Paige led him to a large building, the brightest looking of the bunch, it used light coloured woods and stone to stand out from the surrounding buildings. Nick noticed that the people coming to and from the building looked distinctly healthier than the rest of the Executioners. This building seemed to host the members of the faction like Rina, who hadn’t undergone the ritual.

“This is the Unvoided Hall. When you no doubt manage to injure yourself again, this is where you’ll want to come. The only Healers in the Executioners will be found here.” Paige explained.

“Unvoided?” Nick questioned.

“People that don’t go through the ritual are called the Unvoided. Us that do the ritual are called the Voided.”

Huh, that seemed like a pretty simple way to name things. Nick was interested in the use of the word void though. It implied a connection between the taint and the void, which was easy enough to see. Looking into the void that surrounded the Complex apparently infected you, Henry was a testament to that. The man had been left in a pretty bad state from the more extreme exposure the family had faced when they’d entered this place. The Exes were calling their Stained people the Voided though, implying a potential difference. Could you be Stained and not Voided? Abigail had mentioned that normally people just got sick, so yeah, there was likely some sort of difference. That difference must have laid in the ritual that the Exes had.

Nick nodded to himself, he felt like a right detective piecing all of this information together. He was pulled from his thoughts as the duo entered the building. Nick was very pleased by what he saw. Far more windows that allowed natural light to filter through into the insides, plenty of light coloured wood to help the place feel more open. Nick loved it. They had done a far better job here than how they had inside the cathedral, at least according to his very biassed and subjective tastes. Which Nick had no shame in admitting, while he couldn’t claim they were better tastes than anyone else’s, he most certainly could claim he liked them more.

Paige pulled Nick through the open lobby and over to a desk that had a blonde woman sitting behind it.

“Paige. What do you have here?” The woman asked.

“My charge. An Unvoided with an uncanny penchant for getting himself injured.” Paige sighed.

The woman’s eyes crossed over Nick’s neck and she raised an eyebrow. “I can certainly see that. Well, take him back to Healer’s bay. It’s a quiet day so you won’t have to wait.”

Nick's cheeks went red. He really wished that maddy had healed his neck, but she had refused to heal him at all. He was still covered in all the bites and scratches that Paige had left across his body. While Paige loved it, Nick certainly didn’t. Especially now that he was meeting new people, it didn’t paint him in the best of lights.

The pair went into a different room that looked a lot like a doctor's waiting room and took a seat. Not a moment later a woman walked into the room from another door. She had rosy cheeks and her brunette hair was tied up in a messy bun.

“Hi there. Who needs the heal?”

Nick smiled at the woman. “That would be me. Fell down a flight of stairs, my leg is numb and I can’t feel my foot.”

The woman’s eyes glowed green for a moment then she looked at Paige. “Hmm. This is a tricky one. I can heal the injuries fine but the…”

“Just heal him. I’ll take care of the rest.” Paige cut her off.

The woman looked slightly uncomfortable but got to work, Nick felt the healing spread across his body. The small wounds across his body disappeared and then the tingling concentrated in his leg, slowly working its way from his hip to his foot. It was the most focused healing he had ever experienced and it was over in seconds. Nick stood up and found that his leg was completely healed. The woman before him didn’t even look slightly taxed by her use of the skill.

“That’s awesome. How did you manage that? My Healer friend would have been pretty tired after healing an injury like this.” Nick asked in amazement.

“Level six Healer comes with its perks. Stay safe out there.” The woman said with a smile before walking back into the room she’d come from.

Paige then led Nick back to the lobby, where she stopped to ask the receptionist something.

“Sandy, do you have a storage closet or something around here?”

Nick thought that Sandy was a very fitting name for the blonde woman sitting behind the desk. Her hair did have that sand-like colouring to him, it actually made him miss the beach a bit.

Nick let out a relaxed sigh. His body and mind felt completely refreshed from the heal. He’d purposely get injured just to go through this again, his body felt completely tension free. Even his mind was feeling free, Nick’s thought’s breezed by, none of them sticking and causing him any needless anxieties. Nick then looked at the woman next to him and was shocked. He didn’t see the charming lady he’d come to expect, he saw a haughty short woman with a dodgy agenda. Hang on a minute…

“Yeah we do, it’s that door over there. Why?” The woman pointed out a particular door.

Nick was suddenly dragged off his feet and before he knew it he was thrown into the closet and the door was slammed closed. There wasn’t a lot of space inside the closet and Paige’s body was pressed right up against his. Instead of being flustered by their sudden close proximity, Nick was more irritated by the whole ordeal. He had a broom handle pressing into his back and he was just deeply uncomfortable. Paige was also just far too close for comfort, she looked up at him and fluttered her eyelashes.

“What the hell is going on he-”

Nick choked on his own words and Paige suddenly clambered up on him and sunk her teeth into his neck. Nick let out a panicked yelp as he felt his blood being drawn from his body. He once again felt something dripping back into his system. Something thick and sinister slowly seeped through his veins, sending chills down his spine. Nick grabbed onto Paige and squeezed her as hard as he could, but it was useless, it was like trying to crush a block of iron. Nick changed up tactics. He leaned to one side and then used all of his strength to slam Paige against the wall, trying to dislodge her. It didn’t work, so Nick tried again, and again, and again.

Paige just latched on tighter and kept sucking. Nick began to feel woozy, he had no idea how much blood he’d lost but he knew it wasn’t looking good for him. Was Paige trying to kill him? No, Paige wouldn’t kill him. He and Paige had something of special relationship forming, there’s no way she’d do something like that to him. Nick focused, he could feel his own thoughts turning against him. He had no idea what Paige was capable of. Nick redoubled his efforts to try to get her off him.

It was only then that Nick remembered he had skills he could be trying to take advantage of. Nick started doing what he did best, he punched. He started swinging looping hooks into Paige’s side, it was a very hard angle for Nick to hit. Inside fighting never had been his strong suit but he gave it his best. Nick just kept punching and eventually he felt like he was getting through. Paige started moaning each time he landed a blow, his Punishing Blows must have been finally ramping up. Nick’s mind started to fog over, his body growing feeble. He kept punching, using every bit of energy he had left to strike his assailant. Eventually he ran dry and his legs gave out beneath him. Paige wasn’t having that though, she unwrapped her legs and used them to hold the two of them up. Nick’s limp body was entirely supported by the small woman.

Eventually Paige pulled her fangs from Nick’s neck, panting. A crimson blush adorned her breathless face.

“Nick…” She panted. “You can’t make me excited like that. I almost went too far.”

Oh. Nick was crumpled on the floor looking up at the woman. He hadn’t been getting through with his strikes. Those moans hadn’t been caused by pain. Nick lay there, drained emotionally and physically. Nick had been powerless before the woman in front of him, even feeling in top condition, Paige had manhandled him. Nick had tried his best but was still left a dried husk. It was a very depressing moment for him.

Nick then felt his thoughts begin to warp, his brain actively began to recontextualise the event that had just happened. No longer was it a crushing defeat, but instead it was an exciting experience. Nick had just shared a moment with the charming woman panting before him. How could there be anything wrong with that? Nick had enjoyed the experience and so had Paige, it was a win-win situation. Paige then picked him up, looped her arm around his waist and took him out of the room.

“Can’t you two have found a better place… Oh.” Sandy’s face dropped when her eyes fell on Nick’s neck.

Her mouth closed and she looked away, her face becoming stoic. Paige didn’t reply to her and Nick just didn’t have the energy for it. Paige carried him out of the building and started moving towards another. Nick’s mind was fuzzy and he couldn't focus, his eyes listlessly rolled around unable to take in details. Paige just kept carrying him around and eventually stopped before another large building. Nick realised she was speaking and he strained himself to hear it.

“-Imon Hall. Everyone who is a member of her faction stays here. You’ll be staying in a room connected to mine.”

Nick nodded his head. He wasn’t entirely sure what she was talking about but it was probably good, so why wouldn’t he agree? Nick was whisked through the building and up a flight of stairs, then he watched as Paige unlocked a door and pulled him through into a room. Even in his woozy state, Nick could feel the grandiosity of the room. Polished wood furnishing, a high quality kitchen in the corner, and the crowning piece: a giant crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Nick’s eyes were mesmerised by the light glinting off the crystals, projecting rainbows around the room. Paige carried him over to a couple of doors and Nick realised he needed to be listening again.

“-Room, whereas this door leads to mine. You can come and visit any time you want, okay?” She said with a smile.

Nick’s body tried to get excited about what she’d implied but he just couldn't, his body had no energy left to spare on anything that wasn’t keeping him awake. So Nick just nodded his head.

“Oh my, you’re quite worn out aren’t you? I think it’s time for you to have a rest.”

Nick was then taken through one of the doors and his eyes locked onto a bed in the corner of the room. He didn’t even hear what Paige said to him as she laid him down, he was just overwhelmingly happy to be lying down. The bed felt like a cloud and Nick struggled to keep his eyelids open. He felt Paige run a hand down his arm and then heard the door to the room close over. Nick was about to fall asleep but then he remembered what Abigail had told him before she’d left. He struggled to rummage through his pockets and eventually found what he was looking for.

Nick fumbled the necklace over his head as he fell asleep. The last thing he felt was a refreshing sensation spread from his chest to his head. Then Nick entered a deep slumber, his body desperately trying to replenish his blood supply.

When Nick did wake up, the first thing he felt was a burning hunger. His stomach had never felt so damn empty in his life, he felt starved. Nick wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep but he knew that he needed to eat something. Nick got up on his feet and wobbled, he certainly hadn’t fully recovered. That wasn’t his current concern though, he needed to eat something. Nick made his way over to the door and was about to open it when he remembered the object hanging around his neck. He quickly took it off and slid it back into his pocket.

Nick felt his mind get a little foggy, the refreshing sense was now gone and he was back to having clouded thoughts. The one figure that was clear in his mind though was Paige. He really wanted to see her, to be close to her. That was until hunger panged across his body. Paige could wait a little bit, food came first night now. Nick went into the next room and found Paige sitting at a table with a cup of tea, though Nick’s eyes snapped to the table. There was a smorgasbord spread across the table, a variety of foods that Nick’s stomach begged for.

“Feeling better Nick? I prepared some food for you.” Paige smiled at him, looking like an angel.

Nick’s mind became hyper focused. He dove towards the table and began to feast. Meats, vegetables and pastries all fell before Nick’’s mighty maw. Their resistance was futile, all foods were consumed during Nick’s onslaught. Nick was a lawnmower and the food before him was a middle aged man’s lawn on a sunday morning.