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bucketsofmonsters · 1 year

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Vows - Part 1

cw: consentual blood drinking, cockwarming, accidental voyeurism, polyamory, more tags will be added as the story continues

male vampire x afab reader

Word count: 6k

Vows Masterlist

You kept your back straight, trying to maintain what little dignity you had left standing before the man on the throne in front of you.

You lost all of that when he looked you up and down and gave you a simple command.

“Kneel.”

You bit your tongue, doing your very best to keep a pleasant look on your face as you got on your knees. He couldn’t know how much you hated him. You wouldn’t blow this.

Your valiant attempt to hide your disdain didn’t seem to have the effect you’d hoped. He looked down at you, sneering, and said, “I was told you’ve been quite eager to get in here. You don’t look eager.”

“I am not in the practice of fawning over men I’ve just met.”

He cocked his head to the side, eyes roaming over you, trying to get a read on you.

His hair was dark, touched with hints of gray. His face was pale and smooth but not uncreased, particularly worn crow's feet in the corner of his eyes telling tales of a smile that you saw no signs of right now.

He looked down at you with eyes that looked faded, like a half-decayed corpse, and spoke through his fangs. “Why did you want to come here?”

You couldn’t pretend it was out of desire, he’d clearly seen right through that. So you tried another tactic.

“I had nowhere else to go,” you admitted, looking up at him with sad eyes.

His brows furrowed. “If you wanted shelter you could have asked for shelter, we would have given it. You took our vows. Why?”

He was right, you had. You’d signed your soul away. Your body too. For what, the chance to live in the home of a leech? You had no idea how anyone could agree to this, how he could have fooled any of the poor people who lived here, who he saw as dinner and as walking sex toys. It was dehumanizing.

But it was also the easiest way to get close to him. To learn his secrets.

His eyes softened as your gaze fell, your combative eye contact turning to something shyer, more nervous.

“We don’t need to talk about that now. But you don’t need to be embarrassed, not here. And you certainly don’t need to be afraid. Whatever your reason, you’re here now, that won’t change unless you want it to.”

He rose from his throne and moved towards you, holding out his hand. You took it as you rose to your feet, not wanting to insult him any more than you apparently already had.

“What can I call you?” you asked, still not having so much as a name for the man.

“Sir is fine.”

It took everything you had not to roll your eyes at him.

“Now,” he said, his hand still wrapped around yours, his grip firm but not strong enough that you couldn’t pull away if you really tried. “I should show you around.”

It wasn’t much of a tour.

He took you through the halls, up a spiral staircase, and past what felt like dozens of doors without uttering so much as a word to you.

The monotony of the tour was disrupted when a young man came barreling down the hall. He was dressed in all white, his hair a curly blond. It was a bit too long and he pushed it out of his eyes as he skidded to a halt only for it to fall dutifully back into place.

“Hey Rook I…” He did a double-take as he saw you. “Oh, hello. Haven’t seen you around here before.”

“I’m new.” Your tone was dry. You could tell from the two marks on his neck that he was one of the vampire’s disciples. You knew it wasn’t his fault he’d been fooled into staying here and fought the urge to resent him, to view anything associated with this monster as bad.

A massive smile took over his face. “Great, it’s always nice to have someone new around! I’m Oliver, by the way.”

“Hello.”

“Listen, I know it can be intimidating here at first but I promise he’s a sweetheart under all the dramatics,” he said, gesturing to the visibly frustrated man standing right next to him.

He didn’t take that well.

“You should run along,” Rook insisted, pressing a quick kiss into Oliver’s forehead and cutting off your conversation. “I think I’m going to have to give some special attention to this one.”

Oliver looked at the vampire with furrowed brows. “Okay. You’re being weird but okay.” He turned to you on his way out. “He’s not usually this weird, I promise. I mean, that’s not actually true, he’s always weird but like… different weird.”

“Oliver!” he hissed, his face twitching into what almost looked like embarrassment.

“Okay, okay, I’m going. Just try not to scare them off.”

As you both watched them trail down the hallway, you turned to Rook and asked, “What happened to everyone calling you sir?”

“I didn’t say everyone had to call me that, I said you did,” he replied, an unmissable snideness in his tone.

Great, you’d been undercover for less than a day and he already didn’t like you.

You hadn’t had much further to go before your little interruption. Your room seemed to be only a few doors down.

Rook held the door open for you, beckoning you inside.

He stood in the doorway looking in at you, not entering the room. “The closet has clothes for you. That’s why we gathered your measurements after you took your vows, everything here should be perfectly fitted to you.”

“Thank you, Rook,” you said with a little curtsy.

“Sir,” he hissed at you, his fangs particularly evident as he spoke.

“Rook,” you insisted, refusing to back down.

He conceded faster than you would have expected, a soft chuckle escaping him at your persistence. “Fine. Rook. Now get some rest. You can pick more of those fights you’re so desperate to pick with me in the morning.”

You immediately turned defensive, terrified of what he was implying. “No, I’m not… I just…”

“I’m not blind, and you have a worse poker face than you seem to think. I’m not worried, I’ve proved less understanding people than you wrong.”

“I really am sorry. I think I’m just nervous.” That much was true at least. You had a feeling your nerves wouldn’t subside until you left this god-forsaken place behind.

“It’s alright,” he promised. “We’ll work on that.”

The words sent a chill down your spine. What was intended to be reassuring felt threatening instead. Something about the way he spoke to you, all straight faces and hushed words, left everything he said feeling sinister. You decided that even if you didn’t know what he was, they would make you feel uneasy.

It only left you more convinced he had the people here under some sort of spell. Surely he couldn’t have won them over, there must be something else at play.

You’d half expected to be forced to stay with him your first night so you let out a sigh of relief as he turned without another word and left you in what appeared to be your own room.

It wasn’t like you didn’t think he had the space, this place could house hundreds, you just weren’t sure of his morals. Or how impatient he would be to test your loyalty to his vows.

You patted at your side, ensuring you could still feel the notebook you’d sewn into your skirts before you came.

It was fairly thin. It needed to be able to let it sit, undetected, in the fabric just below your hip.

You hiked up your skirts, pooling the fabric in one arm as the other reached down and grabbed the silver dagger that lay flush against the inside of your thigh. You hadn’t known where it would be able to lie safe and undetected or how thoroughly you would be checked.

You opened the wardrobe to try and asses where you could go about hiding your contraband from now on, your prior hiding spacing being spoiled by your new host's insistence upon extravagance.

You considered hiding it somewhere in your room but quickly dismissed the thought. At least with them on your person you’d know if you were discovered. With them in your room, you could be compromised and in danger and be none the wiser.

There were more clothes in the wardrobe than you’d owned over the rest of your life combined. There were suits and pants and skirts and dresses of every length, even ones that didn’t quite feel appropriate.

Your gaze was drawn from those scandalous dresses as you realized that some in this closet, shoved into the corner, were sheer. Those you discarded immediately, you wouldn’t give him the pleasure.

Despite all the variety in clothing types, it all seemed a bit one note. You were stricken with endless patterns of black and white. There were a few in plain black or plain white that you gravitated towards but the rest were covered in patterns. Diamonds and stripes and checked skirts, it was enough to give you a headache.

The colors and patterns felt aggressive and gaudy when confronted with a whole closet of them, but you couldn’t help but admit that they were beautifully made. The fabric was the softest you’d ever felt.

You pulled out a black dress, the one that felt closest to what you were used to, and started to put it on. You’d been searching for places where you could sew in secret folds when your hand went right through the skirt and into a pocket.

You pulled the skirt upwards to evaluate and noticed that the stitching was far rougher there than any of the other seams, looking not unlike your secret pockets you’d become adept at making lately.

Their presence couldn’t help but worry you. Who had these belonged to before? Who had felt so unsafe here they’d been set on creating hiding spots close to them.

Whoever they were, they had more sense than the rest of Rook’s victims.

Your fingers ran over the handle of the knife as you shoved it into your new pockets instead of reattaching it to your thigh. It was safer there, better hidden, but you wanted it at hand. You’d been reassured you wouldn’t have to use it, not on your first mission, but it was always good to have.

Just in case.

Your knife was still stowed away but the notebook remained out. You still had work to do.

Quickly, afraid someone may walk in on you at any moment, you scribbled out a summary of your first day here. It wasn’t much but you’d been told to take note of everything. Besides, you’d never hunted a vampire before, you didn’t know what details were important yet.

As you completed and folded up your note, you rushed to the window, unlatching it and looking around quickly for anyone surveilling you.

You noted a distinct lack of onlookers at the same time a pigeon landed on the window frame.

Your face lit up as you saw him, your dutiful little messenger a welcome familiar face in this horrible place. You cooed at him for a moment, giving him a soft pet down his back.

“You’re so good. Told them you could find your way to me.”

But you didn’t have time to fawn over him, you needed to get this note out of here as quickly as you could.

You attached the note securely to his leg and sent him on his way, staying at the window and watching him until you could see him no longer.

With your mission for the night completed and your little friend finally out of sight, you gave yourself permission to rest.

Taking up most of the room was a massive bed, with black blankets pulled over white sheets and sheer black curtains hanging around it.

The bed was so nice and perfect you couldn’t bring yourself to disturb it, instead curling up on top of the perfectly made bed in the house you didn’t belong in.

You woke up with a jolt, already filled with adrenaline. The sun was shining through the window and you felt a pang in your chest at the implications of the fact that you had a window at all. He had to avoid the sun, it caused vampires pain and sapped them of most of their strength. Most avoided houses with windows entirely, wanting a space to hide away from it.

But no, you’d been given a window. This really was your space, a space that half the time he was likely to avoid.

You realized you’d slept in much later than you’d intended. So much for getting up early and poking around.

For most vampires you’d be right where you needed to be, most of them were nocturnal but there were a lot of patterns Rook didn’t follow that most vampires did.

He seemed to prefer following the sleep patterns of his disciples who lived with him, or at least you thought he did based on the little intel you had.

It was his house so he didn’t need to be invited in anywhere. Instead, it had wardings that meant only those invited could step inside, hence why you were on your very first mission, all alone. You were the only one who’d never been in the limelight, who vampires wouldn’t know to watch out for so here you stood, invited inside with the rest of his little humans.

If you couldn’t snoop, you should at the very least try and gather information from him.

You stormed out of your room, set on gathering intel.

You needed to have more to report this time. What you were doing wasn’t cutting it. You were supposed to be proving yourself and instead you were what, wandering around a mansion and picking petty fights?

You didn’t really know where he was so you took your best bet and headed down to the throne room.

He wasn’t a ruler of anything, not really. It felt like it was more for his ego than anything.

The massive wooden doors that led to it were shut with Oliver sitting on the ground beside them, like the world's least threatening guard.

Upon closer inspection you realized he was knitting something, the pile of yarn next to him the same black and white as most of the things in this god-forsaken place. It didn’t help him appear more intimidating, that was for sure.

As you reached for the door handle he made a noise of protest from his seat on the floor.

“I wouldn’t go in there,” he called out. “Rook said not to let anyone in.”

“I don’t care what Rook said,” you insisted. “I need to talk to him.”

“I really wouldn’t if I were you…”

You left his calls of protest behind as you stormed into the room.

Rook was sitting on his throne, but he wasn’t alone.

There was a girl in his lap. You couldn’t see her face, her back facing you as she straddled him. Her long, red hair hid most of her from your sight but it failed to cover her lower half and your face heated at the sight of her plush, unclothes thighs hugging his midsection, her dress hiked up around her waist.

He pulled her head to rest on his shoulder and you caught a glimpse of both her face and neck, a trail of blood gently trickling down her side, staining her white dress bright red. From what you saw she looked completely out of it. You weren’t even sure she noticed you coming in.

“Would you like something,” he prompted, his arm wrapped protectively around the girl on his lap. Something in you churned at the sight and you forced it back down.

You didn’t say a word, turning on your heels and storming right back out of the room.

Oliver looked up at you, fighting back a smile as the heavy door fell shut behind you.

“I tried to warn you,” he said, amusement radiating off of him and you wondered if maybe everyone in this god-forsaken place was an asshole.

You spent the rest of the afternoon seething. You weren’t even entirely sure about what, to be honest, just spending most of your time pacing and feeling generally upset.

When Rook finally decided to show his face, you let it all out on him.

The second he entered the room you were chewing him out. “What the fuck was that? Do you have to be getting your dick wet and feeding constantly? I mean, christ, it’s my first day here!”

He countered your aggression with a roll of his eyes. “You’re mad at me? Maybe if you listened to Oliver it wouldn’t have happened.”

You avoided his gaze sheepishly. He was right, this was your fault. Your anxiety about this whole situation was manifesting as anger and you needed to get it under control. For the sake of the mission.

“If you want to be rude to me, fine,” he continued, “but do not be rude to these people. They’ve done nothing but welcome you here.”

“It’s alright if I’m rude to you?”

“For now. I foresee that changing in the future but I don’t mind a challenge.”

Is that what he thought you were doing? Playing hard to get? It bought you time so you went along with it, wondering how long it would be before his patience snapped and you no longer had a choice

Your thoughts drifted back to the redheaded girl. His body language had read as protective but she’d been bleeding and she didn’t even seem to react to you coming in. Your mind couldn’t help but drift to the worst-case scenario.

“How many people live here?” You asked, trying to get him to reveal if she was one of his pet humans or someone disposable, someone you should start quietly mourning.

“Right now? You’re met both of them. Well, met is a strong word, more like rudely stormed in on.”

If she lived here, she was probably alright. You’d do your best to find a way to check in on her, just to be safe.

At the revelation that only two humans lived here, you thought back to the only face you’d expected to see within these walls. “The man who measured me, the one who permitted me inside and made me take my vows. Where is he? Petyr, I think his name was.”

He was an older man, you’d guess late 50’s. He’d been a calming force when you’d met him, making your mission seem less daunting with the power of pleasant conversation, even if you couldn’t admit any of your real intentions to him.

You would’ve appreciated his presence. Your only hope was that Rook hadn’t already gotten to him.

“He’s traveling,” Rook explained, a faraway look entering his already glassy eyes. “He always wanted to see the world. He’s spent far too many decades trapped in here with me so I sent him off to see it.”

You scoffed. “So that’s it? He got too old and you sent him off? You just discard your little lovers when they’re not young enough for you anymore?”

He looked genuinely hurt by the accusation. “You don’t know anything. I’d give the world for him to be here, for them all to be here. But they have lives to live, certainly more than I do. They’ve more than earned their dreams, I just try to help with the ones I can.”

At the clicking sound of approaching heels, you glanced down the hallway to see a woman with familiar long locks of ginger hair striding towards you.

“I’m done taking insults from you. Play nice with her,” he hissed.

“Or else?”

He didn’t answer before storming off, leaving you to get acquainted with the redhead you’d already seen far too much of.

You turned back to her and saw her looking longingly after him as if she didn’t want to be left alone with you. Part of you couldn’t help but take offense to that. He was the monster, not you. If anything, you were going to be her savior.

She let out a nervous giggle as she shifted her gaze from the hallway where your host had disappeared back down to her dress, a new one without blood dripping down it. “I’m sorry about earlier. Not the most dignified meeting we could have had.”

“It wasn’t your fault, I shouldn’t have been in there.” The mark on her neck had already begun to fade, healing much faster than a regular wound. However, you knew it would never fully heal, his mark would be on her skin for the rest of her life, claiming her.

“Regardless, I'm sorry. You shouldn’t have seen me like that until much later, our third meeting at least.”

She smiled at her own joke and you could help but mirror it.

“I’m Vivian, by the way. It really is lovely to meet you.” Her smile was so genuine it was hard to not have an immediate fondness for her.

“It’s good to meet you too. Can I ask, are you alright?” You asked as you stared at the wound on her neck, the blood that had been spilling down her before completely absent except for that small reminder of its presence.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, just a little embarrassed. Rook says I shouldn’t be but you’re the first new person who’s come since I arrived, I wanted to make a good first impression.”

“No, not that. You just seemed out of it in there, he didn’t hurt you did he?”

“What, Rook? No, of course not. He was taking good care of me, I promise. Has he talked to you about when you want him to drink from you yet? It really isn’t scary, I promise. He’s very gentle.”

“People keep saying that to me and yet I haven’t seen any proof. He’s been nothing but an ass to me.”

That threw her off balance. “He has?”

“I think he thinks I’m a bit obstinate,” you said, hoping that was all it was. The alternative was that he’d become suspicious of you and that was something you couldn’t abide by.

“That doesn’t make sense,” she insisted. “He doesn’t mind a bit of pushback. God knows Oliver can be a handful and I’ve never even seen him get upset.”

“Well, he’s been plenty upset at me.”

“I’m sure you two just got off on the wrong foot,” she insisted. “He’s a little rough around the edges sometimes but hey, who here isn’t, right?”

You couldn’t help but bristle at the comment.

She picked up on your reaction immediately. “No, I didn’t mean… It’s just, we’re all running from something, right?”

You nodded. You needed to stop being so aggressive, you were standing out far too much. “Yeah, of course, you’re right.”

“It’s alright,” she said, resting a reassuring hand on your arm. “It took me ages to get used to this place too. Try not to worry too much, it’ll feel like home before you know it.”

You doubted that.

Vivian wandered off, saying something about taking a nap and you retreated to your room.

You were a mess. It felt like every time you tried to do anything here it ended up being a disaster that got you one step closer to being caught. You collapsed backwards on your bed, set on hiding in your room until morning.

The universe seemed to have other plans.

A knock sounded at your door and you called out, “Who is it?”

“It’s Oliver, I’m coming in.”

He opened the door, not even waiting for you to call him in and he stared down at you, collapsed on top of your blankets.

“Good your still dressed,” he said, extending a hand to help yank you to your feet. “You’re having dinner with Rook at sunset.”

Your blood ran cold at the thought of being alone with him and of what ‘dinner’ could entail for a vampire.

“No.”

“Yes,” he insisted.

“I don’t want to,” you snapped back.

“Too bad. He said, and this is a direct quote, ‘they wanted to speak to me so fucking badly earlier, let’s give them an opportunity.’”

Oliver’s persistence in inviting you made sense, it didn’t sound like an offer one was allowed to refuse.

“Go hang out with Viv in the meantime or something, it’s awfully lonely in here,” he said, not waiting for a response before setting out on the move again. It was almost like he was allergic to standing still.

You followed his advice, figuring you wouldn’t be able to relax knowing what was coming anyways.

Vivian wasn’t hard to find, although you wouldn’t exactly say you found her. One second you were wandering down empty hallways and the next second she was behind you, tapping your shoulder to get your attention.

“Hello,” she said, her persistent warmth immediately setting you at ease, even if her sudden appearance had frightened you.

Vivian was an easy person to get along with. You spent the next few hours milling about with her, not talking about much of importance but passing the time much easier.

She seemed determined to make you feel welcome. It was nice, feeling like you have a friend here, even if she could never be an ally.

Oliver and Rook were entirely absent as you and Vivian wandered about. You made sure not to open any firmly shut doors this time.

After a few hours, the moment you dreaded arrived. Vivian poked her head out the velvet curtains that were covering the nearest window and grinned at you.

“Alright, Oliver said to send you down right about now. It’s right down that hallway.

Your heart skipped a beat as you stared down the dark hallway. Vivian didn’t seem to quite understand the magnitude of your anxiety, excitedly shooing you down towards the door.

You entered a room that looked almost exactly like what you’d expect from a dining room in a house this big. The table was massive, spanning the humungous room.

Something you hadn’t expected to see was the number of chairs.

The table was completely devoid of them except for one Rook was sitting at right at the head of the table and another right next to him.

You sat beside him, having no other choice in the matter.

“This massive house and you can’t afford more chairs?”

“They were removed. It’s hard to talk all the way across the room.”

You resented the fact that he refused to even give you the option.

The chairs that remained looked heavy and you couldn’t help but imagine Oliver and Rook desperately trying to push them out of the room in order to trap you next to him. Despite the less than optimal outcome, you had to fight back a smile at the mental image.

“Did you sleep alright?” he asked, cutting through your daydreams of him.

“Fine,” you responded bluntly.

“Are you sure? Your bed was still made.”

You were suddenly very glad your knife and notebook were stashed in your pocket. “Why were you in my room? How did you even get in, I left the window wide open.”

“Ah, yes.” He looked embarrassed and you got the sense that he’d be blushing if he had the blood for it instead of being pale and cold. “Well, we don’t exactly have staff here, they’re too scared of me to come. Everyone mostly takes care of their own tidying but I look after the rooms of newcomers. And I just covered up until I could get the drapes closed, it’s not the easiest way to move but I only have to travel the length of a room.”

Your accusation suddenly felt cruel. There was something so earnest about his words, something sheepish at the fact that he was picking up after you. “Oh. Okay. Well, the bed was just so lovely and made so well, it felt rude to mess it up.”

He smiled. “Well, I’m glad you appreciate my bed-making skills but I promise I don’t mind if you sleep under the covers. That is what they’re made for.”

The conversation put you more at ease, feeling less like you’d been brought here to be interrogated and more like this was a ploy from Rook to make you like him. It almost felt worse this way, the way he seemed to be trying to hide his eagerness to make you feel welcomed.

You looked down at the plate of food in front of you, finally convinced it was probably safe to eat, and noticed that it was the only one on the table. The spot in front of Rook was entirely empty.

“You’re not going to eat?” you asked as you took a bite of the food. It made you a little angry how good it was and for some undiscernible reason, you hoped Oliver had made it. Like that would make it alright that you’d enjoyed it.

He shook his head. “Can’t. Solid food are beyond me I’m afraid.”

“Why would you invite me to dinner then,” you asked, baffled by the decision.

“It seemed like a good time to talk. Besides, it’s a good way to make sure you eat. Viv is very concerned about you, says you’re not handling all this very well.”

She might’ve been right to be. With everything going on, eating had been the last thing on your mind. “I’m just nervous,” you justified weakly.

“So you keep saying.”

He watched you eat, studying you as you made your way through the dish. Finally, you grew tired of his observation and set down the fork.

“I can’t help but wonder, am I playing right?”

“Playing? This isn’t a game.”

“Yes, it is.” you insisted. “All of this has been, despite the fact that you declined to inform me of it. I think you like when it's a game. So am I playing correctly or have I already lost?”

“You barely know me and yet you pretend to know so much.”

“Am I wrong?”

“About this? No. Might be a first since you entered this place but you are not wrong.”

You scoffed. “What do you want from me?”

“You came here. You act as if I forced you into my home.”

“And you let me in. But you’re not making me give you anything so what do you want, why am I here? Why should I want to win?”

“I want you to trust me. That’s where this has to start.”

“And where does it end?”

“That depends on you. If you keep behaving like this it might end with you never trusting me.”

You worried when that end might be. “So I am losing. Good to know, And of course I don’t trust you, I don’t know anything about you.”

“Alright then,” he said as he leaned back in his chair, the corner of his mouth quirking up before he could manage to suppress his smile. “Go on.”

“With what?”

“Getting to know me.”

This was your opportunity, he’d just all but given you permission to ask all the questions you wanted. Not wanting to let the chance pass you by, you blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “So you drink blood.”

He smiled, baring his fangs at you as he did. “See, you know some things about me.”

“Are you going to drink from me?” you pressed on, refusing to let him steer you off track.

“If you want me to.”

“And if I don’t? Isn’t that what you brought us here for?”

He scoffed. “I’m building a community here, not a buffet.”

You just continued on with your questions. “Do you kill people?”

“Not unless it’s self-defense, same as most people I’d assume.” He chuckled as he answered but you didn’t find it funny.

“Let me rephrase then. Have you killed people?”

“Noone who didn’t try and kill me first.” That answer he didn’t chuckle through.

He looked you right in the eyes as he stated it. It felt like a promise. You just weren’t certain if it was a promise not to hurt you or a promise of what would happen if you tried to hurt him.

“I don’t know if I believe you,” you said. You didn’t have to do much acting to appear nervous around him but you hoped it might help. Maybe if he knew you were afraid of him he’d give you space.

“You should. Vampires can’t lie.”

You perked up at that. “Is that true?” you asked incredulously.

He just raised his eyebrows and gave you a shit-eating grin.

You had half a mind to throw something at him.

He didn’t apologize for his stupid little joke, which was well enough because you wouldn’t have forgiven him. Instead, his eyes darted down to your half-finished dinner.

“You going to finish that?”

You crossed your arms. “I’ve lost my appetite.”

“Don’t be like that, we were having fun! You were playing the game. Well, if you’re really done, come on,” he said, offering you his hand. “I’ll show you the gardens. You’ll like them. Everyone does.”

There were few decisions you could’ve made that felt as deeply ill-advised as going on a walk with him, alone, as the sun had already set.

You told yourself it was because there wasn’t an easy way out but honestly, you weren’t so sure, and you took his hand.

He led you outside, the grip on your hand less firm than it had been last time.

“Where are the flowers,” you asked when confronted with walls of bushes as the two of you stepped outside.

“There aren’t flowers. It’s a hedge maze.”

You snorted out a laugh. “Why do you have a hedge maze?”

“Every self-respecting mansion has a hedge maze.”

“That’s absurd,” you insisted.

“Well, maybe I’m absurd. Either way, absurd or not, everyone loves the hedge maze. Want to give it a try.”

The idea of being lost and alone, or worse, lost and with Rook, wasn’t exactly appealing to you. “Not really.”

“Suit yourself.”

“I have more questions for you,” you said, figuring you should at least take advantage of this alone time that you’d foolishly agreed to. “I mean, if you don’t mind.”

“Go ahead. I hope they’re more fun than your last ones.”

“Can you actually turn into a bat?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Can I see?”

“No. Maybe someday but that’s something I only do with people I trust and as someone very cross with me once said, I can’t trust you, I don’t know anything about you.”

“Okay. Another question then. What’s with all the black and white?”

“Don’t you like it? It feels fitting to me. The light and the dark, the wars that are waged, reflected on everything here.”

Your nose scrunched up as he talked, waxing poetic about two colors that you couldn’t quite bring yourself to care about.

As he went on, you began to put some of the pieces together as he spoke. “Your name is Rook too. That wasn’t your given name I assume.”

“My favorite chess piece. Honest, direct, noble.”

“Okay,” you said, cutting him off before he could start rambling again. “Be that as it may, you shouldn’t impose your weird chess thing on us. Some of us like colors.”

“My weird chess thing?” His voice cracked as he questioned you, snorting out a laugh at your comment. “You are so rude, where were you raised?”

You clutched your chest in mock pain. “Sorry, not all of us were raised in a mansion Rook.”

“I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t realize most people went around insulting one another so freely.”

“I think you’d be surprised. If you went out in the world wearing some of those outfits you gave me I think you’d hear some choice words thrown your way.”

The thought inspired yet another question from you. “When you talked about needing a special outfit to close the window, is it like, a big sun hat? A black and white one of course.”

“More like a sheet ghost.”

You giggled and he laughed along with you, looking down at you fondly and with some undeniable smugness present on his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you asked, quickly snuffing out your laughter.

“You’re not afraid. It’s the first time since you got here that you weren’t terrified of me.”

You hadn’t even noticed that the bubbling fear that lived in your chest had faded out as the two of you had spoken, “How could you possibly tell?”

“I can smell it. All those chemicals in your blood.”

“Stop smelling my blood,” you practically shouted, smacking at him.

He let out an almost boyish laugh as he dodged your attack. “I can’t help it, that’s like asking you to stop smelling the flowers.”

“There are no flowers,” you pointed out.

“Well, in theory. I can’t just turn it off. Trust me, if I could I would.”

After a moment of thought he added, “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“Not a clue.”

“It means I won. This battle, at least.”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re insufferable.”

A tempest of competing emotions fought in your chest. You were a fool, you were giving in to him. The hunters didn’t want you here for this exact reason, he must be hypnotizing you or something.

That felt more believable than you having a pleasant conversation with him.

With his victims? Maybe. They were people with souls, albeit misguided people. But not with him.

You felt like you were losing control. Of all the things you’d imagined when you got here, this was the furthest thing from your mind and yet you couldn’t deny it, especially after he’d as much as said it.

You’d stopped being afraid of him, for however brief a moment.

#terato #teratophillia #vampire x vampire hunter #vampire x reader #vampire x human #monster bf #monster boyfriend #monster x human #monster x reader

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cinnamon-stixs · 2 months

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I have a confession.. I'm an absolute SLUT for the vampire x vampire hunter trope.

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verkomy · 2 years

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enemies to lovers with vampire eddie and vampire hunter steve

#vampire eddie munson #eddie munson #kas the bloody handed #steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things 4 #the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #vampire x vampire hunter #fanart #my art #verkomy #verkomy 2022 #clip studio paint

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ditzyblues · 6 months

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i return from the dead to provide some very late Halloween Capril Art!! the whole time i was working on commissions i couldn't stop thinking about a vampire casey (she has fangs in the show) and a vampire hunter april. So here you go sweet thangs.... enjoy

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #tmnt #rottmnt casey jones #save rottmnt #cassandra jones #rise casey #casey jones #rottmnt cassandra jones #capril #rise capril #rottmnt capril #vampire x vampire hunter #homoromanticism is real #lesbianism means stabbing your significant other with a wooden stake #trust me #rottmnt comic

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thepenultimateword · 11 months

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Prompt #209

Vampire watched the smooth contour of Vampire Hunter’s neck from the other end of the bed. Their new spouse was turned around and a couple feet away but Vampire still caught the rigidness in their muscles.

“You can get closer.”

“I’m fine.” Cold and even. The vampire hunter way. Trained to perfect calmness in the face of monstrosity.

“We were just married,” Vampire said. “So no need to fall off the bed.”

“Like I said, I'm fine.”

Vampire watched them a second longer, tracing the scars on their shoulders and arms with their gaze. Fighting the urge to tap their neck, just for a reaction.

“You’re afraid of me.”

“Of course I am,” Vampire Hunter turned to face them, eyes sharp and distrusting. “You might turn me in my sleep.”

Vampire scoffed. “And endanger the truce? The entire reason we even did this?”

“I suppose it would be a little counterproductive,” they grumbled.

"You know, you're not so trustworthy yourself with the way your acting."

"Me?"

“The vampire repellant is a little offensive.”

#prompt #longish prompt #writing prompt #vampire x human #vampire x vampire hunter #arranged marraige #vampire #fantasci #fantasci prompt

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save-the-villainous-cat · 10 months

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I'd like to request a snippet for a justice-driven homicidal Vampire Hunter getting bitten by his long-time femdommy Vampire rival and enjoying it far more than he expected. Can be as suggestive as you wish <3

He didn’t talk for a long, long time. He just watched her curiously, not really sure what he would do, now that he was alone in a room with her again.

Last time turned out horribly wrong with her destroying all his weapons and pushing him against the wall. He wasn’t one to lose his composure easily but that one was…challenging.

“Ugh. You again?” she asked. Her pupils were dilated, two massive black holes in a dimly lit room that sucked him in. “Come back later.”

His eyes fell on the shards on the floor, the deep scratches in the wooden desk. A drawer was destroyed, torn into pieces. Usually, order was important to her. Wherever she was, there was a certain grace that followed her.

“I’m here to finally end this,” the vampire hunter said. “And I’m not leaving this room until I do.”

Usually, she would’ve laughed at that. She liked to tease him. Make fun of him.

But she didn’t say a thing, she just rolled her eyes and groaned. One hand sank into her smooth hair, grabbing her skull as she was squeezing her eyes together.

He’d never seen her like this before. Tortured like that.

Oh god.

She seemed to be in pain, fingers grabbing the desk hard enough to make the wood crack. Was she sick? Injured?

“I’ll make this quick. Some hunters capture vampires and force them to walk in the sun until they die.” This was mercy, wasn’t it? It’s what he had to do, what he was trained to do.

“Aren’t you a sunshine?” she asked. Her eyes found him again and hunger and insanity seemed to mix in them. He was more enticed than he should’ve been.

He’d been after her for months now, had spent years trying to end her. So many times, he’d been this close.

And he kept hesitating every single time. Sometimes he cursed himself for that. She seemed to be so much better at being his enemy.

“Look, pretty boy.” She looked at him and he noticed that her eyes were bloodshot. “I will decapitate you with my hands and let your head rot on my desk if you don’t leave now.”

“You’re sick.”

“So I’ve been told,” she said.

“No. You’re sick. You’re ill. Something’s wrong.” He took a step towards the desk, watching her hands, her body to detect any signs of danger but she didn’t seem to be capable of fighting right now. Her muscles tensed and relax almost rhythmically. “I can’t kill you when you’re ill.”

Technically, not true.

He took another step towards her, trying to reach her with his hand.

“I’m good with medicine and I have enough knowledge about vampires to help you, just let me—”

He didn’t know exactly why he was acting like an absolute idiot. When it came to her, his brain shut off and showed no signs of going back up.

She snatched his wrist and slammed it into the wall, panting as she pressed him against it once again. Her fangs hovered over his bare skin. He felt her breath on his neck, heavy and fast, and god, he realised how lonely he was.

“You have to go,” she said.

“I’ve never seen you act like this,” he said, his heart hammering in his chest. He concentrated on her body, trying to think of any sickness she could have. Nothing came to mind. “I’ve never seen a vampire act like this.”

“I…” She let her head drop, still panting, still clawing at his wrist. Their chests were touching and he was sure he was going insane when her forehead rested on his shoulder. “I’m trying to starve myself.”

“What?” he whispered, angry at the thought and confused why she would want to do that.

“My niece died three months ago of old age. She was the last of my family. They’re all dead now. I haven’t tasted blood since.”

“Are you insane?! Three months?” Her breath was slowing, her grip loosening. He knew she was probably at the end of her tether, with his heart beating hard enough for the two of them to hear. It probably took all her composure not to make a meal out of him.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “I would’ve asked you but…I don’t think you can kill me.”

“Excuse me?”

She raised her head to look up at him.

“No offence,” she said, studying his face. He was probably drenched in red, even though he wanted to play it cool. “Fuck, you’re so adorable…”

He knew how unfair life could be. A long time ago she had mentioned that she never wanted to be a vampire in the first place.

To watch everyone around her die, to be alone for good…he swallowed, touched by how much he could relate to that.

It wasn’t easy, this profession. Most people didn’t make it to their 30s.

“Bite me,” he whispered gently.

“What?”

“Bite me,” he said again. “Please. I’ll beg for it if I have to. Please, help yourself.”

She was tired, he could tell. Maybe that was why she didn’t argue. Her nails dug into his shoulders and if that wasn’t enough to ruin him already, she licked his neck generously, sucking on the spot she wanted. He cursed quietly, trying to hold onto her hips but she was faster and pressed his wrists above his head with one hand.

The other found his jawline and followed it. When she was done with her preparations, she pressed a kiss to the wet spot on his neck and moved on to brush her lips against his.

“Is this really what you want?”

“Might as well have some fun before I kill you, huh?” He chuckled nervously. God, he was rusty. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been touched like this.

“Don’t get cocky now,” she warned, lifting her knee to press it between his thighs. “Don’t get cocky…”

He groaned, nearly whimpered and leaned his head back, eyes rolling into the back of his head. He wondered if this was how everyone who got bitten by her felt like and that thought alone made him jealous.

He was a starved man, he realised. Starved like her, for other reasons and maybe for the same reason. He had expected her to be ice cold and though her skin was a lot cooler than his, she was comforting.

Being close to her made him feel at peace. It was as if he’d known her in his previous lives, as if this was meant to be. He couldn’t allow himself to think thoughts like that…

“Please…”

“Shhh, my love.” She sucked a hickey into his neck and it slowly dawned on him that she was edging herself. Sucking that blood to the surface, taking her time…or maybe she just wanted to edge him.

Maybe she was just as nervous as he was, maybe she was just as rusty. He couldn’t tell. And he didn’t care. He cursed himself for all the wasted years.

One last time, her tongue went over his skin and then, he felt a sharp pain, followed by sweet release and an overwhelming amount of pleasure.

He wanted to hunt her for eternity, he wanted to hate her, he wanted to call her his undying nemesis so bad but above all, he wanted to fall asleep on her chest with her long fingers buried in his hair.

#THIS TURNED OUT SO ANGSTY NAUR #and so horny??#I had so much fun with this!#also that I post this on the first of July is a coincidence istg I did not wait for pride month to be over to post this #writing snippet #suggestive #vampire x vampire hunter #vampire hunter x vampire #vampire #vampire hunter #f/m

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larzuen · 10 months

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When they get Into each other's nerves but also wanna kiss each other <3 (It's ok y'all theyre just In denial 👍)

#welcome home au #welcome home #alternative universe #wally darling #barnaby b beagle #gijinka #wally x barnaby #enemies to friends to lovers #love that trope sm <33 #vampire x vampire hunter

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agrioxoiros · 9 months

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ATTENTION ALL VAMPIRE HUNTERS

YOU HAVE GOT TO STOP FUCKING THE VAMPIRES. IT IS BECOMING A PROBLEM. REMEMBER, YOU'RE HERE TO SLAY THE BEAST, NOT LAY THE BEAST.

PLEASE THINK ABOUT THE MESSAGE YOU'RE SENDING. YOU THINK SOME RANDOM VILLAGE ON THE ASS END OF NOWHERE BEING MENACED BY A VAMPIRE IS GONNA CALL US BECAUSE THEY'RE CONCERNED ABOUT ITS SEX LIFE? NO.

WE SELL SAFETY. WE SELL SECURITY. WE SELL THE PROTECTION OF BIG STRONG MEN & WOMEN (THANKS TO OUR HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL DIVERSITY INITIATIVE). WE DO NOT SELL BOTTOMING.

IF YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE SEX WITH A VAMPIRE, PLEASE PRACTICE DISCRETION. YOUR OUTFITS ARE HIGH-COLLARED FOR A REASON. MAKE A HABIT OF BUTTONING THEM ALL THE WAY UP AT ALL TIMES, NOT JUST WHEN YOU'RE LEAVING FANG DADDY'S CASTLE AFTER A WILD NIGHT OF INTENSE KINKY SEX.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE SITUATION. REVENUE HAS BEEN DANGEROUSLY LOW. IF THIS CONTINUES, IT COULD MEAN THE CLOSURE OF THE OVERSIZED CROSSES DEPARTMENT. I TRUST NO ONE HERE WANTS THAT TO HAPPEN. ADJUST YOUR BEHAVIOR ACCORDINGLY.

#vampire #vampire hunter #vampire x vampire hunter #vampire x hunter

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bluessom1 · 7 months

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Vampire Freed x Hunter Laxus

Inspired by the fanfiction « Meetings in the night » (AO3) by @jemmahazelnut

Vampire Freed is definitely a good thing, I really loved this fic !

(Also, Mirajane and Minerva would be perfect as vampire queens :3)

#fairy tail #freed justine #laxus dreyar #fraxus #fairy tail fanart #ft fanart #inspired by fanfiction #vampire x hunter #vampire x vampire hunter #vampire au #halloween #bluessom1

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anitalenia · 8 days

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𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀 𝙏𝙍𝙄𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙇𝙀 ⋆⭒˚｡⋆‎♡‧₊˚

꒰ঌ definition ໒꒱ ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝑤𝘩𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑐𝘩𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎 𝑡𝘩𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑐𝘩𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙. 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝘩𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ below you will find sub genres under this category, as well as some useful pairings for this trope. for educational writing purposes <3

note: several of these can also be used in other tropes as well, just depends on how you write it and interpret it.

₊˚⊹.* ♡ good brother x reader x bad brother

₊˚⊹.* ♡ angel x reader x demon

₊˚⊹.* ♡ vampire x reader x werewolf

₊˚⊹.* ♡ killer x reader x detective

₊˚⊹.* ♡ popular jock x reader x outcast rebel

₊˚⊹.* ♡ roommate x reader x best friend

₊˚⊹.* ♡ husband x reader x old flame

₊˚⊹.* ♡ boyfriend x reader x boyfriends brother

₊˚⊹.* ♡ boyfriend x reader x boyfriends dad (so scandalous ROWR)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ ceo x reader x ceo’s rival

₊˚⊹.* ♡ good man with a promised future and loyalty x reader x bad boy in town full of excitement and spontaneity

₊˚⊹.* ♡ sweet reliable love interest x reader x exotic mysterious love interest

₊˚⊹.* ♡ reader who is battling their bisexuality / homosexuality — man x reader x woman

₊˚⊹.* ♡ fire x reader x ice

₊˚⊹.* ♡ friends of the same group loving the same girl

₊˚⊹.* ♡ a kind and noble prince x reader x handsome and charismatic rebel / outcast

₊˚⊹.* ♡ magical / supernatural love interest x reader x human / mundane love interest

₊˚⊹.* ♡ rich x reader x poor

₊˚⊹.* ♡ hero x reader x villain

₊˚⊹.* ♡ “good” king x reader x “wicked” king

₊˚⊹.* ♡ two yandere loving person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ demon brothers rivaled against each other fighting for person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ sun god x reader x moon god

₊˚⊹.* ♡ light x reader x darkness

₊˚⊹.* ♡ prince x princess x princesses knight

₊˚⊹.* ♡ king x queen x kings butler

₊˚⊹.* ♡ best friends brother x reader x brothers best friend

₊˚⊹.* ♡ childhood best friend x reader x new guy

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A wants person B but person B and C are dating

₊˚⊹.* ♡ prince you’re set to marry x reader x princes brother

₊˚⊹.* ♡ boyfriend x reader x man she had an affair with

₊˚⊹.* ♡ mafia man x reader x rivaling mafia man

₊˚⊹.* ♡ loud and boisterous love interest x reader x stoic and calm love interest

₊˚⊹.* ♡ god x reader x rivaling god

₊˚⊹.* ♡ vampire x vamp!reader x vampire slayer

₊˚⊹.* ♡ dragon x reader x knight (dragon slayer)

₊˚⊹.* ♡supportive & goofy best friend x reader x childhood crush

₊˚⊹.* ♡ main crush x reader x readers rival (the rival and reader lowkey enemies to lovers, while main crush starts to notice reader)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ human!boy best friend x supernatural!reader x supernatural!love interest who “understands” her more (like Nicholas x Sabrina x Harvey from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina if ykyk)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ witch hunter x witch!reader x warlock

₊˚⊹.* ♡ detective partner x detective!reader x detective brought on to help with the case

₊˚⊹.* ♡ two best friends wanting person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ boyfriend x reader x new boss

₊˚⊹.* ♡ sister reader is to marry x reader x sister reader is actually in love with

₊˚⊹.* ♡ fiancé x reader x ex boyfriend

₊˚⊹.* ♡ childhood love x reader x childhood loves best friend

₊˚⊹.* ♡ bodyguard x reader x man in charge of the operation

₊˚⊹.* ♡ reader is in love with her best friend who is set to marry someone else

₊˚⊹.* ♡ man reader actually wants x reader x man readers family approves of

₊˚⊹.* ♡ rich upper class man x upper class!reader x poor man

₊˚⊹.* ♡ pirate captain x duchess!reader x royal navy captain

₊˚⊹.* ♡ fiancé x reader x co worker reader has known for years and gradually fell in love with (pam and jim obvi)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ vampire boyfriend x reader x vampire boyfriends rival (angel x buffy x spike aka the best show ever)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ white queen (or king) x reader x queen (or king) of hearts

₊˚⊹.* ♡ omegaverse — alpha of pack A x reader x rivaling alpha of pack B

₊˚⊹.* ♡ best friend x reader x other best friend

₊˚⊹.* ♡ king x maid!reader x kings brother

₊˚⊹.* ♡ emperor x reader x emperors guard

₊˚⊹.* ♡ emperor x reader x emperors second in command (almost like a best friend but yk)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ teacher x student!reader x dean / principal

₊˚⊹.* ♡ biker of gang A x florist!reader x rivaling biker of gang B

₊˚⊹.* ♡ psychiatrist x patient!reader x other patient

₊˚⊹.* ♡ construction worker who comes in for coffee everyday x barista!reader x office man who comes in for coffee everyday

₊˚⊹.* ♡ cat person x reader x dog person

₊˚⊹.* ♡ water mage x reader (can be magical as well if you want) x fire mage

₊˚⊹.* ♡ elf king x reader x general of elf army

₊˚⊹.* ♡ friend whose crushing on you x reader x guy you have a crush on

₊˚⊹.* ♡ incubus x reader x succubus (they both want you)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ king of hell x reader x king of light (I don’t really wanna say king of heaven sooo)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ angel on your shoulder x reader x devil on your shoulder

₊˚⊹.* ♡ royal au — prince your sister is to marry that really likes you instead x Princess!reader x stable boy you’re infatuated with

₊˚⊹.* ♡ royal au — just like above except duke / prince from a neighboring land x princess!reader x stable boy you’re infatuated with

#❀⋆ ─ 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 ⊹❀ ֙⋆#writing tips and tricks #book writing help #writing themes #writing fanfiction #writing help #book writing #writing inspiration #writing #love triangle #royalty au #angel x demon #vampire x reader #vampire x human #vampire x werewolf #vampire x vampire hunter #vampire x hunter

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bucketsofmonsters · 1 year

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Vows - Part 4 (Final Part)

cw: nightmares, consentual blood drinking, oral sex, vaginal sex, polyamory, self-destructive tendencies

male vampire x afab reader

Word count: 6k

Vows Masterlist

You had another nightmare that night.

It wasn’t exactly what you were used to, although you supposed it was still about vampires.

Rook was on the floor. A jagged piece of wood had been thrust through his chest.

The splinters from it were embedded in your hand, drawing out your own blood, it seeping down your arm.

Images flashed through your mind as you saw it.

Vivian in his lap, blood soaking into her dress.

Oliver begging for more, pulling Rook closer as some of his precious blood escaped the vampire’s mouth.

Rook didn’t bleed. He’d been completely impaled and yet he lay, dry. The only blood on him was yours, dripping down your arm.

You felt a wetness on your face, tears making their way down your cheeks. As you moved to wipe them you found that they ran red.

You fell to your knees, shaking the man in front of you, pleading with him.

“Wake up, please wake up,” you cried and yet there he lay. He looked like he’d been dead for weeks. His eyes hadn’t looked dead before, not really, you realized with a jolt.

They may have been foggy and distant but they were full of life.

Now they were dead, empty and boring into you, unblinking.

Something jostled you, the room swaying under your feet.

You grabbed onto Rook, his lifeless form. Your hand drew back immediately, sickened by the thought that you’d reached for him for comfort after being the reason he lay there, lifeless.

A distant voice echoed through your head.

“Wake up. Come on, wake up, you’re alright.”

Your eyes shot open.

Rook was sitting over you, concern written across his face. His hands were cold and his eyes were as distant as ever but there he was, alive.

You wrapped your arms around him without a second thought, holding on as tight as you could, like you were afraid he might slip away.

He pulled you into his chest, his hand holding the back of your head as he whispered comforting words.

You could barely hear them. Guilt was eating you alive. He was sitting here comforting you and he had no idea what you were, what you’d come here to do.

He had no idea what you’d dreamed of.

This was all fake. No matter how much pretend you played, you were enemies.

You couldn’t keep doing this.

You needed to find something. He couldn’t be fully good, your family couldn’t be composed of people who would hurt… what? Creatures who were just trying their best.

If they’d told you to come here and kill him you would’ve done it. He’d be lying on the floor, just like in your dream.

He couldn’t be this good. You needed him to not be this good.

“I think you should drink from me.”

You blurted it out without really thinking. You weren’t certain why you said it. Maybe you wanted to sink back into that trust, that feeling of being not in control but still safe. Maybe you wanted him to attack you, to dispel this awful realization that had been slowly sinking in.

You watched him shift the second the words left your mouth, the slow comfort he’d been giving you fade away as his body went stiff.

“Why?”

The word was strained. He pulled away from you, looking like he’d been slapped.

“Do I need a reason?”

“I think you need to go.”

Oliver was waking on the other side of the bed and you noticed Vivian was snuggled into his side. As Rook got more agitated they started to stir.

“I don’t understand what I did.” You winced at how unsteady your voice sounded.

“I never should have let you in here. This has gone too far.” He ran his hands frantically through his hair, refusing to look you in the eye.

He was practically shouting and Vivian and Oliver snapped into action.

Vivian started to pull you out of the room, although the last thing you wanted to do right now was leave. Your thoughts were racing, desperately attempting to find what you’d done.

He’d been fine. You couldn’t imagine what could’ve made him react like this. Oliver and Vivian knew him better than you did and even they seemed thrown.

Vivian rested a reassuring hand on your arm. “I’m sorry I pulled you out of there, it just seemed like a bad situation.”

“It’s fine.” You knew she could tell that your mind was elsewhere.

She tried her best to reassure you. “I’m sure it’s nothing about you, something is up with him.”

Oliver practically threw the door to the room open, it crashing against the wall.

“What the fuck is wrong with him? He’s been weird and dodgy lately and now this? Unacceptable. He won’t even agree to talk to you. You didn’t even do anything, let alone something that would merit this tantrum! No, hold on, I’m gonna go argue with him again, I can’t fucking believe this shit.”

The images from your dream flashed through your mind and you shook your head. “Maybe he’s right.”

“Bullshit! Come on, we are going to set this straight.”

Oliver pulled you up and back towards Rook’s room and you didn’t have the heart to stop him.

When you’d first come here, you would’ve killed him in a heartbeat. If you’d had the chance, if you’d felt cornered, there was a real chance he would be dead right now.

He’d welcomed you in and what had you given him in return. The kindest thing you’d given him were lies.

You’d played pretend. For what? For a chance to feel safe? And after all you’d done, he’d given you that. Given you safety and comfort and his trust.

This had gone too far. You had to tell him. He deserved to know he had a monster living under his roof.

His head was buried in his hands when Oliver pulled you back into the room, a frantic energy entering his eyes the second he saw you.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he snapped.

He was right.

You spoke quietly, knowing what you needed to do. “Oliver, I think you should go.”

He made a noise in protest but you gave him what you hoped was a reassuring smile and with a final squeeze of your hand, he left the two of you alone.

You didn’t even get the chance to speak before he snapped at you again. “I think I was wrong, I think you should leave.”

“Rook, please, I-”

“Was I not clear? You should leave.”

“No, I have to tell you something,” you pleaded with him, needing to get this off your chest, although you weren’t sure if it was for his sake or for yours.

He rolled his eyes. “What, are you finally going to come clean, tell me that you’re a vampire hunter?”

He knew.

Everything here, it had been a lie. From you, from him, it was all fake. He’d probably been trying to get you under his spell, thought he could control you.

Could you blame him? You certainly weren’t guilt-free in this mess.

He started to pace the room, the calm, in control Rook you were used to nowhere to be seen.

“I had you pegged every step of the way and somehow you still fucked it all up! How did you…”

As he shouted, moving closer to you as he screamed you pulled out your knife, the adrenaline flooding through your body leaving you to fall back on years and years of training.

“You think I won’t do it?” you asked, knowing the second you did that you never could.

“You’re not running. You know I won’t hurt you, you’re not an idiot. Are you going to hurt me? God, you probably are. This was so fucking stupid.”

He really thought you’d do it.

A few days earlier and he would’ve been right.

He got even closer, finally standing with the edge of the knife pressed against his neck. He could probably feel how much you were shaking.

“Do it,” he said. “If you’re so convinced I’m evil, if you really hate me that much.”

“Stop it. Please, just stop it,” you cried as you tried to pull the knife away but he reached out and held it there.

He refused to draw back, keeping the knife pressed firmly to his throat.

You did the only thing you could do. You turned on your heels, dropped the knife, and ran.

You sprinted, out to the front door, out through his gardens, just away.

You didn’t know where you were going, you just needed to get out of there. To stop yourself from causing any more damage. To never have to see their faces again

You ran and you ran. You refused to let your legs stop moving. You needed to be far from here, farther than you could ever carry yourself.

You didn’t even feel the cold of the night digging into your skin, eating away at you.

At some point you may have gotten turned around, you weren’t sure. It was hard to know anything anymore, your mind sending you into a blind panic

Eventually, your legs could carry you no further, giving out underneath you.

You just stared up at the sky, roots digging into your back where you’d collapsed but unable to find the will to move yourself.

With a teary smile, you watched a bat swoop overhead. You’d never had the chance to see him like that.

You knew why now, why he’d never trusted you with that. Why he’d never trusted you at all.

Everything made a little more sense now, the way he’d treated you, the way you’d won him over almost as slowly as he’d won you.

You couldn’t help but wonder how much of that was real and how much of it was a show.

You heard some high-pitched chirping in the distance, the noise piercing right through your thoughts.

Maybe it wasn’t even there, maybe your brain was just desperately attempting to conjure something to stop your spiraling thoughts.

It didn’t really matter anyways.

You had a feeling you might die out here. Better that than returning home. You could never face those people again, the people you’d called your family.

Now you’d met the monsters they killed, you’d never be able to look them in the eye and see anything but what you now knew was there.

You wondered how many of the monsters they’d slayed had been afraid, how many had begged for mercy, how many had just longed for friendship and intimacy.

How many people had they executed for the crime of being hungry and afraid?

And even when they weren’t, with willing sacrifices living happily with them, even then they were deemed heretics and condemned to a house in the woods with a handful of companions they managed to save from the world you’d held in such high regard for so long.

The bat returned to you, settling upside down on a nearby branch.

You gave it a weak smile, blinking tears out of your eyes.

“Hello,” you said, your voice faint after the cold and exhaustion had been eating away at you for what was probably hours. “Sweet little thing, are you the one making those noises?”

It chirped at you, almost as if it was answering you.

“I’d fly away if I were you,” you cautioned the creature. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to stay away from monsters in the woods?”

Its little head cocked to the side, as if it was desperately trying to understand your words.

The sound of sticks cracking drew both of your attention. Maybe it was a wolf or some other creature, here to finish you off. It had to happen sooner or later because at this point, you were determined not to get up.

A familiar voice banished that thought from your mind.

Vivian was at your side before you had time to make sense of what was happening. She was dragging you to your feet, fighting to pull you along.

“I don’t know if I can do this alone,” she called out. “They're in a bad way, they're going to be dead weight before long.

It took you a moment to realize who she was speaking to.

Your eyes shifted to find the little bat, moving down from his perch until, before you could ever register the change, another familiar face was at your side.

You realized with a foggy mind that he left the grounds to come find you. Your family had been tracking his home for decades and not once had he left but there he was. You’d heard him leading her to you, you could see him in front of you, the light of the moon reflecting off his face.

You passed out before they managed to coax you to your feet, the realization that they’d come for you the last thing you could manage before the world faded away.

You woke up in front of a roaring fireplace with a blanket wrapped around you and two pairs of eyes staring at you.

You focused in on Rook, remembering his part in your rescue. “I didn’t realize you left the grounds. My family is going to be really upset I’m not reporting back anymore, that is exactly the sort of thing they would want to know.”

“I don’t,” he said. “That was my first time leaving in 300 years.”

“Oh.” Your voice sounded small, even to you.

As you gathered your bearings, a door slammed somewhere in the house and you flinched at the sudden noise.

Rook looked back and a quiet sigh escaped him.

“Oliver isn’t handling the news well,” he explained. “He’s mad at both of us if that makes you feel any better.”

It didn’t

“Why?” you asked, your voice much stronger now in the safety of his home.

“Well, he’s mad at you for wanting to hurt me.”

You managed a smile, although you weren’t really in the mood for one. “I’d gathered that much.”

“He’s mad at me for lying, for not telling him who you were. If I’m being honest, I think he’s angriest that I let him care for you.”

Viv chimed in, saying, “He’s just slamming doors so you remember he’s upset. He’ll be alright, just give him some time to cool down.”

“And you’re not mad?” you asked her.

She shook her head and it felt like a minor miracle, that any of them could not hate you after finding out.

“I might have,” she said. “If you’d actually done anything. How long did it take you, before you switched sides? Did it even take a day before you started to doubt?”

You didn’t answer.

You saw in her eyes that you didn’t need to.

“I should let you two talk,” she said, glancing between you and Rook. “But for the record, I’m glad that we got the chance to start caring about you.”

She left the room and it was just the two of you.

Once again you were afraid. Not of him any longer, that had long since passed, but of how he might feel.

“How long have you known?” you asked, your voice weak once more but no longer because of the strain and the cold.

“Since the beginning. I wasn’t planning on letting all this happen but then… do you know how irritating you are? I thought, feed the hunters some bad information, figure out what they might be planning. And then, despite everything you were so bizarrely receptive to all this, and Oliver and Vivian took to you so fast and, I don’t know, this all spiraled out of control so quickly.”

You didn’t say anything. You weren’t sure what you even could say. The word sorry didn’t even come close to cutting it.

He spoke once more, his voice shaky. “Of all the things I thought you might do, putting a wedge between me and them was the last thing I expected.”

“I didn’t want to do that.”

“Sure you didn’t.”

“Rook, you freaked out on me. I didn’t expect them to side with me, I don’t think I even wanted them to side with me.”

“It was going too far, that was too far. Why aren’t you scared of me anymore? I’m not so self-centered as to really believe I turned a vampire hunter, so why are you still here? What are you doing that I’m not seeing? Are you trying to turn them against me, make them hate me too? Just please, leave them out of it. Take me if you must, but leave them out of it.”

You couldn’t help it. You laughed.

“What’s so funny,” he asked, his eyes frantically searching yours for the secret plan he seemed convinced you must have.

“I just… I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“What?”

“I thought all of this, everything I was feeling might be some secret, insane plan you’d made. I think we may have both deeply overestimated each other.”

He inspected your face, searching for something like he’d done so many times before. You wondered if he’d ever found it.

Finally he asked, “What’s vampire hunting like?”

“You really want to know?”

“Can’t imagine I’m going to get many other chances to learn so yeah, why not.”

“I guess I’m not really sure. This was my first real case. It was mostly scary stories when I was little and then a lot of training. I can actually fight pretty well, not that it ever came up here. All of my training was done at home, talking to anyone who wasn’t a hunter was too dangerous so I never really left much, just short little trips.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t let outside much as a kid either. Not that that ever stopped me.”

“I don’t think that’s the same, you can’t go out in the sun.”

“Can’t is a strong word. More like really really shouldn’t.”

You laughed. “You sound like you were a real handful.”

“I’m sure you were too.”

“Not really. I was a model student, couldn’t wait to go out and kill my first vampire, make everybody proud.”

“And now?”

“And now even the thought of leaving makes my heart hurt.”

“Does it really?”

He asked it like it was a joke but you knew better than that.

“It does,” you confirmed. “I’ll go though, if you still want me to. I won’t stay where I’m not wanted.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry about before. I told you I’m not kicking you out and I intend to stand by that. You’re always welcome here. Although I would prefer if you kept the vampire hunting to a minimum.”

“I’ll try my best,” you promised with a half-hearted smile. “Hey Rook?”

“Yes?”

“I’m never going to see my family again, am I?”

“I don’t know, that’s up to you. If you need one, there’s always a family here for you. But it’s a big decision. You should think on it, be sure you want to stay, that you understand what that would mean. Until then, get some rest. You really scared me out there, I thought you might not make it home.”

He grabbed another blanket from the end of the couch, making sure you were more than warm enough. With them and the fire, you were certain you’d have to shed at least one of the blankets to keep from overheating but you let him cover you in it anyways, a desperate ploy to get him to stay just a little bit longer.

You woke up to the feeling of being watched.

Your eyes opened to the sight of pale blue ones staring right back at you, half obscured by curly locks of hair.

“You were going to hurt him,” Oliver huffed at you, barely giving you time to gather your bearings.

“Technically, I wasn’t. I was just gathering intel.”

“You were going to help them hurt him.” The semantics of the situation didn’t seem to soothe his anger.

“I was.”

“What changed?”

You shrugged. “Just got to know him, I guess. Harder to imagine him as a big faceless monster when you’ve seen his face and its smile lines and you know him. It’s also hard to imagine you all as brainwashed victims when… well, when you’ve seen the way you interact.”

He smiled at you incredulously. “Me? Brainwashed?”

You nodded. That idea had left you pretty fast. God help the man who tried to brainwash Oliver.

“I don’t want you to go,” he blurted out. He said it like it was the worst confession he was capable of. “I can’t believe Rook didn’t tell me. He could’ve prevented this but now I care about you and I want you to stay here with us.”

“I think I want to stay too.”

He didn’t seem able to hide his glee, trying his best to force a frown and failing. “Alright. I haven’t forgiven you yet but I’m glad you’ll be here. I would’ve missed you if you’d left.”

“I would’ve missed you too. Can you go tell Viv? I want to tell Rook myself.”

He nodded eagerly, darting towards the door. Before he bolted out he looked back and gave you a firm, “I’m trusting you. Please don’t make me regret it.”

You couldn’t even fathom it. Even apart from Rook and everything you’d learned about the monster you’d come here to fight, you could never hurt them like that.

Before going to see anyone you walked back up to your room. Your pigeon was waiting by the window, confused as to why you hadn’t come to give him a message yet.

If you were honest, he was probably the only thing you’d miss, the only thing this experience hadn’t sullied. Your sweet little bird.

You reached into your pockets to see if your notebook was still in there. It was, as was your dagger, having apparently been returned to you while you slept. You’d have to get rid of that wretched thing soon.

You quickly scribbled out note after note, the words never quite seeming right. How does one convince their family that the thing they’ve been doing all their lives is wrong?

You didn’t.

You tied the note to his leg and sent your loyal little bird off for the last time with the last message he’d ever deliver for you.

The message felt like it was as much for him as for them.

It just read Goodbye.

You wandered up to Rook’s bedroom. You knew where it was by now. The house might still feel confusing but this room you could find.

You knocked on the door, the sound echoing in your ears.

A distant “come in” sounded from behind the black and white painted wood of his door.

He was waiting there for you, his eyes trained on the door as you entered.

“You feeling alright?” he asked, his voice low and measured.

You nodded. “I think I just needed some rest. I’m sorry you had to come and rescue me.”

“No need to apologize. I’m just glad you’re okay. Why did you run?”

“I don’t know. I just didn’t want to hurt you any more than I already had.”

“You didn’t hurt us. Look,” he said, holding out his arms for you to see. “Limbs all still attached. It got a little stressful there but we’re all alright. Better than we were before.”

You hoped that was true.

“You’re staying, aren’t you?” As he asked the question, you began to understand why the thing Rook was scared of the most was people being afraid of him. Because with every word, you could tell he was afraid of your answer and it felt like a punch to the gut.

“If you’ll have me.”

“Of course I will.”

You had both been standing very still, avoiding any sudden movements, trying your best not to break the calm.

That did it. At his words you were moving towards him, his arms wrapping around you the second you were within reach.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered into his chest, beyond happy that this time, he was listening. This time, he believed you.

When you finally pulled away you stood there, looking at each other, a silence falling over you that one of you needed to break.

You wanted to be the one to do it.

It felt like a risk. Last time you’d asked everything had been destroyed. But it felt like the only way to finalize it, to make yourself one of them and shed your past.

Finally you asked, “Can you drink from me?”

You waited for the mistrust but it never came. Instead, he just cocked his head to the side and asked, “Why?”

“Because I trust you.”

“You’re still a little scared.”

“I’ve got years of stories in my head, they’re hard to shake. But I do trust you.”

“You really want this?”

You nodded, reaching out hesitantly for him.

He came to you, his hand intertwining with yours.

“Alright, but we’re going to work up to it. I’m not throwing you in the deep end, okay?”

You nodded, already trusting that he’d make sure you felt safe.

He walked you back to his bed, laying you down gently on the soft sheets you’d been too afraid to indulge in when you first came here. The thought felt silly now.

He moved over you, capturing your mouth in a kiss.

You pushed up against him, wanting to be as close to him as you could.

He seemed to sense your urge and pushed you back down into the sheets, his body trapping you against their warmth.

And then the kissing ended as he sat you up with an urgency that made you think twice about whining about the newfound lack of contact.

He reached up to start undoing your dress, getting both of your clothes off as fast as he could.

“Need to feel you,” he said and you helped him along, removing your final garments as he struggled to pull off his pants.

You smiled, helping him where his pants had gotten caught around his ankled in the rush.

He just stared down at you, wide-eyed.

“Come here,” he said pulling you back up to the bed and pressing you against him. His skin was colder than you were used to and you were sure you must have felt burning hot against him.

His hands ran up and down your sides as he held you against him, feeling every bit of you he could.

Finally, you sunk back against the mattress and were trapped under him once again.

His hand slid down your front and two fingers pushed inside you.

You felt his sharp intake of breath as they pushed inside and saw that incessant smugness return, the worship on his face falling behind it.

“You’re so wet, is this all for me?” he asked.

You nodded, hoping that was the answer that would get you more.

You felt yourself clench around him and he moaned at the sensation.

“Please,” he asked, “I need to be inside you. I’ll go so slow, make sure you’re alright, just need to feel you.”

You didn’t need any convincing.

He was so thick, pausing with every little push inside to let you accommodate the stretch before pushing impossibly further into you.

Finally, he bottomed out, pressing kisses all over your face to distract you from the burn.

“You’re doing so good,” he murmured into your skin, refusing to pull away even to speak.

Finally the burn settled, although the stretch never really went away.

You rocked up against him experimentally and his cock rubbed perfectly against your walls.

You tried once more but he pushed your hips down, leaving you unable to move.

You looked up at him with big, questioning eyes.

He smiled down at you like you were the sweetest thing he’d ever seen. “Ask nicely,” he insisted and you were too far gone to do anything but comply.

“Please, I need you,” you cried.

“You have me. What do you need.”

He was going to make you say it. “I need you to fuck me.”

Those seemed to be the magic words. As soon as they left your mouth he started to move.

His head was buried in your neck as he thrusted into you and there was no more fear, it had all dissipated, even the little slivers hiding in the corners of the old stories you’d been told.

Every nightmare and monster under your bed had been replaced with his face and you didn’t have it in you to be afraid of him any longer.

He moved gently, like he didn’t want to break you.

You weren’t so sure you didn’t want to be broken.

“More, harder,” you pleaded.

He hesitated and so you kept begging. “Please, I want to feel it in the morning

That did the trick, his hips snapping into you with a punishing force.

“Yeah? I can do that. You’ll be so sore tomorrow but it’ll be alright because I’m going to take such good care of you. Anything you want you’ll have. I take care of my humans, I’m gonna take such good care of you.”

The phrase did something to you. You were his human now. It didn’t feel possessive it just felt right because you knew you had given a piece of yourself to him.

The faster pace was sending you both hurtling toward your climaxes.

His hand snaked down to rub your clit as he pounded into you, your hips rising to meet his.

Finally something inside you snapped and you clung to him as waves of pleasure overtook you completely.

His pace didn’t slow as your orgasm calmed. You were sensitive and a little sore but still the last thing you wanted was for him to stop.

With one final punishing snap of his hips, you felt him come inside of you, a strangled moan sounding from him as he left sloppy kisses across your neck and slowly rolled his hips into you until the waves of his orgasm subsided.

For a while he just lay there, half on top of you, doing his best to keep from crushing you as he panted.

“How’re you feeling?” He finally asked, rising up a little to look at you. “You nice and relaxed for me?”

If you’d been any less exhausted you would’ve rolled your eyes at him and found some retort. As it stood, you just nodded, your arms still wrapped around him, keeping him close.

“Alright,” he said, looking down at you with a soft gaze. “Human instinct means that the second I break skin, for one moment you will struggle. You’ll lash out at me so I’m going to have to pin you down, okay? Anytime after that first moment you’re free to back out but just for at the start I have to hold you still.”

You nodded. “You’ll hold me down but I say red and you’ll stop.”

“Exactly.”

He pinned your legs firmly below him, wrapping one hand around your wrists to hold them in place. The other hand drifted to your chin, gently tilting your head to the side.

His fingertips brushed over your neck, ghosting over your pulse. You could feel it pounding and you’re sure he could too. If he could smell your fear all those days ago you couldn’t even imagine what he must be smelling now.

His breathing was unsteady as he stared at you with naked hunger.

He licked over the spot on your neck first, like he was marking you before slowly resting his fangs over top of your skin.

You pulled your head even further to the side, begging him to break skin.

He finally did and for a moment, you lashed out, the pain inciting some buried instinct in you.

And then the fight faded and all you were left with was a sense of peace.

You were powerless beneath him. He could bleed you dry right now, pinned under him. You knew he wouldn’t.

There was something calming about being completely at someone’s mercy. He lapped your blood up, his body warming as he fed from you, and you felt more relaxed than you ever had before, as you gave this piece of yourself to him.

The pain had faded so far away. The only way you could recognize it was by seeing it as another thing you’d feel in the morning, another thing you knew Rook would diligently take care of.

And he’d do it with the energy and life you were giving him now, the bit of you that you were allowing him to take.

He tried to pull away from your neck but your fingers knotted into his hair, trying to keep him close. He rejected your attempt, pulling away to send his lips crashing into yours. The metallic taste of blood seeped into your mouth as you returned his kiss, desperate and pleading.

You felt just as hungry as he was.

The kiss finally ended as he went to bandage to wound you’d half forgotten about, settling back against your neck as soon as he cleaned the remaining blood dripping down you.

The sheets, on the other hand, did not look like they could be saved.

He snorted into your neck and you pulled back to get a good look at him.

“What’s so funny?” you asked.

“I won,” he said with a smile.

“What?”

“Our game. I think I won.”

“Are you trying to piss me off?” you asked with a laugh.

“Maybe.”

You just laid there for a few minutes, lounging against him before he moved to get up.

You whined at him but he made no move to stop. He walked across the room and returned with a glass of water and a plate of cookies.

“I told you I’d take care of you,” he said as he handed them off.

“My hero.”

He settled back in next to you as you started in on one of the cookies.

“So you really want to stay?”

You nodded, barely even processing the question. “I already said yes,” you mumbled.

He shook his head. “No, I need you to listen. Do you want to stay, to join everyone here, to become mine?”

Your brows furrowed. “I’d be yours?”

He nodded. “They’re all mine, just as much as I belong to all of them. To all of you. Don’t you remember, all those promises you made before you came? I made them too, you know. To care for you all, to always have your best interests at heart, to give a piece of yourself away. All the vows, you have to mean it this time.”

“I already mean them. You want to be mine?” you asked, wiping a stray drop of your blood off of his chin.

“I do.”

#terato #terato writing #teratophillia #vampire x vampire hunter #vampire x reader #vampire x human #monster bf #monster boyfriend #monster x human #monster x reader #this is the final part #but I am planning viv and oliver one-shots and an epilogue #so we will return to these guys one day #I love them too much not to

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ellysephtis · 7 months

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anyone else feel insane about these star crossed lovers? because im going insane

closeups!!

#bubbline #marceline #princess bubblegum #adventure time #fionna and cake #my art #digital art #artists on tumblr #I WILL EAT MY ARM #im crazy abt them #a normal amount #a large amount #vampire x vampire hunter

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kmilart · 2 months

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Monty and Carmin are just like a couple married for 30 years change my mind

oc Monty by @quinndecker214

[COMM OPEN]

#I've been off for awhile so here's a sketch I made #just a sketch for now my bad #vampire au #vamp au #oc #carmin #carmin x monty #other's oc #monty #vampire x vampire hunter #my art #original art #digital art #sketch #artists on tumblr #kmilart

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atrixamicus · 9 months

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+:｡.｡𝓐 𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓵 𝓦𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓓𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓵｡.｡:+

𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐/𝚜: [𝚅𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎] 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚡 [𝚅𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝙷𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛] 𝙶𝙽.𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 𝟺.𝟺𝚔

𝚂𝚢𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚜: 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚅𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝙷𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚝. 𝙱𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗. 𝙱𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎. 𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚡𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘?

𝙲𝚆: 𝚂𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎

𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜. 𝙽𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝? 𝙰 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕.

𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎, 𝚠𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕.

𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕. 𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚟𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚜. 𝙰𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕�� 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐… 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝙿𝚕𝚞𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕? 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚑𝚊𝚙 𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚊? 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎.

𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎, 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚜. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚎. 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚢, 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗.

𝙿𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛, 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚕𝚢, 𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎. 𝙰 𝚠𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢 𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚠 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚙. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏, 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚠��𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚝. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚣𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢, 𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜. 𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚜? 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚜? 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜.

"𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢, [𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎]?" 𝙰 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝙴𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢… 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐… 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎? "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚖𝚎, 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚎? 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎." 𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝙳𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖… 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍? "𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙸'𝚖 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎… 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎~ 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝙸'𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝." 𝙰 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚜.

"𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛!" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚗. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎. "𝙻𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑!" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑.

𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙰 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎.

"𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 𝚜𝚘. 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍…" 𝙰 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞. "𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞… 𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠, [𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎]. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠? 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜." 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚛. "𝚁𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙?" 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎. "𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚎." 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍.

𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚘, 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕. 𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍�� 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝 '𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚛'. 𝚂𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍.

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚘?" 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗, 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍'𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

"𝙼𝚢 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝? 𝙸𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊 𝚝𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚋𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜, 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛..?~ 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝… 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸, 𝚊 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜-𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙? 𝚂𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐…" 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚏𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖. "𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚕… 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍, 𝙸'𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝~ 𝙼𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖…" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎.

𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚖 𝚎𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚝𝚊𝚗-𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛, 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚊𝚔 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍.

𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚗𝚊𝚔𝚎-𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝-𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚗.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚎? 𝚂𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕. 𝚂𝚘, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎… 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎? 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜." 𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚣𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎. "𝚂𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚘, 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗...~" 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚒𝚕, 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚝. "𝚈𝚘𝚞…" 𝙷𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜. "𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝..? 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠… 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝~" 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍.

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜?" 𝙸𝚏 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚜, 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎.

"𝙰𝚜 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝙽𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝙸 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎~" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑, 𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙷𝚎 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍. "𝚆𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝?~ 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗…" 𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚛, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗.

𝙷𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎… 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

𝙷𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜. 𝚄𝚗𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

"𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛… 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚐~" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚝. "𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗… 𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚝.. 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛?" 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚙 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗, 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎.

"𝙰𝚜 𝚒𝚏! 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐?" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚢.

𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝚂𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚐𝚘. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖.

"𝙸 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎… 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚒𝚝?" 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖. 𝙰𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝�� 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜, 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝'𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚍. 𝙽𝚎𝚡𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗… 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚗𝚎.

𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜. 𝙰 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍.

𝙰 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜.

"𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞…" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.

"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜…?" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚑𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍.

𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚊 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚡𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 '𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛' 𝚠𝚊𝚜.

"𝙰𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍… 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚎… 𝙰𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝~" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚜… 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗.

𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑? 𝙾𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎…

"𝙸𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜? 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚊 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍?" 𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐?

𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜…

"𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝙸 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎…" 𝙸𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎. "𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚜." 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙰𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚎. 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚑𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍. 𝙸𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍'𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚍. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚏. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛.

"…𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘?" 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚢.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎? 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚘. 𝙾𝚛 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚑𝚊𝚙 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎. 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍, 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝.

"𝙸𝚏 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗…" 𝙷𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚗𝚕𝚢. "𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠��𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚗, 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚖𝚎~ 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞." 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜, 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞… 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚘?" 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍. "𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘.. 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎?"

"𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛? 𝙾𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍… 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔~ 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚞𝚙. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎. 𝚂𝚘, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛, 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛 [𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎]?" 𝙰𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜.

𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎--𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑--𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜.

"𝙸… 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗. 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍." 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚔 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝.

"𝙷𝚖𝚖𝚖… 𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝… 𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞." 𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝, 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝. 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗. "𝙵𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛~" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢, 𝚑𝚎… 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚆𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜? 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎? 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍? 𝙾𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗.

"𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝙰 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝~" 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎 ��𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 ��𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎.

"…" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙰 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚐? 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢. 𝙸𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢. 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞… 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎 '𝚖𝚎𝚝' 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙷𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚠. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍.

𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚋𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚞𝚙 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚢. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎…

𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎… 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚍.

"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞…" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝.

"𝙷𝚖… 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛��𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛~" 𝙷𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛, 𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗.

𝙷𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜, 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔. 𝙷𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍--𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚋 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝… 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍. 𝙸𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚍, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔…

"𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠, [𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎]. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠? 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜."

...

"𝚁𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙?𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚎."

𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑… 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝. 𝚈𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝚃𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝… 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎. 𝙰 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢--𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛.

𝙰 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚘. 𝙰𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕. 𝚀𝚞𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚊, 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚊 [𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎, 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎]. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜. 𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚒𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎… 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚛, 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔, 𝚒𝚗𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝.

"𝙾𝚑, 𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢, 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛!~" 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍--𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍--𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔. "𝚂𝚘, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚑𝚖?" 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑.

"𝙸…" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝. 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜. "𝙸 𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎!" 𝙸𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝… 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝.

"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘?" 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝-𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚗. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍… 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. "𝙸 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞! 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍'𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛~ 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎!" 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚎? 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚑 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎. "𝙰𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍… 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝙸 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗… 𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜! 𝙻𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎?" 𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎.

𝙸𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏--𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝, 𝚒𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚊𝚜. 𝙰 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛, 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕… 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚞𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚖��𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛.

"𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐~" 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚙, 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚞𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖. "𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎…" 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍.

𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚓𝚊𝚠𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕…

⊶⊰❣⊱⊷ᗰᗩᔕ丅ᗴᖇᒪᎥᔕ丅⊶⊰❣⊱⊷

+:｡.｡𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓷𝓭｡.｡:+

#obey me vampire au #obey me #obey me au #obey me diavolo #diavolo x reader #diavolo x you #obey me shall we date #obey me x gender neutral reader #obey me x reader #obey me x you #obey me diavolo x reader #obey me diavolo x you #vampire x reader #vampire x vampire hunter #vampire x human #vampire x hunter

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