DAWN.  I stare in shock as the old man moves closer to Ryder with a genuine smile on his face; he stretches his hand forward to grab hold of him again, but Ryder steps back— a scowl set upon his face as he watches the man.  My heart arch for the man beside me, and I slip my fingers through his, lacing them together, and squeezing his palm— assuring him that I'm here. Right beside him. I will always be with him.  "Who are you?" He utters, his grip on my hand tightening, and I move closer to his side; perching myself to him.  "Son, I understand that you're confused by all these, but I think we should sit down to talk about this. " The man says with pleading eyes, and I lift my gaze to Ryder's; knowing he's going to oppose that.  I can't even begin to imagine how he must be feeling right now.  After years of being alone. After years of suffering alone.  After years of being in the darknes

DAWN.  Shooting up from the bed, I gasp for breath with the heavy rise and fall of my chest as sweats covers my forehead.  What in the hell of a fucking dream was that? Why will I dream of Elijah being here? And Ryder... Ryder! Glancing to my left; Ryder's side is empty with the imprints of his body which means it hasn't been long since he got up.  I let out a sigh, resting back against the mattress with my eyes trained on the ceiling.  Elijah is getting into my head, and I'm starting to get fucking annoyed.  Stretching my hand to grab my phone from the lamp stand; I scroll through the his text messages— my eyes on the last message he sent. The reason why I probably had that stupid dream.  Tossing my phone to the side, I swipe my hand down my fave, and raise from the bed; striding t

DAWN.  I stare at Ryder with a confused expression, and he shakes his head; his body trembling with laughter.  "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, " he says amidst laughing, and I roll my eyes; wondering why the fuck he finds this funny, when I freaked out seeing that message. "It's just so fucking funny he threatened you with something like that, and you believed him. Babe, it's me. Do you forget the kind of guy you're dating? I'm a fucking CEO, and I've got security around me always. " And there's that. "And I can protect myself, sweetheart. If he thinks he can get me, then he should go ahead and try. He has no fucking idea who he's dealing with, and it seems you're forgetting too. " He ends with a lift of his brows, and I shake my head, wrapping my arms around his neck.  "I did for a second there. It's just, " I sigh, the memory of how worried I had been when he threatened to kill him running through my mi

DAWN.  "You know him?" Kira questions besides me, but I give her no response as my gaze remains on a frowning Elijah who's trying to make her way past the security guard.  "Dawn! Fucking hell! Are you okay? You're fucking trembling!" Kira exclaims, pulling me away from the door, and I shake my head; so many troubled thoughts running through my mind.  He's here.  Elijah is here! He's fucking here! How? How did he know here? How the hell... What the fuck is he doing here?! Oh my God! Ryder! "I need to call Ryder. I need to talk to him. " I tell Kira, not allowing her to utter another word as I stride towards the room with my echoes of my heart pounding against my chest, loud in my ears.  Grabbing my phone off the bed, I pace across the room as I bite down on my lips, the phone vibrating against

DAWN.  Elijah settles on the space beside me with his hands on his laps, and I give him a smile when he meets my gaze, but he's quick to look away.  "Elijah, " I sigh, moving closer to him. "I didn't mean to hurt you that way, Elijah. You should know that I would never hurt you unintentionally. " "But you did, Dawn. You left. You used me, got fed up of me, then you left. " He meets my gaze again, the pain in his voice too hard to miss, and my chest clenches at his words.  "That's not true, Elijah. You made me leave. You turned into someone else, someone that hurt a fellow being because of his selfish desires. " "When you put it that way, then you and I are both same, " he says gently, catching me by surprise, though I know he's saying the truth.  I hurt him, because of my own personal reasons, and it's only reasonable that he thinks he's n