SOMETHING ROAMS THE NIGHT...

TWENTY ONE

"I'm okay," Damon gave me a smile, squeezing my hand in his. "I only wanted to protect you."

His legs were wrapped in bandages, and there were tubes connected to him. He was smiling at me, but I knew he was in pain.

"Why me, Damon? I don't even know you! Why save a stranger?" I asked. Andy sat beside me, a hand on my arm, probably asking me to calm down.

"I have to, Haley," Damon said after a long while. "A Kane told me to." Andy and I turned to look at Zac. He too looked surprised.

"Ezra Kane, he told me to protect you," Damon said to me. "He said he couldn't let anything happen to you. He came to me for help, knowing that I was in town."

"And he asked you for help because..."

"I owed him," Damon said. "It was many years ago. My parents had died, and Ezra's parents raised me like their own. I owed them everything. I was part of the family. He was like a brother to me."

"The moment Ezra knew about the reapers, he knew they were after the people he cared about. And that included you, Haley. That's why they were after you. You are someone Ezra cares about. A lot."

Damon paused, let out a throaty cough.

"The reapers wanted to destroy the Kanes by hurting the ones they cared about. By killing the innocents of this town."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What do those creatures even want?"

"The reapers want to be stronger than they are," Damon said glumly. "Killing, torturing, that's just what they like to do. It is in their nature. They wouldn't stop until they truly get what they want."

"The creatures can only appear at night. But with more people killed, and more blood shed, they will be stronger. Blood makes them stronger. And when they're strong enough..."

"They will be able to roam free in broad daylight."