[UNEDITED]

That night, I was simply thrilled by the idea of being locked in the same room for the rest of the night with Dylan, but I wasn't so lucky. Now that everyone was convinced that I wasn't going to run away, they decided that Dylan should sleep better that night, and pushed me into Nicole's room.

It felt odd to lie on the bed in which Daphne slept not many days ago. It felt like her ghost was still lurking somewhere, and would pop up in the middle of the night and would ask me to vacate her possession and leave.

Although she did not, I couldn't sleep at night. My head was so full of Dylan I thought it would burst.

What was happening to me? Why couldn't I stop thinking about him?

Morning came sooner than I had wanted it to.

I was given my old, dirty gown back, which, luckily, was not washed, and I could wear it to prove that I was stranded in the woods. It lay on Daphne's bed, looking at me ominously.

Beth came to visit me once, and she scared the shit out of me.

"You look so much like your father!" she told me from the door. I sat up straight and looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah, I get that a lot!" I nodded.

"But you seem much different than him. Benjamin is a monster," she said roughly.

"Umm, he is not my father. He is my uncle." I replied, "Joshua Wilkins is my father. Everyone says that I look eerily like him."

She thought for a while, "Really? But when your family was shifting here, we heard something about Benjamin having a child."

"My uncle never married. And I haven't really heard of him seeing anyone so..." I trailed off.

"I did hear about a son, but then when I saw you, I thought maybe we had mistaken. But I am certain we had heard something about a child."

I shook my head once again.

"So, you are the only heir of the Wilkins family?" she dropped the matter, "No wonder they are so protective of you."

She looked at me for one last time, and then she left, leaving me with the chance to let out the breath I was holding so long. She intimidated me.

When I was finally bored out of my mind, I decided to take a stroll. Everyone was busy with their own works, but I did catch Dylan standing at the door of his cottage, wearing a pair of shorts and holding something small in his hands. He nodded to someone behind him, and then he started walking away.

He was most probably going for a bath.

I felt like a complete creeper as I looked around me, and then slowly followed him into the woods.

I kept my distance, but Dylan caught me as I tried to hide myself behind a tree close to the lake.

"What are you doing here?" he folded his arms. I suppressed the urge to stare at his bare chest.

"I thought I should come take a quick bath maybe?" I said as I walked forward.

A small smile played on Dylan's lips, and I knew that, just like me, he too was replaying the memories from that day. We looked at each other, and then both of us laughed out loud.

"It's okay," I said, "I won't run this time!"

Dylan did not say anything, but he tossed the small thing at me, and I missed it. The thing hit my head, and I yelped, just a little. Then I bent down and picked it up. It was a bar of soap.

"Are you okay?" Dylan came forward, "God! Sometimes I feel like we are going to kill you in an accident or something one of these days."

"Huh," I huffed, "I am not that fragile, you know!" I said as I crossed him and sat on a boulder, "But yeah, if you do, when you are ninety and very old, you can always tell the tale to your grandchildren about how you killed the infamous evil Wilkins' Heir--"

"Wait, what? You really think I will live till the age of ninety?"

I bit my cheek. I remembered that he was in a critical condition, and I hadn't meant it like that.

"Well, if I do live that long, I guess I will be so grateful that I wont ever ask for anything else. I will simply be mesmerized by the fact that I made it so far," Dylan said as he sat beside me.

I was officially feeling guilty by now.

"Actually," Dylan said as he picked up a stone, "I would rather I died, I believe it will be better without the pain and the necessity to kill in order to survive. Death should be easier than this... I am sure it will be."

I looked at the water beneath my feet, and focused on how the waves lapped against my skin.

"You talk as if you have experience with death," I tried to lighten it up.

"You tell me," he smiled at me, "You are the one with so many near-death experiences."

"Haha, very funny!" I huffed, "I don't know. None of those blows felt like I would die on those days, I was only badly injured. But then again, when I think of it, it feels like I could have died."

"That's the mystery of death," Dylan mused, "Funny how you can chew a fruit and that small thing can be the reason of your death!"

I knew he was talking about Nicole's father.

"Well, not sure about that, but I am certain that I won't die from a hit by a bar of soap!" I laughed.

Dylan threw a stones across the lake, "To be honest I have thought about it for a long time. I guess my death will be from bleeding too much during the Phase. Or something else. Whatever it is, I don't want to be killed by my dear ones. I don't want to be slaughtered to be redeemed of the pain. Also, I don't want to die alone, like dad. I want to look at the faces of my family when I die, so that their faces are the last memory imprinted on my brain before it stops forever."

He thought for a few more moments, "Although I might not like a bunch of crying faces to be in my memory forever after I die, you know, it might feel like I have given them a grief to hold forever."

I was feeling sick in the stomach. Whenever he mentioned his death I wanted to break something.

A light breeze blew past me, and I shivered. The place was so serene that I could probably stay there forever.

"So," Dylan said, "You're finally going home tonight."

I smiled. I missed mom and dad.

"Thank you," I said.

Dylan sighed, "I am sorry that we kept you here for such a long time. You can now go back to your normal and perfect life."

I made a face, "What makes you think that it was perfect for me?"

"Well, you had luxury, flatterers, power and everything you needed. What else is there to ask for?" he picked up a stone and threw across the water.

I thought he sounded a little wistful, "So, what's your definition of a perfect life?"

Dylan thought for a few seconds, "Well, a perfect day will not have any news of death. There will not be any war between Ranks and everyone will have a smile of satisfaction on their faces, especially my family members."

I nodded, wondering if I would ever fit anywhere in his 'perfect' life.

"You should bathe," he said as he stood, "I'll take a walk and will be back in ten."

I watched him walk away, and wished that he would stay.

I had totally gone crazy!

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