Samantha had effectively been banned from going for walks in the forest. It had been at Nadya's insistence that she stop, though the young faerie hardly wanted to give up the solitary walks in the quiet of the forest. She liked the quiet. She liked the way the nature seemed to settle her mind and gave her comfort in knowing that she wasn't feeling everything in the world. But Nadya had insisted that she stop. After all, now that she was important to Aiden Tetradore, she could no longer put herself in danger the way that she had when she'd encountered the vampires. She shivered. The thought of them still made her skin crawl and caused her to look over her shoulder to make sure they weren't near her. Knowing they were alive and still out there made her feel unsafe always. Perhaps they'd come to finish the job. From the way Raven reacted, it wasn't common to get fed from and live to tell the tale. She could still see his face and imagine the way she'd felt in wanting him. It was a small thing that had caused her to frequently wake up in the middle of the night covered in sweat.

It had happened again last night, and the young faerie girl had taken off to get some air as soon as it was light enough to keep her promise of not wandering in the dark. So she'd found herself slipping into the new clothing that Nadya had bought her and darting out of her door to head to the park. She looked rather unlike herself in the scarlet skirt and white crop top she wore, and though it was modest, it was still weird to show off her legs and shoulders and especially her stomach. She'd yet to see Aiden's reaction to her clothes â€" they'd missed each other the last few days â€" but she couldn't wait to see if he eyed her the way that the men who saw her on the street â€" admittedly the idea of it made her stomach flutter with excitement. It was what was on her mind as she travelled through the park. How soon she had become the girl who thought often of her boyfriend.

As the dawn had turned towards mid-morning, the sun had warmed the park enough that the place was crawling with families with small children, joggers, and bicyclists. Too often, the young girl had to step off the path to let the joggers and cyclists rush past her â€" they weren't exactly keen on stopping. It seemed as though the other walkers in the park were having the same problem â€" at least until she heard the loud yell of a cyclist and the resulting crash as the bike collided with a person. Sam had only begun to look up when the jolt of surprise struck at her, the emotion she picked up shining like a star. Faeries. The only time the emotions were that bright to her was when they came from fae like herself, and a sense of anxiety lurched within her at another immortal's presence.

So the young girl was entirely surprised when she realized that the shiny emotions were coming from the oddly dressed young man that was currently laying in the grass. The surrounding crowd had seemed to be pulled towards the biker, but Samantha's gaze remained steadily on the boy as she stood just far enough away from the crowd that she wasn't in the midst of it. His emotions flashed in her mind, each one bright and shiny as if they were coated in glitter. The surprise, the confusion, the despair at the blood he'd just noticed, the... the outrage? The last one confused her â€" what kind of idiot didn't know to move out of the way for cyclists? Still, she didn't move immediately, instead examining him. The slightly larger than average eyes and pointed ears gave him away immediately, and she should have just turned to bolt away from the situation. After all, she was hardly the type to get involved with wayward fae.

But still, there was something about the young man that tugged at her, a smile appearing on her lips as he let out a cry of shock, his voice sounding offended that the surrounding crowd hadn't gathered around him. At this, Samantha's curiosity got the better of her and she stepped forward, going to kneel beside him. "Stop screaming," She commanded, her voice offering no room for him to argue as she reached up to touch the wound at the back of his head. "It's just a scratch. You're not going to die, though I'm sure you knew that already. Being immortal and all does have that perk," Her voice dropped lower, not wanting to attract the attention of the crowd. Sure, it was acknowledged that there were supernaturals in the city, but that didn't mean the humans liked it being thrown around so casually. "You're going to have a wicked bruise, but it'll stop bleeding in just a moment."

At that, Samantha would have been better off to stand up and take off. But there was something about the boy, something entirely... fragile. Perhaps it was his clothing â€" he looked as though he'd just stepped off a movie set, after all â€" or the way his emotions shimmered with confusion. Instead, Samantha stayed where she was, her eyes on the boy. "What were you thinking, not moving out of the way for a bicycle? Everyone around here knows that they don't stop. You're lucky you only walked away with a small scratch." She eyed him, clearly skeptical. "Where did you come from? You look like you're filming a movie about medieval Italy or something."

Samantha Cassidy