Ryder stared at the unmoving stranger. She felt a flair of self-consciousness wondering how long he had been standing there.

She had no idea what he was doing here, but she did knew that her heart was racing again. She wasn't sure how to acknowledge him. Now realizing she had no idea what his name was, and she didn't feel calling out 'Hey Stranger' would give the right impression.

"Hello?" Was all she could think to say, despite how cliché it felt. It seemed to be enough though, as he silently began to move towards them, the tree branches hardly being rustled.

As the hooded man emerged Tairin quickly pulled Ryder aside, trying to place himself between her and the stranger. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Tairin asked defensively.

The stranger did not answer him.

Ryder gently pulled her arm from Tairin's protective grip. "It's ok Tairin, I know him." She said, trying to ease the tension she felt radiating from Tairin. She moved around to stand in front of Tairin, as if she was the one who was supposed to protect him.

The stranger still did not speak. He simply stood there like a towering, ominous statue.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, staring hard at his shadowed face, hoping this time she might get a glimpse.

"You need to leave with me now, you're not safe here." The stranger said all too calmly. His strong voice sending chills down Ryder's spine.

Tairin was the one who answered. "What are you talking about, she's perfectly safe here. Who the hell are you?" His voice beginning to rise.

But he was cut short by Ryder gently squeezing his arm. "It's ok Tairin, I can handle this." The terror she had evaded from the attack was now finding her in crashing waves, she could hardly breathe.

She saw his internal battle between confusion and anger raging across his face. Tairin was not the type of person to be careless with his friend's safety, and she imagined those feelings were intensified by what had just happened between them. She forced the memory of the kiss from her mind, this was not the time to succumb to girlish thoughts.

"Why do I have to leave? What's not safe?" Ryder asked turning back to the stranger. She believed him but was not about to just throw her safety into someone else's care without understanding what was going on.

The stranger's hands balled into fists by his sides with her question.

A howl sounded somewhere in the distance, the wildness of the beast was disturbingly clear. Ryder noticed she wasn't the only one who had looked in the direction of the unearthly sound. The stranger had turned as well, exposing part of his face in a way she'd not yet seen. The low light revealed a strong cheek bone cutting through a porcelain complexion, and a rough layer of stubble along his firmly set jaw. She wanted to see more of him, but he turned back to her, positioning his face so that it once again was hidden beneath the shadow cast by his hood.

"That." Was all he said.

Ryder hesitated, trying to think through what was happening.

The stranger cut her scrambling thoughts short, "You need to come with me now, the more time we waste the more danger you put your friends in."

He had said the magic words, throwing other people's safety into ended Ryder's deliberation. She was not about to risk anyone getting hurt if she had the power to prevent it.

"What do I need to do?" She felt her hands begin to shake, she wasn't sure if it was from the adrenaline she felt starting to fill her veins, or if it was from the real danger she felt bearing down on her.

"Come with me." The stranger answered, the harshness still resonating in his deep voice.

"Ok" She practically whispered. She tried to put on a confident smile as she turned to Tairin, "I'll be ok."

"What?" His shocked face looked at her like she was a crazy person. "There's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone with this guy!" He said pointing at the stranger and bestowing a withering glare.

"Really Tairin, I'll be fine. I'll call you as soon as I can." She tried to sound casual, but she couldn't stop the waiver in her voice.

"We need to go now." The stranger interjected.

"I'm not letting you go alone!" Tairin was practically shouting in her face.

Ryder didn't know what to say. She turned to the stranger, her eyes pleading for him to make the decision.

"There's no time left." The stranger clearly losing his patience with the whole event, turned his back on them and gracefully slipped between the evergreen trees. "Follow me," he called, without looking back.

Ryder quickly moved after him.

Tairin grabbed her arm again. "You're not seriously going to follow this guy?"

All Ryder could think to say was, "Yes, I am."

She twisted her wrist, and easily pulled free of Tairin's tight grip. She tried to move fast, but was whipped in the face by the damn evergreens. She didn't know how the stranger did it so easily. Ryder heard Tairin trying to move quickly through the trees behind her, cursing under his breath at the intrusive tree branches, and at her.

The stranger stood waiting at the chain link fence. Seeing her he cupped his hands, clearly indicating that she was meant to step in them and he would boost her over. But she was not about to do that. She ignored him and launched herself up grasping the top bar of the fence. She wiggled her way up, using the same technique she used to pull herself out of the dive tank. She paused there for a moment, staring into the dark almond orchard that was not her own.

The fence shook under her, and by the time she looked over, the stranger was already over it and waiting on the other side. She swung her legs over the top and dropped to the ground next to him. Tairin was quickly over the fence, and at her side.

"Let's go." The stranger said quietly, acting as if he was trying to hide his words from someone attempting to eavesdrop.

Ryder grabbed him by the arm. He turned sharply on her, the aggressiveness in his movement made her instantly let go. But she held onto enough courage to ask her question, "What's your name?"

The stranger appeared to stare at her for a moment, his face still hidden.

"Graynin." Then he turned and disappeared into the orchard.

Before following, Ryder looked to Tairin, she could tell he was still fuming. "Okay, let's go." She said, giving him a rough half smile.

Tairin glared down at her but answered in a gentler voice than she had expected. "I go where you go."

She felt a twang of guilt. She had decided to follow the stranger to protect other people, and yet the person she cared most about at the party was here following her into the unknown danger. But she knew it was no use to tell him to stay. She felt a selfish thought rise up at her desire for him to remain with her. Taking a deep breath, she ran blindly into the orchard, down the aisle the stranger had gone, to where Graynin had gone. What an odd name, she thought as her steps quickened.

A girly giggle, floated through the almonds, and a playful male response answered. Ryder realized they weren't alone.

"Shouldn't we warn them that they shouldn't be out here?" Just as her words left her lips there was another blood curdling howl much closer than it had been before.

Graynin not slowing looked behind them, and then at her. "No" he said coldly.

Ryder's side stich screamed at her as she pushed harder to grab Graynin's arm, trying to pull him back. "We have to tell them! We can't just leave them without warning them what's out here." She realized she didn't even know what was out there.

Tairin spoke up, "she's right." She noticed that his voice showed no fatigue from what she felt had already been a strenuous run.

Graynin stopped abruptly and rounded on Tairin. "You go if you want, but she stays with me." The ice in his voice seeming to chill the air around them.

The hood had fallen from Graynin's head, and Ryder was able to see him for the first time, the moonlight breaking through the tree branches in such a way that it illuminated his entire face perfectly. He was younger than she had thought, she had believed him to be in his late thirties if not forties. The way he spoke about justice had made him seem older, but his face revealed that he couldn't be much older than his mid-twenties. His eyes were undeniably gorgeous, a striking blue grey. They reminded her of how the sky looked when thin rain clouds tried to hold back the bright blue sky as it attempted to break through the grey veil. They were complimented by his sandy blonde hair. Everything about him matched the archaic air about him, complete with the sword slung across his broad back. He looked like he was straight out of a movie.

She watched the standoff between the two opposite looking men... For probably too long. Graynin with his light skin and haunting eyes, to Tairin with his warm sun kissed skin and free flowing hair. They seemed to be from opposite ends of the spectrum. The tension between them was palpable, she was growing more uncomfortable by the moment, she couldn't deal with it any longer. "Stop it! Both of you. I don't know what's going on, but Graynin's right we need to keep moving. If something is really chasing us, then we need to try and lead the danger away from whoever else is out here."

Graynin let out a growl, only now taking his eyes off Tairin to direct his command to Ryder. "Let's go."

Ryder looked to Tairin, "please, I don't want anyone to get hurt." She said trying to use reason to encourage him to keep going.

"Fine" he said, moving back into a run.

Ryder could tell he felt betrayed by her lack of support. She didn't blame him, but her instincts told her Graynin was right, and that despite his surly demeanor he had their best interest in mind.

They ran deeper into the orchard, Ryder looked behind her, she couldn't see the light from the neighborhood any longer. Where was he taking them? She began to feel like she was infringing on these unknown trees.

Something moving parallel to them caught her attention, it was big and moving fast. She felt her terror reach up and squeeze her vocal cords, she couldn't even call to warn the other two. She looked to Graynin, he was a few strides ahead of her looking straight ahead, he hadn't seen it.

She knew she had to do something, she couldn't just silently die. She pushed her legs faster, reaching for Graynin's sleeve, she pulled forcing him to acknowledge her, but not hard enough that he stopped running. Graynin glanced back at her, an untrusting scowl on his face. The terror was still squeezing the life out of her vocal cords, so she simply pointed in the direction she had last seen the creature's approach.

She watched as Graynin worked through her gesture, understanding washing over him. Graynin continued to watch their right side where she had indicated. Knowing that she was not the only one aware of the potential threat, eased her terror.

A large animal gracefully cut through the tree line into the aisle in front of them. Graynin stopped abruptly in front of a golden creature who stood purposefully in their way.