Nastia woke up in the back room at Headlight with black specks dancing in her vision. Her eyes burned with salty tears that now soaked her pillow and stung her cheek. The vampire's assault had left her with what could only be defined as a migraine from Hell. In her haste to get out of bed, she fell onto the floor with the sheets tangled around her legs.

"AJ?" Hoarsely, she spoke her first and only thought out loud, but there was no one in the room with her, not even Pam. She stumbled to the door but stilled when she heard raised voices in the training room.

"Why are you leaving?" Ivy shouted. "You just got back. You said you would be here at least till the end of the year!"

"Plans change. They know I am here, which puts all of you in danger," Ethan said.

"Take us with you."

"No, it's too dangerous and AJ is hurt, in case you haven't noticed."

"AJ will heal up in no time. What happened to not hunting alone?"

"This is different."

"The others can stay, but you need someone to watch your back. AJ and I are ready. We're not kids anymore. You want us to be normal teenagers, but we're not, and I never asked to be. Help me out here, AJ."

There was an audible silence from AJ before Ethan said in a soothing tone, "Ivy, one day you will understand that I am doing this for you, both of you. This life can consume you. I can't stop you from making it your own, but there is no need to rush into this. Enjoy what you have right now. Revenge won't make you happy. It can and will make you careless. You need to let go..."

"Let go?" Her voice broke. "She is still out there! You said you would help me---"

"I'm sorry, Ivy. I have to go. We will talk more when I get back."

"When will that be?"

"When it is safe to come back. In the meantime, AJ?" Ethan trailed off.

"Yeah, I'll tell them," AJ simply said. There was more said in an unspoken communication between the three of them before Nastia heard Ethan's receding footsteps travel up the staircase. A moment of silence elapsed before the repeated dull thud of the punching bag's grunts was heard. "Ivy... please don't be mad."

"Where the hell were you, AJ? Better yet, where the hell have you been?" The hunter demanded tightly in between staggering breaths.

"I'm right here..." he said softly, even. There was something in his statement that acknowledged that he knew this wasn't entirely truthful, a quiet apology beneath his words that did not beg forgiveness.

"No... you're not. Just a few months ago, we were on the same page. But now? You said when Ethan came back that you would help me convince him that we were ready to go with him. You said you had my back--"

"I do have your back---"

"But it's like everything changed after you brought her here--"

"Come on, Ivy, I thought we were past this."

"No, you were past it! God! You are so back and forth. It's not fair to me or yourself. You just can't have it both ways, AJ."

"What do you want me to say? You said you wanted to stay friends, then you said you couldn't be just my friend. So now what is the verdict, Ivy? Huh? I've said I'm sorry, but that's not enough either."

"Don't act like I am the one who is making things complicated. You're the one changing your mind about everything. Everything you said and we did... it's like that person is gone. What do you want now, AJ? You want to stick around? Stay in Portland and finish high school? Why? Because of her?"

"Stop bringing Anastasia into this. It was always the plan to make it to graduation. Just take a few steps back from us for a minute and look at what happened last night. Look at me. What if Ethan's right? I'm not ready. We are not ready."

"You only got hurt because you were distracted protecting her. Don't even deny it."

"Okay. I won't. But I would have done the same if it were you or Pam."

She scoffed, "Whatever you want to tell yourself. I'm done. Maybe I should take a step back, like you said."

"That's not... Yeah. ¿Sabes qué? Olvídalo. Maybe you should..."

"You are such an asshole!"

"Well, yeah, guess I am. That's nothing new. Where the hell have you been?"

A slap reverberated across the room and Anastasia could no longer stall. She entered the room in time to see Ivy stomp up to the main level of the house. AJ still had his back turned, muttering in Spanish. She skirted around the room to the kitchenette.

He turned to face her as she opened the fridge door to pull out a water bottle. Her eyes narrowed in on the red mark on his cheek left by Ivy's hand. "Are you okay?"

He fidgeted at her question, scrambling to compose himself as fast as he could. "Yeah, did you hear... doesn't matter. I'm fine. Ivy is... Ivy. Are you good? You're the one who was out cold."

"Yeah. It's becoming an unpleasant habit to wake up back there." She studied him. Though the lacerations had healed themselves instantaneously during the fight, the purple bruising lingered on his neck. Lowering her gaze to his broken arm that was concealed in a cast, she commented, "I see I was out long enough for you to make a trip to the hospital. Why did your scratches heal so fast, but not the bruises or broken bone?"

"The 'perks' of angel blood seems to be temperamental at best. Gunther thinks practice makes perfect, but Ethan says it's more likely that the regenerative powers naturally declined through the bloodline since the time of the Original Trinity."

"What do you believe?"

"I don't," he answered unexpectedly quick. "It is what it is. In any case, I do heal faster than normal humans." His gaze traveled across her face, as if taking mental notes of every slight curve and angle. She combed her messy hair back and looked away, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Why did she not look in a mirror before coming out of the room?

Clearing her throat, she asked, "What happened last night?"

AJ shook his head, frustration clouding his eyes. "What happened was that nutcase brought us on that boat knowing he had a vampire in rusting chains attached to his anchor."

"He wanted to test you," she surmised.

"Yeah. And almost got you and Pam killed in the process. Ethan said he had some screws loose, but he didn't think even he would go that far. He is beating himself up over it... and then, you almost..."

"Is Pam okay?"

"Yeah, Ethan got her off the boat right away. But you froze."

Shame burned her cheeks. AJ had to save her, again. How embarrassing. And what's more... "Yeah, I-I messed up and you got hurt, because of it..."

"We were both caught off guard. It happens."

"What happened to her?"

"I told you Ethan--"

"No. The vampire."

"Dead. She tried to jump off the side of the boat after she had thrown you back, but Gunther caught her in his whip, which the bastard could have done at any moment, and I was able to stake her."

Coldness slipped over Anastasia like a long-lost sweater, and she had a hard time keeping tremors at bay. AJ moved closer, but she stepped back before he could supply any comfort. "Ethan just left? Why? Where is he going?"

"There's no telling. He doesn't tell us where he goes."

"He is leading vampires away from you."

AJ started twirling a couple of shurikens between the fingers of his good hand. "Yes... Truth is the vampires think Ethan is the last Helsing."

This unexpected revelation had her raising an eyebrow. "Why would they think that?"

"Something that happened when he and my dad were kids. They were captured by some vampires and Ethan claimed to be the last Helsing they were searching for, thinking that they were going to kill him..."

"But they escaped, and he continued the charade?"

"Yeah, he continued living the lie to protect my dad, then to protect me. So anytime they get close to tracking him here, he leaves. And each time, Ivy throws a fit, because Ethan wants us to be kids and enjoy school and life as long as possible. Obviously, Ivy doesn't agree."

"Do you?"

He stopped twirling the knives. "I'm not sure. I trust Ethan. But I get where Ivy is coming from... and it's only right to take my place as the last Helsing. But it's a lot to take on. Right now, we are laying low, training, hunting rogue thralls here and there. But once we get involved in more, life won't ever be the same. I'll be on the run like Ethan."

"Why is Ivy in a rush?"

"She had a close encounter with vampires six years ago. I don't want to go into detail, but she lost her sister. Ivy got lucky and managed to escape with her memories intact. Ethan found her and the rest is history. She still wants to find the vampires who took her sister, so that she can find her..."

"But that was years ago?"

"Yeah, chances are we won't ever find her. But Ivy clings to that hope. And being naive, I encouraged that hope until Ethan told me the improbability of us ever succeeding. I think deep down she knows her sister is gone, but she is so angry, and hell bent on revenge, she won't listen to reason... but in a roundabout way, she is the reason I am alive. Gunther had told her about there being a true last Helsing and the prophecy. She then convinced Ethan to find my dad, which led to him rescuing me and Jason."

And eventually led to Gunther finding out where AJ Helsing was. Anastasia knew that wasn't a coincidence.

He had rolled his eyes when he said the word Prophecy, but this was the first she heard of it. "Prophecy? What Prophecy?"

"Es estúpido. Hunters are very superstitious." He was avoiding her eyes now as he turned to throw the shuriken at a couple of targets with his good arm. "I don't know the exact words. It is going around that the last Helsing is destined to kill the last vampire. Send them all back to Hell or something like that."

"Oh... how does this keep getting worse..." she said this last bit incredulously under her breath as she sat down at the table. At the same time, she spotted a package on the table. Underneath the package was the same dark folder Gunther had given Ethan.

"Oh, right," AJ said also spotting the same parcel. He snatched up the package, handing it to her. She didn't miss that he had swiped the folder, too... out of her reach. "This is for you."

"You shouldn't have," she replied dryly.

He gave a suffering half smirk. "I didn't. This is the only reason Ethan had Gunther travel here in the first place. Helping to train you in viresanimy was just a horrible after thought. Go ahead, open it."

Putting aside her curiosity about the folder AJ now held behind his back completely out of her view, she ripped at the paper and curiously pulled out the thin fabric. "What am I looking at?"

"The latest and greatest body armor the Order has to offer. You can easily wear it under your clothes." He pulled at the collar of his shirt revealing his hidden layer. "It is designed to withstand tears and repel bites. Thrall bites are poisonous. Before the body armor, hunters used to hack off their own limbs to stop the spread of infection."

Skeptic didn't begin to cover how she felt examining the sleet gray and black material. "How can this possibly stop a bite?"

"It is a lot stronger than it looks. It has been doused in the same holy water our weapons are blessed in."

"Holy water? Really?"

"Not just any holy water. True Holy Water, as old as time itself, or so they say. The Order keeps the true Holy Water under lock and key at an undisclosed, top-secret location. Not even Ethan knows where it is. He said it is a limited resource that they don't use lightly."

Ethan had to contact Gunther to get him to transport the body armor... so then does Gunther know where it is? She rubbed her fingers together through the fabric, noting how soft and light it was. Could it really be that strong because of magic water? "What about the other vampires? Will it stop their fangs?"

"Yeah, anything that has touched true holy water burns a vampire like sunlight, but their bite isn't poisonous in the same way as a thrall's. They have paralyzing venom in their bite."

"Good to know. Sounds like we need to manufacture HOLY WATER body wash."

He laughed stealing away a few of her heartbeats. "She makes jokes."

"She is full of surprises..."

"One more thing before I forget. Here is your phone. Sorry." He slid the broken phone across the surface. Its screen was cracked beyond recognition from where it must have been crushed during the struggle. Its light kept flickering as if trying to come back on, a silent death rattle. "We tried to charge it..."

"Looks like I'll have to beg my parents for a new phone. That's going to be fun... Can I use yours to call Pam? I want to check on her."

"Yeah, I've already talked to her this morning telling her you were alright," he said handing over his phone. "And just say the word and I'll take you home."

Right. Pam had drove her here yesterday after they had visited Reina. Did that really happen only yesterday? She thought about how comfortable she was right now despite feeling battered and bruised, how AJ's company with the help of sage was not only tolerable but was also desirable. The way she was feeling right now, just stupidly and inconceivably happy in his presence, was dangerous. She had to remember who she was. Her next words cut like double edged ice, a self-inflicting pain. "I don't want you to take me home. I'll ask Pam if she can pick me up."

"Right," he breathed, taking her dismissive tone in stride. He began walking to the backrooms when she remembered something else she wanted to ask.

"About the Prophecy... are you the last Helsing? What about your dad? Where is he?"

He paused with his back to her. "Gone..."

"Oh... I'm so sorry--"

"Stop." There was no bite in his voice, just an exhausted plea that echoed. He left without another word. For a moment, Anastasia was overcome with a desire to run to him and hug him from behind, to tell him everything will be alright. But that was a lie and she pushed down the urge to show him the empathy she felt. They were more alike than what she ever wanted to admit and what he ever thought possible. Both were weighed down by expectations and an inescapable fate. Both had to put on fake smiles and pretend everything was okay. Both were ultimately alone in a world, one or the other, set against them.