I woke sometime later in a hospital bed. The blinding fluorescent lights made the white walls and chrome of the equipment seem so much brighter. My head felt like it was being compressed in a vice, my throat was on fire, and my stomach hurt.

I pulled the oxygen tube off my face and looked around. 

"Where am I?" I croaked out.

"Oh shit. You're awake!" Scott jumped up from the chair next to my bed and grabbed my hand. 

"Nurse!" I heard Maddilyn yell.

"Maddy?"

"Oh, my sweet! Are you okay?" she asked.

"Will someone tell me what the hell happened? I actually hurt. Like, hurt."

"I'm sure you do," Clayton said, entering the room.

"I'm confused. I don't hurt. What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Scott asked.

I shook my head. 

"Um, you went to the corner store and came back really confused and thirsty. You stood next to the bathroom and said something about Wolfsbane."

"Wolfsbane?" I sat up.

How would that get into my apartment?

"Do you know when you ingested it?" Maddilyn asked.

"I ingested it? Why would I knowingly ingest wolfsbane?"

"What is that?" Scott asked.

"It's the most deadly plant to a vampire. If we ingest enough of it it's poof for us."

"Poof?"

"Yes, Scott. Poof. We dust."

"Someone tried to dust you?" he asked.

"Actually, no," Clayton said. "It was not enough to dust you. It was just enough to incapacitate you for a short period of time. Someone who knew what they were doing did this."

"But why? I don't understand why."

Clayton approached me and grasped my arm, holding it up. "See that. Right there?"

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the bend in my elbow. "Is that a hole?"

"That is a needle mark."

"Someone took your blood."

"What?"

"And on the back of your neck," he said, moving my hair. "is a tiny puncture hole. Someone hit you with a dark or something to get the wolfsbane in your system."

"Okay. Wow. That is a lot," I said.

"Indeed."

"How long do I have to be here? Can I leave?"

"I would prefer it if you stayed," Clayton said. "For observation."

"You have my current blood right?"

"Yes, but..."

"Nope. You have what you need. I'm leaving. I hate hospitals."

Clayton sighed heavily and nodded. "Okay. I'll have the attending get your discharge paperwork ready."

"Thanks."

"Cassidy, you shouldn't leave," Maddy said. "I wish you would stay."

"If I'm not dead, I'm fine."

"Perry..."

"You have more of a reason to be here, Scott."

"Okay. Okay."

"If you're leaving can you at least have me or Scott stay with you?" Maddy asked.

"If you two insist, yes. One of you can stay with me."

"Who?" Scott asked.

"You two can decide that. I'm getting dressed and going home. You have until then to decide."

I took off the hospital gown, staring at the two of them while pulling on my t-shirt.

I didn't bother waiting for the discharge paperwork. I grabbed my jacket and walked from the emergency room. 

Who would know about wolfsbane enough to know how much to dose me with to not dust me? That is very specific and very intentional. And why my blood? What could they want with my blood?

I stood outside and closed my eyes while the wind blew around me. It smelled crips and delicious, and I assumed it was cold or at least chilly. 

"You have to chill, Perry."

"Scott," I turned to look at my partner. "I'm actually worried."

"You are?"

"Yeah. I've never been attacked by someone who had this level of knowledge about not just vampires but me. And they took my blood."

"What do you think they want with it?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Who knows, but what if it's the same guy who's been making and killing newborns?"

"Maybe making another you with your blood?"

"Maybe. But I don't think it'll work."

"Why not?" Scott asked.

"I told you that I'm half vamp and half preternatural."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not human. Everyone thinks I'm half vamp half human. I'm not. What if my vampire and preternatural blood doesn't bond with human blood at all?"

"So it just keeps killing people?"

I nodded my head. 

"That could be a problem."

"A huge problem."

"There you two are!" Maddy said, pulling her jacket around her tightly. "What are we doing about tonight?"

"I'll stay with Cassidy. We both have to work in the morning anyway."

"Are you sure?" she asked, arching her eyebrows.

"Yes. I'm sure."

"Are you okay with that Cassidy?" She looked at me.

"I guess. I think it's dumb that anyone has to stay with me."

"It's not dumb. Someone is after you. We're protecting you."

I smiled at my dainty friend. She was sweet and I loved her dearly. 

"Let's get out of here. I'm freezing!" she said, running across the parking lot to her car.

"She drove? Isn't she drunk?" I asked.

"Cassidy, you were out for like 12 hours. Nobody's drunk anymore."

"That long? Geez."

"Do you want to go get food?" Maddy hollered at us.

"Yeah, I could eat," Scott said.

"I could eat. Where should we go?"

"Fat Heads?" Maddy suggested.

"Fat Heads? I love their burgers," Scott answered.

"Let's go. You driving?"

"I am!" Maddy said excitedly. 

We all piled into her SUV and hang on for dear life as she zipped through the city heading for the restaurant on the South Side.

"Hi! Welcome to Fat Heads. How many?" a bubbly young man asked picking up menus.

"Three. Please."

"Great! Right this way! Do you want to hear our specials for today?"

"Do you have anything heavy on the blood?" I asked.

"Heavy on the....blood?"

I nodded.

The boy looked a little green around the gills. "Yeah. There is a bloody bacon cheeseburger. The patty is left rare with blood-infused cheddar cheese and pairs nicely with an ultra blood blood moon."

"That sounds great."

"Right. Your waiter will be over shortly."

He turned on his heels and hurried back to his podium. A few minutes later a less cheerful man arrived. 

"Do you guys know what you want?" 

We ordered our dinners and waited. 

A shiver ran up my back as we sat there. I looked around the restaurant for anything that was out of sorts, but it seemed normal.

"You alright?" Scott asked.

"I don't know. Just a weird feeling."

"You're just being paranoid," Maddy said, smiling at the waiter as he put our drinks in front of us.

I'd opted for blood and tomato juice rather than a beer. I sipped at it while continuing to look around trying to just ignore the weird feeling.