meeting them was always cruel and in a way that was never expected.

this time around, he was currently running away from a hoard of soon-to-be beasts on the edges of valorfell. their fangs craving blood and jacks was the nearest meal.

chaos was recruiting again, despite the numerous protests from jacks. like always, his old friend didn't give him much warning before his little monsters were set loose like hellhounds.

so there he was, running through an old grave yard covered by a heavy blanket of fog and moonlight. hardly seeing a thing before he collided with something that was most definitely not a statue given the way it let out a shriek of fright.

they had fallen to the ground in a heap due to their collision, but jacks wouldn't allow his surprise to be a lapse in judgment. without a thought he rolled them over, trapping them under his weight with his thighs providing a cage and his arms swung up with his dagger.

the blade glinted in the moonlight, his chest heaving with adrenaline and was about to plunge the dagger downward when he froze.

it was a girl.

a girl who was trembling, frightened out of her mind with her arms pulled up to shield her face. not that it would've done her much good, considering the fact he was about to plunge his weapon into her heart.

jacks' shoulders relaxed, his arms dropping to his sides, though he didn't make much effort to move off of her. he mostly just stared at her in disbelief. "what are you doing here?" his voice was as cold as the air and she flinched at the bite of it.

she lowered her arms slowly, peaking up at him from the ground she was still being pressed into. her breath hitched as their eyes met, hers the darkest brown he had ever seen, looking like fresh chocolate.

jacks immediately regretted not stabbing her.

"i'm trying to get home." her voice was quiet and floated along the fog. her eyes glanced at the dagger he still held.

"you're trying to get home? why on earth are you out here?" his tone came out more condescending than he intended and she narrowed her eyes.

"i was told it was a short cut."

jacks scoffed. "whoever told you that, clearly wants you dead."

she opened her mouth to question him, but right at that moment a horrifying roar tore through the air and they stiffened. jacks stood and didn't spare the girl another thought as he took off running, though within a few seconds he heard the crunch of hurried steps behind him.

looking over his shoulder, he saw the girl running after him. he clenched his jaw and bit out a harsh whisper that was on the cusp of a shout. "don't follow me."

"i'm not following you," she bit out. quite venomously. "i'm running away from whatever the hell that was."

jacks groaned out in agitation. they could probably smell her from here. "you're going to get us both killed."

"you ran into me—"

"you were in the way!" he bit back, a bit louder than he intended.

"you were in my way you fucking prick!"

he shot her a bewildering look over his shoulder. "you're unbelievable."

her jaw dropped but they kept a fast pace as they dashed through the forest. "you were going to stab me—"

"i thought you were one of them."

"one of who?"

"a vampire. well, an almost-vampire. one look at you sweetheart, and they'd bleed you dry." he tried his best but his eyes slated down to her low cut chemise that was encased in a brown leather corset. rather appealing, but even more so to a blood thirsty monster.

she blushed but ignored his look with a scoff. "there's no such thing as vampires."

"well then by all means, stop following me and find that out for yourself." another roar tore through the night sky and they managed to run even faster.

the forest started to thin out and the ground became more rocky and wet, making it extremely easy to either twist or break an ankle. the sound of waves crashing met his ears and he hadn't realized how far they had run until then.

jacks slipped slightly as he made a sharp turn, the girl cursing under her breath as she too slipped up.

"stop following me!"

"no!" her voice was both gruff and breathless, too frightened to be genuinely mad at him for trying to leave her behind.

he spotted a cave, though he would have to tread through rough waters to get to it. the water was admittedly shallow, but the tide was strong and the rocks were as sharp as razors. he prayed neither of them got cut.

they came to a stop, eyeing the expanse of water they had to cross and he spared her a glance. "be careful. if you bleed you're as good as dead." the girl nodded, thankfully not putting up an argument.

after reluctantly helping her through the water, her nails digging into his arm and he pulled them through the tide, they entered the cave with echoing footsteps on the damp stone. she peeled herself away from him as if he burned and slumped against the wall, panting and gripping her sides. they had run quite the distance and he had forgotten how easily humans got winded.

jacks took a moment to finally look at her, though it was still difficult due to the half covered moon being the only source of light. she was tall, her skin sun kissed and her hair at the moment looked so dark it gave the impression of spilled ink. his eyes danced down to the bottom half of her dress, which was now soaked with water and covered in mud. though he could faintly make out stitching of wild flowers in the fabric, making it look like a meadow had been rained out.

her eyes caught his and his glowing eyes could just faintly make out her cheeks turning red. the girl straightened and crossed her arms, then quickly uncrossed them after his gaze swept down to her chest.

she cleared her throat. "why were you out there?"

"did you forget the part where we were running from vampires?"

she shook her head, "before that. if it was so dangerous, why were you there?"

he raised a brow at her. "i was visiting a friend."

"a friend who lives in a dangerous graveyard with monsters?"

he shrugged. "yes." she didn't believe him, but that wasn't his problem. jacks sighed and leaned against the wall as well, opposite to her. "who told you that was a short cut?"

she pursed her lips and he smiled cruelly. "go on. what is it? a petty school feud?"

the girl grimaced. "i'm twenty two, i'm not a child."

jacks shrugged a shoulder impartially. everyone was younger than him. "whoever it was, they must not like you very much." she crossed her arms again, as if to shield herself and she looked away. jacks tsk-d, "have i been the bearer of bad news? did i shatter some reality of yours? broken your heart?"

"will you stop?" her voice came out small and he observed her closely. she looked hurt, like he had a dug into a wound that was already bleeding.

"what's your name?" he asked, not being able to abate his curiosity for long.

"charlotte."

"do you have a last name, charlotte?"

"not one that you need to know."

he smiled, loving how people try to bite back at him. always gaining a sense of amusement when he pissed them off. it helped distract him from his own pitiful reality.

"what about you?" charlotte asked. "what's your name?"

he considered telling her who he was for a moment before deciding against it. "jacks."

"and do you have a last name worth knowing?"

he shook his head. "sorry, honey. it's worth knowing but not in a currency you can pay."

charlotte huffed but didn't push him further. there were a few beats of silence and he was sure he could hear the beat of her heart echoing in the cave. when she spoke suddenly, it nearly made him flinch despite that her tone was soft. "was it really vampires?"

he bit at his cheek as he watched her. "who told you it was a short cut?"

she sounded exasperated. "why do you care?"

"i don't care, i'm simply curious by nature."

charlotte gnawed at her bottom lip and his eyes pulled towards the sight as if her mouth was his center of gravity— he needed an apple.

"my mother."

well, that snapped him out of it. "what?"

she looked away from him shyly, long lashes fanning the tops of her cheeks as she stared down at her worn boots that peaked out from the bottom of her dress. "i'm sure she didn't know."

charlotte didn't sound as if she believed what she said, but it wasn't his job to mend wounds.

jacks hummed. "maybe."

dawn reared it's head, making the sky twinge a violent shade of lilac and charlotte seemed to melt, all of her bones relaxing when she realized the night was finally over. he grinned at her, quite wickedly which made her tense up again when she caught it. "do i make you nervous?"

she stuck up her chin. "you look like you make a lot of people nervous."

"most people would call it charm."

they stared at each other for a long moment, the sun slowly warming their skin and the waves lapped lazily at the caves entrance. his eyes flicked down to her mouth again, the flesh looking soft and stained by cherry wine.

jacks cleared his throat and pushed away from wall, now making a point to not look at her. he was half tempted to bite into his arm. "time to go."

"but i don't know how to get home. i don't even know where we are." charlotte called after him and he heard her swear when she got back into the chilled water.

"that's not my problem," he called out, still marching forward, the waves bending around him as if he commanded the seas.

"you brought me here—"

he spun around, "you followed me!"

she stepped back at his shout but immediately let out a cry and she crumbled to the ground. seconds later the water around her started to turn crimson.

"fucks sake," he muttered. jacks pinched the bridge of his nose, yelling at himself in his head as he made his way over to her. he never knew better, did he? he always let this happen.

they always got hurt.

charlotte eyed him cautiously as he approached, watching him with the intensity of a wounded animal as he bent down and scooped her up into his arms. jacks' jaw was screwed tight and he refused to look at her as he waded them through the water to the shore. the rocks were still jagged but less knife like and he gently set her down.

"i told you to be careful."

"i was being careful, until you shouted."

he ignored her and pushed her dress up to her knee, seeing a decent sized gash that was slashed across her calf in a jagged sort of way and it continued to drip blood onto the rocks.

she eyed the wound wearily and looked behind them into the trees. "will they come?"

jacks shook his head. "they can't be out during the day, we're fine." he then took hold of part of his shirt sleeve with his teeth and tore, the sound of the fabric ripping filling his ears. she watched him with bated breath as he wrapped it tightly around her leg to stop the bleeding.

"thank you," charlotte's voice was quiet and hesitant and jacks couldn't help it as his eyes danced up to hers.

he desperately needed an apple.