(song: "Close" - Nick Jonas)

"We can expect storms with heavy rainfall moving slowly eastward. The wind will gain strength, with severe gales. Following behind it will be an extreme cold front bringing record lows in temperature. Flood warnings have been issued for—" The television was clicked off.

Chloe stood in front of the blacken television screen with Mrs. Apple who held the remote pointed towards it.

"You best do your work quickly and return to your dorm before this storm reaches us. Darkwood is an old school, there's still a few issues when it comes to the drainage system here. If you wait too long the water outside can get deep." Mrs. Apple advised.

Chloe tried to disguise how nervous she felt.

She knew that somehow she had to find away to get her teacher distracted. This was going to be her one and only opportunity to search her teacher's place for the truth.

"Okay, where should I start?"Chloe asked anxiously.

Mrs. Apple reached for her bedroom door-knob and pulled the door closed soundly.

"You won't be going in my room today." She clarified. "The bathroom is right ahead. You can sort the assignments for tomorrows class in the box by my desk."

"Sure thing, no problem. I know you're probably really busy, so if there's anything you need to do, I don't want you to feel like you have to waste time watching me."Chloe hoped that she didn't make her intentions obvious with her words.

The teacher maintained a deadpan expression and lifted an e-cigarette to her lips to draw a puff. "I will check on you in thirty minutes. I expect to see significant progress when I return."

"Yes, Mrs. Apple," Chloe obediently responded.

Mrs. Apple's flowing black skirt swayed over her ankle-length black boots. She looked once over her shoulder thoughtfully and then she focused attention back to her cigarette before slipping out the front door.

Chloe only had thirty minutes, she had to be quick.

At first she drew out two of the assignments and organized them, just in case her teacher returned and she didn't have time to fake productivity. After she was sure that she had done enough to seem convincing, she started her search.

She began with the most obvious choice first, the computer desk. Most of the drawers were filled with papers relating to student work and submissions. Nothing related to what Chloe was looking for. She needed to find more personal information,and there was only one location she knew people would keep their personals—the forbidden bedroom. . .

There wasn't much time; about 15 more minutes and Mrs. Apple would return.

Chloe practically ran towards the room.Her foot connected with a bump on the rug, causing her to twist her ankle and fall forward. She threw out her arms to catch herself against the arm of the couch, but it was already too late; her ankle was injured.

She mentally cursed herself for being so clumsy, but she had to force herself to hop through the sting of pain.

The bedroom was the one place she knew she couldn't be caught in. If she wasn't out of that room by the time Mrs. Apple returned it was game over. Chloe tested the doorknob and was relieved to find that it was unlocked.

When the doors swung the mirror stared back at her. She could see her own reflection. Her facial features gave away her anxiety clearly.

The scratched letters at the top of the mirror stating "Who is the fairest?" taunted Chloe.

She tried her best to ignore the unsettling feeling the antique gave her and focused on finding the evidence she needed.

The bed was freshly made with a large,heavy cranberry comforter. Long, thick draped shut out all light from the room. Maybe Chloe was right and Mrs. Apple was a vampire after all. Who would insist on having their room be devoid of all sunlight?

Chloe strained her eyes to try and look through the darkness. She could see a small flashing white light at the corner of the bed nearest to the mirror. She hopped towards it and ran her fingers along the comforter. The smooth plastic of a cranberry phone slid into her grasp.

Success! She could barely contain her enthusiasm.

Chloe swiped her finger across the screen to see if the phone was locked, thankfully, it wasn't.

A background lit up to reveal the face of Sara in a wedding gown with a groom making the shape of a heart with his hands. She looked happy in this picture. Nothing like the teacher Chloe was accustomed to now. Where was the husband? Was Mrs.Apple a widow? Those were thoughts for another time.

Several application icons littered the interface.

The time at the top of the phone revealed that Chloe only had a few minutes left to spare. It was now or never.

She tapped the messaging icon and immediately a text addressed to Rosalinda Redd was visible.

【Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. -Sara】

Just above the text was an image sent from Sara Apples phone to Rose.

It was the picture of Chloe and Prince together, except Prince's face wasn't blurred in this photo.

Mrs. Apple had sent the photo to Rose.All of a sudden it started to make sense to Chloe. Rose didn't return to further her education; she returned because of jealousy over a misinterpreted photo.

Chloe wanted to read more texts, she needed more information. The phone buzzed in her hand and the screen displayed a notification stating: New Message From Elizabeth.

She felt still as stone. It wasn't odd for Sara to have a text message from her sister on her phone, but the curiosity was maddening. What had they told each other?

Her fingers trembled against the phones surface, her index finger-tip hovered over the message. All she had to do was touch it and the truth would be reveal.

Suddenly, there was the sound of jangling keys and the rattlings of a doorknob.

Mrs. Apple was back and opening the door.

Chloe quickly clicked the phone off and dropped it onto the bed, but her ankle was injured. There was no way she could hop out of the bedroom before being caught.

It was too late.

It was all over for her. . .

The front door cracked open in a mere second, but before it could fully swing, Chloe could hear a voice.

"Mrs. Apple! I really, really need to talk to you for a moment." Dominic's voice was echoing from outside in the hall.

Sara Apple released the doorknob and sprung to face Dominic instead. "Yes? What can I do for you, I don't believe you are one of my students."

Chloe felt an exasperated sigh escaped her lips. Dominic was trying to distract the teacher. This was exactly what she needed. She tried her best to hide her pain and quietly returned to the main room with the boxes and papers. Once she could see Dominic's face just through the parted door she gestured towards with with a thumbs up.

Dominic wore a long overcoat to protect him from the rain and had an umbrella in his hand, but even so, his hair was soaking wet. He must have been in such a rush to get to Chloe that he hadn't even opened his umbrella.

"I just was told to help Chloe White get back to the student dorms before the storm got much worse. You know we're due for a bit of a flood." Dominic explained.

Mrs. Apple maintained her usual stoic expression. She pressed the tips of her slender fingers against the doors surface to fully push it open. She turned her neck slowly to look in Chloe's direction.

"Due to the storm, I will let you return back to your living quarters, but you should expect me to call on you again to finish what you started." She warned.

Chloe felt relieved, not only had Dominic saved her from begin caught, but she'd get another chance to search Mrs. Apple's place. She smiled gently and nodded once. "Yes, Mrs. Apple."

Sara waved both Chloe and Dominic off like they were pests to be removed. "Well, go on then, the both of you."

Chloe slipped on her coat and tried her best to seem perfectly calm with her departure, despite the racing of her heart and the pain swelling in her ankle. She had to make it seem like everything was fine and that all she'd done in her teacher's absence was innocently organize pages. She joined Dominic's side in the hallway and without any more exchange of words, Mrs. Apple closed the door shut.

Dominic's expression changed as fast as the door could close. Chloe wasn't used to seeing Dominic look so utterly irritated with her. He'd always seemed like he took everything in life so lightly. His feet led him to walk ahead of her and much faster than she could keep up with.

"Dominic! You're going too fast for me, wait!" She called out to him.

He didn't stop. "Why should I wait? I told you to just leave everything to me. I was basically asking you to trust me."

Chloe struggled to keep up with him, she couldn't put her full weight on her ankle anymore. "I know, but I had to. We wouldn't have gotten another opportunity like that. I wanted to know the truth for us."

Dominic reached the front doors first. He opened them to reveal the dangerous elements outside and only then did he faced Chloe. "Really? For 'us' you say? I don't think you were thinking about me at all with your little spy act. I think you were just thinking about yourself—"

"—But I found out why Rose is here." She interrupted.

"Who cares, why Rose is here? I asked you to leave it to me, and to not get into any more trouble that you already have. You can't trust anyone who has ties to Elizabeth."

There was the reason right there. Dominic was so angry because he was worried about something bad happening to her.

The rain poured hard and heavy. Puddles had already started to quickly turn into pools of water and mud. The landscape looked like a murky lake of black-ink covering the school grounds. There was no space of grass visible, only ankle-deep depths of water.

Chloe's foot pressed into the unstable wet ground and instantly she fell forward with a sharp cry of pain and caught onto Dominic's arm for balance. She couldn't hide the injury from him now.

"What did you do?" He asked with an accusing tone.

"It's just a sprain! Really, don't worry. I was in a rush to look for information when I tripped on the rug." She quickly rambled.

Dominic groaned deeply and handed to Chloe the umbrella. He then crouched down with his hands swinging back behind him to assume the piggy-back position. "I'll carry you, get on."

"Dominic, I'm fine, I can walk, really. I just need a—"

"No. It's raining, the water is rising fast. It's a quicker trip if I carry you and you hold the umbrella."

"But—" Chloe chewed on the corner of her lip a little out of sheer embarrassment. "—I think I'm too heavy for you."

Dominic couldn't help smiling at Chloe's behavior. "You are adorable. Get on."

Chloe mentally debated with herself a few more seconds, before she caved in. She lowered down and pressed her front against Dominic's back. She allowed her legs to slide smoothly into his arms and her face to press near the side of his neck. Being so close against him made her whole body feel like it was on fire.

Dominic adjusted his grip and then stood fully with Chloe securely held up. He pretended to have trouble with carrying her in a dramatic fashion. "Wow, you weren't joking when you said you were heavy."

Chloe lightly hit his shoulder with a laugh. "Shut up!"

"Keep the umbrella up if you don't want to get wet, White." He advised.

Chloe could barely even think. Her heart was drumming so hard she wondered if he could feel it beating against his back.

Dominic stepped out into the mud, and instantly the umbrella was being hammered against with heavy rain bullets. Chloe fought to keep her gripe and protect them against the rain. She could see Dominic battled through the water that was quickly rising above ankle level and felt guilty.

Here he was, wet, muddy and trudging through a storm with her on his back. She did this. She put him in this position.

"Dominic . . . I'm sorry. About everything, just I'm sorry." Her voice murmured into his ear.

"Don't apologize. I could do this all day. I'm a Huntsman, we're known for our adventurous behavior." He brushed the apology off.

Chloe knew better though. She knew he was freezing and miserable, but playing it down.

As the sky fell all around in a shower of rain with a crack of lightening and a rush of wind, she didn't even care.

All she could feel was the warmth of him pressed to her.

All she could hear was the sound of his voice, and all she knew was that something more dangerous was happening—she was falling in love with him. . .

CRAAAAACK.

Sharp lightening struck against the old tree just before them. It had been a tree that sort of looked like a witch with it's arms out stretched. A tree that Darkwoods' students famously had called the witches curse. But now this tree had met it match with a strong bolt of lightening tearing into wood like breaking bone.

In a split second, splinters fell into the dark waters.

Then a large branch of the tree like a claw from above broke and fell right towards them. . .

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Author's Note: WOW it's been a while since I could work on this story. I've been so busy. But I really want to finish this story and my previous one "I'll Show You" just to have them complete. I feel this story has a few more chapters left before a conclusion! BTW I've added the music I listened to while writing at the top of the chapter. XD