I was trapped in a void of darkness, disoriented, blinded, and sucked into an empty silence. I wondered how and why I ended up here. Why it felt like I had no escape... like I was trapped.

  A cold breeze swept against my skin and I was suddenly acutely aware of my exposed state... my bare ass touching the hard ground beneath me. I stood up shivering trying to peer through the darkness.

  What is this? Where the hell am I?!

  I asked myself as I tried to stand. I stumbled, cautiously realizing the ground was flat against my feet. I continued walking but a loud shuddering horn blared through the deadly silence, halting me in my steps.

  I froze as a bright light blasted me into oblivion, my head whirring as I adjusted to the sudden brightness.

  I discovered I was in an empty room, an auditorium of some sort and I was currently standing on the stage.

  I looked into the audience and froze as rows upon rows of ominous masked fae sat in their seats watching me. Each one with some sort of animal mask that covered most of their head and long dark cloaks that covered the rest of their body. It was an unsettling sight and made me wrap my arms around myself as I suddenly realized how naked I was. A few males jeered and my face flushed with embarrassment as I backed up from the front of the stage.

  Out of all the students, one mask stood out the most, it sent a shiver down my spine, the way it peered at me through the holes of the mask, gauging my every move as if it was ready to pounce. It swallowed me with its watchful gaze as it stood up approaching the stage in slow-graceful steps.

  My heart pounded as I backed up further.

  I wanted to run, to hide... my instincts screamed at me to flee but I was paralyzed with fear as they walked towards me, the fae in the crowd growing silent as they watched the interaction.

  For a moment they just stared at me, unflinching, unmoving. Their cold disposition stirred the fear in my stomach.

  "Sweet, sweet Scarlett... so pleased to see you awake... I bet you're wondering where you are?"

  "W-who...who are you!"

  She laughed darkly, folding her arms.

  "I'm afraid I can't reveal that... yet, but as for why you're here... you have been selected to prove yourself. To demonstrate the full extent of your abilities... your fae form."

  I gulped as her words sunk in. I was cooked... they would fry me alive on this stage and humiliate me once they discovered I didn't have a fae form, not to mention I had no way of summoning my elemental powers either.

  "I...I can't..."

  I mumbled avoiding her gaze.

  "Can't?"

  I could hear the bitter humor in her tone.

  There was something oddly familiar about her, but I couldn't pinpoint what exactly. Her voice reminded me of someone. Like the rest of the students, she wore a long dark cloak that covered most of her body... all except her blonde wavy curls.

  "I... I don't have a fae form yet."

  I said quietly and she leaned in.

  "Speak up."

  I closed my eyes, feeling a wave of embarrassment flood me. Not only was I stark naked, but I would have to orchestrate my nonexistent powers somehow... and prove to them I belonged to be here just as much as the rest of them. But that was nearly impossible considering I had no fucking clue how to summon my powers... and I didn't want to perform for a bunch of wicked people. Something told me they had to be from Azyrath, I had a gut feeling that I was still somewhere in the university... I just didn't know where.

  I looked up at the fox girl and tried to muster the tiny amount of courage I had left.

  "I don't have a fae form."

  I finally said.

  There was a long dreadful silence before the crowd erupted in laughter. Their beady eyes stared right through me as they mocked me where I stood. I hung my head low and wrapped my arms around myself trying to hide whatever I had left to hide.

  "Please... just let me go."

  I begged, holding onto the last string of self-respect I had.

  "Let you go?"

  She scoffed, then suddenly grabbed my arm and yanked me towards the front of the stage towards a microphone.

  "Little Scarlett here says she wants to be set free... not only is she weak, worthless, and withered, but she also thinks she has the right to decide her future in Azyrath? Should we let her?"

  The crowd roared in protest, voices calling out for me to be trialed.

  Hot tears brimmed in my eyes as I stood there trembling from the humiliation. I wrapped my arms around my breasts noticing a pair of eyes ogling me like fresh meat.

  Why was this happening to me?

  "This is a first, not a single student at Azyrath has ever had the problem of summoning their powers... a matter of fact it should come naturally along with having a fae form... And you harbor 4 elements yet you can't even use them? What a waste."

  The fox girl giggled, her hands moving to my shoulder as she stood behind me.

  "You sure you don't have anything you could show us... anything at all Scarlett?"

  She whispered against my ear, her grip on my shoulders tightening.

  My head hung low as I shook it, tears running down my face as the laughter and ridicule surrounded me.

  "Well, then... you know what that means?"

  The crowd cheered and began to chant.

  "BLOOD BATH! BLOOD BATH! BLOOD BATH!"

  My heart lurched in my chest and my thoughts spiraled as I tried imagining what terrible things they would subject me through...

  The fox girl suddenly pushed me to the middle of the stage.

  Her eyes glowed with a ferocious glare of iniquity.

  "What's... what's a blood bath?"

  I choked out as I lifted my head.

  Instead of answering she walked off the stage and took a seat in the front row, looking up at me.

  I didn't know what was happening but I could tell whatever was coming was bad...

  Suddenly I heard footsteps coming from the left side of the stage and I whipped my head around as a student with a wolf mask and one with a demon mask walked up the stage carrying a large bucket of a red substance. It sloshed around and dripped down the edges of the circular tub.

  I backed away preparing to flee but my back collided with a hard chest.

  "Careful princess."

  Hot breath fanned against my ear and I recoiled, turning around and stumbling back. I looked up at the tall cloaked figure in a demon mask with piercing blue eyes and felt an uncomfortable familiarity with him... his demeanor reminded me of someone and it only furthered the growing disgust I had for him.

  My heart hammered against my ribcage as his eyes slowly raked up my naked body. I felt shameful... revolted. I wasn't an animal at a zoo... or a new shiny toy to play with. The fear in my body mixed with anger and discomfort, creating a dangerous potion of emotions. I suddenly found the urge to slap him across the face, hit him... to do anything to regain some of the pride they had stolen from me. But all I could do was stand there... naked and afraid. Utterly disgraced.

  He took a step forward, his gaze objectifying me as I backed away.

  "Don't touch me."

  I warned but it came out weak... more of a plead.

  "Or what?"

  He challenged still moving closer.

  I was a mouse, trapped against a wall... What could I do? Where could I run?

  "Stay. Back!"

  I yelled backing up further.

  But it only enticed him to move closer.

  I had no idea what was happening until he suddenly appeared behind me again. I screamed as he hoisted me up and carried me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

  I kicked and tried to wriggle free from his grasp but his hands held strong. Tightening on my upper thighs... dangerously close to my ass.

  "LET ME GO!"

  I screamed, but he didn't respond. I still resisted, banging on his back with all my strength... it was useless.

  His hand slowly moved higher up and that was when I retaliated and bit down on his neck.

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  "FUCK!"

  He exclaimed and immediately dropped me. I fell against the floor and quickly scrambled to my feet and ran...

  I barely managed to get two feet off the stage when someone grabbed my waist and hoisted me in the air.

  "NO! NO!"

  I screamed as I fought against them, but I felt something sharp pierce my sides and I howled in pain as claws dug into my flesh.

  The crowd began to chant again, this time louder and with more enthusiasm, their voices scornful and wicked as I cried out.

  "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"

  But any attempt at freedom was stolen from me the second the masked demon spoke.

  "Ok."

  Was all he said.

  I barely had a moment to register what was happening as he threw me into the red basin.

  My scream was silenced as I fell deep into the pool of red, the metallic taste of blood vacuumed into my lungs as I drowned. Out of all the things I've been through this had to have been the most sickening... had they known? Had they planned this out... if so why did they make me confess I had no fae form... that I was withered? Was it all just a ploy to humiliate me? To torment me?

  As I sunk deeper into the pool, I wondered how far it'd be before I touched the ground.... And why it was so deep for something so small? I could hardly swim up, it felt like I was being flushed... drowned. My lungs unwillingly opened up, forcing me to swallow more blood. I was choking on it, caved in by the sticky wet substance as I was driven deeper and deeper into the neverending pool.

  It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks, that this was no regular pool... no. This wasn't a coincidence. This was cursed... I could feel the magical bindings in the blood trapping me and pushing me deeper into it.

  They truly had planned this.

  They had planned to kill me.

  ***

  I could see the auditorium lights fading away, my vision blurred by crimson spots... suffocating inside a pool of plasma.

  I was going to die... they were truly trying to kill me.

  And for the life of me, I couldn't swim through... couldn't push myself up to the surface. My magic was useless... I was useless.

  The metallic taste had begun to force the bile out of my throat, causing me to suffocate, and I was only swallowing more. It had a slimy texture like spoiled milk, heavy and putrid and when I ingested it, my throat slowly began to clog. My windpipe closed up as the blood washed through my nose.

  I was no more until I was as it was... a sludgy matter of bodily fluids, a withered... useless fae.

  And a bloody mess.

  Out of all the ways I'd imagined my death, this had to have been the worst. I had no fight left in me and my body was beginning to succumb to troughs of the gorey fluid.

  My vision was absolute, my lungs strangled and heavy as my heart, fighting a losing battle.

  This was my death, my end... My mercy...

  I wish I'd done more... I wish I'd seen more...

  I should have said I love you to my parents before I left, I should have kissed them goodbye. I should have apologized... I should have begged the students to free me... to have mercy.

  But I was a withered fae, something to trample over and so easily forgotten.

  Here, now...Is where I die,

  where I lose myself.

  Where I lose everything I could have had...

  Everything I wish I'd fought for...

  Isn't it fitting? A useless death for a useless fae, no one to weep for me... no one to search for me.

  No one to fight for me...

  ***

  The world was a black hole, a bottomless pit that had swallowed me whole.

  I never believed in the afterlife... but perhaps if there was one the gods would be merciful.

  I'd accepted my fate as soon as I'd closed my eyes... but something... lifted.

  Pulled me out of the darkness and into the light.

  Was it my imagination? It had to be...

  Why would anyone save me?

  Why would anyone—

  "SCARLETT!"

  The voice came crashing like a roar of thunder, cutting through the silence, my thoughts... and that's when my eyes flew open, my heart hammering as I coughed and vomited blood and the leftovers of my dinner.

  It felt like I'd swallowed death... and I suppose I had...

  I dry heaved, my eyes blinking back blood and tears as they adjusted to the light from the auditorium.

  I was slightly disoriented, still trying to grasp what was happening and why I wasn't dead.

  A deep voice spoke from above and suddenly everything stopped spinning.

  I had never heard anyone speak so tenderly... and as my eyes looked up, I was met with crimson and cerulean eyes.

  "P-professor Grey?"

  I stammered as I looked up at the man kneeling beside me. For a split second, I could have sworn I saw relief flash before his eyes, but it vanished just as quickly as it appeared into a solid undisposed stare.

  "Good. You're awake."

  He gruffly said, his gaze intensely focused on mine.

  I swallowed as I stared back, unable to look away from him as I slowly registered what he'd done.

  "You... you saved me."

  I choked out, my throat still sore from drowning.

  He didn't flinch, and he didn't say a word, but his gaze softened ever so slightly. As my heart thumped wildly, I drowned in his eyes, enveloped in the sincerity of his strong gaze. Something in me wanted to reach out, to touch him... but I held myself back.

  As awkward as it should have been, this was far from it. I wasn't uncomfortable... I was just entranced by the solitude and kindness he exuded. Though his face stayed stoic.

  He was an enigmatic beauty.

  And I felt myself burning beneath his gaze.

  As he exhaled, my gaze wavered moving away from his and I faced forward, recognizing the red basin of blood I'd drowned in.

  "Let me get you a towel."

  He cleared his throat as he rose to his feet. I wanted to ask him why as I watched him walk away behind the stage curtains.

  I felt my nipples harden... and it was at that moment I realized why. I was fucking naked.

  As he approached me his gaze dropped slightly before quickly lifting them to my face, I covered my breasts but he composed himself and focused on my eyes instead as he placed a towel over me.

  "T-thank you, sir..."

  I looked at the ground and he nodded.

  "You need to be more careful."

  He said as I stood up,

  I looked over at the basin again, wondering where they'd even gotten the blood from. A chill ran down my spine as I pushed the thought to the back of my mind.

  I took a step forward and slipped but before I could land on my ass Professor Grey caught me in his steady arms.

  "Careful."

  He repeated, still holding onto me.

  I nodded as he steadied me.

  I looked down at where his arms were, a few centimeters away from my chest.

  I noticed his sleeves were rolled up, but his white shirt was a bloody mess. I suddenly felt a pang of guilt knowing I'd been the cause of it.

  "Why... did you save me?"

  I asked after a moment of silence.

  And he looked at me as if I'd just asked him why the sky was blue.

  "Because I had to."

  "But you didn't..."

  I said, and his eyes narrowed.

  "I know that. I don't need to explain my reasons to you."

  He said sharply.

  I flinched at his harsh tone and he let go of me. My body still shivered from the loss of his touch but I shoved the thought to the back of my mind.

  "Where's your dorm? I'll walk you there."

  He rolled up his sleeves further exposing the sinew of muscles on his arms.

  My heart thumped against my chest as I drank at the sight of him.

  I'd only just realized how much blood had gotten on him, and how his shirt was now molded against his body, revealing the outline of his abs.

  "Terra Haven..."

  I said as I forced myself to look away.

  He let out an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes.

  "This was supposed to be my day off..."

  "What?"

  I blurted, turning to face him. But I was only met with a cold gaze.

  "Come on."

  He ordered and I quietly followed behind him.

  As we walked out of the auditorium my mind whirred with thoughts of the strange man in front of me. Why had he saved me? He didn't seem like the empathetic type and it made no sense why he would even give me the time of day.

  The air was thick with silence, an ellipse enveloping us as we walked through the hallway.

  A few students gasped, their eyes widening as they saw me and the professor walking away.

  I looked down at the floor avoiding their gaze and trying to block out the whispers surrounding us as more students gathered.

  An elf with red hair clasped his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter as he nudged his friend. I blushed, feeling even more exposed than I was before.

  I couldn't stop thinking of the masked faces that jeered and mocked me on the stage, the men that ogled my naked body, laughing hysterically as if I was the most ridiculous thing they'd ever seen.

  I wasn't always confident in my body... I was curvier than most, but I had never hated it... until I stood on that stage with every piece of me unveiled to the audience.

  Their laughter still echoes in my mind, even as I drowned I remember it so clearly.

  "Do you know who did this to you?"

  The professor suddenly asked as we began walking out of Aerion Hall.

  "No... I couldn't see their faces."

  "What do you mean you couldn't see them? Don't you have eyes?"

  I held myself back from lashing out because why the hell would he say that?

  "No. I didn't see their faces because they had masks on."

  He merely glanced at me with a questioning look and I glared at him.

  "Look, I don't know ok? I don't know who they were, one second I was in my room and the next I was on a stage."

  He turned back around without another word and we walked in silence towards the cabins.

  A part of me was relieved he wasn't asking any more questions but I also didn't like how silent he was. As we walked down the gravel path in the creek of the woods towards Terra Haven my heart began to thump against my chest. I suddenly realized I didn't feel comfortable going back there knowing someone had easily slipped inside my cabin and kidnapped me. The very thought of this incident repeating itself made my skin crawl. Not to mention the people who had attempted to murder me... I still couldn't wrap my head around it.

  We stopped in front of my cabin and I swallowed, still cautious of opening the door as I was reminded of the man who held me in his grasp as the lights went out. Professor Grey noticed my hesitation and he arched his brow.

  "Isn't this your cabin?"

  I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded.

  "Th-they kidnapped me here..."

  I said quietly.

  "So... what do you want me to do?"

  I blinked up at him, startled by the question.

  "I... I don't know."

  "Do you want me to go find the persecutors? To question them and beat them up?"

  He said in an almost mocking tone.

  "N-no I—

  "So you have no idea who these people were and what their motives were... were you expecting me to round them up and get them expelled."

  He folded his arms turning around to face me.

  "No... I didn't say that but—

  "But what? You need to tighten up Scarlett. No one's gonna babysit or save you... you have to do that yourself. As for the people who kidnapped you, the most I can do is say be careful and watch your back."

  I clenched my fists staring up at him in disbelief.

  "So... that's it? I'm just supposed to move on as if today never happened. As if some strangers in a mask didn't attempt to murder me!?"

  He rolled his eyes as if I was being overdramatic and I felt my blood boil.

  "What you do expect me to do? Stay watch and make sure you're safe? I'm not your guardian."

  "I never said that! I don't need a babysitter. I'm just...confused. How can we just let them get away with this?"

  He pinched the bridge of his nose.

  "Until you can identify them... there's nothing I can do. You could speak to the dean but he would just say the same thing."

  I couldn't believe what I was hearing... how can he be so nonchalant?! So calm about this?! I'm not overreacting, I'm not crazy... I have every right to be terrified of being alone... of someone hurting me. I almost died today and all he can say is there's nothing he can do?!

  "If we're done here, I'd like to go home. I wasn't expecting to spend my weekend babysitting."

  I glared at him as he said those words and anger stirred in me once more.

  "Well, I'm sorry that I was such an inconvenience!"

  I enter my cabin slamming the door in his face.

  The faucet in my eyes began to pour the second I entered the room. I switched the lights on discovering it was just as I left it. No evidence of my kidnapping... no evidence. No prospects.

  I fell against the door and buried my face in my hands letting the tears fall as I slowly rehashed the situation.

  It felt like some sort of gruelish nightmare, and I hoped at any moment I'd wake up and realize it was all a dream...

  But as I tasted the blood on my tongue I knew then... I wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.