SOMETHING ROAMS THE NIGHT...

TWENTY TWO

I awoke to someone gripping me by the shoulders, shaking me awake. My eyelids fluttered open, and I struggled to focus at whoever was before me.

"Haley," the familiar voice said, shaking me again. "Wake up."

"Huh?" I muttered, realizing I had fallen asleep on the couch beside Damon's bed.

"Haley," the guy said again, and I blinked a few times. His jawline came into view first, followed by his striking facial features.

"Ezra?" I was wide awake now, with a very shocked expression on my face.

"Shh," Ezra said. He took my arm, pulling me off the couch. "We need to talk," he said.

"Wait, you can't just..."

He ignored me, walking me out of the hospital ward. The white light blinded me for a while, and then I trained my gaze on him.

There was something different about him, something I couldn't place. It had been only two months since I had last seen him. How could someone change so much in that short period of time? 

Maybe it was his hair, or maybe it was the hint of stubble on his chin. His blue-green eyes too seemed to burn brighter than before. And he looked more muscular than he was two months ago. 

"Are you okay?" Ezra snapped me out of my thoughts. 

"You can't just leave," I said, stumbling on my words. "You can't just leave and not tell me."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "But that's why I'm here. I can explain."

I folded my arms across my chest. "I'm listening."

"The creatures that roamed the night..."

"Reapers," I cut in, and he nodded.

"Yes, the reapers, they're after me, after my entire family. Us Kanes, we are their sworn enemies. That's cause our ancestors sort of invaded their land. Our ancestors built this town on the reapers' land despite knowing the consequences. Humans were the ones who trespassed, not the reapers."

"We invaded their land, and the price was the deaths of our townspeople. But we were their prime target, followed by the people we cared about," Ezra explained. "My family left town. They couldn't take it."

"But you stayed," I said, then looked up to face him. "Why?"

"It's stupid," he shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What?" I frowned.

"I can't tell you," he shook his head defiantly. "It's a stupid reason."

"Come on, you tell me anything," I teased him. There was something important he was hiding, and it was definitely bothering him. 

"Fine," he gave up, exhaling loudly.

"I stayed because of you," he said, raising his eyes from the ground to meet mine.

"You were the reason."