We always think of centaurs as such magical and whimsical creatures that it's easy to forget how easily they could kill you.

But right then, with my back pressed to the door of my cottage, that fact was all I could think about. That, and the constant, repeated whisper of "he knows I have it, he knows I have it, he knows I have it" that I couldn't get out of my head.

I wished I had music to clear my head. I wished I had a plan to save the vampires. I wished I was tired enough to just go back to sleep. I wished I had anything, really, except for the growing, horrible feeling of uselessness in my gut.

Time seemed too slow and too fast all at once as I leaned against the door, but after a while I did start to notice the happy sounds of the festival begin to die down until it was quieter than it had been when I'd first arrived. I guess they'd all gone to bed, then. Maybe now I could actually walk around and clear my head.

I gently opened the door and peered out. I confirmed that my ears had been correct, there wasn't a centaur in sight. The lights were on, but dim, and there was tons of post-festival litter strewn around. What had been whimsical was now eerie, like some kind of fairy ghost town.

I sighed. At least the air felt nice. Which was strange, since we were underground. As I walked, I wondered about that. How had they managed to build such a huge, nice place so far underground? And with clean air, no less? My first thought was magic, but then I realized that humans built plenty of crazy stuff underground, like the Metro. Whose idea was that anyway, putting an entire transportation system underground? Whoever it was, they must have-

My train of thought derailed itself as I realized where my traitorous feet had taken me.

I hadn't meant to walk to the prison at night with the only key in my pocket. But since I was there, and since there was literally no one around....

I slowly slipped the thing out of my pocket. The metal shone dimly in the light, distorted a little by my trembling fingers, and before I could think twice, I stuck it in the lock and turned.

I never used to be so impulsive...but I was already here, so. I pulled the door open a crack, as it was so heavy that a crack was all I could manage, and slipped through. For a moment, I was sort of excited. I even let out a shrill giggle. The thrill of being in this place I absolutely should not be was, well, thrilling.

But my excitement was short lived. Before I could even take a step forward. I heard the heavy metal door slam shut behind me, sending a gust of wind with it and plunging the prison into total darkness.

For all the bravery I'd developed over the past few days, I was still, somehow, completely terrified of the dark. I felt my breathing get shallow as I tried to see my hand in front of my face, tried to see anything. But I couldn't. Not a single thing. That meant any number of creatures could jump out at me and eat me alive, and I could do nothing. I was completely powerless in the dark. I couldn't even see the exit. I felt around for it, but my fingers were shaking so badly that I could barely even-

"Blythe? You okay?" A familiar voice called from my right. It wasn't the booming, terrifying voice of Ant, thank God. This voice wasn't as deep, but it was softer, in a way. Calming.

"Hey, Liam," I whispered, moving closer to it until his cell and put my hands on the bars

"Hey. What are you doing here? Everyone else is asleep." Yes, what was I doing? I couldn't just let them out. Even if I did, it wasn't like I could fly back up to the surface. God, how stupid had this been. Hot tears burned in my eyes, and I wiped them before they could fall.

"Are you okay?" Liam asked again.

"Oh god, you can see in the dark can't you?" I groaned. "I'm fine, I'm not crying, this is just...ugh..." I said around embarrassingly loud sniffles.

"C'mon, Blythe it's okay! The nice ponies caught the big bad vampires and you can go home now, right?" I sniffled again, though it might have been a laugh.

"Shut up!" I said, my voice wobbly and not intimidating at all. He laughed. Maybe it was just the mental stress talking, but Liam had a nice laugh.

"No, but seriously. You could just ask them to take you home. I mean, I basically gave you a get out of jail free card. And now I'm the one in jail, how lucky are you?"

"Well yeah, but...I can't just leave you here," I said quietly. Even in the dark, I could tell that Liam was making a smug face and I huffed. "Not you specifically. I was more talking about Helena and Ruby."

"Don't tell me you and Ruby are friends now," Liam groaned. I shrugged.

"I mean, maybe? But either way she doesn't deserve to die. And...I guess, maybe, neither do you. I just wish I could help, somehow. And then go home." Suddenly, I felt a cool hand over mine on the bars. My heart skipped a beat, but I didn't feel scared.

"I don't know what kind of weirdo tries to rescue their kidnapper, but thanks anyway, freak. And you managed to sneak in here so you must be doing something right," Liam said, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

"I guess. But I really don't know where to go from here," I said, my thumb absently tracing lines over his. We stayed like that for a moment, neither of us speaking. It should have been awkward, but being a lifetime loner had given me a special appreciation for quiet, comfortable moments. It was sort of nice to wind down.

Suddenly, Liam asked, "Remember that stunt Ruby pulled? The whole telling you my age thing?"

Yikes, way to ruin the moment. I did not want to think about that. More like, I didn't want to think about the aftermath of that. I shuddered. "Yeah, jackass, I remember. God, I never confronted you about that, what kind of-"

"Yes, I'm a horrible sadistic monster, I know, but more importantly....I think it's high time for payback, don't you?"

"Seriously? When you both are about to die in like two days, are you insane?" Oh, wait. I'd momentarily forgotten I was talking to the most insane, chaotic evil being on the planet.

"I know, I know, just hear me out. I've got a plan...sort of. Can you just...trust me a bit?" Liam whispered, almost pleading.

Could I? For all my questioning and deliberating on the Liam front, I came to an answer pretty quickly.

"Fine. But if it's bad I'm leaving you here to die," I snapped, leaning in.