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    Waking up in Hunter's bed and not remembering how I got there was freaking me out less every time it occurred. The only annoying thing was the look on his roommate's face when he knocked on the door and opened it finding us in bed together. I can still feel the jealousy come off him in waves the first time it happened. Now he sighs dramatically and rolls his eyes heavenward. "Honestly!" He would say "Rub it in why don't you!" It is quite rare for someone like him someone from a strong lineage to not have a Bonded, arranged or otherwise. Whenever I asked him about it, Hunter would shake his head or distract me with something else, like kissing me. Kissing me worked well, a little too well sometimes. Yet the guy would never answer, look away into the distance and I learned that was my queue to stop pestering him.

    A low grunt escapes me as Hunter lands a full roundhouse kick to my ribs and I swear some of them just cracked from the pressure. "Focus, Ains, focus." He all but purrs at me as he swipes his left leg at me but this time I don't fall for the faint and block his right hook. 

    OW!

    Gnashing my teeth at the strength my body has to absorb, I throw a punch of my own and graze his left jaw. 

    Dammit!

    He catches me around the waist as my momentum carries me onwards and chuckles. "Better. Far better than in the beginning." I feel his lips brush my cheek "Good job baby." It is stupid,  and I shouldn't have felt proud,  but I did. I was proud that he complimented me like some lunatic graving his approval.   We have been training after and before school since our wonderful Head Master announced us as one of the few ST. Vincent's Bonded Pairs in The Trails. Although they clearly stated there would be no betting, bets were being placed discreetly on who would get to where. I didn't like us dangling at the bottom, I had expected us to be somewhere safely in the middle.

    Although Hunter had said that it was because no one around really knew meknew me. How could they as I wasn't sure who I was myself most of the time? It felt like two distinct parts of me were opposites of each other and were now starting to merge and both sides were fighting it. As weird as it sounds, the doctor in the medical ward agreed. According to her, this is a process most others went through as they grew up, but my circumstances were drastically different, she told me that this was a gradual process and could take years to complete.

    Unfortunately, we didn't have years for my body to stabilise and accept my vampiric side of things, we only had a few weeks at most. So it is a good thing that I am rip off the band-aid kind of guy. I would have done so had I known where the damned thing was! Even Hunter couldn't help me who was my sole reference on these things with him being an Heir and all.  So now I am stuck in this half stage; sometimes showcasing vampiric feats and others tripping over my own feet on a mirror-smooth surface. Unable to move either forwards or backwards.

    I was hoping that these training sessions with Hunter would help harmonise my body since I have been doing more and more things that would have Elina raise her brows or glare at me in disdain. Good thing she wasn't here then. The only thing that did concern me was the outburst of such severe energy at random times that walls cracked and people got first to second-degree burns when caught by the said energy. According to the school doctor and the High Council/ Founding Royals, there was physically nothing wrong with me. Yet they could not explain where this energy came from or why my body was releasing it.

    Oddly enough, the Head Master did not look startled or disbelieving when he heard about it, I thought he looked more resigned than anything else. 

    So he knew about the energy waves, as I have come to call them, why would he not tell me about it?

    Before I could even ponder that question Hunter's voice sounded in my head Maybe he was hoping you didn't have them?

    True, that might be possible. Yet he does not strike me as someone who would hold back information of this magnitude, even if someone in my family had an affliction that would cause it. He gives me the vibe of being a super good and close friend of my parents, so I doubt he willingly kept that type of information from me. 

    Hunter'slack of an answer has me frowning at the charcoal-lined paper in front of me. The flow of the drawing abruptly came to an end, causing the line I was making to skitter all over the main art of the drawing. "That is rather good." The voice behind me says, making me jump and drop the charcoal and in the haste to pick it up I almost knocked down the easel. "Careful." Hunter chides me as he straightens the easel and hands me the charcoal.  "Careful." Hunter chides me as he straightens the easel and hands me the charcoal. "You undoubtedly have talent." He leans forward to examine the scenery I drew.

    Taking a step back, I critically consider the dark lines that form an outer wall with a rusty gate that hangs on one hinge that separates you from the hidden paradise past the gate, where there is a riot of wildflowers and young children moving along the tall grass. "I have been seeing this for the last few days and I have already made a pencil sketch but it will not leave me alone. Usually, when I sketch something in pencil, the image will either leave me alone or grow and mutate to something in colour that I need to paint. Yet this one stays the same, with or without pencil drawing. So I thought maybe charcoal would help, but so far no success.

    "Do you have this in pencil?" Hunter's question catches me off guard as he turns to look at me seriously. "I know this place but the name of it escapes me. " He puts his hands on his hips in frustration, "Maybe father can help, and I know I have seen or been there before." He mutters to himself as he reaches out and touches the wildflowers through the gate. "I know I have."  

    "And that is what frustrates me too," I say as I dig through all the loose papers scattered around on the floor in search of my notebook. "I can't put it into words but it feels like home. Aha!" Pulling out a wine-read leather-bound book, I hand it over to Hunter. "It is somewhere in the middle," I say turning to see if I can find a bookmark or anything that could work so I can mark the relevant page. "Give me a second and I will find you a bookmark or something." 

    "No need." His voice is barely audible as he flips page after page. "I found it."The pencil sketch covers two separate pages and Hunter is staring gobsmacked at them. The fingertips of his right hand trace the shape of a little boy seen from the back in old fashioned style clothing running towards the gate towards the woman in a long billowing gown waving at him. The boy has his hand outstretched to the gate, intent to open it and step through.

    "Remember the dream you had about the two young boys chasing each other in the woods?"The question surprises me, I didn't think I told him about it though. "Our Bondshares every thought past and present." He snaps the book closed before my face explodes in embarrassment at all the adult thoughts I have had lately, "This was the place they started from. This castle."  

    "Castle?"I asked, looking at the charcoal drawing once more. "Pretty sure that is nocastle." I gesture to the thick wall. "It is more a wall to keep unwanted visitors out that invite them in." Hunter rolled his eyes, clearly not seeing what I was seeing.

    "That is not what I mean." He takes a deep breath, holds it for a few seconds and lets it out. "What do you know about the disappearance of the Count and his wife?" This was not a question I was expecting but I answered it dutifully, reciting the textbook answer.

    "Thaton a full moon's eve more than a decade ago the Count and his wife were out on a night stroll through their Outpost called Shade Brook Citadel when something called for their attention outside of it and they were never seen again." I look at Hunter confused, as he stares right back at me, obviously waiting for the so-called penny to drop. "What does that have to do with my drawing?" 

    "I believe, no I think THIS," he points to the drawing and holds up the notebook, is Shade Brook Citadel. Back when the Count and his wife were still around to manage the estate."  As if sensing my next question he continued speaking, "The estate has been abandoned for a while now. Right after the Count and his Wife disappeared others tried to run the estate in their stead until they returned but the longer they remained gone, the more it fell into disrepair." He looked sad at the drawing that was brimming with life, "It lies abandoned and forgotten now, a silent reminder that they are not returning."

    He grinned "And on that note, let's get some running done. This talk makes me feel cooped up so let's go outside." He was right, it was a heavy topic and the sunshine outside my dorm room's window was beckoning me. Taking a deep breath standing in the sunshine on the grass field near the gym, I felt my mood lift as we continued with some stretching before Hunter set an easy pace. It wasn't until we had done a few laps around the building that I noticed that we had an audience.

    I wonder what they could want. At my words, Hunter glanced out of the corner of his eye at the two people dressed in the colours of one of the Light Royals, LadyVanessa's people I think as there is no blue to be found on their uniforms, just a stripe of gold glittering in the sun. Probably keeping an eye on the competition as Lady Madeline has shown a clear favour for you.

    Theyfaded away from the centre of my thoughts the more laps I did, until Huntersuddenly sped up and yelled in my head Lastone is the loser! And dashed away from me at top speed. Unable to containmy own laughter as we both were quite competitive, I chased him while a feelingof peace came over me as we both flew over the grass and around the building. 

    Feeling carefree for the first time in a long while, I ran and ran until we reached the last flat stretch of grass of the lap. Without a thought I dove forward and tackled Hunter from behind. Well, that was the plan but he must have somehow picked up on my mischief as he tried to force himself to go faster only to trip and we both tumbled down just before either of us could cross the imaginary finish line. Weboth chuckled as we wrestled lightly, until the sun was blocked by someone'sshadow. Looking over my shoulder I saw Jeremy glance down at us with an eyebrow raised, arms crossed in front of his chest.

    "Whateverthat was, was impressive especially the last part." He said, making me grin asI was enjoying this new happy felling. "Unfortunately, it has to end here asthe both of you are being summoned to the Head Master's office. " And just likethat the cold reality of the here and now washed away the happy feeling as thegrin slid of my face and we both got up.