Chloe POV

When I woke up, I heard some loud talking from downstairs and rolled my eyes. Why are people always over?

I shuffled to the windows and pulled back the curtains, expecting to be met with the blinding sun, but instead I saw darkness, the complete pitch black of the night in front of me.

Taking a step to my nightstand and pressing the homescreen button, I saw that it was still night, well, very early morning, of the next day. I smiled at the fact that I got a few more hours of sleep and jumped into bed.

Staring at the ceiling, the voices downstairs only got louder and I couldn't sleep.

Sighing, I heaved the blanket off myself and trudged down the stairs.

"Mom," I said as soon as I got down, not caring how rude I sounded to the visitors, "I'm going out."

"What?" a voice, which I came to recognise and Aunty Tony's, screeched. "Now? At this hour? No, you're not."

"Oh hi, Aunty," I said when I looked up to her, "I need to go and clear my head, I can't sleep either, maybe this will help me feel tired."

"You can't just leave in the middle of the n-"

"Take the bike," my mother surprised me by saying, "Take the bike so at least you'll be able to get home fast if anything happens."

"You can't just let her-"

"She's my daughter, and I trust her, besides, she needs to clear her head before she starts to go to school and finally get a social life, anyway."

"Thanks mom!" I said, loving how she understood me, and pecked her cheek, "See you Aunty Tony," I teased, my voice having the same effect as me poking my tongue out at her.

I took the bike out of the shed and started dawdling my way down the street. I didn't know where I was heading, but I felt strangely calm. I wasn't at all scared like I thought I would be.

On my stroll, I found myself walking into the cemetery, and decided to visit my grandfather's grave.

This was where we buried him, despite my father's protests to have him buried in the mainland, my grandmother was persistent on his grave being in Mortem Insula as this is where they grew up.

All my confidence and strength vanished in a second when I heard the dead leaves crush under the weight of something... somebody. My hands dropped to my side as I slowly turned around, feeling tears well up in my eyes at how terrified I was.

"What are you doing here?"

Now the tears felt like they really were about to fall and this time it was because of the fact that he was here.

"Uhm..." I felt my vision get blurry, the sound of his voice felt so nostalgic, reminded me of how deep a person's mercy and grace could extend to, it made my heart feel calm.

But the way he stood, with the weak streetlight behind him illuminating his figure slightly, looked menacing enough and on top of that, the edge to his voice caused my heart to beat rapidly. "My mom - her work - she wanted to move here..." I took a deep breath, knowing that me being nervous in front of him helped no one, "She wants to save the birds, who am I to stop her?"

"Birds..." he whispered, nodding his head slightly, "Ironic."

That made my lips flinch, about to smile. I knew what he meant, considering the fact that the reason we even met in the first place was because of a bird.

"But what I meant was; why are you in the middle of a cemetery... at night?"

Oh right. Of course he knew I was in Mortem Insula, heck, he probably even watched me board the plane.

"I was just out for a bit and decided to visit grandpa, is there anything wrong with that?"

"Yes," he said bluntly, nodding his head slightly, "It's after hours."

"Oh-uhm, and I wanted to check up on you," I blurted out and he raised an eyebrow, "I wanted to check that everything was okay between us, you know, no hard feelings," I internally sighed. I had just dug my own grave.

"Right, because me holding a grudge against you for what you did would be completely irrational."

"Right," I nodded before realising that he was being sarcastic.

He sighed aloud at my reply and looked around, "You're... special you know that, right."

"Okay, listen, I'm sorry for what I did back then, but you need to understand, I was 19, who is ready for that kind of commitment at 19?"

"21 better for you then?"

"No!" I gasped, hugging my chest, "I don't want to die."

"Well for someone who fears death so much," he held his hands out, indicating the cemetery, "You sure have an interesting way of showing it."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, anyone who puts any value on their lives surely wouldn't go around wandering cemeteries in the dead of night, but then again it is you we're talking about."

I paused. Was that meant to be an insult or a compliment? I wasn't really sure how to take it.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, raising my eyebrows, "Are you trying to threaten me? Are you going to blink me away to your world here where no one can hear us?"

He took a step closer, making me in my breath, "Now why would I threaten an innocent girl like you? Why would I-"

I lifted my head as soon as he stopped talking, following his gaze to my chest. On any other occasion I would have screamed and run away, covering my chest with my hands because of embarrassment but I knew he wasn't focused on my feminine figure. His eyes were set on something hanging slightly above it, something which he had to have recognised.

"You... still have it," he breathed, surprised.

"Yeah," I shrugged, saying it a-matter-of-factly, "I do."

"I thought you would have thrown it away by now."

"Why would I throw it away? You said it grants its wearer protection... and I want to be protected," and you gave it to me. Why would I throw away something you gave me?

But that was when I realised that I had never asked him... if I could bring it back with me. I never asked him if I could take it back home with me, and just ran out with it on.

My fingers immediately went to the hook at the back of my neck, unclipping it and looking up at him.

"Sorry," I started, "I never thought that you actually remembered giving it to me," I took his hand from his side and opened his palm. Resisting the urge to just hold onto his warmth, I placed the necklace inside. "Have it back, now you won't have follow me around anymore."

"Follow you?" he asked, incredulously and I wish