the return midnight | Page 4

att b urn ed; it w as s o in fe ste d w ith
c re epy-c ra wlie s. B ut th at n ig ht w e g ave h im a b ath a nd p ut
h im to b ed… and th en w e fe d h im . Y es, w ith o ur b lo od. A ll

th e h um ans d id it e xce pt M rs . F lo wers , w ho w as b usy
m akin g p oultic e s fo r w here h is p oor b ones w ere a lm ost
s tic kin g o ut o f h is s kin .
T he y
had s ta rv e d h im to th at p oin t! I c o uld k ill
T he m
with m y
o wn h ands— or m y W in gs P owers — if o nly I c o uld u se th em
p ro perly . B ut I c a n’t . I k n ow th ere is a s p ell fo r
W in g s o f
D estr u ctio n,
but I h ave n o id ea h ow to s u m mon it.
A t le ast I g ot to s e e h ow S te fa n b lo sso m ed w hen b ein g fe d
w ith
h um an
blo od. ( I a dm it th at I g ave h im a fe w e xtr a
fe edin gs th at w ere n’t o n h is c h art, a nd I’d h ave to b e a n id io t
n ot to k n ow th at m y b lo od is d iffe re nt fr o m o th er p eople ’s —
it’s m uch r ic h er a nd it d id S te fa n a m azin g a m ounts o f
g ood.)
A nd s o S te fa n r e co ve re d e nough th at th e n ext m orn in g h e
w as a ble to
w alk
downsta ir s to th ank M rs . F lo wers fo r h er
p otio ns!
T he r e st o f u s, th ough— all th e h um ans— were to ta lly
e xh auste d. W e d id n’t e ve n th in k a bout w hat h ad h appened
to th e b ouquet, b eca use w e d id n’t k n ow it h ad a nyth in g
s p ecia l in it. W e’d g otte n it ju st a s w e w ere le avin g th e D ark
D im ensio n, fr o m a k in d w hite k its u ne w ho’d b een in th e c e ll
a cro ss fr o m S te fa n’s b efo re w e a rra nged a ja ilb re ak. H e
w as s o b eautifu l! I n eve r k n ew a k its u ne c o uld b e k in d. B ut
h e h ad g iv e n S te fa n th ese flo wers .

A nyw ay, th at m orn in g D am on w as u p. O f c o urs e , h e
c o uld n’t c o ntr ib ute a ny o f h is o wn b lo od, b ut I h onestly th in k
h e
w ould
have , if h e c o uld . T hat w as th e w ay h e w as b ack
th en.
A nd th at’s w hy I d on’t u nders ta nd h ow I c a n fe el th e fe ar I
fe el n ow. H ow c a n y o u b e te rrifie d o f s o m eone w ho’s k is se d
y o u a nd k