I reach for the doorknob and twists the air. Wha...? What happened to the doorknob? I peer closely to discover a black rectangle in its place. I frown and poke at it.

"Password required," Chen's voice booms out and the rectangle lights up to show a keypad. I cringe at the loudness. Password?

"Damn you, Chen," I whisper, and type in random numbers.

"Wrong password. You can't get in, Adrienne," he continues somewhat apologetically. "Kris' orders."

"Shut up, Chen." I try a different combination.

"Wrong password. You can't get in, Adrienne," he repeats. "Kris' orders." Stupid automated message.

I turn around to go back down the stairs when a hand appears out of the shadows and cups my mouth while another arm stretches around me, holding me captive. I freeze, my heart thudding.

"Gotcha," the person whispers, his breath tickling my ear, and I elbow his stomach lightly. I'd recognise that voice anywhere. He lets go.

"Dammit Kris that wasn't funny," I scowl.

"You're right, it isn't. I expected you to scream or at least struggle. You're no fun," he says disappointedly.

"Well sor-ry," I walk down the stairs.

"Why're you still going up there, eh?" he asks, following me.

"Couldn't sleep," I say flatly, not turning around.

"Must be more than that, though," he comments. "You didn't even bring your guitar."

"How observant," I reply dryly. We've reached the living room. I head for my room but Kris grabs my wrist.

"Hey." I stop and sigh.

"What now?"

"You've got something on your mind. Come on, you can tell me." I finally look up at him to meet his sincere eyes.

"How can you tell?"

"I just can," he shrugs. I make to pull away my arm, but on second thought I let him hang there. We sit on the sofa in the dark, just barely lit by the moonlight.

"That night on the roof, Rosalie... she said something really..." I search for the right word, "unnerving."

"What did she say?"

"You know that team training session?" he nods. "Remember my, um, little run-in with Elise?"

"How can I forget?" he snorts.

"Yeah, so at one point she was 'convincing'---" complete with air quotes, "---me to give her my sword, right? And I said, ' good luck finding one', and you know what Rosalie told me when I said it's not fair cuz she had a dagger and I didn't? 'good luck finding one'." I search Kris' face for a reaction, but he's got that goddamn poker face on. "Don't you think that's a bit creepy?"

"Maybe... it's just a coincidence?" he says carefully.

"Pretty creepy coincidence then," I mumble, leaning back on the sofa. I stare up at the ceiling.

"Is that all?" he asks gently. I look at him and my eyes dart away quickly. I think of Tao's weird behaviour these few days, nice one day and ice-cold the next. Usually I don't have a problem with bipolar people--- hell, I sometimes have annoying mood swings too--- but somehow this is pissing me off more than normal. And worrying me too, given how emotionless Tao usually is. Another thing worrying me much more is why I'm even bothered to worry about Tao. And then there's Kai who is still haunting my dreams every single freaking night.

"Yeah, that's all. Nothing else." I lie, avoiding his gaze. I make a big show of yawning. "Guess I'm sleepy now... either that or you're too boring," I snicker, heading for my bedroom.

"Goodnight," he calls out behind me.

"Night," I reply before closing the door.

As soon as I fall asleep I'm in that maze again. No matter how many I tell myself I have to be calm and find a way out when I'm awake, the moment I fall asleep I instantly panic and forget about everything except that I have to get away from Kai.

This time, Kai morphs into a half-monster, half-human thing, his eyes glowing red. I trip and he leaps in the air, landing on me. He opens his gigantic mouth and I wake up screaming.

The door bursts open to reveal Kris. I bolt upright. His jaw drops at the sight of me.

"Was that... was that you screaming?" he asks in shock. I nod and turn away, ashamed to let him see me like this.

"Hey... are you crying?" he sits next to me.

"No," I mumble.

"Hey," he says gently, wiping my cheek with his thumb. It ends up wet. "Was it a bad dream?" I stare at my covers.

"Go away, Kris," I mutter. He pretends he can't hear me and pats my hand.

"You can tell me you know," he says softly. His warm touch almost breaks my resolve to not tell him anything, but I stay mute. I don't want him in my personal matters, despite his good intentions.

"I'm fine," I stress. "Now go away." I kick him off my bed. He gets up with a sigh.

"Okay. But just remember that I'm here for you alright?" I stare at the wall and nod. He shuts the door behind him quietly. I sleep fitfully for the rest of the night.

The next morning Jade bursts into my room.

"ADRIENNE!! WAKE UP!!" she shrieks. I groan and squint at her.

"Well someone's up early..." I mutter.

"GUESS WHAT ADRIENNE GUESS WHAT!!" she squeals. I sigh.

"What?"

"LAY LIKES ME TOO!!!" she practically screams. I eye her suspiciously.

"Wait what did you do last night?" She blushes.

"We didn't do anything of that sort!" she cries.

"Do what, exactly?" I smirk. She gapes at me, trapped. I laugh, swinging my legs off the bed.

"I need to wash up, you tell me every single detail later okay?" I smile at her.

"Okay," she blushes. I laugh.

"Every single detail, Jade," I wink and head for the bathroom.

"LUHAN!!!!!!" I bellow, knocking furiously at his door.

"Wha...?" He mumbles sleepily as he opens the door.

"Make me dessert."

"Wha...?" he says again.

"I won the bet," I tell him happily. He's instantly awake.

"You what? They what?"

"Lay confessed to Jade," I smirk. He groans.

"Since when did Lay get that bold..." he mumbles, closing the door again. I stick my foot in.

"Make me tiramisu," I command, smiling widely.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I remove my foot and he almost closes the door when Lay yells at him from inside.

"ADRIENNE!!!" he roars.

"Yes?" I call out innocently. He wrenches open the door.

"How did you know?" he growls.

"I know everything," I smile knowingly.

"I can't believe you actually made a bet on us!" Jade cries behind me.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," I cackle, ducking into the bathroom.

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this chapter... I don't even know what I'm writing. srtgdryfnhdgbgfrvd.

I'm starting to have second thoughts about my originally intended ship. Damn you people for siding with so many different people ;P

I've got the last chapters all written out... now I just have to find a way to connect these with those /_\

and yes I'll have some POVs of other people later on... :D