"That should do it." Derek exclaimed as he stepped back from the wall and laid the drill down on the table.

Sam and Isaac stared at the red light on the wall, the last touch on the DIY security system for the loft Derek had been working on.

"I still think it would have been easier to call ADT or something." Isaac said with a shrug.

Sam glanced at Isaac, she couldn't deny she was on his side with this one.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sam asked.

Ignoring Isaac's comment Derek said, "We'll need to test it..."

His sentence trailed off as they heard the elevator from the hallway open on their floor.

They heard footsteps and then the alarm sounded all through the loft and the red light on the wall started to flash, alerting them of an intruder.

Derek's claws were immediately out, ready to take on whoever walked through the doors.

Sam and Isaac stared at the door, neither of them knowing who it would be.

The only person who really knew they were even there was Peter, but he spent most of his time in his own apartment across town.

As the heavy metal door slowly opened, they all three started towards it until they were met by a gasp and shocked expression as Lydia saw them and stared wide-eyed.

She was still adjusting to the world of the supernatural, and quite honestly, had thought she was handling all of the newly learned information well.

But walking into a room with three sets of glowing eyes staring back at her was still unnerving.

Looking back to the alarm system as he hit the button to silence it, Isaac exclaimed, "It works."

Derek, who was still mad at Lydia for using him to resurrect his dead uncle, turned to Sam and asked with an irritation laced sigh, "What is she doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Sam repeated looking at her friend with a slightly stunned expression.

Surveying the group in front of her again, Lydia cleared her throat and said, "I know you have your... werewolf stuff going on and we've hardly talked this summer -but did you really think I'd forget your birthday?"

The confused expression on Sam's face grew.
"I never told you when my birthday was... how do you even know where I live?"

Lydia walked farther into the loft and said, "I leave for Paris tomorrow, which means we've only got a few hours to go shopping and get this party thrown together."

"I didn't know it was your birthday." Isaac announced looking at Sam who avoided his eyes and argued, "I'm kind of busy, Lydia."

"It's your birthday."

"I don't care."

"Everyone cares about their birthday."

Before she was able to protest any further, her friend had a hold of her arm and was pulling her towards the door as Sam looked back to where both Derek and Isaac were wearing amused expressions on their faces.

A little while later the girls were walking into the mall, Lydia was chattering on and on about something Sam was only half listening to when she spotted the missing person posters for Boyd and Erica outside taped to a large window next to the doors.

"Sam?"

Blinking her eyes a few times and looking over to her Sam asked, "Sorry, what was that?"

With a small sigh Lydia repeated about how she'd talked to Jackson a few times since he moved on the phone, but they'd both decided a long distance relationship ranging from different countries wasn't plausible for either one of them.

Sam remained mostly quiet as Lydia led her into Macy's and they started to look at dresses.

The last time she went shopping with Lydia, it was a nice break from everything she'd been facing at the time.

But this time, Sam just couldn't get her heart into it.

Her pack mates had been kidnapped, her dad was still on the run after escaping prison, and there was a part of her that was afraid to be away from Derek.
She knew if a pack of alpha's had come to Beacon Hills - and it wasn't because they were there to kidnap a few betas.

The only conclusion she could come to was that they wanted Derek.
It seemed like everyone's best option for survival was to stick together.

She also felt guilty for not trying harder to get Erica and Boyd to stay.
Maybe if she'd tried just one more time to talk to them, she could have swayed them and they wouldn't have gotten captured.

Going out for her birthday was the last thing she felt like she should be doing.

"This... this is your dress." Lydia exclaimed, as she pulled a hanger of the rack and handed it to her.

"It's beautiful." Samantha agreed, as she looked over the short, champagne colored dress with gathered fabric on the lower half, each pleat of the smooth, shiny material pinned up with a rhinestone.

"Are you ever going to tell me what's going on?" Lydia finally asked when Samantha didn't make a move towards the fitting rooms.

"To begin with -I don't know where Boyd and Erica are."

"I thought they'd run off to join another pack?"

Sam looked at her, it still felt strange to be talking about of this with Lydia who'd been in the dark so long.

"Something like that." Sam mumbled.

"And?"

"And... my lunatic father has managed to escape from jail."

"Another page in your tragic story."

Sam frowned at her words.

With a deep breath, Lydia clarified, "All I'm saying is that your life is full of heartache and failures... you almost died, Sam. So when you have a chance to really enjoy yourself, get away from the all of the bad... you should jump at it."

Sam started to agree with Lyda but was caught off guard as Lydia said under her breath, "Or jump on it..."

Following her friends gaze she spotted her watching an extremely attractive guy from across the store.

"Lydia!"

"You try that dress on... I'm going to invite him to the party." She said as she straightened her skirt and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

~(Later that night)~

"I know this party is the last place you want to be, but I'd have a lot more fun if you were here." Sam softly said into the phone as she walked into an empty upstairs bedroom to get away from the music and talking.

"I have something I need to take care of tonight."

Sam stared down to the light green carpet frowning at Derek's words and quietly asked, "Maybe it could wait until in the morning, Isaac and I can come with you?"

"I can handle this. Sam, you haven't taken a moment to yourself since everything happened."

She cut him off, "I'd rather be helping you than be here in a house full of strangers."

She'd seen some people from school but also a lot of people she didn't recognize at all.

Sam was really starting to feel like Lydia was using Sam's birthday as an excuse to throw one last party before she went away for a trip.

"I'm sorry. I'll see you back at home tonight."

Her lips curved up into a small smile at the word home, and it was almost enough to brighten her mood.

"I understand, just be careful." She said as she started to pull her phone away from her ear, but stopped when she heard him say her name.

"Yeah?"

"Happy birthday, Sam."

Managing a small smile she slowly pulled the phone away from her ear again and ended the call, trying to not let his not being there get her down.
But the truth was, he was really the only one she wanted to be around that day.

"Derek's not coming?" She heard Lydia guess from behind her.

Turning around and looking up from her phone she slowly shook her head back and forth.

Glancing around the room Lydia said, "Sam, you've always been there for me. Even when I thought I was going crazy, you were there. So, I'm going to return the favor, and give you some advice."

Pausing for dramatic effect she watched as Sam seemed to be holding her breath, waiting for Lydia to continue.

"Don't make him your everything, okay? I get how exciting all of this is, he's your first real boyfriend and everything is different, he gives you butterflies and you only really feel okay when you're with him..." She stopped, closing her eyes for a few seconds as she mentally ordered her chin to stop quivering.

With a small, bitter laugh she continued, "I know how it feels... to think that things will always be this way, not being able to imagine a day without seeing him. But things change, Sam. And if you put everything you have into a relationship with him, if you make him the most important thing in your life... you just might lose everything."

Sam opened her mouth to say something, but Lydia rubbed her forehead and started to ramble on, "And then when his dad decides to ship him off to another country, you're left trying to pick up the pieces of your life and he's not there to help. You're completely on your own!"

With raised eyebrows Sam questioned, "Uh, Lydia? Are we talking about Derek or Jackson?"

Letting out the breath she'd been holding and rolling her eyes at herself, Lydia said, "It doesn't matter. What does matter, is that we're not going to let our boy problems ruin your birthday."

Sam looked down as her friend pulled her phone from her fingers and laid it on top of the dresser.

"And besides..." Lydia said as she pulled open the door to the room and nodded to where several guys were standing and drinking, "Why settle for one, when this party is crawling with hot, single guys."

Sam shot her an uncertain look as Lydia grabbed her arm and pulled her back out into the party.

~(Later that night)~

"I've been trying to find you!" Isaac loudly spoke over the music as he saw Sam sitting on the edge of the pool, softly kicking her legs in the water.

"Are you ready to leave? I am." Sam announced as she stood up, and smoothed her dress out, leaning down to pick up her shoes as she waited for her feet to dry.

"I'm pretty sure everyone here is having more fun than you and it's supposed to be your party." He said as he watched her start to wind through the crowd of dancers next to the pool.

"I just... I don't know, I really didn't want to be here at all. But now something just feels wrong." Sam frowned, "I just can't shake the feeling."

"Wrong, like what?" Isaac asked as he followed Sam up the stairs.

"I don't know, just... the later it gets the worse this feeling gets. I need to get my phone and call Derek." She explained as she pushed open the door and shot a look at the teen couple making out on the bed.

"Don't mind me..." She muttered as she retrieved her phone and pushed past people to get back down the stairs, with Isaac right behind her.

Once they were outside she paused to put her heels back on and look at her phone.

"I've got a missed call."

"Derek?" Isaac guessed watching her as she started to put the phone to her ear.

"My brother." She responded as she waved her hand to silence him.

He turned and started for her car, but stopped when he heard a small crash against the pavement. Turning around he saw her phone lying on the driveway next to where she was standing, the screen was shattered.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Without another word she raced past him and got into her car, he barely had time to jump in the passenger seat before she took off.

"You wanna fill me in on what's happening?" He questioned, glancing behind them in the mirror at the car who had slammed on their breaks to avoid hitting them when she'd pulled out onto the street.

"It wasn't my brother... it was my dad." Her knuckles were white as she gripped the steering wheel, hoping she could get there in time to save them.

"Should we call the police? Isaac questioned.

"He said If I call the cops, they're dead."

Isaac nodded as he rolled his window down for some fresh air.
The fear and anguish radiating off of Sam was more than he could take.

Looking down to the phone in his hand he debated what to do, a part of him thought he should call Derek, but he didn't feel like it was his place to.
And when he'd called Sam earlier that night, he wasn't too specific on what he was going to be busy with that night.

Deciding it was the two of them against whatever Sam's dad had planned, Isaac slid his phone back in his pocket.
"What's our plan?"

Sam pulled the car to a stop just off of the side of the road.

"There's an abandoned building a few streets over, it used to be a bar-" She started to say but Isaac cut her off.

"Ray's Bar and Grill?" Isaac asked, remembering his own dad, stumbling home drunk from there years ago.

"Yeah, well... Ray, is my dad." She quietly admitted as the pair trekked over an empty lot and crossed a deserted road to get to the run down building.

As they silently moved behind the building, they saw an old service entrance was propped open slightly by a small rock.

Taking a deep breath Sam whispered, "Okay, our first concern is getting my brother out,then my mom. If it's possible we're going to avoid my dad at all costs."

When she saw the look on his face she asked him what was wrong.

"Don't you smell that?" He breathed.

For the first time she started to focus on what was around them, using her heightened senses to try and pick up on anything that might be helpful.

"Gasoline?"

Isaac nodded as he took a step back from the building, "What if we go in there and he blows the whole place up?"

"What if we stand out here and he kills my family?"

Nodding with an uncertain expression still on his face he agreed with her earlier plan, "We find your mom and brother... then we get the hell out of here."

As quietly as possible they opened the door and walked in where the scent of gas was overwhelming.
She could see it was splashed all over the walls and floor.

As Isaac started to take another step Sam reached her arm out, stopping him as she closed her eyes and tried to let go of all her emotions. Right now she needed her senses, not emotions.

Knowing the layout of the building well, she tried to focus on the sounds of heartbeats. Isaac's was the loudest and the fastest so it was easy to tell his apart.

But her own heart sank at the realization of what her ears revealed, "I only hear two other heartbeats."

"Maybe someone escaped?"

Choking back tears she took a deep breath and said out loud, "Okay Sam, focus... crying isn't going to help anyone."

"Just breathe." Isaac tried to be helpful but when Sam opened one eye and shot him a look he nodded and kept quiet as she tried to regain control.

The teens moved farther in the building, they came to a stop right inside of the main room and Sam put her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming when she realized it wasn't a puddle of gasoline she was standing in –it was a puddle of blood.

Looking down she saw her mom's motionless body, face down in the crimson liquid.

Her first instinct was to kneel down and check on her, but a part of her knew that would be pointless; she was dead.

Taking a stumbling step backwards her back collided with the wall, no matter how hard she gasped for air, it felt like the room didn't have an ounce of oxygen in it.

"Hey... Sam, come on focus. Your brother could still be in here." Isaac whispered as he stepped in front of her, trying to block the view of her mother's dead body.

"I –I can't do this." She wiped the tears from her cheeks.
Her entire body was shaking.

"Yes, you can." Isaac assured her, as he put his hands on her upper arms and tried to hold her shaking body still.
He looked around the room, thinking they were too far in this now to back out and neither of them really had a choice anymore.

Before she could open her mouth to argue with him again she heard a small whimper, in her distressed state she couldn't place where it was coming from.

"Behind the bar." Isaac almost seemed to read her mind.

It took every ounce of energy she had left to muster the strength to get her legs moving again.

Making their way behind the bar, she made an inaudible noise when she dropped to her knees beside her little brother.

Aside from his red eyes, the duct tape over his mouth and the ropes on his wrists and ankles he seemed okay.

"Jacob... oh my god." Sam whispered as she reached forward and ripped the duct tape of his mouth.

Not even reacting to the pain of it, he frantically whispered. "Sam... I heard a gunshot, is mom okay?"

This time he noticed his sisters red, watery eyes and she didn't even have to tell him.

"No..." He said as tears started to pour down his face, "No –no..."

When Sam opened her mouth to try and offer him some sort of comfort Isaac shushed her. He'd been trying to keep focused on their surroundings and now he was hearing approaching footsteps.

But he hadn't been able to pick up on them in time, now they were all aware someone was in the room with them.

Not able to contain his emotions Jacob let out a loud sob, before Sam cupped her hand over his mouth.

"Jake?" A chill ran down spine at the sound of her dad's voice.

When he started to walk around the bar, Sam told Isaac, "Get Jake out of here." Pushing her car keys into his hand, "Take him and run... don't let him see our mom though."

He wanted to argue and say he wasn't leaving without her, but he didn't have time as Sam repeated, "Go now!"

Isaac quickly swooped her brother up and made a run for it, when her father fired a shot in their direction Sam stood up and shouted, "Stop it! You've ruined his life enough!"

Ray looked over as Sam made her presence known.

"Samantha?" He questioned, a look of wonder in his eyes as she stepped out from behind the bar and faced him.

"Wow, look at you! My little girl." He said as he looked her over, "You're so beautiful, all grown up."

She stared at him in shock; she'd imagined plenty of times what would be said if she ever came face to face with him.
But that definitely hadn't made the top ten list.

"I don't understand." Sam's voice cracked, and she finally got the chance to ask him something she'd always wanted, "Why would you do this? We were your family... how can you hate us so much?"

He stared at her as she swatted the tears away and waited on his answer, before her eyes slowly went to the book of matches lying on the old, dusty bar top.

"Hate you? Is that why you think I'm doing this?"
He looked baffled. Hurt, even.

"Why else!" She shouted.

"Because I love you, Samantha. And a family should always stay together, even in death. I'm not doing this to punish you Sam, I'm doing this to save you. You've damned yourself." He said, she took a step backwards.

Using the back of his hand he rubbed the sweat from his forehead and said, "I saw your eyes."

She stared at him even more confused than before.

"Gold then blue, gold then blue. Yellow. Blue, blue, blue, blue. Cold, dead and blue." He muttered as he shook his head like he was desperately trying to shake something out of mind.

She took another step back away from him.

"Ah!" He let out a yell of frustration as he used his free hand that wasn't holding the gun to hit the side of his head several times.

She was going to use his breakdown as a chance to run, but before she could he said, "I know what you are... a bitten wolf."
He walked closer.

"How?" She breathed.

"If I tell you, you won't believe me. You'll think I'm crazy." He whispered as he leaned in closer.

With a dry, bitter laugh Sam said, "Believe me, my opinion of you can't get any lower than it already is."

He stared at her for a few moments before he laid the gun down on the bar next to him and picked up the matchbook.

"I saw it... I saw it a long time ago. Just like I knew your mother had been cheating on me." After a sigh he continued, "Do you know what makes a werewolf's eyes change from gold to blue?"

She held her breath as he struck a match against the igniter strip and let it burn until the flame was gone. Even when the flames touched his fingers and the scent of burning flesh filled her nose, he didn't seem to respond to it.

Her eyes widened.

"It happens when you take a life, Sam. Once you kill someone your eyes change... it takes a piece of you and it blackens your soul."

So many questions flooded her mind, how he knew any of this, to how he'd known before she'd ever been bitten. But there were so many questions to be asked, that her tongue couldn't even form one.

"Show me." He demanded as he removed another match with his burnt fingers.

"What?" She stuttered.

"Samantha Rae, show me your eyes or I'll strike this match and drop it."

Her gaze fell to the floor and she knew if he did the fire would spread very fast, she wasn't even sure she'd be able to make it out of the room.

After closing her eyes for a few moment she opened them and revealed their brilliant golden hue.

A look of relief flooded over his face, "Good, there's still time."

She made a small noise when it felt like the air had been knocked out of her. Her mind was racing and her heart thudded away inside of her chest.

"So your plan was what? Tie all of us up and have us sing Kumbaya while you roast us alive?" She cried out.
There was nothing logical about what he was saying, yet she felt stuck in place trying to understand his train of thought.

"What? No Sam." He replied, almost looking genuinely upset by the insinuation.

Picking up the gun he, he started to speak in a tone of voice as if she should have already known what he was planning, "This was for you, your mother and Jacob."

Seeing her confusion grow he explained, "One shot, quick and painless."

Nodding to the room around them and staring down to the matches in his hand he said, "This is for me. For killing my family... I deserve to burn for that."

Her expression further contorted.

"Then why do it?" She shrieked, maddened by the way there was no reason to his words, thoughts, or actions.

"I am saving you, Sam!" He yelled, his voice roared through the room causing her entire body to tense.

Immediately, it took her back to being a helpless child afraid if she stepped a single toe out of line she'd get struck down.

Werewolf or not; she was still terrified of him.

That fear had been en grained into her since she was a young child and with all of the damage he'd done in her life, she realized it wouldn't matter how old -or how strong she was. A part of her would always be beaten little girl.

As he mumbled something under his breath about how he'd now have to track Jacob back down. It occurred to Sam that he wasn't ever going to stop.

In his sick twisted mind, he somehow really believed that he was saving them. It wasn't enough to just kill her to 'save' her, he was determined to take all of them out.

She stared at him as he picked up the gun again. A wave of emotions flooded her system.

He walked closer and Sam knew she needed to run or fight back, or just do something -anything.

She'd faced off against hunters and a kanima with less fear that her dad brought out in her.

How utterly helpless he could make her feel in a matter of minutes.

"You're crazy." All of the strength was gone from her voice. It came as just a whine.

"Oh, Sam." He shook his head, continued his advancement towards her, "You haven't seen the things that I've seen."

"I never wanted to do this."
It sounded like an apology.

"Then don't." She whispered.

He reached out like he was going to hug her but Sam pushed him away from her.

She glanced around, trying to find something to tie him up with so she could take him back to the police, but looking away was a mistake.

He was quickly back in front of her; he hit her hard in the side of the head with the handle. A pained gasp escaped her lips and she lost her balance, hitting her head on the wood bar as she fell.

The skin on her forehead busted open and a steady trickle of blood ran down her face.

The impact of the head trauma made her vision go blurry and for a few brief seconds she couldn't hear anything either.

When she regained her senses, she looked up to see her dad was standing over her with the gun pointed right at her face.

Letting out a pained noise himself, he used his free hand and hit his own head a few times as more sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Don't do this." She pleaded as she wiped the stream of warm blood that had started to run into her eye.

Hitting his head again he shook the gun and yelled, "This is your fault, Sam! All of this is on you, you damned us all."

Her fault?
The despair grew into rage.

Before he had a chance to fire a shot she kicked her leg out, knocking him to the floor with her.

The gun skidded across the aged wood floor, she watched as it collided with the far wall.

Her head was still pounding and the blood that had ran into her eyes was making it difficult to see or focus.

"We'll both burn for you choices; for our sins."

She looked back at her dad just in time to see him throw a lit match across the room, within seconds the room started to burn.
Her eyes locked with his again he yelled, "I told you I'm come back for you."

The rage she'd been feeling exploded within her, all of the pain he'd caused them and he was trying to blame it all on her.
He'd ruined their lives and there was no going back.

She saw him scrambling to the door and she knew what he was planning, he was going to find her brother and kill him.

Before she even knew what was happening her claws were out and her eyes glowed golden yellow. From between her sharp canine fangs erupted a roar that shook the building, as she lunged for him slicing deep into his back with sharp, strong claws.

Falling to the floor he turned over and looked at her, but the face staring back at him wasn't human anymore.

As she stood over him, watching him writhe in pain from his wounds and choking on the smoke, the anchor to her humanity slipped away.
She wanted him to suffer, wanted him to feel the pain he'd caused them.

Fearfully, her dad tried to back away from her. Kicking frantically on the floor and trying to put as much distance between himself and Sam as he could.
But his efforts were futile; he wasn't a match for a rage filled werewolf who was now descending on him like he was wounded prey.

Letting the fury she felt take over, she grabbed him and threw him across the room where he landed against the bar. It didn't even take a second for her to be back on him, her claws ripping away at his flesh as blood spattered all over her skin and champagne dress.

Blindly she continued to claw away at him until her claws were now ripping apart and splintering the wood floor under him. But it wasn't enough; he could never be dead enough to her.

She finally stumbled backwards away from him, collapsed on her knees and stared up to the ceiling in agonizing pain.

Her eyes continued to glow, but not their familiar golden hue anymore.

Instead, a deep purple hue took over the irises and glowed brighter than before, it felt like something was trying to claw its way out of her.
Her mouth hung open and she took in a sputtering breath before a loud howl of excruciating pain erupted from deep within her.

The pain slowly subsided, she clutched onto her sides, trying desperately to breathe in the dense smoke of the room.

The purple hue of her eyes was slowly taken over by a cold, steel blue.
The color of death, the color her dad had warned her about.

Coming out of the rage she looked around in horror at what she'd done. Her dad's mangled body lay completely unrecognizable on the floor in front of her. She hadn't just torn him to shreds, she'd literally obliterated him. There was nothing left in his body cavity not even his organs, limbs had literally been ripped from him.

She started to raise her hands to cover her mouth but stopped when she saw how bloody she was.

"My god..." She breathed out, as she started to cough violently from the smoke.

Clutching onto her sides she somehow managed to stumble out of an exit. As she stopped to look back at the flame ridden building, she could sense someone was watching her.

Her eyes glowed blue as she frantically looked around, until her gaze stopped on a man in dark jeans and a zipped up black jacket with a hood. It was either too dark to see any trace of his face from under the hood, or he didn't have one.
She wasn't sure.

He was standing between two tall trees not too far away from where the building continued to burn, it's smoke rising high up into the sky.

Turning away from the black hooded figure she ran as fast as she could into the woods; away from the scene, away from her dead father and the strange hooded man who'd been watching her.

But no matter how fast her feet moved against the uneven earth, she couldn't run fast enough to escape herself, or the horror of what she'd done.

Her head turned to the side when she saw something move between the trees, then just as quickly her gaze snapped back in the other direction where she saw a shadow move out from behind a tree.

She wanted to keep running, but she was now coughing so bad that droplets of her own blood were spewing from her mouth.

Looking up she saw the woods was even darker than it had been moments before, as more shadows emerged from the behind the trees.

What was even more frightening was that these people shaped shadows shouldn't have existed. There wasn't a living, breathing person attached to them to cast she shadow.

They were just darkness.
Cold, dead darkness.

Her heart raced inside of her from fear and confusion at the overwhelming, unnatural sight.

Within seconds the shadows closing in on her moved down on her list of current problems, when she began to hear voices hundreds of them, some whispering some yelling.
Not saying anything in particular that she could make out, other than hearing her name a few times.

But the voices wouldn't stop, not even giving her a moment of silence to gather her own thoughts.
It was a torture all in its own.

Stumbling around trying to get away from the shadows and hopefully away from the voices she came to the water's edge, she was already having trouble breathing enough from the smoke inhalation.

But in that moment, she'd take the brutal, permanent silence of death over the maddening effects of all the voices and whispers.

Taking as deep of a breath as her smoke singed lungs would allow she jumped into the water, as soon as the coldness of the rushing water rose above her head she got what she wanted; silence.

It wasn't long until the peacefulness was broken by her body's ache for oxygen, but as she sank deeper into the dark water, she had a small appreciation for the pain.

Pain kept her human, and if she was going to die that day, she wanted to go with her humanity intact.
Not die as the monster who had just brutally murdered her own father.

Several seconds passed before she couldn't think straight anymore, there was no rhyme or reason to her thoughts just a need to get out of the suffocating water, and intense desire to take a breath, to feel the dry earth under her feet once again.

But she'd been under the water for too long and she was disoriented, maybe if it had been during the daylight she could have followed the sun's light to find the surface. The dark night made that impossible now, and she was unable to tell up from down.

Bubbles formed around her nose as what air she'd been holding in her lungs seeped out, her arms crashed in the water at her sides and the muscles in her legs burned from frantically kicking, but caught under the current she felt like all she was doing was spinning in circles.

Her eyes started to close as she couldn't keep up the fight with the body of water, but then something caught her eye. Whatever it was, it moved in a predatory manner. As illogical as it was, somewhere in the back of her mind all she could think was it was a shark.

Once she felt someone grab onto her arm, she stopped flailing frantically, but still fought to keep her eyes open.

Feeling the water move around her, she tried to hang on for a few more seconds, trying to hold onto hope that they'd reach the surface soon.
But she couldn't control it, her mouth opened and she took in a deep breath of water.

The absolute blackness moved in from the corners of her eyes until it stole all of her vision and dulled every one of her senses.
There was a strange peace found in the nothingness that had swallowed her up.

~()~

A/N - Thank you all so much for reading! As most of you are already aware of, this is the last chapter for Phase, but a sequel is in the works and will be titled, 'Soul of the Night'.

I really want to let you guys know how much I appreciate all of the interest and support you've shown for Sam's story and I seriously cannot wait to share the rest of her story. Thank you all so much for sticking with me!

Just a side note for anyone who was wondering. Yes, I know that the blue eyes are for when a werewolf takes an innocent life -and we know her dad wasn't innocent, but there is reason for things to go the way that they have!

xx