The rest of the car ride was spent in silence. April, for one, was caught up in her thoughts. She hadn't said much after his startling statement. Naturally, she didn't really believe him. Of course she was human. But... if she was so sure, then why was there that nagging feeling in the back of her head? Why didn't she feel appalled by such a crazy statement? At the moment, she really didn't know. All she knew was that she had just run away with a complete stranger, with nothing but her messenger bag to show for it. Zeke promised, as the car slowed and pulled into the driveway of an abandoned hotel, that everything would be explained. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately – explaining. But so far, he hadn't done such a great job. As much as she doubted he could provide a logical answer that would ease her mind, she couldn't really argue. Exhaustion was beginning to catch up with her, making her head pound and her palms sweat. She followed him silently, barely inspecting the hotel surroundings. For all extensive purposes, it was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. A huge forest could be seen behind it, full of wild bushes and scraggly trees. They looked like tall, thin men, with elongated limbs that blew gently in the night breeze. It disappeared from her view, though, as she walked through the hotel doors, greeted by the musky smell of grass. The entire place had been overrun by nature, with vines and weeds sprouting from the floors, like a violent protest against anything man-made. The thought made her smile, even as she followed Zeke up a spiralling staircase. A few minutes later, she found herself in a fairly empty room. It smelled of pine and the scent relaxed her, making her even more desperate for sleep. The only furniture was the dozens of bookshelves that lined the walls, packed to the brims with thousands of books. It was amazing. But before she could really examine further, there was a faint sound of voices that carried up from below her. Soon enough, two others entered the room, carrying books in their arms. These were promptly dropped, however, as they caught sight of Zeke and herself.

“Zeke!” One of them, a girl with wild, curly flaming hair – exclaimed, rushing over to give him a crushing hug. “We were so worried...”

He simply laughed, hugging her back as his eyebrows raised. “Worried about me? Gee, I'm offended, Sara.” The others laughed and April watched, arms wrapped around herself, somehow feeling like she was intruding on a private thing. However, Zeke turned and introduced her, looking more relaxed than he had in the car.

“Guys, this is April. April, this is Sara and Jackson.” He gestured to the other two, who smiled politely, waving in unison. However, they were staring at her like she had sprouted a second head, or had a third eye. The guy, Jackson, was a tall and skinny thing, with long brown hair that had been pulled into a loose ponytail. He had a few piercings and the beginnings of a tattoo could be seen from underneath the collar of his shirt. Taking a second look at Sara, she realized that the two could be twins. Her hair was a vibrant red and from the looks of it, it couldn't be tamed. It stuck out in every direction, falling just shy of her shoulders. There was a cute gap between her teeth that made it hard to tell how old she really was.

“Hi,” April blurted out, after realizing she had been staring for quite a few seconds.

“You tired?” Zeke asked, almost as if he had read her mind again. She nodded, brain too muddled to think about much else.

“Okay. Follow me,” he instructed, leading her into an adjoining room. This one was pretty much the same, however, instead of bookshelves, the room was filled with beds. She counted seven before she was given the one closest to the door. “It's not much, compared to your friends' place...” Zeke was grabbing an extra pillow and tossing a new blanket on the mattress. “But it's safe.” April nodded, shoving her bag under the bed and flopping down onto the bed. She was already dead asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.

When April woke up, she couldn't really tell what time of day it was. Judging by the light streaming in through the windows, she assumed it was early morning. It took her a few minutes to remember where she was and why, but soon enough, it all came back to her. Despite feeling restless, the memories rushing back made her tempted to roll back over and forget everything. Last night had been... strange. The only thing she had been running on was adrenaline and now, she wasn't sure how things would be. It seemed incredibly stupid to be here, considering that she still had no idea who Zeke was. And however much she wished that she could pretend last night was just a very vivid and realistic bad dream, she couldn't. So, she pulled herself up from the bed and grabbed her bag from it's space underneath the mattress. Slinging it over her shoulder, she ran a hand through her hair, trying to make it somewhat neat. The sounds of muffled conversation drew her towards the library room, unfamiliar nervousness making her shy. This felt like a sacred place. A sanctuary for friends. Friends that weren't her friends. But all three of the heads that turned to look at her when she entered smiled instantly, as if they had known her for years.

“Sleep well?” Jackson was the first to speak, closing the book that was resting in his slender fingers. Simply nodding, she moved to sit with them, rubbing her eyes gingerly. This was surreal. Unreal. But her memories were as fresh as they could be... Watching the possible future with Zeke, as it had played like a movie. The sight of her own blood, soaking into the carpet, as dark as night. It was real. And there was no denying it. But, the more important question was: what now? And why?

It seemed like she would get her answers soon enough, for Zeke had set aside whatever he had been doing to stare at her. She was seated on a dusty armchair, knees pulled to her chest.

“Hungry?” Zeke questioned, surprising her yet again. She hadn't noticed, but she felt as if she could eat an entire grocery store. Without letting her answer, Zeke grinned, as if her expression ad been enough. “Thought so.” He appeared a few minutes later with a plate of eggs and toast.

Nodding in thanks, she started to eat, barely taking the time to chew. Pausing between a bite of toast, April raised her head from her food. The three were all reading and underlining things in pen or ink. “What time is it?”

Zeke smiled down at the page he had been working on, as if she had said something hilarious. “It's morning. About 11 A.M, I think,” he replied, looking up with a slight smirk. “You slept for a whole day, though. So it's Wednesday.” April almost choked on her eggs.

“A whole day?” She repeated, after she was positive that she wasn't going to die via scrambled breakfast food.

He nodded, looking beyond amused. “You were out like a light.” Silence fell over the room again, the only sounds were pens against paper and her fork against the plate. Ten minutes later, she had set her plate aside, waiting patiently for some answers. Seeming to notice, Zeke motioned for the others to leave. They gathered their things and disappeared into the room with the beds. “Well... I've never been very good at explaining things...” Zeke admitted, talking around the pen hanging from his mouth. “But I'll give it a try.” April nodded, unsure of what he could possibly say that would seem understandable.

“Unfortunately, our plan didn't quite work as we had hoped. In fact, you were never supposed to meet up with your friend Cassandra. Jack, Sara and I had planned to intercept you at the airport but there were some... complications, to say the least. So I had to improvise. I met you at the club, just to keep an eye out for you. But when he went to attack, I had to protect you. You had a bit more to drink than I had expected.” He paused, letting out a tired sigh as his hands ran over his eyes. “We assumed you would have at least figured out something already. Have some kind of idea about... what you are. But their magic is stronger than we originally thought. Makes sense, I guess. Keeps you deaf, dumb and blind so it's easier to kill you.” Another pause, coupled with a deeper sigh. “Look, I can't explain everything. It's something you have to find out for yourself. But I can help a little. People... no, not people, per say... A lot of something wants you dead. I'm trying to keep them from getting what they want. But there is only so much I can do.”

The whole time that he spoke, April only stared. So far, she hadn't gotten any answers. Only more questions. But, just like everything else he had ever told her, nothing he said sounded like a lie. He sounded completely genuine. Not to mention, completely exhausted, as if he had been putting his entire efforts into keeping her alive and well.

“Come here.” He stood up suddenly, gesturing for her to follow. They walked across the hall into a different room. The only thing in this one was a large, oval shape in the centre of the floor. It was covered up by a white sheet. He stopped her from moving closer, holding up a hand to signal for her to wait. “This is the mirror of truth. There is some fancy name for it but I sure as hell can't pronounce it.” He gave a laugh, but it sounded forced. “It will show whoever looks at their reflection the one thing that they need to know most at the present moment.”

Glancing over to this magical sounding mirror, April didn't bother to hide her uncertain feelings. This felt like it had been taken straight out of a fairytale. Certainly not something that could possibly exist in the real world. In her world, where everything had a reason and everything made sense. But she nodded, chewing on the side of her cheek as he pulled the cover off. A large cloud of dust fell from it, clouding the room for a few seconds.

“So... do I just... walk up to it?” She wasn't sure how this 'magic' mirror was meant to function. Somehow, she resisted asking if there were some special incantation that she had to say. The look on Zeke's face indicated that this was no laughing matter.

“Sure. Most people close their eyes and then walk up. It takes a few seconds to form, though.”

Inhaling a musty breath of air, April closed her eyes and walked forward. When her foot touched the base of the mirror, she stopped. Slowly, she opened her eyes and waited. Without much warning, the reflection of her own face in the mirror began to change, shifting into a completely different creature. Her skin turned a deep grey colour, as if it were rotting in on itself. Her eyes were swallowed by cloudy black, looking like clouds of smoke had gathered in her eye sockets. Her hair was somehow more white than before, reflecting any light that managed to touch the strands with a brilliant glow. Her limbs were longer, more graceful and willowy. But the most frightening thing of all, was her teeth. They had been turned into fangs, sharper than any knife. Her canine teeth were slightly longer than the rest, peeking out from on top of her bottom lip. She wasn't sure how long she stared, heart thudding wildly against her chest, breath stuck in her throat. It felt like centuries, yet could have been mere seconds. Eventually, she pulled her gaze away. Zeke was quiet, as if he had somehow seen what she had seen. Lifting her eyes from the floorboards, she flung the sheet back on, hiding the terrifying version of herself from sight.

“April...” Zeke started to speak, but she turned away, racing out of the room without a word. She didn't hear him following her, but that didn't stop her from running. She only stopped when she had safely locked herself in a bathroom stall on the main level. She felt... well, she wasn't sure what she felt. Scared? Disgusted? The worst part was that she knew it had to be real. There was no doubting the fact, especially when her gut had the strange sensation of things falling into place. It was the truth.

Putting her head in her hands, she felt tears prick at her eyes. The sudden memory of what Zeke had said to her in the car came racing back, ringing in her ears with a deafening pain. You're not human, April. Feeling overwhelmed, homesick and far too alone, she let herself cry. So much for a simple vacation to Ireland...