Dare's vision cleared seconds later without him falling unconscious. He laid against the hard ground, his muscles aching every time he tried to move. Ignoring the pain, Dare pulled himself up next to the wall cradling his stomach. He opened up his eyes slightly and glanced over at Gabe who in return swiped his head away and shut his eyes as tight as he could.

"Crap, I looked into his eyes." Gabe mumbled under his breath.

"Relax. I don't rage out when people look into my eyes. I've learned to control it." Dare said wearily groaning quietly and holding the side of his head in pain.

"So your an Ender? Why did you say you were human then?" Gabe asked, relaxing a little so that he wasn't huddled against the wall.

"It's a very long story." Dare said with a laugh. That was actually an understatement.

"Then you can tell me later because I still want answers. Anyways, what did you do to Donny?" Gabe asked as he kneeled down and put his hand in Donny's neck. He jumped back in surprise when he felt his pulse.

"I used some of my energy to jolt his heart so it would start beating again." Dare explained, wincing in pain every so often when he would move even the slightest.

Gabe's eyes flashed over to Dare filled with worry and concern. "What effects does that have on you? You know, transferring energy."

"Well, I've only done it one other time and it wasn't near as bad as this. Technically, I just brought Donny back to life so I'm sure the effects will be a lot greater. Hell, I can't even move my hand without my body writhing in pain." As if to show an example Dare move his head towards Gabe and his muscles when into a spasm. He let out an exhausted sigh when it was all over but knew it would get a lot worse.

"I have to go get Alex and Wilson so they can help get you and Donny out of here." Gabe stood up and almost made it out the door but Dare screamed at him.

"You can't," Dare said with a shaky breath as the pain had gotten worse, "t-they can't know what I am. You shouldn't know but I had no other choice. If you tell them, then this problem will get worse. Trust me."

Gabe stepped back in softly trying to avoid stepping on anything. His eyes widened as he stared at Dare's chest that was showing from a large rip in his shirt. "W-what's on your chest?" He stuttered. Dare looked down and saw dark purple veins spreading across his chest like claws that are ready to envelope him altogether.

"It's worse than I thought. Gabe, you need to find Casey and tell her what happened. And don't worry, she's also an Ender." Dare grumbled. Gabe opened his mouth to ask him a question but was quickly shut when Dare let out a painful howl. He shot right out the door with no further questions as Dare clutched his throbbing chest.

"Something's definitely not right." Dare muttered under his strained voice after the pain had subsided a bit. He could feel his heart racing and the veins on his chest growing larger.

Some time later, Gabe came crashing into the room with Casey close behind. Dare had barely any strength to keep his eyes open as his vision was blurred.

"Oh my...what happened? And what's that on his chest?" Casey asked, stepping over the broken printers and Notch knows what else.

"We came in here to find Donny and...his heart wasn't beating. Dare used his energy and brought him back to life." Gabe explained as he kneeled down next to Donny who was still out cold.

Casey ran over and dropped to one knee next to Dare. She gently ripped his shirt so that she could get a better look at the infection spreading across his chest.

"Gabe, you and Donny need to get out of the room." Casey said in a harsh tone.

"What? Why?" Gabe asked.

"Just get out!" Casey growled irritatingly. Gabe whimpered before kneeling down and picking Donny up bridal style. He walked out quickly but glared at the back of Casey's head before stepping out the door. When he was gone, Casey let out a sigh.

"Men."

If Dare could, he would've rolled his eyes at her or maybe smirked at her. But he didn't have the strength to do so. Casey seemed to notice his lack of reaction to her comment but simply shook her head.

"You are such an idiot, you know that? You decided to use most of your energy on a human. Who was dead nonetheless. You know how much us Enders can use, but you decide to bring someone back to life." Casey ranted.

"I...couldn't..." Dare trailed off as his chest tightened and his breathing became more erratic.

"Couldn't what? Watch him die? I'm sorry but you can't bring people back to life like that. Luckily, I have some power left over in the eye of ender I brought over. It'll give you back some energy so you can actually move and we can bring you to Steve's house." Casey opened one of the pockets in her jacket and pulled out a small orb that resembled an eye.

"Here. You'll have to hold it for it to work." Casey lifted his hand up gently and put the cold object in his hand making it feel like a 1,000 pounds. Casey muttered a few inaudible words and immediately the pain was gone and Dare took in a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Casey."

"Yeah, yeah. Next time don't go bring people back to life." Casey said with a playful smile. Dare noticed how he had switched back into a human but he pushed the thought out of his mind and focused on her comment.

"I-I had to. I couldn't-"

"I know. You don't have to explain it to me. I was being selfish and I thought it was stupid to risk your life for Donny's." Casey looked away shamefully. Dare smiled at her and did something neither of them expected.

He hugged her.

At first it was a little awkward but Casey eventually loosened and hugged back tighter than Dare imagined.

"I knew that deep down you loved me." Dare said playfully. But he meant it too. Past the tough, mean coat there's a young girl who actually cared for his well being.

But it's not the first girl who cared for you either, Darrell.

Dare stiffened as the voice filled his head. Even though some of his energy had returned, his heart started beating miles a minute. The voice chuckled darkly in his head as he pulled away from Casey breathlessly panting.

"Dare? You okay?" Casey asked, her dark purple eyes gleaming with concern.

Who are you?

There was no response leaving his question hanging in the air. He blinked a few times before looking back at Casey.

"I...I'm fine. Dizzy spell is all." Dare said with an unconvincing smile. Casey crossed her arms and her eyebrow arch up like she didn't believe his story.

"Let's hope you don't have any more dizzy spells and go back to the others. They couldn't have left yet so we could probably meet up with them." Casey put her hand out for Dare to grab and pulled him back up to his feet. After a few moments, he regained his balance and started to walk out the door with Casey close behind.

***

"Is Donny alright?" Wilson asked as he sprinted over.

"He will be fine. But first, we need to get him to a hospital or something." Gabe said. He carried Donny over to where Alex was kneeling next to Steve and laid Donny down next to him.

Alex stood up and examined the both of them. "Maybe they can stay in the hospital wing but I have a feeling that place is going to be packed."

"Then where will they go?"

Alex sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. Gabe glanced over and stole a look at Alex. Her eyes were dull and the colors weren't as vibrant as they usually were. She had a small smile on her lips but other than that there was no speck of joy surrounding her.

"I guess they could stay at the house. It's no hospital but I do know how to take care of injuries." Alex offered.

"I'm sorry if this is too much trouble." Gabe apologized.

Alex shook her head slightly. "Don't apologize. They both need help and I'd happily offer to heal them." There was a moment of silence that hung in the air before Alex completely turned to him.

"About yesterday...I'm sorry I got so upset with you. It was just...not the reaction I was hoping for." Alex glanced back down at Steve and a small smirk appeared. It took a few seconds for Gabe to render what she was referring to, given everything that happened today, but he soon realized she was talking about the kiss.

"N-no don't be sorry. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I just...it shouldn't of happened." Gabe looked off to the ground to avoid Alex's gaze.

"Why shouldn't it have happened?" Alex asked.

"Well, it definitely wasn't in the right moment, and it just wasn't the kiss you deserved." Gabe fumbled with his hands hoping Alex wouldn't see his nervousness.

She didn't make eye contact and stared at the wall for several moments. Gabe was worried that he had offended her but she returned back to reality and flashed a small grin his way. "I appreciate that."

Gabe smiled only the slightest as he faced the ground so she couldn't see his blush. Seconds of silence rang through the air that would've been awkward if it hadn't been so deafening. He tried to think up a conversation starter but his mind could only flash back to the day before.

Finally the silence was interrupted when footsteps were heard echoing down the hall. Gabe turned to see the creator of the sound but accidentally crashed into Wilson - who was conveniently standing right behind him. Gabe stumbled back but looked up at the guy who had a wide grin plastered on his face and his eyes were squinted knowingly.

"Glad to see you two made up." Wilson giggled. Gabe punched him in the shoulder but it only caused him to laugh louder. Gabe's face was growing red with embarrassment as he grumbled about Wilson needing to shut his mouth.

The footsteps were heard once again taking the attention off of Gabe. All three of them turned around to see Dare leaning on Casey but had nodded his head to signal that he was okay. Gabe let out a sigh of relief seeing that Dare was in a better condition than he was a few minutes earlier. He also felt a little more comfortable since Dare was in human form.

"Woah, what happened to you?" Wilson asked as they both got closer.

"Nothing. As we were looking for Donny I hit my head on a rafter that was hanging from the ceiling." Dare rubbed the top of his head as if it was sore from impact.

"I guess that's one of the disadvantages of being tall." Wilson nodded over at Dare who was about a full block taller than Casey, and this was when he was leaning against her.

"So will Steve and Donny be alright?" Casey asked. Dare moved away from her and leaned against the wall so she could tend to the two. They both started muttering medical terminology that the three guys didn't understand so they back out of their conversation.

Gabe shook his head glumly as he looked at Steve from a distance. "His leg doesn't look too well, does it?"

Both Dare and Wilson's eyes went wide and they stared at Gabe like he was a madman. He looked back and forth between the two before questioning. "What?"

Wilson smirked over at Dare and shrugged his shoulders. "I just weird to see you concerned about Steve. I thought you hated the guy."

"I don't hate him, but he can be a bit much sometimes." He lowered his voice into a whisper. "I like Alex but he's always there to disapprove when I'm with her."

Dare looked away and desperately searched for an answer that would encourage Gabe somehow, but none came. "I don't know what to tell ya. Try to think about it for Steve's point of view."

Gabe sighed, obviously bothered by the vague advice but knew he should listen to it. "He's her older brother so I expect for him to be overprotective but..." He trailed off with a groan of frustration.

"But there's more to it." Dare stated. "Steve is probably so overprotective because of something that happened in the past. Plus, growing up with a demon will probably cause some trust issues in the family."

Gabe peered over to catch a glimpse of Alex, who was wrapping medical tape around Steve's leg.

"We have to get them down to the house." Alex stated to Casey who nodded in response.

"What happened to Donny?"

They all turned their heads to the source of the question and found Notch strolling up behind them like nothing happened. His head was still bandaged up and there was a small bruise forming below his eye.

"Uh...he was caught in the explosion." Wilson glanced around at everyone else attempting to explain it but the uncomfortable situation wasn't helping.

"Wait, you found Steve? And nobody told me?!" Notch hollered in frustration, staring at them all with a "Are you serious" look.

"We're sorry. Now that you're here, we can carry them both down to my place." Alex said.

"Why don't I just use the teleporter and teleport us all down there?" Notch asked pulling out a small device from his pocket. Casey's eyes darted over to Dare who was intensely examining the piece of equipment Notch was holding.

"What's a teleporter?" Casey asked with slight tension behind her voice. Only Dare would be the one to understand her anxiety, though.

"It's a small device that can teleport a person anywhere in the world." Notch explained with a hint of a smirk playing on his face from how naive she seemed. Casey made uneasy eye contact with Dare who was also unsettled by this new "discovery".

"Shall we go now?" Notch asked, but already knew the answer to. Wilson walked over and picked up Donny bridal style. Dare did the same with Steve except he wasn't having problems like Wilson.

"Maybe Gabe should-"

"No, I got this." Wilson assured through clenched teeth. Dare rolled his eyes at Wilson's stubbornness to be the "alpha male".

"Okay then. Let's go." Notch pushed everyone closer together so that the teleporter would teleport all of them. Once they were all huddled up close, Notch set the device to send them to Alex's house. He pushed down a button and they were all consumed with blue particles.

In moments they all appeared in front of the old wooden house. Alex stepped up and opened the door for everyone to enter. Dare had to duck down before walking in yet still managed to hit his head on the door frame.

"Stupid door." He muttered. After laying Steve on the couch he rubbed his forehead and winced as he touched the spot where it hit. Donny was laid down on the recliner not to far away from Steve and the others surrounded around the two.

"I need to talk to you in the guest bedroom." Casey whispered over to Dare. He excused himself from the room and followed Casey in their temporary abode. After shutting and locking the door, Dare turned to Casey.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Casey was sitting on the bed, her head resting in her hands.

"Casey?" Dare asked with a shaky voice, worry filling inside of him.

"Why did this mission have to become so...difficult?" She mumbled through her hands.

"How's it becoming difficult?" He sat down on the bed causing it to sink lower towards the ground.

"Herobrine. The teleporters. The goddamn world! It's all difficult." Casey's hands dropped to her sides where she fiddled with the bottom of her shirt.

"Casey..." Dare put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to his chest. "This mission has come with a lot of challenges and has become increasingly more difficult. But you can't let it get to you. You can't let anyone or Herobrine to get into your head, to make you afraid."

Casey snorted and shook her head with a smile playing on her lips. "You think people scare me? I've been to the darkest depths of the world multiple times, so a guy with flashlights for eyes doesn't scare me."

"What do you mean by darkest depths?" Dare asked. Casey's smile fell and her enthusiasm quickly disintegrated.

"Nothing. It was just an expression." Casey mumbled almost too quietly. She slid Dare's hand off of her shoulder and slid farther away from him.

"Why are you upset all of the sudden?" Dare asked as soothingly as possible.

"It's nothing."

Dare laughed quietly yet was lacking any humor or joy. "Why do you do this to yourself?" He questioned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Her monotone voice made it impossible to tell if she was actually feeling emotions or not.

"You distance yourself from the ones who actually care for you. It may not be my strong point, but I'm trying to be the person you can come for comfort and whatnot. I really am trying."

"I don't need comforting. And you only play the dad role around other people. When it's just you and me, we are simply agents." Casey pushed herself off the bed and went to reach for the door handle but stopped, hovering inches away from the knob.

"I don't know if this occurred to you, but I'm not acting. I never was." Dare was now off the bed and standing behind her. Her eyes never left the door as she processed his words.

"Then start acting because I don't need you to care for my feelings or any of that crap." Her hand reached closer to the knob until the cold metal pressed against her hand and she turned it ever so slightly.

"What do you want me to do? Ignore you while your thoughts eat you alive and there's nothing left but an emotionless robot?" Dare snapped at her. Immediately he regretted his words as he saw her pained look and her eyes swell with tears.

"Casey I-"

"No." Her harsh whisper sent goosebumps down his skin. "You said what you wanted to say. But maybe life could be a little better as an emotionless robot. Then you can't feel the pain from the ones closest to you." Casey slid out of the room before Dare could utter in some type of apology. He heard a window open and shut a couple moments later and knew she was out of the house. He fell back on to the bed with a sorrowful sigh and put his head in his hands like Casey had earlier.

You failed the first time, why would this time be any different?

That same voice he heard earlier echoed through his head as he focused on her question. When he realized what it was talking about, the horrible memories replayed as he begged them to stop. After all the memories had passed, Dare fell to the ground with soft sobs escaping his mouth.

Fine, don't answer my question. But remember, you failed once. And you'll fail again.

•••

Hello my wonderfuls! Okay first off sorry this update is late blah blah blah school is stressful yada yada yada next one will be sooner (that's a lie). ANYWAYS, I have a very important announcement.

THIS BOOK OFFICIALLY HAS 1000 READS AND 100 VOTES!!! Guys!! Are you serious?! We came TWO chapters early and the reads are still growing!!!

In other news...I would like to make another announcement that you guys probably aren't reading because you just want to read the stupid story. I've decided that this book will most likely have a sequel and I'm thinking about possibly a trilogy. Thoughts?

Thank you everyone for the reads, I'll see you next chapter, and sorry for the cliffhangers!

-Crazy