'We got off to the wrong start here, didn't we?' the vampire said, his tone suddenly more appeasing, attempting a smile that looked more like a pained grimace.

'The wrong start?' I replied, incredulously. 'You broke into my house. You were going to kill me.'

His eyes widened. 'No...I mean, yes... I mean, wait! Yes, I did break in,' he said quickly, as I pushed upwards with the knife. He began to yank on his wrist restraints, desperately trying to pull his body up the bed. 'But I wasn't going to kill you, I came here to... fucks sake, please stop doing that.'

'Then tell me!'

He swallowed and took a breath, the sound whistling between his lips. 'At the risk of you skewering me on that thing, I'll tell you what I am if you tell me what you are.'

I cocked my head to one side. 'What? We're not in a negotiation here. You're tied up and I'm the one with the knife about to impale your balls. You clearly know what I am. That's why you're here, isn't it?'

The vampire just looked back at me and for a moment, I saw something indiscernible in his expression. Something uncertain. Almost as if he didn't actually know why he was here, which was ridiculous seeing as he was a vampire and I was his enemy, and if that in itself wasn't the reason, then I couldn't have fathomed what it else it could be.

'How did you find me, by the way? I'm assuming you weren't taking a quiet stroll in the woods at midnight and just happened to find this place.'

He scraped his teeth over the dry skin on his lower lip, almost as if he were mulling over whether to answer my question despite the fact, I still had the knife poised at his crotch.

'I found out what happened in London,' he said. 'Everyone's still talking about it. About the Sensor who single-handedly killed Luther Baines. Truth be told, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.'

I flinched at the name, but my stomach flipped wildly at the thought I was still the talk of the vampire population in the city. I'd never believed they would forget what I'd done, which was why I'd moved out here, but if six months had gone by and I was still on their most wanted list, how was I ever going to escape from this?

The vampire chuckled. 'Luther Baines, of all people. Do you even have any idea how many times hunters like you have tried to kill him over the years?'

'I'm not a hunter,' I insisted, gritting my teeth.

The knife was sinking into Luther's throat. The blood bubbling from the gaping hole in his neck. Spilling out of his mouth in a torrent.

'Countless,' he went on, ignoring my claim. 'He's survived assassination attempts for centuries. Fucking centuries! He's ruled that part of London since the late 1900's. He's practically as much a part of the city as the bricks and mortar of the Palace of Westminster. He was there when that place was rebuilt, you know, and everyone thought he'd be there living underneath it for many years to come. And then you came along.'

His eyes blazed a coldness he couldn't hide, but there was something else. A spark of something that puzzled me. Whatever it was, I didn't like him looking at me that way. I didn't like the monster looking at me full-stop, but the intensity of his gaze was unsettling and made my fingers twitch on the hilt of the blade.

'I've got to say,' he said. 'You don't look like a typical Sensor. You're a bit...'

'A bit what?' I replied, indignantly.

'Well, their hands don't usually shake so much, for a start.'

He smirked and I tightened my grip on the blade and withdrew it, holding it close to my thigh, desperately wishing I could hold my hand steady.

'Of course, their whole bodies tend to shake when it's time to die,' the vampire said, with a shrug. 'They're tough, but not thattough. I've had Sensors who've cried like babies at the end. I'd like to say it's satisfying, but that just makes it feel like less of a triumph when they're wetting themselves and sobbing for their mums.'

He was an actual animal. God, he disgusted me.

'Imminent death tends to do that to a person. But then again, you monsters would know all about that, wouldn't you?' I said.

He rolled his eyes. 'Oh, for goodness sake, please tell me you're not about to give me a lecture on vampirism and blood-drinking. Do you know how many times I've had that put to me as an argument from Sensors hunting us down and trying to wipe out the whole vampire race? Like you're all some kind of benevolent warriors doing the Church's Holy work?'

'What the bloody Hell has church got to do with any of it?' I said, genuinely puzzled.

'Well, you know how it is? Sensors: good, Vampires: evil. The great and mighty Church versus the Devil's creatures. God's Army pitted against the abominations.' He paused, catching my confused expression. His eyes narrowed. 'So, who are you working for then? And why on Earth did they think it was a good idea to send you out here to live on your own? I mean, I sometimes wonder at the Church's decisions – they're not exactly known for their rationality or lucid thinking - but this one in particular seems like utter madness.'

I said nothing, involuntarily letting the seconds tick by in a wave of uncertainty. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I did remember Luther Baines saying a similar thing right before I killed him. Something about the Church and God and then, even more mystifying, blathering on about some Augustine Codex and demanding to know where it was. The man had been insane. Truly insane. You had to be to do the things he did.

But I hadn't meant to kill him. Not really.

'Were you in training? Was that it?' the vampire said, frowning. 'Look, I'll give credit where credits due, because if you're good enough to kill Luther, then clearly you're one heck of an asset to the Church, but there's no reason for them to send you out here on your own... unless...'

He trailed off, a look of unease darkening his features.

'Fuck,' he hissed. 'This is a trap, isn't it? They put you here as bait. I searched this whole area and I couldn't find a single sign of any of them. Is this place bugged? Or did you call them while I was passed out?'

The vampire began to struggle against his binds, desperately trying to pull free from the bedposts. I stared at him, alarmed at how hard he was thrashing about on the bed, as the frame rattled against the wall.

'Stop it!' I said, moving closer again, unsure what to do. I was certain I'd secured him tight enough but the way he was fighting was enough to make me wonder whether he was going to pull the whole bedframe apart just to get free. 'I said stop it!'

I grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head to face me, holding the blade to his throat. 'I have no bloody idea what you're talking about. I'm not working for anyone. I don't know anything about any church. It's just me, okay? I live here because I want to live here. Because I was trying to get away from what I'd done and if you must know, I never meant to kill Luther Baines. It was self-defence, alright? He was going to kill me, there was a struggle and I stabbed him in the throat. It was an accident!'

I was breathing hard now and so was he, his eyes wide as he stared into mine. I tried not to think about how touching his scalp was sending pins and needles shooting through my hand and up my arm. I tried not to think about the fact the last time I was up this close and personal with a vampire, was when I was screaming and pushing my blade into Luther's throat.

'An... accident?' he said.

'Yes,' I almost growled at him. 'A bloody accident. But it was his own fault. He brought it totally on himself. If he hadn't abducted me...'

It had been an accident, but it had also put me on a pathway which meant I'd had no choice but to flee the city.

The vampire hesitated; his mouth open as if he didn't quite know what to say. 'Wait...' he said, slicking a tongue over his dry lips. 'You're trying to tell me that Luther's death was an accident?'

'Didn't I say that already?' I replied, irritated. 'You're not a very good listener, are you?'

'Yeah, but...' he trailed off. 'This is Luther Baines we're talking about.'

'And you're saying that like it's meant to mean anything to me,' I said, snorting with derision. 'Luther was a murderer. Luther was a fucking animal. I didn't mean to kill him then, but I'm glad I did. I'm glad he's no longer haunting this Earth and bringing Hell down upon anyone unlucky enough to get caught in his web.'

To be fair, I wasn't being entirely truthful. I was glad he was dead, but I wasn't exactly thrilled that I'd been the one to do it. All it had brought me was fear and this endless dark life of loneliness that had sent me half-mad being out here on my own. Now, I was dismayed to hear, that fear wasn't going to abate anytime soon considering I was still Vampire Enemy Number One.

The vampire's eyes lit up as he stared at me. A small, throaty chuckle escaped his lips.

I let go of his hair and stepped back.

He rested his shoulders against the headboard again and began to laugh, louder now, the sound filling the room in a way no sound had for the past six months.

'What's so funny?'

'What's so funny?' he asked, when he'd finally stopped laughing. 'You killed one of the most notorious den leaders of London to have ever existed and it was nothing but an accident? Shit, I mean, I wasn't sure what to expect when I came here, and when I saw you for the first time yesterday, I was even less sure... but this?'

He continued to chuckle; his eyes full of amusement. Suddenly, I felt foolish and stupid all over again. Why the Hell had I admitted it?

'Of course, I did kill him, as you say,' I said, quickly trying to pull back a little bit of control. 'I might not have meant to do it in that particular moment, but I still would have killed him anyway. He had my family killed. He tortured me. He deserved to die. And as for being the most notorious den leader in London, I have no idea how he earned that tag, because what kind of vampire gets distracted and lets down his guard in his own home?'

'The same kind of Sensor who falls asleep and lets down her guard in hers?'

I withdrew as if he'd reached out and slapped me. Then I cursed myself again. Cursed him too. He was right though. I hated admitting that, but he was right. He was only here now because I'd failed to protect myself, just like I had so many times before and just as I'd failed to protect others.

'Yeah, well,' I said. 'You're the one tied up, not me.'

'Which begs the question: why?' he replied, fixing me with an unflinching gaze. 'Why did you do this?' He nodded his head towards his now-healed abdomen where the bandage hung open. 'You could have just killed me. You should have killed me. Instead, you bandaged me up and tried to stem the blood flow. That doesn't make any sense. Saving vampires isn't what your kind does, you do know that, right?'

I didn't want to tell him that I knew nothing of my own kind, as he called it. I didn't want to tell him that I had never come across a single person who could do what I did - detect the vampires living among us.

I'd been alone with this forever. Alone and scared and just running from one horror to the next. Just trying to survive.

'You're mistaken,' I said. 'I wasn't saving you because I harbour some kind of twisted compassion for your kind. I just wanted answers. I want to know what you really are and why you're different to the rest. If there are others like you, I need to know what I'm facing. And I want to know who else knows I'm here. Someone must have sent you.'

'And I'll tell you,' he said, nodding towards the window. 'Just as soon as you close those curtains.'

I stared at him, thinking over his request. I did want answers. Hell, I wanted to know everything. I needed to know just what I was dealing with, not just with the vampires in London, who clearly still wanted their revenge, but also – and I hated to say it – with this mysterious vampire tied to my bed.

My curiosity might have been burning a hole in my natural instincts - which had been screaming for me to gut him ever since he'd set foot inside my home - but once I was done with the monster and had gotten what I wanted, I was going to pull back these curtains again and leave him to burn a hole on what would be his deathbed.

I smiled, as I reached for the edge of the curtain, the smile beginning to waver as his words finally reached in and grabbed me, shaking me awake.

'Hold on a minute,' I said, my hand gripping the drape and turning back to look at him. 'You said you saw me for the first time yesterday?'

The vampire's face fell instantly. He'd screwed up and he knew it.

Holy shit.

'So, if you saw me yesterday, why didn't you try and kill me then? Why did you wait?'

When the sensation hit, it hit hard. Harder than it ever had.

With the pins and needles stabbing every inch of my body, I stumbled, and fell to my knees by the side of the bed, my eyes watering and throat constricting as if someone had just fired a shitload of tear gas into the room.

On the bed, the vampire strained against his binds, staring wide-eyed at me. His head jerked to one side, as if he was listening out for something.

'Bastard.' I choked, grasping at my throat. I'd been wishing for him to burn, but I was the one on fire. 'You brought them here. You came with a fucking army.'

I'd only felt anything close to this one time before: when I'd been captured by soldiers from Luther's den and dragged down into their Hell, defeated, outwitted, and surrounded by more vampires than I'd ever come into contact with in my entire miserable life.

This one hadn't come here alone. He'd accused me of trapping him, of calling whoever I was meant to work for to come here and get him, when all along it was him who had tricked me.

'Listen to me,' he said, his tone full of urgency. 'I swear to you, I never came here with anyone. Whoever is out there, they're not with me. I don't work for any of the dens, okay?'

I bent forward, desperately trying not to take my eyes off him, but the stinging tears were now streaming down my face. 'Liar,' I spat. 'You all work for a den. You all have a leader. Fuck... fuck.'

How much time did I have? How many were there?

I had to move. I had to get up and get out before they got inside. I was probably already too late. Here I'd been, wasting time thinking I could actually get information out of the intruder, when all along I should have just killed him and run.

'Sarah...listen to me,' the vampire was saying as I tried to stand, using the wall to pull myself back up. 'Sarah... that's your name, right?' He struggled more furiously, as he watched me manage to climb to my feet, having to steady myself against the windowsill.

My stomach plummeted as I looked outside.

They were here.

So many footprints cutting through the clean blanket of snow. So many dark figures moving towards the house. So many looking up at the window. All dressed in military black and heavily armed, this vampire army struck a chord of terror deep into my heart that I knew I would still hear long after I was dead, which, by the looks of things, was going to be very soon.

Behind me, the vampire spoke.

'You'll never get out of here alive. You're good, but you're not this good. I can help you. You were right. I'm not like them, Sarah. I'm not like any vampire you've ever met. I got myself into your house and I can get us both out, but you have to trust me. Set me free and I'll do something I've never done in my entire life and I have lived a very, very long time.'

I looked back at him.

'I'll save you,' he said, his eyes pleading. 'I'll save a Sensor.'