Dan's POV

I didn't sleep very much. I was thinking about Phil. I hoped he was cozy enough on my bed and felt safe enough. He mattered so much to me. I just wanted him to feel like he was normal. It was weird, but he was special to me. Not because he was a vampire, but because of his kindness to me. He was innocent of everything, and so cute. It didn't matter that he had fangs. I liked Phil for Phil. I liked Phil... I couldn't help but feel like "like" just wasn't a strong enough word to describe how I felt about him. He would, though, never be into me. He probably didn't like guys.

I went out in the afternoon to grab a coffee. I wondered what Phil might like in his. I walked in, and all eyes were on me.

"Uh, hey guys. What's up?" I asked, hoping for an explanation to the weird stares I was getting.

I didn't get an answer. Some people turned to whisper to one another.

I slowly walked to the front and ordered two of my usual, one for Phil. The waitress reluctantly handed me the drinks.

"Ok, guys?" I said, looking at everybody whether I knew them or not. "What's going on? What's with the looks?"

One man looked dead at me. "Get him," he said.

"What?"

"Ok, funny guy," another said, standing and coming closer to me. "You're coming with us." He grabbed my arm, and I dropped one of the coffees.

"Whoa whoa whoa! What the hell man?!" He dragged me out into the street and threw me into his van. I hit the back with a painful thud. "What's going on?!"

I heard him step on the gas. He had a friend in the passenger seat. "You're coming with us."

"Where? Why?"

"Where you go," the other explained, "the vampire will follow."

Phil. They knew about him. They knew I was friends with him. I'm screwed. "You're wrong!" I yelled. "He wont follow you!"

"So you admit it? You admit you've been hanging out with a vampire?"

Fffffff... I thought, trying not to swear. I shut up for the rest of the ride while the two morons up front snickered at me.

Phil wasn't stupid. If I didn't come back, he wouldn't go find me. He wouldn't do that. Hopefully he'll regain his bat ability and be able to leave, where he'd be safer.

The ride ended at the top of a hill. Great, I thought. Like this isn't the dumbest place. "It's broad daylight, you know," I bickered at them while they tied my arms together behind me. "A vampire can't be in the sun. Get your facts right."

"Oh yeah?" he questioned. "Good, a longer time to spend together."

"What are you going to do to me anyway?"

"Nothing to you, but we saw you with the vampire last night. You must be friends or something. Big mistake. That thing will come find you, and we'll be taking care of it."

"He has a name, asshole," I sneered. "What do you mean 'take care of him?'"

"Got the stake?" he asked his friend.

"Yep," was the answer. He lifted a large, pointed piece of wood out of the van. "With this, we'll be bringing home a nice dead vampire. We'll show it off to the town, and be heroes!"

They were going to kill him. You can kill a vampire by stabbing him in the chest with a wooden stake. Everyone knew that. But they couldn't just kill him. I wouldn't let them. "So you're going to kill him?!"

"Yep. Don't worry, it'll be quick and easy. Your little buddy wont suffer. I mean, we could make the thing suffer, but that would take longer."

My head dipped down, thinking of ways to escape. There was no way I would let them hurt Phil. He had my heart. He made me feel loved. I liked him so much, but "like" still isn't strong enough. I guess I loved him. I loved Phil. I love Phil, and I will not let anyone hurt him.

Phil's POV

I woke up when it was already dark. I hadn't slept so well in years. I went out into the house, but I couldn't find Dan anywhere. I went outside, but he was nowhere to be found. I looked around until someone called my name.

"Phil?" she yelled. I turned around, and she was running to me. "Oh my God, Phil!"

"Cynthia? Where's Dan?"

"You're still alive! Thank God! Phil, when Dan went out, he was kidnapped! I wasn't sure if they got you too."

"Still alive? Kidnapped? Where could he be?"

"I have no clue. We have to find him!"

She and I looked around for an hour with no sign of Dan. I spotted a small stream of smoke from a fire coming from the top of a hill, and I called Cynthia's attention to it. "There?"

She looked scared, but nodded. "Worth a shot." We began to climb up together. "Can't you just fly up? Turn into a bat!"

"I can't," I told her. "I lost my power."

"How?"

"I wish I knew."

At the top, I found the source of the smoke. A fire was burning at what appeared to be a small camp sight. Two men were laughing, and there was Dan - tied up with his hands behind his back, slumped over on the ground.

Cynthia gasped, and pulled me to hide with her behind a tree, watching them.

"What do we do?" she asked, terrified.

"I don't know!"

"What was that?" one of the guys said.

I tensed up. They would find us. "Run down," I whispered to her. "Go, I'll get Dan. You get help. Go!"

She looked scared. "Be careful," she whispered back, running down, her leg still limping slightly. I turned back to them, and one was standing, on his way in my direction.