"Have you found anything else?"

"No," Ochoa tells me through the phone and my heart sinks. "Right now, I'm sort of at a dead end."

I continue to pace back and forth. "I'm not paying for you to be at a dead end," I hiss. "I need you to find out where Olivia Godfrey was that night."

"Why?"

"God, why do you always ask so many questions?" I groan in frustration. "Just do it, please."

Ochoa is silent for a moment. "Is there anything I should know about this Olivia Godfrey?"

"Just that she is a crazy and manipulative psycho bitch," I say through gritted teeth. Olivia really brought out the worst in me. She made my blood boil and I hated her more than anything.

"That doesn't really help," Ochoa mutters and I roll my eyes.

"Oh, trust me, it does."

The door opens, revealing Roman. He was wearing a hospital gown that was far too short for him and he seemed groggy. After Roman had his little seizure, we took him to the white tower. Here, Dr. Pryce was able to determine that it was a concussion and he suggested that Roman stay overnight for observation. It was the next day and I had been sitting with him while Annie and Dr. Pryce looked at the creature who attacked us.

I quickly hang up the phone. "Roman, hey," I whisper. "You need to rest."

"I'm fine," he assures. "What happened? Where is Dr. Pryce?"

"You hit your head," I frown, reaching up to push some of his messy hair away. "He is in the lab. Are you sure you're okay?"

He nods. "Yeah, can you just help me down there?"

I grab his arm and we go down the hallway. The farther we went, the better he got. When we reach the lab and walk down the metal stairs where there was something underneath a sheet on the lab table.

"Why are we in here?" Roman questions after Dr. Pryce checks out his pupils.

"Oh, because Annie, before becoming a registered nurse, clearly was a girl scout," Dr. Pryce smiles. "She was worried you had gotten bit during the attack and she knew the rule that all girl scouts know," Dr. Pryce walks over to the table. "Bring the doctor the thing that bit you."

He then pulls back the sheet, revealing the creature. I was slightly taken back. It was completely disgusting, the bones prodding against the skin that was a yellowish color. Its eyes were almost popping out of the sockets. It definitely wasn't a human, or at least it wasn't anymore.

"Autopsy time!"

After putting on lab gowns and gloves, Dr. Pryce grabs a scalpel and cuts into the chest. He removes the whole rib cage so we are left with only the organs and tissue. I stand close to Roman, feeling uneasy. I felt like we haven't had any time together and I missed him, even though he was standing right next to me.

"Well, that's interesting," Dr. Pryce mutters after observing the chest cavity. "Gray-mottled, highly vascular mass with extensions to the right upper quadrant of the abdomen and the bass of the neck."

"I have never seen a tumor this big," Annie says in awe.

"That's what makes it interesting," Dr. Pryce smiles. He digs the scalpel further into the chest and it starts moving. Roman pulls me away.

"Jesus Christ!" He shouts. "Is that alive?"

"The corpse isn't, by definition," he begins. "As for the tumor, highly differentiated structures reminiscent of a string of ganglia, suggesting higher nervous system function."

"That thing has a brain?" Roman scrunches his eyes in confusion.

Dr. Pryce begins feeling underneath the organs. "And an appetite apparently. The tumor has created a fistula from the esophagus to the now unused original stomach."

"So, it's a cancer that thinks and eats?" I ask. This was somewhat scary, but also very interesting.

"LPS," Dr. Pryce mutters to himself. "Lower peritoneal squamous lymphoma."

"English, please," I say and he shakes his head.

"It reminds me of a tumor I dissected in medical school," Dr. Pryce explains and he drops the stomach back into the chest. "Let's have a look at the brain."

After using a saw, Dr. Pryce is able to remove the back of her skull. It was my first time ever seeing a brain in real life, but I knew this wasn't what it was suppose to look like. He grabs the discolored organ and holds it carefully in his hand.

"The tumor invests in multiple brain regions, especially the frontal lobe," he explains before rambling on again. He tells us that the tumor is pretty much taking over the host and that it makes them want to eat their own kind, which is upirs. It was just another thing added to our list that we needed to solve.

-

Thankfully, we drop Annie off at her hotel. She was nice, but I still didn't trust her and she was always looking at Roman like he was a snack or something. Sure, he was hot and his face and body are nice to look at, but he is mine.

Roman begins taking off his coat. "Come on, let's go shower," he motions.

"Uh, actually, I am going to run to the store," I tell him, shifting my feet.

He raises his eyebrows. "What for?"

"Girl stuff," I lie. I actually haven't had a period since I turned. I wasn't sure if that was because I was practically dead or if it was for another reason.

"Ah," he nods, wrapping his arms around me. "Well, call me if you need anything. I love you and be safe." He kisses my forehead.

"Roman," I chuckle. "I'm just going to the store."

"I know," he sighs, holding me tighter. "But, I just worry about you with everything that has been going on. I have no fucking idea what I'd do if I lost you."

"You won't ever lose me, silly," I tell him honestly.

"Good," he kisses my lips. "I love you," he smacks my bum playfully and I chuckle. I grab my keys and get into the car. Snow was beginning to fall so the drive to the store was slick and somewhat scary. My hands were shaking and I felt like I couldn't breathe the more I thought about what was going on.

When I reach the grocery store, I immediately scan the aisles up and down for what I was searching for. As I am scanning the shelves, a young worker comes up to me, holding some boxes and a box cutter.

"Hi," he greets with a smile. He looked like he was probably in high school. "Can I help you find anything?"

"Uh, can you tell me where the feminine hygiene aisle is at?"

His face turns silently red. "Uh, yeah, it's over there," he points, even though his arms were full of stuff. As predicted, they slip out of his hands, tumbling onto the floor. He hisses in pain as I reach down to pick the boxes up. I immediately tense as I see he had cut his hand with the box cutter.

"Shit," he mutters, holding onto his wounded hand. My mouth immediately starts watering and my vision is blurred. All I can think about it the blood. My eyes glance between his cut and neck. I could hear his pulse was racing, probably from embarrassment, and that made me actually want to scream.

"Uh, are you okay?" I manage to choke out.

"Yeah, it's just a little cut," he smiles. "Nothing a bandaid and ointment won't fix!"

I abruptly stand up. "Uh, yeah, thanks for helping me."

I quickly walk away, my chest feeling tight. I can't believe I was about to rip his throat out in the middle of the grocery store. Shaking my head, I find what I am looking for and leave.

When I get back home, I am taken back when I see Roman and Annie putting on their coats like they were about to go somewhere.

"Hi," I awkwardly greet, holding the plastic bag behind me. "Are you guys like going somewhere?"

"Annie knows someone who can help us with Spivak," Roman explains.

"So, you were just going to leave and not even tell me?" I question, arching my brow. My emotions were all over the place and I was actually feeling slightly angry. Plus, why did Annie come here in the first place? We were just with her not even an hour ago.

"I didn't think you would want to come," he claims and I roll my eyes. "Els, seriously? Don't be upset."

"I'm not," I lie. "I have something to do anyways."

"Like what?"

"Roman," Annie interjects, placing her hand on his shoulder and I actually want to fight her. "We have to go or else we will be late for dinner."

"Oh, it's a dinner?" I scoff. "You guys have fun."

"Elsie," Roman tries to grab my hand, but I am already out of the room. I sit on the edge of our bed, feeling extremely stressed out and tired. My stomach is in my throat when I hear the front door shut and the sound of Roman's car leaving the driveway.

-

When I get to the apartment, Destiny wasn't there. However, Peter was sitting on the couch, his head buried in his hands. I could hear him sniffling and I knew something wasn't right.

I sit down next to him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Fuck," he sighs sadly, looking up. His eyes were red and puffy.

"Peter, what happened?"

"I'm in trouble, Elsie," he mumbles as he shakes his head. "I don't know what to fucking do."

I raise my eyebrows. "Talk to me, please."

"Andres is deep into some bad shit," Peter begins to explain. "He was just dealing drugs, but now he is too fucking deep into it. I-I don't know what to do. I mean, I know what I have to do, but I'm not sure if I can."

"Peter," I say softly as I tried to take all this in. "What do you mean you know what you have to do?"

"I have to kill him."

I immediately stare at him in shock. "What? Peter, that's crazy."

"It's the only way I can protect Destiny," he says through tears. "He is starting to become really aggressive and when the guys find out what Andres did, they will come here and kill her."

"That's really fucking bad," I say quickly. "But, there must be another solution than killing him. What is Destiny going to do when she finds out you did it?"

"That's the thing," his voice cracks. "I won't be the one killing him."

I shake my head. "This is a bad idea, Peter. Turn him into the cops, throw an intervention, I don't fucking know! But, you can't have him killed."

"I don't have any other choice!" Peter bellows. "I would rather see her heartbroken for a while than see her in a casket."

"Peter, no!" I shout sternly, standing up. "I get it, okay? You want to protect your cousin! No one wants Destiny to get hurt. But, you can't kill Andres. She will find out and she will hate you forever so you have to promise me that you won't go through with this. We can find another way!"

Peter shakes his head. "I can't promise you that."

I walk towards the door, my eyes filled with tears. "Nothing good will come out of this. Someone else besides Andreas will get killed." I open the door and leave.