- Gabriella -

Daniel cursed and I felt strong hands gripping my elbow to keep me steady.

"Forest. Bring me near the park." I said weakly as Daniel looked at me in alarm. A string of colorful words left his mouth, but I felt him tugging me along. It felt like only several minutes and I felt soft grass underneath my feet.

The feeling of relief has never felt so lifting in my entire life. I reached out blindly and felt the familiar woody roughness beneath my palms. with a sigh, I leaned my weight against the poor tree and breathed in its earthly scent.

"How many times has this happened before?" Daniel asked me quietly. The tone in his voice suggested no room for argument. With a flippant shrug, I said. "I don't know." Or I tried. What came out was a weak incoherent mumble.

"Jeez. I'm trying to help you here Gabriella. You should never-" He stopped himself with a small exasperated sigh.

"I know what you're going through. Sit down on the grass it helps. May I?" He gestured towards me. I nodded and he supported my weight as I eased myself down into a sitting position. As my ass touches the earth, a pulse of energy shoots up into my spine from the contact. I gasped in surprise. The feeling was foreign but it felt familiar. Electrifying yet soothing.

Taking several steadying breaths, I waited for the dizzy spell to pass and tried to get my bearings. My vision clears and the throbbing subsides.

Soon, I can look around without feeling like I might faint any moment. With a start I realised we're in the Garden of Sins. At the very exact spot that I like to frequent. I studied the same viney leaves that covered the four walls around us, the thick and lush grass under my feet.

"When did you begin having these episodes?" Daniel spoke as he leaned against the nearest wall. He's playing with something in his pockets, fingering it. But his eyes were unfocused, lost in his thoughts.

It's late and dark but I can see everything around me clearly. Everything in a three-meter radius looks as clear as day. Did my eyesight improve?

"How did we get here so fast?" I responded instead.

"I know a shortcut. Now can you please answer my question. This is a serious matter. Do you even know what you're going through?" Daniel is looking down at me, his brows bunched together. "What am I going through? There's a name for it?" I asked him. But my face must have betrayed my shock and surprise. Does he know what I'm going through? How? But that's impossible...

"I knew it. You didn't know. No wonder you're so guarded against me." Daniel sighed as he slid down beside me. Looking me in the eye, he said "What you are going through it is a phenomenon called iron drain. I assume it has started since you were very young. Maybe even when you are born." I gaped at him.

"How did you know that!? How is this possible? Have you experienced it? Do you have the same condition as well?" My mouth is opening and closing but no words came out. This doesn't make any sense. Am I not the only one with this condition? I was so sure that no one else had it. Is it a coincidence that a random stranger I just met knows about it?

"I have... friends. I guess you can call them that. I've met people who have the same condition as you." He said looking at me intensely." He was studying me. Watching how I would respond to his next words. "Do you... um... " He frowned, and for the first time I realised maybe it wasn't so simple.

Maybe this condition appears because of confidential reasons or complications. Maybe there was just something wrong with me and my allergies are tell-tale signs screaming that I am a freak. That I am different from the rest.

As Daniel struggled to find the words to speak, a strange lullaby filtered through the woods before disappearing shortly after. "What's that?" I whispered.

"What?" Daniel asked.

"I think I heard someone singing. But then it's gone. It's nothing, never m-" This time it came again. A soft melodic voice singing in another language I can't recognize. But somehow, something about the voice draws me to it. It calls to me in a familiar way. Without realizing, I was already half-crouching, my feet ready to move towards it.

"Wait." Daniel placed a hand stopping me. I turned to look at him, snapping out of my trance. He was already standing but he seemed locked in place. His eyes wide with apprehension and his mouth set in a grim line.

"I- Hey are you alright? You look tensed."

"Someone else is here." He placed a finger

"It's okay sweetheart. Eat this and all your troubles will fade away." A cajoling voice said and at the same time a constant stream of soft beeping noises came from Daniel's jean pockets. With a quick look at the beeping device, he silenced it.

"Someone else is here." He whispered as he placed his finger on his lips, signalling me to stay silent. With surprising stealth, he crossed our cozy spot in span of seconds, without making a single sound. "Stay here. Give me a sec." With that, he disappeared through the curtain of viney leaves leaving me alone. Without thinking much, I followed closely after him, wondering why the need for silence and secrecy. What could possibly be so urgent that he's leaving me alone in this creepy place?

We made our way deeper into the lesser ventured area of the campus grounds. Places where the woods are thicker. One wrong turn and I might just become lost in this thick foliage.

Maybe it was because I've never been here before. Everything seems wilder. The trees look taller, the air feels colder. Or maybe it's all my imagination. Daniel doesn't seem to have much trouble finding his way around. He seems to know the way easily. Soon, we reached a pathway made for students to walk. I sighed in silent relief recognizing the familiar main route. As long as we follow the path, it will take us back to the Garden of Sins. Back to the safety of the campus grounds.

Suddenly, Daniel came to a stop in front of me and I almost collided into him, lost in my thoughts.

Through the lighted park lamps, I made out a boy with matted blonde hair sitting on one of the park benches with a girl beside him. He is holding something out to her.

"Go on. Try it." His voice filled the air sweetly. The boy smiled alluringly at the girl and she gave a small tentative smile in return. "What are the side effects? I don't want to end up ya know on the floor." She gestured shyly towards the ground.

"This baby is even better than what they sell out there. She will give you what you want. Try it." There's something cloying and dizzy about him. His features seem to blur and then focus again. Like a wonky outdated camera. It focused onto an image of a boy and then suddenly it was someone taller wearing a hood. I blinked in confusion. Rubbing my tired eyes. And was that silver eyes under the hood?

"It will give me what I want." The girl giggled and nodded. "That's right, my dear." He promised as he took her hand and kissed the back of it seductively. The girl giggles again as he smiles up at her through his long lashes.

"Why don't you open it and try one?" He asked her gently. "Open it and try one." He repeated, his voice taking on a strange undercurrent, like a hypnotizing melody. I feel my body being pulled towards him, my fingers itching to open the packet.

I shook my head, trying to clear my mind of that sickly sweet voice that compels me to obey him. I glanced at Daniel to see if I was the only one affected but he seems equally affected. He blinked twice before his eyes focused on the girl's hand. Something zaps through him, and the hazy look cleared. A dark haunted expression crept across his face as recognition lit in his eyes. His whole body tensed imperceptibly like a defense mechanism.

His face is tight as he looks at the small packet that was placed onto the girl's hand. A packet containing small tiny white pieces that sparkled dully. They look like crystals that have lost their shine.

"Faerie drugs." He said giving a strangled gasp.

The boy's head snapped towards us. His strange pupils narrowed. "Who's there?" He spoke softly, yet strangely I could still hear him from all the way we were hiding. There was no mistaking the dangerous malice in his tone.

Something ran a an icy finger down my spine.

I almost creamed when Daniel grabbed my hand and yanked me down hard, hiding us under the cover of bushes. I peered at the strange boy from our hiding place, as he scanned around. His eyes searching for traces of the both of us. There was something strange about his movements. They seemed too smooth and too fast for a build so small.

"You should've stayed at that safe zone. Now you've stumbled across something you shouldn't have. And then I have to clean it all up as always." Damien muttered darkly beside me or behind me. I wasn't sure because I was too busy staring at the boy. I stared and stared, and something around him flickered. His edges begin to blur and blend. The appearance of a teenager disappeared, replaced by a tall man with a hood covering his face. Swirls of strange tattoos covered his pale skin, glowing softly under the street lamp.

I was too engrossed with staring at the strange man that I didn't feel it when Daniel was longer beside me until he sprang out from our hiding position, and shouted. "No! Stop! Don't touch that!"

The girl was in the midst of opening the packet, but she paused and turned to him in confusion.

I watched in that split second as Daniel raced forward stretching his hand out to stop her or to grab the packet. That's when everything turn wrong. Daniel suddenly paused mid-run, frozen halfway in the air. Horrified, the girl gasped and dropped the packet she was holding. My eyes tracked it as it fell to the ground, spilling tiny white crystals. I was glued to the spot. Not knowing what to do and not knowing when this will end. It felt like a horrible nightmare has sprung to life.