At ten-thirty on Friday night, Mia found herself walking slowly with Anna and Carmine towards the park where everything happened last year. Since neither Anna nor Carmine had been able to come up with anyone they thought could be behind this, preparing for their showdown had been pretty hard. In the end, they'd each taken a small bag crammed with garlic, salt, water, and a piece of silver each. Mia had a silver necklace, Carmine a charm bracelet, and Anna a handful of coins. The water was just plain bottled water since they didn't have time to get actual holy water, but they were hoping they'd be able to bluff their way out of any situation that might actually include using holy water. They weren't sure who they'd be going up against, so they'd just decided to take anything they thought might be useful. Now Mia just had to hope they'd packed more useful stuff than junk.

Anna's apartment was only a few blocks from the park they were supposed to go to. It was actually one of the reasons they'd chosen that park in the first place. And now that they had to go back there again, they'd decided to get everything ready at Anna's place. Not only was it the closest, but since Anna had been a vampire for about three hundred years, she didn't have any parents to worry about. That meant they'd be able to prepare without having to worry that anyone might ask questions about what they were up to.

As the group entered the park, Mia began peering earnestly through the trees, trying her best to detect any signs of life. But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see anyone. With each step she took, Mia grew more and more uneasy; she wasn't used to being snuck up on, and the thought that it could be happening right now set the hairs on the back of her neck standing. Her mind flashed back to the last time she'd been in this park; even though it had been almost six months ago, every detail of that night had been burned into her mind.

The girls had arranged to meet Fredrick and Jacqueline at the park after dark. And like they themselves had done, this currently unknown foe had chosen to be late. Mia tried to forget the reason she and her friends had been late, but it popped into her mind before she could stop it; they'd wanted to see their targets as they approached, instead of it being the other way around. Mia whipped around quickly, but if anyone was watching them, they'd hidden too carefully for that to work.

The clearing where Mia, Anna, and Carmine had fought against Fredrick and Jacqueline was about twenty feet across and incredibly exposed. The girls had come in through the trees on the far side of the park so they wouldn't be seen. But now that they were at the clearing, there was no chance of staying hidden; Mia knew they'd have to rely on her and Anna's excellent hearing and sight to keep from getting ambushed.

Slowly, Mia took a step into the clearing, eyes darting back and forth as she did. It was empty. She scanned every possible shadow between the trees, but no one was there. Mia looked around one more time, just to be sure. She was incredibly relieved that no one had shown up, but part of her was still skeptical. Someone had gone out of their way to get Mia and her friends here. So where were they? She kept looking, almost frantically. But the only movement in the park came from a cluster of dried leaves as they rattled their way down the sidewalk about fifty feet away.

Once she was satisfied that the three of them really were alone, she turned back to her friends, letting out a sigh of relief. Mia couldn't even begin to describe the feeling that came over her when she realized that no one had shown up to meet them. Now she could go home and continue on with her life; even if someone really did know what they'd done, it looked like they didn't want to face Mia and her friends after all. Whoever it was had just wanted to scare them – to let them know that they could do something.

"No one's here." Mia told her friends with a confidence that had been lacking only seconds ago. She thought about asking if they should stay for a little longer, but thought better of it. Why stay here if she didn't have to? She'd already seen that they were alone. Now, the longer they stayed, the more it would start to seem like it really was a trap after all. As suddenly as it appeared, Mia's air of bravado was gone; all she wanted to do now was get out of this place as fast as possible.

"Let's go." she said.

"Good idea." Carmine replied, sounding almost as relieved as Mia felt. Anna just nodded, looking like the only thought on her mind was to run.

The girls had been standing in the middle of the clearing, trying their best to show that they weren't afraid and had no reason to hide. And even though it made them more visible to anyone who might actually be in the park, it also gave them a few extra seconds if someone did come up to them; they wanted all the time they could get in case of an attack. Now that they realized they were alone, there was no reason to wait in the center of the clearing anymore.

Just knowing that they were leaving was already putting Mia in a better mood, and she was already thinking about what she would do with the rest of her night. But just as they approached the edges of the trees, a voice called out to them cheerily.

"Leaving so soon?"