Author’s Note: This is a dream that I had about my LARP character and one of her friends.

For several minutes, Esther wandered the edges of the gathering, as though deciding the right time to dive in. The grand event was just beginning and not many people had arrived yet, so she observed the fringes, noting who had already arrived that she recognized. Soon, she drifted from the room and into the halls to explore the beautiful manor that served as their setting for the evening. Suddenly, she felt a jolt run up her spine and someone grabbed her arm brutally, whipping her around!

“I should have known,” Porter snarled into her face. Turning, he dragged Esther forcefully down the hall before she could utter a word. Finding a spare room unlocked, he threw the door open and tossed her inside the room, shoving her against the wall roughly.

To her shame, Esther found herself terrified and shaking to be alone in a room with this man, this lunatic. Here, there were no witnesses.

Porter regarded the woman trying to compose herself with a cold eye. “You have some brazen nerve showing your face here amongst proper Kindred,” he growled lowly, “But then we know you’re brazen, don’t we?”

Esther tried to stand as tall as she had that night but something in his presence unnerved her, unexplainably so, and made it impossible to pull herself together. She felt utter fear, revulsion, and disgust; they all roiled together in her form, tearing her foundation apart.

Just then a knock came at the door. After a final glare, Porter snarled, “You…don’t move.” With that, he opened the door and left the room.

Esther forced herself slowly to breathe, to calm and compose now that his presence lifted from the room like a cannon weight. It was exceedingly difficult to ground herself, however, and she jumped when the door reopened. Instead of Porter, though, in walked Gryphon!

Esther felt her chin tremble and, as Gryphon approached her gingerly with his hands spread, she threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder with her arms clasped around his neck. Her chest heaved but she refused to let herself cry.

Gryphon didn’t say a word, just held and shh’ed her quietly. His hand rubbed her back while the other arm wrapped around her waist tightly. Softly, he began to hum. Some obscure Irish tune that vibrated in her ear and down into her belly.

Finally, he whispered, “I wanted to explain…”

Even though she had played this moment over and over in her mind, Esther found herself shaking her head, pulling back gently. Amazingly, she realized that she was no longer angry with him, just missed him terribly.

“I understand what it is to not have a choice,” she murmured, her hand touching his cheek.

Gryphon looked rather downcast as he brushed a loosened tendril away from her temple. “I…want you to know that I am leaving Indiana after tonight.”

“Leaving? Are you serious?” She tried to ignore the tearing somewhere in her heart.

“Yes, it’s too…violent here for me. After what happened with you…” he paused, looking away, before taking her hands in his. “I can’t stay here with all this bloodshed. But I wanted to say goodbye to you…properly.” A rakish smile touched his lips then, “So let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” He took a step towards the massive bed that occupied a good portion of the room.

Esther held tightly to his hand, stopping his progress for a moment. “We don’t have to do this, Angel. I want to talk to you about…”

“I don’t, Esther,” he said softly, lowly. “I don’t want to talk about it. I want…you. Clothes off. On the bed. Now.” That smile almost killed her.

How could she resist it?