like you more. How could I not? Your lips are so... soft."

"Sorry." His lips are soft, too.

"Are you okay, Bree? I mean, what happened back there was... horrible. Can I do anything to make you feel better?"

"Tonight was a mess," I admit and nod. "Please take me home?"

We both walk to the car and he opens the door for me. I climb in and melt into the comforting leather seats of his car.

Elijah climbs into the drivers seat and starts the engine. Music starts playing from the radio and I close my eyes, paying attention to the lyrics of the love song.

It's funny how it's always crazy in love or heartbroken, what if I'm in love and it's breaking my heart?

After a few minutes, everything becomes softer as I fall asleep.

I walk in darkness with no idea where I am going. All I can hear is laughter— the kind of laughter you'd hear from inside an insane asylum.

As I continue towards the emptiness, I feel dry, calloused hands grab me. They grab my ankles, my wrists, my waist, my mouth, my hair.

The laughter gets louder and the hands become stronger, until I can't walk anymore. They try to pull me down, and I try to fight it, but it's almost impossible.

"Stop!" I feel tears sliding down my cheeks as I scream for help, but nobody can save me from this.

How can you save someone when it's this dark? How can you save someone who doesn't know where they're going? How can you save someone when you don't know what to save them from?

So I stop fighting. I let the hands pull me down to a new destination. It doesn't matter what happens anymore. Why fight it?

Suddenly the darkness becomes a strange human-form. The hands continue to hold me down as the figure comes closer. My body shakes in fear. I see the blood on the walls, the headless bodies on the floor and the smiling faces of murderers looking down at me.

"You're one of us," they sing. "Do you like the taste of blood? It's so sweet."

"No," I whisper. "No. No. No."

The shape gets closer, and wraps itself around me, making it hard to breathe.

I scream as loud as I can and my eyes fly open. I look around and notice I'm in my bedroom. It was a dream.

I stare up at the plain white roof above me, feeling my racing heart slow down ever so slightly.

My lip quivers and I shut my eyes, feeling tears slide down my face. What the hell was that?

The door creaks open, allowing light from the living room in. Elijah walks into my room with a concerned frown on his face.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him, leaning up on my elbows to look at him.

"Are you okay?" he whispers, stepping closer to me.

I sit up. "What are you doing here?" I ask him again, avoiding his questions.

"After everything that happened to you, I didn't want to leave you alone so I stayed," he explains.

"Really?"

He smiles and climbs onto the bed, sitting beside me with his back against the headboard. "Of course. You're my friend."

"Damn, putting me in the friend-zone, huh?" I tease.

He scoffs. "I'd fuck you right now if you wanted me to, and you know it."

My jaw drops. "Uh..."

He chuckles at my reaction. "You didn't answer my question."

"What?"

"Are you okay? I heard you shouting in your sleep..."

"Oh, I'm fine."

Elijah moves closer and rubs his thumb over my cheek, smearing some of my tears. "Really? You could have fooled me."

I close my eyes and lean closer to him, and he wraps his arms around me.

I can't explain everything to him.

How do I tell him that I have forgotten how to be human? How would I tell him that I'm a killer, and I'm supposed to kill him too?

I can't explain how everything haunts me, and the worst part is, I deserve all the pain I get. I deserve all of it. I can't explain how not being able to talk to anyone about this makes it so much worse..

"I ruined everything. I wish I could go back to being an innocent kid," I say.

"At least one thing is still the same," he says.

"What?"

"We've still got each other." He places a kiss on my temple. "You're going to be okay, Bree. I've got you."

He intertwines his hand with mine. I sigh. "It feels like everything is wrong and I've screwed my life up so bad that I can't go back."

"You're getting your degree, you've got a good apartment and a car. You're moving forward, which is the most important thing. Everything will fall into place," he assures me.

"Whenever I try to imagine my future, it's just dark. It's blank, like I've got nothing left."

I stare down at our connected hands. "Sometimes I get scared, too," he admits. "But there's so much to look forward to. You'll get your degree, you'll travel the world, you'll get a job and fall in love. Everything will work out." He turns my head, so I'm looking up into his hopeful eyes. "It's scary, especially falling in love, but it's so worth it."

"Elijah, I am not the girl you fell in love with..."

"Are you still terrified of bunnies?" he asks.

"Come on, they're like fluffy devil spawn. Have you ever seen a hairless bunny? It's terrifying," I defend myself.

"Is your favorite food still 'all food'?" I chuckle and nod. "Do you still want to travel the world?" he questions. I nod. "Do you still fangirl over Dylan O'Brien?" I nod. "Do you still hate when people scratch their buttcheeks?"

I cringe. "Doesn't everyone?"

"Do you still get turned on when guys moan or kiss your neck?"

"N-No..."

He smirks and dips his head down, placing his lips against my neck. I suck in a breath and bite my lip. Damn it. I keep my gaze lowered and don't respond.

"You sure about that?" he teases.

I close my eyes. "I'm sure..." I'm sure that the way your lips feel against my skin is intoxicating.

"Intoxicating, huh?"

"What?"

"You just said the way I kiss you is intoxicating..."

"No, I didn't."

"You just did—"

"No, I didn't." Shit.

"It's okay, Bree. Your lips are like drugs to me."

"No, I-I didn't mean... I, uh, I wasn't..." I try to form a sentence, but my brain is refusing to do so.

He chuckles, clearly enjoying my discomfort. "My point is, you are still the girl I fell in love with. Sure, some parts of you have changed, but nobody stays the same forever."

Maybe he's right. Maybe I am still the girl I used to be. Maybe I could be a better person. If I try to do the right thing, and stop Antonio from controlling me, then maybe I could be better.

I'm not saying I can make up for what I've done, but I can try to right my wrongs instead of continuing to do wrong.

•<•>•

Heyooo!! I'm not going to lie, I got distracted writing my other books and I forgot about this one heh. The middle child of books, I guess. Oops.

How are you guys?

T w i t t e r : xPineappleGirlx
I n s t a g r a m : laylaawrites
Y o u t u b e : xThePineappleGirlx

Lots of love and jelly tots - xThePineappleGirlx