n

n

nThey had paid the bill and were exiting when Keisha's gaze fell on Adrianna. Her face darkened and her wolf growled nastily at her. Adrianna stared back at her with an equal amount of disgust. If they hadn't been in a human establishment, Adrianna would have pounced on her.

nHe held Keisha's hand and pulled her out of the store saying,

"This is not the place.

"

nKeisha left the place while glaring at Adrianna as much as possible.

nIn the meanwhile, Okashi had gotten further ahead on the cashier line. When she saw Adrianna glaring at a stranger, she asked,

"Hey, do you know her?

"

nAdrianna didn't reply and merely joined her on line.

nOkashi found it weird, but she didn't insist on the question. Instead, she waited silently in line to pay for the dress. Adrianna realized that she might have seemed rude, so she shook her head and said,

"I don't know her…

"

nOkashi just nodded as they had reached the counter. The young boy behind the counter was enticed by Adrianna's beauty and asked,

"How are you?

" with a large smile.

nHe didn't even look at Okashi, who found this a violation of her beauty. She shook the card that she was holding right in front of him and said,

"We would like to buy this dress!

"

nAdrianna laughed softly, and the boy took the card while laughing. Niiya joined them at this time.

"Sis, buy a few of these for me too!

" he said, dropping a huge pile of clothes over Adrianna's dress.

n

"Niiya, we were only able to find one dress, yet you ended up finding that many in the same time frame?

" said Okashi, bewildered at his hasty choices.

n

"Well, you see, I am not a girl. I pick what I like and I don't go around modeling. No time wasted!

" he said with a shrug.

nThe boy at the counter laughed again and billed them. The trio exited the shop with a large number of bags.

nOkashi and Niiya's father was one of the few doctors in town and was successful because he was very good at his job. He had amassed a good fortune off of his practice and had given a credit card with no limit to both of his children, whom he doted upon. Although he had really wished that one of his kids would take up medicine, he had never insisted; he let them pursue what they wanted to do in life.

nBy the time they had finished shopping, it was already late and Adrianna wanted to head back to the cottage. Ed must be worried by now, and she feared that he may just run to the college ot find her.

nNiiya wanted to delay her so that she would stay longer with them, so he said,

"Adrianna let's go get snacks before you leave.

"

n

"Thank you for buying the dress for me Okashi,'

" said Adrianna politely. Then she looked at Niiya.

"No… I better head back to the cottage. See you guys in the evening,

" she said, declining his offer. Seeing that his face was falling, Okashi smacked him from behind and said,

"Niiya, we better go back home. I have to dress up for the evening. Plus, Cousin Rudolf will get home in some time. He has been wanting to see you for some time now.

"

nNiiya remembered his commitment and became quiet. Adrianna left them and headed to her motorcycle. Kick starting it, she drove away as Niiya watched her get smaller and smaller in the distance.

n

"Do you want to keep watching her, or would you like to hop in the car so we can go home?

" asked Okashi, teasing him.

nNiiya glared at his sister and sat in the car, brooding over how he would convince Adrianna to go out with him.

n

"You need to let her know your true thoughts Niiya,

" said Okashi, as if mentally reading him.

nNiiya simply stared at the road in front of them and remained silent.

nIt was already 6PM by the time Adrianna started going home. Within a couple minutes, she hit the country road which was surrounded by lush, dark forest. While driving, she, once again, heard someone telling her to be careful of the danger lurking around her. Adrianna stopped and concentrated on the sound, but all she heard was silence. She started up her motorcycle again and sped up a little in order to reach home faster.

n

"Why doesn't she understand that she shouldn't go down that road?

" she heard a voice speak. She was bewildered. Was it her imagination?

nShe was driving with those thoughts when all of a sudden, she saw a large group of about ten men running towards her direction. She focused, and as she picked the scent, she realized that their skin was pale and they all had the same dull color in their eyes. Neotides!

nIt was clear now that they were running towards her. She recognized one of them as the infiltrator in the college whom she had chased in the morning.

nShe turned her motorcycle in the opposite direction, but it was too late. Some of them had leapt into the air and were surrounding her from all sides. She was trapped. She drove her motorcycle in a circle to look for an escape, but there was none.

n