Dark Alley.

"What do you mean?" Kate looked the man in the eye.

"I think you should finish your meal before we talk about this" Clarence said resting his back on his chair.

Kate decided to eat since she was hungry. She didn't have the strength to argue with this man but one thing she knew was that she was not going to stay with him.

Taking everything she could find on the table she ate as she had never eaten before. Forget table manners, hunger will make you behave like a woman without ethics.

Clarence watched the woman in front of him stuffing food into her mouth. Who knew she was this hungry, perhaps she has not eaten since morning.

He silently watched her as she ate while thinking of how to convince her to stay. She looked like the stubborn type who wouldn't listen to him. But he will make sure she stayed.

When kate was done eating, James came in and cleared the table. She turned to Clarence "What were you saying, that I'm going to stay here?"

"Yes," Clarence answered her.

"I'm not staying here. Besides this is not my town and how will I know they will not come after me here?"

"As I told you before, you will only be safe here and I assure you I will protect you. You wouldn't want what happened today to happen again, would you?"

Kate went silent thinking about what happened today. She didn't want what happened today to repeat itself. The fear still lingered in her mind making her shiver each time she remembered the face of that demon.

Now they followed her home, she wasn't sure she will be safe again. But staying in a house with a man she didn't know was not an ideal thing to do.

"I'll think about it," Kate said.

Clarence looked at her for while before standing up "I hope I'll get a positive reply in the morning"

The way he said it made her think he knew the answer he will be getting from her.

James appeared shortly after Clarence left "Let me show you the way lady Kate"

Kate smiled at his kind gesture. Who knew if she will miss her way again?

James left Kate after showing her to a room.

Kate felt the fear creep to her bones. What did tomorrow hold for her? She didn't know. All her life, she was always at the receiving end of the cruel world tortures.

From losing her family in the massacre to suffering to fend for herself, and now to make it worst, she was being hunted by creatures she knew nothing about.

"After you ruined so many lives?" The words of that demon kept coming back to her mind. Did she ruin their lives? But how? And also the massacre, did she have something to do about it?

The more she thought about it the more she became confused. And Clarence? Why did he want her to stay here? No one in this world will come out willingly to help someone without getting anything in return.

Did he perhaps want to kill her too? No! Kate immediately dismissed the thought from her head, if he wanted to kill, he would have done so when he saved her.

And he did save her twice. She owed him her life. Maybe she could at least stay here in the meantime to find her answers and then leave.

She removed her shoes and kept them in a corner of the room. She went to the hearth and adjusted the heat of the room. She felt the warmth on her cold skin but her heart remained cold.

She sighed before going to the bed that was at the center of the room. She sat down feeling the softness of the bed that dipped down with her. She touched it with her hands. If it had been a normal day where she did not worry about her life, she would have been so thrilled to sleep in a very soft bed and a well-furnished room.

Kate raised the blanket before putting her legs inside. Pulling the cover up to her neck, sleep took over her.

The night was filled with a certain eerie that made the crows that usually sat on rooftops go into hiding. Not even the rumored shadows that passes could be seen but a young girl stood staring into the darkness.

The dark alley did not hinder her small feet from moving forward. Her eyes frantically searched the area. Her small eyebrow knitted together in a frown.

Moving forward into the darkness, the sound of the air swizzled, taking her hair back as she walked.

One will wonder what such a young child was doing there at that time of the night when everyone had gone to bed and everywhere was quiet. Even an adult wouldn't think of coming here in the daylight. But the eyes of this child were fearless as they searched for something probably someone.

Something lurked in the darkness looking down at her small figure. She stopped walking when she felt a presence behind her.

Slowly turning herself to see who it was Kate woke up with a gasp.

It was morning. Kate sat up feeling the morning sun slip into the room through the tiny opening in the curtain.

Rubbing her eyes, an act that she does every morning she remembered her dream.

The little girl in her dream looked like her. Could it be… No! She brushed away the thought. But what if…, she quickly removed her necklace. Opening the heart-shaped lock, she looked at the drawing inside. That was the only picture she had of herself.

This was given to her by her mother when she turned seven. Now looking at the drawing of her younger self, she merged it with what she saw in her dream, black hair that had a tint of blue to it. Brown eyes…could it be her when she was small?

She couldn't remember anything about her childhood or family. The only thing that remained was the memory of them. And sometimes she had this dream where her hands were covered with blood and dead bodies surrounded her.

It was the first time to have a vision of herself in a dream. But then, what she was doing in a dark alley, and what was she looking for? Could it be related to the dream of dead bodies she had?

Her mind turned fuzzy as all these thoughts swirled in her head. The more she tried to find out about her past, the more everything turned complicated. And now she had to deal with these creatures.

Slowly letting her feet down, she stood up and stretched her arching body. Midway through raising her hand, she smelled her body. She needed to take a bath, she didn't even change from yesterday's clothes.

Going to the door that looked like the bathroom, she stepped inside. The bath was big with white tiles. She filled the bath with water before removing her dress.

The cold air hit her naked body immediately the dress fell from her body. Afraid she might catch a cold before bathing in the cold water, she hurriedly went in. Goosebumps covered her body when the water touched her skin.

Bathing quickly before she caught a cold, she came out. Now, she couldn't possibly use her clothes to dry herself, would she?

Her eyes searched around the bathroom for a towel but found none. Deciding to search the room, she opened the bathroom door only to hear the creaking sound of another door. Afraid someone might see her naked she closed the door.

Staying for some minutes she opened the door and came out. Her eyes fell on the bed where the towel lay. Oh, bless the soul who brought this, she whispered. But who could that be, Clarence or James? She shrugged and dried her body before going back to the bathroom to wear her dress.

Now, it was morning and she didn't know what to do. To stay here with an unknown man or to leave to be hunted by unknown creatures?

The two options didn't look nice to her. If she stays here, what about Madam Rosie and her shop? Who will help her? Then if she continued living in her town, they will hunt and eventually kill her.

Oh goodness, this was getting more hard than it should be. But she had to make a decision. She had to weigh the pros and cons of staying with Clarence.

Now, if she stayed here with Clarence, he would protect her as he said, and also, she can find out about the death of her family and also why those creatures wanted her. But what does he want from her? Weighing both the advantage and disadvantages, the advantage weighed more. She shook her, dangerous decision comes with enticing offers.

Oh, goddess please help me make the right decision. Kate silently prayed. This was the moment in her life when she didn't know what to do. Sighing, she wore her shoe. And she had been sighing every minute she noticed.

Well, she had to make a decision. Closing the door behind her she went in search of Clarence. The Lord help me not to miss my way again, as if hearing her prayer, James appeared from the end of the corridor.

"Good morning Ms. Kate" He greeted with a slight bow.

"Good morning Mister James" Kate acknowledged his greeting "Where is Clarence?" She asked as they headed toward the sitting room taking the large stairs down.

"Master Clarence left early today"

"Do you perhaps know when he will be back" Kate continued questioning. Now in the sitting room, she never took notice of the beauty of this place. It was even bigger and more lavishly furnished than the mansion of Madam Castrol. The dark decor also added to the beauty of the place which she especially loved.

"No" She heard James speak. The man only answered in a short sentence. Not saying more than he was asked. The man had good features but not half of what Clarence looked like. Why was comparing the two men? It was obvious that Clarence would win the most handsome man across the five empires.

Five empires? She must have held the man in high esteem. And she was also having this kind of thought. God, Kate what have gotten into you?

James stood looking at the Lady in front of her. He noticed the way her eyes scanned him. He didn't want to read her to hear her thoughts, that would be wrong to do. Excusing himself, he left to prepare breakfast.

Kate nodded and sat down on the couch waiting for Clarence. Her eyes roomed around. The place was dark with an… she couldn't pinpoint the kind of feeling it gave off. But it was something dark but not scary to her.

Not scary? Kate questioned herself. Everything dark was always scary but why didn't she feel that way but loved it? This made her remember her dream again, the girl and the dark valley kept coming to her mind.

She had dismissed the thought that she could be her little self. What was she doing in a dark valley where no one was and the dark shadows lurked around? And what was she looking for? She knocked her head to stop thinking. The more she thought about it, the more she became confused.

Suddenly she felt a cold but warm feeling before Clarence appeared in the sitting room. She didn't know why she felt that way, each time he appeared.

"Have you been waiting for long?" He asked coming close to where she sat.

She shook her head "It has not been long since I woke up. James told me you left"

Clarence nodded, removing his black gloves, he put them inside his jacket pocket before sitting across from Kate "Yes, I left after you went to bed"

Kate raised her eyebrow in question. What was he doing outside by that time? Oh, she had forgotten he's also a demon.

Clarence narrowed his eyes before they changed back to how they were before.

"So, tell me" He began "Have you made up your mind? What's your decision?"