Li An’s POV

Luhan had moved me from the room I was originally in to somewhere more comfortable. I guess it was supposed to make me feel more comfortable as well, but that wasn’t work. Not with Zitao unblinkingly staring at me from across the room, and even though Luhan made me feel slightly safer; it wasn’t enough. Luhan sat down and extended his arm towards another seat opposite him. I stayed still for a moment before slowly walking over and sitting down. I immediately started fidgeting. I was confused and nervous. I had never met these people before today, and I had no idea what they wanted from me. Luhan cleared his throat before leaning back against his chair and crossing legs.

“I would like to apologize, again, for Zitao’s roughness with you. Zitao apologise to the girl,” Luhan eyes flickered over to Zitao.

My eyes hesitantly looked over to Zitao too. He was leaning against the wall, still staring at me.He and smirked, showing off his fangs.

“Zitao...” Luhan’s voice grew tense; impatient with the vampyr.

Zitao frowned and, quicker than my eyes could follow, he appeared in front of me. He leaned down and spoke into my ear. A shiver went through my body as I felt his cold breath upon my neck.

“Sorry,” he uttered.

He pushed himself away from the chair and went back to leaning against the wall. I turned back to Luhan who smiled.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked, gesturing over to a nearby bar.

I glanced over at the bar. Was it safe to say yes? What if they drugged the drink? It would be rude to say no though and I didn’t want to anger the stranger. Even if I said yes I wouldn’t have to drink it. I looked back over to Luhan and nodded slowly.

“What would you like?” He asked. He turned to Zitao who let out a large sigh and walked over to the bar. He took out a glass and slammed it on the bar making me jump.

“Just water, please.”

Zitao took the jug of water that was near him and poured it into the glass. He started to walk over me but Luhan let out a cough and Zitao looked over to him.

“Would you like ice with that?” Luhan asked me.

I nodded slowly again and felt myself smile slightly. I wasn’t smiling because of Luhan’s hospitality. I was smiling because I felt like I was being a nuisance to Zitao and after what he did to me in the room it was sort of amusing for the roles in some ways to be switched. Zitao turned back around and scooped a few pieces of ice into the glass of water and rushed over to me. He shoved it into my hands and glared at me slightly before pulling back.

“You can relax Li An. No one is going to hurt you. Including Zitao.” Luhan smiled at me, the last part sounding less like and assurance to me and more like a threat towards Zitao.

I nodded at him. I think he expected me to slump on the chair or relax my shoulders or something to show that I wasn’t on edge about this whole place and the two strangers, but I couldn’t even pretend to lose the tension buzzing through my body.

“Li An, do you know why you are here?” Luhan started questioning me, but unlike Zitao Luhan’s tone was gentle.

I shook my head, Luhan uncrossed his legs and leaned forwards in his chair. He was still smiling at me.

“You don’t have to be afraid to talk to me, you know?” Luhan pushed himself up from his seat and walked over to me. He sat next to me and smiled. “I’m not like Zitao. I just want to help you.”

“H-help me?” I stuttered slightly. Luhan smiled again.

“Yes, help you. I know you don’t know it, but you have amazing gifts. They are powerful and beautiful, but they are also very dangerous and I want to help you with them,” Luhan started to explain.

Gifts? It struck me gently – no big epiphany, just a slow realisation. The sudden downpours, the glasses exploding, all but throwing Kai across the room – any moment where I had been angry or upset and these surreal things had happened hadn’t been weird coincidences. I was causing these events, and maybe it was something I could control. These destructive forces... Luhan thought they were gifts?

“You are probably really confused and scared right now. I don’t blame you. I really do want to help you,” Luhan frowned and looked to the side for a moment before continuing. “Aside from your powers being dangerous in themselves, there are also those who would forcibly steal your gifts and use them for selfish reasons. Your life could quite easily be in danger.”

My mind flashed back to Alix. Did she perhaps know about my powers? How would she know though? She was my best friend. How could she know before me? Then again, she is a vampyr. She could have been watching me my whole life and I wouldn’t have even realised. I mentally slapped myself. What was I thinking? This was Alix! I mentally slapped myself again. Alix just tried to kill me! Why am I trying to defend her? I clenched my fists. She knew all this time. She used me all this time to get this power that is inside of me. I looked up as Luhan continued talking.

“Not everyone wants that though. I don’t really want to take your powers from you, but it would be safer to store them away somewhere. Somewhere that no one could touch them or even find them. Everyone would be safe, including yourself. You wouldn’t have to worry about hurting yourself and others around you.”

I thought about it for a moment. I wasn’t sure that I could completely trust Luhan. After all, his henchman or whatever Zitao was to him had tried to kill me a moment beforehand. How could I know that Luhan wouldn’t use my powers to harm? I was conflicted. If what Luhan said was true then I could seriously hurt people around me. I’d already hurt Kai. It didn’t bother me because it was Kai, but what if I hurt someone I really cared about? I glanced back up at Luhan, my expression was filled with confusion and I wasn’t sure what my answer was.

“I’ll give you some time to think about it. I didn’t expect you to know right away,” Luhan assured with a small smile. It seemed genuine. He stood and walked over to the door that we had came in from. He looked over at Zitao who followed after him. Before Luhan left he paused at the exit and turned to me.

“I think it would be a good idea for you to stay here while you go through this in your head. We have a room set up for you. We don’t want you getting hurt, and I highly doubt we’re the only two to know about you. There will be other people looking for you and...” he trailed off, looking anxious. “Don’t be afraid to ask any questions. I understand this will be a really difficult decision for you.”

With that said, Luhan left the room. I relaxed slightly on the chair and ran my fingers through my hair, wondering if handing my powers over would be a good idea or not. I had never been this unsure before. Not to mention, I suddenly realised – Luhan hadn’t even explained how I could give over my powers.