Millicent launched at Kyle Crowford, the self-proclaimed gentleman she had just seen fall from the hospital roof like an apple, as he held the carriage door open for her.

"You? What do you want to do, please? Turn back into a bird or jump through the carriage wall?" Millicent couldn't help but use an incredulous, almost disparaging tone.

Kaylee frowned at this display of disrespect and could hardly hide her outrage at this way of mocking her alter ego.

"A-And I'm supposed to go in there all by myself...?"

"Just go!" Kaylee snapped, a little harsher than might have been necessary. "We don't have time to argue. Get in the carriage."

The panicky sensation of being on the run was not to Kaylee's taste. She hated feeling like a deer being chased through a forest. Prey... nobody likes being prey. All the time, she felt a strange, unpleasant tingling at the back of her neck. Icy and like thousands of tiny legs of creepy crawlies, it gave her real goosebumps. She looked around uneasily. Every corner and every shadow seemed threatening, and the lightning from the raging storm above made her flinch every time it crossed the sky.

Kaylee tugged at the two handles of the double doors at the back of the ambulance, but to her dismay, they didn't budge and remained closed.

"Damn," the magician hissed and struck the door angrily.

"What is it?" Doctor Archer called from the front.

"It's locked! I can't get the stupid doors open."

At that moment, Millicent suddenly grabbed Kaylee's walking stick.

"Hey! What are you--?" Kaylee started angrily, but Millicent swung and smashed the small glass window of the door. Shards rained down to the ground, shimmering like little diamonds in the storm of lightning and rain, as she stuck her arm inside, unlocked the door, opened it and climbed in.

"Hah," Kaylee couldn't entirely suppress a small, appreciative smirk that briefly played around the corners of her mouth. What a clever young thing!

"Make some space for yourself inside and barricade the broken window with one of the barrels," she instructed the young woman, who nodded hesitantly but obediently.

Kaylee's coat billowed impressively in the wind as she turned on her heel and strode towards the front of the coach, leaping onto the coachman's seat.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky, a rumble of thunder rolled over their heads, and the sound of thousands of raindrops fell like an eerie veil around them all. Kaylee shuddered. There it was again—that unpleasant, nervous tingling at the nape of her neck.

"Hurry up, doctor!" she hissed.

Doctor Archer seized the reins. Not a second too soon – because suddenly something crashed into the carriage so violently that it lurched dangerously under the force.

The horses whinnied nervously, and their hooves clattered thunderously on the muddy road. A jolt went through the whole carriage and pushed it forward through the gravel, grinding despite the blocked brakes.

Behind them in the carriage, there was a rumbling sound. With a scream, Millicent fell backwards and crashed hard to the ground. She slid backwards the few steps in the carriage house and crashed with a loud thud against the wall that separated her from the coach box.

Millicent stumbled back, caught by the force of the momentum – just in the blink of an eye. The face of the black-haired vampire suddenly appeared at the last remaining window of the double doors. As if through paper, her long fingers pushed through the glass, and the sharp claws snatched for the young woman's throat.

Kaylee and Benjamin were thrown forward. Both pushed themselves against the footboard of the coachman's seat to keep from being hurled in the direction of the rearing horses, and Kaylee gasped heavily as she had to absorb the impact with her battered arms and legs. Behind them, there was a loud scream. Then they heard a dull, wooden sound, and when Kaylee turned around, she noticed the blonde creature that had probably jumped onto the roof of the carriage. There, she lurked like a cat on the hunt - ready to attack.

"HURRY!" Kaylee shouted, staring at the female beast's blood- and dirt-encrusted fingers. With frantic hands, Doctor Archer grasped the cast-iron handle of the brake, unlocked it and pushed it down. The carriage rocked briefly, a metallic grinding sound was heard, and a loud "Hah!" accompanied the subsequent cracking of reins. Then, at last, it jerkily set itself in motion. The lurking creature lost its balance, surprised by the sudden and rough start, and slid across the soaking wet roof of the coach house, beating its long claws desperately into the thin wood.

With loud shouting and every snapping of the reins, Ben drove the horses, who were only too happy to comply with his demands in apparent fear of death from the creatures. The sensitive animals sensed the unnatural monsters approaching them, and Ben had difficulty controlling them. Again and again, he groaned under the strain, jerked on the reins or shouted new orders at them.

"Where should I head for? I don't know my way around here; these monsters are stuck to us like glue!" the doctor roared.

The beast on the coach roof leapt forward again towards the coaching box. The coach lurched sharply to the side, and sharp claws scraped over the roof's wood. They gouged deep furrows into it as Ben steered it over the gravel path, taking breakneck bends. A wild, cold wind blew against him, and rain whipped into his face, making the doctor's vision even more difficult. The reins were wet and slippery. It took a lot of effort to keep the rearing horses under control and steer them in any direction. They would not let themselves be stopped; Ben knew that much. They were panicking, and the only thought driving them was to escape!

"We need holy ground!" Kaylee shouted against the noise of the rattling carriage, horse snorting, hoof clattering and the storm, hitting the vampire with her walking stick. "A church or a cemetery!"

The revenant seemed to understand these words because she opened her mouth in outrage, baring her pointed fangs in a threatening hiss. She screamed something in the foreign language – and though Kaylee didn't understand it, he heard the bloodthirsty rage.

Inside the carriage, there was a rumbling and muffled blows. Millicent grabbed everything within reach and threw it at the thrashing beast, which was trying to catch Millicent through the small window. A first-aid kit hit the monster directly on the arm. Hissing, she withdrew it, and her disturbing face disappeared from the window of the rear doors.

But a few moments later, there was a crash, and the stretcher, which Millicent had obediently placed in front of the other window, flew like a projectile through the carriage's interior. The undead stretched her long arms through both windows. Her unnaturally long fingers dug into the door's crack-like claws into flesh and began to force the two doors apart.

Millicent screamed as she heard the wood of the double doors creak and crack. Helpless, she had to watch as the gap between them grew larger and larger, and the reanimated woman's bestial grin looked into the interior. The glowing eyes were fixed on the young girl with murderous intent, and she pursed her lips into a cruel smile.

"A chapel! There's a chapel nearby!" Millicent shrieked, desperately trying to find something to hold on to in the rocking and swaying carriage. The paralysing panic almost froze her body, and the fear of death brought tears to her eyes. Barely more than two arm lengths separated them from the monster and certain death!

"Doctor!" Kaylee yelled, gritting her teeth as she swung at the claws of the undead clinging to the roof. She pointed to a silhouette in the distance, barely visible against the grey veil of rain, looking like a phantom in the distance. A tiny building with pointed turrets, little more than a covered prayer room that would have offered space for no more than ten people standing side by side. They had already passed it on the way to the hospital but always paid no attention to the religious building. Now, it could be their rescue.

Another jolt went through the coach as Doctor Archer redirected the horses and made them gallop toward the chapel. Kaylee struggled to stay on the coach box and strike at the vampire again with her right. Her walking stick whizzed through the air, but this time, it missed its target, and the beast grabbed the wood of the improvised weapon. With a sinister grin, the vampire suddenly pulled on it, and Kaylee was dragged over the edge directly onto the roof.

The beast rose. She approached leisurely, almost majestically, while Kaylee's body seemed to have difficulty coping with the renewed impact. Dark and light spots danced before her eyes; she could see that the undead was approaching her. Her heartbeat faltered, as did her breathing.

Emaciated fingers closed around Kaylee's throat like a garrotte. The vampire dragged her closer, and the mage smelled putrid, fetid breath, damp earth, mouldy wood, and decay. Pointed fingernails dug painfully into her skin like sharp daggers. Like a wild animal, the undead licked hungrily at her neck and the blood that spilt from it, ready to tear her apart with her teeth, as if Kaylee were no more than a helpless fawn.

Then a shot rang out.

With a loud, shrill screech, the beast let go of her. Kaylee's ears rang and throbbed as she slid back onto the roof and turned around. Doc Archer stood erect in the driver's seat, one leg on the roof, the reins wrapped around his left hand. There was something almost epic about how the doctor stood out against the night sky, surrounded by wind and holding the smoking pistol. But he had taken his eyes off the road to help Kaylee. A circumstance that would cost him dearly.

The vampire let out an angry howl. With a single leap, she sprang forward and like a dark shadow, the vampire flew over their heads and pounced claws and fangs first on one of the horses. Fangs bit into the flesh of the poor animal, which immediately shied, reared up and neighed in fear and pain. The other steed, equally panicked, swerved to the side, and Ben could no longer control the horses.

Spokes ground as the carriage was yanked sideways, sending it from gravel onto muddy earth and rock and finally off the road completely. The carriage lurched, then went into the ditch. The wheel got stuck in the muddy mire, and a loud cracking sound accompanied the wood bursting as the carriage got stuck – and somersaulted.