Five✧*。

Hi. Hi.

It's update time.

A little warning;

There's a somewhat steamy scene in this chapter.

••••••

"What are you doing in my house?" I say, fear in my voice. I'm pointing my spoon to her. My hand is shaking.

"Hunter," Vi says. "Are you okay?" She starts to walk towards me.

"Stay away," I say, my voice shaking. She continues to walk but, slower and more cautiously. With every step forward she takes, I take a step backward. "I said stay away!"

She keeps walking until she backs me up against a wall. My breath is shallow. I'm looking down at her. Our faces are barely two inches apart. She takes my broken hand in hers. I close my eyes. Expecting her to break my whole arm. But, she doesn't. She's being surprisingly gentle.

"Did I do this?" She asks, her voice quiet. She looks up at me. Her expression is sympathetic.

I look away, remaining quiet. Her hands slowly move from the bottom of the cast to my open fingers. She raises my hand to her face level. For a second, I think she's going to kiss it.

"Sorry," she says.

Suddenly, she puts both her hands inside the cast and rips it apart. I yell and push her away from me. I run downstairs and just as I'm about to open the door, I feel a hand on my shoulder and I'm on my bed.

"Please stop," I say, crying. "I'm sorry. Okay. I'm sorry Jake tried to kill you. Please stop torturing me."

"Torturing you?" Vi asks. "Why would I do that?"

I look up at her with tears rolling down my cheeks. She looks sincerely puzzled. She reaches out for my broken hand and I try to move it away but, I'm too weak.

"I'm only trying to help, Hunter."

She puts my hand in between her hands and closes her eyes. I feel a wave of comfort. She opens them and releases my hand.

"Try moving it," she says.

I do and I'm shocked. I don't feel any pain. At first, I smile and move it a little more. Then, I realize what just happened and I'm scared again.

"It worked? Cool," Vi says, sounding as shocked as I felt.

She sits down beside me and takes my healed hand to examine it.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, you know," she says. "I didn't even know I'm that strong." She chuckles lightly. "It must be the one push-up I do every week."

She smiles and looks at me expecting a reaction but, I don't even look at her. She stops smiling and we're silent for a while. All the fear I'm feeling vanishes.

"What am I doing?" Vi says. "I should be mad at you, you know. Because you helped someone try to unalive me. I'm not though."

I finally get tired of ignoring her and respond. "My hand begs to differ," I say, with a chuckle.

Vi giggles. For the first time, I look at her face. Like, really look at her face. She's not wearing any makeup so, I can see every detail of her face. I notice the obvious things first. She has freckles in the same places she paints her flowers which I find unusual but, beautiful. Her eyes are small, they are so dark that they appear almost black. She has a small button nose. Then, I start to notice the little things. One of the eyelashes on her left eye is out of place. She has a slight wrinkle at each corner of her eyes. Her lips are... Her lips are beautiful. I lean forward slowly. She doesn't seem to notice what I'm doing yet. My face is now a few inches away from hers and she finally understands. She starts to lean in. I close my eyes. Then, suddenly, I snap out of it.

"Stay away from me," I say and move away from her.

"What?" Vi says, confused.

"You're charming me aren't you," I say, pointing my finger at her.

"Why would I charm you?" Vi says.

"I don't know what game you're playing and honestly, I don't want any part of it. Please leave," I say.

"Fine," Vi says.

She disappears.

°°°°°°°

The next day, at school, I decide not to tell Jake about my encounter with Vi. I forget that my hand is no longer in a cast. Jake notices in math class.

"Hunter," he whispers. "Where's your cast?"

"I... I don't...," I stammer.

"Hunter, Jake," Our math teacher says. "Would you like to share your very important discussion with the class?"

We remain silent.

"I didn't think so." She continues teaching.

Jake tells me that he has to go home the period before lunch. Which I am thankful for. It means I don't have to avoid him.

At lunch, I sit alone at the table because Will is busy.

"Is this seat taken?"

I look up and see it's Vi. I'm about to walk away but Vi puts her hand on my shoulder.

"Please," Vi says.

I look around and see that there's no place for me to sit.

"Fine," I say.

Vi sits beside me. She starts to eat her homemade salad. I start to eat my lunch as well and we remain silent for a while.

"You know something Fawn never told me?" Vi says.

I just stare at her.

"She never told me that once I turn into a nymph, I would have to become a vegetarian," Vi says, looking down at her salad. She hasn't eaten much. She's just picking at it. "It's not even by choice. I physically cannot digest meat. I learned that the hard way. I used to love meat. Like a lot. It's just one of the prices I have to pay for these stupid powers I guess."

I murmur something under my breath.

"What'd you say?" Vi asks.

"I said," I say with as much venom as I can muster. "The only price you had to pay for your powers is a changed diet. Meanwhile, the rest of us have to deal with broken body parts anytime you are a little annoyed. Oh and the fact that you can control our minds."

"A little annoyed?" Vi says angrily. "You tried to punch me in the face. I assure you, I was more than just a little annoyed. And as for mind-control, I didn't use it on you last night. I've never used it on you."

"Then why the hell did I want to-" I say and immediately stop myself.

"Why did you want to what?" Vi asks.

"I-" The bell rings.

"I have to go," Vi says. She gets up and starts to leave. She turns to me. "Hunter."

"Yes," I say quietly.

"Just so you know," She says. "I'd never use any of my mind-control powers on you. By the looks of it, I don't need to."

She smiles at me and walks away.

For some reason, I believe everything she's said.

"What's happening to me?" I ask no one in particular.

°°°°°°°

I decide to walk home because I need to clear my head. When I'm a good distance away from the school, I notice a black car following me. At first, I think nothing of it but, five minutes have passed and it's still following me. I turn to a different route hoping to lose the car but, it keeps following me. I start to run. The car catches up with me and the glass rolls down.

"That paranoia is good, Hunter," Michael says. "It will keep you safe."

"What the hell, Micheal," I say, frustrated. "You scared me."

"Calm down Hunter," he says, nonchalantly. "I just happened to be in the neighborhood. Jake told me to check on you. I remember you crying about your broken hand just last night. But, your hand looks just fine. Strange, right?"

"Right," I say starting to walk away. Michael follows me with his car.

"Be careful Hunter," Michael says. "We wouldn't want anyone to get hurt."

"Was that a threat?" I say. But, he has already sped off.

I am so done.

°°°°°°°

"What the hell, Jake?!" I yell, sitting on my bed. I tried calling him five times when I got home but, he didn't answer. He finally called me back at night.

"I'm sorry," Jake says. "I've been really busy. I-"

"I don't care what you've been up to, Jake," I say, cutting him off. "All I care about is your creepy uncle following me home in his car and threatening me."

"What?" Jake says, sounding surprised.

"Don't act so surprised," I say. "He said you told him to check on me."

"What?" Jake says. "No, I didn't."

"Then who the hell asked him to check on me," I say. "You know what, don't answer that. Just keep your uncle in check. I have enough problems as it is. I don't need your uncle adding to them."

"Hun-"

I hang up.

"That's a little rude. Don't you think?" Vi says.

Oddly enough, I'm not surprised or scared by this. I'm finally used to it. She looks as happy about my calmness as I am.

"Look who's getting brave," Vi says, smiling.

"What are you doing here, Vi?" I ask.

"I told you already," Vi says. "In the year 18-"

"In my room, Vi," I say, impatiently.

"Oh," She says.

"You said it yourself," I say. "I tried to kill you. Why are you still being nice to me?" I walk over to her. My five-foot-eight body towering over her.

"Because," Vi says, looking down. "I know you're not the one who tried to kill me. You might think that it's weird that I'm nice to you. That I'm weird but, nymphs are supposed to be nice to non-enemies. I can't help it."

"I don't think that's the only reason," I say. I'm looking down at her. This is the first time I've ever felt dominant over her or anyone for that matter. It's a feeling I never want to let go of. And I'm not going to.

I lift her chin. Her dark brown eyes looking eagerly at my green ones. She's still and silent waiting for me to make a move. Her breathing is slow. I wait a little. Taking in the five seconds of control I have. Finally, I brush my hand against her cheek and crash my lips into hers. My kisses are fast. Hungry. The way Danny kissed me. At first, she pulls away. Unsure of herself. Then, she pulls the collar of my shirt and kisses me. But, she's more gentle. Savoring every second. I like her way better. My hands move to her waist. Then lower. I know if we don't stop now, we might go too far. But, I don't care.

We move to my bed. I'm on top of her, still kissing her. Never once stopping for air. My hand goes under her shirt. She's not wearing a bra. My finger brushes past her nipple. She moans. I feel strangely proud.

"Hunter!" My aunt yells.

"Shit."