Today is the day.

The day that I'm going to be taken away for two days.

The transportation for us pets was already here according to Nico so we only had a couple minutes left with each other before we had to go down.

My fingers grazed the collar around my neck.

It had been so long since I had had to wear this for such a long time...

My fingers then trailed to the mark that Nico had made on me the night before.

Luckily Nico walked out from the closet before I could begin to dwell back on that experience too much.

I watched as he walked over to me, holding one of his grey hoodies in his arms.

He had been on edge all day.

"Last I remember it wasn't very well heated in the room that they kept the pets," He said as he handed me the hoodie, "this is one of the warmest and most comfortable things I own so..." He trailed off, I guess not really knowing how to finish.

A smile tugged at my lips.

I was already wearing a long-sleeved shirt and pants, but this will make it that much better.

"Thank you," I replied before putting it on.

I nearly sighed with happiness when I realized that his smell was all over this piece of clothing.

It was a smell that I couldn't really specify... I just smelled like him and I loved it.

At least I'd have this to help get me through these next couple of days.

My nerves about the whole thing had calmed down ever since Nico... Bit me.

Hopefully, that will make sure that I get through this as easily as possible.

I smoothed out the hoodie as best I could since the sleeves surpassed my arms.

This thing was huge on me.

Not that I was complaining.

I pulled up the sleeves as I looked back up at Nico, seeing a small smile on his face.

I rose my brow as to ask what he was smiling at.

He let out a short, breathy laugh, "You even look good in that." He stated quietly, taking another step towards me.

I barely had any time to react to that before he bent down a bit and cupped my head with one his hands.

I instinctively leaned into his hand.

His face had turned serious.

"I know you've been through this before, but the vampires working there are always different and you never know what to expect." He paused for a second, moving the collar of the hoodie to make sure that the mark on my neck was visible, "If what you said is true, be sure to make this as visible as possible at all times."

I nodded.

" Try to stay in the middle of the crowd, never look at any of the workers, and if you can help it, try not to talk to anyone. Pet Doctors get bored easily and will look for any reason to punish a human and," He stopped, clearing his throat, "I don't really want to hunt down and hurt some douchbag that decides to take their boredom out on you for an unfair reason."

I was surprised to hear just how far Nico was willing to go for me.

"You sound worried," I said, placing my hand over his.

Even though I was already worried, his worry oddly made me feel a mix of happy and nervous.

"I am worried," He responded, rubbing my cheek with his thumb, " I care about your safety and there's no way I can guarantee that if I'm not there. I'll be worrying until you get back and there's not anything either of us can do about that. Please, just promise me that you'll lay low while you're there." He asked of me.

"I promise," I assured him.

Laying low was what I was good at, so that was a promise I was sure that I could keep.

Nico pulled me into a tight hug, inhaling deeply.

"Good. I'll be waiting for you when you get back."

I think that's where it hit me. How much I was going to miss him.

Even though it was just two days, it was two days in the hands of people who thought of me as less than dirt.

I buried my head in his neck, holding tight to him.

"I'm gonna take you somewhere I think you'll like when you get back. So if you ever get nervous or scared or think you can't get through this, just try to remember that you have something to look forward to." He explained.

I almost began to think that he was being a bit too much but then I remembered just how anxious I was all the time before I met him.

That anxiety was no doubt going to return without him.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Okay." Is all I responded.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

I nodded slowly.

"Okay," He responded as he clipped the leash to my collar.

My face immediately turned hot as he placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

"Let's go."

With that, we left his room and headed to the front of the castle.

Nico always acted a bit different whenever we left his room, I guess that's why we said our goodbyes in there even though we weren't parting yet.

We had a strange relationship...

I stayed one step behind Nico as we made our way there.

The cold outside air wasn't very pleasant, but I soon learned that I was going to deal with that.

At the front of the castle sat two large cattle cars with chains hanging from the roofs. One of them was already crammed full of pets, and the other one was nearly full.

I guess since we won't have much protection from the outside in those things, us being forced right next to each other wasn't the worst thing in the world.

I could tell by Nico's white-knuckled grip on my leash that he thought differently.

I was just glad that it wasn't currently snowing.

A vampire in a white suit approached us, the badge on it showing that he was one of the Pet Doctors.

Nico handed him my paper before he could say a word.

He opened it and scanned it over in a few seconds, his brows pinching as he read over Nico's name.

"Okay Mr. Vanderwood," He began before placing the paper in the pocket of his suit, "I'll take her out of your hands for a bit."

Nico glared at him as he extended his hand for my leash.

My eyes shoot open wide when instead of just handing him my leash, he grabbed the mans wrist and pulled him forward. The man had little time to retaliate before Nico grabbed the collar of his shirt too to hold him steady.

The man's eyes began to hold fear as Nico whispered something in his ear.

His eyes flickered to me a couple times before he let out a fearful, "Yes sir."

And with that, Nico released him and set my leash in his hands, sending me one last reassuring nod before the man took me away.

He surprisingly carefully lead me into the cattle car, attaching one of the chains from the roof to my collar and let the leash drop to the floor.

I had been chained near the edge, so I could see the outside fairly easily.

I quickly found out that Nico hadn't moved. He was still standing right where I parted with him, watching me.

I grabbed the bars of the car, looking back at him until the last of the pets were loaded and the engine roared to life.

We didn't break eye contact, not even when I started being driven away.

I could see him standing there until he became nothing but a speck in my vision, then he was gone.

A long sigh passed my lips as I pulled the hood over my head, protecting it from the cold air and helping me block out the chatter from the pets around me.

All I wanted to focus on was getting through this and get back to him as soon as possible.