The boxy, grey building looming in front of me looked like it hasn't been invested in for at least fifty years. The facade fell off in some places, the wooden windows looked rugged and mouldy, changing colour from dark brown to black, and no one took care of the overgrown garden in years.

The only thing taken care off in front of the military base were the asphalted pathways, the parking lot an the brand new cameras decorating every corner.

I waited in the van in the parking lot while William and Thomas carried our weapons inside.

Despite the show I've put on a few days ago, I gave them the weapons.

Mostly because we had to fight the cultists with something and I was too proud of my collection not to show off.

They've also collected a bunch of salvia divinorum and dead blood from my lab, which they would later dip the bullets and stakes in, creating perfect weapons against vampires.

Caiden didn't manage to find the layout of the underground tunnels, but he's now got full control over the system.

Later on today, he'd post the video of Vilmus threatening us on their own website. He'd even try to block Vilmus and Ari form the website and disable them from seeing the video.

Hopefully, someone would switch sides and share information with us.

If not, we'd try to lure them out. Ian would enter the house and set fire in the tunnels. The rest of us would be waiting outside, surrounding the house.

Of course, I have included myself in this plan even though I haven't talked to Ian ever since our fight. He still thought I'd stay in the mansion and protect our home. But if he truly believed I would actually listen to him, he didn't know me very well.

Thomas knocked on the window, startling me, "Come out."

I rolled the window down, "Are all the weapons inside?"

"Yes." Thomas opened the door for me. "I thought you wanted to see our army."

My black and white dotted kitten heels tapped on the asphalt and I exited the vehicle. The day was gloomy. Dark, thick, low clouds covered the skies, protecting us from sunshine. The temperature was still insanely high and I felt my pink sundress gluing to my sweaty thighs as I followed Thomas to the entrance.

The military storage we entered was filled with soldiers, all looking eerily similar, dressed in mossy green, clean-shaven, and caps covering their heads. Tina would have fun messing around them if we allowed her anywhere near human boys.

Most of them were pretty young, eighteen to twenty-five. A wrinkled face and grey hairs were a scarce sight to see, but those individuals looked the toughest. They've seen shit we probably couldn't even imagine.

One of those older gentlemen approached and offered a hand, "Sargent Jonas."

He was handsome and fit for a man nearing fifty. The ends of his short black hair were grey and his piercing blue eyes looked focused and alert.

His hand tightened around mine in a firm grip, "Uh, Chloe."

Gosh, I was such a loser.

"The men are ready." Sargent Jonas stepped away from me. "Whenever you need them."

"Tonight." William said, once again stepping into his 'serious vampire' mode, which he sometimes used when he conversed with humans. "Midnight, but we'll be in touch if anything goes awry."

"You've got yourself quite a weapon arsenal. Is there anything else we need to know?" Sargent Jonas asked.

I glanced at Thomas, unsure what else to share other than to wish them all the luck in the world.

"They're tough." Thomas said. "Tougher than you'd expect. Don't underestimate them, not even the small and thin ones."

"Especially those." William jumped in. "They bite a lot."

Sargent Jonas nodded, "We're tough, too."

I looked at the soldiers. They truly looked tough. I wondered whether they felt on the inside the same as they looked on the outside. Were they scared?

I was scared shitless.

For two years, the idea of fighting Vilmus seemed like a distant dream, but now that I was here, all the time I've had to prepare myself seemed too short. I was nowhere near ready.

"Midnight." William repeated. "We will leak the video on their website three hours earlier. Our programmer will try to block Vilmus from the server. In case someone comes to our aid, we will let you know."

Sargent Jonas nodded, "We'll cover all the exits."

"And we will fight inside." Thomas added.

I was certain I missed out on a lot of fighting details, but that's what I got for sulking and pretending not be interested for the past couple of days.

"Good." Sargent Jonas murmured. "We'll get them all."

"Spare none." William said.

I glanced up at him, "And what if someone switches sides?"

"Can we trust their word?" William looked at me.

A sigh fell off my lips, "I suppose not."

"The one who leaks the information will be spared." William still stared at me. "If there's more of those, they will all be spared. But once we're in the house, there's no change of hearts."

"Fair enough." I breathed in sharply, ignoring the fear churning in my gut. "Willy, can I talk to your for a moment?"

The vampire squinted, "Don't call me Willy in front of the soldiers."

"Forgive me, Lord William." I curtsied. "A moment?"

"Sure." William walked to the exit and once we were out on the parking lot, he faced me, "What do you need?"

I bit my lower lip, "We're sending them to their deaths."

William glanced at the building, "There's quite a lot of them. And we have a lot of weapons. We have a chance."

"Some of them will die, though." I said.

"Every war has casualties." William's eyes fell on me.

"I know." I took in a breath. "But they don't have to die, do they?"

William frowned, "You want to turn them into vampires, don't you?"

I looked at the ground, "If we give them our blood, they could-"

"Chloe." William said through his teeth. "That's a bad idea."

"Aren't we supposed to do whatever we can?" I asked.

"Some of them might like the idea, but they don't know what it means to be a vampire." William said. "You of all people should understand what it feels like to have this inflicted upon you without consent."

"We would ask them first!" I crossed my hands on my chest. "Tell me the truth, would you rather be a vampire or dead?"

William rolled his eyes at me, "It's not the same. I'm five hundred years old."

"Really?" My eyes widened. "You've never said exactly how old you were."

"Yes, well, I'm old." William continued. "And looking back, sure, I'd rather be alive than dead. But I didn't always feel that way. This life is complicated and it's not for everyone."

"But it's a chance." I pushed. "It's an option that many don't have."

"Because they aren't supposed to." William sighed. "When people die, they're supposed to stay dead."

"Oh, come on, that's bullcrap." I frowned. "You and I didn't stay dead."

"No, but if you go down this route, you're going to end up like Vilmus."

I flinched, "It's not the same. He's evil."

"He thinks he has the right to choose who lives and who dies." William said. "I understand your intentions are good, but if we start here, where do we stop? Do we hit hospitals after this? Do we turn everyone into a vampire before their inevitable death?"

As always, he had a point.

"What you did..." William continued. "Turning people into vampires to create an army. That was bad, Chloe, really bad."

Now, I've felt ashamed.

I let out a frustrated sigh, "I don't want anyone to die because of us."

"They're not going to die because of us." William said. "If they die, they'll die because some asshole thinks he's a god and he needs to be stopped."

I glanced at the cracked concrete underneath my feet, "Life sucks."

"No, life is beautiful." William countered. "In its glorious, finite form. Don't mess with the laws of nature, Chloe."

I looked up, "But why do we exist then?"

"That's a million dollar question." William sighed. "One we have no time trying to answer now. Come on."

"I'll wait outside." I shook my head. "Hurry up."

William nodded and left.

I couldn't enter that building again. I couldn't look at all the people that would be inevitably dead tomorrow. Something stupid would cross my mind, something like feeding them vampire blood against their will just to ease my conscience.

William was right. I wouldn't do it out of the goodness of my heart, but out of the fear of guilt that would gnaw at me later on.

By 7PM, we've finished up at the military base and driven home. As the time went by, the churning fear in my gut turned hard to ignore and even harder to handle.

Tonight.

After two years of searching, planning and preparing, we would finally face the cultists tonight. I squeezed my fingers throughout the entire ride home, hoping a deus ex machina might come down and postpone this fight.

We weren't ready.

The tension in the car grew the closer we came to the mansion.

Four hours to go.

William, Thomas and I entered the eerily quiet house and descended to the basement where Caiden typed away on his computers and Ian sat on the couch and tapped his foot against the parquet. He was in charge of making sure the vamplings were ready for the fight.

Sheila and Tina were on the beds against the wall, both deep in thought. Angie was next to them, in the corner, keeping away from the vampires.

"Is it done?" Ian asked once he saw us.

I avoided his gaze, still not sure how to tell him I didn't care whether he wanted me to stay behind or not, I would most certainly join them in the tunnels.

"Yes." Thomas walked to the bar and poured himself a drink. "The soldiers are ready. Well, as ready as they can be."

"Is Caiden ready?" William asked. "Get me a drink, too."

"Whiskey, gin, vodka?" Thomas looked up from the fridge. "Chloe made sure we had everything."

"Vodka."

"He's ready." Ian looked at Caiden's back. "Whiskey."

"I'm one click away." Caiden turned in his chair. "All I have to do is post the video."

I looked up, "Were you able to keep Vilmus and Ari off the server?"

"We'll see." Caiden shrugged. "I doubt they have a tech guy nearby to fix it for them. They might not be aware of the intrusion at all."

"Good." I dropped in the armchair. "Fuck it, I want gin and tonic."

"Me too." Tina murmured.

Sheila jumped in, "Me three."

"Great." Thomas grunted. "I've been promoted to bartender."

"So, what are we going to be doing while you're risking your lives?" Tina spun a strand of her black hair around her finger.

"You'll be in the armoury with the humans." Ian met my gaze, as if including me in this little arrangement. I offered a stiff smile. "If something goes wrong, we'll text you to run away."

"Yay, running away." My expression remained deadpan. "My favourite activity."

Thomas handed the glass to me, "You're not wrong."

"Shut up." I barked. "What do we do now?"

"We wait." William said and lifted the glass of see-through liquid in the air, "And salute."

I lifted my glass with a sigh, "Cheers."

"To what?" Thomas asked.

Silence enveloped us in its tight, thick embrace. Fear crawled through our little, messy group, fear none of us wanted to acknowledge.

"To Willy's purple tights." I said.

"Cheers." Ian murmured and downed his drink.

"Yay." Sheila sighed enthusiastically.

The hot drink burned my throat, but at least the bundled lump of tears evaporated.