In this house, there is no sunlight to wake you up. In fact, you will not know the time of the day if you don't have a clock. Thankfully, Lysander has one in his room and it is nine in the morning and I smell breakfast! I was so eager to run to the kitchen, I forgot the werewolf lying on my stomach.

My face warmed up as I recalled the events of last night. Brushing a hand through his hair, I poked his cheek to wake him up. "Lysander. Wake up. There's food."

"Hmmp." He mumbled, hiding under the blanket.

"I will push you off this bed if you don't get up right now."

"You can't." The damn werewolf is awake.

"I can't? Are you sure?"

"Yes." He trapped me in between his arms and moved up so we're face to face. He licked his lips and bit my neck. "Besides, everything I want to eat is here."

I closed my eyes and arched my back before rolling under him quickly. I found my clothes on the floor by the bed and put them on. Lysander sent me a scowl as I looked at him. "Love you, puppy." I threw him his shirt before running out of the room.

In the kitchen, I did not see a Rami, but the food and coffee are there on the table. I'm not sure Rami has eaten yet because there are three plates prepared and the food look untouched. I then decided to check his room but all I saw was his undone bed and stuff all over the floor.

I continued walking to the second hall and found Rami in the library, sitting on a chair with a coffee on the table beside him. "Good morning." I greeted, taking a seat in the middle of the room.

Rami narrowed his eyes at me. "I hope you know that these walls are thin and not soundproof. Hope you had fun last night."

"Oh." I'd like for the Earth to swallow me down now. "I'm so sorry."

"See, you were pretty loud but Lysander." He cringed. "He -- "

"What are you reading?"

Rami smirked but went along as I changed the topic. "Vampires." He took the seat across from me and set the book on the table between us. "I was just curious about how they are immortal. They aren't, really. We know they can be killed by a wooden or silver stake pierced through the heart. But they are the hardest to kill, before werewolves. See, werewolves can be killed with anything, as long as their hearts are damaged. But for vampires, it can't just be anything. It has to be wood or silver. If those things are not used, they just heal themselves over and over."

"That's great and awful at the same time."

"Yeah, right? Imagine all five massive extinctions and every supernatural beings who can't die easily going through the same thing? Like, 'Oh, everyone but us is dying again? Great.'" Rami giggled. "Imagine if they have to live with aliens next?"

"I will be so jealous that they get to see aliens and we don't." I flipped through the previous pages of the book and saw a chapter about the biology of vampires. I need to learn this. If I'm going to help Idris make a cure for his clan about allowing them to walk under the sun again, I need to understand how their body works. I can't fix something if I don't understand it. "Rami, would you like to be my lovely assistant in creating a cure for vampires?"

Rami scrunched his nose. "Vampires? Hmm.. What's in it for me?"

"You win best person of the year?"

"Or, you tell your vampire friend to become my slave and work for me. You know, like when I want some Chinese food and I'm too lazy to leave my house, I'll just ring a bell and they'll bring it for me?"

"Rami!"

***

During breakfast, it was just horrible. Rami wouldn't stop with the sexual innuendos. As soon as we went to the kitchen, Lysander is there already waiting for us and that was when the torture began and I just wanted to evaporate. Thankfully, Lysander brought up the topic of what we will be doing with hunters and the government, that's when Rami became speechless.

Just as Eva said, we can't hide forever. We need to do something and right now, none of us knew what to do, which is pretty disappointing. We came all this far and nothing. I've thought about what Eva said, to talk some peace into them but I'm almost certain it won't work. So until we have a plan, we're stuck here.

"Since we'll be here for a while, I need to get more clothes. You know, to protect me from the cold because for some reason it's cold at night." Rami sighs. "You kids know about protection, right?"

"Get out."

"I will. Because like I said, I'm going to buy clothes. And new glasses." Rami laughed. "I'll also go back to the library and do some research about the over sized mosquitoes. I'll just walk there since it's kind of close, but if I'm not back by two, please pick me up?"

"Yes boss."

"Behave when I'm gone." He glares at us. "Seriously."

Lysander shot me a wink. "Yes boss."

While Rami left, Lysander went out for a run and I stayed in the library to read more about vampires. I had a notebook and pen next to me while I read the books. I felt like I was in school again, taking notes every time I read a book and I miss it so much. If nothing happens to us after a couple of months, I'm going to attend the closest college I could find. Of course, I can only go to community colleges right now because I don't have enough money for a university. But it doesn't matter where I go as long as I get education.

"Vampires have hearts which beats slower than humans." I read out loud what I write on my notes. "And that means their circulation of blood is different than humans." As I continued to read, I thought about Idris. I wonder how he is and where his clan decided to go. Also, what makes him so sure that I could help him? Me, out of all people? I'm literally just a student who just happened to find a werewolf. Why couldn't he have chosen Rami? Or Doctor Rai? Or Doctor Maxine? Clearly they know more than me. But, I may never understand vampires. Just like right now. I'm reading all these things and they don't make sense. I'm trying to find connections on what makes them burn in sunlight. Before, in movies, I used to think it's just by magic that makes it that way. But they have a saying in 21st century. Magic is just science that we don't understand yet.

Around one, I've learned a few things which may help me. Some parts of their body do not receive blood, or not enough of it because of the way their blood circulates. Their skin is highly sensitive to UV rays, much more than humans, and the longer they stay by sunlight, the more they burn. Also, their blood dries up quickly, which is why they need to drink blood. It's like running out of blood. When they drink blood, it stabilizes the circulation for a while, until it starts to dry out again.

Side note: if a vampire does not drink blood when they need, they will go in a state called bloodlust. A vampire will be out of control and hunt down anything that has blood, and won't be able to control themselves until they get the last drop of blood. While in that state, the vampire also gets aroused, which is part of the uncontrollable, euphoric action.

"An. Did you hear me?"

"Yes, honey I heard you for the tenth time."

"And what's your answer?"

"I said yes."

The book was suddenly shut and Lysander blocks the view with a stern look. "Are you aware of what you just agreed to?"

I gave him a sheepish smile. "No."

"I just asked if we could eat somewhere for dinner without Rami."

"Oh." My stomach just flipped. "My answer is still yes."

Lysander smiled shyly. "Cool."

"Cool."

He and I sat there for a few seconds just smiling at each other until I heard the ticking of the clock at the wall. It's thirty minutes until two and Rami still hasn't returned. "We have to get Rami."

"Who's Rami?" He tilted his head, still smiling. Then his eyes widened. "Oh! Rami! Yeah! Of course."

***

Not far from the library, there's a small plaza. I didn't find Rami in the library, so I'm assuming he's still shopping. I told Lysander to stay in the car since I will be back really quick, but now I wished I took him because I'm lost and he must know the place better than me.

"Miss, would you like to buy some perfumes? It's half off today." An old man asked as I stopped to let some people pass by. It's quite crowded here. "This smell will suit you."

"No thank you." I rejected kindly as I slid through people. I walked for about fifteen minutes until I finally saw the curly haired boy inside a video game store, playing with a bunch of teenagers.

Rami has three bags looped around his arms and his new pair of round, thin wired glasses are looking really good on him. "I've been looking for you!" I exclaimed, drawing his attention to me, from the screen.

He quickly returned to the screen and groaned. "Damn it. Drew, you made me lose, to these children."

"You just suck, old dude."

"You wanna fight?" Rami pretended to look angry while the teenagers laughed.

"We'd like to, but you'd lose again, so it's okay. You should go, your mom is waiting for you."

I gasped. "Mom?" Rami cackled and gave the thirteen-year-olds a high five. "I'll have you know, I'm younger than him."

"Come on, mother." Rami snickered, taking my arm and leading me out of the store. "Nice to meet y'all. Thanks for letting me play. I'll kick your ass next time. I just lost my touch. I haven't played in a while."

"Do I look like a mother? Let alone, your mother? I swear, kids these days don't know how to be respectful to the -- "

"You do sound like my mom." Rami grinned. "So, is daddy with you? Is that what you called him last night?"

"Fuck off."

Rami and I had to take the long way to get back in the car, not wanting to be stuck with the sea of customers at the plaza. We had to walk in the back, which is such a small path, and go around to the front. As we walked, I shared to him what I learned from the books.

"That would make sense. I used the internet on the library and learned that as well." Rami also took some notes of his own and put the folded paper on his pocket. "It's literally the heart that fucked everything up. It beats slowly, so their bodies react different from us. That includes their skin. The thing is we need to find out exactly how their blood reacts to heat and other chemicals. We need a -- "

"If you want to learn about vampires so much, why don't you just ask one?" Rami and I froze as a man stands on a roof of a small building. The sun is out and his skin is burning, although it didn't look like it bothered him. He must have gotten used to the pain.

He jumped on the ground and stepped forward while Rami and I backed away until we reached a dead end wall. I breathed nervously while Rami held his breath. The tall vampire circled around us, inhaling while his red eyes grow brighter. I stepped in front of Rami and prepared for the worst.

The vampire crossed his arms and raised a brow. All of a sudden, he blared his teeth and hissed, causing me to hang on to Rami's arm for my dear life. The blonde vampire laughed with amusement. "Don't be scared." He cooed. "I can smell the strong scent of a wolf all over you." He scrunched his nose with disgust. "In here, we have rules. Vampires don't bother the wolves, the wolves don't bother us. The wolf obviously covers you. But him," He sniffed Rami and licked his lips. "He's not protected by anyone."

"He's protected by me." Behind me, I could hear Rami fiddling with something but I couldn't turn away from the pale man.

"You're brave." He continued to observe us. "Now, why are you two so interested in vampires? Hmm? You aren't hunters, are you? Because we don't like hunters in this coast. Who are you?"

As I opened my mouth to reply, I saw something drop between me and the vampire. A Sleeper. Or, KOST, as Rami called it. I held my breath as white smoke emitted from the small container, causing the vampire to fall on the concrete ground. I started to run, but Rami stopped me. "Wait. He might help us."

"What? No he won't."

"I mean, not directly. Do you have anything sharp? Look around for anything that can cut."

"What are you going to do?"

"Hurry."

I ran around the small area and all I got was the broken window from an old building. I carefully took a sharp piece and gave it to Rami, who's kneeling down by the sleeping vampire. The smoke had all just disappeared so it's safe for us to breathe in.

I watched as Rami cut the vampire's palm, bringing out a lot of blood. "I should warn you, if they run out of blood in their system, they will go in bloodlust and it would't be pretty."

"It'll be fine." Rami put the blood on the same container that contained the Sleeper materials. He took some of the vampire's blood. For sample. If we can test his blood, we will know more about vampires and it will help us make the cure.

"Oh, you smart man."

***

When we reached the car, we pretended to look as casual as we could. Lysander is blasting off Frank Sinatra. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw us, though they lingered longer at Rami.

"Your glasses. It's not ugly."

"You really know how to make a guy feel beautiful." Rami cried dramatically, putting a hand on Lysander's shoulder as he got in the backseat. "By the way, Drew is now my mother."

I moved the car without a warning, causing Rami to hit his head at the back of Lysander's chair, since he wasn't wearing his seat belt. "Oops. Sorry."

"What took you guys so long?"

"I couldn't find Rami."

The music stopped and Lysander inhaled. He leaned towards me and clenched his jaw. He also turned to Rami and took in his scent. I will never understand how they do this. "Are you sure it was just Rami?"

Rami laughed nervously. "We might have bumped into someone else."

"The smell is really strong. Like it's here." He looked around the car and dug through Rami's bags before finding the container with the vampire's blood. Lysander shook his head at us. "Why would you do this?"

"For some tests." I answered, seeing as Rami is about to faint at Lysander's glare. "We need to know more about vampires so I can make the cure for Idris. Besides, the vampire was going to kill us."

"No. We have a deal. My scent is on you and he knows the deal."

"About that, how is my scent -- "

Lysander cuts me off. "If you pissed him off, he'll come after you. And I will have to deal with it."

"Yeah, no one's asking you to do that."

I focused on the road while clutching the steering wheel. No one said anything for the rest of the ride home.

***

"Lysander."

The werewolf has been giving me the cold shoulder ever since we arrived from the plaza. I thought our dinner date was cancelled because he was mad at me but he told me, "Get dressed and we'll leave in twenty minutes." And so here we are. He's only talking when he's giving me directions to wherever we're going but nothing else.

I apologized to him as soon as we arrived at his house because I was the wrong one there. They have rules in their land and I broke it. He is right. And I told him that, but he still won't talk to me.

"Lysander. Lysander. Lysander. Jacob Black." He frowned but still stayed quiet. "Turn right there and stop when you see the green house."

"Green house? Where are you taking me?"

Still no answer.

But, I followed the instructions and here we are at a place called 'The Witches Brew'. I really wouldn't have thought about the name so much but the woman who greeted us made me think twice. Of course, she doesn't look like an old, ugly wrinkled skin woman with a high pitch voice and a pointy hat like the typical witch appearances, I'm talking about the fact that she looks like Professor McGonagall and she has a black cat roaming around.

We sat down on a booth while the old lady beamed at us. "It's been so long since I've seen you, Lysander! Where have you been?"

"I've been traveling." Lysander smiled. "This is my girlfriend."

That sounded so unreal to me that I didn't even realize he's referring to me. The old lady put a hand over her mouth. "A girlfriend? Oh, finally! I never thought I'd be alive to see the day you come here with a woman!" She sighs happily. "I'm Lena Pates. Nice to meet you."

"Drew, and likewise." I shook her hand shyly.

The bell rang and a big family entered the place. "Alright, I will have to deal with other customers but please, enjoy the evening." She patted Lysander's head before helping out the family of ten.

As she left, I fiddled with the menu on my hand and raised a brow at the man in front of me. "So, when were you going to tell me that you know Professor McGonagall?" I searched the ground for the cat and the walking black cloud is by Lysander's feet. "And that must be Mrs. Norris."

Lysander shooed the cat away with his feet. "Go away, cat." He groaned, making them run to the table next to us.

"No baby come back." I cried. "Look what you've done."

"She's a friend." Lysander nodded at the old lady. "I've been coming here ever since all my pack members... you know." I nodded. "But the food is great. Better than the In-N-Out you like to eat."

I looked down at the menu and dove straight to the pasta section. "Chicken Alfredo. Perfect."

A few minutes later, Lena returned to take our orders. She already knew what Lysander would get and didn't bother asking him. When I told her my order, she said "You will love it so much, you'll be coming here every day."

And she was absolutely right. It was so damn good that I considered getting a second plate even when I was only half way through eating my first one. While I was eating, Lysander moved to the seat next to me and surprised me with a kiss. I was so embarrassed because my mouth still had a lot of Alfredo sauce. While blushing, I drunk some of my lemonade before opening my mouth. "Thanks for taking me here. It's great."

"Listen." He took a deep breath. "I just want you to know that you're more than just my mate. Mates, it's like a gift from nature. Or at least that's what I was told. We don't choose our mates. They are chosen for us. There are a lot of cases where a werewolf wants their mate, because of the attraction that they feel, but not necessarily in love with them." I felt myself shrinking as he stares at me intensely. "When I first saw you, what I felt, it was the bond. It was the attraction. It was the wolf. But during that night, during Eva's banquet, when I first shifted, that was when I really felt something for you. Not just the attraction as a mate, but something else. I shifted. I was a wolf. An animal who could kill you. And yet you stayed. You helped me and even go as far as this. Bringing me back home. Here. You mean to me more than you know. I'm in love with you."

I let out a shaky breath, but pushed all nervousness away. It's the moment of truth.

"I'm afraid I can't give a heartfelt, beautiful speech like you but I just want to say, I won't be doing anything I'm doing if I didn't feel the same way. I wouldn't be so terrified of our future together if I didn't feel the same way. I wouldn't be a nervous wreck right now if I didn't feel the same way. I -- " I didn't even have the chance to end my speech as Lysander kissed me and nothing could make this moment any better.