Seraphine didn’t make a sound the entire trip back to the house. Joe followed silently, occasionally looking back over his shoulder, and I was left to my quiet guilt. There wasn’t much I could do to help Claire get out of a crime she committed, after all. “I need your help clearing my name.” The words echoed in my mind over and over, reminding me of my failures. I had never really agreed to anything other than providing Claire a place to stay, but it still felt like it was my fault she was captured.

I looked down at Sera, whose arm was still draped across my back and had taken to resting her head on my shoulder as we walked. She was no longer making an effort to hide her luminous skin, which I studied as we walked. Ever since I was selected by the Uniflux three years ago, my skin had taken on a golden-white glow. Or rather, my blood had. It was so bright that you could see it through my veins, capillaries, and skin. I raised my left hand to look at where the Uniflux rested, which was where my blood glowed the brightest. I idly wondered if this was from the toxin being released into my bloodstream, or something else.

Sera’s glow, on the other hand, was more like a pure white glow. It was what I would describe moonlight as, had I ever seen it with my own eyes. She seemed to have no variations in light level coming from her, which would have to be from Elysium’s power being mixed with her very genes.

Suddenly, Sera reached up and touched my extended hand, tracing its lines before following them down to the Uniflux. Her touch was light, still trembling as the rest of her body was, and sent chills down my spine. I clasped my hand around hers, attempting to warm her up. She didn’t pull away as I feared, but left her hand in mine as we walked. As the house came into view, she pulled away from me, returning both hands to her sides. Joe walked ahead of us and unlocked the door, ushering us inside. Sera walked the length of the living room, her hand trailing on the backs of the couches and chairs. She looked like a ghost.

“Joe, would you give us a moment, please?” I requested after Joe had turned the lights on. He met my eye for a moment before nodding and retreating to his quarters. Seraphine still drifted silently, no longer glowing in the darkness of the room.

“Sera?” I said tentatively, watching her small figure stop and turn toward me.

“Why did you bring me back?” She asked quietly.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help Claire.” At this she lifted her head, revealing her face for the first time all night. Her features were twisted in anger, while tears glistened in the blue-green of her eyes. My heart twisted and I took a step forward, barely stopping myself from closing the distance between us to embrace her.

“Why am I here?” She asked again, slower this time.

“You didn’t deserve to be imprisoned,” I said quietly, immediately regretting the words as they came out of my mouth. A tear fell down Seraphine’s cheek and her jaw visibly clenched. Suddenly she extended her hand and the air around her became rancid with anger and hate. It felt as though every nerve in my body was being choked and twisted. The Uniflux in my wrist buzzed violently, burning my skin.

“I-I’m so-rry,” I choked. Was she going to kill me? Was she even capable of killing me? I wanted to believe that the Uniflux was protecting me, but I couldn’t be sure Seraphine wouldn’t overpower it.

Just as abruptly as it had began, it stopped. The atmosphere returned to normal and the grip on my life was released. The Uniflux returned to its dormant state. I collapsed to the ground, the pain from Seraphine’s power still subsiding. Looking up, I saw she had also fallen--probably when she had released her hold on me. Though it hurt to even breathe, I moved toward her and wrapped my arms around her shaking body, pulling her close.

“I’m sorry, Jayden,” her voice spoke in my mind. I held her tighter.

“It’s going to take a bit more than that to kill me,” I replied.

“I’m sorry I didn’t protect Claire. I’m sorry you had to come rescue us.”

“It was only a matter of time before Claire was caught, Sera. It was my fault for letting her go out like that. I should have kept her here…” It really was my fault. I had promised Claire a safe place to stay, then just let her walk out into broad daylight without even the thing she stole to protect her.

Seraphine had remained silent for all of this, and I wondered if she had stopped reading my thoughts. I pulled away from her a bit, my hands moving to cover hers. She looked up. The anger had left her face, leaving behind only the sadness in her eyes. Another tear fell, and I caught it with my finger. Her eyes searched mine, begging me to come up with an answer or solution. I smiled at her.

“Well, if we can’t get her out legally, then we’ll just have to break her out. Right?” Seraphine’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, a smile finding its way to her. She closed her eyes and nodded before resting her head on my chest.

We remained like that for a few minutes before Sera pulled away, excusing herself to her room for the night. We agreed to start working on our plans in the morning, and eventually I headed to my room as well. I stripped and changed into a pair of loose pants, falling onto my bed with a sigh, my chest glowing lightly in the dark room.

Physically I was tired--I could feel the exhaustion in my muscles, but my mind wouldn’t allow me to sleep. Normally when there was something important I needed to do, it would consume my thoughts until I had a solid plan in place. Tonight, however, our upcoming jailbreak was furthest from my mind. My thoughts were instead plagued by Seraphine once more.

After several minutes of contemplation about the mysterious girl sleeping in my house, I finally found myself drifting to sleep. I let the dark embrace of rest take me, pulling me into the dream world… when something pulled me back. Quiet, tortured cries emerged out of the silence, and I sat straight up. My bedroom door flew open, Joe’s concerned face searching my room to be sure I was safe.

“Seraphine,” I said, throwing myself past Joe and out of the room. I raced down the hallways, pulling open the door to the plum-themed guest room. Inside, I saw only Seraphine, twisting and thrashing under the white covers of the bed, beads of sweat visible on her forehead. Her eyes were squeezed shut, the sheets tangled around her body. I heard Joe let out a sigh of relief and close the door behind me as I quickly moved to the bed.

“No, please, stop!” She cried out, still thrashing with her eyes tightly shut.

“Sera, it’s just a dream, you’re alright,” I whispered to her, placing my hands on her shoulders to stop the thrashing. Her eyes opened suddenly and she immediately wrapped her arms around me. I could feel her heart racing as I held her close once again. “It’s alright now, it was just a dream,” I spoke softly into her ear.

“All those people… so much fear…” her voice trailed off. The image of her--of Elysium killing all the survivors in Marxus appeared in my mind.

“It wasn’t your fault, Sera.” She held me closer, burying her face deeper into my chest. “Elysium killed all those people, not you.”

“I’m terrified I’ll lose control like that again,” she said quietly. I sighed and hugged her tightly.

“You won’t,” I replied. “We’ll learn to control your powers, everything will be alright.” She held me for a few more minutes, saying nothing. Her heart rate had returned to normal, and she had begun lightly stroking my shoulder blades. My eyes traced the length of her body; she had taken off everything except her tank top and underwear, and I was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that I was sitting in bed with a beautiful, mysterious, half-naked woman. My heart rate spiked and I felt my face flush.

I pulled away, my gaze returning to her eyes. She looked slightly confused. “You should try to get some sleep,” I said, squeezing her hands one last time before standing up. She nodded, looking down at her hands. As I reached the door, she spoke up.

“Will you stay with me?” I froze in place. The cool night air licked the skin on my chest, reminding me that I had barged into this girl’s room half dressed. “I think I’ll sleep better if I’m not alone,” she spoke again.

I padded back over to the bed against my better judgment, which screamed at me that this was definitely crossing a boundary. Sera had moved over to one side of the bed, and was straightening out the sheets. I paused at the edge of the bed and she smiled up at me, patting the space next to her. Heart pounding, I got under the covers and laid on my back. Sera snuggled down under the blankets as well, lying on her side to face me.

“I suppose this kinda is crossing a boundary, but I’m alright with it if you are,” she said, her dark hair falling over her shoulder and neck to touch the bedsheets.

“You’ve really got to stop reading my mind unannounced,” I said, grinning at her.

“Mm. Sorry,” she said softly as she moved to rest her head on my chest. I re-positioned my arm so that it was wrapped around her, giving her more space to get comfortable on her impromptu pillow. She was asleep in less than a minute.

With the object of my distraction at my side, I found it much easier to fall asleep. The events of the day washed away as I relaxed and closed my eyes. The familiar darkness of sleep swallowed me, and my senses drifted away.