A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

"Like I would give you a parting gift, but I assume that I don't have a choice in the matter," (f/n) replied, taking a step back into the kitchen. Frankly, she wanted to clean the blood, which was dripping down her left cheek. There was also the fact that she really wished that she had a choice, but she had a feeling that if she disobeyed, things would take another turn for the worse.

He could've written his name anywhere on her, but he chose her upper left cheek. Drem could've just as easily picked her midsection or another undesirable region. Then again, anywhere on her was unpleasant, and she wasn't keen on having his name on her face temporarily or permanently.

"Well, of course, you have a choice. You always have a choice, little doe. It's just a matter of what you want my next action to be. You know how forceful I can get. So, unless you can't hold back your rebellious tendencies or are just masochistic, I suggest that you choose wisely," he answered, his sickening grin tugging at his lips.

"And, what parting gift would you like exactly?" she questioned, as venom laced her every word, while she crossed her arms over her chest and maintained her scowl.

"I'll let you decide on that, though; I'm quite sure that you know what I want."

"Well, I certainly know what you need," she remarked in an irritated way, stepping closer to him now.

"Oh, you do? How interesting, and what do I need, little doe?"

Without a moment's hesitation, she closed the distance between them and kneed him in the groin. While she stepped back, he fell forward, as he clutched his attacked region. An expression between pissed off and amused took over his countenance. Before he could compose himself, she bolted for the front door.

Beforehand, she was going to be rational and not do anything rash, but he had asked for it. He should've seen what was coming or noticed that something was up from her tone. Besides, being that close to the front door was too tempting. When she had been some distance from it, and Drem wasn't injured, it made sense to comply and not anger him. Now, though, things were appearing to be somewhat in her favor.

Then again, this was stupid mistake, once she recalled just how quickly the male could recover himself. She had just opened the door when the door was slammed shut. (F/n) was now pressed against the wooden surface, and she could feel his hands on the back of her shoulders. Her body ached from the collision, and it was already sore from the previous happenings.

His breath tickled the back of her neck, while he pressed himself against her. "You really can't help yourself, can you, little doe? Always finding some way to fight against it, yet in the end you always get caught. Still, having prey that doesn't learn does lift my spirits. Regardless, you just forfeited your opportunity to choose your present to me. To think that your gift could've just been a simple kiss on the cheek too," he voiced before he lowered his lips to the back of her left shoulder. "So, what should I do? There are so many options, though; it can't be something that takes too long. Hmm, I won't be back in a body for awhile, so something simple will even satisfy me."

She felt his hands move away from her shoulders before she was roughly turned around. Her back was soon pressed against the door, and his hands now pinned her wrists next to the sides of her head. In the next second, his lips crashed against hers.

A groan of pain escaped her mouth and was muffled by his lips. Her lips still hurt from earlier, and she wanted him off of her. Thankfully, he pulled away soon and released. He pushed her aside and onto the ground before he opened the front door. Peering back and down at her, he commented, "Just be thankful that I let you off the hook easily, little doe." Drem closed the door soon after; it wasn't locked, though.

Like before, she wished to race outside and to her own home. Drem would be right in her line of escape, though, so it would be useless. Her best bet would be to clean her face and figure something out in the future. So far, her plan of waiting wasn't working out too well for her, but what other choice did she have. She couldn't take him in a fight, especially now that he wouldn't be in a body again.

There was the option of trying to get away by using the apple trees again, and her phone was still out there. Drem might be outside for a time, or he could already be back in the house with her. He could just be waiting for her to make such a move. She did notice, however, that the unsettling atmosphere was gone, meaning that Drem was probably still in Otis's body.

Maybe, she could make it if she were quick enough. Picking herself up onto her feet, she turned around and headed towards the hallway. During this, she kept some of her focus on the air around her. The moment that feeling came back, she would know that he was back in the house.

Right when she was about to walk past the bathroom, she heard the lock on the front door click, and she felt the unnerving chill in the air again. She had been too slow; she should've run. Instinctively, she glanced back towards the door but saw nothing. Her attacker turned invisible to her sight once more.

With this knowledge she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She would see to the cuts on her face and clean the blood off. It would be better than just letting the red liquid drip, and she didn't want to make it seem like she had been attempting another escape from him. At least she assumed Drem to be male. Besides, assigning the entity a certain pronoun would be easier than continuing to debate on what pronoun to use. So with that, she proceeded to work on the upper part of her left cheek.

It had been rather enjoyable to watch the mail man drive off in a hurry to the next house, after the worker had seen his condition and had glanced over to Nathan's house. This time, though, the mail man didn't walk up to the home. He probably never would again.

Pleased by the mail man's condition, Drem turned back around and went inside. He didn't need to open the door; he merely passed through before he locked it. The taste of chocolate chip cookies was still on his tongue, which meant that he could taste in his present state. Granted, it wasn't like he could go and eat some more cookies. They would fall right through him, and he couldn't enjoy the strawberry soda either. Being able to pass through things and have immense power certainly did come with its setbacks. Then again, he would be restricting his capabilities from time to time over the next nine days, since he would start having his little doe become dependent on him.

For now he would let her have another break. He had done some damage to her after all. It was nice to see his name on her, though. Nathan never had the luxury of wearing his name, but in the end the antique collector didn't deserve it. Instead, Nathan had rejected his affections and chose the disgusting distraction. Perhaps, things would've worked out if he had dealt with the distraction sooner before Nathan became too attached to her.

Well, he couldn't go back in time, and he had some new entertainment. He had his little doe to mess around with. She was his new company, and she deserved his attention. At the moment, however, he would wait outside the bathroom. There was no way to escape the house from the bathroom unless she tried to bash through one of the walls. Drem doubted that she had the strength to do so, given her current condition, and he would hear such a move before she got too far.

After he made sure that she wouldn't try to flee again, he would start searching for that one particular antique. It wouldn't be a human body, but it would allow her to see where he was at. Of course, being invisible was a significant perk, but he wished for her to be able to know his location from time to time.

This would give her the false impression that he couldn't watch her every move, since he would be restrained to a particular form. Technically, he wasn't observing her every action right now. The bathroom, when she had the door closed, was excluded, though.

Under that wrong assumption, she could believe that he trusted her to not run off on him. This would be vital to getting her to depend on him more. If she thought that she had more of his trust, she might give him some of hers. There was the possibility that she would never trust him and that was highly likely given the short amount of time that he had to work with. Should that be the end result, he would need to change his tactics. He really hoped that wouldn't happen, though.

Being subjected to years of dealing with Nathan ignoring him would be torture. Five years of it had already been enough. He didn't desire to posses that loneliness again, so he would utilize drastic measures if he had too. Honestly, he wouldn't deny that he was being selfish. In his state, however, he could care less. If he had to be greedy with what he wanted, so be it.

Drem refused to let another entertaining person get away from him. When the bathroom door opened and unveiled his prey, he watched her like always. A band-aid was now over his mark, though. "You should know that covering my name is unacceptable," he muttered with a smirk. With a mere flick of his right index finger, he ripped it from her face. A cry of pain left her lips, while her left hand shot up to the area. He could hear a string of curse words leave her mouth, while she examined the nearby area with a glare. Maybe in the future, a glare would no longer be able to paint her facial expression.