Samantha had never once considered herself afraid of the dark. Growing up in New York City had eliminated any of that fear from the young girl. How many times had she seen horror in those streets? The Upper East Side may have been home to the richest and most elite of the American world, but it was not without the homeless people on street corners, the threat of gangs lurking in those alleyways, the constant and never ending stream of danger threatening her at every turn. It was funny how immune she had gotten to it, how used she had gotten to the sounds of people around her. It had been an almost hive mentality of sorts, the constant belief that though she was surrounded by strangers, she was safe because she wasn't alone. How different Sacrosanct had been for her. The populated streets flowed throughout the day, but when the sun gave way to the moon, the streets were deserted.

Tonight was like any other nights that she made her trek towards the Ark. As she got closer, she was sure she'd seen the trickle of Weres off to find their entertainment in the fighting rings of the Ark. Fortunately for her, she wouldn't be entering the Ark tonight - at least not right away - and would instead be meeting her boyfriend near the beach to spend some nice quiet alone time together. Neither being quiet the type to spend their time in fancy clubs or restaurants, the couple content to spend their time watching the moon rise over the waves. She'd looked forward to it all day, and it was that on her mind as she walked, thinking of the way they'd spend the evening together before they ultimately ended up within his bed and her within his arms.

It took her several moments to be pulled so abruptly from her day dream by the sound of footsteps around her. For several moments, the girl ignored them, before her head finally turned to see something just out of her sight. The seize of nervousness that held at her heart was immediate, the girl's step faltering in an effort to make her take several deep breaths and make her breathing return to normal. It was nothing. A rogue Were on the way to the Ark. Nothing that was a threat to her. Nothing she couldn't protect herself from. Slowly, she pushed herself forward. There was no sense in being afraid. She was safe.

Or at least, she thought she was until she heard the giggles behind her, the girl once more pausing on the sidewalk to spin around towards the noises. She saw the flash of someone disappearing into an alleyway, the girl sure that those noises were familiar to her. No, no. She was just being paranoid. She took another deep breath as she propelled herself forward. She'd feel better when she was with Aiden, she always did. Still, she allowed her affinity to reach out to coax out the tendrils of emotion from the voices. She'd feel better if she could feel what they were feeling, even be able to manipulate it. But there was... nothing.

"You're being crazy," The faerie girl whispered to herself as she continued on. "There's no one there." And yet, she could hear the noises. She could hear the footsteps and the giggles and the whispered tones. But she pressed herself forward until she heard that giggled voice say her name. Her body froze instantly. The girl felt as though she had been dropped into ice, as though all the warmth in entire world had been sucked out of her and replaced with nothing but this icy dread. No. Frost had been right. He had been right and she wasn't careful, and no. Please, no.

Slowly, the girl turned and came face to face with what she knew would be there. Layla looked the same as she always had with that hair that was so blonde it was almost silver in the moonlight, and that awful smile on her features. She'd thought once that it had been a friendly smile in the haze of inebriation at that party. Now she recognized it for what it was: cruel. Cruel and meant for her destruction. "Layla," Samantha said softly, her tongue feeling suddenly as though it was very heavy. Her eyes flicked away from the girl momentarily and towards the path to the Ark. If she ran, how far could she make it? Could she make it far enough that Aiden would hear her screaming?

She had just considered it, her eyes flicking back towards Layla as the other two appeared beside her. Violet looked as non-threatening as she always had. But Samantha knew she enjoyed hearing the sound of her screams. She could remember the knives she drew across Sam's skin, and the way she hadn't reacted with anything but glee when the human girl would beg and plead for her to either let her go or kill her. And Naia... her face was still the thing that haunted Samantha in her sleep. She could still see that wicked, gleeful smile as she'd slashed Samantha's throat and left her there to die.

The girl instinctively took a step back, her affinity lashing out to grab ahold of their emotions. But there were none. She could see the emotions on their faces, but she couldn't grab ahold of them, there was nothing for her to manipulate, nothing for her to use to protect herself. The girl let out a small whimper of fear as she stepped back again, her back coming to meet the brick wall of the warehouse building. "I don't... belong to you..." She would give anything for that iron weapon Tobi offered her right now, would give anything to be able to protect herself.

She may have been able to protect herself from one of the girls, even escape them and make it far enough to get within the Ark's range. But all three of them? No, how many times had she attempted to flee in the few times they'd untied her during that week in the warehouse. She'd never got more than a few feet from them. It was useless to try, and yet she still refused to so submissively give in to them. "I'm not yours. I... no. I'm a queen. I'm my own." She stuttered out, her voice quivering with the fear she felt even though she tried so desperately to sound confident. "Leave me alone. All of you."