THE SOUND OF soft sobs shattered the quiet of the morning.

Sophie rested against the trunk of an ancient tree, its scratchy bark pressed against her back. Her head ached and her mind was still somewhat dazed with sleep. It had been a while since she had really slept hard. Vampires didn't need as much sleep. Above their head, daylight spread across the sky, mingling with fluffy clouds. The sun hurt her eyes; its light was almost unbearably bright. She rubbed at her eyes and listened to Aubrey cry.

"Aubrey?" she called softly.

A sniffle sounded. Then Aubrey coughed and responded with a raspy, "Yeah?"

Sophie tried hard not to frown. She moved away from her makeshift bed, standing and climbing onto Aubrey's branch above her. Aubrey watched her with glassy red eyes. Dark bruises cupped said eyes and her cheeks were splotched with red. Aubrey moved her legs, hugging them close to her chest so Sophie could sit in front of her. Sophie watched her, concerned, and asked, "Did you get any sleep?"

Aubrey shook her head. She stared at the rugged bark in front of her, her stare hollow. "I can't...I couldn't sleep. Not when I know that Wolfe is locked up in that...that chamber."

Fresh tears trickled down her cheeks. She lifted her hands and wiped at them. Sophie clenched her jaw and glared at her hands. The events from last night flashed through her memory. They had both been so close to freeing him, to helping him escape. But then the Headmaster had intervened.

It made her blood boil. Tormenting Wolfe, and training to use the other students as foot-soldiers in a war that they didn't know to exist. The Headmaster needed to be stopped.

Sophie's memories moved even further back into the past. She remembered her first day at Redstone Academy, and the bitchy way in which Aubrey treated her. And Wolfe. She'd ran face-first into him on her first day, scattering all his papers to the ground. He seemed so irritated. So blissfully unaware of his fate. Things had changed so much in only a few months.

"How long have you known Wolfe?" Sophie asked.

A shaky sigh escaped Aubrey, followed by a small laugh. She reached up and ran a hand through her hair, brushing a lock behind her ear. "I've known him since he first started working at the academy," she answered. Her dead eyes shined with something unnamable. "It was kind of funny, because he thought I was a teacher at first. I was the only one who would really talk to him. I was intrigued by him. He was an outsider, with knowledge of new the new technology in the world. He kind of taught me the basics with a laptop."

Sophie arched an eyebrow.

Aubrey sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "Naturally, it didn't take long for me to learn the layout. And even though I excelled at it, I continued to play dumb just so he would teach me more. It was so stupid."

A small smile stretched across Sophie's lips. "Did he ever find out?"

"Oh yeah," Aubrey snorted. "It didn't take long for him to realize that my knowledge of computers far surpassed his. It was cute while it lasted though. I'm just surprised that he didn't stop talking to me completely after that."

Sophie's stomach twisted. All of the daydreams, the imprint with Wolfe. She felt so horrible for wanting to date him when Aubrey seemed so wrapped up in him. "I didn't realize you two were together," she said. "At least not like seriously."

A blush spread across Aubrey's cheeks. It was kind of sweet. "We were for a while. I ended it when the Night Class nominated me as their matriarch. I didn't want people to think it was okay to sleep with the teachers."

"I can understand that," Sophie mumbled. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that her romantic feelings for Wolfe had all but vanished with the imprint.

Aubrey shook her head. She propped her elbows against her knees and rested her cheeks against her palms. "I won't lie, Sophie," she said softly. "At first I didn't like you. You were just so cliché. Broken family, poor, with a vaguely detailed backstory, according to your records. And when my brother started to desperately get your attention, I really didn't like you. Especially because you didn't seem to like him. It was almost like you thought you were too good for him."

Sophie arched an eyebrow, trying to imagine where Aubrey was going with this.

The blond smiled at her. "Then I really got to know you. I'm really glad that I did."

"Thank you for that...somewhat compliment," Sophie said, trying not to laugh. "I hated you too at first."

Aubrey nodded. "I didn't make it easy for you to like me," she said. A small silence lapsed between them. Then Aubrey ducked her head and mumbled, "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For believing me when I said that my brother was still alive. And for helping me try to find him."

Sophie pursed her lips. She wanted to tell her about the imprint, and about the mind-link she had had with Wolfe while locked away in the pod. A voice in the back of her head told her not to. Aubrey had been through enough trauma in the last twenty four hours. She didn't need to worry about some mind-link between Sophie and her somewhat lover.

Aubrey let out a soft sigh. She tilted her head back and stared at the sky. "We need to think about what we are going to do. We can't just go into a random city right now –I mean, we both look like hell. It's bound to start some kind of gossip. We'd also need money in order to do anything about shelter. And then we have to worry about food."

She started to rub at her eyes. "I mean, we can't just go around sucking the blood out of random people. They're bound to notice two girls latched onto their wrists or necks."

"We can avoid the main cities and travel at night," Sophie said, scratching at her nose. Neither had a lot of time to prepare their escape plan after uncovering the tunnel. "Maybe we can drink from campers, or hikers? Or steal blood from the hospitals in the area?"

Aubrey pursed her lips. "We have to be careful not to get caught. The second the story gets out, the Headmaster will be able to track us down."

Sophie nodded. "We can do this. It just might take a few practice runs."

"We'll give it a try at the next city we cross," Aubrey agreed finally. She looked around at the foliage that surrounded them. "Should we start moving now? Or wait until nightfall?"

Climbing to her feet, Sophie looked around. The sunlight blared heavily upon her back. It seemed to almost dull her senses; it was harder to see and hear all the little details of the world. She held a hand out. "We should try to get farther away from the castle for now," she answered.

Aubrey nodded and allowed Sophie to pull her to her feet. Both jumped to the ground, the bright green grass crunching beneath their feet. Then, as they started to move forward, a strange sound met their ears.

The girls stilled.

Leaves rustled. A tan figure stepped out from behind the foliage. Two silver guns were pointed at Sophie's chest.

"You both are vampires," the man deducted.

Sophie internally cursed the universe. It was another hunter.

fun fact: this chapter marks the creation of the current cover of Obscure! Both it and the cover for Obliterate were created by Forcade, an amazing graphic designer on here. ♡