The slam of a car door jolts me out of my surprisingly deep sleep. Groggily, I look around to see that Damien has already gotten out of the car, leaving me inside. Grumbling at how inconsiderate he is, I slowly get out of the car, my movements made sluggish by how tired I am. I must not have gotten to sleep for very long. 

Looking around, I see that the car is in a parking lot on the grounds of some enormous establishment. And by the models of the cars in the lot, the people who reside here are extremely wealthy. Porches, a Mercedes Benz, a sprinkling of Maseratis, and a whole lot of European cars with names that I have no chance of pronouncing correctly. Cars that probably cost more than my house. Where are we that people have so much money? Now that I've seen the cars, every detail about this place suggests wealth. The well-manicured grounds, obviously taken care of by a groundskeeper. The building. Well, if there weren't any cars, or any grounds, the building itself definitely gives the appearance of wealth. A lot of it. Larger than the superstore we used to have in my town, the house, or institution, or whatever it is, is completely modern. The sleek white exterior, with large, floor to ceiling windows, covered in some coating that makes it so that I can't see inside. What looks like thousands of dollars of solar panels on the roof. Even - I crane my head to the side a bit - even a pool. 

I turn to look at Damien, and freeze. Where is Damien? I couldn't have been standing here for that long, could I? And he wouldn't just leave me here, right? He would give me some heads up, some indication that he was leaving. He wouldn't just ditch me. My mind goes into overdrive. He might have tried to give me a warning, but I was pretty deep in thought. He might have left without giving me a warning if he thought I was sleeping... No. I shake my head to banish the thoughts from my mind.That's ridiculous. He has to be around here somewhere. 

Turning, I go to walk out of the parking lot. Then, I stop again. I don't know where I'm going. What am I doing? I could get grabbed by the T.A.K. squad at any minute if I just keep wandering around aimlessly. I shake my head again at my thoughts. Damien wouldn't have left me, or taken me to a place that was in danger of being attacked by the squad. He would have only left me if he was positive I would be safe. Nevertheless, it's probably a good idea to make my way towards the building. I'm sure someone inside can direct me where to go. 

○○○○○

About two minutes into my trek along the dirt path, and about seventeen stumbles later, I'm cursing my lack of forethought and my choice of footwear. Strappy brown sandals may look cute, but they are horrible for walking the mile and a half-ish distance to the building. And I'm only about an eighth of the way there. Who decided that with all the money that seems to be put into this place, they couldn't put in a shuttle or something. Or at least a decent path. This dirt one is riddled with holes and I keep kicking the dust into my shoes. Ugh. There isn't anything I can do about it now, so I might as well keep walking. I plant my eyes firmly on the ground and start walking. I make it about another three minutes before I get tired of looking at the ground. I lift my eyes for thirty seconds and immediately trip, arms flailing as I try to catch my balance. I didn't need to though. Someone else catches it for me.

I look up into the deepest blue eyes I have ever seen. They belong to the guy who thankfully kept me from dive bombing into the dirt. "Are you okay?" he asks, his voice filled with concern. "You took quite a dive there. Your shoes probably aren't the best for this path."

No duh sherlock. I've already come to that rather obvious conclusion. But he did just save me from a pretty nasty fall, so might as well be polite. "Yeah." I smile. "I'm okay. A lot better than I would have been if you weren't here." Tone it down Kyla. You don't want him to think you are flirting with him, now do you? Less hero worship, more let me get to know the random guy who just appeared out of literally nowhere. Although I guess he might have been behind me. But that's not the point. "Where did you come from? I didn't see anyone ahead of me."

He points at a fork in the path that I hadn't noticed before. "Right there." 

Oh. Well I guess that makes sense. Great observation skills Kyla.

"What's your name? I like to have the names of people I rescue, so that I can record them and show people how heroic I am." He gives me a playful grin.

Despite myself, I can't help but smile back. "Do you make a point of rescuing people? Is it a hobby of yours?"

"Yep. It's even on all my resumes. Right under cooking. It makes for a great conversation starter, if not a way to come across as serious." He cocks his head slightly to the side. "So, how 'bout it? Wanna give me your name? I'll even give you mine in return."

I nod, struggling to hold in my giggles at his antics.

"Great. Mine's William, but everyone calls me Will." He tips an imaginary hat.

"I'm Kyla, but you can call me Kyla." I give him a grin. "It's very nice to meet you Will."

"Nice to meet you as well, miss Kyla," he replies, in a mock British accent. 

I guess I'd better be on my way then. I wave goodbye and again make my way along the treacherous path. I barely make it two steps before Will runs up beside me.

"Woah, woah, woah, where are you going?" He says, widening his eyes in exaggerated surprise. His voice reverts back to the mock British accent "I can't let a lady walk herself to the castle in such torturous footwear. I would not be able to keep the title of gentleman if I did."

I laugh at his description of the building, not completely disagreeing. It could be a modern castle for all of its grandeur. I watch as he squats in front of me.

"Your steed, my lady." Now its my turn to widen my eyes in surprise. Is he going to give me a piggyback ride? All the way to the building? Huh. He must be stronger than he looks. I clamber up onto his back, and he stands up. 

I raise my hand into the air and take on a fake British accent of my own. "Onwards good sir, and do not tarry." Will laughs and begins his trek towards the building. 

○○○○○

"So where do you live, Will? Somewhere in this building?" We're almost to the building and have been talking the whole way. He is really easy to talk to for some reason, and I found myself spilling my family story for the second time in almost four years. First to Damien and now to Will.

"Yeah actually. I've lived here for a long time. I'm not even sure if I was born here or not, this is the first place any of my memories take place."

"Can't you ask your parents?" I inquire.

"I could. If they were still alive. They died two months ago." He responds softly.

I suck in a breath. His parents died too. Like Damien's and like...Oh. I guess I can't say my parents died anymore. But I did go through the same situation. "I can relate. I was orphaned too. It sucks, but you get through it." I know better than to say 'I'm so sorry' or anything stupid like that. It doesn't mean anything. They are just the filler words people find appropriate for the situation. What you really want in a situation like this is to have someone listen. To have someone understand.

"Yeah." He gives a pained smile. "I know I will." Then his mood lightens considerably. "Hey! We're here."

I look up at the huge building looming in front of me. It isn't a house. An institution maybe, but Will is completely right. It's more like a modern fairytale's version of a castle. He squats down again so I can slide off his back. I  jump off, my feet hitting the stamped concrete with a thud. Wiggling my sore toes around in my sandals, I make a silent promise to never wear the cursed shoes again to anywhere except the pool.

I guess that's enough procrastinating for one event right? It isn't like the T.A.K. squad is waiting inside to murder me or anything, so there's no reason for this. Shaking off my doubts, I turn to face the open glass door. One foot in front of the other, Kyla. It's not that hard, you've been doing this for 15 years now. Just walk. 

The reminder helps, and somehow, I make my way through the doorway into the building. 

 Hey guys! 5 more chapters still that I owe you. I'm getting there though. 

Let me know what you think of Will. He is one of my favorite characters that I came up with when I mapped out the story, so I am curious to see how you guys like him.

How was the length of this chapter? 1,580 words excluding this A/N of course. As you guys should know if you read these, I'm still trying to work out the appropriate length for a chapter.

Please comment and vote if you liked this chapter :) It means a lot.