It was too dark to see anything further than an arm's length away but Victor didn't seem to care. Navigating through the deep forests, he didn't have a single source of light with him but still walked in a confident manner. He didn't trip once. Unlike Layne, who kept stumbling upon various objects – he didn't even know what they were, or running into trees, branches or bushes who'd just sprout up in his field of view just a tad bit too late.

With his hands tied behind his back, he couldn't even use those to help him navigate. All he relied on was Victor walking beside him. That barely helped at all.

When he let out a loud groan after almost tripping over something for about a hundredth time, Victor grabbed him by the arm and pulled him closer. Layne shook away his hand and returned to the original distance he kept between them. Victor responded with a laugh.

"That's why I like you," he said. "That, and the fact that no matter how much I'd try to deal with you, you always just slip away. Probably without realising that yourself, most of the time. I can respect that."

"Of course," Layne grunted. "That's also why you wanted me so much, instead of Coden?"

"Ah, you're being selfish now, wishing that you would have been the lucky one to stay in a place that you think is better. But you only think so because you don't even know that place. You've spent there a few days, only."

"Every place is better without you around."

"Hmm... Well, to answer your question, Adan would have never let me take the Haslett, anyway. They're weirdly obsessed with his parents there. It's almost religious."

Layne turned his head to the direction he knew Victor was, although he couldn't see anything more than a faint silhouette. "You knew about his parents?"

"Of course, ever since he first came to the Land, when he asked me if I knew anything about Sophia Collins and Clyde Haslett. I knew, of course. I wouldn't have told him. Nothing good can come out from him knowing that, anyway."

"Yeah, nothing good for you."

Victor only chuckled. Layne turned away again and tried his best to focus on not tripping. The old man's pace was way too fast for his liking. He didn't have the time to test his surroundings before taking a step and not even the moon was there to help guide him. The autumn weather was beginning to set in and with it, the nights were getting longer and darker.

It took a while before Layne noticed that something was missing. It was silent. Way too silent, for a normal night in the Land. The speakers were off. Upon thinking for a bit, Layne came up with the conclusion that Victor didn't want the howls to prevent him from hearing his every move.

"You think I am a horrible person," Victor stated in a calm voice.

"I mean. Yeah. You are a horrible person."

"Do you idolize Adan, then?"

Layne shook his head, forgetting that Victor couldn't see it. "No. He is also a horrible person."

"Why? Because the selfish you disagree with how he 'sacrificed' you for the good of all the other people who depend on him?"

"You make for a terrible moral compass, so don't even try."

"Alright, so, who isn't a horrible person, according to you? Yourself?"

"Nah, I'm probably horrible, too. We're all Rejects for a reason, aren't we?"

"Depends. Like your buddy, Coden. You think being an illegitimate child is a good enough reason to make him a horrible person?"

Layne bit down on his lower lip and thought for a while. However, that didn't help him to come up with a suitable response. Eventually, he just muttered, "shut up."

Victor laughed. Again. Layne decided that he was incapable of being in a bad mood – or at least showing it off.

One protruding tree root turned out to be the one to sent Layne falling into the wet, dirty leaves that covered the ground. That was inevitable, although he had hoped that he would have managed to beat the odds. At least the fall wasn't hard. He decided that it was his luck to keep falling into the mud.

Layne cursed to himself and attempted to get up – which proved itself to be a difficult task with his hands still bound behind his back.

Victor grabbed by his tied arms and pulled him up. "You're gonna bash your head open before we even reach the village."

"Wouldn't that be great." Layne attempted to escape again but Victor only tightened his grip.

"Not again."

Layne sighed and shook his head. From then on, he walked heavily guided by Victor and though it made it just a tad bit easier not to crash head-first into a tree, in just about every other way, he only got more uncomfortable.

"So, are you some freak mutant superhero?" asked Layne. "Do you have night vision?"

"I'm very familiar with the forest."

"You walk around here at night often?"

"Mhm."

"So, you're always around somewhere at day, you walk around in the forest at night. When do you sleep? Are you a vampire? Is that why you kill people?"

Victor didn't answer and gave him a light push to walk faster. For a few more times, Layne stumbled on something and was about to trip only to be held upright by the man. Each of those times, he swore and tried to pull away. To no avail.

"Ok, so, you're definitely a vampire then," he stated. "What do you need me for, tho? I've been away for a few days, wouldn't it only be weird if I showed up alive again? How would you explain to everyone how I survived? You keep telling them they'll die if they're out just for one night."

Victor took his time to think before he answered. "Your cabin-mates have been getting a little troublesome after you disappeared. They've been telling people about the 'stranger' you've been investigating and honestly, the topic of the 'people living outside the village' has gotten quite... Relevant."

"That's good, then."

"To you, maybe." He chuckled. "Anyway, since everyone's talking about them, I have to start to, too. Otherwise, I'm gonna lose them."

"So, where do I come in?"

"We'll talk about it later." From the way the air moved around, Layne guessed that Victor had shaken his head. "Call me old but I for my life cannot remember your name."

"It's Layne."

"Layne? Huh. You don't look like a Layne to me."

"What does that mean?"

Once again, Victor didn't answer.

When they reached the village, Layne contemplated yelling. Waking people up. Getting them out of their cabins and seeing with their own eyes who their leader was, taking hostages and walking through the forest at night. He pushed the thought away, reminding himself of the possible consequences. Victor surely still had his knife on him. Wouldn't take him long to get it.

They passed Layne's old cabin and he almost expected for someone to come out – but nothing happened. At night, it was just another cabin, just like every other. Its occupants were probably down in a deep sleep, enjoying the silent night.

Victor led him to a small cabin that stood just outside the village and pushed him inside. "I'll come to see you in the morning," he said. "I need sleep, too, after all."

"Ah, so my vampire theory ain't upholding? Pity. That was a good one."

With a peal of laughter, Victor slammed the door shut.

"Wait, what about my hands?" Layne called. "You're not gonna leave me like that, are you?"

Victor's footsteps faded away. Layne looked around, knowing himself it was pointless. Outside, at least he could see what was right in front of him. Inside the cabin, however, he was surrounded by nothing else but pitch black darkness. On any other case, he would have stretched his arms to help him out – but of course, that was too good for him.

He sat on the cold floor and passed his arms through his legs, to the front. Upon thinking for a few moments, he crawled to the farther end of the cabin and laid down. Not like he was going to manage to fall asleep, anyway.

* * *

Although eventually, the sleep won, after waking up, Layne felt even less rested than before. His sides ached from being in an uncomfortable position for too long, the string around his wrists was left only partly chewed through. He had a disgusting taste in his mouth and had a hard time keeping his eyes open.

Through the gap below the door came a small amount of light – not quite enough to see anything but enough to notice the shadows when someone approached. Victor opened the door and nodded at him – just like he had promised.

"Good morning," he greeted.

Layne didn't answer. He didn't feel well enough for small talk and only wished for a few more minutes of rest – even if that would have made it worse. Victor squatted next to him and examined his wrists.

"You tried to take it off," he commented. "Weren't persistent enough, I see. That's weird."

"Shut up," uttered Layne. "I fell asleep. Would have taken it off and strangled you with it otherwise."

Victor laughed. Taking his knife out of his pocket, he cut off the string. "Better now?"

Layne rubbed his wrists. White marks were visible all around them and his hands were slightly discoloured in comparison to the rest of his skin. He hasn't noticed that before – or more of, he didn't have the capabilities to examine it in the dark.

With his hands free, Layne's attention turned to the open door. He didn't see any significant movement outside but had no doubt that at that time, people in the village should have been awake and doing their morning chores. If he would have managed to run outside without Victor stopping him, maybe he could have gotten help.

"The great outdoors can wait," said Victor. "We still have things to talk about, remember?"

"Maybe after a glass of water to get the morning taste out of my mouth."

"Let's not get distracted. I'm sure it won't take too long."

Layne pushed his body up into a sitting position. Only then he felt the real amount of damage the night has caused him. His left side was partly numb and tingled like poked with a thousand dull needles. His expression distorted and he started massaging the sore areas, although the pressure only made it feel worse.

Victor waited for him to settle before he started speaking again. "So, I'm going to hold a meeting and tell everyone about the second settlement."

"That's great. Tell them how you murdered my friend, too."

The man raised his eyebrows. "It was me, particularly, who did it."

"But it was you who ordered it."

"Perhaps." He made a pause, looking at Layne as if expecting him to say something – which he didn't. "Anyway. You're going to help me. We'll tell them how the residents of this other settlement kidnapped you and Coden and held you hostage-"

"Wait," Layne interrupted. "No, I'm not helping you spread your lies further."

"What lies? Isn't that exactly what they did?"

Layne turned away from him. "Only for a very short time."

"It's still not a lie."

He didn't answer and only chewed on his lips. He was certain that he wasn't going to do anything Victor wanted of him, anyway, so there was no point in discussing it further. Besides, less chat meant that they would be done sooner and maybe, Victor would leave him alone. He was more than tired of that confident smile.

"Anyway," Victor continued, "you are going to be thankful for me rescuing you from them and you're going to tell all of your friends that those people are nothing but trouble."

Layne only snarled at that. His lip corners lifted into a smile. Victor had such plans for him – but those just weren't meant to work. In a way, the thought of that warmed his heart.

"Since you've already let everyone know you... Weren't quite fond of me, to put it mildly, they'll be more likely to accept it coming from your lips. Then, of course, you will be allowed to continue living here as if nothing happened. I'm sure some of your friends miss you. They were so worried about you, after all."

"Yeah, but, I'm still not doing it."

"I suppose I wasn't expecting too much from you, anyway." Victor's smile widened. "Nothing I can do about it. Though, that makes you more than useless to me."

He twisted the knife in his hands and unfolded it once again, revealing the shiny blade. Layne gulped. A few stray sweat drops formed on his forehead. The old man wasn't going to play if fair – he should have prepared for it.