#walkingnightmares

Harper: As the light from this lazy Saturday was going out, the young red head made contemplated what she would have for her evening meal. Looking in the refrigerator she saw nothing that seemed appetizing to her. A huff came to her lips as she scrunched up her face in disdain, “I guess I could always eat out.” She spoke with a delicious smile as she thought of the amazing food that was served at The Breakfast Club. With a bit more pep in her step than she had previously, Harper zoomed to her car and then drove her way to ever familiar sign that welcomed her. A grin came to her face as she imagined stuffing her face with all the pretty pastries that were offered there, and bonus points if her sister was working tonight. Harper parked and made her way towards the front entrance. A sudden noise emitted from over her shoulder and quickly she turned around. “Is there anyone there?” She asked into the night of the street.

Damien: It had been nearly two weeks since he'd come to town, and in that time, he'd refrained, mostly, from drinking blood from actual humans. But there was only so long that Damien could go drinking from animals. The guy that had tried to force himself on Sienna was definitely helpful, but he was thirsty beyond belief, and Damien didn't know how to quench it. Maybe he could find one permanent source of blood? Humans replenished blood so easily, after all, and if he found one unsuspecting person to use as a tap, that would solve all of his problems. He made his way over to town square, glancing around him every now and then to make sure that no one was going to come up to him and start talking. It was a fault of the small town charm. That kid, Stiles, he'd bumped into too many times to count, and Peyton and Mika seemed to appear out of nowhere, too. As he turned the corner toward the Breakfast Club, he saw a familiar looking redhead. Had they met before? He couldn't remember. "Hey," Damien said, putting his hands up in the air. "Sorry if I scared you. I tend to whistle when I walk."

  Harper: A silhouette approached her out of the darkness and her heart skipped a beat. There was no telling who it could be and with the reputation this town had this could have been the last moment in her life. She was going to be another statistic among the town deaths. Then again maybe the silhouette just wanted her purse or something cliché like that. When the man stepped into the light with a dorky smile, Harper couldn’t help but smile with relief. She had another day on the Earth, that is if she didn’t eat herself to death. “Hey I wasn’t scared! You should just learn to not sneak up behind someone in dark, especially me. Every horror film I have ever watched flashed before my eyes, I hope you are happy.” She spoke with small chuckle. Her eyes looked around awkwardly for a second before she noticed that he was alone. Harper wasn’t much of a ‘hang out with strangers’ type of girl, but she could honestly use the company. “Are you going in there?’ she asked pointing to The Breakfast Club. “Because if you are we could totally stuff our faces together.” Harper looked to him with a laugh.

Damien: Damien stared at the girl in front of him. She was kind of short, smaller than he'd like, but he supposed she seemed nice enough. Besides, she was inviting him to eat with her- oh, the irony- without even asking his name. She was wary of the dark horrors in the town, he had no doubt, but she was also a little naive and trusting. This could work out well for him. "Sure," Damien answered, letting a small smirk unfurl. "Yeah, you know what, that's a good idea. No one likes to eat alone, right?" He moved in front of her to open the door to the cafe, waiting for her to step inside before following. "So I'm Damien, by the way."

Harper: A brightness came to her soft pale face as he agreed to enjoy each other’s company. “Yeah definitely, my family was out and there was nothing good in the frig so retreated back to this beautiful place. Plus I have never seen you around here before, so think of this as a welcoming meal. This is as good as it gets in the crap of a  town.”  Harper spoke with a light cheeriness in her voice. The idea of spending the evening with a stranger was a bit weird for her, but on another hand a bit exciting. This is how people became friends anyway, by random occurrences and situations that cause them to have a conversation or in this case have a meal together. “Oh a gentleman, what a rare find. I’m Harper.” She smiled as she walked into the restaurant. A wall of different delicious scents hit her and made her mouth water. She slid into one of the booths and didn’t even bother looking at the menu for she had basically memorized it by this point. “So Damien, where are you from?”

  Damien: This was almost too easy, he thought. Five minutes ago, Damien had been contemplating a way to get out of his oncoming drought. It was terrifying, to think that the longer he stayed in this town, the longer he'd have to become accustomed to drinking out of blood pouches. After all, it had been so long that he'd gone drinking the natural way, change was going to be difficult. But Harper, apparently, solved all his problems. She was too young to sleep with, but he could already tell she'd be amusing to keep around. Not to rile up, of course, no he had other people for that. But probably just for genuine amusement. Besides, she seemed open enough. "It's been a while since I've been called a gentleman," Damien said, sliding into the bench across from her. While she didn't pick up a menu, he did, glancing at her over the top. "Around," he said, as honestly as possible. "I traveled a lot before coming here."

Harper: She raised an eyebrow at the man sitting across from her; someone who actually has traveled somewhere other than here was right in front of her. Of course that also begged the question of why stick around in this boring old town. It made no sense, but then again nothing ever did with people in this town. “So I take it that you are just passing through? Since Mystic Falls has no entertainment value compared to the many other places you have probably been.” Harper assumed. If she had the chance to travel around, she would be in every other town but this one. The only thing that would keep her here is her family, so maybe that was what he was doing here too. When a waiter came around to their table Harper smiled at him and kindly ordered an array of her favorite treats as her dinner instead of the traditional thing. Harper’s tongue craved sweets at the moment and nothing but was going to satisfy her. “Don’t judge.” She said with a smile.

Damien: "Unfortunately, all I do is judge," Damien smiled. "No, but seriously, order whatever you want. In fact, it's on me." It wouldn't hurt him to pay for the girl's meal, would it? Especially considering that she was going to be his meal. "I'm not passing through, actually. I've decided to stay. The town might not have entertainment value, but," his thoughts strayed to a certain blonde, "It has other assets. Why, do you not like living here?" He turned to the waiter and ordered a small plate of pancakes, turning back to Harper when he was done.

Harper: “Then you are going to have a judge fest when I actually devour everything on my plate.” She replied to him with a cockiness in her voice. Food was Harper’s thing; in fact if it wasn’t for her high metabolism she wouldn’t be as petite as she was now that’s for sure. “Oh really?’ Harper uttered in surprise to his words. “Like what? Are you a history buff? It’s not that I mean I guess it isn’t that bad once you get used to it, but if I had a choice to travel anywhere you wouldn’t find me here.” She shrugged as she responded to him.

Damien: "You don't seem like you're going to mind that too much, Harper," Damien blinked. Maybe it was just because he'd refused to actually get to know any women who he didn't want to sleep with, but it had been a while since a girl was so brash in front of him. Kind of refreshing how she wasn't expecting anything front him, and that even the idea of a free meal was surprising. "Consider it a friendly gesture. That I'm thankful you didn't make me eat alone." He was, too. As much as he pushed people away, he was starting to get tired of it. The only problem was that while he knew logically that he had to change his ways, it was hard to actually follow through with the behavior. "I've had my fair share of history, you could say, but now I look forward to getting used to Mystic Falls. That's the thing about travel, though, it involves you going away from where you are now. Mystic Falls wouldn't be an option for you. Where would you go?"

Harper: A large grin appeared on her face as soon as he spoke. “Not at all, if I don’t scare you away with scarfing down my food then I know you are a keeper. If not, your loss.” She declared. Harper definitely did not care about what others thought of her, she would be herself and all that being herself included, and if anyone wasn’t okay with that she didn’t associate herself with them. “Good man, I’ll have to buy you a meal sometime then. As a friendly gesture for your friendly gesture.” She replied with a smile. “Wow how deep.” She said thinking about his words. Harper honestly had no idea where she would go. “Umm I’ve always wanted to go out of the country? Anywhere but small town life in Virginia of all places.” Harper shrugged.

Damien: "A keeper?" Damien raised his eyebrows. "Why would you want to keep me if you know nothing else about me?" Harper was spirited, that was for sure, and she definitely lived up to the spitfire nature that came with the redhead stereotype. "No it's okay," Damien couldn't help but laugh. "You don't have to buy me a meal, don't worry." How was he supposed to get her out of here though? It had been fifteen minutes and they were still sitting here and now he was getting impatient. "America has a lot of great places you can travel to. Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, even the forests in Massachusetts... Actually I have some pictures in my car, do you want to see them?" There. That would get them out of the Breakfast Club. Too many people in here

Harper: She rolled his eyes at the man in front of her with an amused smile. “Not keep you keep you, you’re not a dog. I think. I meant like you would be worth hanging around. Oh I’m sorry can I see your resume?” she said sarcastically as she held out her hand. His objections to the return of a free meal made Harper smirk. “I’ll buy it for you whether you eat or not. Got it.” She proclaimed cocking her head with a chuckle. Harper gave him a look when he spoke about going to his car, all the red flags in her mind told her to stop talking to him immediately but yet she wasn’t in the mood to listen to her mind the moment. “You are totally a serial killer aren’t you.” Harper said jokingly. “Fine, just because those places sound amazing. But I’m not going near your car, I’ll walk half way. Just in case.” She smiled. Harper wasn’t completely naïve of course, a stranger luring her into his car was a possibility and she wasn’t going to risk the chance of her gut being right.

Damien: Damien pretended to sigh in relief. "Oh, good then," he said. "I like it when people don't consider me to be a dog. I find it a little... dehumanizing." The girl was determined, though, and for the briefest moment, he felt guilt. She was sweet, for a human, someone who was obviously just reaching out to who she thought was a stranger in need. Oh well, Damien thought. That was her mistake. It wasn't his job to teach people about the dangers that came with associating with unknowns. Besides, he'd done his good deed for the month, saving Sienna that night. He slid out of the booth and made his way over to the door, walking out behind her. "Fair enough," Damien said. "But you don't even have to walk halfway. Just stop at the sidewalk and I'll be right back." As they started walking to the curb, however, he noticed the alley behind the cafe. Before she could protest, Damien grabbed Harper and backed her up against one of the walls at the far end of the alley. "Don't scream, or this will be worse for you," he said quietly.

Harper: Well there she was, one moment pleasantly walking with a man whom she thought wasn’t a serial killer to pinned against a wall in a matter of seconds. She should have listened to her gut, but no she just had to have faith in the fact that some people weren’t out to get each other and that the world was not a life time movie and things don’t go wrong. But there she was as life time as it could get. Her eyes went wide with complete and total fear. All the moves she had in her head that would magically come out didn’t and she was frozen. “Get off of me!” she mustered all the strength she had and tried to escape with no avail. Tears began to flow down her face, and against her better judgment she released a piercing scream.

Damien: Damien sighed. He didn't deal well with crying girls on a good day, and after coming to Mystic Falls? It was even worse. This town was nice, even if the people hated it. It made him wish he cared that this girl was nice, that he had some kind of conscience. But he didn't, and all he could concentrate on was the juncture where her vein was. "Don't scream. Don't cry. Don't move," he told her, pupils dilating. The compulsion should at least keep her calm until he could tell her to forget this was happening. Before she could say anything, he leaned down, fangs piercing her skin. The rush of blood was instantaneous, and for a few seconds, it was sweet, delicious. But then the pain started. It burned, everywhere. His mouth was on fire, his insides started to feel like they were falling apart. Vampires didn't need to breathe, but suddenly he felt like if he didn't, he'd drop dead right there. Pulling away slowly, he stared at Harper in horror. "What are you?" he asked, grabbing at his throat. Damien bit the words out, unable to do much more. "Where did you get the vervain?"

Harper: Whimpers escaped her lips in between deep breaths. This was it she was probably going to die now. She should have just stayed home and settled for vegetables instead of coming out for treats. He demanded the three things she wanted to do most and at this point that is what she was going to do no matter what he said. As she inhaled to scream again, she felt a sharp pain radiating from her neck. Was he biting her? Instead of screaming she went numb with what was happening to her. This was some horror fiction shit that she could not believe was happening to her. She went from life time to horror in a matter of second. Maybe it was all a dream and she was going to wake up any second now. She waited to wake up, but instead she felt him back away from her. Her back slid against the wall and with her last amount of strength she tried to punch him, but her punch barley went two inches away from her. He heard his broken words and her face scrunched up as she slumped over on the concrete. “I have no idea what you are talking about.” Harper said truthfully with broken whispers. Her vision began to blur and all she could do was sit there helplessly and try to soak in what just happened to her.

Damien: Damien started to back away slowly, unable to keep from hunching over. He needed water, or coffee, anything to get this horrible burning out of his mouth, out of his body. There was no way she had no idea what was happening now, was there? The girl was on vervain for god's sake. She had to be some kind of supernatural. "Are you a witch?" he asked, stumbling away. Witches were the worst. Magic was silent, invisible, and could be too deadly for him to handle. He'd already bumped into a witch, during one of his first nights in town, and if this one was given the chance to recuperate, he'd be dead. Luckily for him, she seemed to be too out of it. Harper was slumped onto the floor. This had been a bad idea, he thought. "Stay away from me, witch." As fast as he could, he backed out of the alley, straightening as much as he could. Damien wiped his face, hoping that he looked acceptable enough to go back into the cafe, trying to keep the expression of pain off his face as much as possible. The cafe was the same as how he'd left it ten minutes ago, and no one seemed to notice he'd come in.

Parker: It was that time of the day. Business was beginning to slow down around The Breakfast Club. As much as Parker liked her job, it felt nice to be able to take a break from the kitchen and hang out at the front counter until her services were needed again. She had been holding a conversation with the cashier when a man approached them. She vaguely remembered him, and she was almost certain his name was Damien. Subconsciously, she quickly scanned him over, but her eyes came to stop at his collar. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Parker’s gaze met his, and she immediately offered a polite smile despite her rising suspicions. There was something about the look in his eyes, and for a split second she saw something in them that even his demeanor couldn’t hide. Pain. It could’ve been something completely innocent, but the crimson droplets on his collar also could’ve been evidence of something much more sinister. There was never really any telling in Mystic Falls, and Parker wasn't about to take that chance.

Damien: The easiest thing to order was water, and within seconds, he was gulping down the whole glass. The burning didn't go away completely, though it was better. He leaned froward onto the front counter and ran a hand through his hair, blinking as he tried to process what had just happened. Harper was on vervain, and a simple mistake like that had terrible consequences. Did she really not know what was in her blood? If she was a witch, then she'd have tried to use her powers against him, wouldn't she? What the hell was happening.

Parker: She watched as he gulped down the glass of water. It gave her the indication that there was more to the situation than it seemed. There were still too many holes in her mind as to what was actually going on. Parker came to the conclusion that there was only one way to solve it. “Here, let me grab that for you. You look like you can use another glass.” She smiled brightly and took the empty glass from him. Though her mind was going a thousand miles a minute, she calmly went over to the pitcher full of water. If he was in fact a vampire, he’d know exactly what she was slipping into his drink, and that was something Parker couldn’t afford. She needed a distraction. Slyly, the pitcher slipped from her hands just as she went to pour him a drink. She hopped back a little as it crashed on the floor, sending water flying everywhere. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I’ll just grab you some water from the kitchen.” Parker said in false embarrassment. Hurriedly, she ran off to the back with the cup in her hand. Everything needed to be done quickly. She poured the water and slipped the vervain she kept with her at all times into it. Just to be safe, she stirred it a bit before grabbing a few towels as she exited the kitchen. There was no harm in what she was doing. If he was human, he’d go unharmed. If he was a vampire, well she’d get the answer she wanted. “Here you go. Sorry about that.” Parker handed over the glass and smiled again. Immediately, she turned her attention to the mess she had created. She got down on the ground and began wiping up the water, but in reality, she waited for his reaction.

Damien: "Thanks," Damien said weakly, barely raising his head to look at the waitress. She said something about getting another glass of water, and within seconds, his drink was out of his hands. Why Harper, he thought to himself furiously. In this town, he couldn't be as reckless as he'd been before, he knew this. That was why he hadn't bitten Mika. There was a chance she was a werewolf. This girl had just come up out of nowhere, and instead of waiting, holding off to see if she could be dangerous, he'd just gone for it. Damien couldn't even compel her to keep silent. Who knew what she would tell the world? He buried his head in his hands, looking up only when the waitress came back with another glass of water. "No, don't worry about it," he replied, raising the glass to his lips. But a few seconds after the water went down, he started coughing again. Vervain . It was everywhere. Damien looked up to see the waitress, but she'd disappeared. Without saying anything else, he coughed a few more times, trying to keep the water from going down his throat. Someone knew. Unless the restaurant itself had put vervain in it's water supply, someone specifically knew that he was a vampire. He stumbled through the doors of the Breakfast Club and into the town, the fresh air feeling good on his face. He had to get back to the hotel, now.

Parker: stood just as Damien exited the café. She had her answer. The nineteen year old girl wanted to go after the vampire, but she decided against it. She knew she’d get her time to gather more information on him, and that time wasn’t now. She scanned The Breakfast Club to see if anything was out of the normal. It maintained its usual lively buzz. Then she remembered. Parker had poked her head out of the kitchen earlier that night and she had seen Damien sitting at a booth. Due to the angle, she couldn’t quite make out who he had been sitting with. Parker decided to check it out, to see if he had left anything while he fled the restaurant. She stepped from around the counter and went over to the booth which was empty despite the seemingly untouched food on the table. She started to shrug it off until she realized what was exactly on the plates. Pastries, nothing but pastries. All of them were Harper’s favorites. Immediately, red flags started going off in the back of her mind. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. Before she knew it, Parker pushed through the front door and was immediately greeted with the cold of night. “Harper?” She couldn’t quite hide the panic in her voice. She thought hard about where she could possibly be. A gasp escaped her as the realization hit her. The alleyway. She ran over to the side of The Breakfast Club. She came to a stop and looked down the dark path. “Harper?” Parker called out more desperately.

Harper: Her surroundings became less and less visible as she sat hunched over. Harper could no longer tell how long she had been sitting there in between the spots of black, was she still even alive. With a bit of fuzziness, her mind tried to wrap around what was happening to her, what had happened to her. There was no explanation for what she saw unless she delved into the supernatural, but that stuff wasn’t real. The blood trickling down her arm however said otherwise. She was shaking, not from the cold, but from the intense fear that came over her with the realization. Her finger slid up her neck and felt the indentions that pierced her skin. She heard a noise and groggily looked up to see figure calling her name. There seemed to be a person coming near her and she couldn’t help, but think he has come back to finish her off. “Get away from me!” she cried out in a broken voice in between sobs.

Parker: As Parker grew closer, she could easily tell it was Harper sitting with her back against the bricks of the building. She could tell her sister had been crying, but it was further confirmed when she heard the tremble of the seventeen years old’s voice. Immediately, she began to assume the worst. And when she knelt down before Harper, her fear became a reality. “Harper, it’s me. It’s me, you’re okay. It’s going to be okay.” Parker tried to smile as she moved her sister’s red hair from her face. Despite the fact her heart was breaking, she knew she needed to be strong. Lightly, she removed Harper’s hand which was placed along the side of her neck. Both of their hands were covered in blood. He had bitten her. Parker sucked in her breath and did everything in her power not to let her emotions get the best of her. Harper needed her. She was thankful for the tank top she was wearing underneath her long sleeved shirt as she took it off and placed it to Harper’s neck. “Come on, I’ve got you. You’re safe now.” Parker said as she helped the younger girl up. Her top priority was to get to the backroom.

Harper: Her body shuddered as the figure sat next to her, but then her eyes focused enough for her to notice the familiar face of her sister. A calm feeling rushed over her for a moment before she began to cry hysterically. Tears flowed from her already puffy eyes in waves and she shook as her hand uncovered her wound. What was she going to tell Parker? She would think she was crazy after telling her what she saw, but it was the truth. There was no denying it; she was bitten by a creature that wasn’t human. She left her sister guide her body as she felt weak from the blood loss. Everything was a blur as she felt herself move up from the position she was against the wall. A contrast of dark to light made Harper squint, but the warmth of the area made her know she was inside. As her eyes adjusted to the lighting, Harper looked at her sister with confusion and such fright she didn’t know what to say. What was there to say? How was she going to explain this bite? “P-arker, what’s happening? It hurts. Make it stop please.” She sobbed as more tears rolled down her cheek.

Parker: She moved some stuff from the table and helped Harper sit on top of it. Unintentionally, she ignored her questions. “Make sure you press that shirt really hard against your neck.” Parker said quietly as she turned to find something, anything. Even though she was in the room, she was a thousand miles away. What was she going to tell Harper? How was she going to explain this to Chris? Mindlessly, she rummaged through a cabinet until she came across some sort of first aid kit. She turned back to Harper and sat the kit on the table. Rapidly, Parker began to retreat further and further into herself. With trembling fingers, she began to clean up the wound which consisted of two punctures in the redhead’s neck. When she was all done, she bandaged it. Parker threw her arms around her sister and held her for a moment before pulling back a little. She wiped the tears from Harper’s cheeks and cupped her face in her hands. “I need you to tell me exactly what happened, okay Harper.” Parker’s voice trembled slightly, “I don’t care how ridiculous it may seem, I need you to tell me.”

Harper: Doing exactly as she said, she pressed the cloth as hard as she could against her wound. Her eyes darted toward her sister, and she watched her actions with admiration. As Parker sat by her tending to her injury, she couldn’t help but feel safe with her. Simply by her presence Harper knew she was going to be okay. The red head was so grateful that she was the one who found her, someone she trusted more than anyone else; someone who she had complete faith in. She flinched every now and again she as cleaned up the bloody mess. During all of this she stood by and watched how Parker looked so calm and focused while she was the exact opposite. Harper couldn’t remember the last time she cried this much, well she could but she didn’t want to think about that now. If only she was as tough as her sister she wouldn’t be a complete wreck right now. Her touch on her burning cheeks caused a chill to run down her spin. She hesitated for a moment when Parker asked her a question. What did she mean by ridiculous? How did she know that what happened to her was ridiculous? Red flags were banging around in her already throbbing head. With her free hand she brought it up her cheeks to remove Parker’s hand, suddenly the touch lost its tranquility. Looking down, she thought carefully about her words. “A man came out of nowhere and pushed me against the wall and-and his eyes changed and he—bit me. He said I had ver-something but I literally have no idea what he was talking about.” Harper spoke with a raspy voice not losing eye contact from the ground.

Parker: Attentively, Parker listened as Harper began to explain. She watched as her sister fixed her gaze elsewhere. With each word, she tried her hardest not to fall apart. The evidence was all there. She had seen the wounds in her neck, but hearing the details made everything much worse, because it made it real. In a way, Parker was glad that Harper was looking at the ground. Her bottom lip began to quiver at the threat of tears, but she bit hard down on it to stop it. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Harper cry, especially not like this. The poor girl didn’t even know she was on vervain, or what it was for that matter. She was innocent, and in the course of a short amount of time, all of that had been shattered. Parker’s heart was pounding in her chest at the thought of what she was about to say next. This was it. There was no coming back from it. She anxiously tapped her fingers against her own leg, a habit she had picked up a while ago. “Vervain.” Parker corrected her, “He said you had vervain. It’s supposed to protect you…from vampires. He bit you, but when he... drank from you it burned him."

Harper: Vampire was exactly what came to her mind but she was too embarrassed to speak the word that is of course until Parker spoke it for her. As she heard the words her sister spoke her eyes went wide on the floor and her face moved to complete shock. Harper was completely still, she didn’t even breathe; she just let the information process slowly in her already troubled mind. She knew. This twilight shit wasn’t supposed to be real, monsters were only supposed to be the imaginary things that hide under your bed as a kid. Yet there was no getting around it, the proof was there, she saw it with her own two eyes. The thing that stung the most was that Parker knew about all of this. She knew everything this whole time and she kept her in the dark. Slowly her head lifted up until their eyes met. A look of hurt and betrayal over powered the fear that had resided in her eyes. And for a moment she had forgotten she was attacked all together. Fresh tears formed in her eyes and she was just silently looked at her sister. “How do you know that Parker?” she struggled speaking as the ball formed in her throat seemed to not want the answer.

Parker: There they were. The words were out in the open, and never could they be taken back. Parker didn’t really know what to expect after that. Never in a million years did she imagine that this would be the way she’d tell Harper about anything involving the supernatural. But like so many other things in their lives, neither one of them ever had the final say in how things happened. She watched as her sister’s eyes went wide and found their way onto her. She watched her frantic, confused expression change to one of hurt and something that even resembled betrayal. Parker held Harper’s gaze. She at least owed her that much. For a while, neither one of them muttered a single word. That is, until Harper broke the silence by asking her a simple question. Immediately, answers came flying to Parker. How did she know? It seemed so ridiculous. It was as if she’d been asked how did she know to breathe, or how did she know the sun rose in the day and the moon at night. For Parker, it was life, a life she tried so desperately to keep hidden from her sister, but still life nonetheless. She took a deep breath. Tonight would not be the night Harper would find out the truth about Parker and their parents, or the many other things that ran rampant in Mystic Falls. It was already bad enough she’d found out about vampires. “I just need you to trust me, Harper.” Parker finally said, her voice coming across evenly.