Waking up I began to stretch, each part of my body finding a release as if I had just stood after sitting for a long period of time and yawning I barely opened my eyes. All I could see was the familiar surroundings of my bedroom and the warmth of being safe but the more awake I became the more hung over I was feeling yet memories of being chased a vampire version of Ryan had me confused. What an odd dream to have and I couldn't but smile at absurd it sounded, Ryan would think I lost my mind. Rolling over onto my side my memory suddenly cleared at seeing Mandy's body in the middle of my bedroom floor.

It hadn't been a dream.

But how did Mandy get here, she was supposed to be with my parents - safe.

Getting up I dropped down to her side, ignoring the headache that grew with each breath I now took. She seemed unharmed, no bite marks or bruises until I looked closer at her neck and the red marks matched a handprint.

"Mandy?" I whispered, stopping the sobs that chocked me but the tears were on their own. "Manda. Come on, wake up!" I shook her gently, moving to sit her head in my lap she was still breathing albeit slowly. I tapped her cheek, "Amanda!"

Were my parents going to be here too? I looked to the window, the red glow through the curtains a sign of the setting sun. Time wasn't running out anymore, it was gone. "Mandy please wake up"

I gently put her down and went to the door, trying unsuccessfully to open it so instead pulled back the curtains and looking out the backyard it was empty. Mandy groaned as I opened the window, the cold air taking over the warmth of the room and looking back over to her she was trying to sit up holding her head.

"Lu?"

"Oh thank god! Are you ok? How did you get here?" I felt bad for bombarding her but I didn't really have a choice.

"I'm ok, are you? Is Cam here?" She looked around and I could see her recognize her surroundings as she looked for Cam. "We were coming to help, Gerri followed Owen and we went with her. I don't know what happened after that"

"Why did you leave? You were safe there!" I groaned, helping her stand she needed a second to get her balance back.

"Because I wasn't going to just leave you to die! I know you wouldn't have even left if it was the other way around" Fighting wasn't going to get us anywhere.

"I know but this is my fault"

"Never mind any of that and it's not your fault" She looked around before going to the window and like me she knew it was our way out.

"I guess that will teach me to date an older guy?" I joked in an attempt to lighten the mood but she only glared at me. If we survived this, then we could laugh over it. "Too soon?"

"I guess we're sneaking out again?" She asked, ignoring my question and nodding I slid the window covering off the sill and got ready to climb down. "You can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl"

"Oh so you can make jokes?" I teased, despite hating the fact she was now in the line of fire I was glad she was here.

"Yeah cause mine are funny" She swayed slightly and I knew she wasn't ready for climbing down yet but what choice did we have?

I got half way when she started to follow and I jumped the last meter down, waiting to help her land. We had been doing that climb since we were fifteen and it seemed as though old habits never died. "Now what? Where are they?"

She had a point. Where was everyone? With night coming we not only had to worry about the vampires but the werewolves and whatever else was out there. "No idea. But we shouldn't risk it; let's go down that side and over the fence. We can sprint across the paddock to the road and find a car"

"Should we at least look for Owen or Cam?"

"Owens a werewolf, I don't fancy being ripped apart by him" Or did I? He said chances of surviving were slim but since he was so protective of us, would that translate over to when he is wolfed out? It was a chance I wasn't sure I wanted to take. Before she could finish protesting we were off towards the fence as the growling screams could only be coming from something we didn't want to meet. Night was taking over from the deep reds and oranges of dusk, the last evidence of the day disappearing.

"This is all a nightmare, we're going to wake up and go to work and none of this actually happened" Mandy sobbed and I hesitated following her.

I wanted to believe her.

Minutes earlier I had thought the same thing.

But this was reality and even if we survived the night, what next? The only way to make sure this nightmare was over was to kill Dominik and if we ran now, would we get that chance. He always seemed one step ahead, turning up just in time to ruin my plans of freedom and now I had Mandy with me it only put her in more danger. I stopped running as she made it to the fence, the old worn wooden panels in need of a new coat of paint and a few of the broken sections needed much more than that.

"Mandy, you can't be with me. If Nik catches us I'm scared he will kill you" She froze, death no longer taken lightly.

"What if he kills you?" She demanded as her voice came out high and hysterical.

"Then he will leave everyone else alone" I hoped that would be the case, I was certain it would be. She threw herself against me and we both held onto each other as if that could solve all our problems and clear all our worries.

"Or we just kill him first" She stepped back, determination set on her face and she now spoke with such a calm conviction, I wondered if we could. The supernatural were stronger tonight and he was no newborn to toy with.

We had to be smart.

"You have got to be kidding me" Luke emerged from the shadows at the side of the house and I couldn't help but notice how his suit still looked in good condition despite killing vampires and what ever happened with Dominik. "You couldn't just stay in your room?"

"And wait there to be a snack or werewolf food?" Mandy challenged, stepping towards him Luke hardly looked intimidated.

"What do you think is going to happen out here? Only two vampires can go inside" I didn't think of that and we didn't even have any weapons on us. "Go back in there. Now"

"Where is everyone?" He was sending us back inside. Where was Owen and Curtis, but more importantly where Dominik?

"Sorting out the issue of stray dogs" He growled, walking towards the backdoor. Mandy and I looked at each other, assessing our options. Running bought the risk of being caught and killed. Staying was much the same only then we'd be trapped too.

"Is Cam ok?" Mandy asked, hesitating as she looked over to where Gerri's truck was where Curtis had left it. We could get in the car, pray the keys were in it and go that way.

"Owen got Gerri to take him back home, the watchers needed some help with a group going through town on a joy ride" I could see her disappointment, Cam had left her. Then again he did have a job to do and he didn't know about what Owen was so it worked out better this way.

Another snarl that did not sound like any kind of animal I knew off came from behind my Dads shed and as Mandy went inside, I stopped. "What's that noise?"

"Want to see if you can win a fight against a werewolf?"

"No"

"Get inside then" Nodding I followed Luke in, going to stand by Mandy who was next to the sink. If Owen had already changed, would it be a help or just one more thing to worry about on an ever growing list of things that do go bump in the night.

"So we just stand around waiting for whatever happens next?" Mandy got a bag of peas from the freezer, holding it against her head she wasn't the only one feeling sore.

"Yes" Luke went and sat down in the living room, turning on the TV as if nothing was going on.

"Luke! We need to ready ourselves, where are the weapons from before?" I noticed the axes were gone from the kitchen and the last I had seen the flame thrower was on Owens back.

"There isn't much point. Dominik has made up his mind. Anything you do, any resistance, will only have an impact on Mandy. Why do you think he left her here?"

"Then get her away" I begged, ignoring the scowl on her face at that idea.

"No" He found the remote and changed the channel, an early episode of Friends filled the screen and he seemed interested in what was going on.

"Why not?"

"Because I value my own life more than hers"

I looked at Mandy as her face paled, her mouth opening and closing we were left speechless at that point.

"If his leverage disappears with me he will want his revenge. I have an eternity to hide but eventually he is bound to catch up and I just can't take that chance but you, as a human will be powerless against him. Face him now and live or run and die"

"I thought you were going to help us, that we could trust you" Mandy snapped and Luke nodded.

"You can. It's not as simple as keeping out of reach. He will get what he wants. We always do"

End of conversation. They were the dominant species no matter what we thought and like he said, they always got their way. We were the helpless parents in the candy store and they were the child having a tantrum. I wanted nothing more than to show him he was wrong, to get a stake and ram it through his chest for the sake of seeing him suffer, to hold a blade to his throat to see him squirm and feel as powerless as we did now.

Did that make me like them? They were no more monsters than we were only they were comfortable with that and saw their existence for what it was. With age comes wisdom and understanding and it had been the way of nature for centuries.

A life for a life.

If I killed him now his death would shadow me, a weight on my shoulders like the others. Despite the threats they had posed on my life I had always had a choice, I could have injured all of them but instead I killed them, it was more than just a fact of life.

"Not always" I muttered, leaving him watching me with a worried look on his face as I went back to the kitchen. Sure enough in the pantry Dads shot gun was hidden on the ledge above the door and pulling it down, I grabbed the box of ammunition and loaded it up.

"Lucy. Put it down" Luke was back with us in seconds as Mandy watched me with as much determination as I felt.

"No. I refuse to give up" Locking it all into place it was ready to go and taking aim I was willing to add one more shadow to the darkness that followed me. But again he was always one step ahead, grabbing Mandy in a headlock his fangs were dangerously close to her neck before she could even manage to scream.

"Set it down on the table or she dies" I lowered my aim immediately, would he actually do it or was he proving a point. Could I risk it?

"I'm not playing Luke" I warned, not willing to lose my weapon.

"Neither am I" Mandy's eyes were wide with fear, the bag of peas by her foot from where she dropped them and I knew the truth, I couldn't risk her dying like this.

"Fine" I dropped the gun and stepped back, holding up my hands in surrender and she was thrown towards me recklessly.

"Fucking bastard!" She screamed whatever relationship existed between the three of us now terminated.

You can never trust a vampire.

Vicious growls erupted outside and I risked looking out the kitchen window while Luke grabbed the gun and disarmed it as the two hulk sized figures stalked around my backyard.

"Werewolves" Mandy whispered, gripping my arm we jumped as Luke turned the light off sending us into darkness.

"They're stupid; as long as you don't run around in front of them they will move on. They're practically blind and rely on smell more than anything" Luke told us, locking the backdoor.

"Don't talk to us" Mandy warned, glaring at him I saw her glance towards the kitchen draw.

Knives. Dominik had them removed from his apartment, would they be smart enough to do the same thing here?

"Fine. Risk it, it'll be your funeral" He went back to the living room and I tried to open the draw as softly as I could and sighed relieved at the full set of chef knives my Mum owned. I nodded at Mandy who smiled and as we stood watching Owen and Terry I passed her over the cleaver and a large knife while grabbing one of my own.

The two creatures stopped, lifting their canine dominated faces up towards the sky and a series of growls seemed to be communicated between them before they started to walk around the side of the house. The female scream we then heard had us running to the door as all I could wonder was if Luke had lied.

Was it Gerri?

Mandy unlocked the door as Luke reappeared, looking as if his patience had been spent. "You're not seriously going out there are you?"

"Of course we are! What if it's Gerri?" I shoved him backwards but expecting it, he barely moved.

"It's not. They're safe"

"I can't trust you Luke" Before I could process it, Mandy had stabbed her knife into his chest and I stood paralysed watching as Luke's blood eagerly seeped into it, taking over each thread of white cotton hungrily. He growled, his face changing as she stepped back against me and he pulled out the knife, looking at it more in shock than anger.

But this time it was Mandy who took the lead, opening the door she grabbed my hand and pulled me out into the cold night as another scream turned into more a bloody gurgling and the growls filled the silent night.

Did we really want to go see what was there?

We ignored Luke as he called out to us and kept against the edge of the house, looking down the drive the faint silhouette told us all we needed to know as the light from the living room caught her hair.

It wasn't Gerri.

But that meant we had left the house for nothing and as the pair silenced the woman with a bloody end we could be next. There was a bang from inside the house but the creatures didn't hear it, the lighter one that resembled Terry took off with a leg towards the front and Owen sniffed around the remains of the woman hesitating from doing the same as he turned in our direction.

We held our breaths, going flat against the wall I saw the glint of metal in the grass and realised it was an axe. If he came for us, could we fight him? Would he follow us inside?

The second he turned back to the ground I ran to the axe, pausing in the dark as he looked back over again, his snout of a nose quivering as he inhaled deeply. Fear tightened my chest, he seemed torn between sticking with his kill and investigating and I prayed it was the first.

The back door swung open and leaving Owen I had never felt more trapped as Dominik stood in the doorway. I looked back to Owen, slowly standing I moved back to Mandy and grabbed her hand, holding the axe against me I wondered if we could get to a car without being seen, Dads shed maybe - just somewhere that could put something between us and them.

"You just couldn't stay in your room could you?" He asked, coming out Owen saw him and walked right past us without a second look and taking that as our chance, we took off towards Gerri's truck but despite trying to run I wasn't going anywhere and the ground came rushing at me as I gasped for air. Instinctively I tried to keep the grip on the wooden handle, landing roughly Mandy was screaming as a yelp came from above me and rolling over Owen had knocked me down. Blood tainted saliva dripped from his muzzle and Mandy grabbed the axe, standing over me protectively she swung, catching his arm he yelped again and I stood up beside her.

We could see his brain trying to work out what was going on, anytime he came forward he was cut with the blade and the pain he felt held him back. "What now?"

I looked at Mandy with the helplessness we both felt.

"Maybe we can get him to change us?" It was an insane notion; the brutality shown towards the woman that had been their first kill of the night proved they had no control. Owen would never do something like that.

"What?" Mandy gasped, taking another swipe as we backed up against the car, disappointment taking over as it was locked. "You're kidding!"

"No I'm not. He told me before, he has to attack but not kill and then the creature has to help heal..."

"No!" She screamed, not letting me finish but with Dominik standing smugly beside Luke, the pair of them watching what we were going to do curiously I didn't see what choice I had.

"It's that or die or be a vampire"

"All of those things seem more appealing than being whatever this is" She said breathlessly, our winning stance losing out as he began to get frustrated. The attacks against us stopped, but now he paced in front of us. Mandy didn't look away, going beside the window she smashed the wooden handle into the window and as the glass exploded into the car Owen leapt forward.

"NO!" Luke screamed as I took his hit instead of Mandy, the weight of his body felt crushing as I fell down beside the car and struggling to breath or focus on anything I used the car as leverage to stand, twisting as he swiped those dagger like claws in my direction. The rip of the fabric had me tensing, but no pain came and glancing down it was in tatters. Looking closer the second I saw the red lines across my stomach the stinging pain arrived, tears followed making my vision blurry as I dropped to my knees.

The only thought was how much like Gerri's scars they were, her stomach was silvered with the damage the vampire had inflicted on her in that attack that killed Owens family. But it hadn't been a vampire at all.

He had done it.

My cuts were not as deep as hers, and Mandy was at my side yelling at me to get up. The axe was now lodged in his shoulder and he was running around in agony trying to remove the cause of his pain but unable to work out how. I looked up and away from stomach to see Luke coming over to us as Dominik just stood there watching but now of that mattered now as I processed this new information.

Owen had killed his family and nearly killed his sister.

What chance did I have of making him turn me into a werewolf?