Making sure to switch my headlights off early, I park my bike a few blocks away from my destination to make certain they can't hear me coming. I zip Thomas's hoodie tighter over my body, rubbing the fabric over me to cover up my human scent the way he did the last time I was here. 

    Tightening my backpack straps, I hold the pump shotgun close to my side, concealing parts of it from anyone who might be watching in the dark.

    Puddles splash under my boots, wetting the ends of my jeans. The saltine-laced bullets weigh my pockets, clinking together despite being muffled by the fabric. 

    I keep my hood up, covering my face with my hair tied back. The last time I came here, it was mostly just to force Thomas into speaking to me. Now? I'm not leaving here without blood.

    I make it to the Victorian-style mansion, ducking as I approach the window and press my back to the wall, listening to the two Vampires inside talking. Before I go in there, I want to make sure they're alone. 

    "Any word from the blonde yet?" I hear the raspy voice of an older man ask. Leila.

    "Not yet but, won't be long now. She'll text me soon enough, she's desperate for it," A younger male responds, laughing with amusement despite the monstrous tone of his statement. 

    My fingers close around the gun, holding it tighter as I make my way to the front door, now knowing it's only my targets inside.

    The front door stares back at me, the ancient carvings make me wonder, how old this family really is and what moments in history they were here for. I don't dwell on it, instead, turning the door and pushing it open before lifting my shotgun and aiming it. 

    I guess Vampires don't feel the need to lock their doors.

    "Thomas, where have you- what the fuck?" Lance turns first, making eye contact with me as I line my gun up. I smile at him, not giving him a chance to react before setting a saltine bullet off.

    The bullet exits the chamber and lands in the older man's chest in such a satisfying way, his dark black blood spilling from his chest as he groans and hits the floor. Zeke turns next, his red eyes and fangs baring themselves towards me before I act quickly and set a round off into his chest as well.

   They both hit the floor, near-black Vampire blood oozing around them as they wither in pain. I approach them, snarling down at them and their agony. 

    "You fucking bitch," Zeke wheezes, attempting to turn onto his knees as some sort of defence. I lift my boot, kicking his side until he's back on the ground facing me.

    "You're lucky I didn't hit your fucking heart," I spit like venom, lifting my gun to shoot a few more bullets into the both of them for nothing more than my own satisfaction. 

    They both seem woozy after the amount of saltine now swirling in their systems. I take this chance to pull two of the dining chairs up in front of me, pulling their heavy bodies up onto the chairs and tying each of them down with chains from my backpack for extra precaution. 

    I pull my own chair up in front of them, straddling the antique furniture and resting my gun on top of the chair, aiming it at them. "Now, you two are gonna give me some answers,"

    Zeke laughs, his head angled down as he shakes it and slowly lifts his gaze all while cackling in anger. He meets my eyes, the skin on his face dark and sweaty as he glares at me, "And why would we do that?"

    "Because I fucking said so. I'm tired of taking shit from you creatures. Since you've compelled the others not to talk, you're gonna have to make up for their silence," I snap, keeping my finger on the trigger of my weapon.

    The Father and Son look at each other, smiles spreading across their faces as they begin to chuckle as if I said something stupid or the funniest joke they've ever heard.

    Lance turns to me this time, strands of his hair sticking to his forehead. "You really know nothing, you stupid girl. I admit, someone is compelling my son and his friends, but, It isn't me," 

    "Okay," I nod, relaxing in my seat slightly without letting my guard down, "Say I believe you, who's doing it then?"

    Lance looks me over a few times, taking a deep inhale of the air around him as if he were a dog. He then smiles at me, the evilness sending a chill down my spine, "You dug up their grave. Tell me, what did you find?"

    "I found out you're a liar, Lance. Which brings me to the point of I don't believe you," I smile bitterly. He wouldn't give me information, not this easily or early unless it was a lie.

    "Now, I have a question for you," Zeke chimes in, bringing my attention over to him as he smirks, "Did you know that the name Mikael Reid can be both assigned and borrowed?"

    Borrowed?

    "Borrowed by who?" I voice my thoughts, my chest tightening at the mention of my Father from such evil lips. 

    "Someone closer to him than you may think," Zeke vaguely responds.

    I pump the shotgun back, lining the barrel up with his heart, "No more riddles. Tell me,"

    "John 8:32. You're a hunter, that should be clear enough for you," Lance adds to the conversation, looking at me with a certain spark of excitement in his eyes. 

    I clench my jaw, frustrated with their little dance around the facts despite their obvious lack of compulsion. I click my tongue, preparing another question "Which one of you turned Leila?"

    "Leila?" Zeke repeated the name with a furrowed brow before smiling and tilting his head back, "Ohhh, little blondie? Oh, sweetheart. We didn't give her our blood,"

    "Then who did?" I snap, leaving no room for vagueness.

    "Not sure. Could have been Mummy or Daddy," He grins, fake pouting like a child as he pretends to look for an answer. 

    "You're lying," I dead-pan, stepping up from the chair and aiming the gun closer to his head.

    "Don't believe me? By all means, turn that gun on yourself. I'm sure that would prove my point when you turn," He shrugs, not phased by the gun despite his infected chest cavity. He looks up at me with a sick smile before continuing, "Or, you could ask Leila. I'm assuming she's up by now. How is my beloved, by the way?"

    I lift the gun, slamming the weapon across his forehead hard enough to draw blood from his temple. His head whips across before he looks up at me through his damp hair, his eyes glowing red.

    "Zeke, that's enough," Lance says calmly, his son immediately behaving like the good little dog he is. 

    "Yeah, listen to Daddy, Zeke," I mock him, crouching low enough to be close to his face with a grin while still holding the gun to his face. "Couldn't even kill her yourself, listening to orders from your master again?"

    He snarls at me, spitting a mouthful of blood into my face. I clench my eyes shut to avoid the splatter hitting my eyes, before opening them and continuing to grin. 

    "You know the answer deep down, Michaela," Lance comments, turning my attention back to him as I stand up straight and aim the barrel between them. "You can feel it in your blood, can't you? The strength, the hunger. It's insatiable," 

    "I don't feel any of that," I tell him, glaring down at his weak face. 

    "The good news is, you don't have to come all this way to get answers. Just ask Alis. I wonder where she went after Leila died and why she hasn't been seen since?" He tilts his head, looking at me as if studying for my reaction.

    My finger twitches on the trigger, his words causing my whole body to flinch. I wish I could write him off as just trying to get on my nerves, but, something deep down is telling me his words have some merit. 

    I look up, avoiding their gaze as I bite my cheek and nod bitterly. Another clue from them leading me to suspect my own family. 

    Lowering the shotgun, I look back at the two suffering males in front of me and have to resist the urge to spit on them. One day, I'll come back and kill them both, but today's not that day.

   Despite how badly I want to unload the rest of my bullets into them both, I hold the gun to my side and bite my tongue. So far, these two seem to be the only ones who can give me any information despite how vague. 

    "Enjoy your night, fellas," I sneer at them, pulling a small butter knife from my pocket and letting it fall to the ground in a clutter. "I'm sure you can manage cutting the venom out of each other,"

    With that, I turn on my heels and exit their over-the-top mansion. I hear them yell after me, shouting threats mixed with groans of agony. But, I don't even bother to turn back to them as I leave through the open door without closing it. 

    I hope it fucking burns.

                    I feel like a stranger in my own home. Pushing the red door open felt as unfamiliar as the back of my scalp, the dark house greeting me like a villain. The first thing I notice is a deep chill, something strange to the house given how much Leila always used the heater.

    This house used to be warm.

    I know better than to call out to her, the atmosphere only putting me on edge. I clutch my dagger in my palm, looking around the home in paranoia. I get closer to the kitchen, a figure sitting at the table in the dark with the back of their head facing me.

   Holding my dagger in front of me, I step closer to the girl, reaching around the table until Alis's face comes into view. Her eyes are foggy like she's on complete autopilot. The look causes bile to rise to my throat, reminding me of Levi's eyes as he held me back from Leila.

    "Alis?" I almost whisper. 

   As if my voice is an activator of some sort, the fog clears from her eyes and she gets up from her seat only to bare her teeth at me like a dog. I furrow my eyebrows, confused by her animalistic state.

    "Alis..." I repeat even quieter, my voice cracking like my heart as she steps around the table and pulls her dagger up from behind her back. She lunges forward, swiping the blade at me fast enough to slice my bicep.

    My hand reaches for my wound, clamping my hand around the seeping gap. Because of the venom in my system, the blood drips down to my fingertips in no time. I look up from my bicep to Alis just in time to dodge her latest attempt to cut me with her blade.

    "Alis! Stop! You've been compelled," I shout at her, knowing my efforts are ultimately useless. 

    A primal sound comes out of her as she backs me into a wall, lifting her dagger and driving it towards my head. I duck just in time, her blade landing in the wall and getting stuck in the pillars. I jump to her side, wrapping my arms around her waist and yanking her away from her weapon. 

    We stumble to the floor, my dagger slipping from my hands and sliding across the floor until it hits the island. She struggles against my hold, my sore bicep burning as I attempt to hold her to the ground and try to get on top of her to restrict her with all my body weight. 

    She lifts her foot in between us, pressing her shoe against my stomach and kicking hard enough to send me sliding across the floor.

    She immediately turns to her stomach, pushing to her feet and running for my dagger. I grab her ankle in an instant, forcing her back down to the ground as I climb onto her back. She attempts to reach back and grab me, trying anything to throw me off of her. I hold her head against the floor, reaching out and struggling to grip the blade.

    My fingers close around the golden handle, holding it tightly and pulling it to my body. She gains momentum, swinging her body around so I fall back onto the cold hardwood floors. 

    She claws at my ankles, trying to get to me before I kick my leg into her shoulder, pushing her away from me enough to give me a chance to get to my feet. I immediately turn to the spot in the wall where Alis's dagger is lodged, griping the handle firmly and ripping it out of the space. 

    She stands on the opposite side of the kitchen, staring at me as if she's a bull and I'm a tasty flash of red. 

    I can feel my blood drip from my fingertips like water, parts of the wooden floors slick with the same substance. 

    Alis yells a raw and primal scream, preparing to run at me full force before the blood under her soles causes her to lose her balance. She slips, her legs into the air while her head tips back and smacks against the corner of the island. 

    My body freezes as the marble corner is covered in a splash of blood, Alis falling still on the hardwood floors. 

    The two daggers in my hand fall from my grip, clanging onto the ground loudly in the silence. I drop down beside her, grabbing her shoulders to turn her onto her back. Blood drips from her hairline, tangling the strands together. 

    "Alis?" I mutter, leaning my ear down to her chest and closing my eyes tightly as I wait for a heartbeat or the feeling of her breath on my ear.

    Nothing.

    "Alis," I repeat, yelling through the cracks in my voice. To my relief, her lips part as a cough erupts from her. 

    Her eyes remain closed, her jaw wobbling as sweat builds on her forehead. Every breath comes out as a wheeze, her lips grey as she remains unconscious but breathing.

    I run my bloody hands through my hair, moving until my back is pressed against the wall behind me. My whole body shakes, my knees to my chest and my palms on my head as I stare at her moving chest. 

    My shaky hands reach for my pocket, pulling my phone out and clicking on a contact. Blood infects the screen as I press it to my cheek, waiting for the ringing tone to click through. 

    "Reid? Where have you-"

    "Tommy," I sob unintentionally, pressing my palm over my mouth to try and quiet my cries. "I need you,"