"Adam! ADAM!" Blake screamed, wresting with the heavy silver binding Blake, my father, and my wrists and ankles together while a metal neck brace bonded Erin, Jessica, the King, the coach, and the other wolves to mental poles like dogs. My vision flickered as I tried to focus, but my belly cried out for blood—keys dangled from Jeremy's jeans pockets.

Blake screamed from the hunger pains jabbing her gut. "Adam, are you okay, son?" My father stared at me with a heavily sunken glance, and he turned his head just enough to look at me, the moonlight reflecting off his blood-red eyes.

"I think so," I said, pulling on my restraints, but it was useless. "Are you okay?" I asked my father.

"Yeah," He gasped as hunger pains hit his chest and stomach, and he doubled forward, his chains keeping him steadily in place. I recognized where we were. It was the old campsite where Erin, Hannah, and I went camping when we were little. The torn flag and the splintered totem pole still looked the same. The cabins sat in the background just by the border of the woods, with a massive lake in the opposite direction.

"ADAM!" Blake screamed again. Suddenly, Hannah stood before Erin, stabbing his bare chest with a hot steak, burning his flesh as he snarled, his eyes golden and glowing under the moonlight.

"Erin!" Jessica screamed.

Jeremy appeared beside her, stabbing her with another hot iron. She wailed in pain As burning steel split her flesh from her body.

A Chimera, stocky, bony, bird-like, and a human hybrid-looking beast wandered from the woods, a goblet in its hands filled with blood. Alec, Jeremy's jerky football jock friend, a God-like glow absorbed his body like my sister, appeared by her side in a red robe, with his hoodie flung above his head and two robes in his hands, handing them both to Hannah and Jeremy as they joined their side in front of me. He slipped up his sleeves and accepted the Glass from the beast.

"Adam! Blake! Harrison! Listen to me. Fight it. Fight your hunger. Don't let it consume you," Mr. Sanchez growled before the steel skewer plunged into his chest.

"And whatever you do, don't drink the blood from the cup," Erin added before the skewer plunged into his chest again. Then, three more vampire deities appeared, removing their hood. One of them being the doctor. Remember when I said I had a weird feeling about him? There you go. I didn't recognize the second one when she pulled down her hoodie, but her red eyes charmed me, almost leaving me in a haze.

"Don't listen to him, Adam. He's tricking you."

"Oh yeah?" Erin snapped. "What about you, bitch?"

"What about me? What about you, puppy boy? Did you tell my brother he will die if he doesn't drink from the cup?" Everyone was silent as I watched my best friend sink into his chains, defeated.

"I-I'm sorry, Adam. I—" I hushed him, mostly because I trusted him and his decision.

"It's okay, Erin. I trust you." The last vampire stepped forward, removing her blood-red hood from her head, and I squirmed uncomfortably as my eyes met hers.

"Mom?!" I muttered under my breath. Seeing her like this was hard, especially after not seeing her for years. She went missing when I was five, never to be seen again until now.

"Adam, it's nice to see you. I'm sure you'll find vampirism quite cozy since you were born half-blood, anyway." Her eyes dodged to my father, squirming as well. Blake screamed at the top of her lungs, but it was useless.

"Nobody can hear you, my dear Wiccan." My mother spoke poisonous words, taking the goblet from Alec's fingers. She put the cup of blood to my lips, tipping it just enough to trickle into my throat. My gut and chest were on fire, and I fought the urge to drink, knowing this wouldn't end well if I did. "Drink, Adam!" she roared. Instead, I spit it back into the cup. "Drink, goddamn it!"

Alec stepped forward, plugging my nose with his fingertips, and she tipped the cup again, watching it drizzle down my gullet and into my aching stomach. "Good; now it's your father's turn." She pulled the cup away as I tried to induce vomiting, but the blood settled in my abdomen like water defusing a raging fire.

"Adam!" Blake cried. Tears ran down her cheeks as she watched my father drink. Then, my mother brought the cup to her lips, battling for freedom, but she forced her to gulp quickly. Then, my mother pulled the Glass to her lips, sucking down the last blood.

My mom returned to my side, stroking my cheek with her fingertips. "Happy memories, my sweet prince," my mom whispered. "Happy, happy memories."

I jerked in my chains, feeling new strength wave into my arms. One chain snapped, and soon another one, too.

"How do you feel, my baby?" my mother said. I stretched my fingers open and closed as Blake and my father broke free, their fangs growing and their eyes gleaming blood red.

"Adam," Erin's voice was coarse.

"I feel," A new hunger surged through me like nothing I had ever felt before, but I didn't meet it with excruciating pain this time. I took hold of my chains, ripping one wristlet from my wrist. Then, I gripped the other, starting at Blake and Jeremy, waiting for the nod. Then I swung it forward like a whip, smashing it into my mother's nose.

My mother screamed out in pain as other vampires seized us from nearby. Blake shot her hands out, knocking a row of vampires off their feet with a powerful yet invisible force as my father took on Hannah.

Jeremy frantically juggled the keys before he found the master key and jammed it into the King's locked collar. Then, he released the rest of the wolves one by one.

"Go, RUN!" Jeremy screamed to the other wolves as they raced to our aid. The King tackled my mom, gnawing at her face before wrestling with her.

I whipped the last few of the vampires with the end of my chain, knocking them to their feet, and ripped my wrist free.

"Run, Adam. Take Blake, Jeremy, my son, and the other wolves with you. Your father and I can hold off the rest," Mr. Sanchez barked at me as my mother threw him.

"Adam! Don't you dare disobey me!" My mother screamed. The King pounced on her, ripping her limbs from limbs as she fought, shredding her with solid swipes of his paws. Suddenly, her eyes grew cold, solid black, and she froze; rigor mortis immediately settled into her corpse. My mother, the queen of vampires, was dead.

"Run, Adam!" my father screamed. Erin, Jessica, and Jeremy lured Blake and me to the woods, unsure if this was the safest escape, but it was the only thing we could do now.

"Let's go!" Jeremy yelled. We rushed into the woods as angry vampires chased us. We were the hunters, hunted by the beast we had become.

∆∆∆

We took off fast into the woods. I faded quickly. My hunger consumed me with a fierce appetite for blood.

"Adam, follow me," Erin screamed. My head spun in a daze as trees flew by faster than I thought. I felt almost weightless as if I was running on air.

He twisted and turned through trees as I kept up a fast pace, our eyes glowing under the moonlight. Then he let out a roar, signaling to the pack. A dozen more howls sounded through the dense forest as he stopped to breathe.

"Go...go on without me," He panted, leaning against a tree as he caught his breath.

"I can't," I told him. "You're my best friend. I can't do this without you."

"Adam, you have to. They'll kill you if you don't."

"They'll kill you too if I don't protect you." I snapped.

"You can't do this to me. You've done this to me for years, Adam."

"What?"

"Go against me instead of listening to me. So, I am ordering you to run. Go on without me. I'll catch up. I promise you I will, and when I do, you bet your ass I'm kicking your ass for this."

"Erin, I—"

He stopped me. "Just go!"

"Come on, Adam," Blake said as Jeremy and Jessica pleaded for me in the distance.

"He'll be okay, Adam," Jessica said. "I promise. He's a prince."

"Please?" Blake pleaded for me.

Suddenly, there was a rustling in the near distance. "It's too late. The other vampires are catching up," Jeremy warned. "They're angry."

"They might be strong, but we're stronger," Erin said. Suddenly, we were surrounded, guarding every angle, the wolves' bones snapping and changing.

Erin's eyes glowed. His white, snarling teeth snapped at something in the distance. He seemed cornered by a group of wolves, and there was no escape. A saddened howl in the distance showed defeat. Erin's surroundings caved him in to five thirsty vampires hungry for wolves' blood. Their eyes were the color of the blood coating their lips. They slowly moved closer, circling Erin as their prey.

"Adam. Adam!" Jessica screamed my name, her voice echoing through the dense forest. More bloody-thirsty vampires circled Blake, Jeremy, and her. Her designer dress was messy; her hair was matted and tangled as she wrestled with two vampires.

"Adam... Adam... ADAM!" she screamed again. Erin searched the dense forest for an escape and a way to save Jessica. His eyes narrowed on a gap between the vampire pack, and he sprinted past them, picking up the pace at inhuman speed. He was not fast enough for them as they doubled into his side, fangs bulging from their gums and eyes like a crimson sunset. Erin morphed back to a human ask. His heartbeat quickened, staring hesitantly into my eyes, begging for mercy. He panted hard, looking for a way out. There was a sudden snap in the distance, followed by an agonizing yelp. Was the king Dead-possibly? In defeat, Erin fell to his knees, and I swooped forward, ramming into the vampire who sunk his fangs deep into Erin's neck. From behind a distinctive voice, Blake pleaded for me to stop.

"Adam... ADAM!" Blake chimed in. My head tilted as I could understand her; my attention veered to Erin's neck as he whimpered in pain.

"Use your Incubus powers or some shit like that," Erin growled.

"They don't work on most vampires, dumbass," Jeremy growled. "They don't have souls."

Blake rolled her eyes as she started chanting, "Wiccans, Deos deasque, auxilium te invoco. Tuere lamia regem et principem luporum." (English: Wiccans, gods, and goddesses, I call upon you for help. Protect the vampire king and the prince of wolves.)

A powerful ripple propelled from Blake as her fingers dragged forward. A miracle pulse thumped in my chest. My heart nearly leaped from my chest. A sensation of warmth brushed my cheeks, and a bright light blinded me; suddenly, there was still darkness, and I was floating high above the vampires. Power coursed through me as I landed next to Erin.

"Vampire Bloodthirst melius est mori, ne amandanda sint inferno: sunt enim flammis aeternitatis." She yelled, thrusting her hands out at the bloodthirsty vampires. They perished in flames before denigrating to a pile of ash. Then, the woods broke out in a fire. (English: Vampire Bloodthirst is better to die, lest they must be sent to hell, for they are the flames of eternity.)

"Go," Erin ordered, rubbing his sore, bitten neck.

"Not without you," I roared.

"Yeah, I'm coming. I need to check on my dad," he said.

"Go!" Jeremy said. "We'll meet up by the old cabin." Erin hobbled to his feet, still in a bit of dizzying pain. I watched him in concern, watching him weave back towards the campgrounds.

"You promise you'll be okay?" I asked him.

"Scout's honor." He promised.

"At least let me come with you. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into if we do this. It could be a trap."

"It most likely is a trap," Erin admitted. "But I have to rescue my dad. I guess if you want to come, stay close. You have no idea what we're getting into."

"Deal," I agreed with him. "I promise I will stay close."

"Well, that's bloody great. The werewolf prince and the vampire prince are off to save the king. That's great." Jeremy threw his hands in the air in one quick swoop.

"You better not get yourself killed," Blake cried.

"I promise we'll come out in one piece," I said.

"You better," she replied. "I will reach down in hell and kill you again if I have to." She batted her eyelashes.

"Let's go!" Erin said. "We need to make it there before they kill my father. I can sense life still in him."

"Have fun," Jeremy saluted me. "Kill those sons of bitches," Jeremy growled. "Especially your sister."

"I thought you loved my sister?"

"Hell no," Jeremy chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "She's a dirty narcissist bitch."

Erin rolled his eyes in disgust. "Sure, that's why you let her capture us."

"I played along until I had my moment to save you guys. You're bloody welcome," He growled. "Go! And stay safe. Howl if anything goes wrong?"

"Got it," Erin said. Then he looked at me. "You ready?"

"Nope," I replied with a hesitant breath of air. "But I'll deal."

"Great, let's go!" Erin shouted. Then, we descended to the campsite.