A/N: Okay, so I have decided to make this the very last chapter of Something Dark. I've kept you all waiting far too long, and I have an idea of how I want to end this. I don't want to rush into the ending though, so this chapter will be quite long.

~Chapter 31~

~The End~

ZANDER's POV

"So, this is a rather small class, Miss Baskara. Take a seat wherever you please," Ramírez said, gesturing around the classroom. He handed her back her schedule and map.

"Thank you," she responded. She shoved the papers into her bag and walked to my side of the room until she found a seat. She was only three seats behind me.

That was when it hit me. The burning.

It scorched my throat, and the venom was back. Damn it! I mentally growled.

Her blood smelled incredible. It'd been eighteen years since I'd last smelled that blood. It was starting again. . .Stevie Baskara was my next victim. . .

I could sense it. I needed to get out of this classroom. Desperately.

I swallowed the venom that was being harbored in my mouth. It did little to suppress the burning. I stopped breathing right then.

The last thing I needed was to feed fuel to the fire—a.k.a. scent to the monster.

Only six more minutes, I'd told myself. Six.

Five. . .four. . .three. . .two. . .one. . .Riiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

Suddenly, I was out of my seat, out of the room, practically flying down the hallway. I had to find somewhere to hide until I'd gotten myself under control.

It was starting again.

Sitting in the small cell, I could remember clearly. I remember how I flew out of my seat and left that classroom as fast as I could—her blood called to me, and I knew what mess it would get me into, but I was one for challenges.

But something about this time made it impossible for me to decide what I really wanted. I wanted Stevie, but I didn't want to get stuck in all this mess.

"Zander George Robbins. . . you stand before the Council in hopes of proving your and Miss Stevie Raina Baskara's innocence, is that correct?" the Eldest member asked.

I nodded my head and waited for the Council to hear me out. "You may begin," the Eldest says.

"Sir, Stevie and I meant no harm. The pregnancy was accidental. . . I'd forgotten she was human again. . . a Reversible. When we'd conceived, I'd forgotten about the purpose of vampire-human bonds," I said, hoping they would believe me.

"Mr. Robbins, she is not human. She is a Guardian," the Council said.

"She is human," I argued, clenching my jaw. "Blood runs beneath her skin—mating only works between humans and vampires! She is a human!"

"She is not a human, and bonds can work any way that they please. According to Council law, however, your bond with Miss Baskara is illegal, and it will be destroyed. Molly Elizabeth Garfunkel is your mate and you will serve half of your sentence if you comply with the Council's demands."

"What demands?" I ask, frustrated.

"You return to Molly and forget about Stevie and your unborn hybrid. When the hybrid is born, he or she will be kept in captivity for testing."

"Screw you," I spat angrily. I knew I wasn't helping my case, but I wasn't going to comply with their demands.

"You will act civilized and respectful towards your Elders!" the youngest of the Council spat, angrily looking over her half-moon spectacles. "You're not helping yourself here, Mr. Robbins!"

"Stevie and I meant no harm. Producing the hybrid was merely and accident," I said, taking slow, deep breaths to calm myself. I could feel the anger boiling inside of me. I was going to lose, Stevie was going to be executed after the baby was born—Molly's request, no doubt—and they were going to test on the hybrid.

I'm not in a cell though.

I'm in a cave, and around me there's about five other vampires. I haven't been here long—in fact, I've just recently come here. I'm trying this time.

"Look, can we take this back inside?" I asked her suddenly.

She cocked her head to the side a little and said, "What for?"

"You're lips are starting to turn blue, baby," I said gently, standing up straight and heading back to the house. She followed, and snuck me past her brothers again. When we got up to her room, she locked the door. The first thing I did was take the blanket from her bed and wrap it around her body.

She shivered at the warmth, but smiled and thanked me.

Stevie sat down on her bed and I sat beside her.

"Back to the reincarnation thing," I began, "Do you know how old that makes me, Stevie?" I said this a bit more amused now. She wasn't freaking out, so I could keep going.

She shook her head after a moment of thinking it through.

"Over two-hundred years old," I chuckled. Her eyes went a little wide.

"So, what? You're immortal or something?" she laughed suddenly.

I kept a calm, straight face as I replied, "Yes."

She stopped laughing. I was being serious, and she knew it.

"You're two-hundred years old?" she asked, wondering if she'd heard me right or not. I began to wonder if she started convincing herself that I was just insane. "Am I dreaming, or something?" she groaned.

"Nope."

"Great."

"So, now that you know, I need to explain a few things," I said slowly. It was funny to me, how I kept denying her the truth not a half hour ago, and here I was, spitting it out like a favorite song.

"Uh, before that," she began, a little unsure, "How about I ask the questions, and you answer them. Anything extraneous, you can mention later," she suggested.

"Good plan," I commented, not really caring how we went about this situation.

"First, above all, what do you. . .eat?" she asked.

I wanted to laugh, but I didn't want to hurt her feelings. So I held it in. "I can eat human food, but it does nothing to help me survive. To actually survive though, I live on deer blood. Does are satisfying, stags are only filling."

"Oh. . .so you don't drink humans' blood or burn in the sunlight? Or sparkle?" she said. Again, I held in the urge to laugh.

"Hollywood loves to stereotype," I said flatly, laughing only a little. She took this as her answer.

"So. . .if you're, as you say 'drawn to me,' does that mean you're going to bite me, or something?" she asked quietly. I couldn't tell if she was scared of this, or if she was just scared of offending me if, at all, she could.

"I'm honestly trying not to, even now," I said gently. She didn't tense or react. She only blinked. "There's a difference between biting you, drinking from you, turning you, and claiming you," I explained, watching as she tried to think of the differences herself. "There are three ways vampires claim their human mates."

The cave is quiet and a bit damp. The other vampires are asleep—I still don't actually know who they are. I know one of them is named Alec, and he's sort of the Alpha of the group—or is that just a werewolf thing?

Her breaths were even the entire time, and so was her heartbeat.

The gentle sounds could've put me to sleep, but I didn't need sleep. Sometimes I just slept to pass time. But I was still trying to learn everything I could about her from a safe distance.

It was Christmas morning, and so her parents came to wake her up, a little after eight o' clock. I watched as her mother gently brushed her hair out of her face. Her hazel eyes fluttered open, and the sight brought a. . .pull? To my chest.

It couldn't have been my heart, right? Of course not. . .I was a vampire for God's sake! I didn't have a working heart. I couldn't really decipher the feeling, and so I pushed it aside.

Her parents didn't notice it, but she glanced to the spot beside her and frowned a little. Her parents left the room not long after, telling her to get ready for breakfast and the presents. She smiled and nodded her head, and then got out of bed.

When she was sure her parents were nowhere nearby, she came to the window and mouthed, "Good morning!" She smiled, happy to see me.

"Good morning, beautiful," I mouthed back, giving her a smile, too.

It was too cold outside for her to open the window, so she just mouthed, "Give me like. . .twenty minutes! I'll meet you outside!" I nodded and watched as she shut her curtains to dress and then went downstairs.

I could be patient.

I climbed out of the tree and then went to the front yard and hid so that I could watch through the window. She seemed overly excited, and just like Amelia and Lauren, and all the other reincarnations, she absolutely loved Christmas.

I watched as she and her family opened their gifts—lots of them. She did have a big family though, but they all loved her, anyone could see that. Which made me rethink this entire thing. If I claimed her and turned her like I said one day I would have to. . .

She'd have to leave them behind. She probably didn't know it yet.

I felt a churning in my stomach. She'd be heartbroken.

I decide to leave the cave and go for some fresh air—the cave air is too thick and damp, it's driving me crazy. I left Phoenicia and went back to Los Angeles—where Stevie came from. I'm outside of Los Angeles at the moment, in fact, I may be out of California at the moment.

I travel with the clan now, it's the only way.

"You don't scare me. . ." she said gently, looking at me this time.

"Well, that's good news for me. . .but it doesn't change the fact that I have the potential of hurting you, Stevie. You know that, don't you?" I asked her seriously. She nodded, looking straight into my eyes.

She nodded, and then replied, "Zander, I've thought this through. I know what I'm getting myself into, and I don't care. It still confuses me that we've only just really met, and yet I care about you. . .a lot. . .I want you in my life. I trust you, and maybe eventually I'll love you like you love me. . ."

I smiled at her words. I was incredibly grateful that even though she was basically thrown into this whole situation, she was accepting it—and quite well, I might add.

I could see by the sincerity in her eyes, and the yearning of her emotions, that she was being completely honest; I admired her for that.

Then she did something unexpected.

She kissed me. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine. It was slow, gentle, and shy, but it felt absolutely amazing. The sting in my throat was intensified by what felt like a million, but I didn't care. I snaked my arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

I could tell by the way her lips moved against mine, that she wasn't at all experienced with kissing. The idea made me smile; I didn't like the idea of anyone else kissing her.

She pulled away from the kiss first, and then stared down at her feet, blushing. She was shy, and I could understand why she was. But she knew how much I loved her, and so I didn't mind that it had happened so quickly.

Maybe she did?

I didn't ask, I took her hand again and walked with her to my secret hiding place, neither of us talking much at all. The silence was nice, and we were both lost in our thoughts.

I can hear deer and other animals running around, but my head is too full of aggravating thoughts to think about feeding.

"Your skin is freezing, Zander!" She rubbed the pads of her fingertips against the back of my hand. It obviously did nothing to warm my skin up whatsoever, but the sensation it gave me was oddly soothing.

I laughed at her words. "Baby, I don't have blood in my veins like you do. I take in blood, but that's for food. The only internal organ I have that really works is my brain. My heart doesn't pump blood through my body. The venom—I guess you could call it vampire blood—doesn't allow it," I explained.

She seemed to understand what I was saying.

"It's because I'm dead," I said simply. "But you, my darling, you're very much alive," I teased, rubbing the tip of my nose against the hollow of her throat. I could hear the blood beneath her skin rush to her cheeks, and I knew she was blushing then.

The burning in my throat was something I'd grown used to, and the monster was tired of trying to fight me. So he stayed put, and the burning in my throat turned to a dull, dull ache. Hardly noticeable.

"It's still hard to believe that you're. . .dead. I mean, you act so. . ." she seemed at a loss for words. I turned her to face me a little more, still keeping her close to my body.

"So. . .?" I prompted.

"So human, I guess," she shrugged. I laughed a little and explained to her that it was my way of blending in. To not seem so unordinary.

"You're just very observant," I said after a moment. I smirked at her—more teasing. But she caught onto my game and playfully smirked back, scrunching her nose up a little in an amazingly adorable way.

"But seriously, it's just how we creatures keep our identities secret. It'd be bad if all the mortals knew that vampires existed," I told her, being completely serious.

"Oh, I see," she answered.

I nodded.

"Do, um. . .do werewolves exists?" she asked, cocking her head to the side a little, confused.

Oh, if only she knew. She doesn't know she's a werewolf, but eventually she will. And hopefully her friends from California will show up to help her through it—I won't be there.

I'm trying to stay away.

Instinct took over from there and I listened for my prey. There were two stags nearby, and a doe—I could pick up their scents. There was one doe that really caught my attention.

The smell of her blood was so strong, and sweet. I wasn't up for a chase in that moment. I just wanted to feed. I ran quickly and quietly.

The snow didn't even crunch beneath my feet.

I got close enough where her blood was so strong, it burned my throat. I threw myself at the deer, and when she noticed me, it was too late. I found the pulse point in her neck quickly, and bit down fast and hard. The doe cried out.

But the cry surprised me. It wasn't the cry of a doe, not even the sound of any animal I'd ever hunted. It was more haunting.

It was the cry of a human girl.

If I had had blood in my veins, it would've gone dry right then.

Because I knew this girl.

This girl.

I'm not going to destroy her life again—after Amelia, and Lauren and Christiana, and all the others after that (before Stevie). I'm not going to put her through all that again, only to die so young.

You don't get any of this, do you?

Everything that's "happened" hasn't yet happened. In fact, I was only showing you what I knew would happen after Stevie walked into class. The moment I fled that classroom, I made plans to flee the state, and that's what I did.

That's why I'm with this clan now.

I'm trying to stay away from Stevie. I'm not going to make her life a living hell.

Still don't get it?

I'm a vampire with a special ability. I can see the future—but nobody has to make a solid decision for me to see it. I can see the future whenever I wish to. I should've done it all the other times I ran into Amelia—well, Stevie.

I should've used that ability, but my emotions got the better of me, and I killed her every time. This time, because I love her so much, I'm staying away. I'm not going to let anything happen. I won't give into my "need" for her.

I live with a clan now, and she's happily living unaware of me or her abilities in her new home. I won't change that.

None of it happened. She just walked into Spanish class one morning, and that was the last time that I saw her. I hope Stevie will live a long happy life with someone who is like her—human. Someone who does deserve her, and hopefully we will never, ever cross paths again.

It's a challenge, but for her sake, I'm trying.

A/N: So yeah. . . them hate reviews. Let's uh. . . let's send those in xD I'm waiting! xD haha. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Something Dark, and hopefully you don't hate me even though everything was all in Zander's mind (his ability to see the future). Hopefully you weren't expecting that! If you were, well darn. Hope you enjoyed anyway! :)