Right before Gavin could offer his brother some much-needed words of comfort, the loud clanging of bells drew his attention to the doorway. Gavin's expression flipped from caring to icy in an instant, "Right now, you need to run."

"What?" Aidan turned his focus to the door, where three individuals now stood, wearing full-face helmets and what seemed to be motorcycle full-body racing suits that covered every inch of skin. Vampires. In daylight. In London! Aidan almost couldn't believe his bad luck. Before he had a chance to react, their table, mugs and all, was sent flying towards the newcomers, hitting the three with an ear-splitting crash and toppling them backwards out the door like tumbleweeds. Gavin grabbed his arm and ran towards the back exit, shouting a hasty 'Sorry about that!' at the two stunned baristas. As they ran through the back alley, Gavin hastily dialled Tyler.

"We're being attacked!" Gavin hollered the moment the tall wolf answered. "On my way," was the calm but curt reply before he hung up.

They made it to the main pedestrian path, full of the usual crowd of everyday shoppers, students, office workers and the like, when Aidan, gasping for breath, finally had a chance to look back. To his horror, the three vampires were still running towards them, with no sign of slowing down.

"Shit!" Gavin swore as he realised the vampires had no qualms about starting a fight in a crowd full of humans. The brothers dashed away, weaving between bodies while their pursuers continued to gain on them. Aidan knew that he would never be able to outrun vampires. The only way out of this was to fight them head-on.

Bemused pedestrians watched as two handsome young men were chased on foot by three road racers. Some even wondered if there was some sort of filming going on, and were those two men the lead actors? A couple of concerned citizens whipped out their phones to dial the police.

Gavin yelled over his shoulder, having decided that staying in the crowd was a bad idea, "Follow me!" They did not need any humans to end up as collateral. Aidan ran as fast as his cramping legs would move, following behind Gavin, and so did the vampires. 'I really should work out more,' the human internally whined. "Probably take up long-distance running for increased survivability against supernaturals!"

Gavin led them into a side road and continued running until he reached a deserted area between two rows of shuttered buildings. He turned around and placed Aidan safely behind him, taking a defensive stance against the vampires. Just as he geared up to attack, two vampires landed on Gavin from above, having jumped from one of the building's roofs. Another two followed suit, landing on top of Gavin, who was now sprawled on his back. Squeezing every last bit of energy reserves he had, Gavin randomly grabbed at flailing limbs and somehow flipped the pile of bodies over before scrambling off the top. To Aidan, it reminded him of a pancake being tossed in a frying pan.

Breathing deep breaths, Gavin shouted, "Run! I'll hold them off!"

Aidan shook his head vigorously, refusing to leave his brother.

Gavin turned to face a total of seven advancing vampires. Without a backward glance, he yelled, "Aidan, go!"

With no other choice, Aidan turned and ran, his face scrunched up in an ugly grimace from the pain of leaving his brother to fight alone. 'I'm so useless. So weak. I can't even help Gavin!' He screamed inwardly as he ran through quiet back lanes, not paying attention to where he was going. 'I should just become a werewolf, like Gavin.' The thought struck him hard. 'No one will ever mess with me then!' He would not be chased about like defenceless prey. He refused to be a helpless human.

Struggling to keep his momentum going, Aidan blindly turned a corner and immediately crashed into a helmeted body. The impact sent both of them rolling to the ground. Barely a few seconds after, Aidan staggered shakily back to his feet, fear overpowering the pain of smacking face-first into the hard body and then rolling about on actual cobblestones. The vampire was equally quick to get back on his feet, hands flying immediately to the helmet in a reassuring gesture confirming it was undamaged.

Aidan stared at the vampire in stunning revelation. The vampire had just pointed out to Aidan that he wasn't invincible. He was just as scared of the sun as Aidan was of him. 'If I can expose him to the sun, maybe I can win this!' The human frantically looked about the area and spotted a recycling bin barely a few feet away. Without pause, he overturned it, relief flooding his mind as metal and glass recyclables cascaded to the floor. The vampire sensed his line of thought and froze momentarily before launching himself at breakneck speed toward the human with a dagger in hand.

Luckily for Aidan, the momentary pause was all he needed to grab a sturdy metal can in his right hand and a broken glass bottle in his left. The human shoved the metal can into the helmet's black visor with all his force while swinging the sharp edges of the bottle against the thick racing suit, even as the vampire shoved the dagger into his chest.

Two barely audible cracking sounds overlapped each other at that moment. The first was the sound of the helmet visor cracking down the middle.

The second was the sound of Aidan's bones in his right-hand fracturing from the force and one of his ribs cracking upon impact with the dagger tip.

A high-pitched scream and gasping moans echoed right after in the empty lane as both men slumped to the ground in agony. Although the glass bottle hadn't managed to damage the vampire's suit, the metal can had done the trick. The vampire screamed in agony as sunlight burned a line in the middle of his face. Without even glancing at Aidan, the vampire fled, using both gloved hands to shield the cracked visor.

Aidan continued to lay motionless on the ground, in never before experienced pain that was so intense, he nearly blacked out right then. He couldn't tell what hurt more, the multiple pulsing points of pain in his rapidly swelling right hand or the throbbing burn on the left side of his chest. He could feel the trickle of warm blood flowing from the wound down the side of his shirt and onto the cool cobblestones beneath him, and it made him wonder, his thoughts jumbled and hazy, if he was going to die here, in an empty back lane, alone and in a foreign land.

Sunlight bore down on him brightly as he lay there, and although he should have been thankful for its power in driving away the vampire, at that moment, its presence was too cheerful for his liking. 'Sunny-side up eggs. What a way to go.' He closed his eyes in defeated exhaustion.

Just as he began drifting away from consciousness came the hollow sounds of hurried footsteps. He forced open heavy eyelids, hoping to see Gavin, but to his utter disappointment, it was Emilia, followed closely by a tall, unfamiliar raven-haired female dressed in a stylish leather jacket, skin-tight jeans and sky-high stilettos.

Emilia knelt beside him and placed a hand on the bleeding wound, and immediately a sense of coolness overtook the burning pain. As he gazed up at Emilia, Aidan sensed something was off about her, and it took him a couple of seconds to realise what it was. Her panic-laced expression was one he had never expected to see on the perennially stoic witch.

Why had his least favourite person in the world appeared? Aidan was too muddle-headed to think of a clear answer. Moments before passing out, he whispered to her, "Have you come to finish what the vampires couldn't?"

"Idiot," Emilia muttered as she poured energy into healing the wound on the unconscious man's side.

"Oh my, the poor boy seems banged up quite badly, isn't he? Anyway, I'm afraid it's not safe to stay here too long," her companion advised, "We should move him to my place since it's closer." Emilia nodded while mumbling, "Lead the way, Sam," her focus narrowed on healing Aidan.

The one named Samaira knelt and effortlessly picked up the unconscious man. Together, the trio left the scene of the attack, leaving nothing but a puddled bloodstain on the ground.

Aidan remained unconscious throughout the car ride back to Samaira's place, his head resting on Emilia's lap as she refocused her healing powers on his injured right hand. The unassuming Toyota Yaris continued on the journey to the outskirts of the city until they reached a quiet, quaint neighbourhood of townhouses. Samaira parked the car before handing Emilia a large blanket, which the blond woman used to tuck around Aidan, covering even his head from view. Samaira smoothly lifted the bundle out from the backseat of her car and calmly headed into her home, Emilia following behind. Anyone watching would never have realised that the stylish woman was carrying a full-grown man whilst wearing stilettos.

Aidan did not stir for hours after being placed on the soft sheets of the guest bedroom, his breathing deep and even. Seated by the bedside, Emilia watched him like a hawk, seemingly fixated on the rise and fall of his chest, as if afraid to miss any changes in his breathing.

Meanwhile, in the nearby kitchen came the sounds of kitchenware clunking as Samaira bustled about, happy to have the excuse of guests in the house as a reason to bake a cake and prepare a fancier dinner than was customary.

Emilia's phone abruptly rang, the shrill tone slicing through the dull silence of the room and making her jump in her seat. She glanced at the screen before quickly answering it, moving from her spot by the bed to the open doorway.

"Lannetta, I forgot to call you." Loud screeching wafted through the earpiece as the witch winced before answering, "Yes, well, Aidan is with me, so you can stop being angry with me, Netta."

Emilia paused for several seconds, listening before replying, "He's safe now, but it was close."

She spoke a little more before hanging up and turning back to Aidan to find that the man's breathing had quickened, his body posture rigid.

"You can stop pretending to be asleep now, Aidan."

He abruptly pulled the blanket from around his waist until it covered up to his nose and then peeked at her timidly, ocean blue eyes wide and swimming with confusion. It took Emilia loads of effort not to smile at how adorable Aidan looked. The human continued to stare at the witch, unsure of what to do, until he finally decided to speak. "I guess this means you were Emi after all."

It was Emilia's turn to stare wide-eyed at him, gobsmacked at his words. Aidan saw how stunned the witch was and quickly explained, "Lannetta Bloodreign told me to search for someone named Emi. I wondered if it was you when we first met, but you did not seem to acknowledge me, and I assumed I'd guessed wrong." Understanding swiftly dawned on Emilia; with it, Aidan thought he saw a touch of disappointment in her eyes that was quickly hidden away.

"Do you remember what happened?"

Aidan slowly sat up in bed and looked at his healed chest and hand in turn, "I was attacked by a vampire, and he stabbed me, but I managed to crack his helmet, so he ran away screaming." His chest was a little tender but otherwise fine. There was no pain from his hand either. He stared at her curiously, "You healed me?"

Instead of answering, Emilia returned to her seat by the bed. "Aidan Summers," she spoke his name softly, and incomprehensibly, he yearned to hear his name on her lips again, "do you wish to remember your past?"

Remember the past?

He tilted his head while pondering her question. Did he have a choice? Vampires were out to get him because of who he once was. Besides, a couple of unanswered mysteries were bugging him, and he had to admit he hated not knowing. He had to do it; he needed to remember.

Emilia raised her hand in caution, "Before you give me your answer, I will warn you this: should you choose to remember, you will gain not only your memories but also the characteristics of your former self. It may be jarring at first to have your past, and present personalities collide."

The amalgamation of two different personalities. Like Jekyll and Hyde? He felt a thrill of fear go down his spine as her words sunk in. In a halting voice, he asked, "Will I... still be me?"

"At the core, you are still the same as you once were."

"What do you mean?"

To his surprise, Emilia laughed as she gazed at him with a sparkle in her eyes, "You are kind and honest. You stood up against your human superiors because you were against the injustice and cruelty you saw, even if it was against supernaturals, which I'm sure must have appeared extremely intimidating. And yet, to do the right thing, you refused to take the easy way out. You are still as brave as you were before." He blushed in embarrassment as the witch heaped praises his way. "Not only that, but today you also refused to go down without a fight, choosing to attack that vampire instead of running away or cowering in fear."

He was just about to bashfully deny her exaggerated praises when she added, "And your moments of explosive anger are still the same," making him snap his mouth shut immediately.

Emilia looked down at her hands, folded neatly in her lap, "I think you are still you, even now."

Aidan stared at her delicate pixie features, and a sudden bout of longing burst forth in his heart. He leaned back against his pillow while ignoring the odd emotions, squeezing his eyes shut as he thought long and hard about the most critical decision he needed to make in his life.

"I want to remember," he finally said, looking back at her. Emilia released a soft exhale of relief before removing something from around her neck. "Give me your hand."

She placed a glowing white moonstone crystal attached to a long leather cord into the palm of his outstretched hand before wrapping her hand around his, helping to curl his fingers until the crystal was grasped in his closed fist. "Calm your mind. Let your soul become one once more."