Nothing scares me more than breaking out of my comfort zone.

                                                                   *

 Stuck in the darkness of my own mind for what felt like hours, I waited in hopes of being woken up by someone. In the distance, I began to hear what sounded like yelling, slowly getting closer and clearer.

 "Hold her down!" A voice, even though a bit muffled, screamed. "Jasmine, you need to hold her arms. Don't let go of her or she-" the voice was cut off and I was alone once again. Soon, I felt like I was being ripped away from my isolation and when I opened my eyes, I saw my friends slumped in their seats breathing heavily. 

 "What did I miss?" I tried to sit up and that's when I realized my hands were cuffed to the headrest. "Am I going to jail or something?" I joked.

 "No, you started screaming and thrashing around again. You even hit Jasmine in the ribs and most likely broke one or two." Serra was calm but she looked exhausted and sad. "She's healed now but we stopped here at a gas station to get some fresh air and stretch."

 "Jas, I am so sorry," I turned to her quickly apologized. "Do you need me to-"

 "I'm okay, Blaise. Don't worry it healed quickly thanks to my werewolf genes." She just smiled and laughed but I know that it still hurt even if its healed. "I'll release you so let's just all get out and stretch, we need it. Also, it's my turn to drive."

 "I'm fine with driving still." Raven was quick to reply. "You should try to rest, Jasmine." Jasmine was already out the car and opened Raven's door. She gestured for Raven to step out and feeling defeated, she complied. "I'll just take a quick nap and then I'll drive again."

 "Blaise, will you be going back to sleep?" Serra asked. I knew she only asked because they probably would need to retrain me again if I did.

 "No, I'll stay up and be Jasmine's navigator. I'll take the passenger seat." I smiled to reassure her it'll be fine. "We all know Jasmine isn't really good with directions from the GPS." We all laughed and Jasmine rolled her eyes.

"Let's fill up the tank while we're here." Raven said.

 "I'm going to get some drinks and snacks." Jasmine added. "Blaise, can you come help?" I nodded and followed along. I walked up to the counter and handed the cashier my I.D. He scans it in the computer and glanced back at me to make sure I'm who I say I am. 

 "What type? We're fresh out of any negatives though, someone just came in and took it all." There goes my favorites. 

 "Give me the one you have most of, four bags should be good." I said, fishing for my wallet only to find I left it in the car. "Damn. I'll be right back I have to get my wallet." I turned around and Jasmine immediately popped up and shoved the snacks and drinks she acquired on the counter.

 "Here just add this to it and I'll pay." She pulled out her card and handed it to him. "We're in a hurry, please." She growled at him. Unfazed, the cashier packed the items in a bag and placed my order in a separate cooler bag. He handed the receipt and bags to Jasmine. She quickly snatched it then grabbed my wrist and walked out with me in tow.

 "Jas, you okay?" She was acting strange and normally she had a good for reason for it.

 "There was a guy in there that was watching you. I noticed him when I was getting the drinks and he looked like he wanted to gobble you up. It was just really creepy." She claimed. We reached the car and she rushed us all to get back in. Once we were all settled in she started the car and sped off. 

 "Is everything okay?" Raven and Serra asked simultaneously.

 "Jas saw a creepy looking guy and you know her instincts are normally right on the dot." I replied. "Can you hand me one of the bags inside my cooler?" 

 "Sure." Serra opened up the bag that was by her feet and made a retching noise. "Oh shoot, that's what I forgot to pack for you." 

 "What?" Raven wondered.

 "Her blood packs for her to have something to snack on." Serra handed me one of the bags and I quickly ripped it open and slurped it all up. "Sorry Blaise, I totally forgot about that."

 "It's okay, I forgot it as well but Jasmine is the one who bought it for me. Thank you by the way." 

 "Did you get enough for the whole six weeks?" Raven added.

 "No, it wouldn't be good to hold it that long without proper refrigeration so I just have to buy it whenever I get low. Is there any bag I could throw this in?" Raven handed me an empty plastic bag and I shoved my trash in there. "So where are we going again?" Jasmine and Raven looked at me in surprise.

 "She doesn't know because I didn't tell her," Serra added. "It's a surprise to get away from her cheating ex and maybe flirt her way to getting us some free drinks." 

 "Very funny Serra." I rolled my eyes. "I really want to know where." 

 "Fine, we're heading to Florida! For all their nice beaches and clubs. You can be the one that flirts with all the humans and monsters like us, to get some free drinks. Use your hypnotism to do it if you have to." Serra cackled like one of those villains in movies. "But no really, you need to learn how to have fun and not just have your face buried in books and whatnot."

 "You know I'm not really the type for parties and clubs." I pouted. I was afraid that she would have planned something like that. "I guess I can try though."

 "If you can't handle it just let us know. Do try to have fun though, we'll all be here for you." Raven piped in. I smiled at her and nodded. "We're going to take a nap back here so just wake us up if something happens because of our driver here."

 "I'm not that bad you know." Jasmine flipped her off and laughed. Serra scooted up to Raven and rested her head on Raven's shoulder. I guess they made up already, that's good.

 Besides my constant guidance on directions and the soft snoring in the back, the car was silent. Jasmine was focusing way too hard on the road even though there was no other car in sight. 

 "You can ease up Jas. You're not that bad of a driver." I joked.

 "I just can't stop thinking about that guy. He really gave me bad vibes. I'm also worried about you on this trip. You're taking a big step out of your comfort zone. I didn't get all the details on why we're going and what happened with you and Philip and I'm still curious on what happened when you were sleeping."

 "Well you already know that he cheated on me." I choked out. I didn't really like talking about what happened but it felt good to get stuff out. "Philip started cheating in the last two years of our  10 year relationship. He even went and turned her into a vampire to be with her. They ended up adopting a vampire child as well." I paused feeling tears well up in my eyes.

 "You don't have to continue that's fine." Jasmine assured me.

 "I'm fine, thank you Jas. It's just," I swallowed a lump in my throat. "We were supposed to get married. We were supposed to have a family ourselves but he said I was too focused on my school and didn't give him enough attention. He said that I was too strict because I didn't let him touch me except to kiss and hold hands."

 "Don't let that jerk get to you. You just need to find a guy who will accept everything about you. Who knows, maybe you'll find them in Florida." Raven interrupted.

 "Jeez, at least warn us next time!" Jasmine cried out. "You scared the fur out of me." Raven apologized trying to stifle a laugh. "I thought you were sleeping."

 "I was but got woken up by this one snoring in my ear." Raven grumbled, pointing to a passed out Serra drooling all over her shoulder.

 "You know for two succubi, you both definitely do not fit with the description the humans gave you. You're attracted to females instead of males."

 "Well for our kind, it's rare to find someone you love especially since all we do is go around seducing the opposite sex." Raven stared lovingly at Serra. "When we first met though, we knew instantly that there was chemistry and even though it was unheard of for two succubi to fall in love with each other, we did. Enough about us, Blaise, continue with your story." 

 "Alright. Basically this trip is supposed to keep my mind off of it but I know Serra chose this time because Philip is getting married next week to the girl. I know she's thinking in my best interest but she doesn't have to worry so much."

 "I told her you'd know about him but she still insisted." Raven said.

 "You know she's always been the type to worry more about others than herself." Jasmine mentioned. "She would do just about anything to make sure we're all happy." We all smiled in agreement before she added with a serious tone, "I still want to know about what happened earlier. Do you have night terrors?"