Warm. The definition? A tingling sensation that Anna has not been able to feel since her mother slit open her throat. Love? A term of affection for that special someone, and that someone for Anna being Cas. Love was warm, and it was something she could feel while she pressed up gently against Cas' body, resting her head on his chest as her pale arms wound around his waist. They lay on the couch, watching the television, which was also another normal mundane thing she had never gotten to experience in her short lifetime, but she has grown to enjoy it as all it consisted of was her laying in Cas' arms and laying there for hours on end without having to have a care in the world.

"You know, Cas, I could get used to this." She said softly, closing her eyes slowly as she felt Cas' fingers stroke her long dark hair. She felt the soft rumble in his chest as he chuckled and wound a single arm around her waist to pull her closer.

"I think I already am." He murmured close to her ear as he nuzzled his face gently against her neck, pressing a soft kiss to the hollow behind her ear.

Anna giggled raised her head slightly to look at him, reaching up with her long delicate fingers and brushing them against his jaw. "I suppose you'll just have to be patient with me. I'm still new to this you know."

The grin that spread across his lips was a little smug, but his eyes were still soft as always. "I'm not going anywhere, Anna. I'll wait for as long as it takes." His head slowly lowered to hers until his forehead rested against her own. "I'm just glad to have this time with you." He whispered, grinning slowly as he pressed a light kiss to her nose.

Anna giggled softly and bit the inside of her lip lightly, feeling a light pounding in her heart that she also was not used to feeling. The sensation of living was a strange thing, but she had no problems with it. In fact, she loved it almost as much as she loved Cas. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Cas." She murmured softly as she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips which sent a warning flare up in her gut.

"You'll never have to know either, Anna. I'll always be here," he promised. His fingers wandered up to cover her hand with his own, hers seeming so much smaller in comparison to his. "I love you."

Anna smiled slowly as she glanced down to their fingers, feeling chaotic flutters all over her body in response to his touch. "And I love you." The words flowed so easily from her lips, like water trickling down in a steady stream. They were natural, beautiful, and meant to be. She, however, felt that same tug in her gut that was happening before, making her blink her eyes open, pulling back and looking around, furrowing her brows delicately.

"What wrong?" Cas responded automatically, sitting up a bit and taking her hand, squeezing it as he looked around, attempting to seek out what her eyes were trying to find.

"I- nothing I just… I thought I felt something. Like… there's something else here." She said softly, merely a breath from her lips as she looked around, the twisting in her stomach still present. "Cas something's wrong-"

"Oh, my dear there is nothing wrong. Not in the least. I assure you, what's happening was supposed to happen a long time ago."

Gooseflesh rose over Anna's skin as all color drained from her face; her hand instantly grabbed Cas' as she heard the familiar voice. It was the voice she heard in her nightmares. "Malvina.. you can't be here…"

"Is that the kind of welcoming you give your mother?" A cackle rose, Anna's eyes attempting to seek out where the voice was coming from, but it was all around her, pounding into her brain.

Anna gasped and closed her eyes tightly, gripping onto Cas' torso and burying her face against his neck, having to grit her teeth together to keep from screaming. "You can't be here… you can't be here… you're not here," she kept whispering, trying to make the disturbing voice go away.

"You have no power here, not even in your own little happy place, Anna. You will never have a happy place. It's not what you deserve after what you've done. You deserve eternity in hell-"

"Cas…!" Anna gasped as she reached up and forcefully pressed the palm of her hands against her ears in an attempt to block out her voice. "Cas, make it stop!" She begged, tears squeezing out of the corners of her eyes. She struggled for breath, waiting for Cas' comforting touch or his strong assertive voice to speak up and tell Malvina to crawl back into the black hole she stumbled out of, but it never came. Instead, she swore she felt his body growing cold, his body growing stiff, and lastly she felt the sloe trickle of something warm ooze over her head and slide down her cheek.

She felt her heart stop. Her own body grew cold, and the tears began to flow faster as a feeling of foreboding crept over her. Please no. She slowly glanced up at her love, and this time she couldn't hold back the blood-curdling scream that left her lips. A long jagged line was carved into his throat, leaking black fluids like a flowing river and covering her white garments like ink blots. Among that, she caught an eyeful of his features which were pale as a ghost, his eyes nothing but black pits, and his veins raised, pumping black fluid. She jerked back from this thing that used to be her Cas, continuous screams leaving her lips. She slipped on the fluid and fell to the floor, but scrambling back nonetheless, needing to get away. He eerily resembled her when she still had Malvina's curse upon her.

"W-what have you done…?" She whispered hoarsely, unable to move as she stared at the empty shell that used to be her Cas. She… she let this happen. How could she let this happen to her Cas? "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?!" She screamed at her mother. Even when Anna thought she was rid of her forever… she had to come slithering back like the serpent she was.

Malvina's smug laughter echoed in her ears, "Theseus is my little pet now. He's going to do my bidding. And when I'm finished… I'm going to tear apart the only thing keeping you attached to this world. Until that time though, you have my permission to suffer. Goodbye, my darling child."

Anna's breath came fast and hard, her eyes wide like an innocent doe as she stared at Cas, watching as he rose slowly, his neck bent at the most grotesque angle, making her stomach churn. Here, she was as vulnerable as the time the Obeahman had her captive, but here she wasn't supposed to have a reason to have the demon side of her. Here she was supposed to be safe… safe with her darling Cas.

Where even was here? It was… heaven. It was supposed to be her heaven. "Cas…" She whimpered, scooting back as he walked slowly towards her, but she soon ran out of room, her back pressing uncomfortable against the dry wooden wall. "Cas please…" She turned her head to the side and shut her eyes tight as he moved close and knelt down before her, eye level with her, even though his beautiful honey-colored ones were gone. "Cas…" She whimpered again, but it didn't keep him from reaching out with strong calloused fingers, grasping her windpipe and slowly squeezing…

"Cas…! No..!" She choked, her hands going to his hand which was wound tightly around her neck, her fingers scratching, wrenching, doing anything to get free. "Get off!" She squeaked as she was unable to breath with the pressure against her throat. Her air was cut off completely, rendering her unable to breath and it wasn't long before darkness crept around her vision. "Cas…I'll save you…" She choked, her lids slowly closing, and her grip weakening as she slipped into unconsciousness.

҉

"What are we going to do…?" Carmel whispered. They were back at Thomas' house as it wasn't safe back at the Lowood house. Who knew how long it was going to be before Cas showed up there looking for them? Carmel hung her head in her hands, looking through parted fingers and seeing Mrs. Lowood sleeping fitfully on the pull out couch. It had taken them forever to get her to stop crying… to calm her down enough to get her to sleep.

Thomas looked over at Carmel with a troubled look in his features, his chin resting on the knuckles of his clasped fingers, but after a moment he freed one hand and reached across, resting it on her leg and giving it a soft comforting squeeze. "We'll figure out something, Carmel. We're not going to let Cas off that easy, are we?" He asked, trying a little grin, but it was shaky. He didn't know how long he could keep up this strong exterior.

Carmel's delicate brows slowly furrowed at Thomas' touch, her lips beginning to tremble as her wet eyes began to tear up again, droplets tumbling down her cheeks. "Who knows what that witch did to him, Thomas. He… he could be gone forever. All he ever tried to do was bring peace to people and keep the living safe. And this is his fate…? It's not fair Thomas it's… it's horrid-!"

"Shhh," Thomas hushed her and moved close, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to his chest, feeling her shake as she cried into his shoulder, tears of his own falling down his cheeks. He couldn't imagine life without Cas at their side. He was always there. At points it seemed dark and like the end was near, but he always pulled through in the end, but if Thomas was going to be one hundred percent honest with himself he wasn't so sure his buddy could make it out of this one. "We can't give up on him yet, Carmel." He stroked her back slowly, resting his head against hers and being sure to keep his voice soft as not to wake Mrs. Lowood. "You have to promise me you won't give up, Carmel. I can't do this alone…"

Carmel swiftly shook her head and breathed in a shaky breath, closing her eyes and forcing herself to calm down. "I won't give up." She said softly, swallowing hard and pulling back just the slightest. Her face was a mess of dripping mascara and tears with a complete set of red puffy eyes, but she still looked like the most beautiful girl in the world to him.

He reached up slowly and brushed away some of her tears with his thumb, "I know you won't." He whispered softly, the corner of his lips slightly curling upward in a light grin, leaning down to give her a soft kiss when his grandfather strode in with his robe on as usual, looking like he had just risen from bed, which Thomas actually didn't doubt. He forgot how late it already was. He parted from Carmel in a jumpy manner, reaching up and rubbing his neck agitatedly as Morfran muttered things beneath his breath, going to the table and busily flipping through a large leather-bound book. "Are you finding anything?" Thomas asked, keeping his voice quiet.

Morfran furrowed his large grey brows and sighed heavily as he rubbed his stubbly chin. "Not a lot I'm afraid. I told that boy to stay out of trouble, but it seems you kids always do the opposite that I tell you." Her humphed and adjusted the gold rimmed spectacles on his nose. "I've looked through all the information under the category of 'witches' with no such luck. I think this magic we're dealing with is much more powerful than what a mere wicken could do."

Carmel went back to her little corner on the couch and wrapped her arms around her knees, pressing her lips together as she thought. "I don't think anyone should be allowed that sort of power. It's not right… it's unnatural." She felt a weird twisting in her gut and looked to Thomas, so many questions running through her head.

"But the fact is that things do have the power, and it's people like Cas that are the force working against them. Which is why we need to get him back so he can get rid of Malvina before she can do harm to anyone else." Thomas said, his voice forceful as he looked to Morfran. "So what do we do?" He asked, as if Morfran had all the answers… or so he hoped.

"You think it's that easy, Thomas? I'm trying everything I can, but I honestly don't know what to do here." Morfran dropped his book onto the counter none to gently before he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and pointer finger. "I've seen a lot of things in my time, Thomas, but nothing like this. It's as if my worst fear has come back to haunt me because this time I really don't know if I can do anything to stop this."

Thomas sat and stared with pure astonishment in his eyes. "You sound like you're giving up," he said slowly, staring at his grandfather in a way that he never had before, maybe something like disappointment. "You can't give up." Panic was beginning to seize his throat, squeezing and shaking the air from his passageways. "You can't just do that! It's not fair! Cas never gave up! So we can't-"

"Thomas…"

"So we can't give up on him! What kind of a friend would I be if I turned my back on him and just forgot that he ever existed?"

"Thomas."

"BECAUSE I WON'T. I WON'T DO THAT TO HIM! SO WHETHER YOU HELP ME OR NOT I DON'T CARE I'LL DO IT MYSELF!"

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, rushing blood through his veins. He couldn't remember the last time he lost his temper in such a way, but at Morfran's proposal he couldn't help but get upset. In any means he was going to stick true to what he said. He wouldn't give up on Cas. He would sooner die than give up on his friend who had saved his life time and time again.

"You're quite finished now, aren't you?" Morfran asked, his eyes a little wide at his grandson's behavior, but he took it rather calmly, sitting there with his fingers placed over his book.

"I have nothing more to say to you," Thomas confirmed.

"Good, because before you start on another rampage, just let me tell you that I don't plan to give up. So get that silly idea out of your mind that you're doing this on your own. That's how people get hurt. I don't need you getting hurt." For good measure he looked around at all of them: Caramel, Cas's mother, and back to Thomas. "I don't need any of you getting hurt. So what I need you all to do is sit tight until I can figure something out, okay?"

Everyone was silent, but he did get some head nods which was better than nothing.

"Good. Now how about you all get some sleep? You've had a big day, and I think a fresh start tomorrow will do us all good. I need you all at your best." He gathered the couple books he had on the counter before he began shuffling in his slippers back to his room. He was going to attempt some late night reading, but I guess he'd see how long that lasted. He was an old man, and he needed his sleep.

Cas's mother, who already looked kind of passed out on the couch, basically made Thomas and Carmel's sleeping arrangement easy to figure out. "We can go to my room," Thomas said as he rose and grabbed a fluffy blanket from the back of the couch and spreading it over her limp form. He couldn't help but take in her slightly swollen eyes and her pale sharp features. It broke him. She even looked troubled in her sleep.

He turned back to Carmel then who still hadn't rose from the couch with her legs folded beneath her. Thomas took the couple steps over to her and held out his hand to help her up. "C'mon," he said softly, taking her hand as she reached for his, helping her rise to her feet. He slid an arm around her waist and led her around the mess of the living room and down a small hallway to an even smaller room that was his bedroom. It was simple with a bed and a dresser as that was all that was allowed to fit in his small room, but it was comfortable and it was very predictable of Thomas. The only other object Carmel's eyes could find in his tiny room was the pile of books in the corner.

"I wouldn't have expected anything different," Carmel said, moving from his side and to the bed with simple black sheets that were still disheveled from the last time Thomas slept. She climbed into bed easily, beneath the covers that smelt heavily of Thomas, like lemon soap and spring rain detergent. Lying on her side, she nuzzled her face into the pillow and it wasn't long before she felt the warmth of Thomas behind her, moving close to her body, his torso brushing against hers as his arms wound around her waist. She felt a soft sigh of his breath rustle her hair as his head lowered to press against the nape of her neck, pressing a kiss to it.

"Everything's going to be okay," Thomas whispered, keeping her close against his chest and feeling her nod as she wiggled back to push her back into his chest.

"I know. You're going to make it okay," she whispered, her voice frail and crackly from lack of use. "You're going to bring him back."

"I am." And he meant that. Nothing would stop him. He would never stop and he was willing to go to any extent to get his friend back. "I promise."

Sorry I kept you waiting with this update, it's been quite awhile, but I've been very busy. I haven't forgotten you though! I'm constantly thinking about this story and writing down my ideas, its now all about typing it out and uploading it. So with that I hope you enjoy this recent update and I'll try and finish the next chapter soon! Please review and tell me what you think, I love getting feedback and I want to make sure my fellow Anna Dressed in Blood fans are being kept happy with my rendition of the story :)